A/N: I feel like all I do is apologize for my delays! This pandemic has been crazy for a lot of us, and working from home started as this beautiful little blessing and soon became a nightmare - at least for me. I worked in finance, and the expectation became that I would be on call all hours of the day or night. I exploded into a gross but VERY sexy mess, left my job, and have taken a few months of sabbatical. I'm now feeling MUCH more like myself, and my brain has just started filling up with fun fic ideas. I'm back updating this one again! We are a bit more than halfway through. Please forgive mistakes – Aurette is my normal alpha/beta reader, but she's a busy lady and not working in the fandom right now. Smooches though baby girl if you reading this.

I'm also working on a super cool Creature-Inheritance-With-A-Twist that I'm excited to start posting. It feels good to be back amongst friends!

I hope you enjoy this story! It's based on characters that belong to JKR. They aren't mine, and I make no money.

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Draco stalked through the library tables toward Ms. Barde and the man accosting her. Jonathan's body curled over hers, forcing an arch in the librarian's back as she craned her neck to meet his eyes. Her face was pleading as she whispered to him, her voice a soft murmur, with only the sibilant sounds carrying across the room to them.

Severus crossed his arms, watching Draco's body language. The blond rolled his shoulders, letting the menace roll away from him, leaving behind an air of confusion. "I say, Jonathan. Jonathan? Is that you?"

Still holding Ms. Barde's elbow, he turned, mouth turned down. "Sorry, mate. I think you've got the wrong person."

"Don't be silly! We were in school together. Don't you remember me? I'll give you a hint: devilishly handsome? Radiantly popular?" Draco help up his hands palms out, thumbs touching. He smiled and winked through the frame of his fingers. "Extreeeemely popular with the ladies?"

The Muggle squinted, trying to place him. He wasn't watching Lara, and when she tried to ease out of his grip, he gave her a small shake. Her glasses slid to the tip of her nose. "No, I don't think so… unless…"

"Yes?"

"Were you the bloke who burned down the equipment shed and got expelled? Nigel… Nigel somebody."

"Very good, Jonathan. You've hit the nail on the head. I love fire, and my name is exactly that. Nigel Somebody, Esq." Draco gestured indolently to the front door, allowing the tip of his wand to slide out of his sleeve as he sidled up to the pair. He clapped him on the back, and Jonathan lurched forward. "Careful, man," he said as he deftly tripped the Muggle with a non-verbal Immobulus curse just on his feet.

Jonathan crashed to ground, but not before hitting his nose on the circulation desk. "What the fuck…" he groaned, but Draco was already hauling him to his feet.

"Quick now, tilt your head back. You've got a bloody nose," he viciously pinched the top of the man's broken nose. Jonathan roared with pain. With a hand on his back, he frog-marched the Muggle out of the library, saying, "Just lean on me, your good chap Nigel. Let's get you to a… mediwi-… medical doctor. That's a lad."

Severus approved of it all. Yes, Draco had made a small scene, but no international secrecy statutes had been broken, and Ms. Barde was safe from threat. Plus, his godson's offensive spellwork had really improved in the years since he'd seen him. It was quite difficult to target a specific part of the body without pointing a wand at it.

He turned back to Lara who was breathing deeply with her eyes squeezed shut trying to calm herself. Finally, she swallowed audibly and said, "I am so grateful to you both for stepping in. I don't think he'd have done anything here. It's too public. But six months ago, I never thought he'd hurt me either, and well, here we are." Bruises were already forming around her wrist. "I broke up with him two months ago after he pushed me, and this happened," she said, gesturing with her broken arm. "This is the first time I've seen him since then."

"May I see?" Severus asked, indicating her wrist. She made a small, pained noise and allowed him to take her hand. He carefully turned it over, angered over the dark smudges that ringed her arm.

Draco sauntered back in, looking smug. "He's feeling better. Said he had to go. Might not be back for a while."

"Mr. Malfoy, thank you for your assistance. I'm not sure what I would have done had you not been present to intervene."

"Yes, he's quite the hero," Severus murmured. "Well done, Draco. I appreciated your quick thinking." He placed his hand on his godson's shoulder and squeezed.

A flush swept from Draco's neck up to his patrician hairline. "It's quite tiresome always being this heroic and good-looking," but he reached up and grasped Severus's hand tightly before letting go and stepping away. Snape knew that Malfoy Sr. had never had anything nice to say to his only son and heir, and he'd never understood it. Draco was a silly vain creature, but he was also smart and kind and savage when necessary. He'd always been such a good boy, trying so hard to please – even to the point of taking the Dark Mark when he had never given a rats' titty about power or blood-status.

Snape resolved to do better where his godson was concerned.

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Ms. Barde had excused herself to run her arm under cold water. Both Snape and Draco had tried to convince her to take off the rest of the evening so she could participate in a little self-care like putting her feet up, icing her bruises, or filing police reports about things like broken arms, but she insisted there'd be time enough the following day – her day off – to take care of all of that.

In her absence, Snape asked, "What did you do with him?"

"Dropped him off at a Muggle hospital to get his nose set."

Severus turned to stare at his godson. "And?" He knew there had to be more.

"Well, it was the only Muggle hospital I knew – the Hôpital de la Croix Saint-Simon. In Paris. And I couldn't have him blabbing about anything, so I Confunded him."

"You Confunded a Muggle? And left him in Paris? I'm assuming you took the precaution of ensuring that it couldn't be traced back to you?" Or me, he thought silently.

"Of course. I used my spare wand. I call it my sneaky wand –I stole it off of Neville Longbottom in fourth year. Plus I was very, ah, vigorous with the charm. I should be very surprised if he remembers anything that happened tonight. Muggles tend to logic themselves into all sorts of illogical things. If he remembers anything about Ms. Barde, he'll assume he's wrong because how could he have been here at the library if he was in Paris, presumably."

"Very well done." Severus thought deeply about the implications of Draco's sneaky wand and smiled. "That wand would be very helpful in the commission of several high-level bits of treason and blackmail. Are you in?"

"I suppose I am," Draco said, attempting to look austere. In reality, he looked happy. Deeply happy. Snape knew that a lot of it had to do with the excitement of the evening making him feel alive, but he hoped that at least a small part of it had to do with their mended relationship.

If he were honest, he was happier than he'd been in ages as well. He'd been content in his claustrophobic world it's true. But taking ownership of his life and his relationships, even the relationships that weren't going as he'd hoped, made him feel as if he were really living once more. Severus was taking the first steps to shed his shadowed self, and he felt… powerful. More like himself. He clapped Draco on the back fondly.

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Hermione's insides sloshed around a bit, making her queasy as she sat in the beige office of her new wizarding therapist, Andre Dawlish. He was a big, vibrant man in his fifties with red-brown hair and a tidy little mustache he'd waxed into small curls that made him look like he was smiling all the time. His office on the other hand. Very beige. Like, a grey beige. A greige. She guessed it was supposed to be calming, but it just screamed for a splash of color, at least in her opinion. Maybe some burnt oranges or reds.

"Have you ever thought about adding some color to-" she began just as her therapist said "Ms. Granger, you've failed to-"

"Oh, pardon me," Hermione said. "Failed? In what way?" Nothing on this planet got her attention faster than intimating she had failed at something. Her recurrent nightmare in the weeks after the final battle hadn't had anything to do with Voldemort or Nagini or friends that had died, but that she'd failed her entrance exams for her Healing apprenticeship.

She understood the implications of a nightmare like that and wasn't terribly troubled by them. Her attention to detail and smarts had carried her through the war, and she felt that if she just stayed true to herself, she'd continue to heal emotionally no matter what she dreamed about. She did mourn the friends she lost. Colin, Lupin, Tonks, Fred. Even Lavender. But she knew she'd done the best she could. Now, if it happened again, then she'd have nightmares about losing friends. Becoming a healer was a way to make sure that should the worst ever happen again, she'd be prepared.

"Let's back up," Andre said. "You've told me that the reason you are here is that you are having trouble letting go of the guilt surrounding Mr. Snape's health problems. We have failed to establish context around that." Hermione relaxed minutely until he continued, "Tell me about your relationship with Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley."

She held her hands up as if to push him and his questions back. "Look, if this is an attempt to get me to tell all about our friendship so you can spill it to the Daily Prophet…"

"I'm a therapist and am bound by my professional oaths not to share information on my patients." He tugged on his dapper little mustache and looked thoughtful. "It must be exhausting to have to constantly be on the defensive. I'm sure people don't realize how tiring it must be to be hailed as a saviour of the Wizarding World. I am willing to offer you an Unbreakable Vow if it would make you feel more secure. I can call my secretary in to be our bonder."

Hermione breathed out, staring at him. "I don't want you to think I'm an absolute nutter about this."

Andre smiled and his mustache smiled even more. "I'll be honest. I don't usually offer it. I'm not accustomed to making Vows willy nilly, but I think this is an unusual situation in which we both find ourselves. Would a Vow make you more comfortable to talk to me about your struggles?"

She nodded. "I want to trust you. But in the past, people I've trusted, people I've loved and known for years have… surprised me. Badly."

Andre nodded and paged his secretary. After the Vow was accomplished, he pulled out his notebook and clicked his Muggle biro. "Now, Ms. Granger. Tell me about your relationship with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley."

"We were friends right from the beginning," Hermione said, and then stopped, puzzled. "No, that's not right. They bonded immediately, and didn't much care for me until later…"

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A/N: Like it, love it, hate it, review it.