The Dragon

"We're here" Draco said as we walked up to a large metal gate, I could feel my mom trying to not to gawk, but before the words were out of my mouth I realized this house looked familiar, too familiar. I snapped my fingers, realizing it was the house from, well, whatever that thing was that happened during class. The exact same place. Two of those now. What did it mean? Who was I supposed to tell? "Er, don't be nervous" Draco said opening the gates as we continued to following him in.

Inside we were greeted by a house elf with tea and scones, mom politely refuses, myself politely accepting. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy sat on the opposite couch, both of them wearing clothes in a dark shade of green. The fire blazed behind them as they quietly sipped their tea, Draco took a seat in the armchair looking from his parents to my mom. I kept biting my lip, waiting for someone to say something. "You have a very nice place" mom said giving up on staying silent.

"Thank you, it was handed down" Mrs. Malfoy replied. "Tammie, do you have anything of your fathers?" She asked as I blinked at her. What the hell did she want to know about my father? Were they in the same year? It would've made since, they were the right age. She turned and looked at her husband.

"We were friends as children" Mr. Malfoy said but I snorted, my mom shooting me a disapproving look.

"Oh, I've never heard him mention you two" mom said, her tone still very polite. "I mean, he might of, I don't remember all the friends he had—"

"We didn't grow as close as he may have wanted. And then we drifted, I highly regretted it, but, I am in his debt." I looked over at Draco to see if he had any idea what his father was talking about but he was looking at his feet. "This was his, it broke after our last conversation, he wasn't supposed to be here, had to cut the meeting short." I couldn't tell if Mr. Malfoy was talking in a short tight tone because that was how he normally sounded or if he was trying to sound like he didn't care and a lost of friend wasn't so important.

"Why did you two drift? Why did he come see you? When?" I wanted to ask more but my mom put her hand on shoulder. Mrs. and Mr. Malfoy looked each other again, this time Mrs. Malfoy nodded and Mr. Malfoy pulled out a wrapped piece of cloth. He slowly unwrapped it and handed it over. I immediately recognized it as the piece of the dragon I had. I pulled out my piece and put the two together. I smiled, weirdly emotional to see such a simple thing.

"It's a crest" Draco said as I looked at it; he was right it was a crest, but what crest? As if it answer my own question I caught sight of the fireplace, above it, perfectly centered was the same dragon but this had more, another dragon on the opposite side, a giant M in the middle and the colors black and green alternating. Underneath was what I assumed to the be the motto: Sanctimonia Vincet Semper. I stared at for a long minute, my mind trying to catch up to my vision.

"No" I said shaking my head as my eyes found the Malfoys again.

"What?" Mom asked looking up at the family crest.

"You two were friends" I insisted.

"Only family has that crest—"

"Then he stole it or it's pretty damn similar to another crest—"

"Tammie!"

"My dad wasn't a Malfoy" I spat back as my mom squeezed my shoulder whispering to calm down. "How is that even possible?" I asked in a low voice as I felt my heart sinking, how would I tell my friends? Surely this would change everything. "And what happened to him? Why weren't you at his funeral?" I asked as Mrs. Malfoy shifted uncomfortably, avoiding eye contact with my mom.

"I hadn't heard from Dustin much after he was banded from the family when were seventeen" Mr. Malfoy started. "He didn't agree with our rules and went off on his own way with his friend. Said they were going to travel. A few months later I asked him to stop by, before he left, to ask where he was going, what he was doing, or at least to say a proper goodbye. I snuck him in and gave him his crest, as luck or whatever, foolish of me. We didn't really talk, he just said there had to be more, he had to rush to leave because my father heard the commotion, he broke this" he paused to nod at the crest. "That was all he took with him and the last time I saw him. He wrote after he got to America. Told us about his wife, I wrote back in haste, didn't give it much thought, congratulated him. Didn't hear from him again until he wrote saying his wife was pregnant, a girl. And then at the end of the letter he told us he was sick and wouldn't make past a year, didn't want us to attend the funeral either. Only wanted one favor, to meet you, to keep you in our blood." I was shaking my head even before Mr. Malfoy was finishing the story.

"He lived here?"

"Mostly his whole life, my dad wasn't the most...devoted man, he didn't know about my half-brother until Dustin was about nine. His mother, a witch had been raising him with her family, they stood against Voldemort, didn't want him raised with us. When my father found out he took the boy, raised him, but, he never obeyed, never got it properly through to him to just listen. Countless fights, brave man, stupid man. Like I said, after he was disowned he left to travel."

"You mentioned you were in his debt, about what?" Mom asked as Mrs. Malfoy cleared her throat.

"Draco, why don't you show Tammie the guest room? You'll be staying there tonight" Mrs. Malfoy said as I started to strongly disagree but my mom was already shooing me up the steps.

"How long have you known?" I asked Draco as I stood in the doorway, afraid if I walked in I'd be overwhelmed with feelings. What if this was the room my dad stayed in as a kid?

"Since the beginning of the term, before you arrived" he whispered as he sat on the bed facing me.

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

"How? Hey new kid, we're cousins!" He mocked as I shook my head. "I thought if I was just nice to you you'd take it better." I looked away, I couldn't take news like this better, I was already doing better than I expected of myself, I hadn't yet fell to the ground in despair.

"Do you know anything else?" I asked Draco but he shook his head.

"And no one else knows?" Again, a shake of the head. I went over and sat on the bed, neither of us saying a word, I could hear our parents talking downstairs but couldn't hear anything they were saying. I was too busy thinking about how I would tell Fred about this situation. "How do I tell my friends?" I asked sneaking a look at Draco who didn't seem very concerned about my dilemma.

"Just tell them I guess, it's really not that awful, Tammie" he said but I shook my head, maybe not to him, and maybe not for me either, but I couldn't see how this wouldn't cause issues between me and the others in some way.

"Tammie?" I heard mom call from the hall. "Hey, can I talk to you for a moment?" She asked as Draco stood up and took his leave. She took his spot on the bed and pulled out a letter. "This is from your father" she said holding the envelope. My first thought was to start going on about how she knew but she was already shaking her head. "The Malfoys had it, for the last fourteen years. I guess he wanted to wait til this exact moment" she said looking over the envelope. It was addressed to both of us.

"Did you read it yet?" She shook her head again, handing it to me. I opened it, looking at the long two paged letter.

My lovely daughter and devoted wife,

I'm so sorry I couldn't be there to tell you this myself, but if you're reading this then please know I am always watching over you both. A long time ago I found myself in a situation that I alone committed to. I engaged in a secretive operation with those I will not name and we did cannot be undone by my will alone. I've chosen my path and I desperately need the both of you to follow that path. When I left my family and this country it was not due to fear but hope. What I have done will never be known to another person but it's best that way. However, all I've done to help this world will be in vain if my instructions aren't followed exactly. Tammie, as my living child I need you to continue my work, I need you to stay in this wizarding world under the protection of the Malfoys, Lucius being my brother, half, but still true blood. As long as you're with them the pact I made so long ago will remained sealed, no threat able to penetrate our world. It is with a heavy heart that I also must say once you have entered their house the net has been cast. My brother and his family understand the severity of this situation and they have written me saying that will do their best to take of you. As for your mother, my love, I hope you understand what I'm doing isn't just for my benefit or our family, it's for the safety of the two communities tied together in a secret war. Being my wife and the mother of our child you are naturally my greatest concern and I've asked my brother and his family to extend their house to you as well, it is your choice what you want to do but I beg of you to hear me, understand that Tammie must stay here once she's finally arrived. Had I known the consequences for leaving I would not have done so myself. I love you both so very much and I'm incredibly proud to call you my daughter and wife.

Lovingly and forever,

Dustin

Mom read the letter over again, her eyes quickly going over each line. I stared at the letter, again the pace of trying to progress it was much harder than I thought. I had to stay at the Malfoys? What exactly would happen if I left? Was that why my father died? "He shouldn't have written this, you're too young to know all this" mom said as she folded the letter up.

"But you believe him, don't you?" I asked wondering if I myself believed him. A secret war, what was that about?

"Lucius" my mom called, either already knowing he was standing in the doorway or not surprised he had come in. "You already read this?" She asked as he nodded.

"I also received a similar one. It is no trouble taking in Tammie—" My mom held her hand up.

"What did he do?" She asked, her voice so very close to cracking.

"I don't know, Krista" he whispered, his voice sympathetic. "I've been searching on and off, I stopped when Tammie didn't show up at Hogwarts, I knew she was around Draco's age so I expected here back then. Then, perhaps five or six months ago Albus approached me, he too received a letter from Dustin. Everything started rolling into place since then."

"Six moths ago? But dad's been gone for a while" I said as Mr. Malfoy nodded,

"We think the Sawyer family sent it when they realized—"

"Melinda's family?"

"Her grandparents, they knew, or know something, but we haven't been in contact, we're not close to them..." he said as Mrs. Malfoy joined us.

"So what now?" I asked.

"Well, feel free to pick a room" Mrs. Malfoy said gesturing around her. "And Krista, you are welcome anytime, we have a room made for you for the rest of the week if you'd like and I'm sure we can arrange something if you wish to stay longer or permanently" I looked at mom but suddenly she looked so painfully sad.

"I'll be visiting, no doubt about that, but, your father had a reason for doing all this. I intent to find out, I can't sit around wondering. Tammie, you understand, right?" I looked at her, she was going to leave?

"Are you going back to America?" I asked her expression mixed.

"I'm doing what I need to help figure out what's cursing our family. I spent fourteen years hiding what I am Tammie, for your safety, because you're father asked me, but I can't let his death be in vain." I knew what that meant, she had to find answers and she couldn't find them here, maybe not even back home, but I knew that was where she'd start. "You're in very good hands, and I love you so very much. I'll stay tonight and most of tomorrow, but I have to go home and pack. Maybe Bill will help be able to help, I know he's going off somewhere again."

"So you're just going to leave me with family I've never known about who has a terrible reputation?" I asked in what could only sound like annoyance. Mom put her hands on both my shoulders, turning me to face her.

"You know how reputations and first impressions go. Don't be so critical of others before you've taken a good look in the mirror. You heard your father, if this is for your own protection and me being away helps you I will do it." I searched her face, she couldn't be serious.

"Don't I have a say in this?" I asked her as she stroked my cheek.

"No" she said, her eyes glossy.

"Mom—"

"Don't make this harder, please, your father was a brave and kind man, he did this not just for us, please try and look at the bigger picture. Besides, I'll be here so often you'll be sick of it." I sniffed, trying to hide the fact I was crying but my mom wasn't an idiot. "You'll be okay" she whispered as she stood up.

"We'll be okay" I corrected as she nodded and looked over at the Malfoys.

"She'll be in good hands" Mrs. Malfoy said, her tone surprisingly authentic, what had my dad written them?

"Can I go see Fred now?" I asked as my mom nodded toward the Malfoys.

"Let's wait until tomorrow" Mrs. Malfoy said as I stared at her, not able to decide if she was just being kind because my mom was still here.

"Sounds good to me, I think I smell dinner, c'mon honey" mom said guiding me out of the room.

The rest of the evening was very slow and took a lot to process; Mr. Malfoy had brought out some old photos, him and dad when they were my age. It was so surreal seeing them, ontop of that to see the pictures moving. If only I could reach out and talk to him, to hug him, tell him how much I missed him. I knew if I asked someone would say the mirror of Erised was the cruelest magical artifact but I begged to differ, seeing a picture of a loved one, many pictures, but never being able to talk to them was much harder. Mom took out a few as well, back before I was born, their wedding day, a few random pictures. They looked so happy. I was looking at a man I wish I had known. Everyone exchanged stories over some drinks and dessert and then it was time for bed. Draco stayed up with as I complained, wondered and laughed about all that had happened. I received a letter but was too tired and overwhelmed to open it. I had to assume it was either from Melinda or Fred; I was still trying to figure out a way to tell either of them.