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Chapter 2: Relocation
Draco Malfoy sat huddled in the worn old armchair at Spinners End, his mother pale, blond and silent sat stiffly opposite him.
They were both soundless, waiting.
How had it come to this? Draco found himself wondering not for the first time.
How was it that he found himself, finally seventeen and in full control of his substantial fortune at last… here.
It was practically a hovel and Draco was feeling a new sympathy for Snape, did the man really have to live here?
The Wizarding authorities may not be able to touch any of his gold or assets, thanks to the goblins and ancient inheritance laws, but that didn't mean he could either.
They would be watching both Gringottes and the numerous Malfoy estates.
So, that left him and his mother here, waiting upon Snape's uncertain mercy.
Snape was meeting with the Dark Lord, testing the waters in regards to just how out of favour the Malfoy's were.
Draco rubbed feverishly at his left forearm finding himself grateful that he had not yet received the Dark Mark. It was to have been presented to him upon the successful completion of his mission.
But he hadn't completed his mission, Snape had.
Draco glanced covertly at his mother again from beneath lowered eyelashes, she did not possess the Dark Mark either, she had never taken it, unlike her husband and sister.
This fortunate coincidence may just save both their skins; it might allow them to hide.
Snape appeared in the middle of the room with a crack!
Narcissa sat forward in her seat wringing her hands anxiously, eyes fastened on the tall dark man.
Draco, in contrast cringed further back in his seat.
"The Dark Lord is displeased." Snape finally revealed after holding the anxious mothers gaze for a few moments. "However," he continued when Narcissa whimpered in distress. "Not so displeased that he will actively seek retribution. You are out of favour not condemned."
"Oh thank you." Narcissa breathed, leaning back in her seat with tears shining in her eyes.
"I do not believe that you and Draco are safe yet. The Dark Lord is fickle; he could change his mind at any time."
"What do you suggest Severus? We could move to one of our French residences…"
"No." Snape cut her off. "That is far too obvious. Although it may be wise to leave a false trail that makes it appear that that is where you have fled. That way if the Dark Lord decides to seek retribution he will not discover that is not where you are hiding until it is too late."
"Where do we go then?" Draco asked, speaking for the first time and doing his best to hold the cold dark gaze that swung in his direction.
"Not far at all." Snape murmured. "Although" he said slowly, "it will take considerable discipline on both your parts. There will be no room for old prejudice where you will hide."
Draco felt prickles of unease run down his spine, he had a feeling he knew what his old professor was going to say next and an even stronger feeling that he wasn't going to like it.
"There is a descent sized muggle town just outside of London." Snape said. "It is an exclusive community for the most part. "Home to the very well off. The less well off that work there, travel in from London and surrounding areas they work at the schools and shops there. You will not need to worry, as far as muggles go I am sure you will these people very civilised. I will place you under a very strong variation of the Fidelus Charm; even if somebody from the Wizarding World does see you there they will not recognise you."
"Who will our Secret Keeper be?" Narcissa asked softly, her face quiet pale.
"I will. And," he added when he saw Draco open his mouth ready to protest. "I will swear another Unbreakable Vow so you know you can trust me."
Draco's mouth snapped shut, he was never entirely sure as to whether he could trust Snape, he knew his mother did. But Draco found that his certainty of Snape's loyalties was always changing, he supposed it was because Snape was a double agent.
And he played that game very well.
Not even now, after he had killed Dumbledore, was Draco certain Snape was on the Dark Lord's side. After recent events Draco wasn't even certain if he himself still believed in the Dark Lord's cause.
Maybe Dumbledore had been right after all?
He had never been certain what his mother truly believed; she had always played her own game, never committing herself entirely to one side.
Snape and his mother seemed to have something in common, neither clearly picked a side but both clearly picked people.
His mother picked him and Snape picked them both.
"I trust you can arrange covert access to your gold?" Snape asked the Malfoys.
"Yes." Narcissa answered. "I will get Draco to write a dispatch for you to give the goblins along with our key, they will arrange everything."
"I have intelligence that the area in which you will be hiding has only one magical resident. A muggle born witch, I am uncertain of her identity. If you by chance you do come across her do not hide your magical heritage. Your story will be that you and Draco have recently moved here to live with Draco's muggle father who is often busy with work. That will on ministry records, you'll essentially be hiding in plain sight. The ministry won't know your true identities of course; you will both have new names."
"Hopefully we will not come across this witch." Narcissa said with a faint sneer.
"It is likely you will." Snape said bluntly. "This is where the true test of your discretion will come in to play. According to your new identities Draco has a muggle father. It follows that neither of you will have any prejudice against muggle borns."
"I'll have to make friends with a mudblood?" Draco asked disgust apparent in his voice.
"If you want to stay hidden, then in all probability, yes." Snape replied bluntly.
"What will our story be though? Won't she wonder why I didn't go to Hogwarts?"
"You will both be from France; the Charm will manufacture French accents for you, along with changing your appearances slightly."
"It seems you have thought of everything Severus. It simply remains to be done." Narcissa calmly stated. "The Charm first I think. Then the Vow."
Draco sat very still as Snape pulled out his wand and began to mummer the complicated charm under his breath. Narcissa began to subtly alter right before Draco's very eyes; he expected similar changes were occurring to his own person.
Narcissa'd long blond hair shortened slightly and gained a slight bounce, the colour darkened to a pretty medium brown. To Draco her face and eyes seemed to remain the same, but he expected that if anybody else that knew her saw her they would see something different.
"It is done." Snape said his slightly breathless voice a testament to the amount of power that had gone into the spell. "Now, for the vow. Draco you will need to witness it, take out your wand."
Narcissa and Snape clasped hands and Draco watched fascinated, wand grasped in his hand, as the ancient piece of magic played out before him.
"Place the tip of you wand on our hands Draco." His mother softly instructed.
Barely listening to the words his mother spoke, words that bound Snape to his vow, Draco watched a first one, then a second, then a third tongue of brilliant fire bound there hands together. With a last flare the fiery chains glowed then sunk into the skin of the two clasped hands.
"It is done." Snape said wearily, bowing his head.
It was done, Draco agreed silently to himself, and he and his mother were off to live in muggleville.
He felt his mouth twist, how the mighty have fallen.
Scarhead and his merry bunch of losers would just love this.
Hermione puttered distractedly around her room, setting all her things in there appropriate summer holiday positions.
It was good to be home and have some space again!
Now Hermione wasn't a spoilt girl by any means, but she was, a result of her parent's money, used to certain privileges. Hermione and her parents lived in a big house on a decent property set among other big houses on decent properties.
As a result Hermione enjoyed a rather large bedroom; it had a sleeping area with a sizable amount of floor space, bigger than the dormitory she shared with two other girls! Along with that there was a separate study nook with bookshelves a desk and a state of the line computer system. Best of all she had her own adjoining bathroom.
Hermione flopped down on her four-poster bed and regarded her beloved childhood room with satisfaction.
She never really spoke all that much about what her home life was like at Hogwarts, she didn't want it to sound like she was bragging and after becoming friends with Ron and Harry she kept quiet so as not make them uncomfortable.
Harry had lived in a cupboard under the stairs after all, something Hermione still found difficult to comprehend. And Ron, well Ron was always so touchy about anything to do with money.
Hermione didn't mind sharing with two other girls for most of the year, but it was always nice to come home to her own space over the summer. The rest of the house felt like that to. The library, the den with its pool table, something you'd never find in the Wizarding World! Best of all was the heated pool and the state of the art entertainment room.
Hermione, despite popular opinion, did things other than read over the summer. And two of those favourite things were swimming, followed by a good book by the pool of course, and catching up on all the T.V. she had missed at Hogwarts.
Right now, however, Hermione felt too guilty to indulge herself in anyway.
She moved anxiously to her study nook.
Perhaps if she started a proposal for the first draft of M.E.A.N.?
That was getting started right away on something she could help Harry with, and it was something she could do from home as well.
During the car ride home with her parents Hermione had become more and more certain that spending the entire summer with Harry and Ron simply wasn't an option.
She couldn't do that to her family, not when they had missed her so much and were so happy to have her home.
She would visit Ron and Harry as often as she could of course, but the majority of her work was simply going to have to be done from home.
Hermione spread out a colourful piece of A3 paper on her desk and began gathering supplies. As she moved agitatedly about, she distantly noted the far off sound of gravel crunching under car wheels.
It sounded like it was coming from next door, the new neighbours must be arriving she summarised, hunting frantically about for a large purple pen.
End Chapter 2
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