Family for the Dragon
Chapter One Redone:
After a Dark Gathering, Draco wasn't sure if he had the energy to go on. His father was obviously not sympathizing with him as he had lead him home happy and energetic. How anyone could see what he had just seen and have been happy about it, he didn't know. What he did know was that he never wanted to do that again. He never wanted to see innocent blood spilt on the ground as families pleaded with their tormentors for the lives of their loved ones. To see husbands break down and cry as their wives and children were murdered savagely in front of their eyes. To see children cry out in despair for their dead beloved parents only to be raped or killed seconds later. To see spirits broken under the worst kind of torture possible and people killed for the sake of fun. Sternly chastising himself to control his emotions, the boy wrote a letter to one of his professors. Draco wasn't sure who he could trust except for his professors. After all in his short life, more than fifty percent of the people who he would have laid his life down for just yesterday, now were enemies. He knew that living in the Malfoy Manor was not a possibility, not with his father and mother the way they were. He couldn't ask one of his "friends". Friends were not a word in his family's vocabulary. He had alliances with the sons of his father's alliances. So he had taken out a piece of paper and started writing.
Professor Snape,
Is it possible for you contact me sometime in the near future? There are many things that I need to discuss with you, nonetheless the potions project that we had discussed with Professor Dumbledore. It is crucial that I start it immediately or else I won't have the time later to do so.
Draco Malfoy
Il fuoco del drago non muore mai
The Fire of a Dragon Never Dies
With a final flourish, he tied the letter to his owl and sent it off. His bed looked inviting to him right about now, but he wisely did not sleep. He knew that the only sleep granted to him by the Sandman would soon be whisked away in the form of a nightmare.
Severus Snape was exasperated and infuriated. Even the combined effort so Harry Potter and James Potter couldn't make him any more frustrated then he already was. That was a lot considering the fact that just one of them could give him a migraine the size of South America without even meaning to. He had just been to a talk with Albus. It was unpleasant for the lack of a better word.
~Flashback~
"Severus, what are you going to do this vacation? Hopefully you have some plans to go out into the world?" said Albus. "I am going to research a potion to cure the affects of the Imperious curse. Then I will try to create such a potion." replied Severus knowing that Albus would immediately protest for his "health". Sometimes, he wondered if the man had eaten way too many lemon drops for his own good. "Severus, I understand that this could be a wonderful break through for our side, but if you do not get out more and have more happiness in your life you will simply waste away, my son!" said Albus, "I can not allow that to happen to you, not while I still breathe and live on this Earth! This vacation, you will not work on any potions like that, but instead grace us with your presence outside of the dungeons. Perhaps you can have an actual vacation? Maybe the beaches of Florida?" "Albus, I can't possibly go to Florida right now, even if I wanted to. Which I don't, may I remind you" said Severus at loss for words knowing that Albus would literally stop him from doing anything productive if he (Albus) put his mind to the task. "Good, that's settled. If you won't go to Florida then I will have to restrict your time in the Dungeons, lets see ... What about one hour in the Dungeons including your rooms except for sleep? No more arguments or I will have to call in Poppy and Minerva to help me help you. Now, we wouldn't want that would we?" said Albus. Severus shuddered. There were only a couple of things in this world that Severus Snape was afraid of. He could handle good old Voldie Moldie, he couldn't handle Poppy Pomfrey and Minerva McGonagall. All Voldemort could do was kill him. They would try to do him some "good". They would pamper, pet, and care for him in other words torture him in ways that he swore should be considered Dark Arts. On his top ten list of people to be feared, they were second and third only to Voldemort who actually used illegal dark arts. That too was a close call between them and Voldemort. He knew that technically they were supposed to be good for him, but hell sure it didn't feel that way. He knew that Albus thought they were good for him and routinely tried to convince him to confide in them. He always refused, but he knew that Albus wasn't above actually doing his threat. No matter what the rest of the world thought, Albus Dumbledore was not the angel he seemed to portray. Severus just barely resisted the shudder that came from the last time Albus had gone through with his threat.
~End of Flashback~ Suddenly an owl flew toward him, the castle peculiarly letting it in. What was an owl doing at this late hour? Who needed to talk to him over the summer? He slowly took the letter from the owl wary of any explosions or hexes that the letter might contain. Opening it up he read the letter slowly reading in between the lines as well as taking the actual meaning of the words, as any good Slytherin would do. Obviously Draco had meant that something relating to the Dark Lord had happened after all they hadn't talked about any potions project before school left. Running out of the dungeons and towards Albus's office/rooms, he thought about what Draco could have seen. Realizing that there had been a Dark Gathering yesterday night he broke out into a run. "Albus!! ALBUS! Where are you? Damn you, where are you Albus?" called Severus frantically. "Severus, what happened?" asked Albus. Silently, Severus handed him the letter, his face unusually open and worried. Reading it quickly, Albus said, "Well, I see we have a problem. We must get him out of there." glancing at his long time friend. Albus knew that Severus cared about his students more then anyone could guess. He always worried about them, even if they were the worst type of people. Severus Snape was the only reason that many Slytherins hadn't gone over to the dark side. "Send him an owl telling him to ask his parents if they are going out sometime in the future. If they are tell him to owl back saying when, where, and how they are getting to the place." said Albus. Severus nodded and grabbed the writing tools in Albus's office and started a letter.
The next morning, Draco woke up to the soft hooting of an owl. Seeing the letter next to him, he groggily picked it up and read: Draco,
Prof. Dumbledore and I have constructed a plan to help you continue your potions project for me. Ask your parents if you are going out sometime in the future. Owl back during the night when, where, and how long they are going out and if you are going with them. We shall then see if one of us will able to apparate into your father's house and apparate with you. It would be advisable not to let others hear of this. We will wait two days before forcefully coming to your house if you do not owl back. Owl back as soon as possible.
Prof. Severus Snape
After reading the letter, three or four times Draco knew that Prof. Snape was worried. Even if everyone thought Prof. Snape was a greasy git, all the Slytherins knew that he wasn't. He was always there for the Slytherins at anytime and he always made sure that they were okay. For children who had always been ignored or abused (that was the case with most Slytherins) he had been a godsend. He would always listen and never judge. Every Slytherin knew he cared about any of his pupils including Gryffindors (even though he made sure not to show it) , but true to Slytherin he never showed or said it. Getting out of bed, Draco showered, dressed, and neatened his room before heading down to breakfast with his parents. "Good Morning, Draco." said Narcissa with a fake smile. "Good Morning, Mother. What is there for breakfast today?" replied Draco with his emotionless mask on. "Well, as you can see we have pancakes, oatmeal, and cereal. What would you like?" "Pancakes, please. Do we have any outings today, Mother?" "No, not today. We will go to Diagon Alley tomorrow at noon to buy myself some new robes and of course we have that feast tomorrow night." "You can be excused from the shopping if you wish, but I prefer you will come with your father and I." "Yes, of course, Mother, unfortunately I have quite some amount of homework and work to do. I also want to do some extra reading for my classes so I will ask to be excused from your trip to Diagon Alley. May I be excused, I have some homework to do that I wish to finish and I would like to spend some time flying on my new broom, Firebolt 2" "Of course, dear. Go ahead and finish your homework, before you go off and play like a good little boy." said Narcissa lifelessly.
Rushing upstairs, Draco hurried into his room. He took out a quill and started writing a letter to Prof. Snape and Prof. Dumbledore. He included the fact that he would be alone tomorrow around noon. Sending the letter off, he unsuccessfully tried to finish some of the work given to the soon to be sixth year students by teachers.
After spending an awful night slowly reliving all the dreaded thing he had done as a death eater, Severus was exhausted. He also was worried about Draco. He knew somehow that this summer would show if Draco would turn to the dark or to the light. Hopefully it wasn't the former, but the later. Walking tiredly into his living room, he sat down on his dark green couch and looked into the fireplace opposite the couch. Tiredly noting that the house elves had made a fire, he gazed into the foresaid fire. Slowly the hours went by as he thought about many things the least of being if Draco was innocent of any crimes after a Dark Revel. Suddenly, the same owl which visited him yesterday came back into the dungeons. Taking the letter, he read it over and over again. Reassuring himself that they would be able to pull this off, he headed down to the headmaster's office. After much discussion and planning, they decided that they would try to get plans of the Malfoy Manor and have Severus apparate into Draco's room and immediately apparate out with Draco. Severus decided that it would be easiest if Draco acted normal and pretended to have too much homework to come to Diagon Alley. He sent a letter back informing Draco of the plans. The whole day went by much too quickly for Severus's pleasure hoping that he would not have to sleep and witness his acts repeatedly. Berating himself he went down to his lab to make himself some Dreamless Sleep Potion. After making enough to last him three weeks, he retreated to his rooms only to fall into thankful dreamless sleep. After receiving a letter from Prof. Snape and Prof. Dumbledore, Draco knew that he had to act normal around his parents that included asking for something when they went out. He knew that they would leave sometime after breakfast, but before noon. They usually ate out when they went on these shopping trips. Showering and dressing, Draco went downstairs for breakfast. "Good Morning, Father. Good Morning, Mother." said Draco. "Good Morning, Darling. Come sit down. Are you sure you won't be able to join us today?" said Narcissa. "Won't be able to join us? Why not, boy?" demanded Lucius "My apologies, Father, Mother. I have a lot of work from school. I would like to finish it so tomorrow I can go out and perhaps have some fun." replied Draco. "I see, next time we go out, you are coming. No arguments. Now go away, stupid boy" Said Lucius. "Of course, Father." Said Draco reveling in the knowledge that next time his parents went out, he wouldn't be anywhere near this house or his parents. After bidding his father and mother goodbye, he retreated thankfully into his rooms. Watching the clock, he packed some clothes and some of his belongings into his trunk. He knew that apparating with big objects was hard so he hoped that whoever came could shrink his trunk. Severus woke up refreshed for once in his tormented life. Checking the time, (it was 8:00) he realized that in four hours, he would go to get Draco. Getting up, he lazily waked to the bathroom where he got ready to go to the Great Hall for breakfast. After a long bubble bath, (hey, even mean potions masters like bubble bathes ^_^) Severus went into his living room. "Hello! Good Morning, everyone! There is a staff meeting in one hour so get to the Great Hall as soon as possible. If you bring sweets, I'll save you a seat! Repeat, there is a staff meeting in one hour! Get to the Great Hall as soon as possible! Remember a seat for sweets!!!!" boomed a loud voice coming from a little tiny globe. The globe was an invention made by Dumbledore himself. Every staff member had one of them which he/she could use to talk to other staff members or the whole school if there was an emergency. Rolling his eyes, Severus continued his journey out of the dungeons towards the Great Hall. Entering the Great Hall, Severus saw that everyone was there. The whole "Hogwarts" Family had gathered. The Hogwarts Family consisted of: Fathers: Edward Flitwick
Albus Dumbledore
Mothers: Marthie Sprout
Minerva McGonagall
Poppy Pomfrey
Kids: Remus Lupin
Severus Snape
They would have special meetings where they would talk about family business or basically the war. The mothers would moan and groan about Severus's job and the fathers would talk seriously about his importance while Severus stood around annoyed. Remus Lupin was the newest addition to the family so he too would stand around. Severus hurried over to the teachers table. As he approached a number of calls went out. "Wonderful now that we are all here, I have a few announcements to make. I must say it seems as if the years just fly by don't they? This is the first year since Remus came that our family is all here!" exclaimed Albus joyfully. "Albus do get to the point!" said Severus. "OH! Severus, do not be such party pooper!! He is right, our family is back together! And it has been such a year!" said Marthie. "So Remus how are you? What did you do without us for a year?" said Eddy. For the next half an hour everyone chatted except for Severus who kept getting angrier and angrier! "ALBUS DUMBLEDORE!!!! I will be leaving in two and a half hours! I need to talk to you before I leave and make a potion. I certainly do not have enough time to chit chat with the rest of you! When is this meeting going to start?" yelled Severus silencing the room with his roar. "Now, Now, Severus! Patience is a virtue that is leaving you, my dear boy!" said Albus. "Albus! I have the littlest of little patience and what ever patience I have is leaving me right now! Albus!" said Severus. "Yes, yes, my boy! Okay, sorry madams, but you can talk to Remus later about his trips, now we have to discuss business!" said Albus. "What is so important that you had to call a family meeting?" asked Minerva. "Well, I really don't know how to say this, but Draco Malfoy is coming to stay with us during the rest of the vacation," said Albus unusually blunt. Silence swept the room as everyone stood in shock. "Wow, Albus. For the first time in my life, you were blunt!" said Severus, the only one who was not shocked by the news. "Yes, it seems that your bluntness is rubbing off on me, my boy." "You are not kidding, are you Albus?" asked Minerva. "Unfortunately, no my dear lady!" said Albus going on to explain why he was staying with them leaving out the gory details the Severus had told him about the Dark Gathering. "Who is going to bring the boy here and care for him?" said Poppy immediately wanting to comfort the poor boy for the angst she knew he was going through. "That would be my job" said Severus. "Yes, I have decided that Severus needs to get out of the Dungeons so I have made him in charge of Draco." said Albus with a twinkle in his eyes. "Good!" "He needs to go out more" "You will definitely have to join us now, Severus" chorused around the room. "Now when is Draco coming?" asked Minerva. "I am apparating today to his house at 12:00 to get him out! Now if you are done" said Severus getting up. "Yes, good luck my boy. Tell me before you leave" said Albus. "Okay" said Severus leaving the room. "Okay, I have my trunk packed. Parents are okay! What to do? What to do? Chill Draco, he will be here in a sec" thought Draco pacing his room at 11:55.Pop! Severus arrived in Draco's room exactly at 12:00. "Oh" startled Draco running up to greet his professor. "Put everything that you need shrink there, I will shrink it. Hurry up, boy! We don't have all day" said Severus shrinking Draco's trunk and things. "That's all, Prof." "Hold on to me" said Severus holding onto Draco tightly and apparating back to safe, ol' Hogwarts. Taking Draco, Severus strode down to the Headmaster's office. "Hello Draco. I hope that you are well! Lemon Drop anyone?" greeted the Headmaster cheerfully. "No, Professor Dumbledore." "Severus?" "No!" "I was thinking, Draco. Since you will be seeing me hopefully a lots of times this summer, it is quite silly to have you call me Professor Dumbledore or Headmaster. I think it would be lovely if you called me Uncle Albus" said the Headmaster gazing lovingly down at Draco. "Umm...okay" said Draco. "Remember Draco that whenever you need anyone of us, we are always here for you. My door is always open that is if you know the password!" "Yes, Uncle Albus" "Uncle? I never knew that you were related to the Malfoys, Albus" said Minerva sharply walking into the Headmaster's office. "Not like that. I just thought since Draco would be staying with us the whole summer, it would be lovely for him to use less formal names like Uncle and Aunt instead of Professor. Plus we wouldn't be able to tell who he was talking to half the time!" said Albus in a voice warning her not to contradict. Even if Albus wasn't so firm about it, Minerva wouldn't have contradicted. She cared about all her students not just Gryffindors, but Slytherins, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws too. She just had a very Slytherin way of showing it, just like Severus. "Yes, of course. I haven't been called Aunty Minerva in such a long time" said Minerva. "So, you want me to call you Aunt Minerva too?" asked Draco a little uncertain. "Of course, now who wouldn't want to be called that?" exclaimed Albus cheerfully. "umm...uhh...possibly..." stuttered Draco. "Me" said Severus simply saving Draco from much embarrassment. "Severus, why not?" "Because I am not an old man, he may call me Severus" said Severus. "Okay, Pro-Severus" said Draco nervously. "Now, we must go. I have to show Draco his room and he must unpack." "Yes of course. Do come for lunch in the Great Hall" said Albus as Draco and Severus walked down to his rooms. Severus walked to the Head Table leading Draco with him. After motioning for Draco to sit down, Severus sat down next to "Aunty Minerva". "So what are you going to do for the rest of the vacation" asked Minerva the one question that hadn't occurred to anyone. "I don't know?" "You don't know!! What are you going to do? Since Albus has practically banned you from the dungeons" "Prof... Uncle Albus has you banned from the dungeons?!!!" said Draco with amazement. "Yeah" "Wow! Can he do that?" "Obviously" snapped Severus. Draco cringed at the comeback which didn't go unnoticed by Albus. "Severus! Don't snap at Draco" said Albus. "Sorry Draco" said Severus causing Draco to gape and stare at him. "Boy, there are some things you have to learn while you are here. First thing is that I don't always act like when I am in class. So stop staring and close your mouth" Obediently Draco closed his partially open mouth. "Now, Severus after telling Draco all that shouldn't you take of Invirio, plus the only person here besides the Hogwarts Family is Draco. Everyone in the Hogwarts Family has seen you without it on." teased Albus. "What's Invirio?" asked Draco. (The idea that Severus doesn't look like he does in class normally is from the Awakening of a Royal. I really liked the idea so I borrowed the idea and changed it a little. It is a master level spell that even Albus would think twice of using. It uses the most powerful magic on earth, Earth Magic.) "Severus, shall I?" "Well, you have told him this much, if you don't tell him more he will just bug me the rest of the summer or find it out in the Library once he realizes that I won't feed him every answer to every question of his." "Oh, Severus!" "Wait, does he know about your "after school" activities" asked Albus before Minerva or Edward could launch into a full fledged lecture about Invirio. (After school activities meaning spying for the Order of Phoenix) "I think so" "Could you please not talk about me as if I am not here?" asked Draco cockily. Severus reached over and lightly cuffed the boy saying that in his day children were to be seen not heard. "In your day!!" said Albus and everyone burst out laughing. Severus did not join in on the laughter instead asked Draco, "Are you done eating? If you are then join me in the dungeons" "Not the dungeons my boy, what about the lake?" said Albus. "No, I would prefer to tell him in my rooms, I promised you I wouldn't stay in the dungeons all the time, but I need my rooms!" "Yes, I understand. Have you shown him his rooms?" "No, I will do that before we "talk" I have decided to put him in the Ocean Room" said Severus anticipating the headmaster's next question. The headmaster had always enjoyed the fact that the normally serious man had so outrageous guest rooms. "Severus? I am done," said Draco. "Good. Good day," said Severus to the rest of the Hogwarts Family. "Join us later in the staff room. Bring Draco with you!" called Albus after them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Severus and Draco walked into his no their rooms five minutes later. "This is your rooms" said Severus leading Draco into his guest rooms. "This is the bathroom and this is the dresser," said Severus pointing out the door to the bathroom and the dresser. "Wow!" was all Draco could say as he walked into the awesome guest rooms and the equally amazing adjoining bathroom. "If I ever hear rumors on how I have awesome guest rooms or nice quarters then you will find yourself cleaning the Giant Squid for the next year and a half everyday for three hours!!" threatened Severus almost jokingly. "I wouldn't say anything like that plus the other Slytherins would kill me if I spread a rumor like that around." "Kill you?" asked Severus with one eyebrow raised in question. (I have always wanted to be able to do that, except I never can do it...) "Severus, I thought you were supposed to be smart!" "Boy you are pushing it!!" "I am just saying that all the Slytherins respect you and don't tolerate any rumors about you." "Do they?" "Yeah, I think the last guy who tried saying something about you was beaten up so bad that he stayed in the hospital wing for a month" Severus remembered what he had come back to his rooms for. He sat down in a cozy chair by the fire while beckoning for Draco to do the same. "Draco, I need to tell you about some things that I did when I was a little older then you. If after hearing these things you don't want to live with me anymore then you may live with any of the remaining staff members." "Live with one of them? But why not you? Plus why would a slytherin ever abandon another for one of the rest?" "You will see. When I was your age, I was in Slytherin like you know. I was a loner for a quite some time, but soon became aquantencies with many wizards who later joined Voldemort. I used to spend my free time with your father and others who like him became Death Eaters. I used to love to read and research and learn about most things, but most of all potions. There wasn't too many potions that I hadn't tried by my sixth year so I was starting to get bored and was eager for more knowledge. During my sixth year and for some time more till my seventh year I found other things to occupy me. I started researching dark potions pretending that I wanted to make them only for the knowledge that I would get out of them. This was all during the middle of my seventh year. I didn't know that Voldermort had become interested in me due to my potions skill until the end of seventh year when I had started making dark potions just to learn the theory behind them. Truthfully, I had known and some what followed Voldemort during the months before that. Your father saw that and lured me in telling me that all I had to do was make potions and what not and I would get potions texts that were rumored to be lost and endless funding. I agreed. Why not, I thought. My father and mother had stopped funding me long time before that and I was desperately in need of funding for my little projects. So I joined the Death Eaters. After I was given the Dark Mark, I went to my first ever Dark Gathering. I hated it, they tortured, raped, and mutilated girls no older then thirteen and sometimes younger in front of me. I couldn't do that. Voldermort didn't make me, but instead let me skip these meetings. Then one day about three months after I was initiated he made me torture a little girl just to hear her scream. I couldn't take it, I broke. Every night, day in and day out I would hear her screams, following me. I found out so much about that little girl before she died. I found out how she had many friends and a great life before she and her family were caught by the Death Eaters. I watched as they forced her to watch her family die in front of her eyes. A week after that Dark Gathering, I came to Hogwarts. I went to the headmaster's office and told everything I knew and waited for him to turn me in. He never did instead pardoned me and promised to help me. The next month was an unusually quiet month and I didn't get any summons. During that month I decided that the only way to even partially make up for the deeds that I did that I would have to spy for Albus. I went to him with my idea and we worked out a plan where I could stay in the safe haven of Hogwarts while pretending to spy for Voldermort when in truth I was really spying on Voldermort. I never deserved the chance to make up for my sins, but Albus wouldn't hear otherwise. It took me quite some time to convince him to let me spy for him. I don't deserve the protection of Hogwarts, but I am digressing from my story. After that was when I started teaching. I would teach everyday then once a week or so I would be summoned. I would go to the meetings and try to save all the people who I could, but I never can save enough. For every one person who I save there is one more who dies at the hands of Voldermort," said Severus. "Oh" said Draco not really knowing what to say. He had known that mysteriously Severus had known whenever Draco was in trouble or pressure from his father into becoming a death eater, heck he had known that Severus had studied a little into the Dark Arts. Every Slytherin was taught basic curses, hexes, and spells before they came to Hogwarts to ensure that they would survive. He hadn't known that Severus was a spy for the headmaster. "If you don't want to stay here now, I understand" said Severus. "No! I don't care if you were Voldermort himself, you helped me escape from my father. That shows that you are worthy of anyone's trust" said Draco. "Which brings me to the Invirio matter. When I started teaching here I was merely twenty. Now I am barely thirty five. The average age of teachers was eighty and up so we had a little problem. We didn't want any possible distractions or anything of such so Albus and I can up with the plan of using Invirio. Invirio is a spell when properly done can have you change appearances in a blink of an eye. Once the spell is on all you have to do is wish for the appearance that you would like to give off and it happens. The appearance then can't be changed until you wish for yourself to go back to your normal state. Albus decided that if I had this spell on not only would our problem be solved could hide easily if I was discovered. It also help me disguise any damaged at the hands of Voldemort. The spell itself is very hard to do, but is worth the effort never wearing off. It uses some very elemental earth magic and raw power from the castor. It took us a month to master the spell before school began to master the spell and that too was because Albus was lucky enough to have previous experience with Earth Magic. Now everyday I put on a slightly older man. In class how old do you think I look?" "About fifties or late forties" said Draco honestly. "Yes, now how old do I look" said Severus taking off the Invirio. He now looked late twenties, early thirties at the most. All the harsh lines, hooked nose turned into softer lines and a smaller nose. The paleness of his skin though stayed the same. His hair stopped looking so greasy and actually looked clean. "Wow! You looked younger" said Draco in constant state of amazement. "Yes, very good Draco. I look younger because now I look like I am thirty or less...before you ask my real age it is thirty five. I have been teaching for fifteen years, I started when I was twenty." "oh" "Now, Draco do you have anything that you want to do this summer?" "umm..." "well I don't have forever, boy" "I wanted to learn how to make an invisibility potion and do the invisible charm" "You were going to research those on your own?" "Yes..." "If you were already willing to research that on your own then I would be willing to teach someone who is not a dunderhead like the rest of your class." "You would??" "No boy the only reason the words came out of my mouth was for fun" said Severus sarcastically. "Cool!!" "Muggle sayings? The Invisibility Charm I can't teach you, you will have to learn it from Edward or Minerva." "Who?" "Professor Flitwick or McGonagall." "oh." Severus glanced up at his clock. It was already four o'clock. Albus had told him to be in the staff room no later then five so they had at least another forty five minutes before they had to get out of the dungeons. "Do you need anything for the summer? Clothes?" "I don't think so, maybe a new caldron or more ingredients" "I will let you use my caldrons and my ingredients. We will need to take you shopping for you at the end of the summer anyway." "Oh, well I don't have any money except that of the money that I stole from my father." "We will see" "SEVERUS!" called a mysterious voice from outside the portrait. Severus opened it to find the headmaster standing outside smiling. "What Albus?" "Well, I wanted to make sure everything was all right, and tell you that it is already four thirty" "I know the time, old man," said Severus abruptly, but gently. "Do you? Good." said Albus. "So what did you really come to ask?" "The other teachers believe that Draco needs some education for the time being. Therefore, we have decided that if he wants he may take tutoring lessons from anyone of the teachers who are here." "We have already discussed that. I am going to take lessons from Severus." "Good, do you want any other lessons?" "No, I think that a potion is enough." "Very good, but the time limit on how long you can brew potions still stands. You have to clear extra time with me" "But..." stuttered Severus. "No buts, now come along. Lets show Draco the staff room. You will be spending time there this summer like the rest of us." With that Albus lead a protesting Severus and an interested Draco to the rest of the castle. Walking up to the same corridor that the Sorcerer's Stone was kept, he walked into the same room where Fluffy had stayed. "Isn't this the same corridor that..." "Yes, this is the same place where the stone was hidden" replied Severus knowing exactly what question Draco was saying. "Albus has a sick humor. To get to the Staff Room we have to get through the same obstacles that we put up." Albus who was slightly in front of Draco and Severus heard what Severus said and chuckled. "Well here it is!" "The entrance to the staff room is a trapdoor???" said Draco laughing. Severus cuffed the boy lightly. "Yes, unfortunately I couldn't allow the exact obstacle course to be recreated. I had to take out Fluffy, Devil's Snare plant (the plant that grabs everyone and is scared of fire, I don't remember the name) the Troll, and the Mirror of Erised was destroyed. So we still get to see the keys, the chess set, and of course the potions." said Albus with a chuckle. "Well hurry up" said Severus. "Yes, though this door is the flying keys" "Wow! How do we get through this place?" "You have to catch the key that fits the door" "Oh." "Luckily I have a replica of the key so you don't have to try. You may if you want to, go ahead" Draco eagerly grabbed the brooms next to the door and mounted the broom. He knew that Potter had used his seeker skills to get the key so he wanted to prove that he was worthy of any Potter, first year or not. He looked carefully at the key the headmaster was holding and started scanning all the keys around him. Then he saw it, like its brother it was big, sliver, and old fashioned. The only difference was that it had wings. He started toward it slowly as if not to startle it until he was a foot away. Then he reached out and quickly grabbed it almost falling off his broom. "Bravo! Bravo! You definitely are a good flyer, isn't he Severus?" said Albus. "Yes, of course he is the Slytherin seeker" At that Albus just laughed and let Draco open the door with his key. "This is the famous chess set that Ron Weasely passed" "Wow!" was all Draco could say. The chess pieces were three times his height and were elegantly made. "I would let you play, but we have disabled it for the time being. Maybe next time" "Oh." said Draco disappointed. "This is the famous potions challenge" said Albus, "Made by Severus of course. Would you like to guess at it?" Draco nodded and quickly read the rhyme. Muttering to himself he quickly pointed out the bottles that were each different substance until he got the bottle that they wanted. "This one" said Draco pointing to a small black bottle. "Good work, boy" said Severus praising Draco truly for the first time in his life. "Here you go, drink this" said Albus passing around the bottle. "This is the staff room once the room where the Golden Boy/Savior of the Whole Wizarding World, Harry Potter, battled Voldermort" said Severus snarkly once they passed through the fire. "Wow," exclaimed Draco looking around the room. The pillars were draped with rich blues and burgundies. There was three couches and five desks with the occasional stuffed comfy chair also there was some two or so coffee tables. Then there was a table with tea, coffee, and the condiments for the former. He saw Aunty Minerva, Uncle Edward, and Aunty Marthie lounging around talking and drinking some coffee or tea. "Hello, everyone" said Albus cheerfully. "Hello Albus" said Minerva without turning around. "Severus! Why are you here?" said Marthie. "Oh Am I not allowed to be in the staff room. Last time I checked I was on the Hogwarts Staff. Has anything changed since I last checked?" asked Severus sarcastically. "No, it's just that you never come here" said Minerva. "I asked him to come," said Albus. "More like ordered" muttered Severus. "What did you say?" said Albus with a chuckle. "You heard what I said." "I am an old man, I have bad hearing" "Sure, I bet that you have better hearing then I do" "Well if I don't then I have better memory" teased Albus. "Do you remember the first prank I pulled on the infamous Marauders?" teased back Severus. "I thought nobody had ever pranked the Marauders" said Draco with awe. "They were pranked as they pranked everyone else; they couldn't get away without being pranked at least once" said Albus. "Yes, I do remember that prank. That was when your true amount of raw power first showed through" "What happened" asked a curious Draco. "Well, Severus got into a fight with the Marauders on the train and they had turned his hair yellow with a simple spell" started Albus. "I decided to get some sweet revenge. After we had been sorted I used the first spell I ever learnt: Wingardium Leviosa" said Severus. "Yes, you levitated them then used a color changing spell on their hair" continued Albus. "Yes, that was the one of the more simple spells I had found in one of my mom's book." said Severus. "Yes, we all thought you had used a prank spell or a complicated hair changing spell so we tried everything we could to reverse it. You had used one of the simplest temporary beauty spells." "Yes, I didn't think that you guys wouldn't be able to change it. But that was soo funny. They had to go around with Slytherin green hair for three weeks" said Severus. "Yes, they were very angry with you" said Albus. "Yes, I believe that is when our legendry rivalry began" said Severus. "Yes, you took the slytherin/gryffindor rivalry to another dimension" said Albus with a chuckle. "Yes, it must have been an horror to teach" replied Severus. "No, it wasn't too bad" cut in Minerva. "Yes, it was very funny" said Marthie. "We had to stop ourselves from laughing at you" remembered Edward. "Tell me more" begged Draco. "No don't! We don't want Draco getting any ideas do we?" said Severus. "But Severus, I want to know!" whined Draco. "Oh my god, is the Draco Malfoy whining?" teased back Severus. "No!" protested Draco. Everyone broke into friendly laughter. Draco himself joined the laughter. "Hello, everyone. What is the joke?" said Remus Lupin coming into the room. "Hello Remus. We were just talking about the Marauder times" said Albus with a smile. "Yes, those were wonderful times" said Remus. "Did you also prank the Marauders?" asked Draco not understanding why everyone started laughing including Severus. "I don't understand why is everyone laughing!!" Draco pouted for a bit as everyone tried to stop laughing. "Well lets just say that I knew the Marauders." Said Remus with a chuckle causing everyone to laugh harder. Draco stared at his potions professor having never seen him laugh like this before. "What..Remus..means...to say..is that..he..is part..of the...Marauders.." said Albus between fits of laughter. "YOU?" said Draco astonished. "Yes, guess who Moony was?" joked Remus. "You are the Moony in the Maruaders. What do those nicknames mean anyway?" asked Draco. "Yes what do those nicknames mean?" asked Albus. "They were just funny nicknames, no real meanings except for mine which is obvious." replied Remus. 'wow...you really are the Moony in the Marauders. I heard that you were the brains of the whole prank operation" said Draco. "Yeah," said Remus a bit modestly, but also a bit proudly. "Wait, everyone knows that somebody named Remus was part of the Marauders, but I never connected you and him" said Draco. "Yeah, neither did any of your classmates. I had to tell Harry that I was part of his dad's friends group. He didn't get until later too that his dad's group was the famous pranksters, the Marauders." said Remus with pride. "Aren't you a bit full of yourself, Lupin?" said Severus. "Yeah, well aren't we all" joked Remus. "Well I can't say I am, but you definitely are" said Severus. "I personally think that both you are a bit full of yourselves" cut in Minerva with a smile. "I agree" chorused around the room. "Have you decided what you are going to do when you are not working on that potion of yours?" asked Albus turning the conversation back into serious matters. "No, not really. I want to brush up on a couple of curses, but otherwise than that, I really don't have anything." said Severus. "Are you sure that you don't want to go somewhere?" asked Albus. "Yeah, a week or two in the Bahamas would do you good" said Minerva. "No!" said Severus then he slightly gestured towards Draco. Draco unfortunately caught the gesture and realized that Severus couldn't go anywhere cause anywhere except Hogwarts, he would be a liability. "Go without me, I can take of myself. I have done that plenty of times when my parents left me at home. I can even cook if the need comes" "NO! I am not going anywhere and you are never to be left alone at Hogwarts or anywhere" said Severus. "What do you mean you have been left alone?" asked Albus gently; he didn't want to bring up bad memories. "My parents always needed to go somewhere or another, they would often stay at those places for weeks at a time. I would be left the house elves in the house. The house elves would bring me food and everyday I would get schoolwork from my parents. I would do the work and play inside the house" said Draco. Severus and Albus exchanged worried glances. They didn't know that Draco had a rotten childhood. They both had thought that Draco had been spoiled rotten. "Does anyone want any tea?" asked Marthie cutting through the tension with a simple question. "Yes, please" said Draco going over to the table of tea and coffee. "Draco" "Yes, Severus?" "Let's go back to the dungeons, I want to start getting the ingredients for the potion." "Okay!" said Draco immediately cheered up. "Well, what are we waiting for" With that Severus and Draco left the room. "Poor boy" said Minerva. "I never knew that he had such a bad childhood" said Marthie. "Me too." said Edward. "When he is here we must show him how a family can really be" said Albus. Everyone agreed to try their hardest to help Draco. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Here look through this one" said Severus handing Draco a book. After returning to the dungeons, Severus had started looking for the book with the invisibility potion in it. "Here it is" said Draco finding the potion. "Hmm...let me see...we might have to talk to Marthie about this one...do I have that.." muttered Severus looking through the ingredients list. "Well, I have everything except the unicorn hoof plant's root. That is a rarer ingredient then the rest of the ingredients" "Where can we get it?" "We should ask Marthie, today at dinner," said Severus stopping Draco from running out to ask her right away. "oh" "Do you have anything to do?" asked Severus. "I have to start my lesson plans so you can help, but it is very boring" "I think I am going to go rest" said Draco. "I am a bit tired, I think the apparating tired me out" "Yes, then I won't have Poppy yelling at me at dinner" Draco went into his new room and laid down on the bed. (This is his thoughts.) "What a day! I can't believe so much has happened. I don't have to join the Death Eaters or be perfect. I will never be beaten again, I will be able to learn potions without having to hide. I am glad I came to Hogwarts instead Drumstang" Slowly as he reviewed the day, Draco fell into deep peaceful sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Severus finished all the first weeks lessons plans. He looked up at the clock and realized that he had spent three hours on the lesson plans. "Where is that boy?" wondered aloud Severus. He hadn't seen hide nor hair of Draco since he started his work. Severus knocked lightly on Draco's door, when he got no answer he lightly pushed open the door. Seeing Draco asleep, Severus thought about waking Draco. Deciding against that, Severus pulled a blanket over the boy and Severus went back into the living room and picked out his favorite book. He opened to page thirty three and started reading. One hour later Draco was still asleep and Severus had joined him in Dreamland dozing in a comfy chair. "Severus" called Albus from outside the portrait. "Dear Sir, are you the headmaster?" asked the portrait. "Yes," "Then you are allowed into the rooms" said the portrait swinging open. Albus walked in Severus's rooms. At first everything seemed as if the master of the rooms were out until he noticed Severus dozing on the chair. Chuckling to himself, he continued his search this time for Draco. Remembering that Severus had put him in the ocean guestroom, Albus walked over and knocked lightly on the door. Hearing no answer, Albus opened the door. Noticing the sleeping boy, he understood that the day had been trying for both Severus and Draco. They still were in midst of trying to settle in and trying to learn more about each other. Albus walked back into the living room and left a little message for Draco and Severus:
I came to see why you weren't at dinner, when I noticed that both of you were sleeping, I informed the house elves to bring your dinner here. I advise you to sleep some more, you both look tired. Severus, it would be best if you do not strain yourself with potions or strenuous reading for the rest of today. Good day,
Albus ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A/n: Finally the end of the first chapter. If I stretch it out anymore, I would be really pulling the patience of my readers. So I think that it is best we leave Severus and Draco in dreamland. Hopefully, I will write the next chapter soon. If ya liked it or if ya didn't please review!!
A/n: I corrected this and reviewed it to make sure it fit with my timeline...continue on to the next chapter and don't forget to review!
Chapter One Redone:
After a Dark Gathering, Draco wasn't sure if he had the energy to go on. His father was obviously not sympathizing with him as he had lead him home happy and energetic. How anyone could see what he had just seen and have been happy about it, he didn't know. What he did know was that he never wanted to do that again. He never wanted to see innocent blood spilt on the ground as families pleaded with their tormentors for the lives of their loved ones. To see husbands break down and cry as their wives and children were murdered savagely in front of their eyes. To see children cry out in despair for their dead beloved parents only to be raped or killed seconds later. To see spirits broken under the worst kind of torture possible and people killed for the sake of fun. Sternly chastising himself to control his emotions, the boy wrote a letter to one of his professors. Draco wasn't sure who he could trust except for his professors. After all in his short life, more than fifty percent of the people who he would have laid his life down for just yesterday, now were enemies. He knew that living in the Malfoy Manor was not a possibility, not with his father and mother the way they were. He couldn't ask one of his "friends". Friends were not a word in his family's vocabulary. He had alliances with the sons of his father's alliances. So he had taken out a piece of paper and started writing.
Professor Snape,
Is it possible for you contact me sometime in the near future? There are many things that I need to discuss with you, nonetheless the potions project that we had discussed with Professor Dumbledore. It is crucial that I start it immediately or else I won't have the time later to do so.
Draco Malfoy
Il fuoco del drago non muore mai
The Fire of a Dragon Never Dies
With a final flourish, he tied the letter to his owl and sent it off. His bed looked inviting to him right about now, but he wisely did not sleep. He knew that the only sleep granted to him by the Sandman would soon be whisked away in the form of a nightmare.
Severus Snape was exasperated and infuriated. Even the combined effort so Harry Potter and James Potter couldn't make him any more frustrated then he already was. That was a lot considering the fact that just one of them could give him a migraine the size of South America without even meaning to. He had just been to a talk with Albus. It was unpleasant for the lack of a better word.
~Flashback~
"Severus, what are you going to do this vacation? Hopefully you have some plans to go out into the world?" said Albus. "I am going to research a potion to cure the affects of the Imperious curse. Then I will try to create such a potion." replied Severus knowing that Albus would immediately protest for his "health". Sometimes, he wondered if the man had eaten way too many lemon drops for his own good. "Severus, I understand that this could be a wonderful break through for our side, but if you do not get out more and have more happiness in your life you will simply waste away, my son!" said Albus, "I can not allow that to happen to you, not while I still breathe and live on this Earth! This vacation, you will not work on any potions like that, but instead grace us with your presence outside of the dungeons. Perhaps you can have an actual vacation? Maybe the beaches of Florida?" "Albus, I can't possibly go to Florida right now, even if I wanted to. Which I don't, may I remind you" said Severus at loss for words knowing that Albus would literally stop him from doing anything productive if he (Albus) put his mind to the task. "Good, that's settled. If you won't go to Florida then I will have to restrict your time in the Dungeons, lets see ... What about one hour in the Dungeons including your rooms except for sleep? No more arguments or I will have to call in Poppy and Minerva to help me help you. Now, we wouldn't want that would we?" said Albus. Severus shuddered. There were only a couple of things in this world that Severus Snape was afraid of. He could handle good old Voldie Moldie, he couldn't handle Poppy Pomfrey and Minerva McGonagall. All Voldemort could do was kill him. They would try to do him some "good". They would pamper, pet, and care for him in other words torture him in ways that he swore should be considered Dark Arts. On his top ten list of people to be feared, they were second and third only to Voldemort who actually used illegal dark arts. That too was a close call between them and Voldemort. He knew that technically they were supposed to be good for him, but hell sure it didn't feel that way. He knew that Albus thought they were good for him and routinely tried to convince him to confide in them. He always refused, but he knew that Albus wasn't above actually doing his threat. No matter what the rest of the world thought, Albus Dumbledore was not the angel he seemed to portray. Severus just barely resisted the shudder that came from the last time Albus had gone through with his threat.
~End of Flashback~ Suddenly an owl flew toward him, the castle peculiarly letting it in. What was an owl doing at this late hour? Who needed to talk to him over the summer? He slowly took the letter from the owl wary of any explosions or hexes that the letter might contain. Opening it up he read the letter slowly reading in between the lines as well as taking the actual meaning of the words, as any good Slytherin would do. Obviously Draco had meant that something relating to the Dark Lord had happened after all they hadn't talked about any potions project before school left. Running out of the dungeons and towards Albus's office/rooms, he thought about what Draco could have seen. Realizing that there had been a Dark Gathering yesterday night he broke out into a run. "Albus!! ALBUS! Where are you? Damn you, where are you Albus?" called Severus frantically. "Severus, what happened?" asked Albus. Silently, Severus handed him the letter, his face unusually open and worried. Reading it quickly, Albus said, "Well, I see we have a problem. We must get him out of there." glancing at his long time friend. Albus knew that Severus cared about his students more then anyone could guess. He always worried about them, even if they were the worst type of people. Severus Snape was the only reason that many Slytherins hadn't gone over to the dark side. "Send him an owl telling him to ask his parents if they are going out sometime in the future. If they are tell him to owl back saying when, where, and how they are getting to the place." said Albus. Severus nodded and grabbed the writing tools in Albus's office and started a letter.
The next morning, Draco woke up to the soft hooting of an owl. Seeing the letter next to him, he groggily picked it up and read: Draco,
Prof. Dumbledore and I have constructed a plan to help you continue your potions project for me. Ask your parents if you are going out sometime in the future. Owl back during the night when, where, and how long they are going out and if you are going with them. We shall then see if one of us will able to apparate into your father's house and apparate with you. It would be advisable not to let others hear of this. We will wait two days before forcefully coming to your house if you do not owl back. Owl back as soon as possible.
Prof. Severus Snape
After reading the letter, three or four times Draco knew that Prof. Snape was worried. Even if everyone thought Prof. Snape was a greasy git, all the Slytherins knew that he wasn't. He was always there for the Slytherins at anytime and he always made sure that they were okay. For children who had always been ignored or abused (that was the case with most Slytherins) he had been a godsend. He would always listen and never judge. Every Slytherin knew he cared about any of his pupils including Gryffindors (even though he made sure not to show it) , but true to Slytherin he never showed or said it. Getting out of bed, Draco showered, dressed, and neatened his room before heading down to breakfast with his parents. "Good Morning, Draco." said Narcissa with a fake smile. "Good Morning, Mother. What is there for breakfast today?" replied Draco with his emotionless mask on. "Well, as you can see we have pancakes, oatmeal, and cereal. What would you like?" "Pancakes, please. Do we have any outings today, Mother?" "No, not today. We will go to Diagon Alley tomorrow at noon to buy myself some new robes and of course we have that feast tomorrow night." "You can be excused from the shopping if you wish, but I prefer you will come with your father and I." "Yes, of course, Mother, unfortunately I have quite some amount of homework and work to do. I also want to do some extra reading for my classes so I will ask to be excused from your trip to Diagon Alley. May I be excused, I have some homework to do that I wish to finish and I would like to spend some time flying on my new broom, Firebolt 2" "Of course, dear. Go ahead and finish your homework, before you go off and play like a good little boy." said Narcissa lifelessly.
Rushing upstairs, Draco hurried into his room. He took out a quill and started writing a letter to Prof. Snape and Prof. Dumbledore. He included the fact that he would be alone tomorrow around noon. Sending the letter off, he unsuccessfully tried to finish some of the work given to the soon to be sixth year students by teachers.
After spending an awful night slowly reliving all the dreaded thing he had done as a death eater, Severus was exhausted. He also was worried about Draco. He knew somehow that this summer would show if Draco would turn to the dark or to the light. Hopefully it wasn't the former, but the later. Walking tiredly into his living room, he sat down on his dark green couch and looked into the fireplace opposite the couch. Tiredly noting that the house elves had made a fire, he gazed into the foresaid fire. Slowly the hours went by as he thought about many things the least of being if Draco was innocent of any crimes after a Dark Revel. Suddenly, the same owl which visited him yesterday came back into the dungeons. Taking the letter, he read it over and over again. Reassuring himself that they would be able to pull this off, he headed down to the headmaster's office. After much discussion and planning, they decided that they would try to get plans of the Malfoy Manor and have Severus apparate into Draco's room and immediately apparate out with Draco. Severus decided that it would be easiest if Draco acted normal and pretended to have too much homework to come to Diagon Alley. He sent a letter back informing Draco of the plans. The whole day went by much too quickly for Severus's pleasure hoping that he would not have to sleep and witness his acts repeatedly. Berating himself he went down to his lab to make himself some Dreamless Sleep Potion. After making enough to last him three weeks, he retreated to his rooms only to fall into thankful dreamless sleep. After receiving a letter from Prof. Snape and Prof. Dumbledore, Draco knew that he had to act normal around his parents that included asking for something when they went out. He knew that they would leave sometime after breakfast, but before noon. They usually ate out when they went on these shopping trips. Showering and dressing, Draco went downstairs for breakfast. "Good Morning, Father. Good Morning, Mother." said Draco. "Good Morning, Darling. Come sit down. Are you sure you won't be able to join us today?" said Narcissa. "Won't be able to join us? Why not, boy?" demanded Lucius "My apologies, Father, Mother. I have a lot of work from school. I would like to finish it so tomorrow I can go out and perhaps have some fun." replied Draco. "I see, next time we go out, you are coming. No arguments. Now go away, stupid boy" Said Lucius. "Of course, Father." Said Draco reveling in the knowledge that next time his parents went out, he wouldn't be anywhere near this house or his parents. After bidding his father and mother goodbye, he retreated thankfully into his rooms. Watching the clock, he packed some clothes and some of his belongings into his trunk. He knew that apparating with big objects was hard so he hoped that whoever came could shrink his trunk. Severus woke up refreshed for once in his tormented life. Checking the time, (it was 8:00) he realized that in four hours, he would go to get Draco. Getting up, he lazily waked to the bathroom where he got ready to go to the Great Hall for breakfast. After a long bubble bath, (hey, even mean potions masters like bubble bathes ^_^) Severus went into his living room. "Hello! Good Morning, everyone! There is a staff meeting in one hour so get to the Great Hall as soon as possible. If you bring sweets, I'll save you a seat! Repeat, there is a staff meeting in one hour! Get to the Great Hall as soon as possible! Remember a seat for sweets!!!!" boomed a loud voice coming from a little tiny globe. The globe was an invention made by Dumbledore himself. Every staff member had one of them which he/she could use to talk to other staff members or the whole school if there was an emergency. Rolling his eyes, Severus continued his journey out of the dungeons towards the Great Hall. Entering the Great Hall, Severus saw that everyone was there. The whole "Hogwarts" Family had gathered. The Hogwarts Family consisted of: Fathers: Edward Flitwick
Albus Dumbledore
Mothers: Marthie Sprout
Minerva McGonagall
Poppy Pomfrey
Kids: Remus Lupin
Severus Snape
They would have special meetings where they would talk about family business or basically the war. The mothers would moan and groan about Severus's job and the fathers would talk seriously about his importance while Severus stood around annoyed. Remus Lupin was the newest addition to the family so he too would stand around. Severus hurried over to the teachers table. As he approached a number of calls went out. "Wonderful now that we are all here, I have a few announcements to make. I must say it seems as if the years just fly by don't they? This is the first year since Remus came that our family is all here!" exclaimed Albus joyfully. "Albus do get to the point!" said Severus. "OH! Severus, do not be such party pooper!! He is right, our family is back together! And it has been such a year!" said Marthie. "So Remus how are you? What did you do without us for a year?" said Eddy. For the next half an hour everyone chatted except for Severus who kept getting angrier and angrier! "ALBUS DUMBLEDORE!!!! I will be leaving in two and a half hours! I need to talk to you before I leave and make a potion. I certainly do not have enough time to chit chat with the rest of you! When is this meeting going to start?" yelled Severus silencing the room with his roar. "Now, Now, Severus! Patience is a virtue that is leaving you, my dear boy!" said Albus. "Albus! I have the littlest of little patience and what ever patience I have is leaving me right now! Albus!" said Severus. "Yes, yes, my boy! Okay, sorry madams, but you can talk to Remus later about his trips, now we have to discuss business!" said Albus. "What is so important that you had to call a family meeting?" asked Minerva. "Well, I really don't know how to say this, but Draco Malfoy is coming to stay with us during the rest of the vacation," said Albus unusually blunt. Silence swept the room as everyone stood in shock. "Wow, Albus. For the first time in my life, you were blunt!" said Severus, the only one who was not shocked by the news. "Yes, it seems that your bluntness is rubbing off on me, my boy." "You are not kidding, are you Albus?" asked Minerva. "Unfortunately, no my dear lady!" said Albus going on to explain why he was staying with them leaving out the gory details the Severus had told him about the Dark Gathering. "Who is going to bring the boy here and care for him?" said Poppy immediately wanting to comfort the poor boy for the angst she knew he was going through. "That would be my job" said Severus. "Yes, I have decided that Severus needs to get out of the Dungeons so I have made him in charge of Draco." said Albus with a twinkle in his eyes. "Good!" "He needs to go out more" "You will definitely have to join us now, Severus" chorused around the room. "Now when is Draco coming?" asked Minerva. "I am apparating today to his house at 12:00 to get him out! Now if you are done" said Severus getting up. "Yes, good luck my boy. Tell me before you leave" said Albus. "Okay" said Severus leaving the room. "Okay, I have my trunk packed. Parents are okay! What to do? What to do? Chill Draco, he will be here in a sec" thought Draco pacing his room at 11:55.Pop! Severus arrived in Draco's room exactly at 12:00. "Oh" startled Draco running up to greet his professor. "Put everything that you need shrink there, I will shrink it. Hurry up, boy! We don't have all day" said Severus shrinking Draco's trunk and things. "That's all, Prof." "Hold on to me" said Severus holding onto Draco tightly and apparating back to safe, ol' Hogwarts. Taking Draco, Severus strode down to the Headmaster's office. "Hello Draco. I hope that you are well! Lemon Drop anyone?" greeted the Headmaster cheerfully. "No, Professor Dumbledore." "Severus?" "No!" "I was thinking, Draco. Since you will be seeing me hopefully a lots of times this summer, it is quite silly to have you call me Professor Dumbledore or Headmaster. I think it would be lovely if you called me Uncle Albus" said the Headmaster gazing lovingly down at Draco. "Umm...okay" said Draco. "Remember Draco that whenever you need anyone of us, we are always here for you. My door is always open that is if you know the password!" "Yes, Uncle Albus" "Uncle? I never knew that you were related to the Malfoys, Albus" said Minerva sharply walking into the Headmaster's office. "Not like that. I just thought since Draco would be staying with us the whole summer, it would be lovely for him to use less formal names like Uncle and Aunt instead of Professor. Plus we wouldn't be able to tell who he was talking to half the time!" said Albus in a voice warning her not to contradict. Even if Albus wasn't so firm about it, Minerva wouldn't have contradicted. She cared about all her students not just Gryffindors, but Slytherins, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws too. She just had a very Slytherin way of showing it, just like Severus. "Yes, of course. I haven't been called Aunty Minerva in such a long time" said Minerva. "So, you want me to call you Aunt Minerva too?" asked Draco a little uncertain. "Of course, now who wouldn't want to be called that?" exclaimed Albus cheerfully. "umm...uhh...possibly..." stuttered Draco. "Me" said Severus simply saving Draco from much embarrassment. "Severus, why not?" "Because I am not an old man, he may call me Severus" said Severus. "Okay, Pro-Severus" said Draco nervously. "Now, we must go. I have to show Draco his room and he must unpack." "Yes of course. Do come for lunch in the Great Hall" said Albus as Draco and Severus walked down to his rooms. Severus walked to the Head Table leading Draco with him. After motioning for Draco to sit down, Severus sat down next to "Aunty Minerva". "So what are you going to do for the rest of the vacation" asked Minerva the one question that hadn't occurred to anyone. "I don't know?" "You don't know!! What are you going to do? Since Albus has practically banned you from the dungeons" "Prof... Uncle Albus has you banned from the dungeons?!!!" said Draco with amazement. "Yeah" "Wow! Can he do that?" "Obviously" snapped Severus. Draco cringed at the comeback which didn't go unnoticed by Albus. "Severus! Don't snap at Draco" said Albus. "Sorry Draco" said Severus causing Draco to gape and stare at him. "Boy, there are some things you have to learn while you are here. First thing is that I don't always act like when I am in class. So stop staring and close your mouth" Obediently Draco closed his partially open mouth. "Now, Severus after telling Draco all that shouldn't you take of Invirio, plus the only person here besides the Hogwarts Family is Draco. Everyone in the Hogwarts Family has seen you without it on." teased Albus. "What's Invirio?" asked Draco. (The idea that Severus doesn't look like he does in class normally is from the Awakening of a Royal. I really liked the idea so I borrowed the idea and changed it a little. It is a master level spell that even Albus would think twice of using. It uses the most powerful magic on earth, Earth Magic.) "Severus, shall I?" "Well, you have told him this much, if you don't tell him more he will just bug me the rest of the summer or find it out in the Library once he realizes that I won't feed him every answer to every question of his." "Oh, Severus!" "Wait, does he know about your "after school" activities" asked Albus before Minerva or Edward could launch into a full fledged lecture about Invirio. (After school activities meaning spying for the Order of Phoenix) "I think so" "Could you please not talk about me as if I am not here?" asked Draco cockily. Severus reached over and lightly cuffed the boy saying that in his day children were to be seen not heard. "In your day!!" said Albus and everyone burst out laughing. Severus did not join in on the laughter instead asked Draco, "Are you done eating? If you are then join me in the dungeons" "Not the dungeons my boy, what about the lake?" said Albus. "No, I would prefer to tell him in my rooms, I promised you I wouldn't stay in the dungeons all the time, but I need my rooms!" "Yes, I understand. Have you shown him his rooms?" "No, I will do that before we "talk" I have decided to put him in the Ocean Room" said Severus anticipating the headmaster's next question. The headmaster had always enjoyed the fact that the normally serious man had so outrageous guest rooms. "Severus? I am done," said Draco. "Good. Good day," said Severus to the rest of the Hogwarts Family. "Join us later in the staff room. Bring Draco with you!" called Albus after them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Severus and Draco walked into his no their rooms five minutes later. "This is your rooms" said Severus leading Draco into his guest rooms. "This is the bathroom and this is the dresser," said Severus pointing out the door to the bathroom and the dresser. "Wow!" was all Draco could say as he walked into the awesome guest rooms and the equally amazing adjoining bathroom. "If I ever hear rumors on how I have awesome guest rooms or nice quarters then you will find yourself cleaning the Giant Squid for the next year and a half everyday for three hours!!" threatened Severus almost jokingly. "I wouldn't say anything like that plus the other Slytherins would kill me if I spread a rumor like that around." "Kill you?" asked Severus with one eyebrow raised in question. (I have always wanted to be able to do that, except I never can do it...) "Severus, I thought you were supposed to be smart!" "Boy you are pushing it!!" "I am just saying that all the Slytherins respect you and don't tolerate any rumors about you." "Do they?" "Yeah, I think the last guy who tried saying something about you was beaten up so bad that he stayed in the hospital wing for a month" Severus remembered what he had come back to his rooms for. He sat down in a cozy chair by the fire while beckoning for Draco to do the same. "Draco, I need to tell you about some things that I did when I was a little older then you. If after hearing these things you don't want to live with me anymore then you may live with any of the remaining staff members." "Live with one of them? But why not you? Plus why would a slytherin ever abandon another for one of the rest?" "You will see. When I was your age, I was in Slytherin like you know. I was a loner for a quite some time, but soon became aquantencies with many wizards who later joined Voldemort. I used to spend my free time with your father and others who like him became Death Eaters. I used to love to read and research and learn about most things, but most of all potions. There wasn't too many potions that I hadn't tried by my sixth year so I was starting to get bored and was eager for more knowledge. During my sixth year and for some time more till my seventh year I found other things to occupy me. I started researching dark potions pretending that I wanted to make them only for the knowledge that I would get out of them. This was all during the middle of my seventh year. I didn't know that Voldermort had become interested in me due to my potions skill until the end of seventh year when I had started making dark potions just to learn the theory behind them. Truthfully, I had known and some what followed Voldemort during the months before that. Your father saw that and lured me in telling me that all I had to do was make potions and what not and I would get potions texts that were rumored to be lost and endless funding. I agreed. Why not, I thought. My father and mother had stopped funding me long time before that and I was desperately in need of funding for my little projects. So I joined the Death Eaters. After I was given the Dark Mark, I went to my first ever Dark Gathering. I hated it, they tortured, raped, and mutilated girls no older then thirteen and sometimes younger in front of me. I couldn't do that. Voldermort didn't make me, but instead let me skip these meetings. Then one day about three months after I was initiated he made me torture a little girl just to hear her scream. I couldn't take it, I broke. Every night, day in and day out I would hear her screams, following me. I found out so much about that little girl before she died. I found out how she had many friends and a great life before she and her family were caught by the Death Eaters. I watched as they forced her to watch her family die in front of her eyes. A week after that Dark Gathering, I came to Hogwarts. I went to the headmaster's office and told everything I knew and waited for him to turn me in. He never did instead pardoned me and promised to help me. The next month was an unusually quiet month and I didn't get any summons. During that month I decided that the only way to even partially make up for the deeds that I did that I would have to spy for Albus. I went to him with my idea and we worked out a plan where I could stay in the safe haven of Hogwarts while pretending to spy for Voldermort when in truth I was really spying on Voldermort. I never deserved the chance to make up for my sins, but Albus wouldn't hear otherwise. It took me quite some time to convince him to let me spy for him. I don't deserve the protection of Hogwarts, but I am digressing from my story. After that was when I started teaching. I would teach everyday then once a week or so I would be summoned. I would go to the meetings and try to save all the people who I could, but I never can save enough. For every one person who I save there is one more who dies at the hands of Voldermort," said Severus. "Oh" said Draco not really knowing what to say. He had known that mysteriously Severus had known whenever Draco was in trouble or pressure from his father into becoming a death eater, heck he had known that Severus had studied a little into the Dark Arts. Every Slytherin was taught basic curses, hexes, and spells before they came to Hogwarts to ensure that they would survive. He hadn't known that Severus was a spy for the headmaster. "If you don't want to stay here now, I understand" said Severus. "No! I don't care if you were Voldermort himself, you helped me escape from my father. That shows that you are worthy of anyone's trust" said Draco. "Which brings me to the Invirio matter. When I started teaching here I was merely twenty. Now I am barely thirty five. The average age of teachers was eighty and up so we had a little problem. We didn't want any possible distractions or anything of such so Albus and I can up with the plan of using Invirio. Invirio is a spell when properly done can have you change appearances in a blink of an eye. Once the spell is on all you have to do is wish for the appearance that you would like to give off and it happens. The appearance then can't be changed until you wish for yourself to go back to your normal state. Albus decided that if I had this spell on not only would our problem be solved could hide easily if I was discovered. It also help me disguise any damaged at the hands of Voldemort. The spell itself is very hard to do, but is worth the effort never wearing off. It uses some very elemental earth magic and raw power from the castor. It took us a month to master the spell before school began to master the spell and that too was because Albus was lucky enough to have previous experience with Earth Magic. Now everyday I put on a slightly older man. In class how old do you think I look?" "About fifties or late forties" said Draco honestly. "Yes, now how old do I look" said Severus taking off the Invirio. He now looked late twenties, early thirties at the most. All the harsh lines, hooked nose turned into softer lines and a smaller nose. The paleness of his skin though stayed the same. His hair stopped looking so greasy and actually looked clean. "Wow! You looked younger" said Draco in constant state of amazement. "Yes, very good Draco. I look younger because now I look like I am thirty or less...before you ask my real age it is thirty five. I have been teaching for fifteen years, I started when I was twenty." "oh" "Now, Draco do you have anything that you want to do this summer?" "umm..." "well I don't have forever, boy" "I wanted to learn how to make an invisibility potion and do the invisible charm" "You were going to research those on your own?" "Yes..." "If you were already willing to research that on your own then I would be willing to teach someone who is not a dunderhead like the rest of your class." "You would??" "No boy the only reason the words came out of my mouth was for fun" said Severus sarcastically. "Cool!!" "Muggle sayings? The Invisibility Charm I can't teach you, you will have to learn it from Edward or Minerva." "Who?" "Professor Flitwick or McGonagall." "oh." Severus glanced up at his clock. It was already four o'clock. Albus had told him to be in the staff room no later then five so they had at least another forty five minutes before they had to get out of the dungeons. "Do you need anything for the summer? Clothes?" "I don't think so, maybe a new caldron or more ingredients" "I will let you use my caldrons and my ingredients. We will need to take you shopping for you at the end of the summer anyway." "Oh, well I don't have any money except that of the money that I stole from my father." "We will see" "SEVERUS!" called a mysterious voice from outside the portrait. Severus opened it to find the headmaster standing outside smiling. "What Albus?" "Well, I wanted to make sure everything was all right, and tell you that it is already four thirty" "I know the time, old man," said Severus abruptly, but gently. "Do you? Good." said Albus. "So what did you really come to ask?" "The other teachers believe that Draco needs some education for the time being. Therefore, we have decided that if he wants he may take tutoring lessons from anyone of the teachers who are here." "We have already discussed that. I am going to take lessons from Severus." "Good, do you want any other lessons?" "No, I think that a potion is enough." "Very good, but the time limit on how long you can brew potions still stands. You have to clear extra time with me" "But..." stuttered Severus. "No buts, now come along. Lets show Draco the staff room. You will be spending time there this summer like the rest of us." With that Albus lead a protesting Severus and an interested Draco to the rest of the castle. Walking up to the same corridor that the Sorcerer's Stone was kept, he walked into the same room where Fluffy had stayed. "Isn't this the same corridor that..." "Yes, this is the same place where the stone was hidden" replied Severus knowing exactly what question Draco was saying. "Albus has a sick humor. To get to the Staff Room we have to get through the same obstacles that we put up." Albus who was slightly in front of Draco and Severus heard what Severus said and chuckled. "Well here it is!" "The entrance to the staff room is a trapdoor???" said Draco laughing. Severus cuffed the boy lightly. "Yes, unfortunately I couldn't allow the exact obstacle course to be recreated. I had to take out Fluffy, Devil's Snare plant (the plant that grabs everyone and is scared of fire, I don't remember the name) the Troll, and the Mirror of Erised was destroyed. So we still get to see the keys, the chess set, and of course the potions." said Albus with a chuckle. "Well hurry up" said Severus. "Yes, though this door is the flying keys" "Wow! How do we get through this place?" "You have to catch the key that fits the door" "Oh." "Luckily I have a replica of the key so you don't have to try. You may if you want to, go ahead" Draco eagerly grabbed the brooms next to the door and mounted the broom. He knew that Potter had used his seeker skills to get the key so he wanted to prove that he was worthy of any Potter, first year or not. He looked carefully at the key the headmaster was holding and started scanning all the keys around him. Then he saw it, like its brother it was big, sliver, and old fashioned. The only difference was that it had wings. He started toward it slowly as if not to startle it until he was a foot away. Then he reached out and quickly grabbed it almost falling off his broom. "Bravo! Bravo! You definitely are a good flyer, isn't he Severus?" said Albus. "Yes, of course he is the Slytherin seeker" At that Albus just laughed and let Draco open the door with his key. "This is the famous chess set that Ron Weasely passed" "Wow!" was all Draco could say. The chess pieces were three times his height and were elegantly made. "I would let you play, but we have disabled it for the time being. Maybe next time" "Oh." said Draco disappointed. "This is the famous potions challenge" said Albus, "Made by Severus of course. Would you like to guess at it?" Draco nodded and quickly read the rhyme. Muttering to himself he quickly pointed out the bottles that were each different substance until he got the bottle that they wanted. "This one" said Draco pointing to a small black bottle. "Good work, boy" said Severus praising Draco truly for the first time in his life. "Here you go, drink this" said Albus passing around the bottle. "This is the staff room once the room where the Golden Boy/Savior of the Whole Wizarding World, Harry Potter, battled Voldermort" said Severus snarkly once they passed through the fire. "Wow," exclaimed Draco looking around the room. The pillars were draped with rich blues and burgundies. There was three couches and five desks with the occasional stuffed comfy chair also there was some two or so coffee tables. Then there was a table with tea, coffee, and the condiments for the former. He saw Aunty Minerva, Uncle Edward, and Aunty Marthie lounging around talking and drinking some coffee or tea. "Hello, everyone" said Albus cheerfully. "Hello Albus" said Minerva without turning around. "Severus! Why are you here?" said Marthie. "Oh Am I not allowed to be in the staff room. Last time I checked I was on the Hogwarts Staff. Has anything changed since I last checked?" asked Severus sarcastically. "No, it's just that you never come here" said Minerva. "I asked him to come," said Albus. "More like ordered" muttered Severus. "What did you say?" said Albus with a chuckle. "You heard what I said." "I am an old man, I have bad hearing" "Sure, I bet that you have better hearing then I do" "Well if I don't then I have better memory" teased Albus. "Do you remember the first prank I pulled on the infamous Marauders?" teased back Severus. "I thought nobody had ever pranked the Marauders" said Draco with awe. "They were pranked as they pranked everyone else; they couldn't get away without being pranked at least once" said Albus. "Yes, I do remember that prank. That was when your true amount of raw power first showed through" "What happened" asked a curious Draco. "Well, Severus got into a fight with the Marauders on the train and they had turned his hair yellow with a simple spell" started Albus. "I decided to get some sweet revenge. After we had been sorted I used the first spell I ever learnt: Wingardium Leviosa" said Severus. "Yes, you levitated them then used a color changing spell on their hair" continued Albus. "Yes, that was the one of the more simple spells I had found in one of my mom's book." said Severus. "Yes, we all thought you had used a prank spell or a complicated hair changing spell so we tried everything we could to reverse it. You had used one of the simplest temporary beauty spells." "Yes, I didn't think that you guys wouldn't be able to change it. But that was soo funny. They had to go around with Slytherin green hair for three weeks" said Severus. "Yes, they were very angry with you" said Albus. "Yes, I believe that is when our legendry rivalry began" said Severus. "Yes, you took the slytherin/gryffindor rivalry to another dimension" said Albus with a chuckle. "Yes, it must have been an horror to teach" replied Severus. "No, it wasn't too bad" cut in Minerva. "Yes, it was very funny" said Marthie. "We had to stop ourselves from laughing at you" remembered Edward. "Tell me more" begged Draco. "No don't! We don't want Draco getting any ideas do we?" said Severus. "But Severus, I want to know!" whined Draco. "Oh my god, is the Draco Malfoy whining?" teased back Severus. "No!" protested Draco. Everyone broke into friendly laughter. Draco himself joined the laughter. "Hello, everyone. What is the joke?" said Remus Lupin coming into the room. "Hello Remus. We were just talking about the Marauder times" said Albus with a smile. "Yes, those were wonderful times" said Remus. "Did you also prank the Marauders?" asked Draco not understanding why everyone started laughing including Severus. "I don't understand why is everyone laughing!!" Draco pouted for a bit as everyone tried to stop laughing. "Well lets just say that I knew the Marauders." Said Remus with a chuckle causing everyone to laugh harder. Draco stared at his potions professor having never seen him laugh like this before. "What..Remus..means...to say..is that..he..is part..of the...Marauders.." said Albus between fits of laughter. "YOU?" said Draco astonished. "Yes, guess who Moony was?" joked Remus. "You are the Moony in the Maruaders. What do those nicknames mean anyway?" asked Draco. "Yes what do those nicknames mean?" asked Albus. "They were just funny nicknames, no real meanings except for mine which is obvious." replied Remus. 'wow...you really are the Moony in the Marauders. I heard that you were the brains of the whole prank operation" said Draco. "Yeah," said Remus a bit modestly, but also a bit proudly. "Wait, everyone knows that somebody named Remus was part of the Marauders, but I never connected you and him" said Draco. "Yeah, neither did any of your classmates. I had to tell Harry that I was part of his dad's friends group. He didn't get until later too that his dad's group was the famous pranksters, the Marauders." said Remus with pride. "Aren't you a bit full of yourself, Lupin?" said Severus. "Yeah, well aren't we all" joked Remus. "Well I can't say I am, but you definitely are" said Severus. "I personally think that both you are a bit full of yourselves" cut in Minerva with a smile. "I agree" chorused around the room. "Have you decided what you are going to do when you are not working on that potion of yours?" asked Albus turning the conversation back into serious matters. "No, not really. I want to brush up on a couple of curses, but otherwise than that, I really don't have anything." said Severus. "Are you sure that you don't want to go somewhere?" asked Albus. "Yeah, a week or two in the Bahamas would do you good" said Minerva. "No!" said Severus then he slightly gestured towards Draco. Draco unfortunately caught the gesture and realized that Severus couldn't go anywhere cause anywhere except Hogwarts, he would be a liability. "Go without me, I can take of myself. I have done that plenty of times when my parents left me at home. I can even cook if the need comes" "NO! I am not going anywhere and you are never to be left alone at Hogwarts or anywhere" said Severus. "What do you mean you have been left alone?" asked Albus gently; he didn't want to bring up bad memories. "My parents always needed to go somewhere or another, they would often stay at those places for weeks at a time. I would be left the house elves in the house. The house elves would bring me food and everyday I would get schoolwork from my parents. I would do the work and play inside the house" said Draco. Severus and Albus exchanged worried glances. They didn't know that Draco had a rotten childhood. They both had thought that Draco had been spoiled rotten. "Does anyone want any tea?" asked Marthie cutting through the tension with a simple question. "Yes, please" said Draco going over to the table of tea and coffee. "Draco" "Yes, Severus?" "Let's go back to the dungeons, I want to start getting the ingredients for the potion." "Okay!" said Draco immediately cheered up. "Well, what are we waiting for" With that Severus and Draco left the room. "Poor boy" said Minerva. "I never knew that he had such a bad childhood" said Marthie. "Me too." said Edward. "When he is here we must show him how a family can really be" said Albus. Everyone agreed to try their hardest to help Draco. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Here look through this one" said Severus handing Draco a book. After returning to the dungeons, Severus had started looking for the book with the invisibility potion in it. "Here it is" said Draco finding the potion. "Hmm...let me see...we might have to talk to Marthie about this one...do I have that.." muttered Severus looking through the ingredients list. "Well, I have everything except the unicorn hoof plant's root. That is a rarer ingredient then the rest of the ingredients" "Where can we get it?" "We should ask Marthie, today at dinner," said Severus stopping Draco from running out to ask her right away. "oh" "Do you have anything to do?" asked Severus. "I have to start my lesson plans so you can help, but it is very boring" "I think I am going to go rest" said Draco. "I am a bit tired, I think the apparating tired me out" "Yes, then I won't have Poppy yelling at me at dinner" Draco went into his new room and laid down on the bed. (This is his thoughts.) "What a day! I can't believe so much has happened. I don't have to join the Death Eaters or be perfect. I will never be beaten again, I will be able to learn potions without having to hide. I am glad I came to Hogwarts instead Drumstang" Slowly as he reviewed the day, Draco fell into deep peaceful sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Severus finished all the first weeks lessons plans. He looked up at the clock and realized that he had spent three hours on the lesson plans. "Where is that boy?" wondered aloud Severus. He hadn't seen hide nor hair of Draco since he started his work. Severus knocked lightly on Draco's door, when he got no answer he lightly pushed open the door. Seeing Draco asleep, Severus thought about waking Draco. Deciding against that, Severus pulled a blanket over the boy and Severus went back into the living room and picked out his favorite book. He opened to page thirty three and started reading. One hour later Draco was still asleep and Severus had joined him in Dreamland dozing in a comfy chair. "Severus" called Albus from outside the portrait. "Dear Sir, are you the headmaster?" asked the portrait. "Yes," "Then you are allowed into the rooms" said the portrait swinging open. Albus walked in Severus's rooms. At first everything seemed as if the master of the rooms were out until he noticed Severus dozing on the chair. Chuckling to himself, he continued his search this time for Draco. Remembering that Severus had put him in the ocean guestroom, Albus walked over and knocked lightly on the door. Hearing no answer, Albus opened the door. Noticing the sleeping boy, he understood that the day had been trying for both Severus and Draco. They still were in midst of trying to settle in and trying to learn more about each other. Albus walked back into the living room and left a little message for Draco and Severus:
I came to see why you weren't at dinner, when I noticed that both of you were sleeping, I informed the house elves to bring your dinner here. I advise you to sleep some more, you both look tired. Severus, it would be best if you do not strain yourself with potions or strenuous reading for the rest of today. Good day,
Albus ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A/n: Finally the end of the first chapter. If I stretch it out anymore, I would be really pulling the patience of my readers. So I think that it is best we leave Severus and Draco in dreamland. Hopefully, I will write the next chapter soon. If ya liked it or if ya didn't please review!!
A/n: I corrected this and reviewed it to make sure it fit with my timeline...continue on to the next chapter and don't forget to review!