Chapter 47

Draco paced his suite after lunch, it was the second meal of the day he'd taken in his rooms. He'd been spending a lot of time in his rooms since he had returned from Hogwarts for the holidays in order to think, as well as to avoid his parents' questions as he did so. Hermione had gone away for a few days with her parents as the three of them hardly ever got to spend any time alone as a family anymore, and for once he was glad of her absence as he wouldn't have been able to avoid her questions.

There was a knock on the door and he figured his time for avoiding questions was over and that his parents were going to make him tell them something before Hermione returned that evening. But when he answered the door his mother was standing there looking strangely subdued.

"Mother, is something wrong?"

"I just wanted to let you know that Arthur Weasley didn't make it."

Draco's heart sunk. "I thought Professor Snape was brewing an antidote for the venom?"

"He was, but there just wasn't time, even with Richard's blood transfusion suggestion." She grimaced slightly, and Draco knew that she was trying to be open minded, but given what she'd always been told about blood, that particular muggle technique had irked her.

"Well that...sucks."

She shot him a small smile and didn't scold him for his language. "I agree."

He studied her, she looked far more upset than he would have expected at the news of the death of somebody who was little more than a stranger to her. She wasn't cold, but she was usually far more practical than that. "Mother, are you okay?"

It was as if the floodgates opened. "It's just, that poor woman!"

"Woman?" Draco frowned, utterly lost.

Narcissa took a breath, she was obviously trying to hold it together, but she quickly lost that particular battle. She sobbed and covered her mouth with her hand. "Molly Weasley! Oh, how I despised her!" She responded, her voice muffled by her fingers.

Draco just blinked at her.

She didn't seem to notice his confusion. "All those children, it was like they didn't even have to try! I was so unspeakably jealous sometimes I would leave a shop just to avoid seeing her with them. How could I have been so ungrateful, how could I possibly ask for more than I've been given?"

"Mother-"

She let out another shuddering sob and reached for him, he gently took her into his arms. "And I'm sure her children will be a comfort to her in the future. And I love you more than anything in the world, son, but I would never trade your father for six more of you."

Draco took a long breath in and out the way he'd been taught by their occlumency tutor, and then he pulled her into his suite, leading her to a sofa and sitting down beside her. Luckily for him, he was betrothed to a passionate and emotionally demonstrative woman, so this wasn't completely freaking him out. He just sat with her and let her cry.

Eventually she calmed and dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. "Well that's quite enough of that."

"It's okay Mother, we all have our moments."

"No," she contradicted, "I shouldn't have burdened you with that."

"It's not a burden, I'm not completely clueless. I knew that you wanted more children. It wasn't that I felt like I wasn't enough, or anything like that," he hastened to add. "I was just... aware." He was also aware that this was the reason he was the one comforting her right now instead of his father.

"I suppose children notice more than we give them credit for. You'll find that out for yourself one day," she patted his hand.

He chuckled. "Don't get your hopes up too high, Mother. That day is still many years off."

"I can wait," she answered quietly. "But Draco, I don't know what you've been thinking about these past days, I can guess, but I respect your right to keep your own counsel. I also suspect you've been waiting to discuss it with Hermione. If you're thinking — well, just protect yourself and Hermione at all costs, alright? Whatever you feel like you need to do, your father and I would understand."

The statement was ladened with meaning.

"Okay," he answered quietly. Damn this witch and her intuition.

"Promise me." She sat back and met his eyes. "I'm serious. You are no longer children, but we are still the parents, and it is not your responsibility to take care of us. At least not until we are much older and no longer capable of it ourselves."

"I promise." He said it automatically, because he was stunned. Could she actually be giving him permission to take Hermione and flee Britain as he'd been contemplating since he heard of Mr. Weasley's injury?

"Okay then," she looked away and dabbed her eyes again. He let her have her moment. "You should pop over to see Harry, Sirius seems to think he needs a distraction from this news from somebody who isn't essentially his parent."

"You forget that I lived with the pair of them for months," Draco rolled his eyes. "Sirius is not Potter's parent."

She let out a delicate little snort.

"And anyway, I don't really think Potter and I have that kind of relationship."

His mother cocked one eyebrow. "Don't you? You aren't fooling me, it's been a long time since you were merely tolerating that young man for Hermione's sake. Go and see your friend, Draco." It was not a suggestion.

He sighed and took in the way she seemed to be making herself more comfortable rather than getting ready to leave. "You're going to stay here, in my rooms?"

The other eyebrow crept up her forehead. "Do you have something to hide?"

"No," he sighed. "I'll see you later Mother." But before he could exit the room he had a wicked thought which he suspected would amuse him and cheer her up. He spun on his heel to face her again. "Except don't look in the top drawer of my bedside table, that would just embarrass us both."

She stared at him, and then her mouth dropped open. He started to laugh and soon she too was shaking with mirth. "Thank you for that, Draco."

He nodded. "I'll let you know if I plan on staying out for dinner."

As he made his way to the floo room he contemplated what he knew about the Weasley family. Before Hogwarts he had been aware that there had been animosity between Malfoys and Weasleys for many years, and given his father's comments that he'd heard over the years, he assumed that it was due to their financial circumstances and, of course, their politics. But now he wondered if his father hadn't mostly been trying to make his mother feel better in his own strange way by reminding her of the things they did have that the Weasleys didn't. Not that he didn't think his father's derision was genuine, but looking back on it, his expression of it had been a little over the top.

He reached the floo room and placed a call to Potter House. Sirius looked almost comically relieved to see him. Draco didn't even take offense to his statement of: "Good, if Kitten's not around, you'll do."

He rolled his eyes but stepped through when Sirius invited him and shook the other man's hand. "I'm sorry to hear about Mr. Weasley."

"I'm sorry too, he was a good man."

"It's just," Draco shook his head, "it seems so senseless. There was no reason for this to happen."

"I agree," Sirius sighed, "almost makes you wonder what we're even doing here. I have half a mind to grab my kid and run."

Draco was trying to decide how to respond to this, given his own recent thoughts, when Harry walked into the room. He stopped in his tracks. "Is this about Black family business? I can leave," he hooked a thumb over his shoulder indicating the direction from which he'd come.

Draco and Hermione still hadn't come to a firm decision on whether or not Draco would be taking over from Sirius as Head of House Black when he came of age, and it was a moot point until Voldemort was defeated anyway. But Sirius had pointed out that since he didn't have any biological children that Draco was the heir to the title anyway . If something were to happen to him the title would fall to Draco; it just made sense for Sirius to begin to educate Draco on House matters.

"No need," answered Draco, "I just came over to express my condolences to you about Mr. Weasley."

Draco eyed Harry as he actually slumped at the comment and Draco suppressed an annoyed sigh; it was already painfully obvious that he was doing his martyr complex thing and had already found a way to blame himself for the Weasley patriarch's death.

Harry shrugged. "Thanks but it's not like I knew him that well," his face was carefully blank, too blank to be believable.

"Still," said Draco, "he was your friends' father. It would be normal to be upset." He almost cringed at his own awkward words. Where was Hermione when you needed her?

Harry shrugged again and Draco looked at Sirius out of the corner of his eyes. The older wizard just raised his eyebrows slightly in response. Apparently, he too was at a loss.

Draco sighed and decided to just move on. "Actually I'd like to speak to you both before Hermione gets back."

"Keeping secrets from your girlfriend?" Harry teased, but it was clear that his heart wasn't in it.

"Yes, but just because you know how she is. I'd like to get this worked out if I can before I worry her too much. Sometimes I feel like her heart's a little too big for her own good and she already has so much on her plate, I don't want to add to that if I can help it."

It was a testament to both the wizards in question that, upon hearing that, they both grew very serious. They sat and Draco related his worries about Theo, and about his Slytherins, whilst Harry grew visibly more and more uncomfortable as Draco explained how he didn't think it was fair how isolated Slytherin House was and that they had no opportunity to learn to defend themselves.

"I'm just saying I don't think we should be looking for a way to train the enemy."

"Potter," Draco snapped, "I understand you haven't had good experience with several members of my House, but do you see that it's exactly that kind of attitude that turns them into the enemy? Three quarters of the school treats us like pariahs, like we're evil the moment we're sorted. Think about that Potter, these are kids we're talking about. Kids who are away from home for the first time, and if you keep telling somebody they're dark eventually they might just go dark. The Dark Lord takes advantage of that, he makes people feel like they're part of an exclusive club instead of an outsider and that's why so many Slytherins become Death Eaters, not because there is anything inherently evil about being cunning and ambitious. And it's not like it's only Slytherins who believe in blood purity." He exhaled loudly, finishing his rant. This was an issue he felt deeply about.

Harry stared at him. "I've never thought about it like that before."

"Hardly anybody does. My point is that it's not fair that my housemates, most of whom really are just scared kids, aren't being taught even basic defense skills, especially because a lot of their families are involved with the Dark Lord and they are probably more likely than your average student to get caught in a dangerous situation. I mean look at me, my Father's one of his most favored followers and yet he still has me doing a task for him, neither my father nor I got a choice in that matter. Imagine a follower who's out of favor or a family that resists recruitment?"

Harry took off his glasses and rubbed vigorously at his face. "Okay, okay, I get it, but I still don't know what we're supposed to do about it. I don't feel comfortable opening up the M.A. to them and I don't think that most of your House would take instruction from me anyway."

"No, I agree, and I wasn't suggesting that. Thoughts, Sirius?"

The older man shook his head. "I'll admit I'm having some trouble getting my head around the issue. There was a time I despised Slytherin House. But I know what it's like to come from a traditional, pureblood household and the expectations that come with it. Their ideals obviously aren't something I agree with, but being born into a certain family shouldn't be a death sentence in and of itself."

"They could defect," Harry suggested, "you did." He then turned to Draco. "Your friend Theo could."

"Where would they go?" Draco countered. "I could help find Theo some place to stay, but how would I even approach him about it? For all I know he's a spy for the Dark Lord making sure I'm toeing the line. My instincts tell me he's not, but I don't see how that's a risk I can take."

"I had your grandparents to go to, Harry," Sirius added. "Most kids don't have an option like that. And it was relatively easy for me to turn my back on my family, my home life wasn't good, but most people don't want to abandon their family."

"I would have followed my Father right into being a Death Eater. I might even have thought it an honor. Even if I managed to change my views on blood purity on my own, I would have chosen my parents' side, I'm almost certain of it," Draco admitted quietly. It was another issue he'd been wrestling over in the past few days, yet another reason he felt that he had to keep Hermione safe at all costs, because it wasn't just that she held his heart, but he owed her everything.

There was a heavy silence.

"No ideas then?"

Unfortunately, both Sirius and Harry seemed stumped, though they also seemed to be giving serious consideration to the problem. He wasn't altogether surprised, they were both quintessential Gryffindors.

"It's just we're all already walking a fine line here, kid," said Sirius.

Draco nodded. That was why he hadn't raised these issues with his parents.

"And I understand your instinct to protect your witch and want to make her happy, but I think you should pick Hermione's brain about this."

Draco couldn't help but smirk and then attempt to inject a little levity into the conversation. "Like you know anything about keeping a witch happy."

Sirius narrowed his eyes and then smirked in return. "I've forgotten more than you've ever learned about keeping a witch happy...and satisfied."

Draco didn't miss a beat. "For more than one night?"

For a moment Sirius seemed to war with himself, then he laughed. "Touche."

"Okay then," Draco eventually said, accepting they weren't going to solve this problem with one conversation, and looking at Harry, "want to go for a fly?"

Harry cracked a small smile. "Bored without your girlfriend?"

"Maybe. And you're certainly no replacement for her, but she's no competition chasing a snitch. So come on, before she gets home and I have much better things to do." He punched Harry in the arm as he passed, walking towards the back garden.

"Ew," he heard the other boy say from behind him while Sirius laughed heartily.

They'd been in the air for a couple of hours, he was leading Harry in the snitch count which he couldn't even enjoy because Potter's heart so obviously wasn't in it, when he heard a cry from below of: "Hi boys!"

He looked down to see Hermione peering up at them, one hand shielding her eyes, the other one on her hip. He didn't even glance at Harry before descending and landing next to her. She smiled at him but went to Harry first, pulling him into a long embrace, they spoke quietly for several minutes before she turned to Draco.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"I missed you."

"I missed you too," she went up on her toes to give him a hard kiss on the mouth.

"I guess you heard."

"Yeah," she whispered. "I went to the Manor, Narcissa told me and she also mentioned where you were."

"Are you alright?"

"I suppose," she took the hand that wasn't holding his broom and twisted their fingers together. "I didn't really know him, but it's terribly sad isn't it? Poor Ronald and Ginny and the twins, I can't imagine losing my dad."

"Yeah," he agreed quietly, because that was something he'd found himself considering often lately, which was just one more reason he'd been agonizing over his thoughts for days. However, Lucius had made it clear on more than one occasion that Draco's primary duty was to keep himself and Hermione safe, and he felt like his mother had given him tacit permission for his plan earlier. It was officially time to tell Hermione, it would take her less than five minutes to ferret out that something was on his mind. "Um, there's something I want to talk to you about."

"There's something I want to talk to you about too."

"Okay," he responded, surprised, and they just stood there staring at each other.

"That seems like my cue to exit," Potter nearly shouted in order to get their attention.

Hermione's eyes went wide but she gripped his arm, released it, and then ran to her best friend. She embraced him. "Are you okay, truly?"

"I'm fine."

"Well I'm not," she huffed, "so it's okay if you aren't either."

"I'm fine," he insisted.

Draco resisted the urge to roll his eyes. There was no use fighting against this witch, Potter should really know better by now. Eventually she would just force him to talk about his feelings.

She sighed. "Floo me when you know about the funeral arrangements, please. I'm not sure the Weasleys would contact me, if they even know how, and I'd like to pay my respects if you think I'd be welcome." Hermione reached up and cupped his cheek. "This wasn't your fault and I'm going to keep saying it until you believe it." And something flashed between them, something that would have left Draco viciously jealous if he wasn't so certain of his relationship with Hermione.

And then, before Draco could really process what was happening, she'd released her friends and snatched up Draco's hand and used her portkey to transport them to her house.

"Well thanks for the warning, Mia. I guess you wanted to have this conversation at your house," he murmured sarcastically.

"Sorry," she responded, not sounding sorry at all, pulling him along with their joined hands.

Draco looked around as they made their way through the house, it was dark, with only a few lamps on, and silent. "Where are your parents?"

"They had their dental association Christmas thing tonight, it's why we came home today."

Draco nodded, now vaguely remembering her mentioning such a thing. And that was when he really processed that she was leading them to her bedroom. He caught her around the waist and buried his face in the crook of her neck. He bit gently at her skin and she gasped, just as he knew she would. "So you basically kidnapped me here, to your empty house, to talk," he asked with heavy emphasis on the last word, forgetting all of his own resolutions to talk to her.

"Yes," she answered, but her voice was breathy and far from believable.

He spun her around and pressed her against the wall inside of her room. She arched against him and tilted her neck to allow his attentions. He kissed his way up the column of her throat until he met her lips, unleashing every bit of yearning he'd been feeling for her lately.

"I- oh," she sighed, working her hands beneath the hem of his shirt and up his chest, he shuddered at her delicate touch. "I really did mean to talk."

"I missed you," he ignored her assertion.

"Me too, but Draco, it's only been three days, we should be able to control ourselves," he sucked her bottom lip into his mouth and she moaned.

He abruptly stopped kissing her and placed his forehead against hers. "It's been three days since I laid eyes on you. It's been weeks since I had more than a minute or two alone with you. I just wish I could be with you openly, like a normal couple. Snog you in the library, hold your hand between classes, see you wearing my Quidditch jersey to support me at matches."

She sighed. "I know, love, and I've missed you too. And what you're describing, I want that more than anything. That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

That certainly got his attention. "What?"

She took his hand again and led them to the bed, kicking her shoes off as she moved. He followed her lead. She stretched out on the bed and extended an arm in his direction, but Draco knew there was nothing sexual in her invitation. He drew the throw she kept at the end of her bed, crocheted by her beloved Meme, up and over them as he settled himself next to her, face to face and took her hands in his. She smiled at him and wedged one of her legs between his.

"I want Hermione Granger to leave Hogwarts after she takes her O.W.L.s"

Well, he hadn't seen that one coming.

Author's Note: Hi guys! I'm sorry it's been so long, I had some plotting issues (I stupidly decided to change a major plot point I've been planning for years, and then once I had written it, hated it, so I changed it back. But it was hell on my creative process.) Now I believe I have it all worked out and so hopefully things will come more quickly. I do plan to devote the entire month of April to this story as part of Camp NaNo, just FYI. Also, I'm way behind answering PMs, as I wasn't getting email notifications about them for awhile, I'm sorry about that. Thank you guys for your patience. Thanks to Weestarmeggie, alpha/beta extraordinaire. Stay safe and stay home, please y'all, it's so important! Thanks for reading.