"I'm beginning to feel like I got the short end of the stick," Draco mused from across the table.

Hermione looked up from her journal, a smile on her lips, but she said nothing. Truth be told, Draco was right. She had spent months reading through Nicholas' journals, while Draco plowed through several. Nicholas appeared to be one of the few Malfoys that had kept a detailed record of his life while others barely made it a quarter-ways through of their own journals. Despite this, Hermione felt like she had gotten the short end. While she was reading about a kind and gentle soul who ended up killing countless muggles in pursuit of the woman who had cursed his family, Draco had learned more details about the curse.

So far, Draco had read about two modifications of the curse since it was originally cast. The first modification was what gave the present version of the curse such a "killer instinct" vibe. In an attempt to stave off death, the death sentence became an innate desire to carry out the task. Malfoys had suddenly become bringers of death rather falling submissive to it. The second modification had been an attempt to quell the desire to kill. It was a horrible attempt, truly, for it only made the desire to commit murders almost insatiable. Whatever modifications that Draco had yet to read would yield the insanity portion as well as the arousal for one's partner once a life has been taken. Regardless of not having read about those changes, Hermione still had a good idea on where to start.

"Naturally, the easiest thing to do would be to destroy the cursed object —well, person, in this case," Hermione brooded. "Unfortunately, Castor has been dead for centuries."

"And there would be nothing left of his body to destroy even if we did a little digging," Draco added. "There would also be no guarantee if the curse could be lifted then since the curse, technically, runs through a Malfoy's blood."

"That too. So, at this point we're left with the major components of the curse. Insanity from the lack of killing, the euphoria after a kill—"

"—which I have no problems with," Draco cheekily supplied. Hermione shook her head at him before continuing with her list.

"There's also the innate desire to kill. The most pressing matter out of all of these is the insanity. We kill because we want it to stop."

"That's the big-ticket question then, isn't it? How do you cure insanity?" Draco frowned. He knew the answer to that, and he had told his father the morbid reply when Hermione had had her first fall into madness. "It can't be done. You can only mitigate it, not stop it completely."

"You're right," Hermione reluctantly agreed. "It's like muggle pain medication. Has the pain really stopped? Or is it simply that pain signals stop getting sent so that you don't get the notification to feel it? I think the same principle can be applied to us."

"How so?"

"I believe the family Healers were onto something when they tended to me. As you told me, they didn't treat the insanity, but they set up blocks in my mind to keep what was making me crazy contained. I think it's possible to do the same thing with a variant of a nightmare suppressant. With the proper modification, it should ward off any hallucinations, ocular or auditory. Without the pressure to kill, we won't. Obviously, it's not a curse breaker, but it could make it manageable."

"That's an interesting theory, I do admit. There's still the issue of the innate desire to kill, though. Whereas insanity was our biggest problem, that natural desire to kill is top now. How are you going to get around that?"

"That's going to be tricky," Hermione frowned. "Things that are innate are part of you. How do you target something that makes you you without changing yourself?"

"Having the desire to kill was never part of you," Draco said quickly. "You had the purest heart, and this curse destroyed it. I think it would be in your best interest to restore what was taken from you."

Hermione's face softened as her husband's fell into one of regret. No, she wasn't innocent anymore, and she was hardly pure. Granted, purity is something no one can achieve, in her opinion, even if Draco believed it. "Perhaps. It doesn't take away from the difficulty, however. Regardless, desires can be tamed. Insanity, on the other hand, is a wildfire that's almost impossible to put out. Even if we haven't had an episode in quite some time, the potential for one is always there. It still needs to be addressed."

"Fair enough. What are you proposing that we do?"

"A little experimentation," she answered happily. "we'll need the base ingredients for a nightmare suppressant and those of various memory potions. It'll be a good place to start."

"To start yes, but the rest of it?" Draco gently prodded. Hermione's contentment had forced her smile to become wider, and Draco, too, began sporting one just the same although his was a tad more mischievous. "This could go very well or, most likely, very badly," he continued nonchalantly, albeit an excited lilt to his tone. "We don't know what the eventual potion will do until the effects have run its course."

"And that's why it's called an experiment," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "I'll leave you to choose which members of your family you'd like to be our test subjects. Preferably a couple who has a greater kill rate in a shorter time span. It means that they're more prone to insanity fits."

"Or that they're unable to control themselves," Draco pointed out. "We need the former to test the potion properly."

"True. Luckily, we both know a pair of Healers who are familiar enough with the family to tell us who fits the bill."

Healer Cimpo and Healer Asteur were the best bet Hermione and Draco had to figure out who to test their potion on once they got going. More than that, however, the Malfoy family Healers were also proficient in the mind. As they both had skill in Legilimency and memory magics, they could also provide insight into how best to keep insanity at bay. Healer Cimpo seemed to have the greatest insight, but Draco thought that he would be a tougher nut to crack —not to mention ask questions and be suspicious of their motives. That was why Draco was out for the day, and Hermione was waiting for Healer Asteur in front of the fireplace.

"Mrs. Malfoy," Healer Asteur smiled once she came out of the fireplace. "It's been some time —quite some time, it seems," she added as she gazed at Hermione's stomach. The brunette grinned broadly as she, too, looked down at her growing baby. The time she had spent reading Nicholas' journals had made the months go by. She was in her third trimester now and expecting her son in early May.

"It has, hasn't it?" Hermione agreed. "In fact, this is the reason why I asked you over today."

"Oh?" Healer Asteur tilted her head in confusion. "I'm a Healer, yes, but I don't specialize in pregnancy."

"I know you don't. You do, however, specialize in the effects of the Malfoy family curse."

The air became thick and heavy at that, and Healer Asteur straightened her back —or as straight as she could due to the slight hunch old age gave to her. "I see."

Hermione reached out her arm for her to take and the two women headed towards the parlor room. "Motherly instincts tend to kick in quickly, I've realized. As cruel as it is for me to say, you and Healer Cimpo won't be around forever, and I'd like to be as prepared as possible for him and however many children come after him."

"You will make a wonderful mother," Healer Asteur said affectionately. They had reached the parlor room and the eldest witch sat down on an armchair while Hermione sat, rather ungracefully, on the couch near her. "Not to discredit any of the other women before you, but you have taken a very proactive step."

"Well, I've always been an overachiever," Hermione chuckled. "This is also very important to me and Draco. Unlike many Mrs. Malfoys, they've all been rather…let's say 'acclimated' to the lifestyle that the curse enforces. Not me. Draco feels responsible for that. While we can't undo what has happened to us, we'd like to do what we can for our son."

"I understand, and I would like very much to help you. What is it exactly would you like to know?"

"Your method, for starters. Draco told me that you and Healer Cimpo helped me when I fell prey to…the voices."

"Yes, we did," Healer Asteur nodded. "A series of mind blocks were used to keep you from remembering what drove you to your bout of insanity. Call it a fortified Memory Charm, if you wish."

"Essentially then you just made me forget what I heard?"

"Precisely."

"Why not just use a Memory Charm then?" Hermione sincerely asked. "Not to diminish your work, but it appears that's all that you did."

"A similar process, I will admit, but not the same. Mrs. Malfoy," Healer Asteur suddenly addressed very seriously. The old witch seemed hesitant to continue with what she wanted to say, but she went on nevertheless, and her words trembled with experience. "You cannot forget trauma, and fear does not go away. Memory Charms erase what a person has seen and done, but not what someone has felt. Mind Blocking does both."

"It's a bit like the curse, don't you think?" Hermione questioned. "I know what I've done, but I don't feel bad for any of it. I don't… I don't feel at all. Nothing but love for my family and friends, anyway."

"It makes it easier to kill, doesn't it? Remorse would be the death of you otherwise."

Hermione couldn't help but agree. She remembered how she felt when she had killed that vagabond before the curse took effect. Shock had rattled her at what she had done, and she had tried to save him. Comparing that to when she and Draco casually ate desert while a man bled out on their kitchen floor, and the difference was drastic. The difference was horrifying —or at least it should have been.

"How long until insanity resurfaces after Mind Blocking is done?"

"It depends on how far it has progressed before the process was performed. Mind Blocking helps with a present crisis, not to keep the voices and hallucinations at bay for an extended time."

"If only it could," Hermione wistfully commented. "Would you be willing to teach me?"

"I could, but I must admit that Healer Cimpo would be a better teacher than I. Also, I must be frank and say that the process of Mind Blocking is difficult and very advanced magic that few people know about. It requires precision, focus, and the ability to tune out everything around you. Previous skills in Legilimency or Occlumency would make you better adept to learning Mind Blocking."

"This is your delicate way of saying that it would better for Draco to learn it instead, isn't it?" Hermione prodded. Healer Asteur looked embarrassed, and a small nod was given instead of verbal confirmation.

"Your husband is a Master Occlumens. His mind is constantly on guard, and the amount of strength that takes physically, mentally, and emotionally is commendable. You must ask him one day why he hasn't pursued Legilimency."

"I will. I'll also let him know to contact Healer Cimpo. Can I ask you something else? It's about the curse, specifically."

"Oh, but I wouldn't know about much details about that," Healer Asteur brushed off quickly. "I know how to help, yes, but the specifics—"

"—It's not about specifics, I promise," Hermione reassured. "I just realized that you must have been a Healer for the family for a long time. You've treated so many of us. I was hoping to know how often does it happen? Insanity cases, I mean."

"Ah, that. It depends on the couple, I'm afraid. Everyone is different. Some I've had to treat every few months, others every handful of years, and those I haven't had to treat at all."

"Lucky them you've never had to treat," Hermione praised. "As for those you've had to tend to regularly, just which ones are they?"

"Are you asking me to disclose my patients?" Healer Asteur was clearly taken aback, but this was expected. Hermione made sure to smile softly, lean forward a tad, and placed her hand on the older woman's own.

"Your patients are my family," Hermione said tenderly. "Speaking with them could provide insight into the curse that you can't give me. Please?" Here she gave the woman's hand a gentle squeeze before adding in a near whisper, "For the sake of my son?"

While evident at the start, Healer Asteur's apprehension slowly began to melt away. She let her gaze fall to her covered hand before once again meeting Hermione's eyes. She squeezed Hermione's back and began to nod.

"It will stay between us and the couple I will name, yes?"

"Of course."

"Those two?" Draco chuckled as he leaned back in his chair. "Apart from my parents, my Uncle Damien and Aunt Lydia are the two most loving Malfoy couple I know."

"And now we know the reason why," Hermione grinned. "So Healer Asteur informs me, they make a kill once every four to six months. I can only imagine that they keep a set of prisoners in order to have a fresh kill supply."

"Probably brought by a house elf," Draco suggested. "If they were to go out so often to lure an unsuspecting victim they would've been caught by now for sure."

"Very true. Yet despite having someone to kill on hand, they still need to call on Healer Asteur and Healer Cimpo's services during that time frame. It seems as though their episodes have a very quick onset. It's why they both quit working and why they're such recluses."

"And here my parents thought they were just snobs."

"Oh please, Draco, every Malfoy is a snob —even you."

Draco let his eyes roll, but he didn't offer a rebuttal. Instead, he moved onto the real matters that they needed to attend to. "Alright, we've now got our test subjects. We're going to have to be very careful when sneaking them potion doses."

"We'll also have to be close enough to them to watch their habits," Hermione added with a slight sigh. "That will be difficult. It's not like we're close to them. Showing up at their home for the occasional dinner or tea just to keep an eye on them would be highly suspicious."

"And that, love, is why we need a house elf," Draco mischievously smirked. "Those creatures are better eyes and ears than any human. We can borrow one of my parents' and say its taking care of you in your final trimester and the first few months after the baby's born."

"Oh, your parents will just love that," Hermione groaned. Draco laughed and rose from his seat which he vanished with his wand. His darling wife lay on their bed, blanket pulled up to her chest, but nothing could hide that baby bump of hers. He sat on the side of the bed and cupped her hand dearly.

"It wouldn't be so bad to have the extra help, you know."

"And we have it," she pointed out. "My parents will be more than happy to look after their grandchild and so will yours."

"Willingly letting my parents near our son, are you?" Draco teased. He leaned up and kissed her on the cheek when she stuck her tongue out him before carefully leaning over her body so that he could lay beside her.

"You know your parents better than I do, and even I know they would move mountains to see him."

"I can't disagree. What I hope that you will agree on, though, is that we hold off on experimenting until after you've had our son. Anything is fair game when playing with potions, and I don't want anything to happen to either of you."

"Deal," Hermione quickly agreed. "Can I ask for something in return? No rush."

"Anything."

"Your aunt and uncle's blood."

Hermione watched Draco's eyes widen in surprise, but she ruffled his hair to put a little life in him. One minor scowl later, she further explained, "It's for potion specificity. Blood from the intended recipients will ensure that it works."

"I'll have to get that myself," Draco said firmly. "House elves are good with stealth, but not to that degree."

"We run into a similar problem with getting close to them in that case."

"We'll have the opportunity," he assured her. He gave her stomach an affectionate rub before continuing happily, "You have a baby shower coming up."

Author's note: They have a plan! As Draco said, things can go so, so wrong with this. I can't wait!

-WP