Ch. 1: Change

The morning was dreary, thick clouds obscuring the London sky and making the air cold. It was getting later in October and the weather was preparing itself for winter, as the people scurrying in and out of shops and across the busy streets tried to protect their skin from the biting chill.

Violet Smith pulled her winter cloak closer to herself as another cold gust blew through the air. She cursed the weather as well as her cheapness because even with the biting cold, she was not going to waste floo powder or the time to disparate to work when she could use the two blocks worth of exercise.

Violet quickened her pace to keep herself warm, and soon could see the face of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies raising in front of her. She smiled to herself, as muggles around her skirted the large building as if it wasn't even there. But then again, to them it wasn't.

Violet had wanted to be a doctor ever since she had gone with her dad to work one day when she was eight. Her father owned his own practice, and his specialty was surgeries. Violet's father was indeed a muggle, and so was her mother. When they found out about her daughter's abilities, they couldn't be more amazed and prouder. And here, after five extra years of medicinal wizarding school, she was finally a fully licensed doctor at one of the largest magical clinics in the wizarding world. Her father would beam and smile larger and larger when Violet would tell him about her patients and her practice.

Her mother would worry of course, because some of Violet's stories were quite violent or scary, but her mother knew that Violet was very much like her father, and she would stop at nothing to help those in need. Violet's mother worked as a professor of literature in one of the local muggle colleges in London, and had always fostered Violet's love of academics and imagination. When Violet returned every year as top of her class (or sometimes second, beat out only by her best friend Hermione) both of her parents would praise and be excited for her, and always remind her about how proud they were of her.

Violet was also proud of herself. She had achieved her dreams and she absolutely loved her job. She loved helping her patients and she enjoyed working with her co-workers on finding new ways to treat different diseases or improvements in already existing treatments. She was self-sufficient, made good money, had an adorable dog and magnificent owl, and lived in her own flat. That was all amazing things to have accomplished at the mere age of 22, and she couldn't be happier.

Little did she know that her life was about to change.

"Okay, so why can't we just let this guy wipe out the rest of the other former death eaters again?" Ron Weasley said to his best friend and fellow Auror, Harry Potter.

"Because it's unethical. And a lot of them have renounced him and have paid for their actions enough. Some of them, like Bellatrix, would deserve a harsh sentence in Azkaban but I don't even think she would be deserving of what this guy does." Harry said, looking over more crime scene photos of their current target's kills.

For the last couple of months, purebloods who had backed Voldemort in either the first or the second wizarding wars have been turning up with their bodies completely mangled and signs of prolonged torture to their bodies. Harry and Ron, along with some other Aurors, have been trying to track down the culprit since the killings had started but they were running short on leads and time. The culprit had contacted the ministry itself, saying that he will only speed up the killings if the ministry didn't lock up the rest of the purebloods in Azkaban.

So, here Harry and Ron were, along with Hermione, working to match possible targets with fake identities and safe houses. Each safe house would be under surveillance and each potential target would be given a new name, job, and look until this guy was arrested. They were relying on volunteers to offer up their homes, and they had almost matched everyone.

"Okay, let's focus Ron. We thankfully have found places for the Malfoy parents, but Draco stills needs a place." Hermione said uneasily. All of them became really uncomfortable and silent. They would need someone who was incredibly kind and patient to be able to handle living with Draco, and they knew it.

After news spread to the purebloods about the ministry's plan, Narcissa Malfoy contacted Harry directly to ask a favor. She knew that families had to be split up, but she was worried about who was going to take care of Draco. To the outside eye and the public, Draco was mostly his normal self. He was high up in the ministry in the department of mysteries, and the only really obvious change to everyone was he was much quieter and more reserved. His bite and rudeness had almost disappeared, but it was not replaced with kindness. Instead of being a git or mean, he just became cold and detached.

His mother provided a different look though. Draco had been battling with his guilt since the war ended, and it had lots of negative repercussions. As the mental health field was non-existent in the wizarding world, the Malfoy parents had swallowed their pride and taken Draco to a muggle mind doctor after consulting some friends who were familiar with the types of symptoms Draco was exhibiting. Apparently, Draco had developed a severe condition of anxiety and depression, and was struggling to deal with this in a world that did not believe it existed. The Malfoys were so concerned and desperate that they made their son take an unbreakable vow that Draco would continue to go to the muggle doctor and see a wizarding therapist to try to heal from his experiences.

Because of his condition, Narcissa begged that Draco remain with one of the parents, but Harry couldn't do it. He knew the Malfoys must be high on the murder's list, and he couldn't let them be in more danger than they already were. Instead, he promised Narcissa that he would find someone with medical training and patience to house Draco for the time being.

"Wait! I've got it!" Hermione exclaimed, after a long silence and interrupting Harry's thoughts.

"What is is sweety?" Ron said, turning his attention fully to his wife.

"Okay, so I know she didn't sign up to volunteer, but what if we persuaded Vi to take him? She does all sorts of studies into mental health in her work, and we all know she is the sweetest and most polite person on earth…" Hermione trailed off when she saw Harry's brow furrow. "What is it Harry?"

"I have no doubt that Vi would be willing to do it, but we can't forget how Malfoy treated her when we were in school…" Harry stated, looking back at his friends with worry. In school, Malfoy had picked and tormented Vi more than most, and often the trio wondered if Malfoy held some grudge against Vi that no one could guess.

"You're right, but I know Vi is very forgiving… What about this. I was already planning on meeting her for lunch today, why don't I ask her? I will tell her it is completely up to her, and she can say no if she doesn't feel comfortable. And then we can keep looking for someone else, but I think its worth a shot at least." Hermione said, and assuring that she had the other two convinced, she smiled. "Perfect, I have some other things to attend to right now, but I will let you know what she says after lunch today."