A/N: Special thanks to Gabriele. Without your persistent encouragement,
this story would never have seen the light of day. I can't thank you
enough for believing in my 'Black Unicorn World'.
Chapter Two "Behold, for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death." Lamentations 1:20
It took Draco quite awhile to get clean, even in the swimming pool sized bath off his room. He ended up changing the water once, amazed at the amount of the North York moors he still had clinging to his pale skin. He wasn't surprised that no-one had noticed the superficial cut on his cheek, it was covered effectively with splatters of mud.
He used a spicy soap that reminded him vaguely of the sea, and scrubbed his white hair clean of mud and heather and dried blood with a citrus shampoo. He wasn't in the mood to linger and turn on the spa bubblers however, so he got out as soon as the dirt under his fingernails had soaked out.
He dressed quickly and used a drying spell on his longish hair. It didn't take long, because his hair was so fine. He took another look at himself in the mirror before going out. In new robes and clean, he almost looked like his usual self. The purple shadows under his grey eyes and the way the cut on his cheek emphasised his unnatural pallor gave away the stress of the past 48 hours however. He rubbed one eye with the heel of his hand and sighed, closing his eyes briefly. He knew the worst was still to come and wouldn't end for a long, long time. He didn't want to face it. He just wanted to stand very still and hope it would all go away.
Turning away from the mirror, he walked slowly out of the door towards Dumbledore's office.
Snape was already in Dumbledore's office, waiting for him.
"Ah Draco! Have a cup of tea," Dumbledore said, gesturing to a chair and then pouring out some tea and putting some shortbread on a plate for him. Draco took it politely and sipped it lethargically, unwilling to initiate any conversation himself.
Snape was struck with the constrast between how Hermione had handled the details after her own personal tragedy only a few months ago, and how Draco was now reacting. Hermione had been eager to get the details tied up and things sorted out quickly, wanting to get her responsibilities dealt with and out of the way. Her approach had been sensible, clear-headed and dutiful, if not exactly enthusiastic. Draco seemed unwilling to even talk about the situation he was now in, let alone get the practical necessities underway.
"I will only ask you once more, Draco. Are you sure you wish to divorce your parents? You've had a night to sleep on the decision and it is a serious one," Dumbledore said finally, regarding the boy before him with unusual seriousness. Draco merely nodded. He was not one to take unconsidered decisions and once he made up his mind, he seldom changed it. Dumbledore saw the boy's reluctance to speak more than he had to and did not press him further. "In that case, I will ask Professor McGonagall to get the paperwork underway and owled to the Ministry. This afternoon, we will have to go to the Wizarding Law Courts to get the official documents signed. I suspect that officials at the Ministry will want to see you to gather information on the Death Eaters still at large. Are you prepared to co-operate with the enquiry Draco or would you like me to request that they give you more time to recover from recent events?" he asked kindly.
"No," Draco said immediately, his slim body tensing and his fair brows drawing together in a frown. "No, the sooner the evidence is gathered the quicker the Death Eaters can be caught. I don't want any of them to continue to carry out Voldemort's plans in his absence," he said, urgency evident in his voice and the grey eyes serious.
The old wizard nodded slowly. "I commend you Draco, for your courage in being willing to face these difficult tasks immediately. I'm sure the information being available to the Ministry now rather than later will aid their work enormously and save lives in the process," he said. "Now, we will perform the guardianship spell so that task is out of the way. It won't take long," he added reassuringly, gesturing to both Draco and Snape to approach his desk.
Draco watched with interest as a pale blue arc of light formed between his solar plexus and that of Snape as Dumbledore took their right hands in his and muttered something complicated sounding in Latin. It was over in a matter of minutes and would not dissolve until Draco's eighteenth birthday or so Dumbledore told him.
"With your parents still at large, you will be staying with me at Snape Manor," Snape said to him, once they were seated again. "I will organize for the House Elves to go and collect your belongings from Malfoy Manor early this evening once we are finished with the business over at the Ministry. There are Aurors stationed there at the moment but I'm sure we can get permission to obtain some of your belongings in the meantime. I won't be at Snape Manor very much as I'll be teaching at Hogwarts, of course so I will show you around the Manor and grounds. My House Elves will be at your disposal."
And you'll be spending every night with Hermione, Draco thought with the ghost of a smirk that suddenly made him look more like his usual self than he had for days.
* * *
Draco had lunch in his room, not wanting to mix with the Slytherins down at his old House table. His friends had all left with him the previous school year, of course. His mind drifted to Crabbe and Goyle, and their families. He had no doubt they would be in Azkaban within days. He pushed the roast beef round and round his plate in the rich brown gravy. He had suddenly lost his appetite. He did not love his friends in the same way the incomprehensible Gryffindors seemed to love each other but neither did he want to see his old allies in that hellhole. He suspected that his school mates were as ignorant as he had been of Voldemort's activities with the camp at Gillamoor but they would probably still share their parent's fate. His stomach churned and he regretted eating as much of the meal as he already had. He pushed the tray away and went to stand at the window. From there he could see a Ravenclaw Quidditch practice. He made himself concentrate on the movements of the players so he could gain relief from thinking for a while.
* * *
As soon as they arrived at the Ministry that afternoon, an official called Dumbledore away for a meeting. Meanwhile, Snape took Draco through all the documentation for his divorce. The Wizard lawyer in his expensive, grey, pin-stripped, Arnami robes droned on about the legal implications but Draco tuned him out. He already knew that he would have to find work and support himself through University. He had no idea what kind of work he was fitted for but without his parent's wealth backing him, he had to be independent. He filed that thought away as tomorrow's problem.
Snape made him read every document before he signed it but there was nothing in any of the documentation that disturbed him unduly. He had known instinctively the seriousness of his decision and that there would be difficult consequences that would arise from it.
They were done inside of two hours and the parchments were magically sealed and verified. Just as they finished, Dumbledore joined them looking grave. He led Draco and Snape to a private meeting room. "I have some difficult news Draco," Dumbledore said simply, once they were seated. "Your parents were captured by Aurors just a few hours ago when they tried to return to the Malfoy Manor. They are currently in Azkaban and their case will be heard within the month," he said quietly.
Draco nodded, not looking at either Dumbledore or Snape. He wanted to say something, like he was glad they were where they could not commit any more atrocities but he couldn't bring himself to say it. For everything that they were, they were also still his parents and it did not make him glad that they were soon-to-be-convicted criminals.
"They also searched Malfoy Manor," Dumbledore continued, "and found enough evidence of their Dark Arts activities so your testimony may not be needed to convict them." Draco appreciated Dumbledore's sympathetic and reassuring tone but remained silent, still unable to make himself say anything appropriate. There was a few moments silence. Finally Snape broke it.
"Would you like to go back to Snape Manor now and settle in?" Snape asked Draco. "I take it that the Aurors would like Malfoy Manor kept clear for a few days for further evidence gathering?" Snape added turning to Dumbledore, his deep voice sounding quite emotionless.
Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, they will need a good month to get through such a large estate I would imagine," Dumbledore said mildly.
Draco glanced at his old Potions Professor, a hint of gratitude in the pale eyes. "Yes," he replied simply.
* * *
The House Elves had left some of Draco's belongings in a large suite of guest rooms on the second floor of the guest wing of the Snape Manor. Dumbledore had gained permission from the Aurors for the Elves to gather some of his clothes and his Nimbus 2001 from Malfoy Manor earlier that day.
Snape stalked around his huge home, showing his former student the closest entrance to his suite of rooms and how to get out into the grounds. He had to show him several charms to access certain parts of the grounds and Manor, and also introduced him to the Head House Elf.
"You have free rein here to go where you please on the estate and within the Manor. The only thing I ask is that if you encounter my study, please don't interfere with any experiments currently in process. They are potentially dangerous. There may be times when I am here over the next month or so while you are in residence but they will be rare," Snape said once the tour was over. Snape debated whether or not to mention that Hermione may also visit the Snape Manor occasionally but at that point, he didn't know whether or not that would be the case. He decided to leave that detail out for the time being. "If you need anything, see my Head House Elf. If he can't help you, just owl me at Hogwarts," Snape said finally.
It was already late and well past dinner time by the time Snape left the boy to settle into his rooms. The House Elves had left a tray of food in his personal sitting room, magically kept hot for him. He made himself eat it, knowing it would make him feel better afterwards but it tasted like sawdust.
He glanced at the clock in the room. It was around 10pm. He wondered if Snape had rushed off to Hermione's birthday party - the one he himself had been invited to only that day. This time he smirked outright then wrinkled his long, narrow nose briefly at the thought of Hermione and Snape together. It was a place his imagination did not really want to go and he left off thinking about it.
His parents came unbidden to his mind. He wondered what kind of night they were having at Azkaban. He didn't want to think about that either and his mind shied away from it when he tried to envisage it. He guessed it would be in all the wizarding papers tomorrow and he made a note to ask the House Elves for a copy in the morning. He speculated about who else may have been caught for a while but suddenly found himself yawning.
With another glance at the clock, he went to find some pajamas amongst his belongings and headed for his private bathroom.
Chapter Two "Behold, for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death." Lamentations 1:20
It took Draco quite awhile to get clean, even in the swimming pool sized bath off his room. He ended up changing the water once, amazed at the amount of the North York moors he still had clinging to his pale skin. He wasn't surprised that no-one had noticed the superficial cut on his cheek, it was covered effectively with splatters of mud.
He used a spicy soap that reminded him vaguely of the sea, and scrubbed his white hair clean of mud and heather and dried blood with a citrus shampoo. He wasn't in the mood to linger and turn on the spa bubblers however, so he got out as soon as the dirt under his fingernails had soaked out.
He dressed quickly and used a drying spell on his longish hair. It didn't take long, because his hair was so fine. He took another look at himself in the mirror before going out. In new robes and clean, he almost looked like his usual self. The purple shadows under his grey eyes and the way the cut on his cheek emphasised his unnatural pallor gave away the stress of the past 48 hours however. He rubbed one eye with the heel of his hand and sighed, closing his eyes briefly. He knew the worst was still to come and wouldn't end for a long, long time. He didn't want to face it. He just wanted to stand very still and hope it would all go away.
Turning away from the mirror, he walked slowly out of the door towards Dumbledore's office.
Snape was already in Dumbledore's office, waiting for him.
"Ah Draco! Have a cup of tea," Dumbledore said, gesturing to a chair and then pouring out some tea and putting some shortbread on a plate for him. Draco took it politely and sipped it lethargically, unwilling to initiate any conversation himself.
Snape was struck with the constrast between how Hermione had handled the details after her own personal tragedy only a few months ago, and how Draco was now reacting. Hermione had been eager to get the details tied up and things sorted out quickly, wanting to get her responsibilities dealt with and out of the way. Her approach had been sensible, clear-headed and dutiful, if not exactly enthusiastic. Draco seemed unwilling to even talk about the situation he was now in, let alone get the practical necessities underway.
"I will only ask you once more, Draco. Are you sure you wish to divorce your parents? You've had a night to sleep on the decision and it is a serious one," Dumbledore said finally, regarding the boy before him with unusual seriousness. Draco merely nodded. He was not one to take unconsidered decisions and once he made up his mind, he seldom changed it. Dumbledore saw the boy's reluctance to speak more than he had to and did not press him further. "In that case, I will ask Professor McGonagall to get the paperwork underway and owled to the Ministry. This afternoon, we will have to go to the Wizarding Law Courts to get the official documents signed. I suspect that officials at the Ministry will want to see you to gather information on the Death Eaters still at large. Are you prepared to co-operate with the enquiry Draco or would you like me to request that they give you more time to recover from recent events?" he asked kindly.
"No," Draco said immediately, his slim body tensing and his fair brows drawing together in a frown. "No, the sooner the evidence is gathered the quicker the Death Eaters can be caught. I don't want any of them to continue to carry out Voldemort's plans in his absence," he said, urgency evident in his voice and the grey eyes serious.
The old wizard nodded slowly. "I commend you Draco, for your courage in being willing to face these difficult tasks immediately. I'm sure the information being available to the Ministry now rather than later will aid their work enormously and save lives in the process," he said. "Now, we will perform the guardianship spell so that task is out of the way. It won't take long," he added reassuringly, gesturing to both Draco and Snape to approach his desk.
Draco watched with interest as a pale blue arc of light formed between his solar plexus and that of Snape as Dumbledore took their right hands in his and muttered something complicated sounding in Latin. It was over in a matter of minutes and would not dissolve until Draco's eighteenth birthday or so Dumbledore told him.
"With your parents still at large, you will be staying with me at Snape Manor," Snape said to him, once they were seated again. "I will organize for the House Elves to go and collect your belongings from Malfoy Manor early this evening once we are finished with the business over at the Ministry. There are Aurors stationed there at the moment but I'm sure we can get permission to obtain some of your belongings in the meantime. I won't be at Snape Manor very much as I'll be teaching at Hogwarts, of course so I will show you around the Manor and grounds. My House Elves will be at your disposal."
And you'll be spending every night with Hermione, Draco thought with the ghost of a smirk that suddenly made him look more like his usual self than he had for days.
* * *
Draco had lunch in his room, not wanting to mix with the Slytherins down at his old House table. His friends had all left with him the previous school year, of course. His mind drifted to Crabbe and Goyle, and their families. He had no doubt they would be in Azkaban within days. He pushed the roast beef round and round his plate in the rich brown gravy. He had suddenly lost his appetite. He did not love his friends in the same way the incomprehensible Gryffindors seemed to love each other but neither did he want to see his old allies in that hellhole. He suspected that his school mates were as ignorant as he had been of Voldemort's activities with the camp at Gillamoor but they would probably still share their parent's fate. His stomach churned and he regretted eating as much of the meal as he already had. He pushed the tray away and went to stand at the window. From there he could see a Ravenclaw Quidditch practice. He made himself concentrate on the movements of the players so he could gain relief from thinking for a while.
* * *
As soon as they arrived at the Ministry that afternoon, an official called Dumbledore away for a meeting. Meanwhile, Snape took Draco through all the documentation for his divorce. The Wizard lawyer in his expensive, grey, pin-stripped, Arnami robes droned on about the legal implications but Draco tuned him out. He already knew that he would have to find work and support himself through University. He had no idea what kind of work he was fitted for but without his parent's wealth backing him, he had to be independent. He filed that thought away as tomorrow's problem.
Snape made him read every document before he signed it but there was nothing in any of the documentation that disturbed him unduly. He had known instinctively the seriousness of his decision and that there would be difficult consequences that would arise from it.
They were done inside of two hours and the parchments were magically sealed and verified. Just as they finished, Dumbledore joined them looking grave. He led Draco and Snape to a private meeting room. "I have some difficult news Draco," Dumbledore said simply, once they were seated. "Your parents were captured by Aurors just a few hours ago when they tried to return to the Malfoy Manor. They are currently in Azkaban and their case will be heard within the month," he said quietly.
Draco nodded, not looking at either Dumbledore or Snape. He wanted to say something, like he was glad they were where they could not commit any more atrocities but he couldn't bring himself to say it. For everything that they were, they were also still his parents and it did not make him glad that they were soon-to-be-convicted criminals.
"They also searched Malfoy Manor," Dumbledore continued, "and found enough evidence of their Dark Arts activities so your testimony may not be needed to convict them." Draco appreciated Dumbledore's sympathetic and reassuring tone but remained silent, still unable to make himself say anything appropriate. There was a few moments silence. Finally Snape broke it.
"Would you like to go back to Snape Manor now and settle in?" Snape asked Draco. "I take it that the Aurors would like Malfoy Manor kept clear for a few days for further evidence gathering?" Snape added turning to Dumbledore, his deep voice sounding quite emotionless.
Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, they will need a good month to get through such a large estate I would imagine," Dumbledore said mildly.
Draco glanced at his old Potions Professor, a hint of gratitude in the pale eyes. "Yes," he replied simply.
* * *
The House Elves had left some of Draco's belongings in a large suite of guest rooms on the second floor of the guest wing of the Snape Manor. Dumbledore had gained permission from the Aurors for the Elves to gather some of his clothes and his Nimbus 2001 from Malfoy Manor earlier that day.
Snape stalked around his huge home, showing his former student the closest entrance to his suite of rooms and how to get out into the grounds. He had to show him several charms to access certain parts of the grounds and Manor, and also introduced him to the Head House Elf.
"You have free rein here to go where you please on the estate and within the Manor. The only thing I ask is that if you encounter my study, please don't interfere with any experiments currently in process. They are potentially dangerous. There may be times when I am here over the next month or so while you are in residence but they will be rare," Snape said once the tour was over. Snape debated whether or not to mention that Hermione may also visit the Snape Manor occasionally but at that point, he didn't know whether or not that would be the case. He decided to leave that detail out for the time being. "If you need anything, see my Head House Elf. If he can't help you, just owl me at Hogwarts," Snape said finally.
It was already late and well past dinner time by the time Snape left the boy to settle into his rooms. The House Elves had left a tray of food in his personal sitting room, magically kept hot for him. He made himself eat it, knowing it would make him feel better afterwards but it tasted like sawdust.
He glanced at the clock in the room. It was around 10pm. He wondered if Snape had rushed off to Hermione's birthday party - the one he himself had been invited to only that day. This time he smirked outright then wrinkled his long, narrow nose briefly at the thought of Hermione and Snape together. It was a place his imagination did not really want to go and he left off thinking about it.
His parents came unbidden to his mind. He wondered what kind of night they were having at Azkaban. He didn't want to think about that either and his mind shied away from it when he tried to envisage it. He guessed it would be in all the wizarding papers tomorrow and he made a note to ask the House Elves for a copy in the morning. He speculated about who else may have been caught for a while but suddenly found himself yawning.
With another glance at the clock, he went to find some pajamas amongst his belongings and headed for his private bathroom.
