Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings belong to J.K. Rowling.

The months passed and it was clear that the seventh years were running themselves ragged studying for their N.E.W.T.S. Most of them looked disheveled, mumbled to themselves, or just looked terrified. When Draco wasn't teaching or practicing with Quidditch, his face was buried in his books. Hermione had two quills tucked behind her ears, her nose in a book even as she walked the hallways. Neville was pale, Daphne kept muttering facts to herself, and Theo kept throwing his books in frustration. Cassius was very glad he wasn't a seventh year. The only thing was that Draco was too busy to hang out with him. Cass understood, he was studying but he had been hoping they could go outside and change into their Animagus forms. Draco had mentioned he would take him into the forest at night so their panthers could hunt and play, but now he was too busy. It had been months since he had become an Animagus and although Draco had overseen him transform in their quarters, they hadn't gone into the forest to transform and play.

Cassius had finished his homework after dinner and approached his brother, who was sitting in the kitchen studying at the table.

"Draco?" Cassius asked tentatively.

"Hmm?" Draco didn't look up from his notes.

"Can we go to the forest tonight? As panthers," Cassius asked hopefully. Now that he was comfortable changing, he really wanted to let his panther out in the forest and play and hunt.

"Not tonight, cub," Draco said distractedly as he flipped through the pages in his textbook. "Maybe tomorrow night."

"That's what you said yesterday and the day before," Cassius said, trying not to sound whiny.

"Cass, I'm busy right now." Draco said, opening his potions book.

"You're always busy," Cassius pouted. "You can't even spare a bloody hour?"

Draco's eyes snapped up, and narrowed on his brother. "Watch your mouth, little boy. I said not tonight and that's all I want to hear about it." he warned.

"It's not fair! You still won't let me transform without you," Cassius complained. When Draco just looked back at his notes, he felt his temper snap. "Fine. I'll go to the forest by myself!" He made his way to the door but was stopped by his brother grabbing his arm and swatting his backside. "Ouch!" he yelped.

"Enough of your attitude!" Draco scolded. "I told you no. And you know you are not allowed to transform, let alone go to the forest without me."

"Then take me," Cassius said pleadingly.

"Not tonight," Draco gritted his teeth. "You're really asking for it, Cass. Go to your room."

"But I-" Cassius winced when when Draco's eyes went glacier. "Fine. I don't want to hang out with you anyway. You're always in a foul mood!" he shouted before running to his room and slamming the door.

Draco shut his eyes in frustration. Couldn't Cass see he was up to his eyes in schoolwork? Why did he have to act like a brat now? Wondering if he should go talk to him, he quickly decided against it. They would just fight and Draco didn't want to deal with the attitude. He sat back down to his work.

An hour later Cassius crept out of his room and stood near Draco, a shameful look on his face. "I'm sorry." He was upset that Draco wasn't spending time with him but he knew his brother was really busy. He shouldn't have thrown a tantrum over it.

Draco glanced up, relaxing as he saw the defiance had left Cassius eyes. "It's okay Cass, I'm sorry too. I know I haven't been a lot of fun lately. I've just been really stressed."

"I know," Cassius mumbled.

Draco glanced at the time. "Why don't I take you to the common room so you can hang with your friends? I can study with Daphne and Theo."

"Okay." Cassius agreed. It wasn't what he wanted, he wanted to spend time with Draco. But it was better than nothing.

/

Enzo, Jason and Sadie were happy to see Cassius and the four pre-teens immediately began a game of Exploding Snap. Soon the sounds of cards exploding and giggling filled the common room as the four played game after game.

"Can you guys keep it down just a little?" Daphne groaned at one point.

The four kids just shrugged at each other and kept playing. Sadie burst into giggles when one of the cards exploded and singed Jason's eyebrows. "Hey," he complained before bursting into laughter.

Theo slammed the book he was reading closed. "I can't concentrate." he complained.

Draco glanced over at his brother and his friends. "Cass, why don't you guys play chess or something? We're trying to study and you guys are being a little loud."

"No," Cassius responded, irritated by his brother. Draco has no time for him, brings him here to hang out with his friends and then complains about it.

"Cass," Draco said, his voice deepening. "Play something else."

"Why should we? Go study somewhere else," Cassius glared at Draco.

"Does someone need an early bedtime?" Draco asked, staring at Cassius.

"I don't know, do you?" Cassius responded without thinking.

Enzo snickered.

Draco slammed his book down and stood up. "That's it. I've had enough of your attitude for today." he snapped.

Cassius's mouth dropped open. "My attitude? You're the one who brought me here to see my friends, and you expect us to be silent? You're the one who has no time for me!" he accused.

"Can't you guys go to the library?" Jason asked, not wanting to see his friend get into trouble.

Daphne gathered her papers and books and stood up. "Perhaps that would be better. That way the kids can play without us bothering them."

"We're not kids," Cassius muttered.

Draco picked up his books and walked to his brother. In a low voice, he said, "You're acting like a toddler. Keep it up and I'll treat you like one."

Cassius scowled but didn't say anything. Draco already treated him like a toddler.

As Daphne, Theo, and Draco walked out Draco called over his shoulder, "I'll be back in an hour. Stay here till then."

"Yes sir," Cassius said sarcastically. Luckily, the door had shut behind Draco and he didn't hear him. "Can you believe him?" he asked his friends.

"You shouldn't talk back to him, you'll just get into trouble," Sadie said.

"It's his fault!" Cassius protested. "He's being a git!"

"Well, talk to him about how you are feeling," Sadie said patiently. "Tell him you miss spending time with him."

"I've tried!"

"Oh please," Enzo said as he shuffled the cards. "He should just ignore Draco until he apologizes."

"Yeah, that's mature," Sadie said with an eye roll.

"Or," Enzo continued. "You could disappear, and then he would feel bad for ignoring you."

"Disappear?" Jason asked with a frown.

"Yeah, like hide somewhere. Then Draco would go crazy worrying," Enzo explained.

"That's not a bad idea," Cassius said, not noticing his friends sudden alarm. "I know exactly where I could hide. I can still get into the chamber of secrets. Draco would never find me and then he would feel – what?" he asked in confusion. His friends all had wide eyes and were frantically shaking their heads. A bad feeling came over him and he turned around slowly. "Oh, hey Draco," he said weakly.

Draco's eyes flashed furiously. "I came back because I forgot one of my books. I suppose it's a good thing I did, isn't it?" he hissed. Fear and anger filled him at what he had just overheard.

Cassius backed away. "I wasn't going to actually do it!"

"I would hope not because if you ever did something so stupid and reckless, I would take a slipper to your backside until being able to sit was a distant memory!" Draco snapped.

Cassius's face turned red with embarrassment. His friends were listening! "You're a git!" he burst out and ran, leaving the common room. He ignored Draco calls for him and kept running until he accidentally hit a wall and fell. "Oof!" He looked up and realized it wasn't a wall.

"Cassius?" Snape looked down in concern. He bent down and helped his godson up. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Cassius Malfoy!" Draco yelled as he stormed over.

Cassius hid behind Snape.

"Draco, what is going on?" Snape demanded.

Draco glared at his brother. "Cass is in big trouble, that is what is going on."

"I didn't even do anything!" Cassius protested.

"Planning to run away -"

"I wasn't going to do it!"

"Running from the common room-"

"I wanted to get away from you!" Cassius spat.

"All right," Snape held up his hand. "Both of you need to calm down."

"I need to deal with him," Draco said, still glaring at Cassius.

Snape raised an eyebrow. "You need to get control of your emotions. You will not deal with him while you are this angry."

Draco's eyes widened. "Are you implying I would hurt my brother?"

"Will you?" Snape asked coolly.

Draco's mouth dropped open. "I would never – he...and I..." he trailed off. He took step back. "Fine. He can stay with you." he turned and walked away.

Cassius felt his eyes fill with tears. He had actually pushed his brother into not wanting him anymore. He hadn't meant to, he'd just gotten frustrated with Draco. Tears slipped from his eyes.

Snape turned around and sighed. "Cassius, he just needs to calm down." he said gently.

"He doesn't want me anymore," Cassius whispered.

"That's not true," Snape put his arm around his godson and led him to his own quarters. "That's not true at all."

/

Draco returned to his quarters after being unable to concentrate in the library, dropping all his books on the coffee table. He still couldn't believe Uncle Sev thought he would hurt his own brother. He'd been angry, sure. Cassius was being a little brat but he wouldn't do anything to truly hurt him. Although, there had been hurt in Cass's eyes...

The floo flared and Snape stepped through.

"Where is Cass?" Draco asked when his brother didn't come through the floo.

"He fell asleep crying on my sofa," Snape glared at Draco.

"Crying?" Draco asked in alarm.

"It would appear he thinks you do not want him anymore," Snape said.

"What? Why would he think that?"

"You told him he could stay with me. He believes you mean permanently."

Draco rubbed his temples. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant for the moment. Until we did as you said and calmed down."

"Draco, you are stressed out," Snape said, his tone softening. "And your brother is feeling it."

Draco dropped into a chair. "Did he tell you what I overheard?"

"Yes," Snape also took a seat. "And he said he had no intention of actually doing it. He was just frustrated and venting to his friends."

"It's frightening to think about. He could get into the Chamber and I wouldn't have even thought about looking there," Draco said, fear filling him at the thought of his little brother in that dark chamber. Cassius had almost died in there once before and to hear him talk about hiding out there had just set off Draco's fears.

"He wasn't going to do it," Snape repeated. "He said he misses spending time with you. That you keep putting off your plans and then when you took him to see his friends so he could have fun, you got mad at him."

"We just wanted them to be a little more quiet," Draco said defensively.

"And they just wanted to have some fun," Snape countered. "I know how it is for you seventh years. You are all ready to snap but the difference is, you are a guardian to a child. One who needs your attention."

"He has it," Draco said. He sighed. "Okay, yeah. I've backed out of our Animagus plans a few times. And I am always studying or doing lesson plans. I -" he winced. "I've been a horrible guardian." he said glumly.

Snape chuckled. "No, you are just overwhelmed and stressed. You need a break."

Draco nodded ruefully. "Yeah, I do. And the thing is, I miss Cass. I haven't been able to hang out with him the way I want to. He must hate me, all I do is snap at him."

"He doesn't hate you," Snape assured him. "And I told him he had to understand that you being so busy was a temporary thing. But still, he needs the reassurance."

"I know he does," Draco murmured. With Cassius's past, it was no wonder he needed constant reassurance that he was wanted and loved.

"There also is a thing called over-studying." Snape said mildly. "You need a balance, if all you do is study and stress, you will drive yourself insane."

"I'll take a little break," Draco said. "Cass wants to go to the forest to transform. Maybe he'll see you hanging around?"

"Ah, you told him? And what did he think of my form?"

"You mean when I told him you were a fluffy little bunny? Well, he was surprised but -" Draco yelped as a stinging hex hit his thigh. "Fine. He thought it was funny, you know, since everyone -"

"Calls me the bat of the dungeons?" Snape said wryly as his eldest godson laughed. "Perhaps I will make a little visit to the forest. Tomorrow evening?"

Draco nodded. "Yeah. That would be great."

/

Cassius was dreaming he was floating. He was safe in a cocoon, flying through the air...his eyes opened and he realized he wasn't flying, he was being carried. "Draco?"

"Hey cub," Draco set his brother down on his bed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." He smoothed Cassi's hair back from his forehead.

Cassius blinked. "You came back for me?"

"Of course I did. How could you think I wouldn't?"

"I keep making you mad," Cassius said in a small voice.

"And I keep upsetting you," Draco sat on the bed. "I've been beyond stressed. I'm sorry I've been tetchy with you. I didn't mean to be."

Cassius sat up. "Sorry I've been annoying you."

"You haven't. It just these stupid N.E.W.T.s," Draco said with a sigh. "I can't wait till they are over with. But I've been studying too much so tomorrow evening I'm going to take a break."

"You are?" Cassius looked hopeful.

"Yeah. Me and my cub are going to play in the forest," Draco ruffled his hair. He laughed as Cassius threw himself at him in a hug and happily wrapped his arms around his brother. "And guess what?" he whispered.

"What?" Cassius whispered back.

"We might see a certain bat flying around," Draco said with a conspiratorial wink.

"Brilliant!"

TBC: