A/N: Thank you all so much for sticking through this rather unpleasant part of the story. I was afraid I'd lose most of you a few chapters ago lol. And to brenluvshp, have no worries! I wouldn't be so mean as to take this story back into canon after all this time :D thank you to everyone who reviewed/alerted/favorited!

The next morning, Narcissa left her room to join her sister at breakfast. She took a seat at the table silently, as things between herself and Andromeda were still a bit strained, and took a biscuit from a plate at the center of the table as she watched her sister feed Teddy in his high chair. The baby looked at Narcissa and smiled, then changed his currently light brown hair to a pale blonde to match Narcissa's.

Andromeda smiled and looked to her sister. "Good morning, Cissy."

Narcissa returned Andromeda's smile. "Good morning. Teddy looks to be in a good mood today."

"Oh yes," Andromeda grinned, spooning some porridge into Teddy's waiting mouth. "I love mornings like this. One of his teeth finally broke through the gums yesterday, so I think that's why he's not as irritable as usual."

"Teething is always difficult," Narcissa grinned. "When Draco teethed as a baby, he made sure the whole world knew of it."

Andromeda smiled in response and continued to feed Teddy, who started pounding the tray of his table in anticipation of the next bite. Narcissa took a bite of the biscuit on her plate and then said quietly, "I wish I had known then what I know now."

Andromeda's brown eyes flickered to her sister's. Narcissa continued, "I missed you so terribly all those years. The fact that you've never met my son and that I will never be able to meet Nymphadora..."

Andromeda flinched a little at her daughter's name and Narcissa immediately closed her mouth. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

Andromeda sighed and handed Teddy a sippy cup of milk. "It's just hard to hear her name."

Narcissa nodded. She could only imagine how her sister felt, to be disowned by her entire family and then lose her husband, daughter and son in law in the war. Losing Draco had been Narcissa's greatest fear during the war, and that fear had accomplished what nothing else could - to shake her to her core and lead her to abandoning her lifelong beliefs. But if she had actually lost Draco... well, suffice it to say that she was deeply impressed that Andromeda could even get out of bed in the morning, let alone function enough to care for an infant.

"But," Andromeda said, "Teddy keeps me going. And for what it's worth, I've missed you every day since you disowned me."

"I don't think I could ever express to you how sorry I am," Narcissa said in a small voice. "I was so convinced of how right I was, and of my superiority. If I could go back, I would change everything about the last twenty years."

"I only wish it didn't take a war to awaken this change within you, Cissy," Andromeda said sadly.

"Me too."

Andromeda tickled one of Teddy's little dangling feet and smiled briefly before her expression darkened once more. "One of the hardest things to stomach is knowing that Bella killed my Nymphadora. My own sister, murdering my only daughter. I suppose that I shouldn't be so shocked after she killed Sirius, but... I just can't wrap my mind around it."

"Bella was very sick," Narcissa said, suppressing a shudder. "She stopped being the sister we grew up with many years ago. Even before Azkaban. Azkaban just exacerbated her illness."

Andromeda looked upon her sister with sad eyes. Andromeda was the image of what Bellatrix could have been - warm, caring, sane - but chose not to be. They had looked like twins as children, and the resemblance was still strong to this day, but despite everything she had suffered and everyone she had lost, Andromeda still had the same soft, caring brown eyes as when she was a child, and that made all the difference. "What was it like, living with her and - and - him?"

Since Narcissa had arrived here, their conversations had generally been short and polite, and thus highly uncomfortable, and now Narcissa felt oddly relieved to be discussing the darkest part of her life with her sister. "It was like you would imagine. Terrifying."

"How did Draco cope?"

Narcissa winced at this. "He hid a lot from me at the time, to keep me from worrying or getting upset and doing something that would get me killed. Bella tried to 'train' him after he failed his mission at Hogwarts, and when she tried to force him to torture Muggles and he refused, she cut the word' cowar'd into his arm. He only told me recently."

Andromeda's mouth dropped open a little. "I would have killed her," Narcissa added, "had I known. Which I suppose is why he didn't tell me. But, ironically, she used the same knife to torture Hermione Granger and inadvertently created a blood bond between them."

Andromeda's eyes widened. "Are you serious? Is that why they're - you know, an item?"

"No, they actually became involved during Draco's sixth year," Narcissa replied.

"I hope they stay together, then," Andromeda said. "Blood bonds are nothing to mess with, from what little I've heard about them."

"Indeed," Narcissa nodded.

Andromeda shook her head. "They remind me of myself and Ted. They're good for the Wizarding World. For a Malfoy to fall in love with a Muggle-born, especially with the history there - its a very inspiring, unifying story."

Narcissa smiled. "I'm very proud of my son. He's a better man than Lucius and I raised him to be."

"It's the Black side of the family in him," Andromeda said with a small grin.

"I don't doubt that," Narcissa replied. "In all honesty, I'm relieved to be separated from Lucius. I love him - I always will - but after everything that his choices did to us... and the fact that he came out of it all utterly unchanged except for the worst... it's just for the best."

"I agree."

Narcissa paused. "I plan to take a look at a few houses tomorrow morning - I don't want to impose upon you any longer, and -"

"Nonsense, Cissy," Andromeda said quickly. "You are perfectly welcome to stay here. Only if you wish, of course - but it's nice to have some company. And it's nice to have a sister again."

Narcissa smiled, relieved. "Thank you."

Just then, an owl swooped through the widow and landed on the table in front of Narcissa. She untied the letter that was bound to the owl's little leg and pulled it open, finding three full pages inside the envelope that was addressed from her son.

Andromeda watched her sister's icy blue eyes grow huge and horrified as she read through the letter. Eventually Narcissa reread the letter as if in disbelief, and then rose from the table. "I have to go see Draco."

"What's happened?" Andromeda asked, standing as well and taking Teddy out of his high chair.

Narcissa looked at her sister with angry eyes. "It's Lucius. Apparently he placed Draco under the Imperius Curse and - I have to go," she said, rushing to Andromeda's fireplace.

Andromeda frowned and hugged Teddy close, kissing his now light brown hair, wondering if there would ever be real peace after the war.

Narcissa appeared a moment later in a Hogsmeade shop, and she walked out of it and into the road without a glance to the folks looking at her strangely. She continued on until she reached the castle, where she found Filch.

"And what are you doing here?" the caretaker asked in his usual irritated sneer.

"I'm here to see my son, not that it's any of your business," she snapped, sidestepping him and strolling into the castle. He followed her for awhile, grumbling about students in class and other things she didn't hear, and she headed towards the classrooms. She considered it lucky that she soon ran into Hermione as she shuffled down the corridors, moving from one class to another, but she didn't miss the way her face was unusually pale or how her eyes were puffy.

"Mrs. Mal- Narcissa!" Hermione said in surprise when she saw the older woman walking towards her in the hall.

"Miss Granger," Narcissa said, taking Hermione's arm and leading her away from the curious students. "Draco's told me everything."

Hermione's face fell even further. She didn't know what to say, so she simply said, "I think he's in our dorm - I haven't seen him in class today."

"I came to see both of you," Narcissa said softly. "How are you holding up?"

"I - I don't even know," Hermione muttered. "I don't know what to think, and last night..."

"What about last night?"

Hermione cringed and found she positively couldn't give Draco's mother the details of his nightmares that she had been forced to watch as she slept. "Let's just say, right now I truly hate being blood bonded."

Narcissa sighed. "I can imagine. The thought of my husband doing this to our son - it is absolutely revolting. But I do hope you know that one thing that I did do right as a parent was teach Draco to be faithful, and I don't believe that under any circumstances he would do what he did of his own accord."

Hermione nodded and looked down. "I know he didn't want to. Because of the bond."

Narcissa nodded. "Well, I'll let you get back to class. But of there's anything I can do to help, don't hesitate to let me know."

Hermione smiled and thanked Narcissa, then gave her directions to her Head Girl dorm. Narcissa walked with purpose to the dorm, spoke the password to a slightly suspicious looking chicken lady, and when she stepped inside, she found Draco sprawled out on the couch in the common room with a bottle of firewhiskey in his hand. He was dressed in black pajama bottoms and a white t shirt, and his eyes went slightly wide when he saw his mother.

"Oh, Draco, for God's sake," Narcissa hissed, sweeping across the room and snatching the bottle from her son.

"Hey, that's mine," Draco protested, reaching to snatch it back, but Narcissa produced her wand and made the alcohol vanish with a swish.

"I do believe that you should know from your father's example that self-medicating is the entirely wrong way to cope with your problems."

Draco scowled and got to his feet, swaying a little when he did. "My father," he sneered. "Yeah, I've leaned a lot from him, alright."

"Listen to me," Narcissa said, placing her hands on her son's shoulders, "I won't let him get away with this. He shall be put back into Azkaban for this, I promise you."

"Yeah, a lot of good that will do," Draco scoffed. "He's already done his damage."

"If you love Granger the way you say you do, and she loves you like I know she does, you two will overcome this," Narcissa said. "It's a baby, not the end of the world."

"A baby who will remind her constantly of how I betrayed her," Draco argued. "Who would want to put themselves through that?"

Narcissa pursed her lips. "If you were under the Imperius Curse then you didn't betray her."

Draco dragged a hand over his eyes. "I should have fought it. I should have known. I can't believe I did this, I can't ..."

She knew by the pained expression on Draco's face that he was about to burst into tears, so she grabbed his shoulders again. "Draco, look at me. I know this is terrible, and it is unspeakably evil what Lucius has done to you, but it is done. It's done, Draco. And you need to deal with it. Not hide in a room and drink yourself to death."

Draco made a face that he'd been making since he was a child, a disgruntled, irritated look he would give when his mother would lecture him and would be absolutely right about whatever it was she was saying. "Darling," she said softly, "you're going to be a father."

She said this with a bit of awe, and like she was trying to point out that of all the things Lucius could have cursed him with, a baby was certainly not the worst he could have done.

"I don't know how to be a father," Draco muttered. "I haven't done one good thing my entire life, not one - what child would want me as a father?"

"That's not true, Draco," Narcissa replied. "And you're already a better man than your father ever was, because you know you've done wrong, and you've come so far already. Your father has never once in his life felt one bit of remorse for any of the terrible things he's done. And," she added after a short pause, "it took me much longer than you as well."

Draco shook his head. "I don't know how to do this."

"I'll help you," she assured him,

"I was happy," he said, "I was really happy for the first time, and -"

"And you will be again," she insisted. "I won't tell you that any of it will be easy, because it won't. It will take work to repair your relationship, and it will take work to raise a child. Especially when you aren't with the mother. But it can be done." She paused, then added, "Your father has destroyed enough in his days. Don't let him destroy your life."

"He already did once," Draco muttered.

"I know," Narcissa said quietly.

Draco looked around the room, wishing he could go back to drinking himself into a stupor and sulking, not wanting to rise to the challenge like his mother was suggesting. If he was being honest, it was not in his nature to suck it up and deal with things. He was used to whining, crying, and bullying his way out of unpleasant situations, and in the last few years, just trying to not be seen so as to stay alive. Now he was caught in between who he used to be and who he wanted to be, and there was a nagging, awful voice telling him that he could never be the latter. Who was he kidding? He was a coward, after all, and he'd probably screw up his kid just as bad as Lucius screwed him up.

Across the school, in an Ancient Runes class, Hermione was resting her head upon her hand, gripping the roots of her hair slightly, trying to ignore the storm of fear and self-loathing that she could feel spilling forth from Draco's mind into hers. He wasn't trying to project it all, but he couldn't contain it, and Hermione was nearly in tears as she stared at her textbook.

No, there was no way he could be lying about being cursed. After last night's dreams, and what she was experiencing now, it just wasn't a possibility.

When the bell rang, she left for lunch at the Great Hall, and when she rounded a corner she came face to face with Daphne and Astoria, who were walking in the opposite direction.

Astoria froze for a moment, as did Hermione, and they stared at one another. Daphne glared at Hermione with revulsion, but Astoria looked ashamed.

Hermione looked down at the younger girl's flat belly, and Daphne gave her sister's arm a tug. Astoria looked down and followed Daphne then, leaving Hermione alone to her thoughts, which now had turned to the wretched visions from last night - Astoria's face as Draco had made love to her, the way she had kissed him in the midst of it, and how she'd moaned his name into his ear. These were visions Hermione would carry with her for the rest of her life, and she tried not to cry as she finally put one foot in front of the other, and headed back to the Hall.

Draco wasn't at lunch, nor was Astoria, and Hermione was a little relieved at this. Harry and Ginny were out at the Quidditch pitch, but Hermione didn't sit alone for long.

"Hello, Hermione," Luna said in her sing-song voice, taking a seat next to her at the table.

"Hi, Luna," Hermione said weakly, stuffing a sandwich in her mouth.

"I had a very curious dream last night," Luna said as she filled her plate with food. "You had a son, and he looked just like Draco. But at the end of the dream, a horn came out of the baby's head and he transformed into a rather beautiful unicorn. You let me take some photos of him before I woke up."

Hermione nodded with wide eyes. "That sounds... like a lovely dream."

Luna shrugged. "It sounds odd, but unicorn transformations in dreams are very good omens. The person who becomes the unicorn is meant to be very special and pure of heart. I once had a similar dream about Harry back in our fifth year, but it was a bit different. The horn grew out of his backside."

Hermione nearly choked on her pumpkin juice. She covered her mouth so the liquid wouldn't splatter everywhere, and found herself laughing heartily at Luna's description. Luna smiled in response and Hermione enjoyed her brief but intense laugh, feeling just a little bit better when the giggles subsided. "Luna, you have no idea how much I needed that laugh."

"Yes, I've noticed you seemed rather down today. Is everything alright?"

Hermione looked down at her plate and shook her head. "No. Draco's father is - well, he's interfered with things in about the strangest and sickest way he could."

"You know, I've noticed a lot of wrackspurts following Draco around, and his head is filled with them. I'm not sure how he can think clearly."

"That wasn't wrackspurts," Hermione said quietly. "He's been under the Imperius Curse."

"The Imperius Curse?"

Hermione nodded before she felt the bench shift a little beside her. She looked to her left and found Draco, sitting next to her but with more space between them than usual, and he looked terrible. His eyes were swollen and a little bloodshot, his hair was askew (and not in his usual perfectly tousled way), and he looked very much like he didn't want to be there. Hermione turned back to Luna, who smiled and said, "I'll give you two some privacy." She then skipped off to another table and sat with a few of her Ravenclaw housemates.

"Is your mother still here?" Hermione asked.

He shook his head, grimacing at the sight of the food in front of him. "No, she went back to Aunt Andromeda's."

"Draco," Hermione said after drawing in a deep breath, "I know you didn't do what you did on purpose. If I had any doubts, your dreams last night confirmed your story."

Draco looked up at her in horror. "You didn't see my dreams, did you?"

She nodded. "I did."

Draco's fist hit the table weakly while his other hand covered his face. "I never, ever, meant to show you that..."

"I know," Hermione said quietly. "It's the blood bond. There's nothing we can do about it."

Draco picked up a piece of bread briefly before tossing it back down to its basket, and Hermione turned away when she saw the tortured, miserable look on his face. She wanted to reach out to him and comfort him, but at the same time, she didn't think she could bear to touch him without falling apart. Just sitting this closely to him was nearly more than she could stand, and with more than a bit of guilt, she rose and left the table as quickly as she could.

Draco watched her leave and felt his heart drop even lower, clenching his fists at his sides as he turned his eyes back to the table. Before he could get up and retreat to his dorm to spend the day wallowing in misery, Pansy had plopped down beside him with a highly concerned look on her face.

"Alright, Draco, what's going on? You look dreadful, and I haven't seen you in class all day," she said quietly.

"I don't want to talk about it," he mumbled.

"Too bad," she retorted. "Out with it."

He glared at his friend. "I'm serious. I don't want to talk about it."

"And I'm serious," Pansy said. "I'll go ask Granger if you won't tell me."

"No, don't - leave her alone," Draco quickly said.

"Fine, I won't, so long as you spit it out."

Draco sighed and placed a hand over his face. "You can't tell anyone. Not even Blaise."

"Alright," she said quietly.

He turned his weary silver eyes on her and said in a voice just more than a whisper, "My father put me under the Imperius Curse for the last month. He had me - he -"

"He had you what?" she asked, eyes wide.

"Astoria Greengrass is pregnant. And it's mine."

Pansy sat back a little, staring at Draco with huge, bewildered eyes. "Is this some sort of joke?"

Draco glared at Pansy. "I'm going to pretend you didn't ask that."

"But -"

"My father did this," Draco hissed, "to ruin my relationship and to make sure he had his pureblood heir and not a half blood. And if you don't believe me, ask Hermione."

Pansy stared for a moment, realizing this was why Astoria had been missing class and why Daphne had refused to tell her what was wrong with her sister. She'd heard tales from Draco before of Malfoy men being ruthless over the years if their sons ever gave the slightest inkling of not producing a proper heir, but this seemed especially disturbing and evil on the part of Lucius. "Did - did he curse you to use Astoria specifically?"

"I don't know," Draco said. "I don't think so. She was the first pureblood I saw."

"I don't even know what to say," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."

He snorted. "Not as sorry as I am."

Meanwhile, Lucius sat in his study, clutching his usual tumbler of firewhiskey, going over things in his head. He hadn't known until just a few minutes ago that he had a rather loose end that needed tying up, if he was to stay out of Azkaban. Apparently, little Libby the house-elf had gone missing, and that really could only mean one thing. Elves didn't run away or get stolen. It must have been Draco, Lucius deduced, when he'd stopped by the day before to throw his little fit. Libby had always been quite fond of his son, and her presence wouldn't be particularly missed at the Manor, but the problem was that she knew of Lucius' involvement in Draco's current predicament. This left Lucius little choice in the matter of what to do about this problem.

"Bobbins!"

The always haggard-looking elf appeared. "Yes, Master Malfoy?"

"I have another job for you."

After enduring a long conversation with Pansy that Draco never wanted to have, she had convinced him to go find Libby in the kitchens, to make sure she was willing to testify for him if it should come to that. He knew that Libby could be the key to ensuring that his father would be held accountable for his actions, assuming Draco decided to actually pursue the matter and humiliate himself. The thought made him clench his teeth in anger, but not as badly as the thought of Lucius getting away with what he'd done.

But once he had nearly reached the kitchens, he found McGonagall and a few other staff members standing just outside the kitchens, talking in low voices amongst themselves.

"... Only been freed for a day!"

"Yes, but who would do this to her?"

Fresh anxiety twisted itself in Draco's gut. He then watched in horror as four elves carried out a small mat from the kitchens, his eyes falling upon a small lump under a thin sheet that lay upon the mat, and he didn't need to ask anyone what the dead elf's name was to know that it was Libby.

"There was no sign of a struggle, nor any physical damage. This was the work of the Killing Curse," he heard another voice say.

"And who did the elf serve before she was freed?" McGonagall asked.

"The Malfoy family, Headmistress."

Feeling sick to his stomach, Draco turned on his heel and left before anyone could spot him and question him. His only evidence besides his own memories, and the elf who had loved him since he was a child, was gone, and Draco had no doubt as to who the culprit was.