Draco POV

"Hello, Draco! It's so lovely to see you out and about. Cissy said you were feeling under the weather," she sneers at me. I stand there in shock and can feel my anger coursing through my veins. She killed Briar, or rather, she thought she had and now she's gloating about it. She knows why I've been feeling "under the weather," but she doesn't know Briar is in a coma instead of in the ground.

I can't stay here and not try to murder her. I take a deep breath and turn to leave when her next words stop me cold.

"It's a shame about your little girlfriend. I was aiming for Black, but she just happened to get in the way. She was very pretty, but a little mouthy. You're better off with someone else a little more…obedient," she mocks and lets out an insane cackle. Before I even know it, I'm across the room to stand in front of her with my wand pressed into her neck. If looks could kill, my Aunt would be dead on the ground. I hear my mother gasp from beside me, but I ignore her and keep my focus on the sad excuse of a human in front of me.

Who gets excited about killing a teenage girl?! MY girl?!

"I swear on everything I have in me that if I everhear you speak about her like that again, I will kill you. I don't give a shit about my soul. If I have to sacrifice a piece of it to end you then I will gladly do it if it's for Briar. Don't test me. My father taught me a thing or two about torture before he was locked in Azkaban and I've been itching to test them out on someone," I growl. Her eyes widen and her face pales slightly. She may see me as a child, but in this moment, she would be smart to understand I'm serious. She scoffs in my face in response.

"You wouldn't harm me. I'm your family!" She rolls her eyes and turns to look at my mother. "Cissy, you really need to teach this boy about his bluffs. Family never hurts family." I see my mother open her mouth, but my wand moves closer to my Aunt's neck in warning.

"You broke that rule, Aunt Bella," I spit. She looks at me with a look of pure insanity and smirks at me. "Briar was my family. You killed her. I should kill you right here and now, but I'm being lenient with your life because that's what she would want. You'd do well to remember that. You're only alive because of Briar," my voice cracks towards the end in sadness at uttering those words. While I know Briar isn't dead, just the thought of those words ever coming true has my eyes becoming misty.

Her dark eyes stare into my soul and I can tell she understands just how much Briar means to me. She nods her head before glancing at her sister. Without saying anything, she steps into the fireplace and is gone. My wand won't lower and I can tell I'm shaking in rage.

"Draco, my love," my mother whispers to me. She walks cautiously towards me and my eyes lock onto hers. Her hands are in front of her protectively and that's the only thing that makes me lower my wand. I continue to stare at her and stay silent because I refuse to apologize for protecting Briar. She looks at me in understanding and places her hands on my arms before pulling me into a hug. Hesitantly I wrap my arms around her with my wand still in my hand. I barely register her whispering to me "I know" before she pulls back and walks out of the room with a small smile. I go to follow her as confusion sets in.

"Mother?" She looks at me and nods her head.

"Snape," she says before walking around the corner to sit in the family room. I follow after her and find myself sitting across from her on the same couch Briar and I sat on when she took our picture. The same picture that sits on my nightstand upstairs next to my bed. The same photo I stare at before my eyes become too heavy to stay open at night.

I stare at my mother in a new light. If Snape told her Briar is in a coma then that means she must be better at keeping her mind closed off to those around us than I thought. Granted, I know she is the only other person that taught me the skill of occlumency aside from Snape whenever he wasn't available to, but I never would have guess Snape was that confident in my mother's skill.

"How much did he tell you?" She looks at me with a smug smirk before answering.

"Everything." I nod my head and chuckle sadly. I'm so tired of being sad, but not knowing if Briar will wake up is killing me. My mother, however, her smug reaction makes me genuinely adore her even more. She must be where I get my cockiness from.

"Wait, if he told you everything then maybe you can help!" My mother has been studying rare magic for years as well as many other subjects since she doesn't have a job. My father was always the one who worked while she stayed home and read in the library or went out with friends. She's almost as much of a bookworm as Briar is. Almost.

"I've actually wanted to talk to you about my theories for a while. I read about a specific family that reminds me of Briar's abilities. There was a family back a long time ago that used their magic for healing or harm based on their emotions," she starts and Molly's letter pops into my mind as she thought the same thing. How did my mother know about them?

"Molly believes she's a descendant of that family too," I whisper to her sheepishly. Is it possible to cheat on your mother emotionally? Probably not, but I'm still a little hesitant to admit I confided in Molly when my mother wasn't even aware of where I was. She looks at me oddly before she realizes who I'm talking about.

"Weasley?"

"Yes," I say shyly. "She wrote me today. She promised to write me weekly of any improvements. Briar said my name last night."

"Draco, that's phenomenal! That means she is healing and that actually goes with my theory. So, the family was known as the Denalis. They were a very powerful family and, based on Briar's age, Diana Denali could have been Briar's grandmother. If that's true then the enchantment she put on your necklaces is connected to you emotionally. What that would mean is it's so in tune with your emotions that it can feed from you to Briar and vice versa, in theory." I stare at her in understanding as I let it all sink it.

"Okay, I think I understand that, but how would that explain her being in a coma?"

"The Denali family was notorious for protecting those they love. Diana actually gave a necklace to her beloved when he went off to one of the first wizard wars when the Dark Lord rose for the first time. It's rumored in the books I've read that he was protected by her love during the battle and the only reason he died was because the chain broke and fell off during the battle. When Diana found out he died, her anguished cries harmed the one that killed the love of her life. Her screams cut into him like a knife and he bled out from her anger and sadness," she finishes. I let all of the information she gave me seep in and absorb into my brain.

"So, Briar is the descendant of Diana Denali and she can harm or heal based on emotion…That explains the common room," I whisper shocked. My mother looks at me in confusion and waits for me to continue.

"Common room?"

"Parkinson provoked Briar a few months back and Briar got so angry because she was a part of her half brother's death. She bragged about it to me and tried to make it seem like I knew about it. Luckily, my girl is smart and didn't believe her, but Parkinson ended up pinned to the wall gasping for air. Briar didn't use magic and I just assumed it was wandless magic, but she was so angry, mother. I swore she was going to kill Parkinson before I calmed her down," I whisper as everything starts to make sense except for one question I still have.

"Yes, her protecting her half-brother, even in death, would make perfect sense with that family's dynamic if she truly is a descendant," my mother deduces.

"It does, but mother, the coma? I still don't understand why she's in a coma."

"Right, I'm sorry, my love. I did skip that with the little history lesson. I believe Briar is in the coma because, through the necklace you got her; you were there protecting her with your love. Remember how I said the necklaces are in tune to emotions of the other person? I think the necklace fed off of your love for her in the moment she put herself in danger to save another just like her grandfather's necklace did during the battle. Or rather, what it would have done if it didn't fall off. As for the healing, I think that is all Snape and Briar's DNA. I know he was training her while she stayed here so he must have taught her self healing, but personally, I think her DNA has a major part in her healing," she concludes.

"I saved her? You really think my love for her had a hand in keeping her safe?" I can't help the first genuine smile that stretches across my face since that day in Snape's office. If I truly was capable of protecting her, even through a necklace, then I didn't fail in keeping her safe.

"I do, my love. I think your love for her protected her when she needed you the most and now her body and magic are healing her so she can come back to you. To us," she says as a smile stretches across her face as well. I let out a small chuckle of happiness before I'm standing up to close the space between us. I pull my mother out of her seat and quickly lift and spin her around before planting her feet back on the floor. Holding her in a hug, we both laugh with joy as happy tears stream down our faces.

For the first time in the past two weeks, I finally feel hope. Briar will come back to me.

I'm waiting for you to come home, my doe. Please wake up soon.

A/N Yes, we're getting back into the groove of being happy, everyone! Our Draco is finding hope again and trying to face who he wants to be with his mother by his side. I always did have a soft spot for Narcissa. We get to look at Briar's POV next chapter so stay tuned for that update! As always, thank you so much for all of the reviews! This chapter was for a review I got this morning and the one being posted tomorrow is a thanks to ANOTHER review I got today! You guys are truly amazing and make writing worth it so thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time, loves!