Hermione

When Hermione finally woke up, she found out her whole world had changed, and not in a good way.

"What do you mean, your parents are dead?" Hermione asked weakly, looking up at Fred.

"Um, they," Fred swallowed and omitted the word, "After you were cursed. Snape showed up in the middle of supper and told us you lot were in trouble. We didn't get there fast enough and Mum and Dad-" Fred couldn't finish, but Hermione could gather a bit of what he meant.

"What happened to me?" Hermione asked slowly.

"Nothing that you need to worry about right now. I'll explain everything when you wake up next. You need a deep recovery sleep." Madame Pomfrey answered.


The Weasleys

Bill hadn't thought much about what his mother went through to raise seven kids until he was in charge of one. Then, he questioned his mother's need to have that last baby, that girl.

"Bill! It's not that bloody hard!" Ginny's face was screwed up in anger. "They're just bloody tampons! Just pick them up! Merlin above!"

"What eez zis?" Fleur asked, flooing into the Burrow and taking the scene before her.

"Get used to bloody incompetence, Fleur. This absolute idiot can't even buy tampons!" Ginny shouted, pointing at Bill.

"Don't you, I don't know, have a charm or something for that?" Bill asked, scratching his head. Both of the women in his life rolled their eyes at him.

"I weel peeck you up some." Fleur said, ignoring Bill.

"Thank you, Fleur, for not being useless," Ginny said, glaring at Bill and stomping away.

"Merlin, she hates me," Bill said, dropping into the nearest chair. Fleur laughed and his head shot up as he glared at her.

"She does not hate you, silly." Fleur kept smiling. "She eez 'ormonal. Zis is what girlz do."

"Girls are confusing." Bill admitted.

"Zen eet ees a good zing you 'ave me." Fleur smiled and kissed him on the nose.

Things weren't going much better for Ron and the twins… Well, for Ron and George. Fred barely stumbled in long enough to collapse into bed before he showered and left for Hogwarts and the hospital wing. Ron had picked up Fred's slack, helping George get the shop ready for its grand opening.

Ron had learned to do his own bout of growing up living in a house with nineteen-year-olds. Ron learned that his mother was a saint for keeping up with the laundry. He learned that his father was the strongest man ever, being able to provide for their family. He learned that no matter how hard he tried, he'd never be able to master his mother's recipes.

Ron had gone back to the Burrow one afternoon to try cooking Molly's shepherd's pie in the oven there. He was trying everything he could think of to recreate it, and using the Burrow's oven was the next change on his list. He was looking for anything in the cupboard that would inspire him when he found a box on one of the shelves. Thinking it had more spices or something in it, he thoughtlessly opened it up, then promptly threw it across the room.

Bill rushed in at the noise, wand drawn. When he saw Ron staring in terror at the box, tears in his eyes, he put the wand away and approached his youngest brother carefully. "What's wrong, Ron?"

"They-they… She-she," He stuttered not moving his eyes from the offending box.

"Take a deep breath and explain everything," Bill ordered and Ron obeyed.

"I was looking for spices or something, anything, to make my shepherd's pie taste more like Mum's. It was in the cupboard." Ron explained, having regained control over his senses. "I thought she started them closer to Christmas."

"You thought Mum started what closer to Christmas?" Bill asked, his gut clenching.

"The sweaters. This year's sweaters are all finished. And they're in that box." Ron announced, causing Bill's heart to break all over again.


Draco

Draco shivered and thought about the choices that brought him to this point, stalking through his father's manor. His mother, fortunately, had holed up in Black Manor for the duration of the war, so Lucius was taking her absence out on Severus. As if Draco's step-father, and one time godfather, could control her.

His mother and stepfather. They were partly to blame for the current situation he found himself in, he was sure. If they hadn't wanted to get married, Mother wouldn't have had to divorce Lucius. If she hadn't divorced Lucius, he wouldn't be playing this dangerous game. Damn Lucius for making him play this dangerous game. He lost his friends and his family in one second, just because Lucius conned him.

That, of course, brought Sirius to mind. Sirius had arranged the terms of Lucius and Narcissa's divorce. A divorce that had led to some of Draco's worst memories. Memories of summer afternoons and spring mornings and winter nights visiting Lucius in Azkaban. Memories of Lucius filling his mind with poison.

It didn't help that the 'Dark Lord' had taken a liking to Draco in the aftermath of the 'Battle of the Ministry.' Sirius had taken Draco aside at Christmas, along with Harry and Neville, and explained the prophecy to them. Then, he told them that it didn't really matter if Voldemort found out. As far as Sirius was concerned, if Voldemort didn't know the power the chosen one held, there was no point in him knowing the full prophecy.

Telling Voldemort the full extent of the prophecy had bought Draco his sister's safety. While Narcissa may have planned to hide out in Black Manor. Atria would be starting Hogwarts in the fall. Voldemort had told his Death Eaters, and their kin, that Severus Snape's child was off limits. Bellatrix's husband, Rodolphus Lestrange, in particular, found that completely offensive. He wanted to clear the Black line of its single half-blood spawn. At least, according to him, Atria was the only half-blood.

"You do realize that Sirius and his wife have two kids, don't you?" Draco had asked, staring his crazy uncle in the eyes.

"Sirius married Hestia Jones. It was the social event of the season. We even heard about the nuptials all the way in Azkaban." Rodolphus laughed. "Did you realize why it was so important? Of course not. It was the joining of the Black and Jones families. Sirius, for all his youthful protests, married a pureblood. Not Scared 28, but a pureblood nonetheless."

Draco hadn't been able to get the sound of Rodolphus' laughter out of his head. That conversation had led to Draco's current melancholy mood and his spiral into uncomfortable memories that he had thought were better off forgotten, but now were the key to living his new life. Those horrid memories.


Harry

Harry took another look at the parchment and sighed, banging his head against the table. He couldn't figure out how any of this happened.

This summer was unlike all the rest. No one came over. There were no Quidditch matches to keep him occupied, no Neville or Ron or even Draco to stay the night for endless hours of games. Everything had changed and Harry was determined to figure out where it all started.

In the unusually quiet manor, Harry heard the twins fighting and playing with one another as Sirius walked into the kitchen.

"Prongslet, are you still obsessing?" He said sitting next to him at the table.

"I think it's Umbitch. She turned Draco," Harry said putting the quill down.

"If she did, then it would have been to the Ministry, not Voldemort," Sirius pointed out bitterly.

"I just don't understand. We were family. You literally are family!" Harry shouted.

"We still are family. Have you owled Ron, Neville or Ginny?"

"Ron can't manage to look at me, Neville's still out of the country, great timing there," he added bitterly. "Ginny-Ginny won't I don't even know what to say to her. She says she doesn't blame me, but what if she does one day? I love her and I can't-seeing her in pain is just too much."

"I'm going to tell you something Minny, in not so many words, told me when your parents died," Sirius said. "It isn't about you right now. It's about them. Go see your friends."


Gabs: Yeah, yeah, it's super short, but we needed an intro chapter into the next one.

Kat: Deal. Sorry but I finished my Master project and have one week left!

Gabs: A question for our reviewers. Do you want to see Draco's motivation as part of this story? Or do you want us to post it in a separate story?

Kat: Comment on what you would like, since Gabs and I keep going back and forth with it. We own nothing.

XOXO

Gabs & Kat