(Neville POV)

"Papa?"

The sound broke through my dream before it was over, breaking the pleasant fantasy. "Hmm?"

"Papa."

"What is it, baby girl?"

It was rough, being in a world where Draco was by my side, only to awaken to a reality that he wasn't.

"Promise you won't be mad?"

"I promise, sweet pea."

I had only managed to sleep a couple of hours the night before, but even that was more than usual.

"We… may have accidentally set the kitchen on fire."

My feet were on the floor before my eyes were even completely opened, running full speed to the kitchen where, indeed, it seemed as it there was a good bit of ash. And the culprit? Lucius Malfoy standing with Clem and Lance, looking like a dog caught in the act of destroying the couch cushions. Their cheeks were streaked with ash, their clothes grimy, but luckily not burnt.

"What in the world happened?!"

"We, uh…" It wasn't the only time I had heard Lucius speak that he didn't sound like an aristocrat. He had stammered and stuttered last night, eyes welled with tears as we spoke about his lost son. But even hearing it now, it seemed so out of place. "I was trying to make pancakes. For the kids. We… forgot about them and… well…"

"And you nearly set my house on fire?"

Lucius ducked his head a bit.

"Papa, it was an accident." Lance tried, staying by his grandfather's side.

"No, no, I know that. I just… just be more careful next time, okay?"

There were two burnt rags thrown in the sink, black, hard pancakes tossed about.

"Did you throw the pan? After trying to put it out with rags?"

"Don't patronize me, Longbottom."

God, he was so much like Draco. Next thing I knew, he'd be calling me a fuckhead and running full speed around the corner to jump on my back.

Okay, well… hopefully not that last one.

"Okay, everyone. Bathtime."

"Can Grandaddy give us our baths?" Lila asked hopefully.

I hesitated, knowing I had to be frowning. They had just met the man last night. But… this was more for Draco than for himself. He needed to come home to this, to happiness and joy and his father there to take him in his arms after so long without him.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, sure. I'll get this cleaned and have breakfast ready by the time you're done."

Lucius didn't hesitate, scooping all three kids up in his arms, grinning without guard as they all began squealing and laughing. I could picture him in that moment, holding a small Draco, giggling just like that, tugging on his long locks. It was no wonder he looked so happy. It was as if he was being given a second chance.

(Draco POV)

I woke that morning to the sounds of Val moving about, getting dressed. The second that door was shut, I had to get up.

Today was the day, no matter what. I would find out if he was lying, I would find an answer, whether that answer be my memories or… or anything really. I just needed to know.

I pretended to sleep as Val came over kissing my forehead.

"I love you." He whispered. "I love you and I'm not giving you up. I'm not giving you back. I love you."

Giving me back?

To the man in my dreams. He… Merlin, was that my answer right there?

No. No assumptions. Maybe… Ugh, I couldn't even come up with a good excuse for him. This was all… wrong. Everything was wrong.

As the door shut, I shot up, grabbing clothes out of the closet and throwing them on. Muggle jeans (again. Gross.), a too-big black sweater. Like something I would have worn when I was pregnant.

The thought nearly floored me, having to take a moment to sit back on the bed, only one arm in the sweater. My chest ached, my stomach turned, I felt… Oh, I was going to throw up.

Pregnant? But I had never… I was only…

I wasn't fifteen. And I was married. I… Oh, God, I… did I have children? Did I… was I taken from them? Were they taken from me?

Something about that seemed right, it seemed to fit. I could picture… not faces but… like a mosaic. Bits and pieces. Hazel eyes. Freckles.

I had children.

I jumped back up, shoving my other arm through my sleeve, putting some shoes on and grabbing his cloak, putting it on tight, the hood up.

I had children.

I ran after him, slamming the door behind me, not slowing my pace until I saw him walking maybe thirty feet ahead of me.

We were staying in a disgusting part of town. And I had no idea at all where it was. Not in the slightest. But it was gross. And seemed fairly… magical. In that it housed wizards, not that it was a great sight to see because, let me tell you, it wasn't.

I followed him around corners, down streets, always staying close enough that I wouldn't lose him. It was cold – freezing actually – so no one looked at me strangely for the cloak wrapped tightly around my body, the hood covering my face.

Finally, Val made his way into a small potions shop, the name vaguely French – "Remidies et des Poisons Magiques." Magical Remedies and Poisons. That was encouraging.

Slipping into the shop, staying back against the corner, I stalked along the shelves, watching him as closely as I could.

"Back again so soon?"

"Yes, my clumsy little husband dropped the phial." He said, the affectionate tone in his voice turning my stomach.

"Ah, I see." The man moved, looking among the phials, all of them similar shades of blue. "I… suppose I should not warn you of the side effects again?"

"No, no, I know. Too much and his memories will never come back. I know. That's… sort of the plan."

I couldn't have quelled the rage in my chest if I had tried. The bastard was… he was lying to me.

I felt my heart drop. I… maybe I had never truly believed he was doing this. But now… now I knew. For sure. And, oh, he was going to get an ear full. And then I was gone.

Val paid for his phial and left, leaving just me and the man in the store. Anger surging through my chest, I stormed to the front counter, the man looking at me with a touch of obvious worry in his eyes.

"How… may I help you, sir?"

"Yes, I'm that man's clumsy little husband and I demand an antidote this very second."

The man, old, bald other than a ring of hair running form above his ears to the back of his head, watery blue eyes hidden beneath thick frames, looked at me, positively shocked. "I… you did not know he…"

"That he was keeping my lost memories from me? No, not at all. Now I'm demanding them back."

"Sir, I am… I-I apologize. A thousand times I apologize." His voice became a whisper. "He told me that… that you had suffered a very traumatic past and that you wished to forget some of it. I gave him instructions on how to administer it, warned him that it may start to affect the memories surrounding it, and I…"

"Nope, I've been getting it straight, no chaser." It shouldn't have been this man I should be angry with, but… at the moment, I was angry with the world. "Antidote, please."

"Yes, sir. Yes, sir." He ran about, chaotically, like a chicken separated from its head, until coming back with a thin looking pink liquid. "Drink this. It should… Oh, with the amount he's been giving you I don't… I don't know if everything will come back, but I…"

I took a deep breath. The potion was in my hands. "That is no fault of yours. Thank you sir."

Without hesitation, I turned up the phial drinking every last drop, desperate for something, anything.

Almost immediately, a loud ringing filled my ears. The lights in the dim shop were too bright, the noises around me too loud. I stumbled back, feeling hands on my arms, keeping me up, even as I sagged in their grasp.

I saw images, blurred and opaque. Children, four of them, with the mosaic faces. But this time… more of a collage. I could see them, though not perfectly. Two had my hair, two had dark curls. All had freckles. They were… oh, Merlin, they were beautiful.

I saw a wedding. I saw a man in a tux. A man with dark hair and huge, gentle hands. Blaise was on my arm. Blaise had walked me down the aisle. But my… my father…

I saw flashes of bright light, flying in all directions. I felt the fear they caused. The war. It was the war.

I saw myself surrounded, incredible pain running through me. I heard someone break through, felt someone lift me up. I gripped their shirt. Dark hair, huge, gentle hands.

I saw so many incomplete things, so many whispers of memories with faces blanked out, in no sort of chronological order.

I saw a man that, though I couldn't see his face, he caused me so much raw fear. I was… I was terrified of that man.

There were so many different people hugging me, touching me, smiling at me. There was a familiarity about all of them – Pansy, Daphne, Greg, Vince, Blaise….

Gods, I missed them. I needed them so bad.

And then… Potter? Potter hugging me, Potter kissing my temple. That was… it was…. Merlin, it was wrong but, it didn't feel that way. In the memory it… It seemed so natural, so normal. I stored that away. Potter was an ally. A friend. A close one by the look of it.

I saw blood, I heard screaming, I saw a newspaper article, caskets, headstones…

When my vision began to clear, tears poured down my cheeks, unstoppable in their flow. I knew only a few things – those children were mine and they were so, so beautiful, my friends had not abandoned me (infact, I had quite a few more), I belonged to that man, the one with the dark hair and the huge, gentle hands. He… if felt so nice when he touched me. Like… it was in fact where I belonged. And the last… my parents were dead. Both of them. They were… they were gone and I … I wasn't sure how to process that information.

But now… oh, now I had something a little more important to deal with.

I ripped away from the old man asking if I was okay, running out the door, sprinting up the street.

Once I saw him, my rage grew ten fold and I… I was so angry. I felt nothing but anger, rage, hatred. I could've killed him in that moment.

"Val! VAL!"

He looked shocked, turning, his eyes falling on me. All of the color left his face as I approached.

"Draco, why are you… what are you…"

I hit him in the chest. Hard. And then again. And again and again and again. I slapped him, sobbing. "You fucking bastard." I hissed at him. "How dare you? How fucking dare you?"

"No, Dray, please. Listen to me. You-,"

"Don't call me that! You don't get to call me that! You son of a bitch, where is my family?! Where are my children, where's my husband, where are my friends?!"

People were beginning to stare but, honestly, I couldn't have cared less.

"Draco, you're… you're causing a scene."

I paused, hand raised to hit his chest again, but it only dropped limply to my side. "I'm… causing a scene?" I looked at him, eyes taking his in. The bastard didn't even feel any guilt over this. "You took my memories from me, you took my life, you took my family! Fuck you! Fuck you! Yes, I'm causing a scene!" I shot back, color draining from my face as he pulled out his wand, holding it at me.

"Stop screaming. We're going back home. Now. And we're going to forget this whole day ever happened."

"I'm not going anywhere with you." My voice trembled, which I hated. "I'm going home. I'm going to find my family. Fuck you."

A bright shot of red light nearly hit me, only missing me by an inch as I gasped slightly, reeling away from him.

"We're going home." His voice was cold, but his eyes were scared, pleading.

"We don't have a home." I was backing away slowly. "I have a home, but not with you. I have to know where that is."

"I won't tell you. You're mine. I won't give you back."

There were sudden cracks all around us, clear sounds of disapperation, the men standing near by wearing uniforms I knew belonged to the aurors.

Aurors. My husband was an auror.

Why could I remember that, but not his face?

Val looked panicked. "Draco, run. Run with me. Run, now."

"No. Not with you. Never with you."

Why were they here? Had he… Had we…

"Draco?"

I turned quickly, the voice too familiar, I knew it too well.

"Draco." His dark eyes were filled with tears, moving towards me, his hand outstretched. "Dray. Princess."

Blaise. God, he looked the same.

I made a move to walk towards him.

"Imperio!"

The spell nearly hit me once more, just an inch from my head, making me shoot backwards, farther from Blaise, but farther from Val as well.

"Imperio!" He tried once more.

And that's when the fight began, spells shooting in all directions, different colors of light, some shot at the aurors, some shot at me, some shot at Val.

I had lost track of Blaise. He was gone. Gods, he was gone. My tears only fell harder.

"Blaise?!" I screamed, trying to duck the curses, to move away from them all. "Blaise, please I want to go home!" I sobbed.

Val, suddenly in my line of sight again, ran at me, wand outstretched, his eyes livid. And I did the only thing I knew to go. I ran the other direction.

I ran as hard as my legs would carry me, weak and tired and undernourished, but still get me places. I could hear them screaming behind me, running after us as I ducked down a side street.

"Imperio! Obliviate! OBLIVIATE!"

There had to be a way out. There had to.

I didn't want to leave Blaise. I… I wanted my big brother. I needed him.

But right now I had to get away or I'd probably never see him again.

Disapperation. I thought. My dad had tried to teach me only a few weeks before my sixteenth birthday. We spent two weeks and I had come close. I could try. I could also splice myself, which could mean death, but… I had to try.

But where? Where would I go?

Oh, duh. Malfoy Manor! If my… oh, ow, that hurts to think. My parents were gone. They would've left the manor to me. They would've had to.

I concentrated hard, thinking of the manor, of the long halls, the wooden floors, the beautiful chandeliers. I did what my father had told me to do, feeling the magic inside of me building white hot.

Then I felt sick, the pull at my navel.

Then the world was gone.

(Neville POV)

Breakfast had gone much better the second time around. And with our stomachs full of French toast and bacon, the kids all bathed and dress, Lucius bathed, wearing new clothes – my clothes, and myself currently almost ready, we had decided to spend the day playing games with the children. Whatever they were in the mood for.

I walked down to the end of the hallway, watching Lucius talk to the kids, gently holding Toby to his chest. He was telling them a story – something about Draco and their uncles and a peacock. It had the kids laughing like it was the funniest thing they'd ever heard. Even Toby was squealing and laughing.

"You'd have thought your daddy was a little girl the way he screamed. Ran straight at your Uncle Blaise, knocked him down and kept running. Kept screaming to control my demon bird."

"But he tried to take one of its feathers!" Lila giggled.

"Exactly! Which you never ever do because…"

"Because they'll rip out the butt of your pants like Uncle Greg!" Lance exclaimed giggling.

It was good sight to see, the children laughing and happy. They… they had been so sad with their father gone and… and they deserved this happiness.

There was a sudden crack in the kitchen, making up all jump. Quickly turning, I saw Blaise standing there, the man looking haunted. His shirt was soaked with blood.

I quickly looked to Lucius. "Keep the kids in there."

He nodded, despite the terrified look in his eyes, wondering, I knew, if it were Draco's blood decorating his shirt.

Moving into the kitchen, I softly asked, "Blaise, what the hell… what happened? Did you…"

"We found Dray." He whispered, moving to sit down. "I… fuck, I saw him, I heard him. He came towards me, he was screaming for me and I… I couldn't get to him. It broke out in a fight between Sumner and the aurors and I… I lost Draco in the middle of it. I-,"

"Lost? Wh-what do you mean? Do you-,"

"Lost track of." He responded quickly. "He was untouched. This isn't his blood. It's Sumner's."

"Wha…. What the hell happened, Blaise?" He had had him. He had had my angel and now he was lost all over again. Why… why had he not come back to me?

"Draco, he… he ran. I tried to follow, but he… he disapperated before I could reach him. Sumner tried to do the same, but I grabbed him and screwed him up. We landed in some shitty little apartment. He was spliced because of me grabbing him. He's in St. Mungo's now."

"Montague, Darkboe, they…"

"They were nowhere to be seen. It was just the two of them and it looked like they were fighting." Blaise ran his palm over his scalp, taking a deep breath. "We have Sumner now though. We can get information. I want you to come in for the interrogation."

"When?"

"Tomorrow."

I nodded, pleased that we… atleast we were making progress.

"Dray, he… was he…"

"He was thin." Blaise said softly. "Too skinny. Like he hadn't been eating properly for a while. He looked tired, he looked pale. His hair was down past his shoulders. But he wasn't hurt. He wasn't in pain or anything broken or even bruised up."

"So he's… he's on his own now."

"I guess so."

"Why did he… if he got away, why did he not come home?"

"It may not be safe yet, Neville. O-or maybe he's just trying to see if it's safe. You worry about the interrogation, I'm getting the rest of us together to find him. He'll be home soon, Neville, I promise it. And then… hopefully everything will go back to normal."

I had forgotten what normal felt like. "Just… just get him back to me. I need him. His father needs him. Those kids need him."

"I won't stop, Neville. You know I won't. Not until he's safe. He's my little brother. I should have protected him better to begin with. I already gave up on him once. I won't rest, not now that I've seen him. I'm going back now to get everyone. We won't rest, Neville."

I gave my thanks and my goodbye before he disapperated once more.

I slumped down into the chair he had previously preoccupied. I could hear Draco's voice saying, "You know, you look like a sad little puppy when you're stressed. It's kind of cute. Now come here, my love, and let me take your worries away."

And he always did. I never would've thought he would be my worry.

"Come home to me, baby." I whispered, hands shaking. "You're the strong one. I need you."

"Papa?"

I looked up, the other five standing in the door way, looking worried both for me and over the news. But I rose to my feet and smiled, rubbing my hands on my jeans. "Who wants to play Exploding Snap, huh?"

(Page Break)

Hey, guys! No, I'm not dead. But I will admit that I seriously lost my muse for this story for a little while. I'm not sure why, but I just… I couldn't write it, no matter how hard I tried. But then I get a seriously sweet review and I tried it again and… well, I think I might be back on track. I hope that I am. This story needs an ending.

Oh, and I tried to post something about going on hiatus for a bit, but, uh, apparently it didn't post, so…

Anyways, I'm so, so sorry that this took so long. But hopefully I'll be updating more. I've also started a RP blog on Tumblr where I RP as Bruce Banner AKA The Hulk (ivegotacondition-banner if anyone else RPs. I am an indy blog and would love to interact with you guys), which a lot of my time is dedicated to. Which might be why it's been so hard for me to write for this universe.

BUT – here's an update and, hopefully, I'll be doing so a lot more often. Love y'all!

Reviews are Love!