In Times of Trouble

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Goldensnitch18

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Rated M

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Summary:

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Disclaimer: I am not profiting from this story.

Anything you recognize belongs to the great and mighty JKR.

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Chapter Nine: Return

Packing his suitcase seemed the most ridiculous of things to be doing the night before the Hogwarts Express would take Draco to Hogwarts for his final year. Despite this, he was doing it anyway. After he had been forced to torture the idiots who had let Potter, Granger, and Weasley escape them, he had begun to look at his father in an entirely new way. His father was weak. He had lost all of the power he had once possessed in this hierarchy of madness, but more than anything, he had no ability to protect Narcissa any longer. Draco should have understood this back when she had been tortured by the Dark Lord, but it had taken time for the situation to truly sink in. His mother had no longer had any protection, except him. He was dead set that would not let anything else happen to her, not so long as he lived at least, or at least that had been the plan.

Instead, his mother had insisted that he pack his things, that he return to school, that she wouldn't see him spend a single day in this place that wasn't absolutely necessary. Even in her own vulnerability, she was trying to protect him. In the end, he had been given no choice to follow her wishes, even though obeying her left an ashy taste in his mouth. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see her laying before him, her body a husk on the precipice of death. What if it happened again? Who would save her?

Behind him, the bedroom door opened and closed. He didn't need to turn to know it would be her. His father and his haunted eyes stayed far away from Draco these days, whether out of guilt or by Narcissa's orders, Draco was not sure. Part of him hated it, longed for the days when he had seen his father so differently, but part of him was glad, glad that he didn't have another reason to lie, another interaction to feign.

"Draco," she said softly, her voice carrying through the room even so.

"Yes?" he asked. He picked up a scarf from the bed and threw it into his trunk. He didn't even care what he took to Hogwarts. What did it matter now? The Ministry had fallen. Who knew what Hogwarts would even be now? He would likely be safe there. Snape was to be Headmaster. He was a Pureblood, a Death Eater, but his family was still making up for mistakes, so many mistakes, and everyone with connections would know that. He would never admit it out loud, never speak the words to another living soul or even when he believed himself alone, but he had hoped that Potter had had some sort of plan, that there was the possibility of another future, but so far there had been nothing. He knew from scattered spying that the Death Eaters were watching a few locations around the clock, but he had successfully stayed out of the rotation. This blessing he attributed to Snape, even though he wasn't sure if that was correct. Potter seemed to have vanished, taking the small amount of hope Draco had allowed himself to feel along with him.

"I don't want you to go like this." He hand rested on his back between his shoulder blades, and he closed his eyes to collect himself, remembering times when she would gently reassure him when he was small, and the hardest thing he faced was struggling to make friends.

"You want me to go, and I'm going," his voice was harsh, too harsh, but it was difficult to control these days. Everything felt so out of his control.

"I want you to be safe," she whispered, though they both knew if someone wanted to hear, they would.

"I'm no safer there than here," he assured her. They had already argued this for hours, there was no point in starting again.

"Severus will be with you," she said in the same soft tone.

"Snape? You think -"

"I know, Draco." She moved around him, settling herself on his bed. She lifted a sweater from the pile of crumpled clothes and began to fold it. He watched her as she moved through item after item, loading his trunk.

"Why do you trust him so much?" he asked after several long minutes.

"He's a good man," she said simply.

"He killed Dumbledore," Draco replied, praying that they weren't being listened to. He hated the feeling of someone at every door, especially in their own home.

"We've all done terrible things."

"Not you," Draco told her.

"Even me. Especially me," she sighed as she dropped matched socks into the trunk and looked up at him, her eyes seeming to scan him slowly, taking in every particle of his face. "Trust him," she said, though it sounded more like begging. "Trust him, and do as he says."

"I don't-" Draco started, still unconvinced. It was so difficult to trust anyone these days. What was he even trusting in? He held no more love for the Dark Lord. It seemed a terrible thing to trust one of his closest servants.

"I would trust him with my life again and again, darling." His mother stood, her hand outstretched until it cupped his cheek. "You are so strong, so strong, but sometimes, we need other people to help us regardless of our own strength."

Draco hated how good it felt to have her pull him in, have her hug him again like she did when he was small, to breath in the familiar scent of his mother. It brought a hard lump to the surface of his throat, a lump he had to cough to break up. She rubbed at his back in slow circles and pulled back. "Okay," Draco told her, though he still wasn't convinced he could do what she was asking. It was a dangerous thing to trust anyone.

"I'll send your dinner up. Just … go and study and try to focus on school. You'll be home and back with us soon enough." The request was utterly ridiculous, the idea that he could focus on Arithmancy or Transfiguration when his mother was here in this hell was beyond all likelihood, but he found himself nodding sullenly anyway. Anything to try to give her some comfort.

"I love you," she told him, giving his hand one final squeeze before she crossed the room again. The door opened and shut behind him once again, and he kept his eyes on the open trunk. When she had gone, he leaned forward, his hands gripping the edges tightly as he focused on keeping his breathing calm.

XXX

He had been early. He didn't want to deal with the politics. His mother was eager to see him gone. It just worked out that way for both of them. She had smiled as he left her. He had tried to keep his face from turning sour, but he was surely failing. He had walked towards the back of the train, not caring about the small smattering of students that were already aboard, until he found the very last compartment. It was still empty, of course. He took out a book, sat down, and kept his eyes away from the door.

Pansy found him first. She seemed unperturbed by any of the changes to the world, but she had always been very good at hiding her emotions. It was a trait most Pureblood girls learned from a very young age. She sat beside him, but seemed to realize he wasn't in the mood for words. She was silent as she used her wand to change the colors of her nail polish.

Blaise followed, apparently still considering a Malfoy worthy of sitting with. Draco hadn't been sure where the other boy would fall. His mother was very much about power, and the Malfoys were floundering. Blaise had never been a good friend, but he was good enough, Draco supposed.

Their final companion for the ride was Daphne Greengrass. She slipped in just as the train was about to leave, breathing heavily as she asked if she could sit with them. Pansy nodded, pointing to the seat next to Blaise, who ignored her. As the train began to move, slipping quickly away from the station, Draco began to glance away from his book, taking in the site of his three companions. He thought initially that he had been setting a tone of sullen silence, but looking at their faces, it was clear they all felt the weight of what was happening outside.

An hour in, Daphne was the first to speak. "Teach me that?" she asked Pansy who had moved from her fingers to her toes. Draco wanted to scorn them, the words filled his mouth even, but when Pansy looked up, her eyes suspicious for just a flash before she smiled, he stopped dead. He would give anything to be distracted by a new spell right now.

Two hours in, two Death Eaters searched their compartment They gave Draco long looks before shaking their heads and turning away. His companions stared long after they were gone until Blaise finally broke the silence "Why the fuck would Potter be hiding in here?"

"Why would even be on the train?" Daphne asked, seemingly amazed that the Death Eaters had been searching at all. "How dense would he have to be to come to Hogwarts?"

"Even Potter isn't that much of an idiot," Pansy added. To the casual observer she would seem her normal self, but Draco heard the small escalation of her tone and noticed the way she tapped her foot silently against the floor. She was afraid, nervous, confused. They all were, even him.

"His Mudblood wouldn't let him," Blaise told them, "even if he was that stupid."

"If they have any brains they'll have left the country," Daphne added, nodding at Blaise.

Draco actually laughed then, trying to imagine Potter abandoning them all, running away, never to return. "He's too bloody Gryffindor for that," he spat. "Granger's parents are gone, fled. Weasley is apparently sick. Potter has vanished." Draco stared out the window at the countryside, as if he might see the trio out there staring back. "They have to be up to something."

"They've all be killed the first time they try anything," Blaise guessed.

"Potter has a good deal of stupid luck," Draco countered.

"No one has enough luck to defeat him," Pansy whispered. She crossed her arms, and Draco began to wonder what exactly her summer had been like. He had been so consumed by his own plight that he hadn't taken a moment to consider what his schoolmates may have been dealing with. In most cases, it was likely less dramatic than his circumstances, but it was possible that some of them, like Pansy, had been struggling just as much.

"He's done it before," Daphne breathed, barely loud enough to be heard. They all stared in dumbfounded amazement.

"Don't ever say that again," Draco told her. He knew his voice was cold and hard, but she needed to realize the danger she was putting them all in. "Ever. Unless you want us all killed." Daphne had the decency to look abashed, and the group fell back into silence.


A/N: Sorry for the wait! I've got a lot going on personally and with school. I will try to be better. You all are so wonderful for your support. Seriously. All the heart eye emojis.

This one goes out to my beautiful RooOJoy. Love you so much darling. Thank you for being my friend, supporting me, and bringing light to the fandom girl! You are a crazy awesome person.

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Meg