Snape had never been too fond of Azkaban, but then no one was fond of Azkaban, not even the Dementors, which their uprising had proved. However, even with less of those creatures, Azkaban was an uncomfortable place, cold and damp and gloomy.

'Lucius.' Snape nodded to his old friend through the cell bars. The environment had taken its toll on Lucius Malfoy but his grey eyes had remained the same. Lucius' cell was 2x2 metres with a cot and a bucket. For someone who had lived with house elves all his life Lucius' cell was remarkably clean but then there was nothing to do around here.

'Severus,' the other man replied. Snape had never seen his friend like this. Lucius looked not only disarrayed and unclean but like he wanted to squirm out of his skin.

'Why did you want to see me?' Azkaban was no place for polite small talk.

'How is Draco?' Lucius asked instead.

'As well as expected, with his father being arrested,' Snape answered.

'The Dark Lord hasn't approached him yet?' It sounded hopeful, too hopeful for someone who claimed to be a devoted follower, but Snape knew Lucius long and good enough to know that his first and foremost devotion lay with his wife and his child.

'No,' Snape answered simply. 'Do you expect that he will?'

'He will, you know that.' Through the bars, Lucius grabbed Snape's wrist. 'You have to protect Draco. Don't let him pay for my mistakes.'

'You want me to shield your son from our Master?'

'He's a child, Severus. He's your godson and he looks up to you. He will do what you tell him.'

They could hear steps approaching. The prisoners weren't meant to be alone with their visitors but Dumbledore had put in a good word for Severus.

'Severus, please.' Lucius gritted out between his teeth.

'You know the consequences for you and Narcissa?'

'We both know.'

'I'll protect him.'

'Do you swear?' Lucius asked urgently.

'I'll swear the unbreakable vow to Narcissa.' Snape withstood the urge to roll his eyes because this urge wasn't the least bit appropriate in this situation, but as usual Lucius underestimated Severus' own fondness of Draco.

A Ministry official came around the corner and looked curiously from Lucius to Snape. It was expected but still annoyed Snape. They weren't some kind of circus animals.

'I'll give your family your best wishes then.' Snape said curtly.

'Thank you.' Lucius replied before the official accompanied Snape to the exit where a boat waited. The day was stormy and Snape thankful that he had had the foresight to drink an anti-sea-sickness-potion.

He hadn't made a light promise to Lucius. Snape knew that his friend was right when it came to the Dark Lord. He knew his followers weaknesses and Lucius' weakness was his family. To punish Draco would hurt the most and set an example that would stay in mind. Many Death Eaters had children.

Draco, like Lucius, wasn't a very likable person, too self-confident, too intelligent, too arrogant and too few morals, but friendship made one more forgiving and lenient. And Snape liked the boy, had known him since he was born and had a box full of letters in scratchy handwriting and full of mistakes with childish questions about when he would come for Christmas or summer and with Draco's latest success with a new potion.

Likable or not, Lucius, Draco and Narcissa were the closest thing Severus had to a family and as a true Slytherin, family and friends mattered more than reputation or morals.

Draco was more than relieved to board the Hogwarts express. His summer vacations had been less than exciting. After a few silent days at home his mother had sent him to some distant relative in New Zealand where he had spent seven weeks doing Muggle work with sheep. There had been no other boys or girls, just a handful old men and Draco knew now why exactly his father had never mentioned this particular relative before.

He never wanted to see or hear or smell a single sheep again. And he had a bad feeling that he may never be able to eat mutton again without thinking of Cindy or Chris or any other of his great-cousin-uncle-whatever sheep.

His duty as prefect would have included harassing the new students, but he didn't feel like it. The conversation between his mother and Snape that he had overheard a few days ago still haunted him.

He managed to avoid Potter and any of his devoted followers and joined Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, Theo and Blaise in a compartment.

'Hi, Draco.' Pansy greeted him cheerfully. 'How was your summer?'

'Boring.' Draco said shortly, but then, because she was his friend, he asked. 'How was yours?'

And Pansy began to chat about her vacations in France with her parents and skiing with her uncle in the Swiss Alps. Draco made the appropriate comments at the right moments while his thoughts drifted back to Snape and his mother a few days ago.

'Narcissa, it would be safer for all of you.' Snape sounded like he had said this argument several times before.

'No, Lucius and I agree on this,' his mother answered harshly. Draco knew this tone. It meant that his mother was absolutely adamant on her opinion.

'His vengeance will not be easy on you if you do not give him the boy you're the first who will suffer.'

'I cannot believe that you consider giving Draco over.'

'Your sister would say that you should be proud.'

'Bella has no own child of her own and she's mad.'

'I just want you to consider all of your options. You see the impact Lucius' imprisonment has on him. Do you think it will be easier for him to hear that his mother has vanished or has been tortured to madness or killed? He's intelligent enough to draw the right conclusion. Don't you think he will blame himself? And Azkaban isn't as safe as the Ministry wants to believe either. Do you honestly think that he's better off as an orphan?' But his mother interrupted him with an impatient gesture.

'Lucius and I have talked about this, Severus. Neither of us could bear the loss of our child.'

'Very well, Narcissa. I wish you good luck.'

'For you, too Severus. You will need it more than me.'

Snape grunted as if he disagreed but didn't want to start an argument again.

Draco's thoughts came back to the present when the door of their compartment opened and a young boy out his head in.

'Blaise Zabini?'

Blaise made an affirmative noise and the boy gave him a parchment roll with a flustered look. Blaise usually had that effect on people.

'From Professor Slughorn.' All that was missing was the sir. As the door closed behind the boy, Pansy asked, 'Professor Slughorn?'

'Probably our new DADA teacher.' Theodore said without looking up from his book.

Pansy made a face at him and asked Blaise,

'What does he want from you?'

'Some kind of meeting for some of the students.' Blaise sounded bored but it peaked Draco's interest.

'He was Snape's potion master,' he told his friends.

'Maybe he wants to meet his UTZ students,' Pansy said. Theodor snorted derisively. He and Pansy just didn't get along.

'Then he would have invited Draco as well.'

That triggered an equally sharp reply from Pansy, and the two began to bicker. Draco's interest wavered. It was tempting just to look out of the window and let his thoughts drift back when Blaise suddenly yawned and stretched. He hadn't put on his uniform yet and his t-shirt rode up enough to reveal his toned and muscular stomach. Draco felt his heart beat faster and his cheeks heated. When Blaise slumped back in his seat, Draco's eyes observed his face carefully. He wasn't sure why he hadn't noticed this before, but Blaise was handsome. He was absolutely, utterly beautiful.

Something twisted in Draco's stomach and he had to look away. This was inappropriate. Not only the time and place but also with his father in prison and his mother in danger he had more important things to think about than Blaise's physical appearance.

'Hey Draco!' Blaise tossed him a choco frog,'Quit daydreaming.'

'I was comparing Ginny Weasley and Astoria Greengrass,' Draco lied with a leering face.

'Yeah?' Blaise obviously didn't believe him. 'Who won?'

'Is that a question?' Draco asked disbelievingly, 'Gryffindor. Slytherin.' He made a gesture with both hands.

'But Ginny Weasley is a Quidditch player and we all know that you prefer Quidditch players, don't you?'

'I think you're confusing me with you,' Draco retorted but his insides swarmed like butterflies when Blaise gave him a smirk that said that he had won this little argument and he knew it.

'And Weasleys are blood-traitors anyway,' Draco added just to keep Blaise's attention on him, who rolled his eyes.

'Please, who hasn't some blood-traitor in their family? There are worse things.'

'Like?' Theo had finally looked up from his book and Draco really wanted to hit him because Blaise's eyes shifted to Theo.

'Having a Death Eater as a parent,' Blaise replied easily. Draco felt sick, like someone had hit him in the stomach. He looked out of the window again but he heard Theo's angry 'Fuck you.'

Blaise shouldn't talk like this, not as a Slytherin, not as a friend when both Theo's and Draco's fathers were sitting in Azkaban. The nausea threatened to take over and Draco stumbled out of the compartment. Friends or not, he would never let anyone see him this weak. In the aisle he was tossed against someone by a violent motion of the train and a voice he knew only too well complained,'Watch it, Malfoy,' and tossed him back against the other wall.

Ron Weasley, red hair, ratty clothes and even with his growth spurt this summer was still as tall as Draco. And for the first time since he came to Hogwarts, Draco did something very un-Malfoy-like, and instead of taking out his wand and cursing Weasley flat against the wall, Draco closed his fist and hit him in the face.

It felt damn good and satisfying for the whole thee seconds that it took for a) his knuckles to begin to hurt and b) for Weasley to hit him back.

Before Draco could get a second hit, something held them away from each other. The Granger girl had turned up and levitated them both a metre from each other.

'Stop it! You are both prefects!'

'He started it.' Weasley yelled.

'You're sounding like a first-year girl,' Draco sneered. He had missed this. Giving Potter and his gang what they deserved, filthy scum that they were.

'Come on, Hermione, let him curse me. I bet they have some nice little cell right next to his daddy's-'

'Stop it!' Granger screamed. Her voice was so shrill that Draco felt the urge to cover his ears and if Weasley's flinching face was any indication, he did too.

Suddenly the restraints were lifted and they both landed on their feet. Granger took Weasley's arm and dragged him with her. Draco could hear her saying:

'Let it go, Ron. Malfoy's not worth it.'

'This isn't over,' Draco yelled after both of them. He would make them pay for his father. Everyone of Potter's gang would pay for what they did.

When he came back to the compartment, Blaise was gone. At Draco's questioning look, Pansy explained that he had gone to Slughorn's meeting.

Pansy took out a romance novel and Draco played wizard chess with Theo, while Crabbe and Goyle snored in their respective corners.

Even when Potter turned up in the Great Hall after all, Draco still had the satisfaction to tell everyone at the Slytherin table how he broke Potter's nose for spying on them. The Talking Hat's speech hadn't been very encouraging, after all, the damn hat had nothing to lose. The thing with Slughorn still bugged him, too, and that he wasn't able to look away from Blaise for more than a few seconds despite Blaise's earlier comment.

When the main course disappeared, Draco looked up to the teacher's table. The half-giant was still there but fortunately Draco had to endure the idiot's lessons no longer. To think that he had only taken that lesson in the first place because it gave him more time to torture Potter, well maybe he was a bit masochistic, but he had drawn the line at divinity.

The first evening was usually a very loud occasion, and this year was no exception. Pansy didn't even pretend that she had any responsibility for the younger students and threw herself into the party.

As long as no student ended up at the infirmary with alcohol poisoning, Snape turned a blind eye.

An old Slytherin tradition was to show the new students their first spells to use on the other houses' students, but Draco felt strangely unattached to the scenery in front of him. It was like none of them cared that his father was in prison and his mother in danger from the Dark Lord nonetheless.

Theo was nowhere to be found, but that was nothing unordinary, and Blaise had found a fifth year to flirt with, a very beautiful girl with black curls that reached down to her waist.

Draco's stomach clenched at the sight and he decided that he needed some fresh air. He could hear Pansy call after him but he acted as if he hadn't heard her.

The hallway on the other side of the gargoyle was dark but Draco didn't light his wand. In this absolute darkness he felt safer than anywhere else. He had always believed that obscurity equalled safety.

'Mr. Malfoy.' Draco closed his eyes against the brightness of a wand. Unfortunately the voice that had sneered his name was not Snape's.

'Lower your wand.' Draco snapped. It was probably not the best idea to aggravate an Auror but he was really not the mood for politeness, especially not for someone who had witnessed against his father.

'What are you doing outside of your house at this hour?' The Auror sneered again. One could think that he held a personal grudge against Draco, who hadn't even dressed down a single student yet in this year.

'That's none of your business,' replied Draco in a tone that mirrored the one the Auror had used.

'You will see that it is.' The Auror grabbed Draco's shoulder. 'You'll come with me to Snape.'

'Professor Snape.' Draco put emphasis on the first word. 'And let me go.'

Snape's office never failed to fill Draco with a feeling of coming home. The glasses full of potion ingredients and the smell of various spices had a calming effect on him.

When they entered, another door opened and Snape came in. He didn't even do so much as look at Draco before he asked,'what now, Savage?' The Auror gave Draco a light shove on Snape's direction.

'Found him outside his dorm room.'

'And?'

'You're his Head of House, you decide how to punish him.' Draco absolutely hated it when people who were talking about him behaved like he wasn't standing right next to them.

'If you escort him back to his dorm, then that is punishment enough.' Draco grinned when he practically could hear the Auror grind his teeth. Snape vanished without another word, not even a look to acknowledge Draco's presence.

'If I ever catch you outside at this hour again, I won't bring you to Snape,' the Auror said as they were standing on the outer side of the gargoyle.

'So what?' Draco asked back arrogantly and stepped through the hole behind the statue.

'Hey, Draco, where have you been?' Pansy put her arms around his neck and giggled.

'Nowhere.' He disentangled herself from her. 'I'm going to bed.'

'But-' Her protest was swallowed by the noise around them as Draco walked away from her. He pointedly ignored Blaise and the fifth year, who were standing entangled in a corner next to the stairs that led to the boy's rooms.

The room was deserted except for Theo, who lay on his bed, reading a book.

'Hey.' Draco said.

'Already tired?'

'The third year of seeing Blaise mauling a pretty girl has become tiresome.' He threw his robe onto his bags. 'Night.'

'Night.' Theo replied before Draco closed his drapes. But he couldn't sleep. At one point Crabbe and Goyle came in, audibly drunk and arguing about their summer flings but Draco tuned them out. He listened for Blaise's softer, nearly dance-like step and thought about his mother and why Snape hadn't looked at him earlier.

Maybe Snape knew that Draco had heard him talking with his mother the other day and felt guilty now for listening to Narcissa's plea. Draco suddenly felt angry at his parents. He was sixteen, they couldn't just rule over his life anymore. If his not joining the Death Eaters put them in danger, then they should just let him do it. His father had always spoken about it as if it was an honour that he now denied Draco. They should be proud of him that the Dark Lord wanted him in his army at such an age and stop trying to protect him as if he was an infant.

The door to the dorm opened and Draco could hear Blaise's voice, soft and flirtatious even if he couldn't make out the exact words. Draco rolled on his other side and covered his ears with his pillow.

He didn't fall asleep for a very long time.

The next morning was worse. The house elves had made porridge for breakfast, which Draco hated almost as much as he hated Potter, then Potter and Weasley suddenly turned up in Potions, the only class Draco had had without them, and on top of that, Potter unearthed some previously unknown talent for potion making.

In Herbology, a plant bit him; and at lunch, Blaise sat with this new girl-toy, Theo was nowhere to be seen again, and Pansy giggled over something with Daphne and Astoria.

Snape continued to ignore him in Defence Against the Dark Arts and Blaise got another invitation from Slughorn, who did his best to ignore that both Draco and Theo had good connections to important people just because their fathers were Death Eaters.

The only good thing that happened was his promotion to captain of the Slytherin team.

Saturday hadn't been able to come too fast. The whole week had been like the first day, and even Pansy seemed disappointed with him because he wasn't attached to the hip with her like Blaise was with his girl.

It had been a pretty lonely week for Draco. Sure, he still had Crabbe and Goyle, but they weren't as entertaining as Blaise with his sharp wit. Only now that Blaise actually spent time with his conquest, Draco noticed how much time he and Blaise had used to spend together. Blaise was the only one who didn't accept Draco's status as First Slytherin without a challenge and he was the only one who never backed down from Draco, had never looked up to him. Blaise was the only one of Draco's friends who treated him as though they were equal and Draco missed that because it had made things more interesting.

Also, every time he saw Blaise with his girlfriend, he either felt like ripping her apart or like vomiting. It was also the reason why he had left the castle for the Quidditch field very early.

'Hey.' A boy approached him. He was just as tall as Draco with dark eyes and honey-coloured hair. In other words he was very attractive but definitely not from Slytherin.

'And you are?' Draco asked in a bored voice but he was curious what the hell the other boy was doing here.

'I'm Cormac McLaggen.' The boy extended his hand: 'Future Keeper of the Gryffindor team.'

'Then you're wrong here.'

'I was –'

'Back off, McLaggen.' Blaise came onto the field, surprisingly girlfriend-free.

'I'll see you.' He winked at Draco, before he left.

'What did he want?' Blaise sneered at Cormac's back.

'Don't know. You know him?' Draco asked while showing nothing more than casual interest.

'From Slughorn's club.' Blaise still made a face as if Cormac was worse than Potter: . 'He's a show-off and Slughorn practically kisses his ass because his uncle has some high position in the Ministry and knows the Minister.'

'Doesn't sound so bad for a Gryffindor.' Draco successfully hid his grin at Blaise's angry and disbelieving snort. He enjoyed riling up Blaise at every opportunity.

'He's also rather attractive for one. Like that Weasley girl.' His father would kill him for this sentence alone, but the look of utter apallment on Blaise's face was so worth it.

'Whatever.'

With Pucey gone there was no question that Vaisey would finally make it into the team as second chaser and Blaise became the third. Blaise, like Theo, could have become a Chaser way earlier but Theo simply wasn't interested and Blaise had had his problems with Pucey.

Hestia Jones, a fourth year who looked as thin as a twig, could pull her weight surprisingly well as a keeper and the twins Pan and Fauna Carrow became the new beaters.

Warrington was pissed that he hadn't become captain but he was still a Chaser so he couldn't complain.

Draco had enjoyed being back in the air and had pulled some ridiculously dangerous stunts because Cormac had followed him with his eyes and whistled every time Draco neatly avoided breaking his neck. Not to mention that that had really bothered Blaise. Draco still hadn't forgiven him for the comment he had made in the Hogwarts Express and if getting the attention of a Gryffindor was all it took to get retribution on Blaise, then Draco saw no problem.

On Sunday morning, Snape finished ignoring Draco when he came to the Slytherin table even before the owls had come.

'Mr. Malfoy, please follow me.'

'Can't it wait?' Draco asked annoyed. He was really hungry and not in a generous mood to forgive that Snape had ignored him for the past week.

'No.'

'I haven't even eaten yet,' Draco protested.

'Now, Mr. Malfoy.' Snape's voice left no room for protest. Draco made a face as he got up and followed Snape out of the Great Hall. They went the whole way down to Snape's office.

'Please sit, Draco.' Draco threw himself in one of Snape's armchairs that were a lot more comfortable than they looked.

'What is it?' He was fast running out of patience.

'Your mother was reported missing last night,' Snape said calmly. Draco shot up.

'No. No, this has to be a mistake.'

'Unfortunately it's not.'

Rage dwelled up in him. How could Snape be so calm? He was not talking about a stranger. He was talking about the woman he had-

'It's your fault,' Draco accused him, standing up. He was nearly as tall as Snape.

'You promised her that you wouldn't bring me to the Dark Lord. You put her in danger.' His voice was high and close to breaking but he really didn't care.

'Maybe you even sent them there. Way to elevate your rank, betraying your friends.'

'I have done no such thing. Your parents knew the risks, and if you really listened to me and your mother talking then you know that.'

'Then where is she? What do they want with her?' Draco screamed.

'I don't know.'

'Liar! That's what you are a dirty, spineless liar.' Draco dragged the back of his hand harshly over his eyes. He would not cry. Not in front of Snape, not in front of anyone. Malfoys didn't cry.

'You would let her die-' The tears didn't want to stop coming, no matter how much he wanted them to. 'You would let me die, too, wouldn't you? And my father.' He wanted to hurt Snape, hurt him for standing there calmly and judging Draco's weakness.

'An owl has been sent to Azkaban. If you want, I'm sure we could arrange a visit for you, due to the extraordinary circumstances.' Then Snape did something he hadn't done for years: He drew Draco in an embrace that Draco fought half-heartedly for a few moments but succumbed to in the end. Snape smelled like his office; after varying spices from sharp pepper to sweet, dried oranges.

He didn't say anything, just held Draco until the sobs subsided, then he let him go.

'Wash your face before you go back to the Great Hall,' Snape advised him. The familiarity was soothing. Shape up boy and be a Slytherin.

'I'll talk with the Headmaster about a visit to Azkaban.'

A few minutes later, Draco looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He was presentable again, his hair in order and his face not red and puffy anymore.

He must have missed something, though, because whispers started as soon as he came back, mostly because the owls had come and his mother's vanishing was the headline, but Blaise's girlfriend of all people whispered to her friend.

'He looks like he cried, doesn't he?' And giggled.

It only took seconds: he grabbed a fistful of her thick, black hair and dragged her backwards from her seat onto the floor and hit her with his fist. And again. And again. He was on his knees over her and hit her again and again.

He wasn't fully aware of what he was doing until someone grabbed his arms from behind and dragged him away from her.

Of course, Blaise chose that moment to saunter in and all he saw was Draco who had to be dragged away from attacking his girlfriend.

Draco felt very much like crying again and possibly begging Blaise to listen to him first before he judged the scene.

'Mr. Malfoy.' McGonagall's serious voice cut through the noise of all Hogwarts students whispering fiercely.

'Please Hagrid, would you be so kind to bring Mr. Malfoy outside. I'll accompany Miss Jayne to the infirmary.'

'Let me go, you monster.' Draco freed himself from Hagrid's grip but he followed him outside, pointedly ignoring all the whispering around him. Blaise stood still in the entrance to the Great Hall but Draco avoided his eyes and held his head high.

Outside they met Snape who just came upstairs.

'Mr. Malfoy, I was under the impression that you wanted to go to breakfast.'

'He attacked a girl.' Hagrid said. Snape raised his eyebrow only a millimetre.

'You had better go back, Mr. Malfoy. I don't tolerate lateness.'

'But Dumbledore-' Hagrid protested but Snape cut right over him.

'I am Mr. Malfoy's Head of House and I say that he can go back to breakfast.'