Author's Notes:

*TRIGGER WARNING!* THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS EXPLICIT CONTENT DEPICTING PHYSICAL ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES.

HI everyone! Sorry for the late posting. I was super busy this weekend with family in town for my cousin's bridal shower plus wedding stuff of my own. We finished the invitations (Which look absolutely amazing!) and made some wands for the wedding. They turned out so cool! I measured some dowel rods of different thicknesses and then my dad cut them for me and did some nifty sanding so they all look unique and different. Then my sister-in-law/bridesmaid and I stained them in different shades of brown, red, black, and purples. They look bomb.

Beer of the week: I'm sorry to say that this week I didn't have any beer while writing this chapter. However, I will make a beer suggestion for anyone who cares. I highly suggest that my PA readers give Evergrain's Fluffhead a try if they can get their hands on it! It's a delicious hefeweizen-it has a lovely balance of clove and banana flavor along with this super silky, creamy mouth-feel. It goes down way too easily. When I can find it canned it's likely I'll down the six-pack in one sitting.

Comments: Midnitewanderer: I'm really glad you loved the Hinny-I wasn't sure about how I wanted to put that in there so I really appreciate the feedback. So, I remember the scene you're talking about with the muffin where Hermione made it appear *seemingly* out of thin air. The only Marauder around was Remus who was way too focused on Jean to notice Hermione's sly use of magical abilities. I think what you're remembering about Harry is him expressing a hope that Hermione was magical-a belief to which I believe the Marauder's put to rest quickly. My hope is to continue to include Hermione's family in this story because I agree they really get cast aside. HA! I love your pun-You never know what may or may not happen in the offices at Hogwarts Castle. ;) As for Lucy, I don't want to give anything in this chapter away so I'll just say that I think you'll have some questions answered here. Thank you for your amazing compliments and encouragement! I'm so glad you continued to read; I look forward to your comments every week!

ProfessorMarauder: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! I was super excited to finally have a natural moment to insert some Hinny. Smallwjl: Oh trust me, I have some ideas on the stone front! I'm super excited for that. Also, it is definitely not my intention to cure Remus. However, I do believe that he would have been hard core researching for a cure-that doesn't mean he's going to find one, though. I agree that his disease is a pivotal character point for Remus and I would never take that away from him. Guest: I mean, I get what you're saying. Looking back I agree that that wouldn't make a lot of sense. I'm sorry that's the reason you're deciding to not continue to read my story. Thank you for giving it a shot though! Potter671: I'm glad you've enjoyed my story so far and I'm sorry that you got to be spoiled with the first 35 chapters and now have to wait for updates-that's the worst! But also exciting when the chapter posts. Thank you for the awesome review!

Thank you everyone for your reviews! Please enjoy this next chapter of Ignoring Destiny!

Chapter Thirty-Six: Pure Blood Tradition

Harry and Ron quickly made their way down the staircase from their dormitory to find a new notice pinned up in the common room. Both boys had a surge of excitement followed by a groan as the read. Flying lessons would be starting on today—and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together.

"Great," said Harry, "I just wanted to have to sit through another class with Zabini. Have you heard the comments he's made about us?"

Ron nodded his head a frowned, "Yeah. They aren't as bad as what he's been saying about Hermione. I swear I almost had to deck him yesterday after Potions."

Harry's eyes darkened, "What did he say about Hermione?"

Ron shook his head, "Don't worry about it. Zabini probably isn't that great on a broom anyway so at least you can show him up at classes."

Harry grinned and ran his fingers through his hair, making it look more windswept than it previously had, "Yeah, good point. He won't have much to talk about if I out race him."

Ron and Harry waited impatiently for Hermione to descend the staircase. After about five minutes they saw her nearly bouncing down the stairs in excitement for today's classes.

"Morning!"

"Hey, check out the notice board," Ron said as he nodded his head towards the board.

Hermione frowned before making her way over. Her face grew greener as she read the notice, "Oh my. I didn't—I didn't anticipate having a class about flying. I mean, I know wizards use that as a mode of transportation but I didn't think it would be required for anyone who wasn't interested in the house teams."

"Course it is!" Ron supplied, "Can't have rouge wizards who can't even manage a broom, can we? Anyway, we've got the class with the Slytherins, did you see?"

"Yes. And you'll watch your mouth in front of them. I now they're stupid, but I don't like the looks of that Crabbe and Goyle. And that Zabini is smart—I don't know."

The three of them made their way down to breakfast as they discussed the implications of the infamous trio of Crabbe, Goyle, and Zabini. They quickly took a seat at the Gryffindor table next to Neville and started eating their breakfast. It wasn't long before they were joined by Draco part way through breakfast.

"Morning," Hermione said brightly, "Did you see the notice board this morning?"

Draco nodded, "Yeah. Hey, I'm going to sit with the Ravenclaws this morning. It's—I'll explain why during class later, ok?"

They noticed Draco glancing around the room, as if searching for someone, and they nodded, perplexed by this sudden change in routine. Draco nodded back solemnly before making his way to the Ravenclaw table where he proceeded to eat a slice of toast for breakfast while he glanced around, waiting for the mail.

"What was that about?" Ron asked, "He acted like someone was going to jump out and kill him."

"His father has been on his case ever since he was sorted into Ravenclaw," Hermione supplied, "I'm sure that it's got him a bit jumpy. But still—I wonder if something else has happened."

Harry looked over at Draco, concern for his friend filling him, just as the morning post arrived and interrupted him.

A large barn owl landed in front of Neville with a small package from his grandmother. He eagerly opened it and then showed the other three the small glass ball, about the size of a marble, that the box contained.

"Oh wow!" Hermione exclaimed, "Neville, is it real?"

He nodded, "Yeah. It's a Rememberall! Gran knows I forget everything—this tells you if you've forgotten something or if there's something you were supposed to do and haven't. You're supposed to hold it tight like this and—oh," they watched as the smoke in the ball turned red, "It seems I've forgotten something…"

Harry looked at Neville who looked completely ordinary to him. Perhaps it was some homework? He shifted in his seat as his leg started to fall asleep and pulled his robes from under him so they weren't as tight—"Neville! You've forgotten your school robes!"

Neville's eyes widened as he looked down at himself in shock and realized that he had indeed forgotten to put his robes on that morning, "Oh no. Oh no! I'm going to be late to class. I'd better hurry before I get docked points. Thanks Harry!"

Neville jumped up, intending to run from the great hall when a hand came out and snatched the Rememberall from his hand.

Ron and Harry jumped to their feet, half hoping for a reason to beat Zabini to a pulp, but McGonagall was there in a flash.

"What's going on here?"

"Zabini's got my Rememberall, Professor."

Zabini quickly dropped the Rememberall back on the table, "I was just looking, Professor," he smiled brilliantly before gliding away, Crabbe and Goyle behind him.

McGonagall frowned at the exchange and looked back at the four Gryffindors, "You four, I expect there to be no fighting during breakfast. Do I make myself clear?"

Harry nodded, "Yes Nan—Professor."

McGonagall nodded and quickly strode away as Neville also rushed away to get the rest of his uniform for classes.

~ID~

An Eagle owl landed in front of Draco with a small package of what looked like cookies from his mother. Draco smiled sadly, he knew that his father was only allowing his mother to send these packages out of appearances yet he still loved to receive them because he knew his mother sent them with love. He quickly dug to the bottom of the package where he knew the hidden note would be.

My son,

Keep your head up and your toes in line—I am working on calming your father down.

All my love,

Mum

Yeah, he thought, like that was going to happen. He sighed and pocketed the note before eating a biscuit. She had made his favorite, orange and candied ginger snaps. He smiled as he ate the cookie in silence and looked back up at the owls flying overhead. He had hoped to get a response today—he couldn't stay away from his friends forever. Draco shuddered at the idea of what would happen to him without his friends' influences.

~ID~

Sirius stepped out of the fireplace in Remus' office early that morning in the hopes of catching the elusive professor before his classes began for the day. What he wasn't prepared for was the sight that greeted him when he looked around the office.

He grinned maliciously at the sight before him, savoring the blackmail inducing compromising situation that was Remus and Tonks asleep on the couch in Remus' office. Remus had slid down and was partially reclined against the arm of the couch with his legs spread on the floor with Tonks' natural, mousy brown hair spread across his chest and lap as she, too had slid down in her sleep. Despite the awkwardness of their pose, the two looked extremely comfortable and relaxed in their sleep. Sirius almost hated having to wake them up.

Almost.

"Oy! Lupin! That's my cousin you're sleeping with there! What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Sirius yelled at the couple as he, somehow, managed to mask his amusement and feign anger and shock.

The two jumped out of sleep, their eyes opening groggily. It took several breaths before either of them realized what was happening.

It was Remus who realized first. He looked down at Tonks, who still had her head resting on his chest, his heart beating quickly in his chest as he felt her warm face pressed against him. He instinctively put his arm around her in a protective stance and squeezed her arm as he looked back up at Sirius, his golden eyes hardening as he realized what was going on.

When Tonks felt Remus' arm slide around her protectively, she looked up at him, confused, before looking over at Sirius, who was standing before them angrily. As she shifted to sit up more comfortably, she was disappointed to feel Remus quickly pull his arm away from her and his body stiffen as she shifted.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Remus asked, his eyes dark.

"More like 'What's your problem?'" Tonks mumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest and changed her hair to purple.

Remus wheeled towards Tonks, his eyes ablaze, "Would you like to share that with the rest of the class?"

Tonks averted her eyes and mumbled, "No, sir."

Sirius smirked, "I honestly can't believe you two—sleeping together in Remus' office," he tisked, "Really now, is that a good example to be setting for your students? What if Harry had walked in?"

Remus rolled his eyes and stood up, "Honestly, Sirius, do you really think we were doing anything? We worked late and we both fell asleep. It wasn't—it isn't like that."

"Like what?" Tonks snapped, her eyes flashing, "Because if you're indicating that—"

"I'm not indicating anything!" Remus snapped, "And you! What gives you the right to just come into my office, without notice, and yell at me for sleeping? What do you want?"

"Moony, chill. I was just trying to get under your fur," Sirius winked with a grin, "I'm here to see Draco. He wrote me and I was hoping to talk to him before his dad does."

"Well, I hate to break it to you but you can't just show up at Hogwarts and demand to see a kid that doesn't belong to you."

Sirius shrugged and held out a letter to Remus, "Dumbledore said I was welcome to come talk to him. Apparently he's worried about how Malfoy is going to react to Draco not wanting to abandon his friends."

"What do you mean abandon his friends? Why would he stop being friends with Ron, Harry, and Hermione?"

"Apparently his dad owled him and told him that if he didn't stop being friends with Harry, Ron, and Hermione there would be 'dire consequences'."

"Do you mean Lucy Malfoy? That guy is such an ass. He walks around the Ministry like he owns the place—it's ridiculous," Tonks supplied.

"Lucy?" Remus asked as Sirius burst out laughing.

Tonks nodded, "Lucius. Some of us who can't stand him call him Lucy. I mean, he's a cry baby so it works out, right?"

Sirius slapped a hand on Tonks' shoulder and laughed, "Girl, we really are related! Lucy Malfoy. Ha! Anyway, I came to talk to Draco about the potential issues with his dad's letter. Do you know what class he would be in?"

Remus sighed, "Probably Transfiguration. I know lunch is around 12; I can go down and grab him and bring him up. You two can have lunch in my office. Why don't you come back then?"

Sirius wiggled his eyebrows at Remus and Tonks, "I see what's going on here. You two want to be alone, don't you?"

Tonks rolled her eyes and stood up, brushing her hair with her fingers as she pushed past Sirius, "Please. As if I would give Lupin the time of day."

"Right," Remus snorted, "It's you who won't give me the time of day."

"Regardless, let's just get back to work on this translation, alright? I have to have it done in six days, you know."

"I'll leave you two love birds to your work," Sirius said as he made finger gun motions at Tonks and Remus before making a graceful exit via the floo network.

"What was his deal?" Remus asked as he stared at the now empty fireplace.

Tonks sighed as she picked up the book that lay open on the desk. She knew exactly what Sirius was up to—he wasn't exactly hiding his motifs here. As she looked back at Remus, who's eyes were now glued on the document they were working on, the liquid gold intense with concentration, she couldn't help but wonder whether he knew too, and was playing dumb, or if he was really too thick to figure out what was going on.

~ID~

Draco kept his head down as he quickly made his way into the great hall for lunch. He had been doing his best to avoid his friends today but it had already been proving difficult to keep that up.

He hadn't had a chance to tell them why he was avoiding them during transfiguration. McGonagall had ended up spending the entire lesson lecturing them on changing matchsticks into needles—Draco had thought they might begin working on the incantation which would have given him the opportunity to whisper to Harry, Ron, or Hermione what was up.

As he walked into the great hall he averted his eyes away from the Gryffindor table where his friends were already seated. He could see them from the corner of his eye trying to waive him over but he simply ignored them. He knew that several of the Slytherins were watching his every move during break times and he didn't want to risk anything happening to his friends because he gave in to his desires.

He had just begun wondering whether he would get a return owl during lunch when Remus approached him. He looked up carefully, worried about attracting the attention of the Slytherins two tables over.

"Mr. Malfoy. Professor McGonagall asked me to fetch you for your detention. You will be assisting me in my office organizing my translations. Please come with me for the duration of your lunch period."

"But—"

"No buts, Mr. Malfoy. When you fail to turn in your assignments you receive detentions, that's just how it works at Hogwarts," Remus winked.

Draco, finally catching on, nodded, "Right. I forgot about that. Should I bring some lunch with me?"

"No need, I had the elves send up some sandwiches."

Grabbing his bag, Draco scurried off after Remus, doing is best to look straight ahead and not give any indication that he had looked at the Gryffindors who were now curiously and anxiously watching him leave the hall.

The pair made their way to Remus' office quickly—they entered the room and Remus quickly shut and silenced the door before turning to Draco.

"I'm sure you're probably confused as to why I lied about a detention to bring you to my office, right?"

"A little bit," Draco admitted.

"Right. Sirius got your letter and I figured that, with your dad threatening you and saying he would know if you remained friends with Harry and company that he has spies at Hogwarts. I didn't want to give them anything of interest to report back. Sirius should be here momentarily to discuss your letter with you. I've had the elves bring up a lunch for you. I'll be headed out to the book store—an order I placed for a rare text came in and I'm anxious to get my hands on it. I think it'll help Nymphadora and I's research immensely."

"Who's Nymphadora?"

Remus' eyes widened, "That's right, you wouldn't have met your Aunt Dromeda. No, the Black family disowned her decades ago for marrying a muggle born—Ted Tonks. Nymphadora Tonks is her daughter, your cousin. They're wonderful people, you'd love them."

"I didn't realize I had another aunt. Mother tells me about my Aunt Bella, but she's in Azkaban. Well, father says she's in there until the Dark Lord returns," Draco paled, "From what Father has told me, I hope she never gets out."

"I hope she stays where she is, too."

Just then the fireplace lit up green and the devilishly handsome Sirius Black stepped out of the fire and into the office, a grin on his face as he caught sight of Draco.

"Oh Draco, the black sheep of the Malfoy family," he wiped an imaginary tear from his eye, "Come to me for advice on the ways of disobeying pure blood parents. I'm so proud to have properly corrupted you."

Draco gave a half-hearted smile at Sirius while glancing back at Remus. Remus was simply standing there with his arms crossed, a look of annoyance on his face.

"Well," he said as he clapped his hands together, "I'll leave you two to it while I run to Diagon Alley. See you in a bit."

As Remus left his office Sirius took a seat on the couch and slapped the space next to him, indicating that Draco should take a seat. He sat down gingerly, unsure of how this conversation was going to go. If he were honest, he hadn't anticipated an in person conversation with Sirius—he had merely expected return post with some advice. Now he was worried as to what that advice was going to be since Sirius thought it so prudent that he needed to make a personal appearance.

It didn't take long for Draco to come to the realization that Sirius simply loved the dramatics that came with him speaking to Draco in person.

"Draco, Draco, Draco. This is a surprise. I'm so happy that you followed in my footsteps and ignored your family traditions and were sorted into the noble house of Ravenclaw. You should be proud of yourself! That takes guts. Honestly, maybe you should have been a Gryffindor. Ah well. No changing that now. Which brings us to the point of your letter," Sirius dramatically flourished the parchment that Draco had sent to him the previous evening and cleared his throat before reading it aloud.

"Sirius, that's me, I've enclosed a letter from my Father…blah, blah, blah—he wants me to ditch Harry, Ron, and Hermione but they're my friends, I don't know if I could make it at Hogwarts with out them. Blah, blah, blah. You're the only one who knows what I'm going through. What did you do when you were sorted into Gryffindor?

Sirius threw the letter aside and leaned back in his seat, his hands behind his head as he smiled, "I remember my sorting clearly but not as clearly as the next day when I got a howler in the mail from my father shouting at me for breaking family tradition. 'How dare I consort with mudbloods and half-bloods!' Honestly, he didn't get to the point of telling me to drop my dorm mates as friends until about fifth year when we started hanging out with Evans more—that's Harry's mum. Anyway, at that point he decided that my dorm mates were a 'bad influence' on me and that I needed to sort out my priorities. I tried to stop being friends with them—I was afraid of my father's wrath. I imagine that your father is much like mine; sticks to the pure blood values and punishments?"

Sirius paused for a moment and glanced over at Draco who had been listening intently. When he saw Draco nod solemnly he frowned and continued, "Anyway—I was worried, not for myself at that point, I had already received every creative punishment my father could conceive of, but for my friends and their safety. Especially Remus given his fury little problem. My father had influences in the Ministry and I absolutely could not allow him to find out about that or Remus could be severely punished by the government. So, I talked to Monty about what was going on with my dad. I'm here to give you the same advice that Monty told me."

After a long, dramatic pause, Draco finally asked, "What advice?"

Sirius, who had closed his eyes as if to go to sleep, opened one and eyed Draco before sitting up, "That sometimes our real family aren't the same people who gave us life. Family is thicker than blood.

"After our talk I ignored my father's demands. Nothing happened to my friends but when I went home that summer…well, that was the worst punishment I ever received from Orion Black—and it was the last. I packed my bag that night and showed up on James' doorstep, bleeding and bruised, and asked to stay for a few nights until I could figure things out. Fee and Monty ended up keeping me for the summer and giving me a place to live until I moved out when I was 18. They were like the parents I always wanted and James was the brother I wish mine had been.

"I guess my point is that, no matter what happens, Lucy can't do anything to you that you can't get away from because you'll always have a home at Potter Manner with us."

Draco looked down at his hands and was surprised to find them tightly wound together. He carefully pulled them apart and wiped them on his robes before asking, slowly, "Did your father teach you how different family curses worked by using them on you and forcing you to watch them used on other people?"

Sirius' eyes hardened before he gulped and slowly nodded, "It's a pure blood tradition." The last word Sirius spoke came out dripping with venom and animosity.

"Before I left for school," Draco paused, his throat was dry and he tried to moisten it by swallowing, when that didn't work he simply pressed on, his voice raspy, "Before I left for school, father told me that there was a family spell I needed to learn and it—it causes the victim's blood to boil until the connection is broken. If it's used too long the victim—the victim dies. I don't—I don't want to have him use that on me. I—I love my mother but I don't want to go home to father."

As Sirius listened to Draco detailing the various spells his father has tested on him, he was pulled back to a time before he could defend himself in his own home, a time when he was completely powerless. He watched, as if from the sidelines of some sick, twisted sports game, his own father use the blood boiling spell on him as a young child for refusing to complete his assignments and mouthing off to his tutor.

"Fierbe sânele," Orion said calmly as he pointed his wand at a young boy with long, wavy, black hair.

Sirius looked Orion in the eye as he felt his body heating up, his blood becoming hot in his veins. As he grew hotter, his blood feeling as if it were searing the veins it was flowing through, he continued to look Orion in the eyes, refusing to break contact and admit weakness.

After several seconds, Orion's face contorted into an evil smile as he watched his son slowly boil from the inside out. He could see Sirius' face turning bright red, could see his veins protruding from his skin all over his body. He could almost feel the heat of his blood emanating from his skin when Sirius finally broke eye contact and collapsed onto the ground screaming as what felt like boiling water poured throughout his body and into his heart, burning him alive.

Despite Sirius' submission to Orion's dominance, Orion allowed the spell to continue for several agonizing seconds to allow the punishment to take its full effect on Sirius before finally ending the spell. He then simply waived his wand and doused Sirius in ice cold water, chilling his body while Sirius coughed and held his chest, his eyes watering.

"Get up you unruly mess—before I force you to your feet."

Sirius struggled to his feet, the fire in his eyes never dying, never dulling, as he averted his gaze from his father. He could still feel the boiling water in his veins but it was slowly fading—his fingertips felt cool again.

"You're an ungrateful child—you're worse than that mudblood-loving, no good cousin of yours," Orion spat on the floor, "If I catch you speaking that way to anyone again, I won't lift that curse and I'll let you boil alive from the inside out."

"Yes, Father. I'm sorry, Father."

Orion looked Sirius up and down again and smiled maliciously, "And, just to reinforce this lesson, I feel a more…permanent reminder is in order. Cultro!"

Sirius cried out as what felt like a knife drug itself down his forehead, through his eyebrow, and stopping at his cheek bone, avoiding his eye. He felt the warm stickiness of the blood pour down his face and into his mouth as he cried out and grabbed his face, the red-hot sting of the wound blinding him. He felt the hot blood pour down his hand as he tried to close the wound with magic—trying and failing.

As Sirius collapsed to his knees, Orion turned from the doorway and spoke one last time, "Be sure to not get any blood on my carpet or you'll end up like the house elves—stuffed and hung on the wall. Once you stop bleeding, have Kreacher heal you."

Sirius some how managed to hold himself together until Orion had left the room. Then he collapsed onto the floor and curled into a ball, the blood dripping down his face as he cried.

"Sirius?" Draco called, waiving his hand in Sirius' face, "Are you listening?"

Sirius absentmindedly touched his eyebrow where he was missing a patch of his eyebrow—right where the nearly invisible scar ran down his face, before looking at Draco, his grey eyes distant. "I—yeah, yeah I am. I'm sorry—I—I remember that spell. Just—avoid letting your father use that spell on you, ok?"

"Which one?"

"The—the blood boiling spell. Just—it's not a fun time."

"Ok…" Draco said, trailing off, "So, what should I do about his threat? About Harry, Ron, and Hermione? I don't want to not be friends with them. They're like family."

"What's your father going to do to you while you're at school? The most he could do is send you a howler. And, for holidays, like I told you, James, Remus, and I have agreed that you're more than welcome to stay at Potter Manner. Harry would get a kick out of having you with us. Just think about it, ok?"

Draco nodded just as the bell sounded for the end of the lunch period, "Thank you for talking to me. I really appreciate it. Can I—can I write to you? Just if I need to talk or get advice or—whatever."

Sirius smacked his forehead and mumbled a few swear words as he went digging through his pockets before pulling out a small, brown package, "I completely forgot—Remus rigged this up for you. It's connected to James', Remus', mine, and Harry's. This way you can contact us more quickly if you need to. You can still write, but sometimes a face-to-face meeting is better. Just hold it up to your face and say whoever's name you want to talk to and their mirror will vibrate."

Curious, Draco quickly unwrapped the package and found a small, square mirror inside. He looked back at Sirius, unsure of whether to believe him or chalk this up to a joke.

Sirius nodded at the mirror, "Try it. Call Harry, he'll get a kick out of this—we didn't tell him we were making you one."

Frowning, Draco held the mirror up to his face and said, "Harry."

He waited for several seconds as he looked at himself in the mirror. He could see his blonde hair falling slightly into his face, and then, suddenly, his face was replaced with another boy's, one who had dark hair and glasses.

Harry looked surprised, "Draco? How are you calling my mirror?"

"Uh—" Draco started before looking over at Sirius, who was nodding at him to continue, "Your dad and uncles made one for me. So I can talk to you guys without risking being over heard and stuff."

"Why would that be a problem?"

"Well…my dad owled me the other night. He threatened me to stop having contact with you, Ron, and Hermione. I owled Sirius for advice and, well, he gave me this."

"Your dad did what!" Harry asked, half yelling.

"Yeah. We can talk about it later though—I'm going to be late for Potions and you're going to be late for flying. I'll talk to you guys at dinner, ok?"

Harry nodded before disappearing from the mirror. Draco quickly bid his thanks and goodbyes to Sirius before rushing off to class.

End Notes:

Thank you for reading Ignoring Destiny! Please like, follow, and review!