Disclaimer: Not mine.
I Need to Breathe
Chapter 36
Day one
Severus took breakfast in the Great Hall the next day. He wanted to make sure the students saw the entire staff was in residence and needed them to be prepared. Although he hoped for the next two days to go smoothly and without any outward signs of a struggle, if fighting were to break out, if the fighting came once again to Hogwarts, he wanted them to know what to do. When breakfast was almost over, he stood and walked to the podium, waited until quiet fell over the room and then gave his brief announcement.
"It has been decided that we have been lax in emergency procedures. Therefore, today we will be running drills. Seventh-years, pay attention, as the success or failure of today's exercises will rest with you.
Professor Longbottom has posted assignments outside this room. These assignments include two items you are to pay strict attention to and not question. One, the place you are to report to when the test alarm is given. Two, the name of the seventh-year student who will be supervising you there. All prefects and head students will report here for further instructions.
Any student that deems these drills of no importance and is late reporting to the assigned area will serve detention for the rest of term. Now, since there will be no questions I suggest you use this time to find your name on the list and be prepared."
He turned and walked back to the table to finish his breakfast, looking out at the students uncomfortably.
"Do you think they believed it?" Draco said, sliding into the chair next to the Headmaster and putting a vial on the table. "The memory you asked for. This is something I hope never to do again. It is bad enough I look like him, but to … anyway, take it. Astoria says she deserves better quarters and a long holiday."
Severus snorted, and put the vial in his pocket. "In three days time you can have my old chambers in the dungeons. I will even see that they are refurbished, and Astoria will find a rather large deposit into her account."
"Keep your money." He chuckled. "But she will take the chambers and a new bed. She claims she will not be able to use it again after seeing my father in it."
"It's not my money. If this goes well you will soon inherit a fortune. You need to be your sarcastic self today and not appear to be expecting news." Severus sipped his tea. "And, the students need to know to respond quickly. If any question you on it you need to make them understand discipline will be meted out."
"You think this is necessary?"
"No, I do not. However, it is best to be prepared." He leaned back and watched as the students filed out of the hall. "During the battle there was time to get the younger ones out, if something were to happen this time, they will be caught here."
"I have not seen your wife this morning." Draco smirked.
"In this life I take great joy in the small things," Severus drawled.
"She is going to be pissed."
"Present tense, she is pissed." Severus smirked, thinking of Millie's kiss. "You will be receiving owls today. If I am correct, both of your parents will request you. Advise me at once but make no attempt to contact them."
"I have lessons this morning. How soon before things should start?"
Severus stood and smoothed down his robes. "Today there will be little to do. The quaffle now rests with Kingsley. I expect little to do until tomorrow."
"Astoria is collecting Hannah and Augusta for a trip to The Burrow." Draco stood and leveled his eyes at Severus. "She won't stay there. I expect she will be back within the hour."
"Demand it."
"Right, how long have you been almost married?" Draco laughed. "Things may have changed around here, but Weasley will still run his mouth and Astoria will still … be Astoria."
"If I did not think they would kill each other I would send her to Hermione." Severus scowled. "Since your wife does not object to disguise, pick a student and steal a hair from him. Once she has changed, she can hide amongst them if there is a problem, until then put her down with Hagrid. No one would suspect her there, and Hagrid … he would protect her, or any witch, with his life."
He then pulled his wand and pointed it at the ceiling, releasing an alarm that sounded through every hallway and house in the castle. "This will give you enough time to secrete your wife. Do so quickly."
Draco made it back just before lunch and hurried directly to the Headmaster's office. He pulled the first of what would prove to be many missives from his pocket and tossed it on the desk, then flopped on a chair smirking.
"Father seems to be in a right snip." He nodded to the parchment. "He wants me to spy on you and tell him who opened the Bonner case."
"You have not responded to…"
"Of course not," Draco sneered. "However I must say Astoria has a few words she wanted to send."
"I hope you explained in no uncertain terms that the directive was for her as well?"
"Of course." He raised his eyebrow and looked at the window where a small brown barn owl had just arrived. "Expecting more news?"
Severus unlatched the window and pushed a bowl of treats toward the bird as he unfastened the scroll tied to its right legs. He almost grinned when he saw the Ministry seal and unrolling the parchment turned back to Draco.
"What a shame. It appears your family vaults have been secured, as has everything with the Malfoy name. I am to advise you of this at once." He looked up with a smirk. "You are so advised."
"Father will be furious," Draco sniggered.
"There is more." Severus read the rest of the note thinking that Kingsley had outdone himself this time. "If the matter is not put to rest in forty-eight hours the house, and all properties may be confiscated. Do you think we have his attention?"
A great snowy white owl landed on the sill, lowered its head, and swooped in to land on the arm of the chair Draco sat in. Laughing Draco stroked the bird's head and signaled Severus to close the window.
"Meet Gretel, she is mine. I think I should keep her here." He grinned and untied the parchment.
Draco stood up quickly and scowled at Severus. "This was uncalled for. Daisy is … she is not what you think. My dear father owns the note on her home, he will call it due and …" he ran his hand through his hair. "You need to protect her. She is doing what she must."
"What she must?" Severus looked at him with obvious disgust. "She is your father's whore."
"She lost her husband in the war. She is a bright witch, and used to work with him in that small shop in Diagon, the one … I can't remember its name … it specialized in rare books. It was destroyed, as were her books. Uncle, she has two children she takes care of and is determined to pay her husband's debts."
"So are many in these times." Severus frowned. "I fail to see how this…"
"She wears the mark. If it is ever discovered she will stand trial and may lose the children, lose everything and wind up in Azkaban."
"Should she?"
"No more than I." Draco looked at him evenly. "She had as much choice in it as my father is giving her now. She is not a … nice person. I have no delusions about that, but she has done nothing other than what she must."
"You have a … an arrangement … with Kingsley that I do not care to know about. Whatever your agreement is with him, I am sure he would see this as a breach of trust. The question for you is, are you willing to lose it all for her? No? Then go to Kingsley, but I am not interested, nor do I have the time to negotiate for her wellbeing. She wears the mark and is your father's whore. She is also the one that passed the tea to my wife. We have need of her now or she would already be crossing the North Sea."
"Renee also wore the mark and was a wizard's whore, do you…"
Severus pinned Draco to the back of his chair before the sentence was finished, his wand clutched tightly in his hand. "Do not finish that thought and do not revisit it again. I am in no mood. I have lost enough and if I have to put you in the ground with her and my son, I will do so. Do not make the mistake of doubting me."
Draco sat still until Severus released him then came to his feet. "And do not doubt me, Headmaster. I am willing to go through with this, but that is my mother, and like it or not my father I am helping to destroy and my wife I hide. Do not think I am in this for the joy of it, or to inherit my family's fortune? I am here for the same reason you are."
"That is enough, Draco." Astoria stood at the door looking at Severus with cold contempt obvious on her face. "You are needed in the dungeons."
"You should be…"
"I should be where I am." She turned from Draco and faced Severus. "Sir, you are sadly mistaken if you think I am hiding at a groundkeeper's hut. If there is a battle to fight here, then here I shall be. I will not leave. I am surprised your own wife did."
"Take your wife, Draco." Severus frowned at her. "Take her and teach her to …"
"He does not tell me what to do, Headmaster, any more than you do." She lifted her head and turned back to Draco. "Now, your father is below. He arrived by floo."
"Who opened it?" Draco scowled at her.
"It was closed this morning, I checked it myself." She spoke calmly, only a slight hesitation in her speech alerting Draco to her fear. "He seems quite … angry, and insists I collect you at once."
"Headmaster, I will trust you to watch over my wife." He turned for the door.
"Draco," Severus called him back. "She will be in my wife's private quarters, they may wait together. You have no reason to fear for her safety. Come with me," Severus walked to Astoria with a smirk. "It is much faster to do a side-along. If you will allow me?"
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Hermione was on her knees pulling out boxes from under the bed and dumping them upside down, spilling the contents on the floor, looking for anything she could use. She did not even know what she hoped to find, or what was looking for, she just had to keep looking. It was unlikely that an extra wand would just be lying around, and as unlikely as it had seemed at the time, she had spent nearly all night picking up every object she could find, hoping something had been turned into a portkey. She heard the floo activate and slowly pulled herself up, wincing at the small cramps in the small of her back.
She stormed into the sitting room, expecting to see Severus, ready to do verbal battle when she saw Astoria standing in the fireplace, her hand still raised as if ready to strike someone and her mouth hanging open.
"Joy," Hermione sneered, sounding like her husband. "Company."
"How dare he!"
"Oh, I assure you, he dares."
Astoria stepped out of the fireplace and looked around the room in disgust and horror. "This is a pigsty. At least he could send you an elf."
"He did, that is part of the problem." Hermione bit her lip and looked seeing the room as Astoria would. "I was looking for something."
"You did this?" Astoria picked up two throw pillows and tossed them back to the sofa. "It looks like someone ransacked the place."
"Yeah, well…" Hermione swallowed hard and threw one of the sofa cushions back where it belonged.
"How long have you been here?" Astoria was now picking up small framed pictures and setting them on the mantel.
"Since last night."
"You trashed this place in less than one day?" Astoria chuckled.
Hermione glared at her. "I had to sleep. It could be worse."
"It is really quite lovely, Italian?"
"Since we are in Italy I assume so," Hermione said flatly. "I take it they wanted you out of the way as well?"
"Your husband did."
"And yours?"
"Draco? Draco asks me, he does not tell me what to do." Astoria stopped picking up the sitting room and looked at Hermione. "He asked me to hide down at Hagrid's hut. I refused."
"So we are both stuck. And, Astoria, don't think for a moment that Draco does not know where you are. He is just better at hiding what he is doing. Severus does things to me in the open. They are in this together."
"If he knows what's good for him he will collect me before I return. As soon as Lucius leaves the castle I am going back."
"How?"
Astoria raised her hand and jingled her wrist. "Never leave home without a portkey my dear. I am surprised you do not wear one at all times yourself. I am more surprised that your husband does not insist on it."
Hermione smiled widely. "So, how long before Lucius leaves?"
"Not long." She frowned. "Before I take you back you need to know what is going on. If you insist on getting in the way I will leave you here."
Hermione scowled at her, then, knowing she was defeated sat down to listen.
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Draco stormed down to the dungeons. He had not expected his father to put in an appearance and used the time on his walk to build walls in his mind. His father was not as strong as Severus was, and whereas he could look, Draco knew he could not see anything that he chose to hide. He had survived this long by playing games, and now that the end was in sight, he was anxious to be done with it.
"Father," Draco greeted Lucius as he walked into his quarters. "Imagine my surprise to have my wards tampered with."
"I sent you an owl." Lucius stood stiffly, his lips in a thin line of anger across his arrogant face.
"I have been unable to find out anything. I had lessons this morning, I do have a job." Draco walked to the liquor cabinet and began to pour a drink when Lucius cane smashed the glass out of his hand.
"Bonner. What do you know?"
"Other than he was killed shortly before he was to start here, hired for a position promised to me, nothing." Draco pulled his wand and cleaned up the broken glass, then stood with the wand still in his hand. "If this is all you came for I have other things to do."
"Your bitch of a mother has frozen my accounts," Lucius spat and began to pace.
"Really?" Draco shrugged. "The letter I got from the Ministry said the problem seems to be from unpaid bills, and certain creditors putting liens on the family holdings. If it were mother, she would have just emptied them out. Why didn't she come with you? This is a social call and it has been a while since I have seen her."
"You know damned well where she is. That fool at the Ministry thinks he can use her to get to me." Lucius smirked, "I wouldn't care if they toss her in Azkaban after Friday, but once again their timing is rather poor."
"In the mean time, I think it is imperative to take care of your accounts," Draco sniggered. "If Mother learns of your intentions she will have those accounts cleaned out, and as much as I would love to see your sorry arse broke, if your vaults are emptied so goes my trust fund."
"I have an appointment with that fool Kingsley. In the mean time, we need to take care of the Bonner situation. It could prove … untimely."
"We?" Draco laughed. "What time is your appointment?"
"Tomorrow, I have to report to the Court. Of all the foolish things Kingsley has done, this is the most foolish."
"We will meet for lunch." Draco scowled at him. "From there we will go to Gringotts and separate my account."
"I also need to see Severus. Is he available?"
"No, he is out of the castle, in a budgeting meeting. Seems he is once again short," Draco smirked. "Perhaps things will be easier for you after today."
"Now that he is rid of that cow he can put his focus where it belongs. Bring him to dinner on Friday. We need to secure his loyalty and I think that lovely wife of yours can do the honors of oath giver."
"Friday? I will check with Astoria." Draco frowned. "Now, you must forgive me Father, but unlike you I do have a job to do."
"You will be there." Lucius demanded as he headed for the floo. "If I have to send for you, you will be there."
Draco stood and watched as his father left in a flash of green before slumping into a chair and taking a deep breath to calm himself.
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Daisy O'Conner was lead to a small holding cell at the end of the hallway. The only other female being in the corner cell, just behind the one Auror Rickard pushed the slight witch into. Although they could not see each other, they could hear what the other said.
"Please, if I could just send an owl. I have to arrange for my children's care. Please," she cried. "I haven't done anything, please."
"You are marked," the Auror slammed the bars shut and passed his wand over the seal. "You know the law."
"But what crime did I commit? You can't hold me just because of the mark, there has to be more." She challenged him.
"Prostitution is still a crime from what I hear." Rickard smirked.
"I am not!"
"You have been seen with Malfoy. We have found money transferred from his account to yours." He shrugged. "Tell it to the judge in the morning."
"Let me send an owl, Please. Or… send it for me. Send it to Lucius, he will tell you there is a mistake." She held onto the bars with both hands and called for him to come back, to help her, to collect her children.
Narcissa felt her stomach clench and the breath leave her lungs. Pressing her face to the bars, she tried to see who sat in the next cell. "Who are you? And how do you know him?"
"Him? Lucius? Can you get him? Please, my children are home alone. The damned Aurors didn't even let me find someone to tend them. Lucius will help me, I know he will."
"How do you know him?"
"If you are in here you shouldn't need to ask that," she snorted. "If they start rounding up all of us this place is going to be crowded."
"Tell me how you know him!"
"Come off it," Daisy gave a small laugh. "Don't tell me you thought you were the only one he was fucking."
Narcissa narrowed her eyes and began pacing, clenching her hands into fists and furiously thinking who this witch could be. "How long have you known him?"
"Longer than you honey if you think you are his one and only. You must be the new one around here," Daisy laughed.
Narcissa sat on the cot, her face crumbled into tears as she leaned forward, put her head in her hands and began to cry.
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Astoria and Hermione returned later that day. Waiting until they were sure Lucius would be gone and the rest of the students and staff in the Great Hall having dinner. They peeked into the hallways before stepping out, Astoria hurrying to the dungeons and Hermione heading for Severus' chambers, knowing if she was seen, the entire plan could be lost. Closing the door behind her, she did not even light the candles, afraid that it would show from the outside. Since the only light was a single orb over his desk, she sat down in his chair and began to search for quill and parchment.
She completely filled one page with a list of things that had to be done, and opened the drawer to grab another sheet of parchment when she spotted a letter from the Ministry, which bore Kingsley's seal. Thinking it was concerning Renee's final arrangements she opened it and began to read. At first, she thought it was a mistake, a joke. She held a writ of divorce, the one not granted on the last day of his trail. She puzzled that he should have kept a copy all this time when the whole thing was a hoax and let her eyes return to the top where the date was clearly marked.
She stood up, holding the parchment in her hand. Furiously she thought of the date, wondering that he could do this. He had said he believed her. Had admitted the child was his. Had acted as if he wanted to fix the marriage, wanted her. She dropped the parchment on the desk and sat down heavily; too numb to think beyond the date and the knowledge that the divorce was granted just the day before she lost the child. She flipped it, looked it over for the signature line, and found his name clearly written.
Smoothing the parchment flat on his desk, she opened his drawer and removed his Gringotts seal. She would need money. Her parent's house still had not sold. Perhaps, she thought, the tenants could be convinced to make an offer. She stood and pulled out her wand, making a decision that just an hour before she would have thought impossible. She felt strangely calm as she checked how her name was printed to see if she should sign with or without her middle initial. Signing the bottom of the decree, under his name, she then snapped her wand in two, laid both pieces on the decree of divorce and left to take the floo to the Leaky Cauldron where she made a trip to the bank, then stepped out into Muggle London.