Lucius felt his son slump in his arms at his wife's quiet spell and then Cissa too nearly collapsed with a sob. Turning her wand on Draco had clearly broken her heart. Even knowing it was for the best, because Draco would have hurt himself - at worst, gotten himself and Hermione killed, and blown their cover at best - if he'd been allowed to run off in the state he had been in. Either way Lucius knew it would have been a disaster. So logically, he knew that their actions had been for the best, but he also knew his son, and knew that he would see them as a betrayal. Because it was how he himself would have felt in the same situation.
He'd seen too, the way Draco looked at him, the moment he stopped being his father and just became a living embodiment of the mark on his arm. When Hermione became his sole focus and that he would go for her no matter what his parents thought. Because she was the only thing that mattered and he didn't know if he could trust them. Yes, he knew that feeling all to well. And then they'd gone and stopped him.
As he struggled to support Draco's dead weight with one arm, he pulled out his wand with his other hand and then cast a levitation charm on his son. "Cissa," he called quietly, "we need to get out of here and take him home where he's safe. Even then I think we need to keep him under until we can get in touch with Black and have Hermione come to him. I don't think he could control his magic if he woke up and she wasn't there."
"Lucius," she said miserably, eyes locked on the slack figure of their boy.
"I know my love, I know." He wrapped an arm around her and encouraged her back into the tent.
He told himself Sirius would protect Hermione. The other man was fond of her, and he was a capable wizard when he kept his head. And then there was Narcissa's niece; she and Hermione seemed to have been getting along and she was an auror. Even the werewolf was supposedly a defense expert. They would guard her. Or so he had to believe. Their duty had to be to Draco. If they revealed themselves now, made a scene running through the campsite looking for her in front of a whole group of his former comrades, well then everything they had done for the past three years would be for naught.
He ran some diagnostics and then turned back to Narcissa. "We can apparate out, they haven't put anything up to prevent it. Would you like me to take you both?"
She shook her head. "I'm fine."
"Cissa," he began gently.
"I said I'm fine," she snapped.
He took a deep breath but just nodded. "I'll send an elf later for our things."
"I don't care about our things, Lucius, I care about my son." And without another word she popped away
He didn't miss the way that she said 'my' instead of 'our.' He also hadn't forgotten the strain that being a Death Eater had put on his marriage during the first war. He hoped they could survive a second.
He sighed, grasped Draco's arm, and followed his wife home. As Master of the House the wards allowed him privileges which nobody else enjoyed and he apparated directly into the master suite. He was just getting Draco situated on a sofa, spelling the sleeping draught he'd had an elf bring him into his son's stomach - Draco was young and healthy, but it was still too much of a risk to continue stunning him - when Narcissa entered the room. She walked over to them, smoothed Draco's hair out of his face and arranged the pillows beneath his head, and then she turned to him.
She took a deep breath and raised her chin proudly, looking him squarely in the eye. "I apologize. It was unfair of me to snap at you, you were just doing what needed to be done." Her words were almost formal but as she spoke them tears began to stream down her cheeks.
He stepped forward and took her into his arms. "It's only natural that you were frightened."
"Terrified!" She sobbed. "Lucius, the gods be damned, I was terrified! This won't be like the first war. I can't hide away with him here, bring him into our bed so that I can watch over him even when he's asleep. He wouldn't let me, he doesn't want me to, that became clear tonight. He was ready, desperate even to run right into danger."
"He's quickly becoming a man and he has a witch whom he loves more than anything else," he reminded her patiently.
"He's only fourteen!" She returned immediately, and he could see the protective glint in her eyes.
Lucius let out a surprised breath and started to run his fingers through her loose hair. "Oh my love, I'm afraid you've been hoisted by your own petard here."
She made a small questioning noise as she leaned into his touch.
"You've been so busy pushing them together, from the moment you first set eyes on Hermione, that you didn't prepare for what it might feel like when this day arrived."
"What day?" She sighed.
"The day he made it clear that he would choose her over anything or anybody else, even if it meant defying us." He sighed. "I did try to warn you," he reminded her as gently as possible.
"I- just. He's my baby! And he wouldn't even listen to me and, did you see them Lucius? If he had tried to interfere they wouldn't have cared that he's our son, they would have taken him out!"
Lucius nodded gravely. She'd never been present at a Death Eater raid and while she'd known, hypothetically, what they'd involved it was very different from seeing it up close. And what she'd witnessed last night had been a tame example. But he couldn't take that image from her, or rather he wouldn't mess with her mind like that, so he chose to address her first point. "I suppose he will always be your baby, but he is not a baby, and he hasn't been for awhile now. Frankly, I was rather proud of him. His devotion to her is something to behold. I am aware that it will take some time to gain his trust back, but we're raising a good man. If something happens to me I'm confident I'll be leaving this House in good hands."
"Don't say that!" She whipped her head up to glare at him.
But despite that fierce expression he realized she was literally trembling in his arms. He knew that feeling well, it had happened to him many times after returning from the Dark Lord's side. "It's not something that we can ignore, Narcissa. I am trapped here but the rest of you are not. Perhaps you should consider taking Draco and Hermione and leaving the country, utilize one of our boltholes and wait until this is all over. Richard Granger would agree to it in an instant."
"I won't just leave you, I can't."
"I'd rather protect you now, even if it means sacrificing myself, than watch you grow to hate me."
"I couldn't-"
"No, no, listen to me." He put a finger under her chin and stared into her eyes. "What happened tonight is only the beginning as well as being only a small taste of what is coming. And make no mistake, it is coming; HE is coming back. My Mark darkens more and more every day, the twinges that I feel coming from Him grow more intense. We are no closer to finding a solution to removing my Mark than we were when we started. And if you remain here, you are right, it won't be like last time. I am Head of House now, more will be asked of me, and by extension you. It was one thing for you to stay safely at home when we were actively trying to produce an heir, and especially when you were pregnant and were caring for a newborn, but Draco is nearly grown now. You will be expected to socialize. Your presence will be expected, as will Draco's. And I can only protect him from receiving the Mark for so long."
"We agreed to do this together," she argued.
"But did you really know what that agreement entailed?" Her reaction to tonight's events told him that she didn't. She was a strong woman and Lucius knew she could adapt, but this wasn't the kind of thing he wanted her to have to adapt to.
"You need me! I see things that you don't. And I can't just turn my back on you. And what about Draco and Hermione? The life you are describing is not one I want for them."
"They would be alive." He had such dreams for his son but he thought he might have to settle for just keeping him alive, it was a humbling admission.
"No, Lucius. I will not leave you. If things continue to deteriorate we can discuss sending the children away with the Grangers."
He just nodded. That was enough of a concession for now. And he knew tonight had been a wakeup call, he'd allow it all to sink in before he broached the subject again.
"Oh Lucius, we need to send for Hermione!" She said suddenly, raising her face to his, frantically wiping at her wet cheeks.
"I had Jema send an owl to Black as soon as we arrived home but I don't know how quickly he'll receive it. I must admit it would be very convenient if we had one of those telephone devices right about now." He chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.
"That's it!" She exclaimed, and then she turned back to Draco, bending over him and reaching into the pocket of his robe. She stood up, a triumphant expression on her face and brandished Draco's communication mirror at him. "He's been carrying it with him everywhere even though he and Hermione agreed not to use them while she's at Potter House. We should call her, she won't answer if she's not alone but hopefully she has her's with her and will at least know that we are trying to reach her."
"Very clever," he said pulling her against his side and leading them to the other sofa.
They tried Hermione regularly for the next couple of hours. Narcissa grew visibly agitated over the lack of response from the girl or any communication from Black. "If anything's happened to her Draco will never forgive us. I'll never forgive myself," she kept murmuring over and over. Lucius didn't have any words of comfort for her because he felt the same way.
Finally, the mirror resting on his thigh heated up and buzzed gently, signaling that Hermione was trying to reach them. Quick as a flash Narcissa scooped it up and flipped it open.
"Draco!" He heard Hermione wail.
"No, sweetheart, it's Lucius and Narcissa."
"Oh." That one syllable was enough to betray her deep disappointment, "Yes, I see you now, where's Draco?"
Lucius tried not to distress over the fact that their girl had been so upset that she hadn't even noticed whose face was in here mirror.
"Draco is fine," Narcissa responded, much more calmly than he knew she actually was. "He's sleeping."
"Sleeping?!"
"Dearest," she said firmly, "are you safe?"
"Yes, we're back at Potter House now, I'm in my room. We're all okay."
"Would it be possible for you to make your excuses and come home? Draco needs you."
"I thought you said he was fine!"
"He is fine, but he's had a difficult night and we think it's best if you were here when he wakes up."
"Okay, yes. I'll be there in just a few minutes. Bye." And then she was gone.
Lucius stood up and offered Narcissa his hand and then they made their way downstairs to the floo room where Hermione's portkey was set to arrive. Not five minutes later she popped in looking frantic and disheveled, her face was red and blotchy and she carried only her wand and her cat. Lucius braced himself. Whatever she'd witnessed tonight he was certain it wouldn't endear him to her.
But then she quickly set her familiar down and rushed into his arms, hugging him around the waist and burying her face in his chest. He released Narcissa so that he could put his arms around her and rub her back. She slumped against him.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry to cry all over you! I just- I was so scared! I like Sirius and I knew he would do what he could to keep us safe, but the whole time all I could think was that I wished I was with you guys. With my family!"
Lucius' heart lurched and he he felt Narcissa bring herself closer to them and he didn't think he'd ever felt like so much of a failure.
"Oh Hermione," whispered Narcissa, gently stroking the girl's messy curls - if he knew Hermione at all, she'd spent the past few hours running her hands through her hair in an effort to relieve her nerves.
They just stood there for several long minutes until her sobs subsided and she slowly pulled away to look up at him. "I'm sorry about that."
"Don't be," he said, quickly conjuring a handkerchief and handing it to her. She took it with a watery smile and then reached out to give Narcissa a hug.
"Where's Draco? How can he be asleep at a time like this?"
"When Draco realized what was happening in the campsite he panicked. He realized you were in danger and he tried to go after you. His magic was wild and erratic. He was clearly about to lose control of it, possibly injuring himself in the process, but definitely drawing the kind of attention to himself that would have been dangerous. We had to stun him to get him home and then we gave him a sleeping draught. It will be several hours before he wakes." Lucius took it upon himself to explain.
She just stared at him with wide eyes. "Where is he?" She eventually asked, her voice unnaturally calm.
"In the sitting room in our suite."
She blinked and then turned on her heel and ran out of the room. Lucius just sighed, offered his wife his arm once again, and apparated them both back upstairs. They were waiting on Hermione when she burst through the door to the room where Draco slept, but she didn't so much as glance in their direction, she just ran directly to him and practically threw herself on top of him. She squirmed until she was situated between him and the back of the sofa and Lucius was stunned to see his son - even in his potions induced slumber- put his arms around her as naturally as if they shared a bed every night.
He saw Narcissa open her mouth to speak and shook his head. "It's been a long night, whatever it is can wait for the morning," he murmured in her ear. "Let's leave them be and retire to bed."
"It's inappropriate to allow them to remain here like this, Lucius."
He frowned and wondered about her sudden concern. She'd always trusted Draco and Hermione to remain within the bounds of propriety without feeling the need to hover. "He's had a sleeping draught, darling. They couldn't get up to anything even if they wanted, and we'll just be in the next room."
He could tell that she wanted to protest further but he just urged her towards the door of their bedroom, and she sighed but allowed it.
0000000000
It was a struggle for him to wake up, he was just so drowsy. His entire body felt heavy and his eyelids fought to remain closed. But as soon as he recognized the scent surrounding him he was wide awake.
"Hermione!" He nearly shouted and tried to jump up.
A small, but surprisingly strong hand on his chest pushed him back down. He automatically looked down to see his best friend smiling up at him. Her eyes were tired but she looked genuinely happy to see him.
"Hey sleepy head," she greeted, her own voice sleep-roughened.
He looked around. They were on a sofa in his parents' sitting room.
"What happened? How did we get here?"
"Do you remember what happened last night?"
He sat up like a shot dumping her off of his chest, he tried to climb off the couch but his legs were tangled with hers. She reached out and grabbed a fistfull of his shirt and pulled him forward to keep him from tumbling to the floor. He looked her up and down. "Are you okay? You weren't hurt?"
"I'm completely and totally fine. I was scared, but safe," she answered immediately.
He breathed a sigh of relief. "How did I get here? I don't remember anything after…" He felt his eyes go wide with surprise. "Did my mother stun me?"
"I don't know who did it, but they told me that yes, they did have to stun you. And then when you got home they gave you a sleeping draught. I assume to make sure you stayed calm. They said your magic went a little wild. They were afraid you would hurt yourself, or run into the fray and," she swallowed, "one of them could have hurt you."
"My father was one of them." Hermione's expression turn to one of horror. "No! Not last night but he was a Death Eater, Hermione. Technically he still is. Somewhere around here," he gestured vaguely around him, "he has a mask and a set of robes that he used to out and hurt people wearing."
She let out a long breath. "I know that, but he wouldn't hurt me," she said quietly. "It's, well it's not okay, but it is what it is."
He pulled her closer. He wasn't sure that he was quite that accepting. Everything that happened the night before felt wrong. Like his parents weren't on the right side, not even on his side. And if his father hadn't joined that monster in the first place, well Hermione would have been with them. He could be with her in the open, could have been her best friend from the very beginning. His parents were the ones who had taught him blood prejudice, but then they'd suddenly changed their mind- at least about Hermione- but as soon as the going got tough it felt like they'd abandoned her. And worse, they'd stopped him from going to her.
"I wanted to come for you. And they stunned me Hermione."
"They were trying to protect you."
"What about you?"
She just shrugged helplessly in response and he buried his face in her hair. It had a slightly muskier smell to it than normal.
"How did you get out?"
"Tonks went to help the ministry officials trying to get them under control. Sirius, Remus, and Ted herded us to the woods. I don't think we were ever in any real danger but," she choked on the word, "I wanted to come to you too! I don't know how I stopped myself. My magic- I don't know if it's possible but, I think I felt you panic Draco and I knew, somehow, that I would make things worse if I tried to come after you."
"You think you felt me?"
"It was like when you're right in front of me and we're sharing our magic. But you weren't anywhere near me."
"Hermione, look at me." She raised her face to his. "Let's keep that to ourselves, okay?"
"Yeah," she agreed on a whisper, "I was thinking the same thing."
At that moment his parents entered the room and Hermione tried to jump away from him but he just held her tight and narrowed his eyes suspiciously at them. Had they been listening in?
"The two of you go clean up," his mother said, voice crisp, "and then return. We'll be having breakfast in here this morning."
Draco just stared at her dumbly for a minute before he got moving. She was angry? He was the one who had been stunned and then drugged. If anybody had the right to be angry it was him. What could they possibly have done wrong in their sleep? His mother remained stony faced but his father smiled tightly and just motioned towards the door. He stood up, pulling Hermione with him and led her out into the hallway where they parted ways to go to their respective rooms.
Once he had changed and washed up he loitered outside of Hermione's door for her. Whatever was going on he didn't want either of them facing his parents alone. She soon emerged wearing one of those simple summer dresses he liked so much. She smiled at him sadly and gave him a hug. "She's mad."
"I know."
"Why?"
"I haven't the faintest," he answered. "But I guess we might as well get it over with." He took her hand and together they returned to his parents suite.
They sat down at the small table the elves had brought in and waited to be served. The room was silent and the tension in the air was so thick it could be cut with a butter knife. The elves finally finished laying out the food and popped away.
"The two of you are not to continue sleeping together," his mother said suddenly, her voice like ice.
"Narcissa!" His father hissed.
Draco glanced at Hermione. She sat frozen, holding a forkful of food in between her plate and her mouth.
"It's inappropriate and frankly I'm disappointed in the both of you." His mother continued like she hadn't been interrupted, and if it was possible her voice was even colder.
Draco scrambled to come up with an explanation for this sudden confrontation. They had never attempted to hide what they were doing from his parents. At least twice over the summer they'd fallen asleep on a blanket out by the lake, completely out in the open. He didn't see anything inappropriate about it at all, at least amongst family. But it's not like he ever napped in public anyway.
His mother was still talking.
"This is a major abuse of trust and will not go unpunished. Though I believe we need to speak with the Grangers about what that punishment should entail."
"Narcissa, I thought we were at least going to give them the opportunity to explain themselves." His father said quietly.
"I don't see what there is to explain." She answered without bothering to look at her husband.
Draco felt his blood begin to boil. Stunned, potioned, and now they were trying to tell him how to behave around his girlfriend? He glared at the stranger who was impersonating his mother. "It's not our fault that we're not allowed to be together in public. So, I don't see how it's any of your business what we do with the time we are lucky enough to get to spend together. What next, are you going to tell me I'm not allowed to hug her?"
"That's not an excuse Draco," she snapped. "You're too young and immature to handle such a serious responsibility. What if she got pregnant? I know you think that you'll always remember the charm, but sometimes you get caught up in the moment. After what happened last night I'd think you'd understand that this is not a safe situation to bring a half-blood baby into, even if you were older."
Draco was only vaguely processing what his mother was saying, but at the words 'half-blood baby' he saw red. From the general direction of where Hermione was seated, he heard the sound of cutlery clattering against china and he stood up so forcefully the backs of his knees hit his chair and sent it tumbling backwards.
He looked at Hermione; her face was bright red, her eyes were watery, and she was gripping the table like she needed it to keep her upright. "Let's go," he said to her.
"What? Where?" she asked.
"I don't know, to your house, maybe? Anywhere but here."
"I- Draco why does your mother think that we're having sex?!" She practically shrieked.
He didn't blame her. Because while he'd understood, of course, what his mother had been saying, that implication hadn't really sunk in until Hermione said it out loud, and sounding like she'd never been quite so mortified in her life. Which he imagined she hadn't. He understood, he would have been embarrassed if he hadn't felt quite so offended. "I don't know, and I don't care. I won't have you spoken to like this, not even by my own mother. Especially by my own mother."
"I think we need to sit back down and discuss this," Lucius interrupted, he was beginning to sound a little desperate. If Draco had been a little less angry he would have been unnerved by that.
But he was far more furious that he'd ever been before and there wasn't room for him to feel anything else. He simply sent his father a molten glare. "Is your wife going to continue to throw around baseless accusations?" He sniped.
Lucius' expression hardened. "I understand that you're upset, but you're walking a fine line, son."
"Draco," Hermione's small voice drew his attention. "Sit down. Your father is right, we should talk."
Draco took a deep breath and with great deliberation he turned around and picked up his chair, placing it right side up, and then he moved it so that it was pushed up against Hermione's and sat down, taking her hand. He finally looked at his mother. She appeared to be...rather shell shocked.
"Am I to understand that you and Hermione have not consummated your relationship?" Lucius asked in clipped tones, obviously deeply uncomfortable with the conversation.
Draco glanced at Hermione, feeling highly resentful that they were expected to answer these personal questions. They hadn't done anything to justify being interrogated in this manner, or to deserve the accusations his mother had just leveled against them. And the way his mother was speaking to them, especially after the night they'd had- he wouldn't soon forget this.
"We've just kissed." Hermione began to speak suddenly, before he could decide what he was willing to tell them. "When Narcissa started talking about us sleeping together, I thought she meant like we did last night- which we do sometimes." She stopped and took a deep breath, never looking up from where she was staring at their joined hands "Well," she hesitated, "we've never spent all night together until last night. But it's not...it's not about anything to do with sex. Draco is my best friend. I feel safest and most relaxed with him. I - sometimes we just fall asleep." She shrugged and then sat back in her chair, shoulders slumped, looking like the very picture of defeat.
He sent another scathing glare in his mother's direction for reducing his usually fearless best friend to this state. He then turned to his father. "I took that talk that you gave me before I left for Hogwarts to heart."
Lucius had sat him down a few weeks before he'd left for Hogwarts for the first time and given him a long talk about witches. About respecting them and treating them properly and not rushing them. Even though Draco had barely been eleven at the time and the witches that his father had spoken of had been nameless and faceless and completely hypothetical, he had taken that talk very seriously.
The witch had a name and a face now. She was sitting beside him, holding his hand and he intended to do whatever he had to in order to keep her there for the rest of their lives. He patterned the way he treated Hermione on the way his father treated his mother, and now it felt like that was being thrown back in his face. He was appalled and insulted that his mother thought he would treat her with such disrespect as to take her virginity in a broom cupboard at Hogwarts - or some other equally awful scenario. And when they were just fourteen. What had she been thinking?
He finally turned to face his mother fully. "What have we done to make you think we were sexually active? I can't think of anything we've ever done to make you think we would abuse the trust you've placed in us like that. Do you think so little of me?"
Hermione squeezed his hand in a way that seemed reflexive and his mother let out a sad little gasp.
"Narcissa, I think it's time to tell them everything, this has grown unfair," his father said rather ominously.
"Everything?" Draco asked. He had a feeling he was only about to grow angrier with his parents.
"Draco," Hermione said softly, wiggling her fingers, and he realized he was squeezing them rather fiercely.
"I'm sorry." He loosened his grip, though it was difficult.
"Don't be, I know how you feel," she answered, and she scooted closer to him, though any further and she would have been on his lap, and it certainly wasn't the time for that.
He shared a private little smile with her and turned back to his parents. "What did you want to tell us?" He asked, more bravely than he felt. But Hermione was upset. And they were his parents, it was up to him to stand up to them.
"Would you like me to explain?" His father asked his mother gently.
She delicately patted her cheeks with a handkerchief and Draco realized for the first time that she had been crying. She shook her head. "No, there's obviously been a terrible misunderstanding. They should hear this from me, it's my fault, you tried to talk me down and I didn't listen." She then turned to him and Hermione. "This story actually starts when I was just a little girl. Since I can remember I had the ability to notice things about people and their magic and how it interacted with others. For a long time I thought this was how everybody saw the world, when I learned that it wasn't, I also learned to keep quiet about it."
Draco squinted at the woman he was seeing in a whole new light. He'd always known that she was intuitive, but he hadn't realized that she possessed an actual magical gift. "Mother, are you telling us that you can read auras?"
"Not exactly, but it's something like that. It's more like I see magic itself within a magical being, it's intent, how it interacts with the world and with others. I see potential. And what I saw between the two of you that first day in the bookstore, oh children, it was something to behold!"
"Are you saying that we're connected, magically?"
"Yes. Though at first it was only potential for such a connection. But it was so promising, I know that if you forged that bond, it would be extraordinary." She looked directly at him. "Can you blame me for wanting that for you?" She pleaded
He just stared at her. "So, that's why you were so insistent that we be friends? I thought you just liked Hermione."
"I do like Hermione!" Her hand flew to her heart and she looked at Hermione in alarm. "I love you like my own daughter! But I will admit I wouldn't not have been quite so...enthusiastic under different circumstances."
"Because I'm a muggle born," Hermione said quietly.
His mother's eyes dimmed and she ducked her head. There was a tense silence and he once again considered just taking Hermione and leaving. Any answers they might get weren't worth the pain this conversation was causing. But then Hermione spoke up again.
"So, you can actually see a bond between us?" She asked, sounding equal parts horrified and fascinated.
His mother nodded. "And this where the misunderstanding comes in. Your bond, lately it has grown much more intimate. When I saw the way that Draco reacted to you being in danger last night, the way that he had little to no control over himself as your bond called to him; and then the way you so naturally settled with him after you arrived last night and he seemed to sense your presence, despite the fact that he was under the influence of a sleeping draught. Well, I thought that meant you had consummated your relationship. It was the only explanation I could think of that accounted for you being so suddenly and inextricably linked."
Draco just stared at her, breathing hard. That wasn't nearly good enough. "And you didn't think that we should be allowed to try and provide you with another explanation? You just thought the worst of us? There's more than one kind of intimacy, the two of you taught me that. And what of this bond, when were you going to tell us about it?"
She studied her hands. And then opened and closed her mouth several times before she started to speak. "I do not have an excuse, you're right, of course. And I will admit, I had no plans to tell you about it, it didn't seem relevant."
"Except that you used it to judge our actions," he snapped. "I think you just didn't want to admit that you were keeping something like this from us. I think this is the very definition of relevant!"
"Draco-" his father began.
"He's right, Lucius," she said quietly, ducking her head.
"I need to get out of here and think about this." He turned to Hermione. "Can we please go stay at your house until we go back to school?"
Looking shocked and uncomfortable, she just shrugged. And though he almost didn't, he turned to his parents for permission.
His father nodded curtly. "We'll send an elf with your things."
"We love you both," his mother called out just before they popped away.
He believed her but he didn't think he'd ever trust that the same way again.
Author's Note: Don't kill me. They'll get through this. And no, Narcissa hasn't lost her mind, the events of the Quidditch World Cup just had a major impact on her. Seeing the danger they're in first hand along with realizing that Draco and Hermione really are growing up and she didn't exercise her usual good judgement responding to these things. This chapter was hard for me to write, just ask Weestarmeggie. A huge, huge thanks to her not only for beta-reading but for listening to me complain about this for weeks.
I wanted to address something and if this is blatantly obvious, ignore me: I can't respond to guest reviews. If you have a question you want answered either log in to leave your review, or if you're not comfortable doing that in public my PMs are open. If you are just throwing your thoughts out there then by all means continue, but I try and answer when somebody asks me a direct question and I didn't want you guests to just think you were being ignored. I'm sorry, I'm not willing to clog up my author's notes or risk spoiling other readers by answering questions here.
One last thing, because this has been brought up so often lately by readers. The idea that Snape is Draco's godfather is actually fanon and not canon. I know it's a popular theory and I've seen it incorporated into stories really well many times. But it's only a theory, and not one that I subscribe to. In my opinion if he was Draco's godfather that's the very first thing Narcissa would have reminded him of when she went for help at the beginning of HBP, but she just calls him Lucius' friend and Draco's favorite teacher. You are free to disagree, of course, this is just all to say that AUM Snape will not be fulfilling that role. Wow, that got really long winded. Thanks for humoring me and thank you all for reading!