Two and half hours work, I know it'll likely need some editing, regardless, please read, enjoy, and if the mood suits you review!

When Lord Lucius Malfoy had received a floo call from his long time associate and friend Severus Snape in the later evening of Samhain, he hadn't really been expecting all that much from the dour man. Usually said call was to ask Narcissa if she would like to visit Lily Potter nee Evans grave with him, which ended with them leaving a shot of tequila on said woman's headstone, followed with some heart felt crying.

Lucius wouldn't judge the taciturn man nor his wife for the action, he had read some of the papers the witch in question had written and while a mudblood no one could possibly deny her complete and all encompassing brilliance when it came to her research.

There was after all a reason the Dark Lord had attempted to recruit her thrice, despite her blood status.

So colour him surprised that while he was in a midst of greeting the man's green tinged image, he was interrupted by the potion master's acerbic, "Dancia was attacked by a mountain troll. She is well, but ensconced in the hospital wing, move quickly."

When the floo shut down a glass shattered behind him, turning around he saw his wife staring at the now orange flames of the fireplace in horror and decided to take advantage of her stunned countenance. No one, not even he after years of marriage wanted to deal with a Black witch who had just been confronted with the fact that her daughter had been put in the line of fire. So he rose to his feet, wrapped his arms around her, pulling her forward and without question guided her to the floo and got them both to the Three Broomsticks without any trouble.

By the time her mind had finally processed what she had overheard, obviously overwhelmed by the incomprehension that someone had the utter audacity to put her daughter in danger, they had already made it to the castle's gates.

Technically speaking Lucius could have floo'd directly into the Headmaster's office, but to be honest he needed the extra time for Narcissa to wind herself up, then to wind down and the walk to the castle provided it. Otherwise she might involve Bellatrix with this or, and he did not shudder at the thought thank you, Andromeda.

Involving Andromeda was always...inviting trouble...and violence.

Still Severus was waiting for them as they entered the ancient castle who then began speaking quickly and concisely not wasting any time on trivialities as he spun on his heel and began walking towards the infirmary.

"Dancia was working on a long term project in my labs that came to fruition tonight, she bade her friends to go to the feast without her and that she would follow them soon. She took too long, so mister Potter and miss Granger approached me and asked if I would check in on her, and since she is my goddaughter and I have no particular fondness for the festivities connected to this night I did so."

He paused his brisk pace before turning back to the Malfoys, "She saw a professor get killed, then get partially eaten by a mountain troll he had been guiding through the castle for reasons unknown. It then tried to kill her and she ran, she managed to actually cause some minor damage to it with a curse I taught her to use only on enemies who meant her harm, but it was a troll after all."

The blonde couple winced at that as he continued speaking while resuming his earlier pace, "She then wisely decided to run as fast as she could when she came upon myself, mister Potter, and miss Granger and I admit I...lost my reservations for indulging in the Dark Arts and hit the vile beast with a killing curse."

There was silence for a few moments before he shook his head slowly, "Lucius, Narcissa?"

They both turned their heads to meet his gaze as he paused yet again, "As much as I may dislike the man Albus had nothing to do with this. Please keep that in mind when you see how...infuriated he is that one of his teachers very nearly managed to get an eleven year old girl killed due to his own nearly incomprehensible recklessness. We can not even question the fool at this point due to obvious reasons..."

The couple stared at him a moment then nodded, a few moments later they entered the hospital wing and when they saw the cascade of moonlight silver hair hanging off one the beds they both rushed over to the young witch's side.

Tears gathering in the corners of her eyes Narcissa ran a hand down her little girls face as he she sobbed out, "Oh Dancia..."

Lucius for his part didn't know what to say as he stared down at his heiress because...because...

Because the thought of losing his little girl terrified him beyond words.

Madam Pomfrey approached the concerned parents and professor with a knowing look on her face as she gestured towards their daughter, "I know it means little, but I want to assure you she is fine. She's dosed to the gills with calming draught and dreamless sleep. She suffered no physical injuries thankfully, she just needs rest more than anything else. I had to chase off Harry and Hermione not five minutes ago because they refused to leave her side, I won't disrespect your concern by doing the same to you, but please try to keep it down."

Severus and the Malfoys nodded at that and thanked her for her troubles; as they stared down at the tiny figure before them Lucius let out an almost inaudible sob, which his friend and wife being Slytherins heard as if it had been a crack of thunder.

"Dear, are you..."

He pulled Narcissa to himself, resting his face into the crown of her beautiful hair as he whispered, "I never told her I loved her."

Narcissa froze at that as Lucius began to weep, "My little girl could have died tonight, and she would have passed on never knowing that her father loved her so much. That he was so proud of her cunning, her intelligence, her grace, and her kindness."

Narcissa wrapped her arms around her husband and began sobbing into his shoulder, all pretense of calm thrown to the wind as they stood as sentinels before their daughter. Calming slightly he met Severus' gaze and nodded to the man, who nodded in return and swept out of the infirmary in a manner that reminded him of a bat.

He had to charm his robes to pull that off, Lucius thought with a bit of amusement, but that was a thought for another day.

Pulling a pair of chairs to the side of his daughter's bed Lucius and Narcissa sat in silence and with unspoken understanding decided to leave confronting Dumbledore till tomorrow. Now, they just watched Dancia's gentle breathing as they held each other's hands, doing everything in their power not to break down yet again.

When Dany groggily came back to consciousness, she couldn't help but grit her teeth at her own utter incompetence.

Even if her meeting with Draco's Harry had been an artifact of past memories or just a straight out hallucination it had pointed out a simple fact to her, she had been resting on her laurels.

She couldn't even really blame herself too harshly for that really, Draco hadn't had a childhood, much like Harry he had been groomed from a young age to perform a singular purpose and little else after all. So, she had taken advantage of the fact that she had a large caring family, pseudo siblings, trusted friends, and her Harry, all while doing her best to ignore her responsibilities.

She knew the future major players, she knew about the enemies weaknesses, she knew the buttons to press to get shit done in this ass backwards community...but she had put it off because...

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK!

Because she got to be a kid, for the first time ever she was allowed to be a little kid...

She loved every second of it too and despite everything felt no regrets for her indulgence in being an innocent.

So...so it was time to put her big girl knickers on and do something about Riddle, she had six soul jars to deal with and the wraith himself...well five actually, he hadn't gone full retard and made his pet snake a horcrux quite yet. At the very least she assumed it had been a horcrux since it exploded in a cloud of screaming agony when killed with a basilisk venom laced sword...

Ugh.

God this was just like being an operative all over again, having to deal with the monologing Dark Idiot of the month who was trying to impress the agents sent after them with their 'Unending Dark Powers!' like they were their alcoholic father.

Tedious, yet necessary, mixed with a shot of frustration and a chaser of exasperation.

Well first off she would have to deal with the diary, easy enough honestly ju-

"Dany? Are you awake?"

Eyes flitting open Dancia shot up in the hospital bed she had found herself in and nearly pulled a double take when she saw both her parents sitting there with concern evident in their eyes. They both looked rumpled, like they had slept in their clothes, their eyes blood shot, and holy shit look at that! Father had knots in his hair, may wonders never cease. Still confused as to why they were there, she smiled towards them kindly while pushing her complete and total bafflement to the back of her mind.

"Mother, father, good morning. Is there something amiss?"

What she had not expected was her mother to break out sobbing and for her father to rush her and pull her into his arms while lifting her from her bed.

Dancia was paralyzed by confusion and indecision, this had never happened to Draco, this had never happened to her. She could not remember a time her father so much as touched her, much less hugged her, she could not remember a time her mother had shown any emotion outside of calm confidence.

She was so out of her depth here, that she felt like she was about to hyperventilate; Dany really wished Harry and/or Dora was here right now, they would be able to make sense out of this.

Deciding to go with the flow as it were Dany wrapped her arms around Lucius, who, much to her complete and utter shock, let out a sob as he held her tighter. It wasn't painful, in fact it felt rather nice, like...like he wanted to protect her, like he...

Like he wanted to be her father for once.

That thought very nearly caused an emotional breakdown.

"I am so sorry little one," he began as he sat on the bed holding her close, sitting on his lap she really didn't know what to say, so she sort of went with the default.

"For what father?"

He froze, then shook his head sadly, "For never being there, for never telling you how I felt, for letting my pride dictate how I handled you. Malfoys don't have daughters, we have not for the past three hundred years, so quite simply I was out of my depth and I let your mother handle your upbringing since I had no idea what I was doing."

That earned a laugh from Narcissa, and a quiet yet amused scoff from Dancia, Lucius then carried on.

"I... Dancia...Dany... I know I haven't been the father you needed up to this point, but I will be from here on out. I.. I almost lost you last night, and I never told you the most important thing a father could ever convey to his child..."

Tightening his hug he whispered, "I love you Dancia. I love you so much I can't even begin to describe it. You are beautiful, elegant, brilliant, cunning, and caring. I... I am so proud of you and I just want you to know that. I want you to know that despite how cold and indifferent I may act, you are my little girl, and I love you more than anything."

...

...

...

Dany could not breath.

For the first time in either of her existences, her father had...

Fuck...

Her arms were moving against her will, they wrapped around Lucius' neck and pulled him close and, oh fuck, no don't, don't you fucking dare!

She sobbed into his shoulder as she muttered out, "I love you too daddy."

Then she broke down crying, and it hurt double because she knew these were not just her tears, they were Draco's as well.

Narcissa let out a sob at that utterance and Dancia realized then and there how completely and utterly fucked she was.

Because this time around? Her dad wasn't 'going to the hot place' as Draco's Harry put it, she would do everything in her power to save his soul from what Riddle would warp it into.

It was time to Maurader the fuck out of Tom Riddle's plans, and save all those she loved in the process.

So that ended up being more emotional than I had intended, ah well, hope you enjoyed!