~OOooOO~
With Lucius and Narcissa supposedly dead, Draco had inherited Malfoy Manor and all of the Malfoy vaults; Severus, as his godfather, assumed guardianship of the Malfoy heir and, with Draco's, permission, filed adoption papers, so that he would be declared Draco's father. Severus, Sirius and Charlie made the decision that they, along with Bill Weasley and Remus, would go to the Manor and remove the current wards and replace them with new ones, allowing in only those that Severus and Draco agreed to. The floo in the Manor would be connected to the Potter house that Lucius and Narcissa were hiding in, so that they could come to see Draco over the summer.
Once the wards had been changed, Severus took Draco to the Manor to see his father and 'mother' for the first time in over six weeks. In order to give Draco time alone with them, the others, Sirius, Charlie, Harry and the Weasleys, would all arrive a week later, having spent that week at the Burrow. All of the adults agreed that it would be best to keep everyone together as much as possible, since word of the Malfoy's 'deaths' and Harry's blood adoption had gotten out and were now public knowledge.
Bill had escorted Hermione to her parents and had explained that he was going to accompany them back to their house in order to ward it as well. Since Hermione was the only magical person in the household, she would be the one in control of the wards. Bill allowed entry only to Mr. and Mrs. Granger, Hermione, himself, Severus and Sirius; the last three being allowed in only in case of an emergency with the wards. He had included a spell that would apparate either himself, Severus or Sirius, whomever was the closest, in case of an emergency. The Grangers were very grateful to Bill for his planning since they were both muggles and could do nothing to prevent a magical attack.
Bill looked at David Granger for a moment, but shook his head silently. The man was not a muggle; Bill could feel magic around him but it was faint. He wondered if he was a squib, as some squibs did have a natural access to more magic than usual for a squib, but were still unable to use it. He placed a hand on his arm and one on Hermione's arm to feel the difference. Yes, David Granger had magic floating around him, not as strong as his daughter's, but it was there. He looked into David's eyes and realised that he knew what Bill was doing. He shook her head minutely and Bill removed his hand; for some reason, he didn't want his wife and daughter to know. Hermione looked at him oddly and he smiled at her.
"Just making sure you're going to be okay. The wards are in place and will protect the property should anyone try to come in. Just remember that only the three of you plus myself, Severus and Sirius can come on to the property. If anyone else tries, they will suddenly remember something else that they should be doing; it's a repelling charm. Mr. Granger, may I speak privately with you?" David Granger nodded and they walked out into the garden.
"Who are you Mr. Granger? I can feel the magic around you, but it's faint. You're not a muggle, which means that Hermione is not a muggle-born witch, but I'm not sure if you're a squib or not."
David sighed heavily. "I've been in contact with many witches and wizards over the years, but you're the first to actually feel my magic. Yes, I am a wizard, but choose not to live as one. I left the wizarding world when it became apparent that He Who Must Not Be Named was gaining strength. I use charms and masking spells to cover my magic."
"Did you attend Hogwarts?"
"Yes. I graduated in 1974. I refused to go back after watching several of my dorm-mates join his ranks and be tortured."
"You were in Slytherin?"
"No, Ravenclaw. That monster had a way of saying things that would make almost anyone want to join his ranks. I saw him for what he was and was overjoyed when he was destroyed."
"Well, You-Know-Who has returned. He wasn't killed thirteen years ago, only his body was destroyed."
David's eyes widened. "No! That can't be! I was told that the Potter boy had killed him somehow. What happened?"
"His soul didn't die, just his body. He regained a body after the Tri-Wizard Tournament at the school this term. From what I understand, it's far weaker than he had hoped, but he's still dangerous...mainly because of his supporters. That's why I'm here; the wards will protect your family. The Death Eaters know that your daughter is a friend of Harry's and that places her in danger. The wards won't allow anyone in...but I'm going to suggest that you and your wife sit and have a little talk about your abilities. Now, more than ever, your family will need to know that you are a wizard."
David nodded, lost in thought as they walked back inside the house. Bill pulled Hermione aside and handed her a small notebook. "This is one of the twins' inventions. If you need us, write in this notebook and tap it with your wand. It won't activate the tracer for underage magic, so you don't have to worry about that. It will send your note to me or Sirius; Severus can't have one because of his spying." He looked up to see David waiting in the doorway. "I'm going now...listen to what your dad has to say with an open mind. If you need anything David..."
"I'll get word to you." Bill nodded and disapparated.
~OOooOO~
Albus Dumbledore was irritated. He had lost one of his two best spies and the man's son was completely out of his reach. Severus was unlikely to allow Draco to take up where his father had left off, but Albus wanted to try to convince him that it was necessary. From what Poppy had observed and Severus said, Draco had all but stopped speaking and interacting with anyone aside from Severus, Charlie Weasley and Harry Potter-Black. He seemed to be quite normal until someone approached him and then he tried to curl himself into a ball, most likely trying to hide. Severus said that Draco thought it was by Voldemort's orders that his parents were dead and couldn't be convinced of anything else.
His expression darkened as he thought about Harry. The boy wouldn't come near him or let himself be alone with him, showing Albus that Harry didn't trust him like he should. He needed to have Charlie complete their bond now, to unlock the boy's hidden potential. Albus knew that Harry's magic wouldn't mature until their bond had been consummated; the problem was convincing Charlie that he needed to finish the bonding process. The one time he had spoken with Charlie about it, the young man had vehemently opposed it. He said that Harry was far too young to even think about consummating the bond now, that it could actually make his magic turn inward to protect the boy but would end up destroying him from the inside out.
While this was a possibility, Albus didn't think that Harry was quite that powerful. Yes, the boy was extremely strong, more powerful than even he was, but he didn't think that Harry would let his magic harm him. He ignored the rational side of his mind telling him that Harry would have no control over his magic should it decide that he was under that kind of threat. He popped a lemon drop into his mouth as he continued to talk to himself out loud, contemplating using the Imperius Curse to force Harry to seduce Charlie.
He never never noticed the pale green eyes of Minerva McGonagall watching him from an unnaturally darkened corner of the room.
~OOooOO~
The Malfoys, Severus, Charlie and Harry were all sitting in the study at Malfoy Manor when the floo flared to life. Lucius and Narcissa hurried to stand flat against the wall on one side of the hearth, so that they couldn't be seen by the person making the fire-call. Severus pressed a brick on the side of the hearth and Minerva McGonagall's head appeared in the green flames.
"Severus! I need to come through. Albus is making plans and you need to know about them!"
Severus stole a look at Lucius who nodded in response; Minerva was someone they could trust. He pressed a different brick and told her to step through. Once she stepped through the flames, Severus pressed a combination of bricks to seal off the floo, so that no one could come through or make a call. Minerva turned to speak to Severus, but screamed instead when she caught sight of Lucius and Narcissa; if it weren't for Lucius' quick reflexes, she would have crumpled to the floor in a dead faint.
Lucius placed the unconscious woman on a sofa and Severus flicked his wand over her. "Rennervate!"
Minerva's eyes fluttered open and she looked around quickly, her eyes flitting from person to person, trying to figure out if she had been seeing things. As her gaze came to rest on Lucius and Narcissa, she realised that she had indeed seen them and she sat up. "How?"
Everyone sat back down and began to tell Minerva what had happened. She nodded in understanding; it was, quite possibly, the only way that the Malfoys would have been able to escape unscathed. "So then, Draco is quite normal? He's not...unstable?"
Draco laughed. "No, I'm fine. I've just been honing my acting skills for the last two months. It's harder than you'd think it would be, to act mentally unbalanced."
Minerva explained to them what she had heard in the headmaster's office. Their expressions changed from curiosity to anger and disgust; they almost couldn't believe what they were hearing. Harry knew that this had been a possibility, that was why they had cast those spells last summer; but to hear that Dumbledore was actually planning on trying it...it made Harry's blood go cold. He felt Charlie's strong arms surround him, comforting him.
Charlie could feel Harry's anger and sadness through their bond. He had also known that it was likely that Albus would try this; he was the master manipulator, after all. Charlie just held Harry loosely in his arms, trying to calm him by touch. They had grown much closer since the beginning of the last term, but neither of them was, in any way, prepared to complete the bond yet; Harry wasn't old enough to handle the influx of magic that would occur and Charlie was just disgusted by the thought of taking Harry when he was underage.
Severus knew that Albus would try the Imperius Curse, probably as soon as the new term started; he would need to have Harry prepared and able to fight off the curse as soon as possible. He turned to Harry and Charlie. "We will begin tonight to train both of you to throw off the Imperius Curse. It's not impossible to fight like the Killing Curse, but it isn't easy at first. Lucius, is there a room here that we can use to practice? We will need plenty of space; preferably a room with very few breakable objects, just in case Harry's magic goes wild.
Lucius nodded and they all began to plan.
