Chapter 2 – Family Ties

Snape frowned as he faced Malfoy. The boy had failed and he knew that the Lord would not be happy. It had always been a risk trusting such a naïve young man with such an important task but Voldemort had seen it as a test of Draco's loyalty. Snape could not help but feel self-loathing. Narcissa had specifically put her only son in his care, and it had resulted in a murder. A murder Snape himself had committed – against his own friend and mentor – against Dumbledore. It was never intentional but an unbreakable vow was, as it seemed, unbreakable. In the end Snape had to choose between his life and Dumbledore's, and when he weighed it up he realised that he was the only living link between the Order and the Death Eaters. He was the only person who could provide information great enough to target Voldemort's weakness and bring him down once and for all. But he would need Harry Potter for his plan to succeed, and he very much doubted that anyone would trust him now, especially the boy. The teacher had in adversely become a fugitive. 'I did it for Narcissa', he reminded himself. But this provided little solace. He at least hoped that Dumbledore would have understood, had Snape been given the chance to explain.

For as long as Severus Snape could remember he had been in love with Narcissa. They had gone out for a time when they left Hogwarts, but Lucius Malfoy had seen to it that this relationship didn't last. He had promised everything to the young woman that Severus could not, including vast amounts of money and a title. Narcissa had always possessed a shallow streak – it was what had put her in Slytherin in the first place. Snape's already brittle heart had been broken by this experience, and he became even more reclusive as he grew older. He distanced himself from the Malfoy family for many years, and even Voldemort himself respected Snape's wishes and made sure the three death eaters never came into contact during their work. But this had all changed when Draco had started at Hogwarts. Snape had recognised the boy as a Malfoy before he had even heard the name, and shortly after the first years arrival he was once again contacted by Narcissa. She was worried for Draco and knew that aspects of the school would give her son every opportunity to become one of Voldemort's supporters himself. She did not want this to happen, and ever since the two old friends had been in constant collaboration, trying to turn Draco away from evil, all the while fighting their own feelings for each other. Snape however, had failed his task and this young Malfoy was living proof.

He sighed and thought back to the night Lucius Malfoy had been arrested. With his old foe finally out of the way Snape and Narcissa had finally been able to be together, even if no one else could ever know. She was still married, but with her husband locked away for many years they had time together, and Snape had come to see Draco as his own flesh and blood. Flesh and blood he had been willing to protect, even at the cost of another's life. They were his family, and even the cold hearted Severus was beginning to warm to this idea. There had only ever been two things that stood in their way. Bellatrix – Narcissa's suspicious sister, and the fact that Snape's acting as a double agent for both sides of this war put them all in great danger if it were ever to be found out. Whilst Snape had every intention of serving the Order loyally and using his position for good, Narcissa herself still served Voldemort like a friend. This had put them both in grave danger. A danger that would eventually prove more costly than they could even begin to imagine.

Harry wasn't sure exactly how he was woken the next morning, but he knew it was with a start. He felt fine, and nothing looked out of place, in fact Ron was still snoring in the bed next to him. But something just didn't seem right. He yawned as he placed his glasses on his nose and pulled on his trousers. He certainly felt better after a good nights sleep and judging by his watch it was well into the morning. Ron would surely want to speak to him, but Harry made the decision to let him dream on, and besides, he was slightly afraid that Ron would become violent if anyone dared wake him. He smiled and walked groggily out of the bedroom and onto the landing. The last thing he remembered was glancing up the stairs before he was plunged into darkness.

"Ow!" Harry's head was spinning.

"Hold still dear, just a second." The motherly voice of Mrs Weasley drifted into his thoughts as his vision began to clear. Harry sat up and looked up the staircase that he was now at the bottom of. Ron, Ginny and Hermione were stood to his left, and Mrs Weasley was kneeling to his right, a bottle of fluorescent green liquid in her hand.

"Here. Drink this." She ordered. "I tell you, when I get hold of those two! There will be murder!" And with that she hoisted herself up and marched off towards the twins' old bedroom.

"Fred and George are home?" Harry asked as he wrinkled his nose and gulped down the foul tasting medicine.

"Yup. Testing their newest products. They said they were sorry for knocking you out and something about too much dragon claw before hot-footing it out of Mum's reach. She's mad!" Ron smirked.

"Are you alright Harry?" This was the first time Harry had spoken to his two best friends in weeks, and Ginny took the expression on his face as a sign to quietly leave and give them some space. She'd had her time with him – for this weekend anyway.

After a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs Harry, Ron and Hermione retreated to the boys' room and began to discuss their plans. The route to Godric's Hollow was planned for two days after Bill and Fleur's wedding (the 31st August) and they had decided the best form of travel would be to fly, as they were all more than capable and could this way stay out of muggle sight. Harry had still not passed his apparation test although, Hermione heartily informed him, she had booked one for him on the 1st September. As the conversation turned to Hogwarts and its imminent closure, the young witch became wary of anyone over hearing their discussion and proceeded to perform a complex sound proofing charm on the room. She did not want to risk anyone learning of their plans.

"The way I see it Hogwarts can't open. I mean, what can they do without Dumbledore?"

"Ron really!" replied Hermione. "There have been other head teachers you know. I'm sure Professor McGonagall's quite capable of running it on her own. And besides," She rolled her eyes. "There has to be somewhere for people to learn magic – it's more important than ever that everyone knows how to defend themselves…" She trailed off now and turned to look shiftily at Harry, who had slipped into a daydream during their argument. He was aware now of an awkward look on his companions faces, and very much doubted whether he would like what they were about to say.

"Go on…." He was suspicious by now.

"Well the thing is Harry….." Hermione cut Ron off.

"We sort of, may have, well…. told the DA members – the good ones that is – that you'd, well…. do a few lessons with them still."

Harry's eyes widened at this. He'd completely forgotten about the DA and hadn't had any contact with them since the end of term. He could certainly see the logic behind this idea, but wasn't sure he would have the time. Also, he was secretly slightly disappointed that Ron and Hermione had been in contact with other people when he hadn't. But he brushed the jealousy aside – he was far too accustomed to it for his liking. Over the last few years Harry had befriended the green-eyed monster and he was determined to break that bond, especially as he would be spending more time with his friends than ever. There was no way of telling how long it would take to find the remaining Horcruxes, and he was well aware it could take years even, before they could finally say Voldemort was gone.

"Yeah sure I'll teach them. What have we got to lose?"

Unbeknown to the three teenagers, their conversation was being listened to by someone other than their pets. This person smirked with satisfaction, his piercing green-eyed gaze fixed to the bugging device's receiver in front of him. What he had just heard gave away no real indication as to what was going on in the boy's head but at least he now knew where Harry Potter would be on the 1st September, and hopefully he would be able to follow him to Godric's Hollow as a result. Even the Order and his friends couldn't save the Potter boy now. It was his turn to pay. His turn to die.

Hope you enjoyed that chapter - new one up soon. Feel free to review and let me know what you think.