It was Tuesday evening, and Draco was sitting in his room, studying for his Potions NEWT when a light tapping sound was heard. Standing up eagerly, he opened his French doors and noticed a Great Horned Owl in deep browns and black staring at him. He took the missive from the owls talon before stating softly, "There's fresh water and food in the owlry. Feel free to rest there before you return home."

The owl hooted and flew off, while Draco watched it heading for the family aviary before he went back to his desk and fiddled with the rolled parchment nervously.

It was a gamble he'd taken, sending off the note to Rolf Scamander, grandson of Newt Scamander famous magizoologist, and he hadn't expected a reply so soon!

Breaking the seal, he carefully unrolled the parchment and read through the missive, barely able to contain his excitement.

Draco,

Been a while. Frankly, I was surprised to hear from you. I'll admit, I haven't kept up on the goings on back in Britain for the last couple years, nasty business it was. I was however, surprised to hear about your betrothal to Lady Alphonse. My grandad knew Hermione's grandfather fairly well back in the day, and it came as quite a shock when we heard the news.

But that's not why you contacted me. I spoke with my grandad and he said that as far as he knows, the species of Salamander you're looking for is located in Central America, Nicaragua. It's the rarest of all magical salamander species and lives near the Mombacho volcano. It's named for its habitat, of course. Their habitat elevation of around 1300 meters would mean that it's blood would probably have the optimal oxygen ratio you're looking for. As luck would have it, I'll be in the region in two weeks time. I can see about getting some specimens transported to you, and from there you'd have to see about replicating their habitat somehow for reproduction. I'll get you as much information as I can.

Whatever it is you're working on, it sounds interesting.

Talk to you soon!

Rolf

He set the parchment down and rubbed both hands down his face, before opening the desk drawer to his left and pulling out a worn journal with an engraved crest it.

It was from the House of Prince and had belonged to his Godfather.

Opening the book, it fell to the spot he'd marked when last reading it and his eyes flitted over Severus looping scrawl and felt his stomach clenching with the same feelings of regret and remorse it always did when he thought back on his Godfather and what had transpired before his death.

He'd been angry…so angry…after his Father had been carted off to Azkaban. He'd resented Severus because he'd been favored of the Dark Lord and had taken his Father's seat at the left hand of their Lord.

As a sixteen-year-old boy, learning Occlumency and just hoping to survive from one day to the next, he'd pushed Severus away, refusing his help with the task he'd been given. However, hindsight was a great teacher and had humbled him in such a way that not much had done previously. His Godfather had been a spy for the Order, had taken an Unbreakable Vow to protect him, and had lied to the Dark Lord for years…

And even with all that, he'd still perished in the end.

But the biggest shock had come when Gringotts had delivered a letter to him personally, with a key to Severus vault and the deed to his home in Spinner's End.

There had been no letter, no explanation, not even a by your leave…

But he should've known that wouldn't have been Severus way.

The Malfoy floo was linked to Severus home, always had been from the time he was a young boy and could sit at the bench in his Godfather's potions lab and watch him brew.

Now he had possession of all his Godfather's journals, the most important of which was sitting in his hands even now.

There were copious notations on how to improve the most basic of potions, theoretical ideas about increasing potency levels, making potions like Wiggenweld and blood replenishing potions more efficacious or prolonging the duration of Polyjuice for more than the standardized one hour of use. How to create a universal liquid antidote, which would be useful if a bezoar wasn't handy…which breeds of plants, animals and stones were the most useful…

However, it was a nearly forgotten memory that had poked at his subconscious that day in Master Flamel's shoppe—as he'd remembered that Severus had once shared with him that he'd done a part of his potions Mastery in the America's and what he'd learned there about the abundance of magical species and some of their properties.

Hence, the letter to Rolf Scamander.

And now he had a possible solution.

The only thing that picked at him was whether or not to share the information, which in typical fashion—he disregarded almost immediately—justifying it wouldn't be fair to get Hermione's hopes up if his research ended up being for naught.

Glancing down at the open page he read the excerpt from Severus own hand out loud…

The Mombacho Salamander appears to be snout-vent length and is approximately 46.0 – 57.5 mm in males and 51.5 – 66.0 mm in females. The females are slightly larger and more robust whereas the males are generally more slender. The head is fairly broad, with a snout that is truncated in dorsal view and rounded in its profile. Males have a more-developed labial protuberance and there is no mental gland clustering, however the unique gular fold is quite distinct and extends dorsolaterally to approximately the level of the eye. There is sometimes a short, indistinct, vertical groove present at the posterior end of the jaw. Vomerine teeth are present in a single long or irregular series extending slightly and teeth number between 4-5 in males and 1-4 in females. These are enlarged and pierce the lip in males. The anterior cross-section of the tail is nearly rectangular but the posterior third of the tail is oval with the tail being slightly constricted at the base. The tail length is 94.3 – 97.4% of the snout-vent length in males and 74.2 – 98.1% in females. Limbs are slender and moderately long; the adpressed limb interval is about 2.5 – 3 costal folds in males and 3 – 3.5 costal folds in females. There is extensive webbing on the feet and digits protrude from the webbing. In life, there is some color variation between individuals.

The color of most specimens is described as brown to dark brown, often streaked with a paler brown. Some female individuals have a suggestion of a longitudinal stripe shown by a paler mid-dorsal region. In most specimens, the pale brown dorsolateral stripe extends from behind the upper eyelid to the hind limb insertion. The stripe may be faint, irregular, or incomplete. The dorsal tail color is pale to dark brown and as with the body, some individuals have a tail with a paler mid-dorsal region that suggests a longitudinal stripe. The lateral tail color is brown to dark brown and often streaked with an even paler brown. The dorsal limb surface color in males is brown to dark brown and has no distinctive markings.

Habitat ranges around 1200 metres at the canopy, is an arboreal species not dependent on water, and breeds by direct development. At night, many salamanders can be observed climbing on vegetation 50-150 cm above the ground. Some had regenerated tails and some had almost no tail but it would appear as if the females were more prone to regenerative properties in particular during reproductive cycling. Species were found in bromeliads at daytime during the rainy season and were profligate at night on the vegetation and seem from observation to prefer this time of day. I found several clutches of eggs in August in leaf litter, but no females were found in close proximity. Two clutches contained 16–22 eggs and one clutch started to hatch a week after collection. The other, however, did not start to hatch until early December. Reproductive cycles are inconsistent, and require further observation but the species did seem to favor reproductive cycles during the wet season.

Preliminary testing shows that the Mombacho salamanders have a preponderance of what is known as erythropoietin which increases their oxygen carrying capacity. Theoretically, such an evolutionary advantage would be useful in increasing the efficacy of many blood replenishing potions and everlasting elixirs. Initial scans showed that the levels of Erythropoietin remain in the blood for up to a week at specific concentration levels noted in the cart below, so hypothetically, it may be possible to remove them from their habitat for short durations of time for testing. Due to threatened natural habitat, species transplantation would need to be weighed to determine if breeding would be possible outside the region. Initial magical scans show promise, however attempted reproductive trials were mostly unsuccessful. Theoretically, it should be possible to recreate a magical enclosure to the aforementioned specifications, accounting for temperature, pressure and degree of climate. The species seems to be more sensitive to magic during the early daylight hours, and would recommend removal during this time if further testing is to be attempted, refraining from using direct magical means during this critical time.

Setting the book down, Draco had to wonder just how to go about creating some kind of magical enclosure that would mimic the salamanders natural habitat, but take into consideration how to balance the magical discharge of such a space.

Would it even be possible?

He could potentially use warding runes, which theoretically could be utilized to amplify different levels of magic, and non magic spaces. It would mean moving the salamanders from one habitat to the next daily at the most and weekly at the bare minimum. Rolf would have to magically transport them, which might be problematic, at least initially…so that would mean he'd have to find some way to go to Nicaragua himself.

The conditions of his probation being what they were, he could only leave Britain under specific circumstances, and if he tried to leave it would bring up too many questions as to the why.

Which meant his options were limited.

Sighing, he put the journal back into his drawer and sat back in his chair, frowning at the ceiling in thought.

Perhaps he'd wait to see what Rolf could do for him, and if all else failed—he'd cross that bridge when it arrived.

No sense in borrowing trouble at this juncture.

As he was about to go back to his studying, his floo sounded. Glancing over, his eyes widened when he saw who's face was in the flames.

Walking over, he knelt down and stared into the lovely face of Astoria.

"Hi, Draco."

"Hey, Tori."

Her gaze flickered for a moment, and he heard her soft sigh before she said stiltedly, "I spoke with Daphne yesterday."

"Oh?"

Eyes rolling, Draco smirked at how irritated Astoria looked in that moment.

"Don't 'oh' me, Draco Malfoy! I overheard her talking with our Mother about the conversation you two had recently."

He paused for a moment, before he inquired evenly, "And just what did you overhear?"

"Draco…"

He groaned, and then ran his hands over his face again, this time in irritation.

"Look, Tori—if anyone has a right to be upset, it's me. Why didn't you tell me?"

Her lips flattened, and Draco could see that Tori was trying her level best to keep her emotions under control.

"Because I wasn't sure there was anything to tell."

He shook his head, feeling his own exasperation for the situation bubbling up underneath the surface. While a part of him might want to believe what Tori was saying, there was the other more skeptical side of his personality that knew and understood self-preservation when he saw it. Perhaps he should be angry or upset, but deep down on some level, there was a part of him that just felt horrible about the entire situation. Regardless of circumstances being what they were currently, he cared for Astoria, and had things gone differently there was no doubt in his mind they'd have married at some point.

That wasn't going to happen now, of course—but it wasn't like him to stop caring for someone once he'd actually made the effort.

He didn't make those kinds of emotional overtures for just anyone.

"Tori, I'm unsure what to say at this juncture. There's a part of me that was quite upset upon learning about your family curse. I would've preferred hearing it from you."

She was quiet for several minutes, her gaze now looking over his shoulder and not at him directly before she responded with, "I'm sorry, Draco. I didn't mention it because a part of me felt that it wasn't relevant, as there is still a chance I might not become afflicted."

"Do you honestly believe that?"

"I want to believe it, does that count?"

He sighed, and then his lips lifted slightly as he replied, "Little Tori, you never were one to wallow in denial, even when you should have."

"I know."

"So why are you?"

"Because I didn't want it to change the way you saw me?"

He shook his head ruefully, "Do you have so little faith in me?"

"Draco…"

"No, really? Have I ever given you any indication in all the years you've known me that I don't protect those I care about?" He heard her light sob, and then saw her discretely wiping at her left eye, and he felt his expression softening. "Please don't cry, Tori. Trust me when I tell you I'm trying to fix this."

"How?" She inquired emotively, "Does this have to do with Hermione Alphonse's research?"

"In a way."

"Draco?" She admonished firmly, "Does she know you talked with my sister? That you're speaking with me about this?"

He paused for a second before stating half-heartedly, "She knows I want to help you."

Tori lifted a disbelieving eyebrow, but didn't reply and Draco could tell he was trying her patience.

They stared at each other for a few moments, and then she placed her hand up in the flames, as if she wanted to reach out and touch him, and he felt his gut clenching at how vulnerable she looked in that moment.

"I'm sorry about all of this," she offered softly, "you have to know I never wanted to keep this from you."

"I know." He replied kindly, "For what it's worth, Tori—it wouldn't have mattered to me. I would've been with you regardless."

"Somehow I know you would have, Draco. Hermione Alphonse is a lucky witch, whether she realizes it or not. Just do me a favor?"

"And that is?"

"Be honest with her," Tori pleaded, "don't do what we both know you're thinking of doing."

"Which is?"

"Being a Slytherin first and foremost," she chuckled fondly, "your penchant for manipulation and cunning while admirable, Draco—won't win you any points with a Gryffindor—and I don't want to be the catalyst for your relationship with Hermione Alphonse faltering before it ever gets the chance to flourish."

Draco glanced away, and felt his throat constricting slightly, but decided that in for a galleon…

"Can I share something with you?"

"Of course you can, you can tell me anything…you know that."

He fidgeted slightly, then made himself a bit more comfortable before sharing, "I need to ask a question first, if that's alright."

"Okay?"

"Did you ever hear any rumors about me at Hogwarts?"

"Specific rumors, or just you in general being a prat?"

"Ouch!"

"Just kidding."

"No you weren't."

"Guilty, but to answer your question, yes—I did hear about you and Adrian Pucey."

He chuckled and nodded, impressed with Tori's ability to suss through the subtext and get to the heart of the matter.

"And what did you think?"

"You mean, did I think it might effect our relationship?"

He nodded.

"To be honest, I wasn't sure what to think about it. Part of me wondered if it was just some kind of experimentation on your part. Everyone knew that Adrian was quite the player, but you never had that reputation, Draco. Once your Father went to Azkaban, I surmised that you'd be drafted into the Dark Lord's service at some point. I'd also assumed certain realities that might've been tolerated prior to that time, wouldn't be any longer. We both understand very well the pressures of being part of the Sacred 28, and what it means to continue the family line, but I also know you, Draco. Your word means quite a bit to you, and you don't take commitment lightly. I trusted in the fact that you would never go against our marriage bond, once we'd taken that step. That's not who you are, and even with all your Father's faults—Lucius Malfoy isn't the kind of wizard to cheat on his wife."

"No, he's not."

Tori cocked her head at him and then blinked twice before stating, "Is this just about Hermione Alphonse, or is there more to this?"

He couldn't help but smile genuinely at how bright Tori was. It was one of the many things he appreciated about her.

"It would seem, that my blood bond with Hermione notwithstanding, there may be a larger bond with Hermione, myself and Potter."

"How?"

"Are you familiar with the Ardante?"

Tori hissed out in shock, her eyes widening almost comically as she stared at him in utter wonder.

"Are you telling me that you, Hermione Alphonse and Harry Potter are destined for the triad bonding?"

"Yes," he admitted evenly, "that's what I'm telling you."

"That's…"

"Mental, I know."

"I was going to say unexpected, but I'm fairly certain mental works just fine, too."

He snorted out a guffaw in response.

"This complicates things for you," she offered warily, "your dynamic with Potter was…"

"Yeah, I know how bad it was, I have the scars to prove it."

"Draco—I'm not a fool—I know on some level that kind of passion for someone even if it falls more on the side of anger, resentment or jealousy likely stems from other more complicated feelings." She paused and then asked, "Are you attracted to Harry Potter?"

He scoffed, then sighed before answering honestly, "My feelings on the subject are complicated."

"I can only imagine, but you do know that whatever Potter's flaws are, he adores Hermione and would protect her with his life. If he finds out that you've been less than forthcoming with her about something like her research, he's going be quite vexed."

Draco swallowed again, but this time it was more due to how uncomfortable he felt—because he knew Tori was right.

"What do you suggest I do?"

"I do have an idea, and you might think I'm certifiable, but if there's one thing I do know, is that Gryffindors have a penchant for wanting to save the world and everyone in it. Potter most of all."

Draco felt his expression morph into a smug grin, as he came to the same conclusion Tori did and he knew exactly how he was going to handle this situation.