Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews, although I have to say Never isn't quite as evil as you all are making him out to be.

Disclaimer: See part one.

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In the two days that followed, Harry managed to get away with barely speaking to Draco. He ate meals at different times, made sure he was always in a different room, and did his best to keep Nathalie from seeing him.

Nathalie firmly refused to ignore Draco, and acted as a go-between between them for a while, before declaring that they ought to sort it out themselves. She befriended some of the house elves, and spent the larger part of the two days in the kitchen, eating as much ice cream and as many sweet things as she could. Harry, when he found out about this, halfway through the second day, wasn't pleased, and promptly took her to the downstairs parlour for a lesson.

"There's no way I'm letting you just eat sweets all the time," he told her firmly. "And you haven't had a lesson in days and days, what with one thing or another."

"You mean with the Others, and with you and Daddy arguing," she pulled a face. "Papa, I have a stomach ache."

He raised one eyebrow. "Now you know why it's bad to eat so much ice cream," he chastised her gently. "You'll be alright in a while; if it still hurts in half an hour, we'll stop, alright?" Pouting - she'd hoped to get out of the lesson - Nathalie nodded, and sat down in an armchair. "Oh, don't look so annoyed, cherie. Not necromancy today. It's time for you to really start using that wand...and to learn about everything that goes with it."

Nathalie's smile would have lit up the room if it hadn't been daylight. "Really, Papa? I'm going to learn how to shrink things, and blow things up, and curse people?"

Harry laughed. "Yes, cherie. Not all at once though," he warned. "It's hard work, and we have to go slowly, to make sure you understand everything." She nodded impatiently - of course, she knew all that, she just wanted to begin - and pulled her wand from her pocket. It was sticky - the result of clutching it after eating chocolate chip cookies and ice cream - and Harry raised an eyebrow quizzically at her. She pouted again.

"Give it here," he sighed. She dutifully handed it over, and he muttered a cleaning charm. "Try to keep it a little, uh, cleaner?"

"Yes, Papa," she murmured easily, her fingers crossed behind her back. "Can we start now?"

"Yes," Harry smiled. "We can start. Something simple, but useful. Wingardium leviosa."

"Uh...huh?" Nathalie scrunched up her nose. Harry smiled at her.

"Levitation charm," he explained. "Lifts things into the air; floats them, really. You need to do the right wrist movements though, so watch carefully." He pulled off his silver ring, and set it on the coffee table in front of him. "*Wingardium leviosa!*" The ring lifted into the air, and with a swish of his wand he directed it into Nathalie's outstretched hand. "See?"

"Yep," Nathalie nodded, holding up her wand in her right hand and the silver skull in her left. "Wingardium lev-"

"No, Nathalie," Harry said hastily. "Don't hold the ring in your hand, not on your first try. Put it on the table. I can fix *that* if you blow it up, but I wouldn't be able to fix your hand." Flushing, Nathalie dropped the ring onto the table quickly. She raised her wand again.

"*Wingardium leviosa*," she said firmly, moving her wand as she'd watched her father move his. The ring gave the smallest of shivers, and she frowned. "*Wingardium leviosa*!" she repeated loudly. The ring lifted an inch, then dropped. Nathalie looked up at her father in confusion. "I've been able to do all the *other* spells," she said mournfully.

"The other ones were easier," Harry shrugged. "And at least you didn't burn your eyebrows off." Nathalie squeaked, dropped her wand, and covered her eyebrows with her hands. "Calm down, cherie, it's not likely to happen to you." Slowly she lowered her hands, then picked up her wand. "Ready to try again?"

"Okay," she exhaled. "*Wingardium leviosa*!" Slowly, as if it wasn't really sure it should be levitating, the silver ring rose into the air until it was about level with Nathalie's eyes. She was so excited that she forget to concentrate. The silver ring thudded back to the table. "I did it, I did it! Papa, did you see, I did it!"

Harry retrieved his ring and slid it back onto his finger. "Yes, cherie, I saw. Well done. But calm down, alright?" He was clearly amused, but he was still teaching her, so she slumped back in the armchair. "Good girl. Name a Dark creature."

"Uh, werewolf?" she tried. Harry raised an eyebrow. *Too easy,* he thought dismissively. *But...it's been a long couple of days. I'll allow it.*

"How is a person made into a werewolf?" he inquired quietly, leaning back in his chair.

"A bite from a werewolf when they're in wolf form," Nathalie replied promptly. "Or if one of your parents is a werewolf, because it's a here - hereditry disease."

"Hereditary," Harry corrected. "Good. How can we defend ourselves against werewolves on full moons?"

"Um...they can't touch silver," Nathalie said slowly. "And, um..." She floundered for a moment more. "I dunno."

"You're right, they can't touch silver, they're allergic to it all the time," Harry agreed encouragingly. "On a full moon, the only real protection is to stay far away. But there is a potion that keeps their minds human during the change, remember?" She nodded. "And what's the cure?"

"Death," she replied. "Only that's not really a cure, is it, Papa?"

"No, it isn't," Harry said slowly. "Death isn't a cure for anything." He shook himself. "That was really too easy for you, Nathalie - I *know* grandpapa has told you about werewolves because of Moony."

Nathalie tried, and failed, to look innocent, which Harry knew to mean that she wasn't really trying to deny it. "No, Papa," she protested. "Of course he didn't - who's Moony?"

"Don't play innocent, cherie," he smirked. "Come on, we're still having a lesson." She nodded, and bit down a smile. "Okay. Name a potion and its uses."

Nathalie began swinging her feet a bit. "Um, Polyjuice Potion," she ventured. "Changes your appearance for an hour. Um, people use it to pretend to be other people, like when they're spying, or when they want to find out things. Also it can be very useful for sneaking into other people's dormitories."

Harry's eyebrows shot up. There was a low, appreciative chuckle from the doorway, where Draco had stood unnoticed for several minutes, and Harry and Nathalie both looked up, startled.

"Well done, little bit," Draco said approvingly. "I bet Harry had forgotten about that. It was me he was checking up on, did you know?"

"Really?" Nathalie was sceptical; she twirled the end of her plait around her fingers as she looked back at Harry. "Papa, were you?"

"Yes," Harry said simply, leaning back. "Lesson over, Nathalie. Go and eat some lunch, and don't forget that we're leaving tonight for the Hall." Nathalie frowned at both of her parents, then slid from the armchair, pressed a kiss to Harry's cheek, and slipped past Draco.

Harry didn't move, his eyes fixed on the coffee table, although he wasn't really seeing it. After a long moment, he put away his wand, raised his eyes to greet Draco, and tugged thoughtfully on one of the two silver earrings in his left ear.

"I'd better go." His voice sounded toneless even to him. "My hearing is tonight, and I ought to make some preparations." He rose, and made to move past Draco, but the wizard stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Harry...can I help?"

Harry met Draco's eyes carefully. "I don't know. Can you?" Draco smiled slightly, and kissed Harry chastely on the lips.

"Yes," he confirmed softly. "I can help you...if you want me to." He moved away down the hall, and disappeared through a door, leaving Harry oddly thoughtful.

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To be continued.