A/N: I wish to thank all of you who have sent me encouraging reviews and e-mails during my absence. I might be lousy responding to them, but I do appreciate them. Very much. Thank you so much for your kind words and thoughts.
A/N II: It is now official, this will be a Slash story. If that is not your cup of tea, don't flame, just do not read my story. The way things are planned out at the moment, although that might change along the way, this story will have a sequel, and it is there the 'action' will take place. I guess that makes this story a pre-slash one. Just thought to let you know.
13 Long Overdue Explanations I
"So, what was it that happened yesterday? Because what did happen was not what I had planned at all, let me tell you," Drake said dryly some time later after they had finished eating their breakfast. The five of them had relocated to Severus' sitting room, and Drake somehow found himself sandwiched between Draco and Narcissa on the sofa, while the two men had opted for the two matching leather armchairs.
"What exactly was it you intended to do?" Lucius asked, amusement shining through his eyes.
To Severus the man looked like he had shed ten years of his life. There was a light in his eyes he hadn't seen since that fatale day. Lines formed by worry and grief had all but disappeared, and there had been a spring in his step that made him look like he was almost dancing when he walked.
The change was just as profound in Narcissa. Her eyes were positively sparkling, and she had laughed more this morning than she had done in the past year. She too looked years younger, and she was shining with a new vitality.
The change to Draco was remarkable as well. He had lost the pinched look to his face, and he seemed... softer. More approachable. As if all was right in his world again. His silvery eyes were no longer cold; they had thawed out and were rapidly regaining their former sparkle. They still held a large amount of worry, but Severus had a feeling it was on Drake's behalf, and not his own.
Sinking deeper into his own chair, Severus had to agree that he too felt different this morning. He felt younger, happier, and more carefree than he had been in years. He had tried to analyze the feeling during breakfast, but all he could think of was that it was just so good to have Drake back, and for this once, he left it at that. This was a time to bask in happiness, it was not the time to try and over analyze things.
Drake smiled ruefully. "From the research I did, I thought she would feel the pain she had inflicted on me, and I was kind of hoping that she would end up with that dratted scar she was trying to foist upon me," he admitted, snuggling deeper into Draco's side with a soft sigh.
Narcissa chuckled and reached out to run her fingers through her youngest son's hair. She hardly dared to believe that he was back, even though he was sitting there right next to her. Lucius, however, frowned in displeasure, latching onto two of the words that his son had just said.
"Dratted scar? Son, just what did Umbridge have you do during your detention?"
"Umm... well... you see..." Drake murmured evasively, not really wanting to get into all that right now.
"Drake?" Severus asked with some concern. "What did that toad of a woman do to you?"
Drake sighed, feeling a little annoyed that people were worrying about him now that he had already dealt with the blasted woman. Where had they been while he had been struggling with the pain? When he had been searching desperately to come up with a way to turn the so-called professor's games back on her.
But they didn't know that you were family then, Drake heard a soft voice whisper at the back of his mind. They are here for you know, and they worry about you. Let them care for you, cub, allow them to show you just how much they love you.
How can they love me when they don't even know me? Drake asked with a scoff.
His bonded mentally shrugged and asked reasonably, How will they get to know you if you keep shutting them out?
Having no answer to that, Drake turned his gaze to the man proclaiming to be his father. Merlin, but that felt weird. Sighing gustily, Drake decided to take the cat's advice. He would never know until he tested them just how serious the Malfoys were in their proclamation of family and love.
"Umbridge used a Blood Quill during her detentions. I must have spent hours sitting in her horrible office writing, 'I must not tell lies'. As if I was the one lying. Bloody Fudge," Drake muttered darkly, not about to forgive the coward that was acting as the leader of the magical world.
"A Blood Quill?!" Lucius yelped, sitting up straight in his chair. "Why didn't you do anything to stop her?!" he demanded, turning angrily towards Snape.
"Because I bloody well didn't know what she was up to!" Severus snapped, incensed. "She wasn't using it on any of my snakes, now was she? The toad had that much sense, at least!"
Sighing deeply, Lucius slowly relaxed back into his chair. "My apologies, Severus, that was uncalled for," he said softly, placing a gentle hand on the Potions master's arm.
"Apology accepted," Severus replied with a soft sigh, feeling a headache form. What had Albus been thinking when he allowed that... woman to rule Hogwarts as she saw fit? Blood Quills! What would she have subjected the school to next? It was so typical of the small minded Fudge to foist someone like Umbridge on Hogwarts. Anything to keep the public from knowing the truth.
"So, son, how did you go about extracting your revenge?" Lucius asked, refocusing his attention on his newly returned son.
Drake shrugged, still feeling a little unsettled by the resent display of tempers. "Well, I wanted for Umbridge to feel the pain she had been subjecting me to, so I... kind of reversed it," Drake said hesitatingly, scrunching down slightly in his seat, wondering of he would get into trouble for what he had done. What if the Malfoys didn't agree with his method of revenge?
"How did you reverse it?" Narcissa asked with a slight frown, knowing of no way to undo the damage of a Blood Quill that would have resulted in the chaos that Umbridge's office had been turned into.
"I... um, I called upon Magic and basically asked her to reverse what the toad had done to me," Drake replied, giving his mother an uncertain look.
Closing his eyes, Lucius leaned back in his seat, deep in thought. "I fear that what you did was not necessarily what you were seeking to do. You see, if you had merely broken that cursed quill, snapping it in two once it had broken the skin open, then Umbridge would have felt the pain her Blood Quill had caused you, and she would in all probability have ended up with your scar, just as you had intended.
"However, since you got Magic involved, your revenge was no longer as simple, the outcome no longer certain. Magic is wild, and she for sure is unpredictable," Lucius added with a soft chuckle.
"Oh," Drake murmured, not sure what to say to that. "I wonder what happened to her?" he added, starting to feel a tad guilty for his actions. He had just wanted to get back at her; he hadn't meant to seriously hurt her. What if he had killed her? Would he be thrown into Azkaban if he had?
Before he could work himself up any further, a soothing voice broke into his frantic thoughts.
Do not worry, cub, the toad is perfectly alright. Our Mistress is not finished playing with that one, the smaller of the two cubs said, jumping onto Drake's lap and making herself at home, utterly ignoring the fact that she had startled almost everyone present when they could hear her words in their minds.
Drake chuckled and reached out to pet his bonded. "Why do I have a feeling that you are no ordinary cats? I should have known I suppose, since when has anything even remotely ordinary or normal ever happened to me?" he asked, noting that the second cub was making itself comfortable on Draco's lap, and Drake found himself wondering just when the two of them had become such good friends.
Normal is overrated. I would take extraordinaire any day. That normal stuff is the Dursleys' talking. I suggest you forget anything they ever taught you, and instead begin to embrace the Malfoy creed. I'm sure your brother will help you get things into prospective, the cub on Draco's lap stated, demanding to be petted as well.
"I will, huh?" Draco asked feeling amused. "Who are you guys anyway? Where did you come from? Why did you pick me to bond with? And how come I can hear both of you in my head?"
Our Mistress has for a long time been most displeased with the state of the wizarding world. She knew that Tom Riddle would become a nuisance, but he was necessary to give this world the nudge it needed to wake up and move out of the middle ages. Unfortunately, an old man decided to meddle where he should not have interfered, the cub in Drake's lap explained, purring happily as her bonded found the spot on her spine.
To give the wizarding world hope, she allowed that pathetic woman a true prophecy. However, Albus Dumbledore was not content to allow things to follow their natural order. He decided that he knew better than our Mistress, and so he set into motion the events that have caused so much heartache and misery, Draco's cub stated with a mental snort.
Yeah, he forgot that both Dark and Light are needed. What fun is it with a world with no dept? To feel happiness, you need sadness, or how else are you to know that you are happy? To be able to celebrate life, you need death, and so forth. But Albus Dumbledore has allowed the fame he was heaped with after his defeat of Grindelwald to go to his head, the cat on Drake's lap said with a derisive snort.
Be fair, the people of this world were more than eager to worship him and place their lives in his hands, the cat on Draco's lap cut in, giving his sister a light swat with one of his paws.
Maybe, but he still allowed the fame to give him a swelled head! Drake's cub insisted. Not happy with the state of things, our Mistress waited for the right opportunity to act, and when Drake here made that potion, she knewit was time. She called upon us, and she made certain that we met up, knowing that we would help you get revenge on the ones who have wronged you, the cub said with a feeling of relish. It was clear that she was looking forward to extracting that revenge.
"What potion?" Severus asked suspiciously, looking intently at Drake who was studiously petting his bonded, while Lucius asked, "Just who is your Mistress?"
Why, Magic of course, the two cubs chorused, blinking lazily at Lucius, amusement shining from two set of eyes.
"Of course," the blond aristocrat echoed somewhat weakly.
"Are you really the Emissaries of Magic?" Draco asked with awe in his voice, looking down at the cub that was lying so comfortably on his lap with a new respect. "I've read about you! But I thought you were just a myth, a legend."
No, we are quite real. We just haven't been allowed into this world to play for a long, long time now. It is nice to be back, you humans are so much fun to mess around with, Draco's cub replied mischievously.
"Why is it that I don't I like the sound of that?" Lucius asked no one in particular. "And why do I have a feeling that they will cause nothing but trouble and mischief? As if the twins weren't enough!"
Trouble? Oh, I like that. That will be my name in this incarnation, the cub on Draco's lap stated, sounding far too happy for the adults' peace of mind.
I'm more partial to Mischief myself, the cub on Drake's lap replied thoughtfully while washing a paw. We always cause trouble, but mischief, now that is something else entirely.
Drake laughed, and it was a happy, carefree sound. "Trouble and Mischief it is then," he stated cheerfully. Hearing the groan coming from Severus and Lucius he mock pouted and added, "Hey, it could be worse. They could have proclaimed themselves to be the new Marauders."
The two men shuddered and made a face of disgust.
"Oh, don't you listen to them," Draco said, petting Trouble, causing him to purr loudly. "I just know that they are eagerly waiting for whatever havocs you will create next."
This is why I like being in this world, you humans are all so amusing, Mischief said, looking up briefly from her washing, subjecting them all to a feline grin.
Draco laughed, shaking his head. This was going to be fun!
"I am more interested in hearing about this potion," Severus said with a soft purr to his voice, causing Drake to give him a weary look.
"Stop trying to intimidate my son, Sev," Lucius ordered sternly, giving the Potions master a swat on the arm. "You are not in trouble, Drake, we just want to understand what is going on, that is all."
Drake leaned back into Draco's side, smiling slightly at the wave of love that washed over him. No matter what, his twin would be there for him. But boy, was this bond thing they seemed to be sharing going to take some time getting used to! Was this how Fred and George felt?
Drake's face fell as he suddenly remembered that he no longer had the Weasley family's love or their friendship. But then he perked up again slightly. Ron had cut all ties with Harry Potter. But he wasn't Harry Potter anymore. Did that mean that he had retained his friendship with the twins?
Tucking that thought away for later ponderings, Drake refocused on the here and now. There were still a lot of questions that he hadn't received any answers to, and he found himself curious to find out just what had happened fourteen years ago. But first, he supposed he should explain why he had figured that turning himself into Kelly would be a good idea. Yes, first he would explain, and then the others could tell him their story.
Nodding his head in decision, Drake began to speak. "I know that most of you think that Harry Potter is a brash, idiotic Gryffindor with only two brain cells in his head."
Severus and Draco shared a look and a grin. Drake had described their view on Potter perfectly.
Drake snorted, having seen the look on Severus' face and felt Draco's amusement. "Yeah, yeah, he was an idiot, let us move on! Contrary to popular belief, I am not an idiot! I am well aware that most people expect me to be just like James Potter."
Here both Lucius and Narcissa bristled slightly, not happy to be reminded that everyone had thought that their son had belonged to James and Lily Potter, but refrained from making any comments. They would put the record straight later on, and expose the supposed heroes for the criminals they were for everyone to see. They would not get away with their hideous crimes for much longer.
"Everyone treats me as if I grew up in the wizarding world, but I didn't. I grew up with Muggles. On top of that, I grew up with Muggles who hated magic and whose number one goal was to be perfectly normal. Needless to say, I did not fit their view of what is normal," Drake said with a wry smile, lightly rubbing Mischief's soft fur.
The other four shared a look; that explained Trouble's cryptic words concerning normality and its overratedness.
"I had no idea I was a wizard until Hagrid tracked me down and managed to give me my Hogwarts letter. Did you know that my aunt and uncle were so afraid of those letters that they took refuge on a small island in the middle of the ocean in an attempt to get away from them?" Drake asked, still somewhat awed by the Muggles stupidity and their contradicting views on magic and the magical world.
"Anyway, Hagrid came to my rescue, and naturally, he immediately became a hero in my eyes," Drake said with a wry smile, although Draco could feel the sadness his twin was trying to hide from them, and he hugged him a little tighter, receiving a wave of love in return.
"It was Hagrid who told me the truth about my parents; that they hadn't died in a car crash because they were drunk, but that they had been murdered. It was he who told me that Voldemort was a Slytherin, and that every wizard gone bad came from that House."
The four Slytherins closed their eyes and groaned, not able to believe the blatant manipulation and twisting of facts the half-giant had done.
"Yeah, I'm sure he did it with the best of intentions," Drake said with a sigh, having come to grips with Hagrid's betrayal some time ago, and although it still stung, it didn't hurt the way it once had. "Anyway, it was shortly thereafter that I meat Draco, and it was a disaster. I thought he was a stuck up, spoilt brat, and when he went on about how great Slytherin was, and how he hoped he would end up there like the rest of his family..."
"Is that why you jumped at the chance to be friends with Weasley?" Draco asked, not wanting to dwell on how he had been acting that day.
"I suppose that was one of the reasons," Drake acknowledged. "He seemed nice; his mother had helped me get on the platform, something Hagrid forgot to tell me how to do. But I think what truly drew me to him was the fact that he seemed just as ignorant to magic as I was. He had grown up in a wizard family, and still he seemed to be on the same level as I was. It did my insecurities a world of good, let me tell you," Drake said, rolling his eyes at his younger self's ignorance.
Draco snorted with equal parts amusement and scorn, but he refrained from commenting.
"Anyway, we all know what happened that year. And the next one. By the time summer came around after the second year, I was starting to question things. It was becoming clear to me
that Hogwarts didn't teach us all the things we needed to know. I mean the Knight bus? I had no idea such a thing existed at all. No one had mentioned it in my presence.
"I became obsessed with finding out what else they had kept from me, and I spent the last weeks of that summer getting to know Diagon Alley very well. I must have bought a ton of books, and I began from the beginning with studying magic. I pretended I knew nothing about magic, which in truth, I didn't, and I started with the basics, reading up on what magic is. You know, they really need to make those theory book less dry, I had a devilish time getting through them without falling asleep all the time. They worked better than Binns even.
"I took the time skimming through a few law books -- I wanted to see if there was anyway I could use magic to keep my family off my back. I also read every book I could find about wizarding tradition."
"You did? You kept that fact hidden very well," Draco commented, knowing that his brother had annoyed quite a few of his fellow Slytherins with his blatant disregard for tradition.
Drake shrugged his shoulders. "By then it was firmly established in people's mind who Harry Potter was. After that Heir of Slytherin crap I just knew that it wouldn't go over well if I started to act more like the Pureblood I actually was. I was also weary of Dumbledore," he added quietly, looking down at his hands.
"Dumbledore? Why? What did he do to you?" Narcissa asked with a surprisingly fierce voice.
"He was the one responsible for me begging the Sorting Hat to put me anywhere but in Slytherin," Drake admitted, glancing up at Severus through his lashes, gauging the man's reaction to that piece of news.
"I should have known," Severus said ruefully. "You didn't know it, but no matter how much Albus tried to make you into Harry Potter, you are still Drake Malfoy first, and he would never fit in with the Gryffindors. Draco certainly wouldn't."
Drake sighed with relief, chuckling weakly at Draco's mock cry of indignation. "I could too fit in with those idiots. If I wanted to. But I don't, so why should I even try?" Draco asked with a huff, causing all the adults to chuckle.
"So you kept hidden what you knew, very recommendable of you, son," Lucius said with approval, nodding his head slightly as he spoke.
"Thank you, Father," Drake said with a shy smile. "Another reason as to why I was weary around Dumbledore was that I had come to realise that he was the one to rule my life. Every time I attempted to approach a professor, I got told off, and all but ordered to leave whatever my concern in the capable hands of the Headmaster.
"McGonagall refused to listen to me, and she was my Head of House, for Merlin's sake. I was mistreated by the Dursleys, and I know that the staff of this school had to know about it," Drake all but snarled, giving Snape a dark look.
Severus had the grace to look sheepish at the accusation, but when he opened his mouth to say something, Drake waved his words aside, not yet ready to deal with that can of worms.
"There were a lot of small things that just didn't add up. And once I began to notice them, they kept piling up until I no longer were faced with mole hills, but gigantic mountains. So I kept my mouth shut and my head down, just as McGonagall had told me to, and kept my own council.
"But there was no way in hell that I would remain ignorant, just because Dumbledore seemed to think it necessary. So I studied, and I read just about every book I got my hands on. It helped a lot that Hermione had access to a Time-Turner that year," Drake said with a teasing smile.
"A Time-Turner? Granger?" Draco asked incredulous.
"Yep. She was forever coming and going, acting very mysteriously. I mean, come on! She had two or three subjects listed on her schedule at the same time, and we were supposed not to suspect anything weird was going on?" Drake asked, shaking his head at the teachers' stupidity.
"I observed her and searched the library for clues as to what it was she could be using. It didn't take me long to figure out what the big hush-hush was, and, once I figured out how to get passed the stairs to the girls' dorms, I sneaked up there almost every night and borrowed it. Having an invisibility cloak sure comes in handy," Drake added with a smug look on his face.
"Invisibility... So that is how you did it, you prat!" Draco exclaimed, nudging Drake none too gently in the ribs.
Drake chuckled, not feeling any remorse for his actions at the Shrieking Shack.
"You managed to sneak in and borrow Granger's Time-Turner?" Severus asked, looking impressed.
"Yep. It was easy as pie once I figured out how to get passed those steps. I would sneak in early in the morning and cast a light sleeping spell on the girls. Then I went back several hours, returned the thing, and sneaked back out again. That way I got several more hours to study and practise each day. My biggest problem was to find someplace to practise casting spells that wouldn't alert you or Dumbledore to what I was up to. You are a difficult man to hide from, Severus Snape," Drake complained with a mock pout.
"Thank you, I work hard to ensure that I stay that way," Severus replied regally. "But you have still not explained that cryptic remark about a potion."
"Sheesh, keeps your knickers on, I am merely trying to give you some back ground information here," Drake complained, ignoring the sniggers coming from Draco, and the glowering looks coming from Severus and Lucius at his choice of words.
Severus motioned for him to go with his explanations, to which Drake rolled his eyes, but he did jump ahead in the timeline. "When Fudge staged that fake trial after I chased off those Dementors, I knew that I was on my own. I figured that if I knew what Fudge was doing was wrong, then others knew too. Dumbledore sure didn't earn himself any brownie points that day, that's for sure," Drake muttered under his breath, still feeling hurt for the callous way that Dumbledore had treated him during and after the bogus trial.
Shaking his head, the newly discovered blond teen went on with his story, secure in the knowledge that the Headmaster of Hogwarts would get his due one day soon. "So I tried to come up with a way that would allow me to show my true colours, so to speak, enabling me to tell the wizarding world what I thought of it. I already knew I couldn't do it as Harry Potter; I was already hated enough after that smear campaign Fudge launched.
"Then it hit me. I couldn't do it as Harry Potter, but Kelly Potter would be an entirely new entity. So I researched, and I plotted, and yeah, my change into a girl was quite deliberate," Drake explained, ending his tale with a smug smile, it was obvious that he was feeling mighty proud of himself.
Everyone was staring at him in stunned silence. Then Severus' lips began to twitch, and soon he was laughing heartily, dragging the others with him.
"Brat," Severus said almost lovingly. "Have you any idea how many hours I spent trying to figure out how you got that result from the contents of yours and Longbottom's cauldrons?"
"Um, no?" Drake replied, giving his godfather an innocent look.
"Salazar, Luce, those two are going to be the death of me!" Severus said dramatically, allowing his head to fall back against the headrest of the armchair.
"I suspect so," Lucius agreed, giving his sons an amused look.
"Psh!" Narcissa said, waving her hand in a dismissive manner. "My boys are perfect angels, and don't you dare try to say otherwise," she stated, giving her husband a stern look. Only the mischief lurking at the dept of her eyes belayed the serious tone she was using.
"If you say so, dear," Lucius said meekly, before bursting into laughter once more.
oOo
"I can't believe that you managed to change yourself into a girl and not one person suspected the truth," Draco said some time later, when calm had once more descended upon the room. For a while the five had just revelled in being together, and Drake had basked in the love and attention bestowed upon him from his mother and brother.
"When you share a classroom with Neville that isn't difficult," Drake said with a sly grin.
"Maybe so, but still..." Draco said, shaking his head.
Be glad that he did, it was that transformation that weakened some of the blocks put on him, enabling us to finally make contact with him, Trouble said with a jaw cracking yawn.
Drake just shook his head. "All I wanted was to be able to tell a few people off. Umbridge was number one on that list along with Fudge. How was I to know the entire world was about to turn upside down? I mean, take McGonagall, what was up with her?"
Both Lucius and Draco lifted an eyebrow at that. They too wanted to know what she had done to push Potter into demanding a re-sorting. Narcissa merely glowered darkly, plotting ways to get her revenge on the woman for hurting her son.
"I believe I can shed some light on that situation," Severus said, immediately gaining everyone's attention. Slowly he told them everything he had found out the previous day.
"McGonagall was my godmother? But... She never said anything. Not once did she approach me, she never offered to speak to me about my parents, or anything. I mean, I wouldn't have expected any special treatment, or anything, but... Why didn't she tell me?" Drake asked in a bewildered voice.
"More meddling from Albus," Severus said with a sigh. "He had her convinced that you were better off with only the Muggles. I don't know. I though I knew her, but it turns out that I don't know her at all," Severus said with a soft sigh, still feeling bewildered by the older woman's actions. Where had the level-headed professor he had come to respect gone? How could Minerva be so blatantly blind when it came to her own godson? How could she put the blame for Potter's shortcomings on the boy, and not on the adults who hadn't done their duty to said boy? Was she that firmly under Dumbledore's thumb?
"It doesn't matter anymore, sweetie, you have us now," Narcissa cooed, pulling an unresisting Drake into her arms.
"I know. I'm sorry, but it's just..."
"You have been abandoned, neglected, and abused for the past fourteen years and it will take some time getting over that," Lucius said reassuringly. In his mind, however, he planned on informing McGonagall just what a godparent was supposed to do, and point out to the woman just how badly she had neglected her duties.
Trouble and Mischief shared a glance. These people were truly creative when it came to punishing people who had wronged them. It wouldn't take much encouragement to get them involved in putting past wrongs to right.
"How did you get hold of these two troublemakers? Or should that be how did these two troublemakers get hold of you?" Draco asked, latching onto what Trouble had said earlier.
Drake chuckled but didn't contradict his twin's accurate assessment. Instead, he told his family of that first meeting, causing Narcissa to gasp and hug him tightly, Draco to laugh heartily, and Severus and Lucius to share an exasperated glance. Oh, yes, the boy was definitely a Malfoy. And just as mischievous and devious as Draco. Life would be extremely interesting from now on, that was for sure!
"I can't believe you did that to those sleazebags! Actually, I can. Do you think they will learn their lesson?" Draco asked with an admiring look at his brother. Finally he might actually be able to prank Lucius.
Drake shrugged his shoulders, not particularly interested in the fate of those idiots.
"Say, do you have any of that potion left?" Draco asked, suddenly hit with inspiration.
"I might, why?" Drake asked cautiously, eyeing Draco warily.
"No particular reason. I just figured it would be great to use on McGonagall. The Weasel deserves some payback as well, wouldn't you say?" Draco asked with an innocent look on his face.
Drake burst into laughter, picturing the look on the strict professor's face when she found herself a he. "Yeah, I'd love to do that to her. Maybe that should be our Christmas gift to her?" Drake said, turning his head so he could look at Draco. The two boys broke into matching grins, causing the adults to groan.
However, before they could begin rebuking either of them, Drake frowned and looked down at the cubs. "Nice try of deflecting the issue, but you still haven't told me what happened yesterday."
Mischief opened an eye and looked at him, seeming amused. Leaning her head back, she scratched behind an ear, before settling back on Drake's lap and began to purr.
You are very perceptive, young one, Trouble said, sounding both amused and proud. Yes, it was our Mistress that stepped in, having heard your plea. She already knew about the atrocities you had been subjected to, and there was no doubt in her mind whether you were worthy or not. She also knew that as long as you were Harry Potter, so to speak, things would never truly change for you, so she stepped in and... tweaked things a little.
For one thing, she stripped the toad both of her humanity and of her human magic. She used it to break the blocks put on your core, and to break the different charms placed on you to hide who and what you are. Unfortunately, she was not even close to being strong enough to do what was needed, so our Mistress reached back to the anchor stone, pulling power from it as well. It didn't exactly hurt that this action caused that idiot Fudge to suffer as well. You will never have to worry about him again.
"What happened to him?" Lucius asked as his mind tried to take in all the impossible sounding information. He had no doubts as to whether the cat was telling the truth or not. There was a certain malicious pleasure flavouring the mind speech when it told of the fate of Fudge.
Our Mistress has cursed him to always telling the truth, Trouble said, sounding very pleased with the outcome. Since he has spent so much of his life lying through his teeth, Magic thought it would be a refreshing change for him.
Lucius, who had a rather good idea about all the things the Minister had lied through his teeth about, began to laugh. "Serves him right, I'd say," he said, wiping away a few tears from the corner of his eyes.
Don't worry, this is only the beginning, Mischief promised, adding her two Knuts worth.
"But, I don't want people to get hurt," Drake protested, beginning to get a bit worried about what he inadvertently had started.
"Don't worry, brother, I am sure no one who doesn't deserve it will be affected by all this," Draco said reassuringly, wanting to nip in the bud the feelings of guilt he could feel through their bond.
Drake looked over at Draco, and then he glanced at the other human occupants of the room.
"Don't worry, sweetie, I will find you some books with the legends Draco mentioned earlier. Magic is wild, but she isn't vicious. She only punishes those who have wronged the one who calls upon her," Narcissa said, pulling Drake into another reassuring hug. She didn't bother to mention that only those truly desperate called upon Magic for justice, so when she got involved, things tended to become rather turbulent until retribution had been done.
Drake allowed himself to be reassured, snuggling deeper into Narcissa's arms. It felt wonderful to be held by a mother again. Mrs. Weasley had hugged him a few times, but she had always been so... energetic while doing so, usually bustling about, doing ten things at once.
With Narcissa it was different. She didn't hurry the hug, seeming content to hold him for as long as he needed. Sighing with contentment, Drake closed his eyes, and it didn't take long before he had drifted off to sleep.
"Well, we were warned that he would need a lot of rest," Narcissa said ruefully, looking down at her peacefully sleeping son. "I can't believe how big he has grown," she added with tears in her eyes.
Draco rolled his eyes, having been subjected to scenes like this before. "Mum, we are fifteen years old!" he said with a huff.
"I know, baby, but still..." Narcissa said with a small laugh.
Lucius climbed to his feet and walked over to the sofa. Gently he picked the sleeping boy up and moved to the bedroom. Tucking Drake into bed didn't take long, and he was soon back in the sitting room.
"Why do I have a feeling there is something you haven't told us?" Lucius asked, giving the two cubs a pointed look.
Because there is a lot we haven't? Trouble responded archly.
Draco rolled his eyes and gently bobbed the cat on the head. "Please, don't get started. Just tell us what it was you didn't wanted to say while Drake was present," he admonished gently.
As we said, Magic tweaked a few things. One of those things was Drake's Veela genes.
"What did she do?" Narcissa asked with some concern.
She gave him the ability to find his mate, Mischief said, and began washing one of her front paws.
"But, he is only fifteen!" Narcissa protested, starting to get truly worried.
We know, Trouble said simply. But the neglect runs too deep. He will need more than you can give him to even begin to start healing. A brother and two parents just aren't enough for what he needs. Don't worry, the need for sex won't come until later, and when it does, you cannot discourage him. Allow him to grow at his own pace. If you can do that, then we can guarantee that you will be blessed with a wonderful boy that you will be proud of for the rest of your life.
"Who is his mate?" Severus asked a bit tersely. He didn't like the idea of a perfect stranger coming in and taking Drake away when they had finally found him.
Trouble looked up at Snape, a cattish grin clearly evident on his face. You.
A/N: I know, I'm evil. But next update should not take several months, so I hope I can be forgiven, grin.
Also, it is now official that this story is a HP/SS. My apologies to those wanting me to pair Harry up with one of the Malfoys, but that is quite impossible for this fic. Don't worry, there will be others.
Until next time...