DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter stuff, not mine. Buffy stuff, not mine. I borrowed some dialogue from Angel: the Series here which (obviously) I don't own either.
Deliver Me From Evil by Kiara
PART EIGHT- LEAVE
"Well...uh..."
"You see...I...don't...know."
Buffy glared at the monks sitting around her. And at the one she had pinned to the wall in front of her.
"You took my sister and that's the best explanation you've got?"
"She wasn't safe!" One of the monks blurted out. He immediately regretted it as the slayer's glare trained on him.
"She was perfectly safe- I was looking after her." Buffy ground out, daring them to say differently.
"She was fighting demons. She has no slayer powers like yourself, you know it's not safe for her. Why else refuse to let her slay for all those years?" One particularly brave, or stupid, monk spoke out.
"I trained her myself because she wanted to make a difference. Unlike you lot," Buffy said disgusted, "who just sit around here and play God with our lives. And seriously, you worry that I'm not keeping her safe so you put her in a war with a spy for a dad? Are you for real?"
The monks exchanged glances. "War?"
"You never said anything about a war." A shorter monk muttered, nudging the man standing next to him.
He glared and turned to Buffy. "We did extensive research. Professor Severus Snape lives for the most part of the year in Hogwarts where the Key could learn magical protection. He falls under Albus Dumbledore's protection, the most powerful good wizard in centuries. There have been no reports of war from the Magical community for over a decade."
"Because they're trying to keep it quiet." A few of the monks stepped back at the slayers dangerous tone. Maybe they had been right to remove the Key if she had such a short temper.
"The Minister never said-"
"The Minister's an idiot!" Buffy burst out. "Voldemort was resurrected last summer- he killed a kid in the school, did that not flag up any warning signs for you?"
The monks exchanged more nervous looks. "Well, that was put down to a sporting accident."
"And the annual death toll was much, much less than Sunnydale High."
"Like that's an accomplishment!" Buffy threw up her arms in agitation. She was itching to slay these idiots, or at least make an example out of one of them. But, regretfully, she'd promised Giles that she wouldn't (although technically Giles didn't know she was here at all- but that what a complete oversight. Sort of). The monks were still human as Giles had reminded her a few dozen times since they had found out about Dawn. That didn't mean she couldn't rough them up a bit, a fate they certainly deserved in her opinion. Though that had probably been accomplished when the big door she'd kicked down had landed on a group of them, and then she'd chucked another monk into three others. By accident, of course. "If you even touch her again, then I will come after you- I don't care if you're human. Nobody messes with my family, and don't even think that I won't find out."
"We are only looking out for the best interests of the Key." The brave/ stupid monk spoke out again.
"Her name is Dawn." Buffy said firmly. "And I'm looking out for the best interests of my sister. We'll take steps to make sure this doesn't happen again and, unless you want your insides on your outside, don't even think about trying to test them."
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Tap, tap, tap.
What the hell?
Tap, tap.
The wind maybe? Or Draco sneaking out again?
"Con-nor. Con-nor!"
Okay, definitely not the wind. And if Draco was sneaking out, he really wasn't being particularly sneaky about it.
"Hey, Connor! I can see you moving."
"Dawn?" What was she doing outside his window in the early hours of the morning? Not that it wasn't a pleasant surprise, but he didn't exactly expect her to be the sort of girl to be instigating clandestine meetings. He hurried over and opened it and Dawn immediately jumped inside, broom in hand.
"Bout time, it's freezing out there."
Another body jumped in after her. A body that was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time and brought all kinds of emotion to the surface. He gaped when he recognised him.
"I told you to wait outside." Dawn hissed to the man that had come in with her. She grabbed Connor roughly by the arm and started dragging him outside. "Give me a minute."
She shut his bedroom door and cast a silencing charm before Connor had the chance to say anything. Just.
"Are you insane? What did you bring him here for?" He hissed, shaking his arm free from her grip. "This isn't complicated enough as it is you had to-"
She poked him in the centre of his chest a couple of times. She didn't like being accused. "Hey, I didn't bring anything. Angel was going to come and see you whether I came or not, I just thought it would be better if he had someone with him rather than just knocking down your door."
Connor brushed a hand through his hair, panic being replaced by a slightly calmer anxiety. "Does he know I know?"
"No. At least, I don't think so. He just wants to make sure you're okay. He's a good guy Connor. You'll be fine."
"You're leaving us alone?!" The panic was back tenfold. She was leaving him with his long lost vampire father, who could very well be out for revenge- good guy or not.
"Would that be such a bad thing?" She stood on tiptoes to press a light kiss to his lips. "He's not evil; just try, okay?"
"Okay." Connor agreed, somewhat reluctantly. He dropped his dad in the ocean how do you get over that? Plus the fact that he got so out-of-control that the only option left was to send him half-way across the world without his memories to start a new life.
Dawn grinned brightly at him and started to go back into the room. "Hey, do you know where your Dad would hide a bunch of demons? I was meant to try and find out the other day, but I forgot."
"…What?"
"Order stuff. He's gathering demons, probably hidden somewhere in your grounds. Just wondering where that might be."
"Oh. No clue. Let me think about it." Connor said a bit bewildered. The topic had changed pretty fast.
She gave him that bright smile again and popped back into the room. Connor took a deep breath and followed her in. He saw her hiss a few words of warning to Angel (something about setting him on fire if he even thought about hurting Connor. That made him smile) and give him a quick wave before jumping out the window with her broom. A second later he saw her silhouette framed against the night sky as she flew away from the Manor. Now the distraction was gone he turned to Angel, arms folded across his chest.
Angel rocked forwards onto his toes awkwardly. He hadn't really thought this through when he'd flooed into Dawn's new goth-dad's (as Buffy now insisted on calling him) house demanding to see his son. When Wesley had broken the stone he'd been in two minds. At least now people would remember his son- which they had and the yelling had gone on for hours- and then he got very worried about how Connor would take the news. All his reports said that Connor was doing well in his new life, but he'd seen smaller secrets than this tip people over the edge. Of course, that's if he actually did remember. He hadn't been in the room when the cube had broken, but from Willow's account Dawn had found out something similar through dream projection. Would Connor know the truth now too?
"It's, uh, a nice place you've got here." He said finally.
"I know you're my father." Connor said bluntly. There was no point in messing around and he'd never been one for small talk.
"You got your memories back." Angel stated. He looked down at the plush carpet uncomfortably. This family seemed rich; at least Connor never went without anything.
"Yeah, they're mixed in with the new ones. Kind of like a bad dream. A very strange and violent, and, at times, inappropriately erotic dream."
"You probably have a lot of questions."
Connor paused. Did he have any questions? He knew the why and could guess the how and it really had worked out for the best. He'd been on a one way journey to destruction, and now he was relatively well adjusted. Besides, right now he had other things to concentrate on. Like getting Draco out of Lucius' clutches. "Not really. I can't right now, I'm sorry. I get what you did, why you did it and I'm grateful."
"I didn't mean…"
"I know." Connor was surprised to find all the hate he'd once felt for Angel had evaporated. Sure he wasn't exactly warm and fuzzy about vampires, but he'd seen what truly evil beings, like Angelus and Voldemort, could do. Angel wasn't Angelus. He got that now.
"Buffy, she said that there was trouble here." Angel said, hoping his son would deny it. He'd wanted him to get out of trouble, not get into a whole new war.
"There's some stuff going on." Connor agreed, not sure how much to reveal. "We've been helping out with stuff."
"We as in you and Buffy's sister?" Angel said with an odd look on his face. He couldn't help it, it was too strange. His son and Buffy's sister… never mind the life-remodel they'd both gone through, the family connections were enough to freak him out a little bit. He wondered how Buffy had taken it. Wait, Connor still had all his limbs. She didn't know yet.
"Me and Dawn. Yes." Connor said slightly annoyed. Would this be how everyone would react whenever he mentioned Dawn? Of course, it would be exactly like this.
"You two are careful right? I know that I can't…Well, nobody wanted you two getting hurt."
"We won't." Connor decided to reveal a little more. If anyone were to understand family… "My brother here, Draco, isn't really sure of his convictions. I just have to persuade him to stand up for himself."
"You want him go against his father."
Connor nodded somewhat surprised. He'd obviously done some research if he knew that. As if reading his mind Angel explained.
"Working at Wolfram and Hart has a few advantages. When I found out your last name I was able to do a search and found out about Lucius. Professor Dumbledore told me you were helping his Order." Angel said, pride and worry tinting his voice. Although he was proud of Connor for standing up for what's right, it did cause him no small amount of worry.
"So you pretty much know everything."
"Not enough." Angel said quietly. He noticed Connor looking uncomfortable- it was a lot to take in- so he changed the subject. "So, you're still Connor this time."
"Yeah." Connor smiled, remembering back to the time when he'd been against Angel. "Still not Irish though."
"English…" Angel said, managing to hide his grimace pretty well. "Well, you're getting closer. Maybe next time."
"Yeah." Connor said with a laugh, hoping that there wouldn't be a next time.
"You never know." Angel smiled, happy to see Connor laugh. He was definitely better adjusted now. It was all he had hoped for when he'd made the deal with Wolfram and Hart. Angel looked up at the window. It was almost dawn; if he didn't leave now then they'd both be in danger.
Connor noticed his gaze and made the connection. His smile dropped as he was reminded of the real world once again. "Where are you going?"
Angel sighed. "Professor Snape gave me a port key back to his house."
Connor nodded. He looked down, up, anywhere but the vampire in front of him. Did he want to see Angel again, would it be safe? "You know, it wouldn't be weird if I were to visit Dawn tomorrow."
Angel perked up immediately. "Really?"
He shrugged. "My fath…Lucius is pretty much throwing us together anyway; he'd be thrilled at the idea."
What was he doing? When he knew that Angel was his father he'd done everything he could to get away and now he was volunteering visits. Could a few months in the wizarding world have changed him that much? It was so confusing. Which life was real? The first one in Quortorth and L.A. or the second in England? They both seemed real, if the stone thing hadn't shattered then he would never have even suspected. But it did, and now he had a way out. After everything was sorted, he could go back to being Connor Angel and never have to see Lucius Malfoy again (he was really starting to not like that man). It could be so simple, in theory, but he knew that couldn't be the way. He'd burned those bridges long ago. Plus, Connor Angel never really existed in the first place- the son of two vampires kidnapped and brought up in a hell dimension? Yeah right.
Angel side-stepped a beam of sunlight starting to edge into the room. "So…tomorrow?"
"Yes." Connor said finally. "See you then."
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Severus could not help but admire his daughter's stubborn streak, irritating through it may be. She was not afraid to stick up for herself, or, in this case, for a formerly evil vampire currently residing in his spare bedroom.
"Dawn, he is a vampire."
"Professor Lupin's a werewolf."
"That's completely different. If you'd have told me the full story then I would never have agreed to-"
"Well duh." Dawn muttered. Why did he think she didn't tell him? Just for shits and giggles? "Dad, I trust him."
"A vampire?" He said doubtfully. The last few days had been emotional to say the least and, as much as he hated the idea of denying his daughter anything she wished right now, having his house play circus ring to all things supernatural was taking it a bit far.
"Yes. Please. He needs to be here right now. Just for a couple of days."
He relented. But then, he always did. Especially right now; he wouldn't refuse her anything. "A couple of days."
"Thank you." Dawn reached up and kissed her father on the cheek. "Hey, what time is it? Connor will be here soon."
"To meet with the vampire." Snape muttered. He'd known something was a bit off with Angel when he'd first entered his house, but Dawn hadn't mentioned anything. He'd only realised something was amiss when he'd noticed Angel drinking from a hip flask and had questioned it. To say that he'd been surprised would be an understatement.
"To meet with Angel, yes." Dawn corrected firmly.
"Is he here yet?" The vampire in question poked his head around the door.
"Speak of the devil…"
Dawn shot her father a harsh look. "Nope, he's pretty punctual so it'll probably be a couple of minutes."
Angel nodded, clearly nervous.
"Relax, it'll be fine." Dawn said with a reassuring smile. She was in a good mood. Having Buffy and her father in her life could only be a good thing, just more people that loved her. And, at least for the moment, things had reached an even keel. Living with her dad and visiting her sister. There was a good possibility that things could actually work out for the best. Talking of Buffy, she better get going.
Dawn kissed her father on the cheek and hopped into the floo to Grimmuld Place where she would be spending the day with the Sunnydale gang and letting Angel and Connor do the bondy thing on their own.
Angel looked at the clock again. Severus rolled his eyes and left; he did not want to baby-sit a vampire old enough to be his grandfather's great-grandfather. After what seemed like an age of waiting the fire went green and a bell sounded through the house signalling somebody's arrival.
Connor stepped into the hall a moment later and Angel exhaled an unnecessary breath in relief. He'd actually come. "Hi."
"Hi."
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"…So Giles needed me to take a more active roll in the Council. Then we got the call from Dumbledore saying their war was about to become our war and here I am."
Dawn grinned. She'd been doing a lot of that today- grinning, smiling, laughing. It was like the part of her she hadn't even known was missing was suddenly let loose. "Wow, an apocalypse actually working in our favour. That's definitely a new one."
"Tell me about it."
"…What?" Dawn said self-consciously seeing the way her sister was looking at her.
"Nothing, it's just…the accent. It's wiggy."
"You should hear Connor's. He's got posh brit down to a tee. At least I've still got the yankie edge."
"Because Snape sent you to boarding school on the other side of the world." Buffy frowned.
"It was for the best." Dawn tried to explain. "That way I wasn't the grumpy potions master's kid. Anyway, I was always going to go to boarding school this year."
"Not like this." Buffy said quietly. That last year in Sunnydale, she'd noticed Dawn was growing up. That's why she'd really wanted to spend the summer together travelling over Europe. She'd known that when school started, Dawn would leave and come back different. Not bad different, just different. Older, wiser and so forth. She'd known Dawn was 'becoming a woman', that soon she'd be a completely different person. This wasn't exactly what she'd have in mind.
"Still," Dawn said and even Buffy at her blondest, cheerleader, pre-slayer moments wouldn't have missed the nervousness. "We know now and it's worked out okay. I go to school and see you in the holidays."
Buffy smiled gently. Yes, she wanted Dawn right by her side at ALL TIMES. But it wasn't possible. She was travelling all over with slaying and Dawn still had school. Dawn wasn't the only one who had grown up, Buffy was responsible for the safety of every slayer and, when you thought about it, for the world. She could be reasonable. "I know. You've got to finish up school…"
Dawn almost smiled.
"…and then we can be a family again."
And there was the taffy-pulling situation rearing its ugly head again. The bullet might have been dodged for now, but sooner or later she would have to choose between her dad and her sister. That wouldn't be tough for her at all.
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"So she's a werewolf." Connor said, more than just a little sceptical.
"And an art student. She does this great pottery. She made me a vase." Angel said with a grin, he didn't care if he was talking rubbish; he and Connor were getting along!
"But it's the wolf part that really gets you. There's some full-moon love, am I right? Fur flying."
"Huh?" How does one react to that?
Connor rolled his eyes, though he was secretly pleased to be joking with an adult in this way. Lucius Malfoy does not joke or laugh or have fun in any form. "So vampires really don't understand the concept of jokes."
"I understand jokes. I was at the first taping of the Carol Burnett show. Tim Conway was on fire. It was special."
"…Okay." Connor said with a grin. He couldn't help it. They'd been talking like that for the last couple of hours, just getting to know each other and it had been so easy once they'd got started. None of the awkward silences or bitterness that he'd feared there would be. Okay, so they would probably never have a traditional father-son relationship, too much had happened, but they could have something if they wanted it.
But, just as they were getting on so well, reality raised its head and knocked on the door.
"Sorry to interrupt." Snape said stiffly. He did not like playing messenger, especially not for a vampire. "A Wesley Wyndam- Pryce has been on the floo for you. He was most insistent that you return; an emergency with one of your co-workers I believe."
"Oh, right." Angel cast an anxious look at Connor. He didn't want to leave; it was easy to forget that the world kept turning through every crisis.
"It's okay. I should probably be going anyway. I could floo to you sometime, maybe?" Connor said hesitantly.
Angel smiled. Connor wanted to keep up contact- that was more than he could have hoped for bearing n mind how things had ended between them. "That would be good."
"Mr Malfoy, I'd like a word before you leave."
"About what?" Connor asked wearily. If Snape was going to try and choke him for dating his daughter again then he'd rather skip it.
Snape mentally rolled his eyes. It seemed that even the brightest student had dunderheaded tendencies. "Order business."
After Angel left the two, Connor made sure to keep a few paces between his person and Snape's at any one time. Not that he couldn't defend himself, he did have super strength after all, but he really didn't want to get expelled from Hogwarts for knocking out (or worse) a teacher this close to graduating. Unless it was Umbridge; then it might actually be worth it.
"Dawn told me she mentioned the possibility of there being demons held on your grounds."
"She did."
"Professor Dumbledore is hoping to find out more about what we are dealing with. Of course under no circumstances are you to look for the demons, but if you know of anything that may help…" Snape trailed off, his meaning perfectly clear.
"He wouldn't share anything like that with me."
Snape didn't need to ask who 'he' was and he felt a pang of pity for the boy. Connor was the same age as Dawn, yet he had to deal with living a total lie. The Malfoy's were not a close family, excepting the two sons, and to have to keep up the pretence could not be easy. Especially now he'd found out that his family was not his family.
"The only place I could think of was in Malfoy Forest." Connor continued.
"Anything more specific?" Snape asked. Malfoy Forest spanned several acres, and Dumbledore had assumed this to be the spot through elimination.
"Possibly. Draco and I set up a quidditch pitch in the largest clearing there when we were younger. We got built a state of the art pitch when Draco started taking it more seriously so no one uses it anymore. I can't see Lucius Malfoy searching a forest for a suitable space and the thing's unplottable so there are no maps."
"That would make sense." Snape conceded, mildly impressed by his logic.
Connor spent the next few minutes telling Snape the location of the clearing and then prepared to leave. "Uh, Professor Snape, is Dawn about?"
"No," Snape said, showing no signs of flying off into the deep end much to Connor's relief. "She's spending the day at Grimmuld Place with the guests staying there."
"You mean Buffy and Willow?"
"Yes. Them." Snape was in two minds about Dawn developing her relationship with her sister. On one hand he did want Dawn to get to know his sister again and if something ever happened to him and as a spy that wasn't impossible, then it was nice to know that she would be looked after. On the other hand the closer she got to Buffy, the more likely she would be to leave him.
"Well goodbye then." Connor said, suddenly feeling very awkward at being left alone with his girlfriend's father.
"Yes. And tread carefully, Mr Malfoy."
For the life of him, Connor couldn't work out whether he was referring to Voldemort's plans or something a little closer to home.
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The moment Connor got back to Malfoy Manor he instinctively knew something wasn't right. He heard a voice, Lucius', coming from the study and moved towards it.
"Release."
With a quick flick of his eyes around the room, Connor took in the scene. Draco was there in front of him, panting on all fours on the floor. Lucius was leaning back on the desk, arms crossed over his chest and looking rather smug.
"Nice visit son?"
"Yes, thank you." It was an effort to keep his voice neutral, but he managed it.
"Dinner's at six." Lucius said, turning his back on both his sons, knowing that they'd take it as cue to leave him be.
Connor hesitated, making sure Draco was capable of moving by himself before retreating upstairs to wait for Draco who at least seemed to be moving freely, just a little breathless. That meant it hadn't been an unforgivable.
Draco wasn't surprised to find Connor waiting for him on the upstairs landing. That was where they always met up, out of their parents hearing. He wordlessly opened his door to allow Connor through and gratefully sat down on the bed.
"What did he use?" Connor asked quietly.
"That air bubble one. You know, where you can't breathe."
Connor nodded, it was one of Lucius' favourites; to draw all the oxygen from your body, to watch them desperately gasping for breath. There was no permanent damage and the victim could recover quickly in case of unexpected visitors. That made it a perfect punishment for his sons.
"What did you do?"
"Walked in on one of his meetings. He should get a sign or something." Draco said attempting a smile. No matter how often it happened, he was always just a little bit shocked at the way his father seemed to enjoy hurting him. He wasn't as strong as Connor, never had been. The first time he'd seen Connor getting punished he'd almost admired him. At the time Connor had only been about nine, but he hadn't yelled or cried, hadn't even dropped eye contact with the man who'd put him under the curse. After lifting it, Lucius had even seemed a bit proud of his son taking the punishment in his stride.
"What? 'Illegal Death Eater meeting going on here'?" Connor said, painfully aware that his brother had flinched at the mention of his father's link with the dark arts. "Sorry I wasn't here Drake."
Draco shook his head. Why did Connor blame himself every time? "This isn't your fault. And I don't need you to look after me."
Connor bit back the retort on the tip of his tongue; he knew it wouldn't go down very well. He just silently vowed not to let this happen again.
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As Snape flooed into Grimmuld Place, he spotted the slayer sitting at the kitchen table with the watcher.
Buffy didn't bother to hide her giving him the once over. "Don't you own anything that isn't black?"
He sneered at her, paying particular attention to the silky, Christmas-red camisole. "Do you own anything that wouldn't look out of place in an Amsterdam brothel?"
"I wouldn't know; I've never been to one… Unlike some people."
"Must you two be so childish?" Giles interrupted in the long suffering way that only he could manage. "Is this really what's best for Dawn?"
"What's best for Dawn is to be with someone who loves her." Buffy said firmly, still glaring at Snape.
"I agree completely." Severus said with a look that clearly said who he thought that should be, and it wasn't a slayer. With one last glare he went to find Dumbledore. He had to tell him everything that was happening, both with his last meeting with Pettigrew and what was occurring a little closer to home.
Dumbledore greeted him warmly as always. He sat down and, as the tale unfolded, was very glad he had. It took a lot to shock the headmaster, but Snape managed to do just that in under an hour.
He looked at his friend, for once completely speechless. He'd never heard anything like it, though he had no trouble believing him. He'd seen that anything was possible. Though he hadn't put much thought to the matter of keys to dimensions and rebuilding a teenager's life.
Severus had no doubts that Dumbledore would believe him. He also had no doubts about whether or not to tell the professor. The only thing he would doubt was whether or not Dawn would approve. So he'd done the sensible thing and not told her.
"You're telling me that your daughter is not your daughter?" Dumbledore said once he'd got his thoughts in order.
"She is my daughter." Snape nearly growled. "Dawn just also happens to be Buffy Summers' sister and she remembers both occurring."
"Of course." Dumbledore could almost kick himself for making such an insensitive comment at an obviously difficult time. "Well this is a surprise Severus, and about Mr Malfoy too, but it does explain certain irregularities in their auras. And explains why they seem to be able to access more power than the other students, a great deal of magic must have been used to build so many memories."
"And feelings."
"Yes, to create real feelings…such complicated magic." Dumbledore agreed, ignoring the tone in Severus' voice.
"Do you think there may be side-effects?"
"We have yet to see the signs and Dawn has been through this experience before. I have never detected anything amiss about them. I expect that both Connor and Dawn will live completely normally." Dumbledore said reassuringly. In truth he believed Connor and Dawn to be one hundred percent normal, only with a slight advantage in the amount of magic they could access which was probably residue from the complicated spell.
He suspected Dawn would cope just fine. He'd even seen her the day before, and hadn't noticed anything was strange. She even seemed cheerful. Connor on the other hand caused him to worry. He lacked the… experience that Dawn had in this particular area and the support that Severus would provide. He would have less help coming to terms with it all, and on top of that he was already having to lead a double life with the Order and his father. It wouldn't take much for him to crack.
He would definitely be keeping an eye on Connor Malfoy from now on.
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Dawn looked up in surprise as a bell sounded through the house. They weren't expecting anyone, why would the floo bell be ringing? It was probably just one of her father's acquaintances, one of the teachers from Hogwarts or someone.
As she went down the stairs she saw the back of the person, but that didn't give her any clues. He was quite tall and wiry, and wearing a long black cloak in a style that many wizards favoured with the hood pulled up over his head.
"Hi, my Dad's not here right now, can I help?"
Or that's what she meant to say. Somewhere around word five the sound got stuck in her throat as the guest turned around. Red glowing eyes, a flat face with slits for nostrils with grey skin stretched over. She'd never seen him before, but it could only be one person. Voldemort.
"Oh."
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Connor opened the window, sensing Angel's presence before he even knocked. Though Conner hadn't elaborated on the reason for requesting the meeting, Angel seemed to sense that he wasn't going to like it. As the vampire leapt lightly into the room, he was frowning; the worry lines were clearly visibly on his forehead and his gaze was more intense than normal.
"Thanks for coming." Connor murmured, trying to sort his thoughts into something that resembled order.
For a moment Angel looked almost surprised (why wouldn't he come?) but it faded quickly. "No problem."
"Look, this isn't easy for me-"
"Is it about me being a vampire?" Angel interrupted. "Because I don't know what Snape said, but would never hurt you."
"I know." Connor said, a little surprised to feel that he actually meant it. "And he didn't say anything about you."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Besides, there's nothing he could say that I didn't already know. If my memories aren't enough, then we studied you guys in History of Magic."
"So if it's not that…" Angel asked, not needing to ask the question and not wanting to dwell on his past. He didn't like talking about it, he wasn't proud of Angelus' actions.
"It's Draco. He's still looking at the world from Lucius' viewpoint and if he doesn't start thinking for himself soon then… Well, you know."
"So you want me to leave." Angel said, kicking the carpet like an upset little boy.
"I'm sorry, but you can't be here right now, there's too much going on and I really have to focus on my brother. If I don't then…" Connor looked up, surprised to see Angel staring at him intently when he'd barely lifted his eyes from the floor during the whole visit. He heard familiar voices downstairs, death eater voices. Angel heard them too; they both knew that this was it.
Connor started to leave, intent on getting to Draco and getting them out of the way before the torture started, but he stopped a few feet from the door and turned back to Angel.
"You gotta do what you can to protect your family. I learned that from my father."
And, with one final look back, he left.
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Okay, I'll be on holiday for two weeks in a few days, but the update should be up shortly after I get back. Things are kicking off now! Let me know what you think.
Kiara