Hello again. Thank you, everyone who left a review and alerted this story! Your support is as always, absolutely amazing! And of course a large thank you to my betas, McGonagall's Bola and Emilia Wolfe.

Hope you enjoy! I had a lot of fun writing this one, mostly because of I love writing Blaise and Draco together. ;)

Last Time:

"Would you prefer that I not let my presence be known. I will continue testing you either way," he told her firmly.

She shivered at the thought of someone being in her mind, even on the outer fringes and her not knowing about it. "Fine," she muttered, "but you won't get in."

His black eyes seemed to stare through her, and she had to look away. "That remains to be seen," he responded smoothly.

Chapter 24

Over the course of the next day, Hermione found that being free from her classes was just as relaxing as Snape said it would be. Now that she no longer had to worry about classes during the day or tedious homework during the night, she was able to get back to doing what she wanted to do. In fact, that morning she had decided that she was going to sleep in just because she could. Because…well, why not? It wasn't like she had to be anywhere anymore. Gryffindor's house points wouldn't suffer and she wouldn't get in trouble because of it either.

It had felt so good to quiet her alarm clock and bury herself back under the covers that morning. Taking in those extra couple of hours had been heaven. Even though it meant missing the breakfast rush, it was worth it.

But it was more than that. Yes, it was nice to sleep in, and spend most of the day holed up in the library surrounded by books, but what made this new freedom even better was that she felt like she was finally being treated as an adult again. When she had entered the library that morning, Madame Pince hadn't even batted an eyelash at her presence. She hadn't scolded her for not being in class, or asked for a pass, or even snapped at her about the proper code of conduct for handling her books. The librarian had just nodded to her as she passed by.

Passing the professors in the hallway was a similar experience. She had received cordial greetings, and surprisingly a couple of invites for afternoon tea in the teacher's lounge. Now that she was no longer a student and they knew that she was well over twenty, her old teachers felt it perfectly acceptable to welcome her into their circle.

It was amazing really, how something so inconsequential as just being treated like a proper adult could put such a bounce back into her step and ease her mind. Snape and been right. All she had to do was finish her exams and eventually everything smoothed out.

So, she was in a decidedly chipper mood that night when she went down for dinner. Having missed both breakfast and lunch, she figured her friends would probably like to see that she was still alive and not buried under a pile of books. Plus she wanted to talk with Snape about contacting Fera again so that she could dive back into her research. She had made such good progress today that she didn't want to stop her momentum.

As she took her usual seat between Harry and Ron, Neville greeted her. "Hey, Hermione. We missed you in class today."

Hermione smiled at him, imagining he must have really missed her during Potions. With her gone, he would have had to deal with Snape on his own. She almost felt bad for leaving him now.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I finished my Potions exam last night, so I'm officially done with that class," she said. "Actually, I'm officially done with all my classes. I can concentrate on just my NEWTs now."

"Ugh, your so lucky," Ron grumbled. "I would give my left foot to drop potions."

"I didn't drop it Ron, I tested out of it," she reminded him.

"You're still lucky you don't have to deal with that Git anymore. I swear he was an absolute nightmare today."

Hermione looked around the table. "Was he?"

Harry reluctantly nodded. "He wasn't the worst, but something must have made him mad 'cause he was sniping at everyone. I think we lost like fifty points today."

"Really?" Ginny asked, looking down the table at Harry. "He was no worse than usual for my class. I mean, he took like twenty points off when Sarah burned a hole in the floor, but that's to be expected."

"That's weird…" Hermione murmured, peering over at the teacher's table and locating Snape. He certainly didn't look all that angry. Grumpy, yes, but as Ginny said, that was to be expected.

She wondered what could have made him so testy. She didn't want to wait until tomorrow to talk to him about doing an Astral Projection, but maybe she should. She didn't want him to refuse her just because he was having a bad day.

She decided that she would just have to play it by ear.

"I think it may have been because I dropped a vial of Ashweed in the storeroom," Neville admitted, glumly. "I swear the minute I step into that class, I'm a bumbling idiot."

"That's just nerves, not idiocy," Hermione told him. "It'll get better."

Neville laughed weakly. "Really, when? It's nearly the end of the semester…I've been taking potions for six years now and I can still barely handle a ladle right. I don't know what I'm going to do next year."

Hermione didn't know what to say about that. She herself worried about the clumsy Gryffindor's chances in NEWTs Potions as well. As much as she wanted to reassure him that everything would be alright, she couldn't. Because Potions was the one class that he had yet to improve in and she didn't know if he would ever get better with it. What if it just wasn't his subject?

"Well, you'll be done with Potions soon. At least until next year," she finally said.

"Yeah," he sighed. "Actually that reminds me, Hermione. I know you're not in the class anymore but would you mind going over the study schedule you made for me? I want to at least try to finish the year well."

"Oh, have you looked it over already then?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to make sure that I cover all my bases for finals."

"Why are you pulling out your study sheet so soon?" Ron asked. "Finals are like a month away."

Hermione's eyes rolled. Leave it to Ron to wait until the very last minute. "Finals are two weeks away, Ronald. Not a month away.".

"Since when?" The redhead paled.

Ginny smirked sarcastically. "Since last week ended."

Her brother threw a bit of bread at her in retaliation. "Shut up. You know what I mean."

"Since we only have three weekends to study, I wanted to use this weekend to get everything together," Neville told them. "Besides, next week is our last Hogsmeade trip, and it'll be impossible to get anything done then."

"Actually, that's a good idea, Neville," Harry said. "Would you mind going over a study plan with me too, Hermione?"

"Oh! We can make a study group out of it," Ginny added. "Let's do it."

"You're not even in our year," Ron pointed pointed out.

"So, I could still use some help."

"I'm sure we can help you for your exam too, Gin," Harry said kindly.

"But it's Friday! Can't this wait until Monday? Whoever heard of doing work on the weekends?" Ron groaned dramatically.

Ginny hit his shoulder. "Stop complaining. Your Lav-Lav will be fine without you for a little bit. You can suck her face off once you've finished studying."

Ron turned a beet red and snuck a discreet look towards Hermione. "Shut up, Gin," he hissed.

Hermione watched the exchange with amusement. She recalled Harry saying something about Ron having a crush on Lavender a while back but she hadn't seen any evidence of it until now. Though she wasn't sure what the whole "Lav-Lav" thing was about…nor did she want to know really.

Well, she internally shrugged, at least he's not thinking about me in that way anymore.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a figure in black robes get up from the Head Table and leave the Great Hall. She tilted her head only slightly and watched him walk down the aisle between the Slytherin and Gryffindor table and towards the exit. She didn't know if he could sense when someone was looking at him, but all of a sudden, Snape looked her way and their eyes meet.

She didn't squelch the opportunity and discreetly motioned towards the door. His stared blankly at her then turned and kept walking. Not sure, if he had received her message. Hermione began to gather her things in order to race after him.

"Actually, I won't be able to do a study group tonight. I have to stop by Professor McGonagall's office and go over our plans for this summer," she lied. She felt slightly guilty about it, but it wasn't like she could blurt out that she was doing Order work tonight in a crowded room. She would just have to clue them in later on when they were alone. "How about we meet up tomorrow?"

"That's sounds fine to me," Ginny said, and the others agreed.

"Brilliant, thanks, Hermione." Neville smiled brightly at her, the relief was clear on his face.

"Not a problem. I'll see you guys later," she called, waving back to them as she left the Great Hall. She thought she faintly heard Harry say something about leaving as well but paid her best friend no mind. Her mind was already focused on her new mission. The minute she was out in the hallway, she took off after Snape, hoping that she would catch him before he disappeared somewhere.

She spotted a fluttering black robe turning a corner and quickly ran after it, but when she made it to the corner, the professor was no where in sight.

"Where…?" she whispered, looking around the stone corridor. How the Hell did he vanish so quick?

Just as she was about to head back and start looking elsewhere, a hand shot out, grabbed her arm and yanked her into a dark alcove. Black eyes stared down at her in exasperation, and she immediately relaxed.

She snatched her arm back and rubbed at her abused bicep. "Why does it seem like your mission in life is to scare me into an early grave?"

"Why were you running down the hall like you were half-mad?" he countered, stepping back to give her space. Waving his wand, he put up a Privacy Charm around them.

"I was trying to catch up with you, so I could talk to you," she replied defensively.

"Need I remind you, Granger, that you know where my office and rooms are."

"I can't just show up at your office anymore. I'm not your student. It might raise questions if I was seen," she explained.

"And running after me like a demented fool is your way of being more subtle?" he asked incredulously.

Hermione's cheeks pinked and she ducked her head. She crossed her arms defensively in front of her. "Well, I didn't say it was my smartest move."

"Clearly."

"Oh, shut it! I wasn't thinking, okay?" she said, then flinched when she realized she had just told Severus Snape to shut up as if he were one of her buddies. She kept talking, hoping he hadn't caught it, but by the look of murderous intent in his eyes, she knew that that was a pipe dream. "In any case, I needed to talk to you about something," she finished.

"So I gathered," he snarked, waving his hand at the alcove they were in. "Now, get to the point. I'm a busy man and my plans for tonight didn't include irritating witches."

Hermione scowled but didn't reply to the insult. "Now that I have the time, I need to get back to my research. But before I start I wanted to touch base with Fera first, which I can't do without the ingredients to complete an Astral projection."

"And?"

She sighed. Of course, he wasn't going to be a gentleman about this. "And, since I know you have what I need. I was wondering if you would be willing to lend them to me."

He leaned against the wall, the picture of ease. "Lending, implies that you intend to give them back, and I have no need for used ingredients."

"You know what I meant. I'll repay you for whatever I use," she responded a little sharply.

Snape looked at her curiously. "Why not just ask the Headmaster? He would have gotten the ingredients for you."

"I know, but they would have most likely come from you anyway. So I figured I might as well cut out the middle man. Plus, I wanted to make sure you knew that I wasn't going to invade your storeroom and ransack the place."

Snape left the alcove without a word, and Hermione deflated against the wall, sure that his silent exit was just his way of saying, "no." She wondered if she had said something to offend the prickly man.

A second later, Snape came back, his customary scowl in place. "Hurry up, Granger. I haven't got all night," he told her and then began to head back down the hall.

Hermione scrambled after him, unable to stop the goofy smile from spreading on her face.

Harry crept down the hallway, a good pace away from his blond-haired target. Without his cloak he was going to have to be extra careful not to be seen, which meant keeping a good amount of distance between him and Malfoy. Already though, he was cursing his lack of foresight, as Malfoy got further and further away from him. He wished he had his cloak on him. It would have made this so much easier.

Harry stopped abruptly, pressing his back against the column he was hiding behind, as Draco came to a halt in front of an old tapestry. The Slytherin looked down the hallway surreptitiously, then waved his wand at the tapestry. It fluttered aside and a door revealed itself. Malfoy pushed it open, the creaking sound echoing down the hall, then he stepped inside. The door shut with a resounding thud.

Tiptoeing over, Harry checked the tapestry over, running his fingers along the worn colored threads. Shifting it to the side, he peered underneath it, only to be greeted by a stone wall. He pressed his hand against the wall in confusion. Magic tickled at his fingers, but that was it.

Where was the door?

Was there a latch that he had somehow missed. Or a spell? Malfoy had waved his wand at the tapestry first, maybe the door was concealed with a charm. Harry took out his wand and tried out several spells, even stooping to using "Alohomora" to no avail. Whatever Draco had used to get inside it wasn't an everyday spell taught in charms. Even more proof to Harry that the ferret was up to no good.

He glared at the tapestry in frustration. I bet Hermione would know how to get inside, he thought.

He could ask her, but then that would just get him another lecture on how Malfoy had 'changed' and how he should give the junior Death Eater a chance. Yeah right. The minute he gave the ferret a chance that snake would turn around and stab him in the back. Draco was a Malfoy and if there was one thing that Harry had learned since coming to the Wizarding World, it was that Malfoys couldn't be trusted.

He was just going have to convince Hermione to see reason. Maybe she would believe him if he told her about the disappearing door. There was no way she would be able to dismiss that as nothing.

Mind made up, Harry headed back to his dorm. He might not have discovered Draco's plot but it was only a matter of time before he did.

The minute the door closed behind him, Draco unhooked his robes and hung them on the coat rack by the fireplace. He looked around the room, proud of the transformation of this once shabby spare room into a respectable bit of space. Before he had gotten his hands on it, it had been covered in dust and cobwebs, with broken furniture stuffed into the corners. Now the room sparkled. Dark green drapes covered the windows, a lush black and silver rug covered the floor, a fireplace (small but elegant) was the focal point of the back wall and a simple dark oak table and chairs were placed in front of it. The decor wasn't as opulent as he wanted it to be (Blaise had curtailed most of his design choices), but he was happy to note that the room still telegraphed, "ostentatious business is being done here," loud and clear. And that was what mattered.

"You're late," Blaise said, from his spot by one of the windows. The other Slytherin had pushed the drapes open slightly to let in some natural moonlight. It lent a certain ambiance to the room that firelight couldn't provide.

"I'm not late. Our guests have yet to arrive."

"And you were followed."

Draco smirked. "Yes, and they must have been a Gryffindor or a Hufflepuff. I could hear their breathing all the way down the hall, and they didn't even try to disillusion themselves."

Interest piqued, Blaise turned from the window. "Did you see who?"

Draco shook his head. "Nope, they were too far away. I only caught a glimpse of their robes. In any case I wouldn't be too worried about it. If they don't even know how to sneak around properly they won't be able to break in here."

"Or so you hope. I still think you should practice more caution," Blaise replied.

"I want people to see me sneaking around. You know I'm still being watched by the Dark Lord's people. If I still look like I'm trying to spy for my father, then I'll stay under his radar."

"No never mind that all your 'sneaking around' is to disrupt the Dark Lord's plans and not aid them."

"What the Dark Lord doesn't know, won't hurt him. Or hopefully it will," Draco quipped.

Blaise motioned towards the table and the two took a seat. As usual, Blaise had arranged for a tea tray to be brought, so Draco took it upon himself to pour himself a cup while they waited. He picked up the one nearest to him, and carefully looked it over before preparing his tea with the appropriate amounts of milk and sugar.

"Who are we waiting for today?" Draco asked, nursing the hot cup in his hands.

Three knocks sounded on the door before Blaise had the chance to reply. "Evidently, you're about to find out."

In a practiced move the two Slytherins covered the room in a thick fog, obscuring their features. Draco flicked his wand towards the door, and it opened for their guests.

"Hello?" a high female voice called hesitantly. Her hands were in front of her, one was pointing her wand towards the fog and the other was furtively trying to feel around for something solid to grab onto. If Draco wasn't mistaken, that voice belonged to Rebecca Listern, a fifth year Ravenclaw.

"I can't see a thing," another voice whispered behind the first. This one was male and sounded a bit younger.

Sounds like her cousin Samuel…what was he a fourth or fifth year?

"Neither can I. Stay close to me," the Rebecca ordered him.

Placing his wand to his throat and quietly muttering a charm, Draco finally opened his mouth. When he spoke his voice came out lower and rougher, as if he had pebbles lodged into his throat. It was nothing like his usual suave, rich accent, but then again, that was the point.

"Come in."

The two students shuffled forward, just as Blaise flicked his wand, shutting the door behind them. Light sealed around the edges of the door the minute it closed again. With the wards back up, the two students wouldn't be able to escape without either his or Blaise's permission. It was a good precaution to have just in case things went south.

When Draco finally deemed it safe enough to lift the fog, he raised his wand to the sealing. Whispering a simple wind charm, the fog was whisked from the room and out of the window.

"Rebecca, Samuel, how lovely of you to come visit us," Draco greeted them with a solicitous flair that would have impressed even his father.

"Please, come and sit." Blaise motioned towards the table. "Tea?"

The two Ravenclaws cautiously lowered themselves into the available seats, not even bothering to hide their confusion. Blaise began preparing their cups.

"Wait, so you and Blaise are working for Red Dragon?" Rebecca asked directly, nodding her head in thanks as she accepted the tea offered to her, and took a small sip.

Draco shot an exasperated look at his partner, who was preening at the mention of his beloved name. Red Dragon, their new brand, and Blaise's pride and joy. Really, when Draco had told him to think up a name for them, he didn't think his friend would actually go through with it. He had only been half joking at the time.

Well, what was done was done. The Red Dragon's deeds were already spreading throughout Hogwarts' walls and beyond. It had become an important symbol for their rebellion (he knew because Blaise wouldn't shut up about it), so there was no changing it now.

"Oh Merlin no," Blaise responded, pouring and handing Samuel a cup as well. "We aren't a part of Red Dragon. We are Red Dragon."

The look on the two students faces was comical, as they choked on their tea and sputtered in surprise.

"You are Red Dragon? You're the ones responsible for helping all the students escape Vol-You-Know-Who?" Samuel asked in disbelief.

"You say that as if it were impossible," Blaise responded.

Rebecca glanced between the two Slytherins, finally landing on Draco. "But your father is a Death Eater. And you hate Muggle-borns. Why would you be trying to stop You-Know-Who?"

The desire to bang his head against the table surged up within the blond wizard, as it did every time someone brought up his confounded father during these meetings (and they always did, because apparently his relationship with his father was everyone's bloody business). It was only his years of practicing at casual indifference that kept him from making a nice, Draco-sized face print on the table's surface. His smile, though plainly insincere, was at least still in place.

"Please," he said tightly, "let's not focus on unrelated topics. You've tracked us down so that you could get help, not to ask useless questions. Correct?"

"Yes, we have. I apologize," Rebecca offered, scratching at the table's wood awkwardly.

"Of course. No harm done—but back to business. Before we can begin, we do need to complete a brief test for security purposes."

"Test? What sort of test?" Samuel questioned, gripping his cup tightly.

Draco raised his hands. "There's nothing to be worried about. We won't ask a lot of you, we just need you to answer a few questions." He motioned for Blaise to take over.

"Right," Blaise began, "we'll only be asking three questions, so please answer as honestly as possible. Now the first one; when was the last time you were kissed? And with whom was it?"

"Last night with Bobby Fishmer," Samuel squeaked out, then threw his hand over his mouth. His face turned a fiery red.

Not even a second later, Rebecca blurted out, "A week ago with Rory from Hufflepuff." The two Ravenclaws shared equal looks of embarrassed horror. Rebecca was the first to grab her cup of tea and sniff at the liquid inside, she glared at the two Slytherin boys. "What did you put in the tea?"

"The tea? Nothing. However we did lace the rim of your cups with a strong dose of Veritaserum," Blaise explained nonchalantly.

"You drugged us?!"

"That's a tad dramatic, but yes, we did. And it appears as if it's working. I don't think any further practice questions are needed. Do you, Draco?"

"No, I'm satisfied."

"Why did you drug us?" Rebecca asked through gritted teeth.

Draco was the one to answer her. "What we do is extremely dangerous work. Our actions, in helping others escape the Dark Lord have painted a rather large target on our backs. For now, the Dark Lord doesn't know who we are specifically. Just that there is a vigilante group called Red Dragon that is defying him. In order to maintain our anonymity certain precautions need to be put in place, such as—" he pointed to the tea cups "—checking for spies."

"Which brings us to our real question." Blaise stepped in. "Are you spying for the Dark Lord, Voldemort, or any of his followers and/or supporters?"

There was only the smallest pause before the two cousins answered, "no," in unison. Their hands clasped on the table in relief afterward.

"Good. Now, the Veritaserum should wear off in about an hour. For the remainder of that time, neither Draco nor I will ask any invasive questions that do not immediately relate to your predicament. We only gave the potion to you for safety reasons not for our amusement."

"Thank you." Rebecca exhaled.

"You're welcome. Now, tell us what seems to be the problem."

"Well," Rebecca started, after being nudged by her cousin, "we're actually not here for ourselves. You see, my older brother, Jackson—he's three years ahead of me, and he recently got engaged to Samantha Blishwick."

"She was in Slytherin, graduated two years ago," Draco affirmed.

Rebecca nodded. "Exactly. She's a real sweet girl, everyone in my family loves her, but her own family isn't too happy about the match. It turns out that her parents had already set her up with Marcus Flint."

"Marcus was initiated into the Dark Lord's ranks last summer," Draco sighed, finally catching on to the trouble.

Rebecca and Samuel exchanged worried looks. "We had heard rumors of course, but we weren't sure until…well, until my brother was attacked three nights ago by Death Eaters."

Blaise leaned forward now. "He was the shop worker the Daily Prophet was talking about, wasn't he? They were saying they were unsure if he had survived."

"Oh he survived," Rebecca laughed humorlessly, "He's recovering slowly at St. Murgo's now. But I know that this isn't going to be the end of it. They'll keep coming, and eventually they'll kill him and I—" she choked on her tears, unable to finish.

Samuel took over for her while she cried into the handkerchief Blaise handed her. "Samantha hates Marcus and knows that he'll make her life a living hell now that she's 'embarrassed' him by publicly choosing a Half-Blood over him, but if it means keeping Jackson alive, she's already said she'll go through with the marriage…I don't think it'll be that simple."

"It won't," Blaise confirmed, "Marcus was more brawn then he ever was brain, but he follows the words of his father like they are gospel, and Bernard is not a nice man. He was insane even before he was thrown in Azkaban. He'll demand retribution for the insult to his family and that will most likely come in the form of your brother's life or your whole families' lives."

Rebecca whimpered into the handkerchief and Samuel pulled her into his side. He looked completely defeated. "Yeah," he said, "we were afraid of something like that."

"Well don't start crying yet. We haven't even gone over your options yet," Draco commented drily as he poured them both more tea.

"Draco's right," Blaise agreed, "though it looks bad now, there are some things we can do for you to protect your family."

"My brother won't want to move though. He's convinced that talking to the Headmaster will make everything better. He wants to join some Order thing, but I don't even know what that is!" Rebecca exclaimed.

Draco internally groaned. Another one wants to go to Dumbledore. Just great. I'm getting sick and tired of that old man horning in on my action.

Aloud he said, "While that is commendable of your brother, that wouldn't necessarily fix your situation. Not completely. Your family needs protection, protection that we can give you."

"We have safe houses in China, Japan, Egypt, Spain, Canada and America available right now," Blaise said, pulling out two thick packets. "Where would you prefer?"

"Well, America or Canada I guess. The farther away the better. But my family isn't going to want to move. We live with our grandmother and she's dead set on standing her ground. She says she won't let, 'those silly criminals push her out of her own country'," Rebecca replied tiredly. "She's so stubborn. Her and my brother."

"Yes, well I've heard of Lady Listern's legendary…tenacity. It's amazing that she was never sorted into Gryffindor."

Rebecca chuckled. "Ha, aint that the truth."

Blaise folded his hands under his chin. "But if you don't want to move, we can't force you. There are other ways to protect you, but they aren't as secure as being put into hiding."

"What are they?" Samuel asked.

"We can place a Fedelias Charm and stronger blood wards on your property. If we do this, I'll have to insist you all move into one abode," Draco said. "Do you have any properties in England that are large enough for your whole family?"

"Grandma's old manor is big enough, but it's kind of run down by now."

Blaise waved her concerns away. "Don't worry about that. I'll have a man take a glance at the property to assess it and we'll go from there. Samantha will also have to be brought into the family as quickly as possible so the blood wards will accept her. That means that she might have to forgo a proper wedding."

"Samantha won't care about that," Rebecca declared confidently. "She just wants to be with my brother and left alone."

"Very well, we'll make sure that the house is livable by that time then. It'll take us about two to three weeks to repair the house, so make sure they're married by that time."

"What should we do in the meantime? What if Jackson's attacked again before you're finished?"

"We'll be giving you all emergency portkeys that will transport you to a safer location should you ever be ambushed. We'll also place a guard in your brother's room to watch over him while he recovers. Where is Samantha and Lady Listern now?" Draco inquired.

"They're both in my Grandma's townhouse in London. She has some wards on the place, but they aren't that good."

"Very well, we'll have them moved to a more secure location—in England mind you—until your home is ready. As for you two, you're going to have to stay put in the school where it's safest. That means you'll probably have to skip the Hogsmeade trip next week."

The two cousins looked slightly put out by this, but they knew that there really was no other way. Their lives were worth more than a couple of Weasley products and a bag of Honeydukes toffy. "Alright," they said.

"Good. We'll flesh out more plans for your protection later on, but for now," Draco took the two packets from Blaise and slid them in front of the Ravenclaws, "these are for you to sign."

"We have to sign something?" Samuel asked.

"It's just a formality to ensure both your protection and ours. Nothing to worry about."

"Why does it feel…odd." Rebecca touched her contract with her wand and sparks immediately shot from the tip.

Blaise looked unconcerned as he answered, "Oh that's just the curse."

Her hand jumped back instantly. "You want us to sign a cursed object. Are you out of your mind?! There's no telling what it'll do to us."

"If you go back on your word, it will erase the memories of Red Dragon from your mind, stop you from so much as even uttering our names and alert Draco and I of your betrayal. See, no big mystery. If you don't try to betray us nothing will happen. You do, however, and you'll regret it." The look he sent them was filled with malicious promise and it had the cousins looking at the papers in front of them with trepidation.

Draco discreetly stomped on Blaise's foot under the table. "You have to understand our position. We have a lot of people relying on us and if something were to happen to us, that trouble would inevitably reach them. To make sure that everyone is as safe as possible certain actions need to be taken. We can't just blindly trust everyone who walks through our doors."

Blaise cleared his throat. "Yes, and feel free to look over the contract with a fine-toothed comb. We want to help you, not swindle you."

The two did just that, bending over the contract and moving through it at an agonizing pace. Draco and Blaise got up from the table to give them privacy and waited by the fireplace.

After about twenty minutes, Rebecca finally lifted her head. "What's this clause here that talks about performing a 'favor'."

"Ah." Blaise walked back to the table. "That's just asking you to be available if we should ever call on you. The 'favor' in question won't be anything too strenuous or devious. It's just if we need to hide someone else but don't have a safe house for them yet, for example. As a favor, we would ask you to house them until we could work something else out. We would never ask for something you were unable or unwillingly to do, as we've noted in the fine print under that clause."

"Alright," she said, "I'll sign."

"Me too," Samuel added.

"Wonderful," Blaise voiced, while pulling out a small pocket knife and switching it open. "The actual signing process is rather simple. We just need to prick your finger and then release a small drop of blood on the dotted line."

"But that's dark magic," Samuel remarked.

"I would say it was more grey than dark, actually. And unfortunately it is completely necessary if you wish to proceed."

Rebecca eyed the small knife warily. "Just out of curiosity, what would happen if we didn't sign the contract."

Blaise continued smiling but there was an edge to his smile now. "It would be like this never happened at all. For us, metaphorically, but for you two, quite literally. Your memories would be wiped before you even reached the door."

"Oh."

"But don't worry. We have yet to implement that protocol yet," Draco lied smoothly. "It really is just a formality to protect our other clients. You understand."

"Yeah, I guess." Rebecca held out her hand.

"Good. Now, stay still. This will sting only a little bit," Blaise instructed her, as he quickly pricked her finger and then pressed it down onto the paper. The contract trembled as the curse activated. In the blink of an eye, it disappeared, turning into a swirl of purple smoke that rose into the air, and flew into Rebecca's nostrils and mouth on her next inhale.

A shudder rippled through her body as she leaned back against her chair, tired and dazed. "What was that?" she asked.

"Your contract sealing itself. Don't worry, the side effects don't last long, just sit back and relax. Samuel, it's your turn." Blaise raised the knife expectantly.

The process was quickly repeated, and as soon as they were feeling better, the cousins left the room to head off to bed. The room was rather quiet after their departure.

"Well, that went rather well," Draco said, taking a seat baby the fire.

"Hmm…that's around thirty-five people we now have under our protection. Our influence is growing," Blaise said, staring into the fire quietly.

"It could get sloppy, if we don't watch ourselves."

"We will. My only issue is with the next phase of our plan," Blaise muttered.

Draco smirked at him. "Worried it won't work?"

"Oh it'll work. It's just what will happen afterward that I'm unsure about," his friend admitted.

"Well, we'll find out next weekend, won't we?" Draco took a sip of his tea, grimacing at the, by now, cold liquid.

Blaise looked up with a secretive grin, anticipation coiling in his every nerve. "Yes, yes we will."

Up Next: Fera and Snape meet for the first time!

As always, please review~