Chapter 21

*Warning: Probably contains typos and an unhealthy amount of...s*

Note: Someone predicted something that I planned on doing! I didn't know it was such a popular idea! :) Now I feel like it's my personal mission to throw you guys something that you're probably not expecting! You're welcome! *insert evil laughter here*

BEST REVIEW EVER!:

MORGANA'S SAGGING TITS! YOU DID NOT JUST LEAVE A CLIFFHANGER LIKE THAT! *pulls at hair* AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

TLA

Lucius was embarassed to admit that it scared him when his son suddenly appeared before him. Since moving to Forks, his cool-usually-unphased-by-anything demeanor had started slacking. His own son caught him off gaurd? What was that? He couldn't let his wits dim! Whether they were safe or not at the moment, there was still a war going on.

He and Draco were enemies to both sides now.

Not to mention the angry Dark Lord out to get them... Everything was just a mess.

"Father," Draco said, having landed before his father, still in his wheelchair. He had gotten much better at landing the damn thing after apparating although he still sometimes ended up on the floor.

"Draco," the older blonde replied. He could tell that his son knew something and he wouldn't hide anything. Not this time.

"Has anything happened? Anything you would like to tell me?"

"Yes."

Woah. He admitted it. That was easy. For some reason he always wants to hide things from me.

"I can tell what you're thinking, Son, and no. I don't always want to keep things from you. You just always find out before I've figured out how to let you know. I'll try to tell you everything. Severus was here earlier but got a message from Abberthy, you know, the head of the Darling family?" His son nodded. "It seems that the Dark Lord decided to use Abberthy's son to test the potion Severus created."

Draco looked at his father in horror. "The Dark Lord...?"

"No. It was Arcus Sheppley. Severus was called to check on the boy."

Draco felt sick to his stomach. He had never been particularly close to Aaron Darling even though they were in the same house. Honestly, the blonde had always thought Aaron belonged in Hufflepuff. He was too nice and too sweet to be in Slytherin. Did the brunette even have a deceptive bone in his body? A mean bone? He never even seemed to frown! Needless to say, Draco thought it was best to leave the Darling boy alone. In a way it was for his own good; there was just too much darkness around the blonde, and he didn't want any of it to rub off on Aaron.

Being on the Dark side changed everybody. His father used to laugh and play with him, his mother would sing and dance to make him laugh, even Severus would have fun. Draco, himself, would admit that he had changed with the Mark on his arm. He hadn't always been a stuck-up asshole, which he would admit to being, but now, that's who he was. He was a brat with a dark past; the only reason the wolves didn't see it was because of the imprint. Anyways...

The point was, no one got through the Dark unscathed. However, if Draco had to pick someone that the Dark just could not affect, it would be Aaron Darling.

But with what he was going through now...?

"There's more Draco..."

The younger blonde just looked at his father expectantly.

"We haven't said this in so many words because it seems obvious what the Dark Lord wants, but I'll say it now. The Dark Lord is testing this potion on poor Aaron because he wants to make sure it'll work on you. That's how he plans to punish us. He's been working on a new spell, one to summon people to him... even if they don't want to come... They'll be forced to answer his call and appear before him."

"So you're saying... that eventually, no matter where we are, we won't be safe..."

Lucius nodded his head. "That's what I'm saying, but I will never allow him to hurt you, Draco. Never."

Stay calm, Draco. Stay. Calm. "I believe you, Father," he replied with a small smile. Father is worried enough, just smile and nod. There you go. Perfect. "Thanks for telling me. I'm going to go up to my room, okay? I'm tired."

Lucius bent down to hug his son tightly. He could tell he was upset, but that was fine; he had a right to be upset. "It's getting late anyway. Goodnight, Son." He kissed his son's forhead.

Normally, the younger Malfoy would push him away when he did that, but he let it slide. "Goodnight, Father."

TLA

Jacob couldn't explain why but he had a heavy feeling in his chest. He was upset, but there was nothing wrong with him. This is really weird. He had been perfectly fine- just sitting around the fire with the pack- then he was suddenly overcome by a foul mood. He felt kind of scared, hurt, worried, tired... He had no idea why.

"Yo, Jake. What's wrong man?" Embry questioned.

Jacob rubbed a hand over his heart where the heavy feeling was centered. "I don't know," he replied with a grimace.

Seth laughed and made kissy faces at him. "I think you just miss Draco." The rest of the pack laughed too.

Jacob smiled; he did miss Draco. Maybe that's what's wrong with me. But he had missed Draco as soon as he'd left. He was only just recently feeling weird like this.

"Maybe Draco is upset," Sam spoke up.

Everyone looked at him, confused. Jacob, worried. "What do you mean?"

Sam shrugged his massive shoulders. "I mean, sometimes if Emily is really upset I'll feel upset too. I won't even know she's upset. I'll go from happy to sad for apparently no reason, Emily calls me and she's upset over something. I put two and two together."

"What'd you do to him?" Leah questioned Jacob, tossing a bitchy glare at him.

"Nothing!" Jacob exclaimed hurriedly, throwing his hands up. "At least... I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything."

"You probably did something and just don't know it. Women are crazy like that," Quil chuckled.

"Hey!" Leah glared.

"Draco isn't a woman," Seth pointed out.

"Yeah, but he's an imprint so it counts." Everyone laughed again.

"What was that?" Sam questioned, having heard something in the forrest behind them.

"I didn't hear any-" Seth began. A chorus of 'shhs' shut him up quick. When the Alpha heard something that meant to be quiet so you could listen for possible threats.

After a second everyone could hear what Sam had heard. There was the sound of running, something was running towards them. What ever it was wasn't very stealthy on its feet; it was breaking limbs and making all kinds of noise.

"Vampire?" Seth questioned inching closer to his sister; he would swear it was to protect her of course.

"No... It smells kind of-" someone began to reply.

"Draco." Jacob said, beginning to run towards the treeline.

The pack followed at a slower pace; Jacob could handle his mate. But just in case it wasn't Draco... Because it did smell kind of like him, but it also smelled different. Maybe Jacob was mistaken. They would back him up just in case.

Within moments, they all witnessed Jacob get tackled to the ground by a pure-white wolf.

TLA

Draco had done his best to sneak out without alerting his father, which meant no apparating. It was damn hard to get out of that damn chair, to the window, and safely on the ground below. It was made harder by the fact that his room was on the second floor of the house. How Father didn't hear all the ruckus I made is beyond me. He managed to get out and change in to his Animagus form.

He ran.

Physical exercise always calmed him down. It was why he had taken up martial arts, otherwise he wouldn't have even considered a Muggle solution to his problems at all. Wearing himself out always made it easier to reign in whatever bad feelings were raging inside him. However, still being stuck in the wheelchair, he couldn't do anything as a human. His Animagus form was fully functional so he put it to good use.

He had no destination in mind. He just knew that he needed to try and outrun his feelings. Logically, he knew that he couldn't, but it was a nice idea regardless. He liked the thought of being able to outrun his problems.

The Dark Lord wants to...

He ran through the woods on autopilot, weaving around trees, stumps, shrubs, and the like.

I'm supposed... to bear... his...

He ran faster and faster, not noticing the familar scents that he was approaching. He had known that the potion had this kind of purpose but to hear of Darling and to see the genuine worry and fear in his father's eyes...

He'll find me. He'll take me away. I'll never see Jacob again...

Jacob.

I want to see him. Now.

He kept the shifter in his thoughts; that is all that he wanted to think about.

He ran a bit farther and finally paid attention to his surroundings; he was in the woods around the Reservation. He vaguely recognized them from his run with Jacob the other day, but he clearly recognized the smell.

Jacob. Jacob. Jacob. Jacob, this mantra repeated in his head as he ran. He knew where he was going now.

He caught a glimpse of a fire burning up ahead, through the trees. Jacob would be there; he knew it. He picked up his pace and cleared the trees shortly, spotting his target easily and jumping at him. He was very glad that his relatively small size wouldn't hurt the shifter; he did land on his back with a grunt though.

"Draco?" Jacob questioned, sitting up, worried. "What's wrong?" He heard his pack show up and heard their surprise, but he ignored them. His mate was obviously very upset.

The white wolf just panted and pushed his head into the shifter's chest. Not knowing what else to do, Jacob ran his hands through the wolf's soft fur. "Are you okay?" he tried. He still got no reply, but the wolf did get even closer to him. He won't turn back into a human so he obviously doesn't want to talk right now... "Seth," he called.

The smaller shifter appeared almost instantly. "Is this really Draco?" he asked, awed.

Jacob nodded absently, pushing the wolf away enough to stand and pull his shirt off. "He's upset. I need you to take my clothes for me okay?" He quickly stripped down and handed the smaller shifter his clothes. "Just hold them for me or take them to my dad. Doesn't matter." There was a pitiful whine and Jacob hurriedly shifted. His attention left Seth completely in favor of Draco.

The massive russet-colored wolf laid down and the smaller white one cuddled up to him as close as it could get.

Seth, feeling like he had a job to do, turned away and carried Jacob's clothes back to the group. "Nothing to see here, folks," he said, trying to shoo them away.

"Oh no you-" Leah began, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Leave it alone," Sam said in his alpha voice. "There's nothing to see here," he repeated Seth's words.

Seth smiled at his sister triumphantly and stuck his tongue out childishly. Sam popped him on the head. "Watch your tongue," he scolded. "I really hope I have a daughter," he added as they made their way back to the fire.

Everyone laughed.

TLA

Getting the boy out was easier said than done.

First of all, Severus had to get the boy out without giving himself away. He planned on getting him to Forks where it was safe, but how could he do so without indangering the ones there that he was already protecting? If Aaron disappeared when Severus was the last to see him then it would be easy to pin the Potions master as the culprit, and in turn, the trail would be pretty easy to follow so Death Eaters would swarm in Washington.

Second of all, the boy would need medical attention and not a novice to heal some scratches. He thought that maybe one of Dumbledore's friends was a doctor, one of the vampires, but he wasn't sure. He didn't even know if they would help. Hmm... They were watching Potter...

Anyways...

Finally, would Lucius castrate him for bringing the boy to his house? His hideaway? Severus thought it would be okay, but a part of him was honestly worried about the head Malfoy's reaction. He didn't like being caught off gaurd. Inviting another person on the Dark Lord's Must-Find list to Lucius' house would probably piss him off.

But it was the only way to make sure the boy was safe.

And maybe the vampires would keep him...

Lucius would understand. He had to.

As Severus was contemplating a plan of action, the boy woke up.

"Professor Snape?" a tiny voice questioned groggily.

Severus grabbed a goblet from the nightstand and offered it to his student. "Drink this, Mr. Darling," he replied softly.

The boy took the offered drink and sipped it at first. "A tasteless calming draught?" he questioned with a small smile, drinking more.

Severus smiled in return, approvingly. "I should have known that you'd pick it out; you are the best Potions student in all of Slytherin House after all."

"Thank you, Professor," the boy replied, finishing the drink. "Have you seen my father?" he questioned.

Severus sighed and nodded. "He's the one who summoned me. He left a while ago though. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Aaron assured. "I knew he wouldn't come see me."

The Potions master wasn't sure if the boy was angry or what because of the calming affects of the draught. He decided to assume that the boy was upset and try to defend his father. "He blames himself for what you had to endure. I don't know if I'd be able to face you either."

"I don't blame him. I've never blamed him for anything," Aaron replied sadly. He never once allowed himself to feel like his life was dark because of his father. He knew that his father loved him no matter what, nothing else mattered. He just wished his father could see that and stop assuming that he was a bad parent.

Severus watched the boy for a moment, observing. Finally, he said, "Even with the calming draught, you're very... normal... considering what has happened."

"Don't you mean what will happen? I'm pregnant right?" the boy replied with a smirk.

Well, that was unexpected. "You are, how'd you know?"

"I can feel it... It's weird..." He placed a hand on his bare stomach, touching the dots around his belly-button. "Those are new," he pointed out.

"As I said, you're taking this awfully well... Why?"

Aaron sighed and leaned back against the headboard. "Ever since my father gave me that potion you made I've believed that this would happen. I've long since accepted it. However, until I was tossed into Sheppley's arms, I believed I would have to... to... be with the Dark Lord..." He grimaced. "I was scared, very scared, every day that I would be called in to the Dark Lord's chambers. When he handed me over to Sheppley all I felt was relief. I still feel relieved, even now, even through all the pain in my body, even through the memory of him hurting me." He offered his professor a small smile. "I know that it's very stupid of me, but I'm glad it was Sheppley because that means that it wasn't him."

Severus had a new respect for his student. Of course, he had always looked highly upon Aaron's Potions marks because they were mostly perfect scores, and Severus easily respected students who were good in his class. Now, he was seeing a whole new side to his student because even though he was amazing at Potions, Severus always had a feeling that the boy belonged in Hufflepuff. He was sweet, loyal, and bright, the exact opposite of a Slytherin. This boy, who just went through that, who was carrying a rapist's child, who had every reason in the world to cry, yell, breakdown, complain, or frown, was smiling. He seemed to genuinely be okay, if not in a little bit of pain.

He was probably the bravest boy he'd ever met, the embodiment of Gryffindor.

"You must have thrown the Sorting Hat through a real loop," he found himself saying out loud. Aaron looked at him, confused; he just chuckled before turning serious again. He said as quietly as he could, "I'm getting you out of here."

The boy's violet eyes widened. "Where will you take me?"

"To see some old friends of mine," the professor replied simply. "You stay here and rest, no one should bother you. I'll return with directions, okay?" He had finally decided how to get the boy out.

The boy nodded, a little confused, but he wouldn't complain. He wouldn't care if Professor Snape took him to the North Pole as long as he was out of this place. "I don't know how I'll rest though. I'm not tired."

"Are you sure?" Severus questioned with a smile, and as if on cue the boy yawned.

Aaron looked at his teacher, surprised. "You gave me a sleeping draught too?" He yawned again.

"You only got half of the potion right," the man replied. "It was a calming sleep draught."

"There went my perfect score in Potions," the boy mumbled, eyelids heavy.

Severus patted his head. "Go to sleep. When you wake up, you'll be ready to leave."

"Thanks... Professor..." came the sleepy reply before the boy was once again asleep.

Severus watched him for a moment more before leaving the room. He cast a charm over the door. He didn't use very strong magic because he didn't want it to draw any attention, but his spell was enough to make everyone overlook the room. He really just wanted to keep Arcus Sheppley away. When he was satisfied, he left to retrieve an illegal portkey. He knew just the man to get it from too... Regretfully.

TLA

After his talk with Draco, Lucius went to his room to get in his shower. There was just something calming about the warm spray over his body.

As he took his shower he thought about everything that had happened and what he knew would happen. He could understand Abberthy Darling's actions, why he had just let something horrible happen to his son because he hadn't seen any other option. Nevertheless, Lucius would not let something like that happen to his son, ever. He knew firsthand that his son had been through enough. Draco was not going to be touched by that monster, not if Lucius had anything to say about it.

He didn't think that he could stop the Dark Lord from finding them, but maybe he could think of a way to keep his hands off of his son.

How?

As he rinsed the bubbles from his hair he tried to think of a plan, but it was rather difficult. One thought did cross his mind, but he still didn't think he could make it work.

"Dammit!" he cursed as he stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist.

"Cursing again, Lucius?"

"Severus?" the blonde questioned. "What are you doing back? How is young Darling?"

The Potions master had only come to tell Lucius his plan and then leave for the boy again. However... The sight of Lucius dripping wet was a bit distracting. It took a minute but he was able to reply in a steady voice. "I believe he'll be fine. That's why-"

"And the potion?" the blonde interrupted, running his hand through his long hair.

Severus sighed, trying not to stare. He really liked Lucius' hair. "It works. Every sign was positive when I checked him over."

"You're too good, Severus," the blonde said with a grim smile. He noticed his friend's eyes glued to his fingers that were still combing through his hair. His smile grew more sincere. "Still have a hair fetish?"

The Potions professor scoffed and looked away with a roll of his eyes. "I do not have a hair fetish."

"I'm pretty sure when you said to me, 'Lucius I think I have a hair fetish', that it meant you have a fetsih," the blonde replied with a laugh.

"I was fourteen," Severus replied indignantly. He was seriously trying not to pout his lips like a child. "I said a lot of stupid things."

Lucius was still laughing. "I think Lily is the one that made you think that right? She really did have the prettiest ginger hair."

"I prefer blonde," the professor mumbled without even thinking about it. He was still avoiding looking at the blonde, but when he realized what he said he looked at his friend to be surprised when Lucius was suddenly much closer to him. Just another step or two and they would be touching...

"What did you say, Severus?"

Severus tried not to let his eyes wander, but it was hard. "I... um..." He cleared his dry throat. "I didn't say anything," he finally got out.

"I think you did," the blonde replied. "And I'm glad you like it," he added with a smile. If he thought about it, maybe Severus was the reason he had grown his hair out anyways... He had always liked it long but really it was a hassle as he grew and especially being a Death Eater. He stood out with long, white-blonde hair, something that made his easy to pick out, but he had never had the heart to cut it. Maybe, deep down, he had hoped that his friend would like it.

"It suits you," the dark-haired man admitted. He had always wanted to run his hands through it... But it wasn't the time for that. He forced himself to take a step back. "I came here for a specific reason," he said, more to himself than to Lucius. "I need to get Darling out of there. I already have a way out; I just need a safe place to bring him. So I was-"

"Bring him here, of course," Lucius interrupted. "I've never been a friend of the Darling family, you know that, but young Aaron... he could have been Draco... Thinking like that makes me want to help him. Me, Draco, what's one more person?" He finished with a smile but Severus could tell that it wasn't as real or happy as he wanted it to be.

"I need to talk to Dumbledore's friends; one of them is a doctor. I was hoping they would help."

Lucius brightened a bit at the thought. "That would be perfect!"

Severus smiled; it would be. "I'm bringing him tomorrow. I got a port key to give him and he'll end up here. I'll have to take him to the vampires."

"A port key? Surely you didn't go to the ministry for that." Lucius saw Severus grimace. "You didn't, right?"

"Of course not," the man replied. "I would never risk you and Draco like that. I got it from somewhere else, someone else..."

By the look on his friend's face, Lucius figured out who that someone was. He chuckled a bit. "You went to Sirius Black for help?" His chuckle became a laugh. Severus hated Sirius. Loathed, despised, abhorred, all of the above.

Severus' grimace grew. "It was definitely not one of my proudest moments. Oh, hush, you," he almost growled, shoving the blonde lightly. He tried not to smile though because Lucius' laughter was too catching.

Until the towel dropped... And then, neither of them were laughing.

They stared at each other, frozen. Dark, almost black eyes stuck on frosty, silvery-blue.

"Oops," Lucius mumbled, breaking the tense silence, face warming.

Severus, bless him, kept his eyes on the blonde's face. "I need to get ready for tomorrow. I'll see you then." And then, he was gone.

Lucius released a shakey breath and grabbed the towel, fixing it on his hips again. The tension between them just now could have been cut with a knife...

As a Malfoy, with a long family history of darkness, Lucius had never believed in happy endings. However, he found himself hoping that everything would be okay. He hoped that he would get a chance to explore whatever it was between himself and Severus.

He sighed and went into his bedroom.

TLA

Jacob wasn't sure how long he just laid there as a wolf, Draco as a wolf snuggled into him. At first, the white wolf was shaking; it gradually calmed and might have even dozed off. Jacob was damn curious and worried. What happened? Was Draco okay? But he easily just let himself be a body of support instead of asking questions. When his mate was ready to talk then they would talk.

Jacob felt he was going to doze off himself when the body next to him suddenly changed. Draco wolf was now Draco boy. He wrapped his pale arms around Jacob's russett-colored neck, burying his blonde head into the soft fur. Jacob thought of changing back into a human but where Draco was clothed, he knew he wouldn't be... He would wait and see.

Not that I would mind him hugging my naked body... Now was not the time for that.

The blonde said something, but even with his enhanced hearing Jacob couldn't understand the slight mumbling into his fur. Draco must have known that because he pulled away and repeated himself.

"I can get pregnant."

What?

TLA

SasunaruTLA: Okay, Draco! Way to just throw that out there! :)

Sorry about the wait you guys! But I think you've waited longer before!

In my defense, but in no way an excuse, I stumbled across a story that is 109 chapters long and I CANNOT for the LIFE OF ME stop reading it! I can barely think about anything else! I HAVE to read it or I'll go insane! Crimson1 is the author and the story is Incubus, a Supernatural story. It's not an excuse, I know, but haven't we all found something we just had to read and couldn't write because of it? I'm sure we all have!

Please Review! And if you want a reply then send me a PM after reviewing! I know for a fact I'll reply to that!