Generations: Finding Home

by Charlotte1

Alecia Malfoy, Rachel Weasley and Katie Potter are starting their 1st year at Hogwarts. Leshia stumbles onto a trail that might lead to the whereabouts of her missing mother Hermione. Can she convince Draco before it's too late? Will they save her on time

2. Part Two

Thank you for the reviews. You are all very kind! Word of warning (for any young readers) for this chapter, got one swearword and dark undertones – I know it's pathetic to give you the heads up :) but hey, I'm a teacher's daughter, goody-toe-shoes by nature…hehe yeah right. Ah well, enjoy.

Part II

Draco stayed away two weeks and in this time he never made contact with Leshia once. Leshia began to fear he too would never come back, but finally one morning over breakfast he was present at the teachers' table once more. Without shame or hesitation Leshia marched right up him.

" Where is she?" she asked and every pair of eyes in the great hall turned to look at her. Draco smiled and rolled his eyes before getting to his feet and walking out of the teacher's entrance. Leshia quickly followed.

" I've seen your mother," he said. Leshia's eyes went so wide Draco was momentarily afraid that they would roll straight out of her head.

" Well where is she?" she asked urgently.

" Not here obviously," Draco said sounding amused. " She's not ready to come back. I tried, but she won't come. She's still coming to terms with her memories. She barely remembers me, but all she seems to remember is the bad times before I changed…" Leshia furrowed her brow angrily.

" She remembers me!" she said spitefully.

" Yes she does, but not as well as you think…she's disconnected sweetheart, not really with it," he explains. " She needs time…"

" But I need her now," Leshia complained and she was ashamed to feel tears stinging her eyes.

" She told me to give you this," he said handing her a letter. Leshia didn't take it, instead she stared angrily at the floor. " I know this is hard on you…"

" No you don't!" Leshia snapped and she took the letter. " You've seen her. And then you stay away without writing to me, not once. I didn't even know if you were coming back!" With this she stormed off down the corridor, not caring that she was marching through teachers' common rooms and private chambers. Finally she found a door that led back to the main corridors and she found a way outside into the grounds. Only when she reached a comfortingly sheltered tree did she sit down and tear the letter open.

To my dear Leshia,

I know this will be hard for you to understand, but you must try. Thank you for finding me. Thank you for shedding light on the jumble of memories that are swimming round my head. Thank you for getting me through these last five years. I couldn't have done it without the comforting knowledge that somewhere, somehow I was needed and missed.

I've cherished that picture for years. It gets me through the hard days. I'm glad Draco has brought me some more recent ones, because I can't manage without your comforting smile every day. I've always known you were mine. I couldn't explain it, maybe it's the fact that you have my smile, and my eyes that made me see it, but I doubt it. We have a connection that can never be broken my dear little girl.

You must hate me for staying away, but I cannot return knowing I cannot properly be there for you while I still flounder. When I return, and I do mean when little one, I will be the mother you remember and I will be the wife your father loves and misses so much. I need to get in touch with my past. I need you to be patient with me.

I'm sorry if I've hurt you and worried you. I will return. I will get our lives back on track.

Thinking of you every day.

Look after yourself and your father

Love from your mum, Hermione

Leshia reread the letter several times, and then lay back against the tree. She didn't care that she was missing potions. Snape was going to have to punish her later. After an hour the cold started to take it's toll and Leshia got to her feet and headed back to the castle. Once inside she made her way to her next lesson, Charms, and felt oddly calm. She could wait if that's what Hermione wanted.

XXX

As the end of the day drew by Leshia ran into Draco outside History of Magic. She smiled at him with a roll of her eyes that let him know he was forgiven. As they passed one and other he ruffled her hair and let her get on with her day. Two weeks absence had meant his own work had piled up and he had some catching up to do. By dinner Leshia was feeling oddly relaxed. She was in fact quite excited about the quidditch game coming up in a few weeks that Gryffindor was set to win. As she started to chew on her chicken though the mood changed as she felt something sharp hit her in the back of the neck. She spun around and saw Allseyer waltzing past his wand twirling round his fingers. Leshia quickly felt her neck and found her fingers touched on a piece of parchment. She grabbed it and read:

Blood-traitor. Astronomy tower, midnight. It's time you paid your pound of flesh.

Leshia scowled at the parchment and spun around catching Damian's eye. With a cool nod she agreed to his threat.

" Leesh did you just agree to this?" Katie demanded sounding outraged.

" Yeah it's a trap, can't you tell?" Rachel added sounding calmer and slightly incredulous. Leshia shrugged.

" If he wants a fight, he's going to get one," she said simply.

" But what if you get hurt?" Rachel countered sounding put out, knowing already that she was going to have to follow her leader into this mess.

" Or worse caught and expelled?" Katie added.

" They don't expel you for sleepwalking do they?" Leshia countered with a grin.

" As if anyone's going to believe you're in the astronomy tower sleepwalking," Katie countered.

" I want to see what he wants," Leshia said simply. " I mean come on, don't you?" This got them and they fell silent.

" If we're caught we're dead," Rachel said with a small smile.

" Well then, let's hope we don't get caught!"

XXX

This proved to be harder than it seemed. Getting out of the common room proved to be the hardest part, as the fat lady upon seeing three students out of bed started making terrible a racket, which soon caught the attention of Peeves, who gleefully chased the 'ickle first years' until they managed to shake him off by diving into an open wardrobe.

" Is he gone?" Katie whispered. She was quickly "shhhhhd" by the others and for a moment all that broke the silence was hurried breathing.

" I think it's probably safe now," Leshia whispered and she pushed the creaky door open, cringing at the squeaking noise as it broke the silence. A quick glance up and down the deserted corridor revealed that they were in fact alone, and feeling heartened by this Leshia stepped out. Katie and Rachel practically stumbled out as they fought each other over who went next – neither wanting to be left last in the dark wardrobe that smelled suspiciously like troll. After a severe glare from Leshia to keep quiet they headed off again, padding along in their socks, trying to keep as quiet as possible. Several times on their journey to the tower they had to dive for cover, just barely missing the eye of the patrolling teachers. At one point Leshia got the horrible feeling she'd spotted her father's telltale swagger in the distance, and she hoped very much that she was mistaken and that he was tucked up in bed across the castle beside his office, because if he was on the prowl, their chances of a successful sneak out were severely diminished. He had always been awfully good at sensing when trouble was afoot and catching it out in the act.

At five to twelve the girls finally found the base of the spiral staircase leading up to the astronomy tower and Katie suddenly reached out and grabbed Leshia's arm.

" What?" Leshia whispered hoarsely in the darkness. " No turning back now!"

" No it's just…" Katie began and she trailed off looking as though she was fighting an internal battle. After a moment's hesitation, in which Leshia and Rachel got thoroughly impatient, it seemed she'd made up her mind. " My…" she began, but suddenly her voice caught in her chest and her eyes went wide. Her friends quickly spun around and saw that Mrs Norris was staring directly at them.

" No," Leshia hissed. " Here kitty kitty," she tried, but in response the cat made a loud 'meow'. In the distance hurried footsteps sounded. Leshia spun around reaching for the doorknob only to find it was locked.

" What are we going to do?" she whispered frantically, but suddenly everything turned misty and she felt something soft and silky touch her skin. " What the…"

" Shhh! It's my dad's invincibility cloak!" Katie admonished.

" You had an invincibility cloak all this time and you had us hiding in cupboards?" Rachel asked sounding incredulous.

" Shhh! My dad told me only to use it in emergencies…" She trailed off as Filch suddenly rounded the corner. He slowed down upon entering the empty corridor and walked to within inches of the girls.

" What is it my pet?" he asked his cat in a sickly tone that made the girls want to snigger. The caretaker sniffed the air, his large nostrils vibrating. " No students out here." With that he headed up the corridor, silently pacing as though there may still be the chance of finding students out of bed.

Moments later, his watchfulness paid off as three hulking figures and one slighter built one rounded the corner in complete competence.

" Students out of bed!" Filch yelled at the top of his voice. The figures froze and the girls craned their necks to see that Allseyer and his cronies Violet Pazz, Archie Dregon and Harry Stump were staring with silent fury at the caretaker. They looked for a moment like they were going to start running, but then two more figures prowled up the corridor behind them: Snape and McGonagall.

" Going for a midnight stroll were we?" Snape asked the children with an ever so slight amused note to his voice.

" This is not amusing Severus, I hope you see to it that they are punished accordingly," McGonagall said sternly. Snape gave her a slightly withering expression and nodded.

" Of course," he said graciously.

" Where's the fire?" another voice came from the other end of the corridor. Leshia and her friends, though already terrified and stock still, froze even more than their already still postures allowed them and turned ever so slightly under the cover of their cloak to see Draco ambling up the corridor with an amused expression. He came to a halt right beside the girls, oblivious to their presence.

" You may ease your punishment if you tell us of any others that are out of bed," Snape ordered. Allseyer, convinced he's been set up didn't hesitate in answering.

" We were told to meet here at midnight," he said angrily.

" By whom?" McGonagall quickly asked.

" Potter, Weasley and that Malfoy girl," he spat.

" And you believed them?" Snape asked sounding disappointed. The other teachers too, didn't seem to believe the girls were up as they had all come from separate directions and had not come across them. Only Draco frowned and glanced about with a curious expression on his handsome face. The girls huddled even closer together as his gaze passed over their hiding place.

" Well I will have words with them in the morning," McGonagall said sharply. " Now come on, back to bed!" With this the corridor started to empty as everyone headed back the way they came. Only Draco remained absolutely still, as though he would be able to sense the girls' presence. After ten minutes of his silent reverie he turned around and headed back the way he came. The girls crumpled silently in relief, but then froze once more when Draco stopped, looked over his shoulder in their direction and smiled charmingly, before going on his way again.

XXX

For half and hour the girls didn't dare move, and then with the difficulty of the cumbersome cloak they shuffled back to Gryffindor tower. It took them twice as long as before, but finally after awaking a very grumpy fat lady, they uttered the password and scrambled in. As soon as they reached the common room they threw off the cloak and stared at each other with wide eyes.

" I told you!"

" Your dad knows."

" Since when have you had this cloak?" They all spoke at once. With an extremely exasperated sigh Katie stormed off to the dormitory leaving Rachel and Leshia glancing amusedly at one and other.

" We're dead in the morning mate," Rachel said softly. Leshia inhaled slowly and nodded.

" Pretty much, he thinks we set him up."

" Defence Against the Dark arts first thing tomorrow," Rachel continued. " Let's hope your dad isn't a Legilimenz like he seems!" With this the two girls headed silently up to their beds.

XXX

The next morning Katie was furious with Leshia for talking her into a harebrained scheme like that and waltzed off to breakfast without the other two. Rachel and Leshia changed in an amicable silence and headed after her ten minutes later.

" Too bad she's ignoring us, she needs to tell us more about that great cloak," Rachel said cheerily. Leshia snorted with laughter and nodded.

" That cloak is the least of our worries," she said and yawned heavily. " You were right about my dad. He did know we were there…I don't know what he's going to do about it."

" Let's hope he's feeling guilty about running off and doesn't do anything," Rachel said as they walked into the great hall. They quickly joined Katie's side, who 'hmphd' as they arrived and continued to ignore them as they ate in a tired silence. It was not prudent on Leshia's part to be yawning massively as McGonagall crept up behind her.

" A word girls," she said sternly. Glancing anxiously at each other the girls obeyed and climbed to their feet. Leshia quickly met Draco's eye before following McGonagall out and he was smiling darkly at her as though saying 'You had it coming'. McGonagall didn't speak until they reached the relatively empty entrance hall.

" Last night we caught Damian Allseyer and his friends out of bed on the eight floor corridor, he claims you told him to meet him there," she said sounding very stern indeed. Leshia feigned a very convincing surprised expression.

" Really?" she uttered.

" Are you telling me that you did not arrange to meet him or any other children at midnight?" the Head of House continued sounding softer now, as though believing the story.

" No Professor," Rachel said in an equally convincing tone.

" Why would we want to see Allseyer, he's not very nice to us," Leshia explained with large doleful eyes. McGonagall smiled kindly at her. Hook.

" Don't worry Miss Malfoy." Line. " We didn't believe him." And sinker. Leshia smiled back feigning a comforted expression and Rachel and Katie quickly followed suit. " You may go to your lesson now."

" Thank you professor," the girls chorused and they rushed off. Their relief of not being in trouble was short lived as soon they reached the DADA corridor where a pack of angry looking Slytherins were waiting for them.

" Malfoy!" Allseyer yelled with such angry conviction in his tone that Leshia felt some of her bravado disintegrate. " You set us up! You chickened out and then tipped Filch off!"

" No we didn't," Leshia said calmly – much calmer than she felt – as they came face to face with the Slytherins. " We heard noise and didn't dare come any closer," she lied.

" Yeah right, the teachers would have found you," Allseyer countered angrily.

" Look…" Leshia began, but at this point the door to the classroom swung open and Draco appeared looking from one child to the next with an unreadable expression. Leshia and her friends quickly darted into line.

" Shirts," Draco exclaimed angrily and a few children frantically tucked in their offending shirts, then with a pleasant smile Draco stepped back allowing the children passage into the classroom. They quickly took their usual seats and waited while Draco moved to the front of the classroom and picked up a stack of papers.

" Your essays," he said in a triumphant tone. " I apologise for my delay in handing them back to you, but I've been otherwise…" His eyes glanced briefly to Leshia. " Detained." With this he let them go and they flew from his hands until they reached their rightful owners. Leshia glanced down at the 'O' on her parchment and felt a stab of pride. She glanced down to the end where she instantly recognised her father's jagged script. He had simply written:

Know-it-all

With a small grin Leshia pushed her essay under her books so as not to gloat to her friends who had both received Es and looked up to see Draco was writing on the board about Werewolves.

" Silence," he ordered as chatter broke out over the marks and he turned around with an unreadable expression. " Silence," he repeated. " Now, I understand that in my absence Professor Sinistra continued with my planned lessons on Werewolves am I correct?"

" Yes Professor Malfoy," a chorus of voices came.

" Good, well then, we can skip on to the highlight of the term," he said with a smile and he walked over to the door of the classroom. Everyone's eyes followed him with renewed interest and those who were paying attention a few weeks ago suddenly reeled with excitement when they realised what their teacher was doing. Soon Draco reached the door and he pulled it open revealing a tall gangly man with wild hair and a drawn face. An expression of amusement adorned the ageing attractive face of Remus Lupin and he stepped inside the classroom with a nod to Draco. " Children, this is Remus Lupin," Draco told the class as he stepped aside and allowed Remus to take centre stage at the front of he class. " He is, as I am sure you have all guessed by now, a werewolf and has come here to give us a true and personal account of what it is like to live with this affliction."

" Thank you professor," Lupin said with a nod to Draco, and then he turned to the children, briefly winking to the three girls he'd seen grow up over the years. " I'm not what you expected am I?" Several children shook their heads and the old werewolf smiled, before leaning back against the desk that had once been his, and retold his life story.

By the end of the lesson the children were reeling with excitement. This was soon dampened slightly by Draco announcing they had reached the end of 'werewolves' and were to be tested upon it in a week's time, but as most of the class filed out they were chattering about full moons and sharp teeth. Leshia, Katie and Rachel remained behind, and once all the children had left they rushed forward and embraced Lupin in unison.

" Easy now," he said stroking each of their heads. " I'm getting old," he chuckled.

" You're not old!" Katie assured him.

" Yeah," the other two chimed in. Lupin laughed fondly as they separated and he got a good look at them.

" Goodness you've all grown," he said genially.

" Not Leshia," Draco's fond tone came. " You've given up on growing haven't you sweetheart?" Lupin laughed as Leshia gave her father a playful glare.

" You're going to be late for your next lesson, you'd better get going," he said as he heard the hustle and bustle of the students waiting outside. " I'm going to be here all week, we'll see each other again," he assured them. " Go on," he laughed when the girls didn't seem any closer to moving on.

" Move it," Draco's sterner tone came. " I've got a class to teach and you three have been treading very thin ice lately anyway." This got the girls moving and they scarpered before Draco could punish them for being out of bed.

XXX

Allseyer's anger didn't diminish over the next few days and by the weekend he was positively spitting with anger every time he and the girls passed in the corridor or in class. He seemed to rally the whole of Slytherin around him, which didn't bode well for Sunday's quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. At the final training before the game Leshia confided this fear in Ryan.

" Cole Ashton is on that team, I just know they're going to try something," she finished after a carefully put explanation of everything that had happened. Ryan smiled charmingly and shook his head.

" You've got nothing to worry about Malfoy, Luke and Tom have got your back," he said. " And the rest of us will watch out for you too." Leshia smiled genuinely and nodded her thanks.

" I just don't want my first match to be a disaster," she said truthfully.

" Don't worry, fly like you did today and you'll more than handle anything they throw at you," Ryan said comfortingly and he patted her on the back. Leshia reminded him of his little sister and ever since she'd made the team he'd been watching out for her.

On her way to back to the common room Leshia was waylaid by Katie and Rachel, who were chattering on about some girl fancying Tom. They were nearly at the castle when they suddenly fell into shadow. Spinning round expecting the worst the children were pleasantly surprised.

" Hagrid!" they cheered.

" 'Allo you lot, 'aven't seen you around very much. When yer parents were at school they'd come visit every once in a while, see how thing's were going," he said. The girls smiled sheepishly – in their endless discussions about coming to school they had intended on visiting Hagrid every weekend. " I remember one time when your dad Ron and your mum…" Hagrid fell silent and looked away, seemingly ashamed of this mention of Hermione. Leshia frowned deeply, surely he knew? Surely she'd taken the time to tell him? But then it dawned on her, no one knew! She hadn't told anyone and Katie and Rachel had been too discreet to tell their parents.

" Hagrid don't you know?" Leshia suddenly exclaimed. Hagrid shook his head with a frown. " My mum, well…she's alive." Hagrid took a moment to react, but eventually he shook his head.

" What?" he managed quietly. Leshia's cheeks burned ashamedly.

" We found out a few weeks ago," she began and explained the whole thing. By the end of it Hagrid looked stunned, but then finally a large tear trickled over his red cheek and landed on his grizzly beard.

" 'Ermione! Alive!" he cried and he bent down and swept Leshia up into a huge bear hug. He spoke some more words, but they were lost to his sobs of happiness. Leshia began to fear that she would never escape.

" Hagrid?" Draco's curious voice came and in a moment Hagrid had dropped Leshia and pulled a rather surprised looking Draco into his arms.

" I'm jus' so happy!" Hagrid managed through his tears.

" Hagrid now really, let me go," Draco complained and he sounded mortified to be wrapped up in the half giants arms. Behind the girls a man started chuckling. It was an odd guttural sound that made their neck hairs stand on end. Leshia didn't need to turn around with her friends to know that Snape was standing there. Finally Draco managed to pry the half-giant's arms free and he stumbled backwards nearly tripping over Rachel on his bid for freedom. After wiping down his front agitatedly Draco looked questioningly to Leshia.

" I told him about mum," she said softly. Draco raised his head in a half nod as though everything had just fallen into place before looking back at Hagrid.

" Is she 'ere?" Hagrid asked eagerly.

" Come Hagrid, I feel I must explain," Draco said and he led Hagrid away, winking at the girls before they turned and hurried back to the common room.

" You should write home and tell them," Leshia told her friends as they entered the castle. Katie and Rachel beamed at each other, they had been wanting to do so for a while, but had respected Leshia's feelings too much to do so without consent.

Half an hour later and Katie and Rachel were sprawled on their fronts in front of the fire chewing on quills, trying to think of how best to put what they had discovered. Leshia sat alone in the window box watching as rain started to beat down on the window with an empty piece of parchment in her hand. She wasn't sure of what to write. She wasn't sure what she wanted to tell her mother. Those angry emotions were still so close to the surface, that if she were to start writing about how she felt, she would come across as cruel and petulant.

" Write about something else then," she told herself softly and she looked down at her page:

Dear…

The quill hovered above the page as Leshia thought of Hermione's letter. It had been so personal, so motherly.

Dear mum,

When I was three you showed me how to use a wand. When I was four you took me into Muggle London and showed me what it was like to live without magic. Even when I was scared you held my hand and got me through it. When I was five you took on two death-eaters on your own to protect me. And when I was six you fell off a broom – I don't think it was on purpose – in an effort to try and stop me from following dad into the dangerous world of quidditch.

A few weeks ago I made the quidditch team. I'm the new Gryffindor seeker and tomorrow is our first match. I'm very nervous, but I'm using that trick you taught me when I was five, you know, imagining how happy I'll be when it's all over? The whole school is going to be watching, and dad will be there too. He always makes me nervous when I play! It's raining now, that's not good news. Does it rain very often where you are? Do you miss it?

I have a kitten, he's called Philly. He's definitely not like the pictures you showed me of Crookshanks, he's too cute. Everyone loves him and even though they like to kick us off the cosy chairs, he always gets the best seat in the common room!

Hagrid, you must remember Hagrid, he's too big to miss, well he hugged dad today because he was so happy you're alive. Dad was so embarrassed! You should come back…maybe just for a visit and see everyone. People will be so happy you're okay, they really will!

Sleep good things will come to you, dream bad things and I will too…

Leshia paused and stared at the line she had just written. The whole aim of her letter had been to stir Hermione's memories, and that last line had juts slipped out. It was the first sentence of Hermione's Rhyme. If anything, that rhyme ought to stir emotions in her mother Leshia felt, because more than anything, it brought tears to her eyes.

I'm angry with you for not coming home. The more I think about it the more angry I get, but I still want to see you. Get your memory back soon!

Love Leshia

Satisfied that the letter served it's purpose Leshia rolled it up and put it in her satchel. As she opened the flap three half finished essays glared out at her and with a resentful sigh she pulled out the top one, 'Three reasons why running away from a Vampire will save my life'.

XXX

By the following morning the three essays lay unfinished and Leshia had bitten all of her nails down to the cuticles. She was so nervous that she woke earlier than anyone else and raced down to breakfast. No one else had sat down for breakfast yet, not even the staff, and Leshia felt positively alone as she nibbled on a piece of toast while staring out the high windows at the rain. She didn't remain alone for long as the door behind the teachers' table swung open and none other than Draco stepped out carrying a long parcel under his arm.

" I thought you'd be here," he said softly, his voice echoing around the empty hall. Leshia shrugged as Draco came to sit next to her. The parcel instantly caught her attention and she looked from it to her father questioningly. " Oh this? It's for you." Leshia frowned and with crummy fingers she reached over and pulled back the top of the brown paper revealing neatly preened broom twigs. The look on her face brought a smile to Draco's, she hadn't looked this excited in a long time.

" Is it really mine?" she asked sounding beside herself. Draco nodded proudly. " But I didn't think first years were allowed brooms."

" Well apparently they make exceptions for exceptional first years," he said with a smile. " I can always take it back if you'd rather…"

" No!" Leshia cried out and grinned sheepishly at her outburst. " What is it?"

" Oh," Draco said nonchalantly. " The Flash eight thousand…" What he hadn't expected was for his daughter to suddenly throw her arms around his neck so tightly her hug resembled Hagrid's. " I take it that's the right choice?"

" It's the best choice!" Leshia said gleefully and, completely forgetting her meagre attempt at breakfast, tore the paper away from the broom and stared hungrily at its slightly sparkling appearance. " It's amazing," she whispered. Pleased with himself Draco got to his feet and stroked her hair into place.

" Good luck little one," he said. " And…" Leshia looked up at the concern in his tone. " Just be careful." He seemed as worried as she was, so she quickly nodded and smiled reassuringly.

" I will dad," she promised. Draco nodded slowly and headed back to the main table where Snape had materialised as if from nowhere – Leshia had certainly not noticed him creeping in. Feeling heartened by the wondrous gift, Leshia returned to the food with a confident smile on her face.

'Bring it on Slytherin,' she thought fiercely.

XXX

An hour later Leshia, now changed into her quidditch robes, made her way with the rest of the team to the changing room where Ryan talked 'tactics'. The roar of the other students waiting in the stands was tantalising and Leshia now just wanted to get out there and try out her new broom (which every single person she had come across had admired in wonder). Finally Ryan led the Gryffindor team through to a wall of sound and Leshia almost cowered away from it. There was colour everywhere, red, blue, green, yellow. Hisses and boos, and cheers and chants filled the air, and somewhere up in the stands Katie and Rachel were yelling themselves hoarse for Gryffindor.

The team took to the centre of the field and waited while Ryan shook Tobias Dregon's hand. As soon as the whistle was blown Leshia mounted her broom and kicked off. She certainly rose quicker than any other on the pitch and soon found herself drifting several dozen feet above the rest of the team. At these heights the winds were much more powerful and already Leshia's ears began to protest against the weather. She'd not been up there two minutes when suddenly a bludger came tearing towards her. She dodged it gracefully and rose even higher, her eyes darting about keenly for signs of the snitch.

She wasn't alone.

" Well well well," a familiar snide voice rose over the howl of the wind. Leshia spun around to find Ashton floating a few feet away. " The little blood-traitor's all alone. Not even daddy can save you up here." Tired of his attitude and aware that he was a distraction Leshia rose several dozen feet higher. Somewhere down below someone scored, but Leshia didn't pay it any attention.

Unfortunately Ashton followed.

" You can't run," he jeered and suddenly made a lightning quick pass at the girl, which she narrowly avoided by dropping several feet suddenly. " You can't hide!" Ashton yelled after her and followed. " We're going to get you!" He was relentless and within no time Leshia was diving, spiralling and dodging simply to avoid him. Ashton seemed possessed and no attempt (no matter how hair razing) shook him off. The crowds, for the most part, were confused.

" Have they seen the snitch or what?" Martin Lahara of Ravenclaw, Hogwarts' regular quidditch commentator, finally asked sounding extremely put out. This tiring chase continued for half an hour, until finally Leshia's eyes locked onto something gold and fluttery. In an instant she chased after it. Ashton, now aware of what she was doing, fought to keep up with her. The girl was much faster, being lighter, more able and on a better broom, but she soon ran into trouble when two bludgers came flying her way. She dodged them, but this took precious time and within no time Ashton had pulled ahead. Not one to give up so easily Leshia quickly sped up. Ashton's fingertips were nearly upon the snitch, when all of a sudden from beneath him a small red clad arm came between him and the snitch and took it from his reach.

" No!" he yelled as the roar of the crowds rose up around them. " Pancer, Reeves!" the boy called to his beaters. Leshia wasn't aware of the opposition, her only thoughts were that she had claimed victory for her team. Later she would regret losing track of the moment, but all she remembered at the time was crashing into two very solid objects.

Witnesses to the awful crash would later attest to seeing the girl flip over the two Slytherin Beaters who suddenly rose in front of her, only to tumble to the ground, coming a cropper two bludgers on the way down. Luckily Tom Weasley caught her midair inches from the ground, but at this point she was unconscious from a bludger to the head and was unable to contemplate how close she came to oblivion. The new Flash 8000 was rescued by a concerned team mate.

Down on the field Ryan was yelling at the referee for justice.

" They did that on purpose, the game was over!" he cried out indignantly, as teachers came spilling onto the field. Draco was amongst them and yet he held back as McGonagall crouched down at Leshia's side, her expert eye taking in the torrent of blood that was running down the girl's face.

" Hospital wing," she said firmly and raised Leshia from the ground with a levitation charm. " Potter, Weasley, come along!" she called to the two girls who were racing along the field calling out Leshia's name. Draco lingered behind his shadowy eyes taking in the silhouettes of Pancer, Reeves and Ashton further up the field and for a moment he felt his blood boil. They would pay later, he would see to it.

XXX

" Only a cracked skull, not to worry Draco, she's fine now," a voice cut through Leshia's unpleasant dream.

" But there was so much blood," Draco's voice came, sounding quite concerned.

" She'll be all right, ah look now, she's waking up." Leshia forced her eyes open against the painful light and saw three concerned faces fill her line of sight.

" Leesh are you okay?" Katie asked sounding terrified. It hurt to nod, Leshia decided as she tried it.

" I'll be fine," she managed. " What happened?" Rachel and Katie burst into a detailed explanation of what had happened, and afterwards Leshia concluded that it must have looked worse than it felt.

" But we won right?" she asked anxiously.

" Three hundred and thirty to one hundred," Rachel replied proudly.

" My broom?" Leshia suddenly exclaimed and she tried to sit up, but as she did so, hundreds of little stabs of pain shot down her side.

" Don't try to move," Draco said firmly. " Your body needs some time to recover."

" But I thought I got hit on the head, why does my side hurt?" Leshia grumbled and she rubbed her aching ribs.

" You were struck by two bludgers if you remember?" Draco said. " The other cracked a couple of ribs." Leshia sighed heavily and shook her head.

" Damn Slytherins. When I get my hands on Cole Ashton…"

" You will do nothing," Draco interrupted sounding stern and he got started pacing, a definite edge to his posture. He looked furious. Three disgruntled expressions turned on him, but his resolve didn't weaken. " I mean it, you leave them to us."

" Well you look like you'll do him more damage than I will," Leshia complained petulantly and she wasn't wrong, if she were those Slytherin boys she'd be fearing for her life right now. Draco gave her a dark look.

" I'm not going to lay a finger on him," he said with a mean glint in his eye. " I have to go," he suddenly excused himself and headed for the door.

" Dad don't do anything stupid!" Leshia called after him, but he was gone. With an incredibly exasperated sigh Leshia leaned back on her pillows and shook her head. " He's going to do something stupid isn't he?"

For half an hour Leshia was bed bound, but as time went on movement became easier and she was finally discharged. Katie and Rachel dragged her away to the common room, preventing her from going down and giving the Slytherins a piece of her mind. They could hear the party going on in the common room even from behind the fat lady. Leshia grinned meekly and felt a little embarrassed about going in

" I've suddenly remembered, I have to go to the library," she said unconvincingly.

" Come on!" Rachel laughed as the painting swung open and they dragged her in. Her entrance was instantly met with tumultuous applause. There was no escaping the crowds, who were eager to congratulate the little seeker.

Ten minutes later the three girls were tucked up on the cosy sofa drinking a wonderful tasting concoction they were informed was stolen butterbeer from the pantry of a pub down in Hogsmead.

" You know, there's advantages to you falling off your broom and being knocked out," Rachel said appreciatively as she slouched back on the sofa. Leshia grinned darkly at her.

" Let's just get one thing straight, I did not fall," she laughed, but then fell slightly silent, her mind wandering across the castle to wherever Draco was plotting his revenge. " I wonder what he'll do," she said softly.

" What your dad?" Rachel asked. " You think it'll be bad?"

" Well just look at it this way, he gave me a miserable punishment, and I'm his own daughter, imagine what he'll be like with those guys from now on. My life just got a lot worse I think," she explained glumly, but her heart wasn't in it. It was hard to feel gloomy sitting in the lively common room surrounded by friends and laughter.

XXX

As the weeks dragged on the weather grew colder and colder until finally towards the end of October the first of the winter's snow started falling, turning the castle into a picturesque winter wonderland as though from Christmas card. The first of the winter's snow also brought with it the first of the winter birthdays.

" Happy Birthday!" two jubilant voices cut through Katie's sleep. She opened her eyes to slits and found two fuzzy faces beaming at her. After scrabbling for her glasses the faces became clearer, but no less jubilant.

" Thanks," she managed and sat up with an almighty yawn. As she did so her eyes fell on a massive pile of presents at the end of her bed and without another word she dived on them bustling the other two off the bed. What followed was a series of cheers and grumbles (when she saw the half eaten chocolate frog box her brother had sent along with an old sock). Rachel and Leshia left their friend to it and retreated to the window to look out at the snow. A frown adorned Leshia's brow.

" I'm sure it'll come today," Rachel said instantly, when she saw her friend's concern. Leshia sighed deeply and shook her head.

" It's been weeks Rach, she would have written back by now don't you think?" she said softly, fear lacing her voice. Rachel remained silent, it was true, Hermione would have replied by now to Leshia's letters. And there had been many letters, since Draco's return Leshia had sent at least eight of them, pleading for a response.

" Maybe you should try writing to the Americas institute again?" Rachel suggested. Leshia sighed.

" They told me they're not allowed to disclose information on their staff members."

" Well look at it this way, your dad's not worried," Rachel said changing tack.

" That's because she told him not to contact her until she could remember everything, she still thinks he's the bad guy he was at school remember? He thinks she's gone backwards again and is forgetting and that's why she's not writing!" There was such pain in Leshia's face that Rachel didn't dare discuss the topic any further.

" Come on, let's go and get breakfast, we're going to need it with that trek through the forest that Hagrid has planned," she said instead and squeezed Leshia's shoulders comfortingly.

" Yeah," Leshia agreed softly and she tore her eyes from the bleak weather to find that Katie was now dressed and looking longingly at a new book her mother had sent.

" Come on bookworm, you can read that later," Rachel ordered fondly and she dragged her two reluctant friends out of the common room and down to the great hall. As soon as Katie touched down on the bench the Weasleys and several of their friends burst into a merry version of 'Happy birthday'. Rachel and Leshia joined in, the latter less enthusiastically. By the end of the song, most of the table had joined in and all the other children in the great hall were watching them amusedly. Katie's cheeks glowed bright red as she uttered a muffle thanks and tucked into her breakfast.

" Can you believe that they're holding Halloween dance on Thursday and we're not invited?" Nicola's voice came before she dropped down beside the other girls, with Ashley trailing her helplessly. Their fellow Gryffindor first years frowned their brows in unison and turned questioningly on her.

" Since when?" Rachel asked.

" Yeah and who cares, it's just a stupid dance," Leshia added with a stale look.

" We care," Nicola continued. " They're going to announce it today, and only fourth years and up are allowed to go," she grumbled looking across the table to Parys who she ogled with no shame.

" That is kinda unfair, what are the rest of us supposed to do?" Katie asked with a frown.

" Yeah," Rachel added hotly. What followed was a tirade on how unfair the situation was, that only ended when Leshia slammed her hand down on the table and rolled her eyes so exasperatedly that they nearly disappeared inside her skull.

" Look," she said forcefully, and the other girls fell silent instantly. " If it bothers you that much we'll throw our own party." Four smiles crept onto the faces of her friends and Leshia was happy for a moment's peace.

" That is the single most amazing idea you have ever had," Rachel said slowly, her eyes twinkling with mischief.

" Well good," Leshia sighed heavily. " Now can we talk about something else?" If it had been her plan to shut them up with her idea, it had failed, because now all they could twitter on about was their party and soon half the table (those under fourth year naturally) were immersed in the conversation.

" So it's agreed, you three are in charge of collecting food," Amy told the three girls. Katie and Rachel looked thrilled at the prospect of having such an important job, but Leshia didn't have it in her to feel excited.

" We should use the cloak," Rachel said in an undertone once Amy had drawn everyone's attention by delegating more tasks (with Leshia wondering 'who put her in charge?'). Katie gave Rachel an urgent look as if to say 'not-here', which her cousin flat-out ignored. " That way we'll easily be able to sneak into the…" For a moment the flamboyant redhead stopped speaking and stared in wonder at Katie who was trying her very best to act nonchalant, but who looked like any minute now she could blow her top. " Okay fine, I won't mention the invis… Ouw!" Under normal circumstances the young Weasley probably would have exploded at Katie for hitting her, but it was Leshia's laughter that stopped her. They hadn't heard her laugh so loudly in weeks, so with a reserved shrug Rachel returned to her breakfast, thinking she would get Katie back later.

The entertainment at breakfast time served to put Leshia back in a somewhat normal mood again and as the girls headed out to Care of Magical Creatures she joining in with their conversation on the best way to sneak into the kitchen.

" Maybe you can use Tally's help," Rachel suggested as they waited outside Hagrid's hut along with a few other children from their class. Leshia shook her head quickly.

" Tally doesn't answer to me, the last five years would have been a lot more fun if that were the case," she said with a roll of her eyes. " No, we have to try and stay as far out of her way as possible. She'll go tell my dad straight away and I'm not sure how he'd react."

" I don't think he'd mind that much," Rachel said with a shrug.

" Yeah, he'd probably want to come," Katie added. Leshia grinned and shook her head.

" You guys have got him all wrong you know," she said cheerfully. " I mean sure, he's chilled out and everything, but when it comes to serious rule breaking he's more strict than McGonagall." Her friends shook their heads in fond disbelief.

" Well we have to figure out what we're going to do, we don't have long," Katie said. The other two furrowed their brows and what followed was three days of intensive scheming. By Wednesday (the night of the heist) they were on tenterhooks and every time they were caught out in lessons discussing their plans they would jump like startled rabbits caught in the high beam. Only Draco found their behaviour peculiar and called for them to stay behind after the lesson. The girls shared a foreboding look and each and every one of them tried their very best not to think about their plans in case Draco was the Legilimenz he seemed to be. It was the last lesson of the day, which allowed Draco the time to straighten out his desk and drag out the silence, which was making the girls even more nervous – exactly his plan.

" Right," he finally said and he leant against his desk crossing his arms across his chest looking from one guilty face to the next. " Are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to ask Severus for some truth potion?" Katie and Rachel looked aghast, but only Leshia frowned, trying to work out if he was treating them as a teacher, or as her dad. Finally she picked the latter.

" You can't do that," she complained. Draco narrowed his eyes at her thoughtfully.

" You're right I can't as a teacher, but there's no law that says you can't administer truth potion to your own child. In fact thirty years ago the minister of magic was well known for…"

" Okay dad we get it," Leshia interrupted dryly. " Even so, I'm a pupil here and you're a teacher, so you can't just pick and choose who you're going to be to suit your needs." To her surprise Draco burst out laughing.

" You do," he chuckled, but nodded, knowing of course that she was right. The girls remained absolutely still, almost staring beyond him with the concentration of keeping their party off their minds. It was hopeless, they were too good at it and Draco had no rights to keep them when for all pretences, they hadn't done anything wrong, 'yet' Draco thought silently. " Okay you can go," he said with a sigh, the girls made to leave. " But let me tell you," he said as they hovered inches above their chairs, too frightened to move. " If I catch you doing anything you shouldn't, then you'll be getting detention every weekend until Christmas." The girls didn't need telling twice and they rushed out. Only Leshia turned at the door and shook her head at Draco with an amused expression. He suppressed a grin, seeing she didn't believe his bluff, before swatting his hand at her, and then she was gone.

" I see what you mean," Katie whispered as they rushed down the corridor. Leshia grinned.

" He was just kidding," she said. " Besides, he has no idea what we're planning and with that cloak of yours it'll be really hard for him to catch us out. He'll be up though tonight, so if possible, try to keep your mind off things. Don't think."

" Easier for some than others," Katie said with a nod in Rachel's direction.

" Katie!" Rachel exploded flamboyantly and she chased her raven-haired cousin all the way back to Gryffindor tower, missing out on Leshia's rapturous laughter that echoed round the corridors. Only Draco heard and for a moment it brought a smile to his face before he went about trying to scrub 'Professor Malfoy is fit' off not one, but five of the benches. What had these children used? Everlast Ink?

XXX

Dinner was a lively affair as everyone's spirits were high; fourth years and over full of anticipation and excitement for their dance, and third years and under full of anticipation and excitement for their party. Only Leshia, Katie and Rachel felt trepidation and anxiety, as they fretted over the big heist. Dinner flew by and as soon as they got back to Gryffindor tower Leshia set their plan in motion.

" Here goes," she said and she looked around blankly. " Tally?" she asked the thin air. Having always been living in fear of the bossy houseelf Leshia had never felt the desire to summon the short little madam, but needs must and all that. Amazingly, it worked, and after a pop that startled (though they had been expecting it) the Gryffindor girls, Tally appeared looking ready for service.

" Yes?" she asked, her large boggling eyes putting Leshia off slightly, she'd already forgotten how uneasy she felt under that wide-eyed gaze.

" Tally," Leshia said firmly, pushing her unease to the side and reaching over to pick up a veritable mountain of clothes that needed darning, mending, sewing, re-hemming, re-buttoning, and any other mutilations the girls in Gryffindor had been able to come up with to keep the houseelf busy. Together they had pooled their clothes, and, not knowing how long the houseelf took to mend things, had hoped they had enough to keep her busy all night long. " I have some things for you to mend." Tally looked to the clothes and her eyes went impossibly wider.

" Miss Malfoy doesn't own so many clothes," Tally said sounding bewildered. Leshia looked to the others with a 'what do I do, I wasn't expecting this?' look that thankfully the houseelf missed because she was picking through the ravaged clothes.

" Leshia's quite popular Tally," Rachel butted in, coming to the rescue. Katie instantly knew where her cousin was going with this.

" Yeah, she gets presents all the time."

" And hand-me-downs," Leshia added hopefully, noting that most of the clothes were so large her tiny body would look lost in them – why on earth had Clariss Beetham contributed to the pot, she was six foot five! " I'm yet to grow into them," she continued and then frowned as a sleeve, long enough to serve as three sleeves for Leshia's arm length, dangled from the pile. 'Damn it Clariss!', she thought angrily, but Tally had lost her surprised look and was now surveying the clothes as though mentally beginning her task.

" Very well," she said and with a crackle and a flash she disappeared. Leshia stared at the space she had juts vacated and shook her head in disbelief.

" Man she's losing it," she said and then grinned. With newfound confidence she looked up to see her friends were beaming at her.

" Well you'd better hope that your plan works," Ashley finally spoke up and looked a bit put out. " I can't bear the thought of all that clothicide for nothing."

" Relax," Leshia chuckled and she dropped down beside Rachel on her bed. " Stage one is successfully complete!"

XXX

Stage two of operation Kitchen Heist went by surprisingly problem-free. All it required was waiting for everyone to go to bed so the girls could carry out their invisibility raid curiosity free. The last thing they needed now was for everyone to find out about Katie's cloak. Once the common room had emptied enough the girls enlisted Ashley and Nicola to open the portrait door and feign a visit to the hospital wing with induced vomiting (with a little help from a special stash of Rachel's Weasleys' Wizarding magical skiving sweets). It took a long time to convince them that it was necessary, because should anyone be lurking outside – say Draco, eager to catch them, then it would be a bit weird that the portrait opened and no one came out. Also, if there did happen to be a teacher around – say Draco, waiting to punish them till Christmas time, then he would be obligated to help them to the hospital wing. It was foolproof, but deciding who ought to take the vomit sweet was not as easy as it had seemed on paper. In the end it was Nicola who took the plunge (after being promised more than her fair share of the bounty) and the plan went off without a hitch.

As it happened, a teacher did transpire to be venturing by the Gryffindor common room at this time, but it wasn't Draco, who was lurking in the bowels of the castle, no, it was McGonagall. She, as planned, helped the girls away enabling the other three to scarper under their cloak. It seemed a shame that Draco was still at large, ready to catch them out, but as Leshia told her friends, one less teacher to worry about couldn't possibly be considered a bad thing.

It took the girls a long time to make it to the kitchens, as they were overly cautious and hampered by the three large sacks they were carrying with them to be filled with luscious food. Finally they reached the large painting that hid the kitchens and after thoroughly checking the corridor for signs of teachers…or evil cats and caretakers, Leshia dared to stick her arm out from under the safety of the cloak and tickle the pear that would grant them access to the kitchens. Their information was correct ('Of course it's going to work,' Sarah had told them indignantly, 'our dads swear by it and they know every secret of the school!') and soon the painting swung forward revealing a bustling kitchen behind. The delicious smells wafted out to them and after quickly shuffling in they dropped the cloak and revealed themselves to the curious houselves.

" Uh…hello," Leshia managed, and looked firmly to Katie, who was the only one who could swing this part of the plan for them.

" Um," Katie began looking from one puzzled green face to the next. " Dobby?" she finally asked the nearest one. It squeaked in surprise and shook its head, pointing to an elf that was wearing odd socks and a peculiar ensemble of ties.

" I am Dobby," he said and came forward. He didn't say any more, his expression was questioning enough. How did she know his name?

" I'm Katie," Katie said and after seeing this made no difference to the elves' expressions she added, " Katie Potter." Dobby's beetle-black eyes went wide and the girls could have sworn they saw tears welling up in them and they looked sidelong at one and other with smirking expressions, trying to contain their bewildered laughter.

" Are you a relation to the great Harry Potter?" he asked eagerly.

" Yes, he's my dad." And that was that. No further pleasantries were required. The elves practically stumbled over one and other to offer them food and drink, without even being asked and after filling up their burlap sacks with as much as they could manage they were surprised to find two heavily filled bags being airlifted (by a hundred little elf hands) to their feet, bursting with Halloween-styled sweets and pastries. They had to flat out refuse the pumpkin cake being thrust upon them and when Dobby tried to bring them a barrel of Butterbeer Katie had to cross her arms and firmly address the elf with, " Now really Dobby, you're going too far we have enough!"

Several thankyous later and the girls were stood in the empty hall, surrounded by delicious smelling food and with a cloak that barely covered them all.

" This is ridiculous," Rachel finally spluttered turning on Leshia with an accusatory glare.

" What are we supposed to do?" Katie added worriedly. " We didn't know there's be so much." Leshia furrowed her brow and thought.

" Well we can't carry it all, we'd end up taking all night and tomorrow none of us would be able to stand straight," she said and bit her lip for inspiration and then with a shrug of her shoulders she pointed her wand at the nearest bags and said, " Leviosa." The bags started to rise and she turned to her friends with a smile. " Go on, this should be easy, we can fit all of us under the cloak and we won't have to break our backs trying." The girls grinned and soon they were on their way.

The plan would have gone off without a hitch if, after coming to a clumsy halt a stone's throw from Gryffindor tower, because in the distance Leshia caught sight of her father's unmistakable silhouette, an apple had not fallen from one of the overflowing bags alerting their presence to Mrs Norris who'd been following her nose for some time now.

'Meow!' the loud cry pierced the halls.

" Leshia!" Rachel hissed sounding angry, but Leshia stood routed to the spot, in the distance the Draco-silhouette was slowly turning round and staring right at them.

" Think blank thoughts," she quickly ordered and for sixty panicked seconds all of them squeezed their eyes shut and desperately tried to clear their minds. The silhouette still stood still, staring at the cat in the distance, until finally it turned around slowly once more and walked off again.

It was a further five minutes later that Leshia dared to open her eyes finding the figure at end of the hall gone.

" That was close," she managed.

'Meow!' the squawk came again and the wretched animal started approaching them, continuing her call like a homing beacon.

" Leesh do something," Katie whispered frantically. So Leshia did.

" Wicked!"

" Leshia!" Both Rachel and Katie hissed respectively as the caramel apple Leshia had lobbed glanced off Mrs Norris' head knocking the cat out cold. Her mangy furred chest still rose and fall signifying that the blow had not been a fatal one and for a moment Leshia felt relief.

Distant footsteps soon brought it crashing down again.

" Hurry!" she cried and without caution they set off at a run, their levitation charms dragging their bounty with them.

" Trolls breath!" they cried at the painting and with a severe put out look the fat lady swung open and the girls dove inside dragging the bags with them. No sooner had they shut the portrait door when Filch's wails filled the corridor.

" Mrs Norris!" his cry went up and still fearing punishment the girls hurried up the stairs, taking their prizes with them. Ashley and Nicola were waiting in their bedroom and as soon as they walked in, they fell on the girls with praise and relief.

" We thought you'd been caught!" Ashley dithered.

" Yeah you've been so long," Nicola cut in, her eyes taking in the stacks of goodies. " But you did a great job!" The girls exchanged a relieved look as they collapsed on their beds, hearts still racing from their fabulously successful first heist.

" I'm telling you," Katie breathed out. " I am never letting you drag me on one of your crazy adventures again!"

XXX

The following day news of the assault on Mrs Norris (who had apparently recovered but was suffering from ensuing migraines) had spread like wildfire before breakfast and everyone was in agreement that it was absolute best news they'd heard all week. Leshia, Katie and Rachel kept low profiles as they sat down at the table, nodding with everyone else about how fabulous it was that the old wretched beast had finally got what she deserved. They didn't need to look to know that they were being watched from the head table. It was almost as though they could feel Draco's eyes boring into the backs of their heads. What they couldn't know was that he was not alone in watching their every move.

Unusual for a Hogwarts breakfast, Dumbledore climbed to his feet to make an announcement. Everyone went silent and stared at him, expecting more news on the fantastic appling of the school's most hated cat.

" Students," he said looking down at them all magnanimously. " Last night, something dreadful happened. One, or several members of this school took it upon themselves to cross the line and…" Leshia hung her head slightly shamefully, hearing it put so from the mouth of someone she greatly respected was awful. " Broke into one of our classrooms, stealing a very precious heirloom." Leshia's head popped up again like a jack-in-the-box and she stared at the headmaster in surprise. " I cannot tell you what it is, as this might alarm several of you. In the hands of the wrong people it can do terrible wrongs." Leshia's frown intensified and she stared at the headmaster firmly." If any of you know who may have carried out such a grievous misdeed, then I beg of you to come forward."

For a split second Leshia caught her father's eye and he was staring at her so severely she almost jumped. They held eye contact for a long time, and through narrowed eyes, Leshia could see he wasn't pleased with her.

'He thinks I did it,' she suddenly realised in surprise. After glaring back at her father Leshia looked back to Dumbledore defiantly. 'How dare he! As if…'

" On a much lighter note, I am pleased to tell you that Mrs Norris is recovering from the head injury she sustained last night." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled and he looked briefly to the Gryffindor girls. " It would seem some of you need reminding that throwing balls to catch is a dogs' game." Leshia suppressed a smile and waited until the headmaster was seated again before looking to her friends.

" Is he still looking at me?" she asked, anger lacing her normally mischievously happy voice.

" Who?" Rachel asked through a mouth full of pancake. " Dumbledore?"

" No my dad."

" Yeah…" Leshia looked to her friends who were looking at Draco with frightened faces.

" Leesh he looks almost mean," Katie explained worriedly.

" He thinks I stole that whatever thing that was stolen last night," Leshia cut in bitterly. " I can't believe he thinks I'm nothing but a thief."

" But Leesh…" Rachel began, her mind drifting back to the burlap bags full of loot under their beds, but she never got to voice her 'but you are a thief' as suddenly a foot stamped down on her toes accompanied by an urgent look from Katie, so she staved her comment and made a mental note to have a serious word with Katie over constantly beating her. At this rate she wasn't going to make it to Christmas time without coming out covered in bruises.

" Well we've got defence against the dark arts first thing," Katie said wearily. " You're not going to throw another hissy fit are you, because I mean think about it. It's not surprising that he thinks its you." Now it was Rachel's turn to do the stamping, and she took pleasure in stamping hard on Katie's foot. " Ouw!" her cousin objected. " I'm not being disloyal, I'm on your side, but just think about it. He knew we were planning something yesterday, he probably sensed us last night, because you knew it was him at the end of the corridor and I couldn't even see a person, let alone make out who it was…"

" That's because you're blind as a bat," Rachel sang gleefully.

" Anyway," Katie continued silencing Rachel with a glare. " You two must have some weird psychic link, because if you knew he was there then he probably knew we were there." Leshia sighed and rubbed her temples.

" Just because we're up and about past curfew doesn't mean we're off around the castle looting priceless heirlooms," Leshia countered, but then she suddenly suppressed a grin.

" Picturing it aren't you?" Rachel said with a satisfied grin that showed she too was picturing a clichéd burglar-style raid where all of them were kitted out in stripes and balaclavas tiptoeing along the corridors. Leshia nodded and smiled properly, her thundercloud temporarily raining on someone else's parade for now.

" Go easy on him Leesh," Katie said, looking up to see Draco still staring unwaveringly at them all. " He is your dad after all."

" And I mean look what he got up to in school," Rachel added, pulling her foot away before Katie could stamp on it – not caring she was treading on 'don't go there' topics. Leshia nodded.

" Someday, he's going to have to realise that I'm not him," she sighed and got to her feet as the first bell rang. Rachel and Katie looked to each other with a look that read, 'And someday she's going to have to realise that she very nearly is'.

XXX

" Letter for you sir," Leshia said pointedly as she walked in the DADA classroom. She dropped the scribbled parchment down on her father's desk and held his suspicious gaze for a few moments before flouncing off to her desk.

" Thank you," Draco said softly before turning to the rest of the class. As though sensing his dangerous mood they were unusually subdued and even refrained from a united 'awwww' when he announced they would be carrying out a surprise quiz for the first half an hour of their lesson. As they got underway with their quiz he sat down behind his desk and glanced at the scribbled note.

Professor Malfoy

I didn't do it. I did…something else.

Please believe me.

Furrowing his brow Draco looked up from the scrap to see his daughter had her head down and was concentrating like everyone else. He didn't have it in him to be suspicious any longer, he'd spent all night dreading the worst.

A priceless and dangerous artefact had been stolen and he'd sensed Leshia up and about. The thought that she was slipping down the dark path that had held him for so many years had kept him up most of the night and now this… At this moment Leshia looked up and her brow creased for a split second in hopeful concern. There was no lie in her eyes. So after inhaling slowly, a small whisper of a smile briefly graced Draco's handsome face, which seemed to still Leshia's concerns enough to allow her to finish her test.

Pleasant relief flowed through Draco's mind for a brief moment, only to be replaced with worry once more. If not Leshia (who alone of her peers possessed a modicum of evil ingenious), then who? Who had known to steal that exact artefact and what on earth were they planning on doing with it?

XXX

The rest of the day flew by as everyone eagerly awaited the evenings' festivities, whether they be official or home-wrought. But come the evening did, and after fussing over what to wear – granted, Leshia did the least of the fussing and only exclaimed an angry curse when she realised she'd thoughtlessly trashed the only garment that effectively made her look taller in the Tally-incident – the girls hurried downstairs and laid out the food on the tables that Luke, Tom and their friends had magicked as though from nowhere. People were already milling around and their eyes went wide at the sight of all he food.

It didn't take long for the streamers and the music to appear and before anyone knew what was going on, they had a heaving beast of a party to enjoy. As it happened, it wasn't only the Gryffindors who were enjoying the party of a lifetime. Unable to keep their great secret a secret, several (if not most) of the Gryffindors had spread word to their out-house friends and after leading them on, had eventually invited them. It seemed that everyone in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw who'd been below fourth year (and even several who were over fourth year and not much in the mood for dances) had showed up and cramming everyone into the lively common room was turning out to test everyone's magic skills.

" This is awesome!" Leshia yelled over the noise of some third years singing. The looks on Katie and Rachel's faces gave their feelings away and for a moment all the worries over Hermione and the troublesome start to the year washed away.

" Look there's a Slytherin," Katie gaped and she pointed over to the other side of the common room where indeed, one of the not-quite-so-horrible Slytherins was talking to a Hufflepuff girl.

" Should have put up a sign, no snakes allowed," Rachel sneered.

" Easy," Leshia laughed and dived out of the way of a mad Ravenclaw's dance moves. Laughing fit to burst they fought their way through to one of the window boxes and squeezed in, looking over the snowy landscape.

" I bet they're not having this much fun down in the hall," Katie mused and the others nodded fervently.

" Totally not, I bet they're all standing on separate ends of the hall staring at each other's feet," Leshia exclaimed gleefully – happy to get one over on the man…whoever that was. It sounded good and she'd heard it on a muggle television programme once. Katie and Rachel giggled at the prospect and looked out over the common room. As they did so they were alarmed to find Amy and Sarah surging through the crowd towards them.

" Uh oh," they chimed. Amy had an eerily determined look on her face and Sarah was wielding burlap bags.

" We've run out of food you've got to get more," Amy pleaded once she reached them. Leshia rolled her eyes exasperatedly and shook her head.

" Please Leesh," Sarah begged, knowing that to get the other two on side, they had to sway the el capitano of the group. For twenty minutes they begged, expressing how this party was all down to them and that if they made it a hit, it would go down in Hogwarts history as their doing. In the end, appealing to their vanity was a huge success and ten minutes later the girls were treading the old route down to the kitchen clutching at itchy burlap bags.

" Stupid out-housers eating all the grub," Rachel grumbled and they all slowed down when they passed the exuberant music coming from the hall.

" Let's go have a look," Katie suggested eagerly and Rachel instantly agreed.

" Come on Leesh," she urged when Leshia wasn't moving. She followed her friend's gaze to a small out-of-the-way staircase that seemed to lead to nowhere they'd ever needed to visit and frowned.

" What is it?" Katie asked, catching the same vibe.

" I'm not sure," Leshia finally responded and she threw off the cloak, loading off her bags on the others.

" Leshia!" Katie and Rachel hissed in unison, but Leshia was heading for the stairs.

" There's no one around, don't worry. You go peep and I'll check this out, we'll meet back here," she ordered and carried on. Not wanting to miss out on an internal gloating session Rachel and Katie rushed off to the great hall while Leshia carefully soldiered on.

She couldn't describe why she felt she had to check out the stairs, she just…did. So with a pounding heart she started to descend, hearing voices. One distressed and the other murmuring. What was going on. The lower she climbed the softer the voices got until finally they stopped altogether as Leshia's feet touched the slate flooring of the dungeon floors. Nothing lay in front of her and feeling putout she turned to go, but something made her turn around and look into the gloom and then she saw him…and her.

Words escaped her mouth and she simply stared in horror as Professor Larkin and her father struggled against each other locked in a steamy embrace. Feeling sick to her stomach with eyes watering Leshia wretched silently and ran off down the dungeon corridor, a silent sob wracking her chest painfully. They hadn't noticed her presence.

XXX

" What are you doing?" Draco demanded as he drunkenly pushed the woman away and backed up against the wall, his eyes watering from the dark and the ale. Larkin stared at him and shook her head in confusion.

" I'm kissing you," she said sounding amazed and she stepped forward for a repeat performance. Draco grabbed her wrists and pushed her away.

" Well don't," he said dangerously.

" But I thought that's what you wanted…" Larkin began sounding petulant. Draco stared at her open-mouthed, his vision blurring.

" I've been pouring my heart out to you about my wife," he cried out angrily, accusingly. " How the hell does that sound like a pick up line to you? God!" He threw his hands up against his face and hid away Larkin's sour look.

" Stop being such a child Draco. Hermione is gone, she's not coming back, and the more you blindly wish for it to happen the more you're screwing yours and your daughter's chances up for a normal life," Larkin accused bitterly as she headed towards the stairs. Angrily Draco ripped his hands away and for a moment Larkin stumbled under the look he was giving her. Anger radiated from every pore and there was an extremely mean glint in his eye.

" Never ever presume to know anything about me, my wife or my child," he said in exaggerated tones. For a moment he looked terrifying in all his wrath, but then his face crumpled slightly and he turned from Larkin giving her leave to go. And go she did, her shoes clattering up the stairs as she fought to get away leaving Draco crouched down with his hands behind his head, squeezing his eyes shut lest the tears he'd never let fall finally spill out.

XXX

Leshia ran and ran, not knowing where the winding corridors were taking her, not caring why she could hear echoing footsteps following. Finally she came to a halt and she realised in alarm that she had no idea where she was…and that she wasn't alone.

" Well well well," a snide and familiar voice came from behind. " Caught me a little blood traitor have I?" Leshia turned slowly to find Cole Ashton standing alone in the corridor behind her.

" I'm warning you Ashton," Leshia hissed angrily. " Don't make me hurt you." This bravado was not for show alone. The anger and hurt Leshia was experiencing was making her feel so empowered, she almost wished Ashton would try something so that she could vent some of it. Ashton chuckled darkly.

" Hurt me?" he asked softly and turned to go. " Hurt…pain…tell me Malfoy, spoken to mummy recently?" With this he headed back up the corridor and darted down a turn leaving Leshia staring after him in surprise, which soon turned to horror.

" Mum," she whispered and without thinking careened after Ashton as though she were possessed. She followed his distant footsteps until she rounded a corner and ran straight into a hooded figure. After bouncing off the hulking giant of a student she quickly scrambled to her feet realising that there were more of them…loads of them in fact.

'Oh no,' she thought briefly before the curses came thick and thin. What manner of pain and suffering she felt she later forgot, but what she did remember was that it seemed to go on for ever, when it couldn't have been too long – she couldn't have sustained such attacks for too long. Finally, after squinting at her attackers through pained and sometimes bleeding eyes, they suddenly dispersed, sprinting down corridors in all directions. They had obviously been caught.

But who it was that came to her rescue was a surprise that Leshia only briefly managed to hold before she passed out from her injuries. The last thing she could remember seeing was the terrified expression on Snape's face.

" Leshia can you hear me?" THUD.

XXX

Hours later Leshia opened her eyes to a frenzy of activity. Everything hurt and upon trying to move her aching limbs she alerted the frenzying professors to her consciousness who quickly moved to put her back into a deep sleep.

When she awoke the next time it was light outside and the hospital wing was blissfully quiet. With only a thumping headache Leshia pulled herself up in bed and looked down at herself. No obvious scars or injuries.

" That's good," she croaked and pushed the sheets off herself and gingerly she swung her legs over the side of the bed. A sliver of electric pain shot up her back the second her feet touched the floor, and the intensity of it caused her to lie down again wincing.

" I wouldn't try to move too quickly if I were you, you've undergone extensive treatment," a dreary voice came from behind a screen and as though on rollers Snape glided into view. Leshia scrunched up her face in protest, but lay back obediently. " Two healers from London had to apparate out. We're very lucky that we got to you in time." Leshia held his gaze and a flash of his terrified face crossed her mind. She twitched her head to the side trying to forget it, as she didn't want to start doubting his hatred of her, but it wouldn't budge. " Yes, it was I who found you. What were you doing down in the dungeons?"

" I don't remember," Leshia lied.

" You're lying."

" Am not," she tried petulantly and feigned a headache, having to nestle down into the covers to get away from Snape's mind-reading gaze.

" Those who assaulted you are in very serious trouble, they will most likely be tried as adults under the wizarding trials at the ministry," Snape continued on.

'He doesn't know who they were,' a voice piped up in Leshia's woozy conscience. Frowning she surveyed the teacher trying to see if this was true. He did seem out of sorts, as though trying to press the matter.

" I don't remember them," Leshia said trying to gauge his reaction: disappointment. 'Oh wow…he really doesn't know.'

" You must remember, it is very important…"

" But I don't," Leshia countered angrily.

" Yes you do," Snape suddenly countered in surprise. " Tell me." It was an order, and normally Leshia would have cowered under such a tone, but it was vitally important that she keep her information to herself for now.

" Spoken to mummy recently?"

'He knows where mum is,' she told herself bravely, searching for courage to face Snape's terrifying inquisition. For an hour they carried out this dance of lies and orders until finally Snape saw he wasn't going to wear her down.

" If you do not tell me then I will put you in detention until you leave this school," he said darkly and Leshia lowered her head, catching his gaze.

" Fine," she said and looked away. Snape made an exasperated sound and stalked away muttering about talking to Draco as soon as he'd finished his lessons for the day. Leshia watched him leave and felt a stab of hurt ripple through her. Draco. What she'd seen the night before hadn't conveniently left her head in the night and all she could see when she closed her eyes was their embrace.

" Yuck," she spat. " Disgusting!" And why wasn't he by her side? If she had nearly died then surely he ought to have been there waiting for her to come to? Fed up to the core of being told what to do she forced herself top endure the pain and managed to slip away without Madam Pomfry noticing. Looking down at herself once more Leshia decided that popular as she may be after that party, she probably wouldn't get away with starting a new Hospital Pyjamas fashion trend, so her first port of call was Gryffindor tower for a change of clothes. Her visit there did not go unnoticed and as soon as she walked in concerned sixth and seventh years swooped down on her.

" You should not be out of bed," Ryan told her with a big brotherly concern filling his face. Leshia half grinned at him.

" There's stuff I have to do," she said and tried to jostle past, but Ryan's concern for her was stopping him from letting her get away.

" Who did this to you?" he asked sounding furious.

" I don't know," Leshia managed, feeling touched by his concern. He believed her lie and shook his head.

" When we find out…" he began and several of his friends practically rubbed their fists in malice.

" They'll be thrown into Azkaban," Leshia interrupted. " Or so Snape says." Finally Ryan let out a sigh and smiled charmingly at her.

" Not sure how you're going to fly in two weeks time in the Hufflepuff game," he remarked casually. Leshia frowned.

" What are you talking about?" she laughed. " I just feel a bit sore."

" Oh it's not that," he said lightly as she made her way to the stairs. " I just don't see how you and your cotton wool wrapping are going to fit on a broom that's all." Leshia forced a smile wanting to say, 'he doesn't even care enough to come visit the hospital wing, I don't think we have to worry about me being wrapped up in cotton wool.'

" Could use two brooms," she managed instead and darted away feeling her eyes stinging. Lessons were out of the question and robes to difficult to fuss with, so Leshia simply pulled on some jeans and a polo shirt before making her way down to the common room again.

It was still a little early, so to pass the time she sat in the most comfortable of armchairs and enjoyed being doted on with food and drink and entertainment. After an hour the portrait swung open and people started filing in, stopping short when they saw Leshia and relief flooding their faces. She was probed with questions from all directions about what had happened, but she just blanked them and said she couldn't remember. Finally two shaking wrecks fought their way into the common room and when their eyes fell on Leshia Katie actually started crying.

" Leshia there you are!" she cried and she fell on Leshia for a hug. Rachel shook slightly as she sat down beside her on the armchair.

" Everyone's been saying horrible things, that you're disfigured, limbless, a nut job…"

" Hey," Leshia laughed.

" Seriously, they would have sent you to St Mungos but they didn't think you'd make it. That I know is true," Rachel said and she leaned her head on Leshia's shoulder.

" Well I'm fine, so everyone can stop drama queening on me," she said loudly.

" Well it's not that, it's just that no one saw you leaving the hospital wing, everyone's looking for you, they think whoever it was came back to finish you off. Your dad's a state Leesh you should go and see him," Katie explained, having recovered now. Leshia shrugged.

" I don't think so," she said softly.

" What are you talking about? He was so upset that in our lesson today he just let us do what we wanted while he stared out the window tearing a book apart…" Katie explained.

" Yeah we think he was meant to be reading it, but the page turning sort of turned into page tearing," Rachel cut in.

" So why didn't he come to the hospital wing?" she demanded and added silently, 'And why was he snogging the face off some woman that was not my mum last night?'

" He was, all night, but you just weren't waking up and when we went in this morning I was afraid that if we accidentally knocked him he'd break into a thousand pieces. I mean your dad is pale, but man, this morning his was so white he would have disappeared into the snow had he gone outside," Rachel said with wide eyes.

" It was too much Leesh, he told us to go to class, that it was best to do something…anything, waiting is what hurts the most." Leshia sighed and looked away.

" He found Snape carrying you to the hospital wing….apparently…" Rachel winced and didn't need Katie to stamp on her foot to know this was most likely a 'no go area', but Leshia had to know. She'd find out eventually. " You didn't even look like you. He didn't know it was you."

" And when he did find out he went into shock, Madam Pomfry had to force a whole packet of chocolate down his throat before he could talk again," Katie added softly. Unable to hear them going on about how great and caring Draco was Leshia let out and exasperated sigh and turned to them.

" I caught him with Professor Larkin last night, that's why I was down there!" she cried out and everyone turned and stared at her. Most had the decency to look away, but some unashamedly stared as Leshia poured her heart out to her friends. " So don't tell me how great he is, because no wonder he's forgotten all about mum when he's off playing tonsil tennis with that harpy when my back's turned!" Katie and Rachel looked at one and other in surprise, but then they smiled.

" No you've got it all wrong…" Rachel began – gossip in a boarding school is like fire in the woods, it spreads uncontrollably and at lightning speeds. Everyone had heard of Larkin's embarrassing pounce on Draco, it was old news compared to the Leshia debacle.

" No I haven't," Leshia fumed and she jumped to her feet. " You're right, I should go see him," she exclaimed almost wildly and with that she stormed out leaving everyone watching after her with looks of extreme concern.

XXX

The world had gone mad. It was as though Leshia was on the ten most wanted list as she marched down the corridors towards her father's study. People tried to stop her, pointed and stared and called after her, but she wouldn't listen. Thankfully no one seriously tried to get in her way and within no time she was sat in her father's empty study wondering angrily if he was with Larkin again.

She didn't have long to wait as Draco – who had been combing the corridors himself – had heard word of her heading towards his study and quickly made a beeline towards it. As he burst through the door his heart was beating so ferociously it felt as though it might break if he found Leshia to be damaged in any way. Seeing her sitting on the chair by his desk, looking as far from a near death experience as possible, calmed him, but still he dropped his hands exhaustedly and nearly collapsed onto the sofa.

" Leshia," he exclaimed so emotionally that his voice broke. Within two strides he'd crossed the office and had collapsed beside her chair, pulling her into an embrace. It was almost life giving, every second longer that he touched her, the stronger he began to feel. The terror that had been driving him forward was washing away and now he became aware that she was shaking.

" What's wrong? Are you hurt?" he demanded, pulling backwards as far as he could manage, his arms still around her shoulders. Leshia looked him in the eye and what lay there shocked Draco nearly as much as finding his daughter unrecognisable and in pieces in Severus' arms: hatred lay in those perfect blue eyes. " Leshia?" he managed uncertainly.

" I saw you," she exclaimed softly, anger lacing her words, making them cold. Draco frowned in intense confusion and fought the urge to pull her into another embrace and squeeze away this anger she was expressing.

" What are you talking about?" he asked instead, his intense frown causing his eyebrows to meet somewhere in the middle.

" You and Larkin! I saw dad!" she hissed. He looked away briefly with his mouth half open in confusion, but then that brief memory came back to him and he snapped his eyes back onto Leshia.

" That?" he managed sounding relieved and surprised.

" Yes that!" Leshia raved her eyes so round from fury they looked like dinner plates.

" That wasn't anything," Draco told her firmly.

" It looked like something to me," she said drearily. " How long has it been going on? Were you even going to tell me?"

" No Leshia you've…"

" No wonder you don't care about mum, not when you've got her," she spat.

" I don't have her, you've seen it all wrong," Draco said calmly.

" I saw you with my own eyes…"

" She lunged at me, I pushed her off. Is that what you were doing down there?" He sounded shocked that it was hit fault she'd been down in the dungeons and for now he hit an all time low once more. It was his fault.

" Don't change the subject and don't lie," Leshia admonished him furiously.

" I'm not lying you silly girl," Draco countered getting slightly angry himself. Leshia shook from anger and finally pushed Draco off, who'd still been clinging to her, but Draco was not ready for her to run out just yet and put his hands round her shoulders again. She fought him off, but he clung back on and for a moment they fought each other, Leshia's face slowly beginning to contort into a sorrowful sob and finally, she gave in and threw her arms around his neck crying into his shoulder.

Draco pulled her off the chair into a proper embrace and she cried until there was nothing left to cry about…well, except the pain shooting through her spine every time she moved.

" I'm sorry you saw what you think you saw," Draco said softly.

" She really lunged at you?" Leshia whispered.

" Yes, if you would have stayed a little longer you would have seen me push her off," Draco assured her adding silently, 'and you wouldn't have nearly got killed either.'

" Was she angry?"

" Furious." They pulled apart and first Draco smiled sadly, followed shortly afterwards by a truly happy smile of Leshia's, but it was short lived because suddenly her expression changed and she was alive with suspicion.

" Dad Cole Ashton knows where mum is!" she exclaimed as though she had suddenly single-handedly found the cure to ageing, or the way forward to world peace. Draco leaned back and frowned.

" So do I, in Mexico," he said slowly, leaning forward again to look into her pupils. Had all those curses and hexes addled her brains, she'd been painfully close to a number of mental disorders as it was; people masked her peculiarities behind the label eccentric, but occasionally Draco had been worried for her in the past.

" You know something's happened," Leshia accused and an argument of old was brewing. Draco wanted to stop it and he got to his feet turning his back on her.

" Not now Leshia, don't start this again," he complained angrily and he dropped down on the sofa sighing heavily.

" Start what?" Leshia demanded. " Dad you don't seem to care, mum's missing again. It's happening all over again and this Cole Ashton boy knows where she is. He told me! He said to me, 'spoken to mummy recently?' I know he knows…"

" Leshia stop it, you shouldn't work yourself up," Draco admonished, but whatever path Leshia was hurtling down it was a one-way road and there was no coming back from her tirade now. Draco would have to baton down the hatches and wait it out, like in any other storm.

" He said…"

" He was winding you up," Draco complained.

" He wasn't," Leshia cried out angrily, marching round to the sofa and facing off with Draco with a glare fixed firmly on him.

" Leshia," Draco sighed and he shook his head. " You don't understand. I know it's hard for you, but you have to…"

" Bullshit." Draco stared at his daughter in surprise, one eyebrow raised, the other dipped in disapproval. If it could have been possible Leshia would have been staring at herself open mouthed too, swearing in front of dad, not good. Not, not good.

" Alecia …" he began angrily.

" I'm sorry!" Then with a petulant pout she added, " But it is. Of course I understand. You don't understand. She was starting to remember, she told me she loved me. Why would she just stop writing again? It doesn't make sense dad! It doesn't!"

" There's something you don't know…"

" Dad!" Leshia shouted exasperatedly. " Stop it! Why would she just stop writing? It doesn't make sense and now this guy Ashton he…" Draco closed his eyes as though all of a sudden he'd had to make a difficult decision. Leshia ranted and raved as he slowly got to his feet and retrieved a letter from a box on his shelf. Without a word he handed it out to his daughter, who momentarily stopped her noisy and increasingly annoying tirade, to stare at the much-pawed-over-letter.

" Go on, read it," he said softly, his expression softening. Of course she had every right to be angry, he'd been keeping a very big secret from her. A secret that was going to break her heart all over again and even he'd fought to stop it, it was inevitable, like the sun setting. He watched as her brow began to crinkle and looked away.

Malfoy,

Stop writing to me. I am not who you think I am. You're beginning to upset me, don't write again or I'll send the Mexican Ministry Law officials on you. Judging what they did to the last poor sod they interrogated, I would rather not set them on you, but you are trying my patience.

I know this is all my fault. I let myself get carried away with your daughter's fantasies and I do feel terrible for this mess, because there's a child involved. Please can you stop her from writing to me, I'm not opening her letters. She's disturbing my colleagues at work also. You have to get her to stop contacting me. I do not wish to speak to her.

As for you, I do not wish to hear from you again. I can't explain it, but I do have a memory of you and I do not like it. Frankly, you scare the hell out of me.

Regards,

Leshia Westcoast

Draco watched as Leshia's eyes darted over the scripture several times, obviously rereading it and then rereading it again. Odd, she didn't look devastated, just confused and extremely belligerent.

" It's a fake," she finally said looking up at Draco incredulously. " Dad don't tell me you believed this?" Hope. There was a glimmer of hope in her eyes. A part of her was letting go of her crusade. A part of her at least, was grieving her lost mother.

" Yes Leshia I do believe it," he said, taking from her the letter and placing it back in its box, the last words he'd ever hear from his wife.

" But it's stupid, why would she remember us one day and then not remember us the next?"

" She was obliterated sweetheart," Draco explained gently, sitting down beside his daughter and taking her hands in his. " It does terrible things, irreversibly destroying not only memories, but also memory processes. She is never going to recover, she is never going to come home." Leshia shook her head so firmly she was swinging wildly from side to side.

" No," she whispered murderously. " Something's happened to her and you're too much of a coward to go after her!" Draco groaned exasperatedly and let her go again.

" Don't be so stubborn," he complained and turned away. " You're going to have to accept this Leshia whether you like it or not."

" Well I'm not going to," Leshia cried out indignantly, jumping to her feet and running round to look up at her father. " I'm not a coward like you!" A nerve was starting to twitch in Draco's neck. Under any normal circumstances that was tantamount to a massive neon flashing 'warning danger' sign and resulted in Leshia getting the hell out of his vicinity as quickly as possible, but now she was too far gone to care that if she persisted he would probably blow his top.

" I'm not a…" he began painfully slowly, closing his eyes.

" Yes you are, Ashton has done something to her, or he knows who did. I want to rescue her, but you're too much of a coward…" Snap.

" Don't," Draco bellowed taking hold of her arms and leaning close to her face. " Ever. Call. Me. A. Coward. Again." With a shake he let her go, turning away wiping his brow agitatedly, but rather than dousing her anger it fuelled it.

" Coward!" she yelled as forcefully as she could. Draco closed his eyes and exhaled shakily. He was losing it, so this is what it felt like to go mad. On his diagnosis sheet at St Mungos it would undoubtedly say 'driven insane by petulant preteen daughter' and people would point and laugh at the man who spawned the spit-fired madam that was the end of him. " I'm going to find mum and when I do, I'll tell her all about how you were a coward…"

" Get out!" Leshia stopped talking, but Draco's anger was now fully unleashed. " Just get out of my office you silly child." And as though caught up in a whirlwind of emotion he took her by the collar and frog marched her to the door where he pushed her out into the corridor.

Leshia was staring at him with an amazed expression, that very soon turned through the motions: anger, sadness, fear, heartbreak, and ended on hatred. The look she cast him before she sulked off haunted Draco later that night when he'd calm down. It was so indescribably bitter that it made him shiver, but what was worse were the words that came out of his little girl's mouth for the first time in her life.

" I hate you."

Reaching out to her, regretting already his temper Draco tried to call her back, but Leshia was gone. As she stalked down the corridor her anger was quickly making way for tears and she ducked into an empty classroom where she safely collapsed against the door, feeling her heart aching.

" He's not my dad anymore," she whispered, before a tearing pain in her chest caused her to grasp for her heart and cry out in pain. " Not anymore! Professor Malfoy," she panted and clouds started swimming before her eyes. " That's who he'll be from now on."

XXXXXX

End of Part II

Thanks guys, sorry not quite 18000, a mere 17,200, but hey I tried. Please review, I love to hear from you!