Well, this one took me forever to do. I wrote it, erased it, and rewrote it like four times before I finally decided to just run with this version. I also had to take out the ministry visit. I realized I needed a couple of other things to happen first. So a lot of reworking happened all around, and then the chapter just kept getting longer and longer. So hopefully the extra long chapter will make up a little for how long this took me to write.

Oh! And I've officially broke 200 reviews! Woot, Woot! Thank you all so much for the love!

And of course a large thank you to my betas, Emilia Wolfe and McGonagalla's Bola.

Last Time:

"I am a mother, Severus. A desperate mother who is on the cusp of losing her son," she said, dangerously. She looked at him and her eyes flashed with a deadly promise. "I'll do whatever it takes. Draco will eventually understand."

After extracting a promise from him that he would contact her after he talked to Albus, Narcissa bade him goodbye, disappearing with a pop just as the sky lightened with the morning.

Chapter 22

The Portkey that Albus gave him brought Severus to a despicable little room that hadn't seen any form of life in decades. He was sure that even the roaches had long since abandoned the building for greener pastures ages ago.

Debris was everywhere, the furniture was broken and covered with dust, the rugs were moldy, and the light fixtures were nothing more than cracked glass. On the east side of the room was an old brick fireplace, though calling it a fireplace was being rather generous on his part. With the mantle fallen from the top and a sparse amount of blackened bricks still attached, it looked more like a conglomeration of rubbish and soot.

A loud creak from above him had him staring at the ceiling suspiciously, with his wand raised, just in case the roof decided to cave in and try to brain him.

Imagine that. Over a decade of spying on a tyrannical madman and I get done in by a wood beam. He snorted at the thought. Somehow that kind of pointless end wouldn't surprise him. The fates hadn't been on his side since the beginning and dying under rubble in some forgotten town seemed exactly like something the sadistic bitches would plan for his end.

Another sharp sound, like a twig snapping, came from below and that was all the warning he was given before a section of the rotted floor gave in. Chunks of wood crumbled under the pressure of his foot and he barely had time to jump out of the way before a large gaping hole appeared in the middle of the room.

"Damn, senile old man," Severus grumbled, righting himself as best he could on the now uneven floor.

He was quick to make repairs where he could and reinforce the rest of the floor. As an added precaution he decided to reinforce the walls and ceiling as well. It wouldn't last, not even through the night. He was sure of it. There were some things that not even magic could fix, and a house that was barely hanging on by a thread was one of them. The minute his spells wore off, the place would collapse in on itself.

It was fortunate then, that he wasn't planning on staying longer than an hour, Albus be damned. If the old man wanted to drag this out then he better be willing to do so without his spy.

Behind him, he heard the telltale pop of Apparition. The smell of licorice and cinnamon immediately assaulted his nose. Speak of the devil…

"Severus, I'm glad you could make it," Albus said in greeting.

"I'm picking the location next time." He glared at him over his shoulder.

Albus looked around, his brows lifting in surprise at the large hole in the center of the room. "Hmm, this is not quite what I expected."

"This place isn't fit for rodents, Albus."

The moment of shared levity was quickly over as the reason why they had to scuttle around in condemned buildings weighed down on them. Dumbledore suddenly looked uncharacteristically serious. "You are sure about this? We could lose…so much…"

Silence stretched between the two wizards as Severus thought over his words. He couldn't fault Albus' misgivings about Narcissa's proposal. The war was heating up, and unfortunately, their side had already taken so many hits that they couldn't afford to lose any more ground. If the Dark Lord managed to get a decent spy in the Order's higher ranks, their precarious house of cards would topple to the ground and everything would be lost. And Narcissa would make more than a decent spy.

He scratched at the turned-over mantle, catching ash under his fingernail then flicking it away, as he measured his words. "I believe…that it is at least worth hearing her out. In this case, overzealous caution would be detrimental to our success."

"And thoughtless acceptance could be even more so." Albus removed his glasses and rubbed at his eyes, heaving a tired sigh. "Were you able to send her the message?"

"Of course. You needn't worry. She always did like being fashionably late." It was a slight lie, but Severus needed this meeting to go off without a hitch and Albus didn't need to know that Narcissa didn't respect him enough to be perfectly punctual. The headmaster would not take the revelation well.

"Good, good." Flicking his wand, Dumbledore transfigured a three-legged table into a chair. Just as he was sitting down, the door pushed open, and the last of their party finally arrived.

Even with the door jamming on the hinges, Narcissa managed to walk into the room elegantly, and taking in her surroundings, she wrinkled her nose in distaste. "My, these rooms are certainly…interesting."

"They're shit," Severus corrected her. "No need to waste etiquette on this place. It's a lost cause." He walked up to his old friend and placed a chaste kiss on her knuckles. "How are you, Cissy?"

Narcissa smiled at him softly. "I've been well. Thank you for getting back to me."

"Of course. Come," Severus instructed, leading her further into the room, around the yawning hole, and towards Albus. Once he was sure the two wouldn't try to hex each other, he made his way back to the fireplace to observe the proceedings quietly.

"Lady Malfoy," Albus acknowledged her with a slight nod of his head, to which she returned the favor.

"Headmaster."

Clasping his hands in front of him, Dumbledore got straight to the point. "I was…surprised, to say the least, when Severus told me about your desire to help. You will excuse my astonishment, but it was not something one would think to hear from any member of your family."

"Understandable. We've made no bones with making our opinion known," Narcissa agreed amicably enough.

"Exactly, which is why I find it hard to believe that you would desire to suddenly abandon your cause and fight for ours."

"As I have told Severus before, I am not fighting for your cause or anyone's. I could care less about your impractically romantic ideals."

Though relatively still calm, Severus could see Albus' hands clenching in his growing agitation. Narcissa seemed to catch this as well, and smirked at the minor tell, which nearly had Severus' eyes rolling. Not even five minutes into the meeting and already they were throwing raspberries at each other. Perhaps he should just be grateful that their wands hadn't made an appearance yet.

He sent a look to Narcissa, a silent, exasperated plea that she not taunt her possible ally any further. She in turn sniffed delicately at him, tilting up her nose.

"I believe you were misinformed, Lady Malfoy. There is nothing impractical in fighting for the betterment of our whole society, instead of just a small percentage that clings to shadowy morals," Albus argued in a condescending tone.

Just drop it, Albus…Snape thought, holding back the urge to bang his head against the wall. It was like he was watching a schoolyard tussle between children. He was just waiting for one of them to start pulling the other's hair.

Narcissa, of course would not allow the Headmaster to get in the last word and huffed in amusement. "They are for the good of the lower classes and no one else. Do not try to act like you are fighting for my betterment when you are, in fact, fighting to do the opposite. Why should I support someone who belittles my upbringing and thumbs his nose at my traditions, my culture?"

"And yet you are here, catering to the very side you so obviously despise," Albus shot back.

Children, I'm surrounded by children.

Narcissa's jaw twitched, but she otherwise gave no sign that she was annoyed. "My sole reason for doing this is for Draco. Nothing more, nothing less."

Albus was clearly not happy with the way the proceedings were going. He had probably expected contrition, desperation, for Narcissa to prostrate herself at his feet, like Severus had done when he begged for Lily's life. Unfortunately, Narcissa was far from desolate. She was driven, yes, and determined to save her son, but Hell would freeze over, thaw out, then freeze again before Narcissa Malfoy ever begged for anything.

"Yes, Severus mentioned something about that. If we were to accept your offer, is that all you'd want in return, for the Order to take care of your son?" Albus asked, calming himself down.

"Take care?" Narcissa scoffed. "I don't need milkmaids. I want his protection. The best that the Order can give him, both during and after the war."

"After the war?"

She gave Dumbledore a withering look. "I am no fool, Headmaster. Even should you all win the war, and Draco is kept out of it, the Wizarding World won't look on him kindly. Not when the Malfoys have openly supported the Dark Lord. He would be crucified if the Wizengamot got their claws on him. But you're not going to let that happen. You're going to help him during any trials, AND with his integration back into society."

Albus looked at her curiously. "Do you not wish to add any assistance for your husband or yourself?"

Narcissa almost appeared amused. "Are you offering to keep Lucius out of Azkaban?"

"No," he replied plainly. "Your husband has dug too deep a hole for himself. I was merely curious if you would ask."

A grimace touched the witch's refined features. "I am not ignorant of the position my own husband is in, and would not ask for the impossible," she said surprising them. The Head of Slytherin was especially shocked that his fellow house member hadn't tried to milk Albus' connections for all they were worth. That she hadn't tried to take advantage of the negotiations and secure protection for her whole family seemed odd. Unless, of course, she already had other plans for her and Lucius. Now, that seemed more likely.

"Very well," Albus responded, then added as an afterthought, "We will, however, let it be known that you were acting on behalf of the Order afterward."

She waved a hand. "Fine, but make your priority Draco. I will settle for nothing less than complete protection."

"And what will you offer us in return?" Dumbledore asked. Severus straightened up, waiting for Narcissa's response as well.

Said witch raised her chin imperiously. "I'm offering to spy for your Order. I will move into the Dark Lord's inner circle and report his activities to you."

"I already have Severus for that. Why would I need you?"

"And who else do you have if Severus can no longer perform his duties? It's not a secret, even to those of us outside of the Dark lord's circle, that he is not too pleased with Severus at the moment."

She sent Snape an apologetic frown, but he shook his head. Albus and he had long been worried about his quickly declining favor. Having Narcissa say it out loud didn't change the truth of it. He imagined the only reason he was still clinging to his high position was because the majority of the Dark Lord's displeasure was currently occupied by Pettigrew, who was still hanging in the Lestrange's dungeons somewhere, and Rabastan, who had yet to nab Granger.

"She makes a valid point, Albus. It would not hurt to have an extra man—"

"Woman, my dear," Narcissa interjected primly.

Severus shot her a look, but still corrected himself. "Having a woman on the inside would be beneficial. Narcissa also has connections that we could utilize."

"I can see the advantages," Albus conceded, "but I cannot make such an important decision without knowing for sure that Mrs. Malfoy is sincere in her desire to help us." He looked towards said witch.

"I expected as much," she informed them. "Will you be using Veritaserum or Legilimency?"

"I'm afraid I will need a thorough search to ease my mind," Albus responded.

"Very well, whenever you are ready." Narcissa closed her eyes and breathed deep.

The Headmaster walked over to the witch, gently grabbing her face to keep her still and when her eyes reopened, he whispered, "Legilimens."

Minutes dragged by in the silent room as the witch and wizard stared blindly at each other, lost in a sea of Narcissa's memories. Only the faintest hint of sweat touched their brows giving away their exhaustion from the exercise. Still, Severus could tell that Albus was at least being as gentle in his examination as possible, seeing as Narcissa wasn't out of breath on the ground. The Potions Professor had initially feared that Dumbledore would treat her to the same ruthless inspection that he had given him on that first fateful meeting, but he was glad to see the Headmaster showing some restraint this time around. It wouldn't be wise to build antagonism so early in the game with what could be a key player.

After a small eternity, the two finally broke apart, Narcissa taking a longer moment to right herself. Severus transfigured a chair for her and helped her take a seat, knowing full well how disoriented the mind could be after such a rigorous search. Albus, just as winded, sank into his own chair.

"Are you satisfied?" Severus asked him quietly.

"Yes," Albus breathed out, "Her offer is genuine."

Then to Narcissa, he said, "I will accept your offer, and in return the Order will protect Draco and you to the best of our abilities. We will need a vow though for security purposes." He heaved himself out of his chair with some effort to stand in front of her with his hand out.

"I understand," she replied, out of breath, "but I will only take an oath with Severus."

"Why—"

She held up a hand. "I know that you will not try to back-stab me. However, you do not truly care for Draco. Severus does, so it is with him that I will take the vow."

When Albus still didn't say anything, she added, "It is a small thing to do to ease a worried mother's mind."

"Severus, would you be alright with this?"

Oddly enough, he was. What Narcissa hadn't said was that she trusted HIM, not Albus or the Order, but HIM with her son's life and her family's future. There was sentiment behind her statement and Severus was touched that she had such faith in him. So, despite the inherent threat that came with the Order's vows, he wouldn't turn his back on her or her request.

"I'm fine with it," he confirmed.

With a sigh, the Headmaster relented, nodding towards Severus to take his spot and when the two traded positions, Severus held out his hand. This time Narcissa easily accepted the gesture and stood, her fingers securely wrapped around his.

Albus' wand circled them, and a thin tendril of magic appeared like smoke around their clasped arms.

"On behalf of the Order," Severus began, "we vow to protect Draco Malfoy both during the war and afterwards, no matter the outcome. He will not be held liable for any of his actions on behalf of Voldemort up to this point. We will provide legal assistance for him should the need arise, as well as sanctuary and our resources to help him reintegrate into Wizarding Britain or any location of his choosing. Draco will also not be forced to work or fight in any capacity for the Order as compensation if he should not desire to do so. We also vow to support, you, Narcissa Malfoy in your mission for the Order."

The line of magic around Severus' wrist brightened in a brilliant glow.

Locking eyes with him, Narcissa cleared her throat. "I, Narcissa Malfoy, vow that in payment for Draco's safety and the Order's assistance in his welfare, I will spy for the Dark Lord, Voldemort, on behalf of the Order. I also offer any available resources I have at my disposal and should the Order need my aid, I shall endeavor to give it, provided that it doesn't compromise my primary mission."

Just as the magic had done for Severus, it brightened as well for Narcissa, then it sank into their arms, sealing the vow permanently. It was done.

Severus twisted his arm around, shaking the residual phantom weight off. "Welcome to the Order, Narcissa."

"Hmm. Thank you, I suppose."

Albus stepped between them to offer Narcissa his hand. The two shook hands peacefully and for the first time that night Albus was sincerely smiling. "I look forward to working with you, Mrs. Malfoy."

"And I you, Headmaster."

"Well, I best be heading back to the school," Albus announced, once again his normally cheerful self. "I have an early morning. Severus, I'll see you back at the castle. And Mrs. Malfoy, I'll contact you again later this week." With a swift bow to them, he popped out of the room.

With the Headmaster gone, Narcissa finally allowed her shoulders to droop in exhaustion. Turning to Severus she grinned faintly. "Thank you again, for doing this, Severus."

He softened at the weary picture she made and allowed a hint of a smile to come out as well. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You're family," he answered simply, and really to someone who loved her family as much as she did, that was all he needed to say to her. "Though you shouldn't be too worried about Draco. He's a clever boy. A survivor."

"Yes," she agreed quietly, "yes, he is."

Draco was going to lie.

Generally, lying wasn't a big deal. Hell, he lied on a daily basis, perhaps even three or four times an hour. It was a useful tool and he was too smart to not use it to his benefit.

But he was also smart enough to be cautious with it.

Not many would believe that he was conscientious with his silver tongue, but he was actually quite careful in where he applied his talent. It all depended on the risk/rewards ratio. With his peers he knew that he could claim to be a purple Pixie and it wouldn't matter a fig whether he was caught or not. The risks would be inconsequential. Lying to a professor was in the same vein. While it was a slightly harder undertaking that he treated with more prudence, he still didn't consider it off limits. Again the rewards were simply too good to pass up and the worst case scenario if he fucked it up was an afternoon in detention.

Easy as flying a broom.

Now there were a few people on his list that were completely un-exploitable. Oh, they could be tricked just like anyone else. Given the right circumstances and leverage anyone could be tricked.

The problem didn't lie in how to trick them, it was in the aftermath, after they would have figured out that they had been tricked, and the inevitable shit storm that would follow in the wake of their revenge. With some people, the risks just far outweighed the rewards.

The Dark Lord was on that list, for obvious reasons and right under him, was his father. Lucius Malfoy was not a man to be trifled with and Draco had learned long ago that being on his bad side was highly inadvisable. And yet, here he was, tempting fate by writing a letter filled with lies at the crack of dawn with sweaty palms and jittering nerves.

As he expected this exercise was becoming a trial that he wasn't sure he was up to yet. The right words weren't flowing to him with the ease they usually did, and his brain was turning into a frozen caricature of its once immaculate state. Maybe this writer's block was his mind's way of telling him to stop while he was ahead. To pull out while he still had a chance and run in the other direction.

He smoothed out the wrinkled parchment, and magically erased the sentence he had just written. His teeth chewed on the tip of his quill.

He had already put in his usual report on Headmaster Dumbledore and Potter. It was the rest of his report that was proving to be the problem. His father was becoming increasingly interested in Granger of all fucking people—no, that didn't quite explain it. His father's obsession with the Mudblood was rivaling the Dark Lord's. The two were absolutely convinced that she was hiding something important.

Every other letter that Draco received from his father was about Granger. What was she doing? Did she look different? Had she been acting suspicious? Were there any rumors floating around about her?

Granger. Granger, Granger, GRANGER.

Ugh. If he didn't already dislike the chit, he would certainly despise her and the bloody mystery surrounding her "academic leave" (that his father kept insisting was more than what it appeared to be) now.

He had to admit, the whole affair was a little suspicious. There was something off about it that he just couldn't put his finger on. Eventually he would unravel the mystery. It was only a matter of time before the Gryffindor did something to show her hand, and when she did, he would be there. And when he figured it out, he might just tell his father, depending, of course, on whether or not he still needed to keep up appearances for the Dark Lord.

Then again, there was an equal chance that he would be long gone by then, "defecting" to the Order in a fit of consciousness (according to his mother) and hiding out somewhere in Dumbledore's basement. It was an undignified picture of the future, but at least he would be free from the Granger-watch he was on now, and more importantly he would be able to avoid that damn mark.

The mark…

His head dropped to his hands as he groaned. He was nauseous just thinking about the stupid tattoo he had once thought was so cool. Why? Because it had a snake and skull? Merlin, how stupid had he been to think that the repulsive thing was cool, but Draco wasn't fooled any longer. The wool had long ago been pulled from his eyes and he could see it for what it was. It was a brand, a slave marking, puppet strings just waiting to take away his freedom.

He wasn't blind, he saw what it had been doing—was still doing to his father. His father had never been a cheery type of person, but he had been a steady fixture in Draco's life. A calm, assured pillar of dignity and strength that had been doting in his own way, but ever since the Dark Lord had returned he had become a stranger. A dark, vicious, unstable stranger, and Draco knew that the fault lay in that damn mark.

It was doing something to his father, just like it was warping the minds of every other Death Eater. He just knew it, and what was worse, his father wanted him to wear it too. If he didn't manage to escape then that was exactly what would happen. He wouldn't have a choice in the matter. It would be either take the mark like his father wanted or have the Dark Lord kill him for being a traitor.

How long, then, would it take for him to become a bloodthirsty menace? How long before he forgot what it was like to be happy? How long before he became so crazy that he would gladly hand over his own son to a monster?

Shivering, Draco sat up on his bed, and yanked open the drawer on his nightstand. He rifled through its contents until his fingers touched cool metal. He pulled out the flask, sloppily twisted off the cap, and took a small swig. The alcohol burned its way down his throat pleasantly, calming his nerves.

"A bit early for that, isn't it?" Blaise said, leaning up against the door to his room with an amused smirk. With a swish of his wand, the unwelcome intruder reset the wards that he had dismantled to get into the private room.

Draco would have berated the other boy for barging into his room and taking down the wards he had obviously put up to keep company out, but that would be an admission to Blaise that he had been too distracted to catch his entrance and stop him.

And that kind of error was completely unacceptable to admit to.

The only decent thing to do in this situation was collect his pride and act completely unaffected. So, Draco sat back against his headboard and took another sip of his liquor, this one just for Blaise's benefit, before he closed the bottle and shoved it back into his drawer. "Remind me to add a nastier curse on my door. Something to keep slippery rats out."

Grinning, Blaise sat down in one of the armchairs by his room's fireplace. "I'm a rat? What happened to the beautiful, forgiving bonds of friendship?"

Draco turned his nose up. "I don't have friends at six in the morning. I have practice dummies that I can try new hexes on if they try to become too familiar with my person." He slipped his wand out from under his pillow and let it hang lazily from his hand in front of him. "Tell me, Zabini, what has you traipsing so foolishly through my door on this fine Tuesday morning?"

His fellow Slytherin sighed dramatically. "First I'm a rat, then I'm a fool…why must you be so abusive, Draco? And here I brought you a wonderful gift too…" A sealed, manila envelope was taken out of his robes and waved in the air.

Draco crossed the room to sit in the other chair by Blaise. "A gift? Well, that certainly skews my temperament back in your favor."

"Why thank you, Draco. I live to serve," the other wizard commented drily, tossing the envelope onto the blonde's lap. "However, I do believe I deserve something more than just your pleasant company for this little boon here."

Curious, Draco broke the seal and opened the envelope. A thick packet of paper, clipped in the corner with a Sticking Charm, fell out.

Blaise began cleaning his nails with a bored expression as he waited. "You know we should really come up with a name to call this little organization we have. We can't keep having people ask for us specifically. Eventually our names will wind up in the wrong ear."

"Well, why don't you come up with something, then? And don't make it too ridiculous," Draco replied, as he turned over the papers. It was an Apprenticeship Request. In the top right corner, the Ministry's emblem was proudly displayed.

"I don't know. Maybe if its good enough we can turn it into a brand after the war. Make t-shirts," the other boy joked.

"Hmm, as long as they're green," Draco agreed absently. His eyes skimmed the paper, skipping over the dry legal text and reading through the personal questions that had already been filled out with his information (all surprisingly accurate). "Why did you fill out an Apprenticeship request for me?"

"Turn to page three and see who your master is."

Too interested to protest, Draco did as he was told looking through the third page, and searching for the 'surprise' the other boy kept alluding to. Finally he saw it. Near the bottom, right hand corner, his soon-to-be Master's name was written in blocky cursive.

Potion Master Edward Ives.

"Edward Ives?" Draco sputtered, shocked to his core. "Blaise, how the bloody fuck did you get THE Edward Ives to agree to this? Better yet, how did you even manage to find him?! He hasn't been seen in the Wizarding World for the past seven years!"

Entirely too satisfied with himself, Blaise settled back in his seat. "Mum and him go way back. Apparently, she knew him before he was a recluse and she helped him with a few things. He was only too happy to sign the papers."

"Of course, how silly of me to even ask."

"Indeed." Blaise chuckled, then he straightened, becoming more serious. "Though I need to warn you, this is a real apprenticeship, so you can't slack off. Master Ives may have signed the papers as a favor for my mother, but he expects you to put in the work."

Draco gave a small incredulous laugh. "Yeah, as if I'm going to squander a priceless opportunity like this. Which house do you think I'm in? Gryffindor?"

Blaise rose his hands in surrender. "Just had to make sure. The apprenticeship is highly sought-after."

"Why give this to me now?" Draco asked, putting the papers down. "Apprenticeships can't be started until a NEWT in the subject of study has been completed—Not that I'm not excited about this, 'cause I am."

Blaise tapped the envelope. "Because this is your ticket out of initiation."

Draco looked skeptical. "And how is an apprenticeship for next year, supposed to help me avoid my initiation in three weeks? Your math isn't adding up Zabini."

"It would be adding up if you read the letter from Master Ives, Malfoy."

"What letter?" Draco shifted through the pile of papers, lifting them off of his lap. A folded piece of parchment with a wax seal fell to the floor. He picked it up, turning it over to see his name on the front in the same blocky cursive. He tore the seal and opened the letter, quickly skimming through its contents greedily.

"Well?" Blaise asked.

Draco looked up with a smug grin. "Master Ives wants to meet me to ascertain my skill level. He'll be picking me up from the station at the end of the school year and has offered to let me stay with him in Italy for the first month of my summer hols."

Letting the parchment drop on the coffee table between them, Draco let out a relieved laugh. "This is perfect!" he exclaimed. "Father won't be able to say no to this. Having a Master of Ives' status honor me with an apprenticeship would raise our family's reputation back up in the public's eye, which will give him more political leeway. Having Ives show up personally to retrieve me will just be the cherry on top. Oh this is good!"

He pointed a finger at Blaise. "You are good."

"Aren't I though." Blaise preened under the praise. "There's a letter to your parents as well, explaining what is going on, though your mother already knows about all this."

"She does?"

"Of course, it was her idea."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me."

Blaise took the papers from him and put them on the coffee table as well. Then he pulled out a notebook and a quill from his bag. "Now, back to business. Do you have the information on the Skylar siblings?"

Draco got up, putting his letter away in his nightstand. He would read it over again and truly soak in each divinely inked word later tonight when he had the time. For now, there was business to take care of, and he had to put his giddy emotions aside.

On the wall beside his bed, there was a framed picture of his family hanging. Tapping it with his wand, he waited for the picture to move to the right, revealing a small, square hole in the wall that was filled with scrolls and notebooks. He grabbed a burgundy colored book and sank back into his chair.

"Alright, let's see," he muttered, flipping through the pages until he finally came to the one he wanted. "Here we go. James and Denise Skylar, both in Hufflepuff. They're Half-Bloods, but still widely respected. Their father, Bertram Skylar, is a Pure-blood who works at Gringotts. I believe the head of their Curse Breaking department. His family has long been considered "light" and his inclinations are following suit. His wife, Martha Skylar, maiden name, Thomes, works for the Ministry, and is a Half-Blood with Muggleborn parents."

"Do you think Riddle will seek out their mother to use as a spy?" Blaise asked, scribbling down notes.

"He can try, but from what I was able to gather, the family has been a huge supporter of Dumbledore since his rise to the position of Chief Warlock. Father, at least didn't seem to be impressed with them and didn't have too many kind words to spare."

"Do you think they're Order then?"

"They're close enough. And what's more, James and Denise are Potter fans," Draco said, rolling his eyes.

Blaise sat back, staring at the ceiling in thought. "Interesting," he hummed. "Still, it could be possible to approach them. It would be good to build relationships outside of our current circle of friends. And we might still be able to tempt them with protection. If their parents are really Dumbledore fans, then Riddle will come after them sooner or later."

Draco tapped his lower lip in thought."They won't want to talk to us. Or any Slytherin. We should probably have another Hufflepuff talk to them. Who do we have available?"

"Richard Dune would do it. We just moved his older brother out of the country."

"Benjamin? From the Ministry's Finance Department?"

"Mhmm. The very same."

"I remember that. The Dark Lord was in a fit after he heard."

"Good. That means we're doing our job right."

Draco scratched out something in his notebook. "Alright. We'll have him contact the Skylars. Have you heard from Leah yet?"

"Her father accepted the position in Athens and has already moved to a little flat in Olympus Point with his wife. Leah and her sister will be joining them right after her graduation. We still have to find new locations for twelve other seventh years and three of our potential clients have chosen to decline our help."

"Their memories?"

Blaise arched a mocking brow. "What memories?"

"Perfect," Draco replied. "I have a list of people who approached me this week. I've already crossed out three names. They were so obviously spies that it was almost painful watching them trying to weasel into my good graces."

"Draco Malfoy turned down an adoring fan? I'm shocked!" Blaise taunted him with faux wonder.

Draco wadded up an older letter and threw it at his friend. "Fuck off, Zabini. I'm not going to take that from someone who shuts himself in the bathroom for an hour every morning to primp."

Blaise straightened his shirt, dusting off the imaginary lint from his sleeves. "I have a certain reputation of perfection to uphold. I'm not ashamed of that," he informed Draco, who scoffed in amusement.

"Of course you're not. Now, did you get any requests?"

"A few, but there is an ally that I've had my eye on for a while that I think we should look at first," Blaise told him, handing him a folded paper.

Draco flipped it open and the read the single name in the center.

Hermione Granger.

"You're shitting me." He dropped the paper. Fucking Granger! What was with everyone's interest in her?

"It would benefit us greatly if we can sway her to our side. You have to admit she's a powerful witch in her own right. a little lacking form and class, but we can work with that." Blaise waved his hand dismissively. "More importantly, Riddle wants her for something, and naturally, I'm disinclined to allow him to get what he wants."

"You want to approach Granger," Draco responded dumbfounded. "Why do you want the Mudblood?"

"Ah, ah, ah, Draco. That's no way to talk about our future ally," Blaise reprimanded him lightly.

"Blaise, be real. This whole fuss the Dark Lord is making about her can't be as big as he's claiming. I mean—it's Granger, for Merlin's sake!"

The other Slytherin leaned forward, determined. "I AM being real. Granger IS important. There is something going on with that witch. Something beyond what Dumbledore is saying, something about where she really went over break, and I'm going to find out what it is."

"You sound just like my father," Draco groaned and suddenly wished he hadn't put away his liquor just yet. "Next you'll be saying we should go picnicking with Potter."

"We'll get to Potter eventually when we have Granger on our side."

"What?!"

"Draco, are you seriously telling me that you're not curious about what's going on?"

"Why the fuck would you want to bring in Potter?"

"Draco! Pay attention!"

"Look, if," Draco finally replied, "and I say, IF, there is something going on I doubt it's as big as you're making it. And it's certainly no reason to tie ourselves to Granger." His face screwed up in disgust.

"There's something there," Blaise insisted. "Mother kept hinting that I befriend Granger, and she wouldn't have suggested that without a valid reason."

Draco sat up. "Your mother knows what's going on?"

"She has an idea...I think. But she won't share it with me," his friend grumbled, put out. "All she said was that I should get close and build a report with the witch if I can."

"Who's to say we can trust Granger? What's to stop her from backstabbing us? She hates Slytherins."

"She hates you. She doesn't know me well enough to hate me," he reminded him. "And I told you, Mother thinks we can."

"Well, you mother also thinks we can trust Uncle Severus too, so I wouldn't be so hung up on everything she claims."

"We can trust Professor Snape. You just refuse to believe it," Blaise remarked.

Draco rose from his chair to pace in front of the fireplace. "He was just going to sit back and let me get marked. How is THAT supposed to make him trustworthy?"

"You don't know that."

"I do know that. Uncle Severus is one of the cleverest wizards I know, aside from Father. If he wanted to get me out, he would have found a way months ago. Years ago even," Draco protested. He crossed his arms, staring into the fire as he finished in a lower voice, "He just didn't want to."

"You don't know what he was planning."

"And he has the mark. You know what that does to the Dark Lord's followers."

"Yeah, still looking into that. Though, he doesn't seem all that insane."

"Perhaps he just hides it better. And if he has found a way to block its influence than why hasn't he shared it with my family? Or his students? For that matter why hasn't he tried to warn any of us from following the Dark Lord to begin with?"

Blaise looked at him as if he'd lost his sense. "And get himself killed? There's helping and then there's just suicide."

Draco glared at him. "He's the Head of Slytherin, he could have found a way to help covertly."

"How do you know that he hasn't been doing just that? There are several names on our list that were already leaving the country after graduation. How do we know that he wasn't the one behind that?"

"Because he would have said something to me!" Draco claimed, heatedly. "I would have known!"

Blaise sighed. "Fine. But, if you're so sure your godfather is an evil git then why are you against your father's plans to get rid of him?"

"Because," Draco began, his brows knitting in confliction, "he's still family."

"Right..."

"Oh shut it," he snapped. "Even if you're right about Uncle Severus, it doesn't mean you're right about Granger. The second we approach her, she'll go blabbing off to Saint Potter to help her from the big, bad, Slytherins."

"WE won't be approaching her. I will."

"And how do you plan on doing that without having the whole of Gryffindor House raining down on us in some misplaced sense of justice?"

Blaise smiled at him sweetly and said, "Very easily, Draco. When one wants to make friends, one only has to be friendly."

A/N: and done. Narcissa is officially an Order member, and Draco and Blaise are making good headway in their schemes. We'll be seeing more of them and their machinations soon.

Up Next: Hermione and Severus time again! Hermione finishes off her 6th year exams with her Potions final.

As always. Review and let me know what you think~