Title:Game Without Tears

Disclaimer: I do not own, wish I did, but I don't. I only own my plot line. Full disclaimer, first chapter.

Author: ShaeLynn Teelle

All other information: See first chapter.

Polite constructive criticism welcome. FLAMES WILL BE FED TO THE DRAGON IN MY BED.

Chapter 19: Broken Wings

"Dragon, you have to eat. Starving yourself isn't going to help. Please, Dragon, open your door and come out here," Pansy's plea was met with silence.

She waited for another minute before sighing and walking back over to the table. Pansy shook her head at Daphne and silently went back to her meal. Daphne looked over to the closed door, sympathy and anger warring in her eyes. The Slytherin girl pushed her plate towards the center of the table. Then, she rose and went to the fireplace, sitting at the end of what had unofficially been claimed as her couch.

A moment later Gregory followed and sat next to Daphne, wrapping his arms about her torso. Daphne leaned back against the solid warmth of her intended and lost herself in the momentary peace. The other two joined them in front of the fire, not wanting to watch the house elves pop in and clean away the dishes, including the ones that hadn't been touched. A quarter of an hour later the entrance opened and Snape walked in. He scowled as the four on the couches didn't even acknowledge him.

"Where's Mr. Malfoy?"

Pansy pointed to Draco's closed door, not saying anything. Draco had previously asked for a few harmless ingredients from the man and Dumbledore so he could make a heating lotion for relaxing tense muscles. The two girls had insisted on taking the cleansing potion again now that they were never returning to the Snake. Vincent and Gregory had also taken the potion after what they'd been through and all four were sore for days afterwards. Snape had let loose his scathing tongue and Draco had returned empty-handed. None of the five were inclined to be incredibly respectful to the Potions Master.

The Professor's scowl deepened and he crossed the room to the left-hand door only to find it locked. He pulled out his wand and unlocked it. Severus opened it to find a room that was bathed in shadows since the only light was what came from the fire burning low in the fireplace. On the floor in front of the fire sat Draco, a thick blanket wrapped tightly about himself. He didn't look up as the door was opened. He just continued to stare into the fire barely two feet in front of him, not moving, even when Professor Snape came to his side, glaring.

"He's blocked her from the rooms, hasn't he?" Draco asked very quietly, startling the Professor. Severus opened his mouth to answer and was stopped, "You don't have to answer, Professor. I know that he has. I can tell. What do you want?"

"The Headmaster wishes to speak with you. Get up and get ready. I don't like to be kept waiting," Severus turned and stalked from the room, leaving the door open.

A few minutes later Draco left his room to see Professor Snape resolutely ignoring the Slytherins that sat in front of the fireplace, but as they were also ignoring the Professor, it seemed rather childish. The Professor nodded without looking at him and walked to the entrance. Draco silently followed after and felt the magic of the wards tingle across his skin as he exited them. Severus had Draco walk in front of him so he could watch everything the young man did. When they reached the Gargoyle, Severus clearly spoke the password and the stone moved to the side, allowing them to enter into the rotating stairwell.

Draco didn't say a word when he entered the circular office. Dumbledore nodded at him and gestured for him to take a seat in one of the plush chairs before his desk which Draco declined at the moment. Snape had followed Draco into the office, closing the door behind him and taking a place against the wall near the door. For several minutes no one spoke. Draco's eyes were on his hands while Dumbledore and Snape watched him silently.

"I understand from the house-elves that you have not eaten for several days, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore stopped and waited for an answer. When none was forthcoming and Draco hadn't raised his eyes he continued, "May I enquire as to why, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Has my mother been in contact with you since the infirmary, Headmaster?" Draco countered quietly, his voice calm, but his insides were knotted with worry as they had been for several days.

"Perhaps."

The two Professors watched as Draco sank into the chair that he had ignored earlier. He closed his eyes for a moment and let out a quiet sigh.

"Is that why you have not been eating, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Not entirely, Headmaster. I just… haven't been hungry. I don't think my stomach would accept anything for very long," Draco answered.

"Are you ill?" Snape asked, reminding Draco of the other Professor's presence.

"No, sir. I'm not ill. There's simply a lot that I need to think about and much of it is rather unsettling."

There was silence for several moments until Draco spoke again, "Did the other students make it to King's Cross safely, Headmaster?"

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy. There was an attack on the train just as you and the others discovered there would be. We were able to capture all but one of the Death Eaters that were involved with only a bare handful of Order members and Aurors coming away with minor injuries. The Death Eaters that were caught are being held deep within the Ministry containment areas until trials can be arranged and Azkaban is made ready for additional inmates.

Draco nodded and silence filled the room once more. Snape and Dumbledore glanced at each other several times in their process of watching the quiet Slytherin. No one quite noticed when the sun had crept below the horizon as, with most of Hogwarts, as the light dimmed candles automatically began to burn to compensate, keeping the light even until all the candles or torches in the rooms were lit.

It was only when a figure appeared by Dumbledore's desk did the Headmaster remove his attention from Draco. Snape's attention was brought to the figure the moment she spoke. So lost in his thoughts was Draco that he didn't see the specter until he heard his name.

"Albus, I demand that you stop this utter foolishness and allow me to see my son. Why are you punishing Draco and the rest of them like this? Do you not have enough proof already of where their loyalties—"

"Mum?" Draco spoke quietly, trying to keep his expressionless mask in place.

"Draco?" Narcissa's spirit turned and saw him, a smile crossing her face. "My little Komodo. Are you alright? Have you been sleeping at all?"

"Only a little," Draco answered, refusing to look at either of the professors in the room.

"Oh, Komodo, why are these nightmares still plaguing you worse than before?"

Narcissa floated over to stand by the Slytherin's chair. She laid a hand gently against the side of his face and Draco turned into it, despite the freezing chill.

"I don't know why they keep coming, but they don't stop. Every time I close my eyes, they start. I can't stop them."

As Draco finished a tear ran down the right side of his face beneath Narcissa's hand, turning to ice by the time it reached his chin. When Narcissa saw this she pulled her hand away, letting the tear melt again in the silence of the room. Then, Narcissa turned again to the Headmaster, fury in her eyes.

"Stop barring me from those rooms, Albus. I can't help them escape if that's what you're worried about and I can't do anything to bother anyone else in the castle. Let me see them. Let me at least visit with my son without him being brought here to have an audience."

Dumbledore looked at the woman in silent contemplation, any twinkle he had was absent from his eyes. Finally he turned to Snape, watching the other professor for a moment in silence before speaking.

"What do you think, Severus?"

The Potions professor looked between the three in the room with him before crossing his arms over his chest, sneering at the two Slytherins, "Let her visit with them if you wish. I see no harm in it, but if anything untoward happens, block her from the rooms again. I'm sure they can't really object to those terms."

"Indeed, Severus. Well, Narcissa. Draco. What say you to those terms?"

Draco looked down, knowing that there really wasn't any choice in the matter. He wanted to see his mother, even if he did have an audience. Narcissa huffed and glared at Albus, her next words tightening the conditions even more.

"In that case why don't you have me check in and have an escort while I'm there?" she asked sarcastically.

The two Professors looked at each other for a moment in silence. Then, they turned hard eyes onto the young man and spirit occupying the room.

"That is not a bad suggestion, Headmaster."

"Indeed, Severus. It does have merit and it could help when they have to learn to work together," Dumbledore said, never taking his eyes from Narcissa.

"Would he agree to it, however? It is notorious how stubborn he has become in the last two years."

"We have only but to ask and Mr. Potter would act as escort any time they wish to visit together," Albus sat back in his chair when he finished, one hand stroking his beard in thought.

"Just ensure that he is aware these visits are liable to take place at all hours of the night," Severus answered, scowling at the thought of Harry going against a possibility of five Slytherins despite how little he tolerated the young man. Even with the five unarmed, Severus was unsure of just whom would be the victor in such a confrontation.

While Narcissa and Draco, whose head had come up sharply at Harry's surname, watched in stunned silence, Albus fire-called Harry. Half an hour later Harry was walking down the hallways of Hogwarts to the Slytherins' secluded suite. Draco followed behind him about six steps, Narcissa floating beside her son. Neither had spoken a word since the fire-call, not wanting to say something and have Narcissa blocked entirely from the rooms again. Behind the two silent figures came Snape, simply watching the two to ensure they didn't try anything.

When Draco and Narcissa reached the portrait of the red phoenix next to Godric Gryffindor, it had already risen and Harry was holding the inner door open for the two of them. They entered the room and Harry was about to close the door when Severus stopped him, loud enough for everyone in the main room of the suite to hear.

"You need to enter the room as well, Potter."

"The Headmaster only said to escort Mrs. Malfoy's spirit to the chambers when she wished to visit with her son," Harry answered firmly, fully intent on arguing the fact out with Snape.

"The Headmaster asked you to be her escort when she is visiting Mr. Malfoy. He did not ask that you escort her to the chambers, but to escort her while she was visiting. That means having her within your sight at all times, Potter," Snape snarled at the Gryffindor.

"You're treating this as though she's done something wrong."

"She was a Death Eater, Potter. I've seen her there with my own eyes. Every Death Eater has done something wrong!"

There was silence for a moment and then, Harry's voice came again, just before the door closed, "Why can you not accept that someone might honestly wish to atone for their crimes? You did."

When Harry entered the main room of the suite he found six Slytherins watching him. He met each of their eyes for a brief moment before sitting down in a chair that had appeared behind him against the wall near the entry. The Gryffindor closed his eyes, trying to give the six as much privacy as he could. The room was quiet for several long moments. Then, Harry felt as though someone was standing nearby, closer than any of the Slytherins had been. He opened his eyes and saw Narcissa's spirit watching him from about five feet away. He resisted the urge to growl at her, not having forgotten the end of his fifth year.

"I'm sorry, Harry."

The Gryffindor froze at both the apology and his name coming from the lips of the woman before him. He said nothing, wondering exactly what she was apologizing for, but having a good idea what he would like it to be.

"It was either I spoke with Kreacher or Lucius would have killed me. It is no excuse for my actions, but please accept my apology. I regret what happened to Sirius. I never agreed with my cousin on anything, but never have I wanted him dead. And thank you, for trying to allow us some privacy and giving my son and his friends another chance."

"Everyone deserves a second chance, Mrs. Malfoy. Whether or not I have, many of my closest friends have accepted that your son is not exactly the same person that we have always believed him to be. The least I can do is try to see what my friends see in him that has led to his acceptance."

"And what of your thoughts on us, Potter?" Pansy asked calmly from her place at Vincent's side. "We heard that you don't agree completely with Professor Snape, but where do you stand?"

Harry looked over at the Slytherin, seeing no negative emotions displayed towards him. Then, he remembered how she had looked when she had first been brought into the infirmary along with the others when their betrayal was discovered.

"You were confined to these rooms so that those whom were involved knew where you were at all times and to keep you safe from anything your parents or Voldemort might do. You weren't confined here to be treated as prisoners and I know of no reason why you should be treated as such. Professor Snape has had an even smaller capability to trust than he had before. There is only a small group that he trusts which he will speak to on a one-to-one basis. His hatred for anything to do with the Death Eaters or Voldemort has increased tremendously since we were captured less than a week ago.

"I no longer believe that you are untrustworthy to the extent I did before. I have never seen this side of any of you, even Daphne, and I don't trust it. But I don't believe that you present any more danger to the Order than I do, perhaps even less. That is all I can say at the moment. I don't know enough about the five of you to have a more advanced opinion than that."

Pansy offered a small smile to the black-haired man, "Thank you, Potter. That is more than I expected when I asked you that question. When you see your friends next, will you thank them for us, for all of us, for believing in us enough to give us a second chance."

"I don't think you should go as far as that. They know you are here as they are still part of the DA, but they are not all going to forgive and forget any time soon. Many have shown Draco courtesy in accepting that he has helped them in some way or another, but they are not convinced that every one of you is worthy of a second chance to prove you are not what they thought. Especially you, Daphne, and the members of the DA that know of you are questioning Tracey's involvement in the entire thing," Harry confessed quietly, only briefly meeting Pansy's eyes at the beginning of his words.

There was silence in the room from the Slytherins and Narcissa quietly looked between the group of five and Harry. Then, a quiet laughter broke through the uncomfortable stillness and brought everyone's attention to Daphne, where she sat near the fire beside Gregory. She kept laughing for a few moments before she stopped suddenly and looked up, her eyes finding Draco's and holding them.

"The world is changing and no matter what side wins we will always bear the name of either Death Eater or Traitor and either name signs our warrant. Choosing the middle of both sides when neither will keep us alive at the end. The sun sets on us and the moon hides its face behind the clouds while the stars wink out their light." The words were broken and hardly more than a whisper and at the end Daphne rose and crossed the room to her own where she quietly closed the door behind her.

No one spoke, watching the door Daphne had closed and waiting. Only a few moments later Gregory stood from his place and walked almost silently to the bedroom. He opened the door enough to slip through it and the others thought to leave the two alone for a while until they heard Gregory cry out Daphne's name. Then, there was a flurry of activity to reach the doorway, even Harry following behind everyone else.

Pansy was the first to reach the door and pushed it open completely, running into the room without a second thought. Draco and Narcissa followed her, but Vincent stopped in the doorway, leaving only enough room for Harry to see what was happening. The sight that greeted him unnerved him even more than he was ever willing to admit.

Gregory sat on the floor, holding Daphne against him as she cried heavily into his shirt. Pansy sat beside them holding one of Daphne's hands as she stopped the slight bleeding coming from her wrist. On the floor nearby where it had dropped when Gregory startled Daphne just as she had begun, was a small knife, a shiny edge of red barely coating the end of it. Draco saw it about the same time Harry did and snatched it off the floor, moving away from Daphne and keeping it from the girl's sight.

He came to the doorway with it and held it out sideways towards Harry, "Potter, can you get rid of this? I don't want her to see it or have it anywhere near her."

Harry nodded, "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Potter."

Harry turned back towards the blonde to see both he and Vincent watching him.

"Don't say anything to the professors, or the Headmaster, or anyone. Please."

Harry nodded again and left the room quietly, leaving the Slytherins to care for their own. When he returned no more than five minutes later Draco, Vincent, and Narcissa's spirit were again in the main room before the fire. They looked up when Harry entered, but otherwise said nothing.

"How is she?" Harry asked quietly, coming close enough to stand behind the unoccupied couch.

"She'll heal," Draco answered quietly, having turned his gaze back to the flames in the hearth.

"What happened? Does anyone know why…"

"It was too much. Daphne had never really been party to what her father did until he drove her mother mad only a few years ago. She was never told that she was expected to get the Mark until this past summer holiday. Her mother kept her sheltered as best she could until she was admitted to St. Mungo's and Daphne's done her best to keep her younger sister sheltered from their father. The rest of us have had the majority of our lives to accept what fate our fathers would force us into, but she's only had a few years really. She's begun to give up on hope and—"

"But shouldn't her hope have lasted longer than yours? I don't understand."

"Potter, the only thing that's kept Vin, Pan, Greg, and I alive for the last few years has been hope. Hope that we've held onto since we were children. Daphne's only known about this for a few years. When she saw her father drive her mother insane, any hope she had as a child was gone. She's had to find new hope since then and for a moment this afternoon she couldn't find any."

Harry was silent for a while, taking in what Draco had said and watching the blonde Slytherin. Then, his eyes were drawn to the closed doorway. "Pansy and Gregory are with her?"

"Yes. They will be for most of the night," Vincent answered quietly. "We've taken everything resembling a knife or sharp object from the room and both their trunks. Someone will stay with her every moment for a few days until she—" Vincent's words faltered and he turned his gaze to the fire, unable to say anymore.

Draco took over where the other Slytherin had left off. "It will take some time, but eventually Daphne will find some hope again. Something to keep her going. But it will take time."

Harry nodded silently, somehow knowing that the group would ensure the safety of Daphne during this time and wouldn't let anything else happen if they could at all prevent it. He stayed the rest of that night, keeping silent company with the two Slytherins and the one spirit. Harry left when Narcissa left to get some sleep in his own bed, but returned the next night with the spirit. Narcissa didn't return for the rest of that week, needing to speak with some distant relatives, but Harry returned two days later to ask after Daphne. At the end of that week, on Saturday afternoon, the Slytherins received a visitor. An unexpected one.

Responses are appreciated.