The Family Name: Year Four

By Elbereth in April

Chapter 14

Accordingly, two and a half days later, Draco Floo'ed to Fowl Manor with Vince and Greg in tow. "It's over," Draco reported. "He's in Azkaban."

Artemis nodded solemnly and handed Draco a small black box. "Your new cell phone. To give you an alternative method of contacting people. For fun, as well as emergencies."

The three wizarding boys crowded around it curiously. Artemis showed them how to use it, and told Vince and Greg he could get them one, too, if they wanted, which they did. Then they each took turns calling Butler for practice.

After that Artemis led them on a tour of the mansion. Vince and Greg kept excitedly pointing out things they'd learned about in Muggle Studies class.

In the living room they met Mr. and Mrs. Fowl. Angeline gave Draco a hug, which made him uncomfortable. He just knew she was thinking 'Poor pitiful boy.'

"The trial was successful?" Fowl Sr. asked.

"Yes. My dad's in prison. That's gonna take awhile to get used to saying, isn't it?" He flushed.

"It's all right, Draco dear. It's no reflection on you," Angeline said. "How do you feel about everything? Are you ok?"

"I'm not sorry he's locked away." Draco raised his chin with defiance, but his bottom lip wobbled a bit.

They escaped into Artemis's study, where he showed them how to play computer games and they told him all about the Ball. Later they had cookies and lemonade, when Artemis thought to inquire about the house elves.

"Mum reinstated Murky to service, at his own request," Draco said. "Tassie has attached herself to me pretty firmly. She says she's my own personal elf and she's coming to Hogwarts with me. I guess she can hang out with Dobby if she does."

"Wait'll Granger hears you freed two house elves. She'll give you an honorary HELP award, wait and see," Goyle told him.

"I'll thank you not to mention it to her," Draco retorted. He took another cookie. "You read the Prophet? Lucius Malfoy on trial—made the headlines the last two days. It's going to be all over Hogwarts."

"We won't let anyone give you a hard time," Crabbe promised.

"It'll die down eventually," Artemis said. "Just don't let anyone provoke you."

"At least all my friends owled me their support. Pansy's was full of melodrama, actually—it was pretty amusing."

"When is your mum due?" Greg asked.

"New Year's Day. I still can't believe I'm gonna have a brother."

"That's just a few days away."

"Yeah."

"How none of us knew she was pregnant?"

"She's been in France since she started to show, visiting her old nurse. I guess it's been long enough that she wanted a review of new baby care tips."

"Will he be a Black instead of a Malfoy?"

"Yes."

"What's his first name going to be?" Artemis politely allowed Vince to have the last cookie.

"I suggested Scorpius or Salazar but she wasn't happy with either. Lucius was trying to convince her to name him Septimus Ambrosius after a prominent Malfoy ancestor and my grandfather, but I'm pretty sure that's now out, as well."

Greg drained his glass of lemonade. "I'm glad I'm an only child."

"Me, too," the other boys chorused.

"Thanks a lot." Draco made a face. "Honestly, though, I don't think it'll be too bad. I'll still have the bulk of the inheritance, and with our age difference, it's not like we'll be fighting over sharing toys."

"Besides, he should look up to you. You can teach him stuff."

"Stuff that Lucius wouldn't have wanted him to learn."

Draco smiled wickedly. "That, I like."

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

"Hello?" Hermione said, taking the phone from her mom and speaking into the receiver.

"Hello, Hermione."

Hermione frowned. It couldn't be… "Draco? Is that you?"

"Yeah. I'm the proud owner of a new cellular phone."

"How did you get my number?" He wouldn't have a phone book.

"Oh, I stole it off Fowl's desk."

She smiled at that, but sobered quickly. "Draco, I've been so worried about you ever since—well…"

"Since you read in the paper about my father trying to murder me and getting sentenced to Azkaban?"

"Well, yes." Hermione shifted the phone to her other ear, fidgeting.

"Fortunately, I was rushed to St. Mungo's and fixed up," Draco replied, sounding casual, but Hermione had a feeling that he wasn't taking it that lightly.

"Well, that's good. I'm sorry it happened, though." What did you say in circumstances like this?

"You and me both." Draco laughed. Now a bit of the bitterness was showing through, she thought.

"You got the number off Artemis's desk? You saw him? Are you… friends again?"

"Yes. He came to visit me at St. Mungo's." That was the easiest explanation. "I'm glad."

"Me, too. I'm happy for you." She truly was. But… it wouldn't be enough to make up for the bad. She hesitated, but finally asked, "Was Lucius always… abusive?"

She heard Draco draw a deep breath, let it out. "…Yeah. I mean, not bad enough that I almost died, but sometimes pretty bad."

"Are you glad he's gone to jail?"

"I can't really answer that yes or no. I mean, for a long time, I admired my father. He was so—charismatic. I loved him."

"You're glad he can't hurt you anymore but you're sad to think of him in jail."

"Azkaban is cold, Hermione. It's cold and bleak and full of dementors. You remember how dementors make you feel? Imagine feeling like that all of the time."

Her heart swelled with sympathy. "You don't think he deserves it?"

Another pause. "No."

"If he was someone you didn't know, would you feel the same?"

More bitter laughter. "A man who tries to kill his own kid? You know, Hermione, for a long time I didn't know there was anything weird about getting hit for spilling pumpkin juice. I thought that was how it was done. You hit the house elf, you hit the kid. So what if all it takes is two words and a wand swish to clean up a spill? I must have needed punished, right?"

Hermione's heart hurt a little more. She was suddenly extremely grateful for her own parents.

"But eventually, even I figured out it was wrong. Round about the time he first used the Cruciatus—I knew all about that curse long before Moody's class."

"He used Unforgiveables on you?!"

"Now you know why so many Slytherins go bad, eh Granger?"

"I could start another campaign," she said, trying to lighten the mood.

It worked; she got an actual chuckle. "As long as I get to pre-approve the name."

"Oh, that one's easy. SOS: Save Our Slytherins."

"That's good." Pause. Then more seriously, "Your answer is, if it was someone else's dad, yes, I'd say he deserved it. But it's a lot more complicated with mine."

"It's all right, you know. To feel—angry, relieved, depressed—hurting. Whatever you may be feeling."

"Too much for me to sort out." He was quiet for a long moment. "Do you think—it's my fault?" There was no one else to ask this question, except for maybe Butler, but that would have been too embarrassing, and Artemis—well, guys didn't talk about their emotions to each other, and emotions confused Artemis anyway. But somehow, it was easy to talk to Hermione in this faceless way.

Her answer was very emphatic. "No! Draco, no, it's definitely not your fault."

"How can you know for sure?"

"Because even if you had deliberately spilled a river's worth of pumpkin juice, it's no good excuse to hit anyone over."

He saw the sense in that.

"Do wizards have counselors—psychologists?" Hermione asked.

"No… not a familiar word."

"Let me recommend a few more books, then."

That was so Hermione that he had to smile.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

As soon as they walked through the castle doors, Draco was surrounded by the rest of the Fourth Year Slytherins, closing protective ranks around him.

He was aware of the eyes following him despite this, however. He could hear the whispers like a constant murmur. He repressed a shudder.

The Slytherins in his House weren't too bad about it—they were, by and large, from older, more traditional families with stricter methods of discipline. Even if the Slytherin her or himself had never been beaten, they usually had a friend or cousin who had, so they were sympathetic to what had happened. Other Houses would not be so understanding.

His first class with the Gryffindors was Care of Magical Creatures. He was dreading it. He was still feeling ambivalent about his father—love and hate, bitterness and relief and joy and sorrow—how could he properly respond to what Potter and Weasley were sure to say?

As it turned out, though, he at least wasn't the main focus of their attention. The lunch-time edition of the Prophet reported that Hagrid was part-giant, and when they got to class they found a new teacher awaiting them. Therefore Potter's first words weren't "You poor pathetic sod with an evil father" or "You're pretty helpless after all, Malfoy" but "Where's Hagrid?"

The Gryffindors apparently hadn't read the paper. Pansy won the coin toss to be able to hold up the paper when Professor Grubbly-Plank's back was turned. "Hate to break it to you, but he isn't ill. He's just too ashamed to show his big, ugly face." She smirked and shoved the article at him.

They read it as they walked past the paddock towards the forest, looking more worried and angry as they went. They gave Crabbe and Goyle a nasty glare as they learned the boys were quoted in the article.

They were distracted from the paper, though, when the professor stopped them and they saw a lovely white unicorn tethered at the edge of the forest. "Boys, keep back," the professor ordered. "They prefer the woman's touch. Approach them with care, girls, go on."

The boys waited by the fence as the girls crept forward. Potter was looking furious. Draco was dying to make malicious comments, but he didn't really want to draw attention to himself. Finally he couldn't stand it any longer. "I imagine that'll put an end to the oaf's teaching career," he stated confidently. "Half-giant… the parents won't like that—they'll be worried he'll eat their kids."

"Yeah?" Ron burst out. "Well, your dad won't be worried, will he? If he even hears about it in jail, he'll be rooting for you to be eaten."

For a moment, Draco actually saw red, and he didn't mean Weasley's hair. His ears seemed to only pick up static, and everything blurred for a moment.

Millie had her hand on his wand arm, keeping him from drawing it out in front of the teacher, whose head had turned toward them sharply at Ron's loud remark.

Artemis had taken half a step in front of him and was staring at Ron coldly.

"Mr. Weasley!" Grubbly-Plank barked. "That was insensitive and uncalled for!"

"Did you hear what he said about Hagrid?" Potter protested.

"No, I didn't, but it doesn't matter. You should learn to hold your tongue. Ten points from Gryffindor."

Ron and Harry scowled. "Now pay attention," she commanded. She returned to teaching. The males of both Houses continued to glare back and forth at each other.

After the lesson, Hermione hurried over to where the boys were standing. "Do I have to break the three of you up again?" she complained, then turned immediately to Draco. "How are you holding up?"

He managed to smirk almost normally. "Bout what you'd expect."

"You're taking his side again!" Ron exploded.

"I'm not taking anyone's side, Ron." Hermione rolled her eyes.

"He wants Hagrid sacked," Potter growled.

"Of course he does, he's Malfoy," Hermione said, unconcerned. "You shouldn't let him rile you up." She looked back at Draco. "That goes for you, too."

"Oh, I knew he would make cruel remarks." Draco contrived a grieved expression. "Both of them."

"Yeah," Crabbe put in from the sidelines. "Gryffindors are mean."

"Oh, for!" Potter threw up his hands. "Come on, Ron, let's just go. Are you coming, Hermione?"

She nodded, smiled all around, and left with her two friends.

Vince, Greg, Artemis, and Draco looked at each other. "That went better than I had anticipated," Artemis remarked.

"Yeah, that Granger's gotten good at keeping them in line," Goyle said. The others all murmured agreement.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

On his way back to his dorm, Draco was stopped by Ginny Weasley. "Malfoy. I mean, Black. Are you going by Black now?"

"Officially—for the moment. But I'm still answering to both. You're not the only one who is confused."

"Well, anyway, I just wanted to say I'm glad you're all right."

"Oh. Thanks." He felt very awkward.

"Greg told me you're getting a baby brother. Are you glad?"

"Yeah, I'm starting to look forward to it. Course, it'll be awhile before he does anything but cry." He smiled wryly.

"True. Of course I'm the youngest, so I didn't have to put up with all that. But it is nice to have siblings, even though you won't think that all of the time."

"No offense, but I don't want as many as you've got."

She laughed. "I don't see that happening any time soon. But you never know!"

"Perish the thought!" Pause. "Poor kid doesn't have a name yet, though."

Ginny's smile turned impish. "You could always name him after The Boy Who Lived."

"Don't even joke about that." He gave her a very stern look.

"Does Hermione know you freed two house elves yet?"

He groaned.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Draco had finished up the Animagus potion the morning before his almost-death, but he hadn't had a chance to complete the final ritual required. He wanted to finish it up in private so he could surprise Artemis by transforming in front of him.

The second weekend after he returned to Hogwarts, he was ready for his first transformation attempt. He rigged the door of an empty room in the dungeons shut, took a deep breath, and tried to clear his mind. "OK," he said. "Here goes."

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Draco was on his way to find Artemis to show off his success. As he passed the DADA classroom (back in human form), a voice stopped him. "Malfoy—Black. Come here."

He stiffened. What would Moody want with him? He turned reluctantly.

"Come into my office."

Wishing he could refuse, Draco obeyed, making sure he had his brooch fastened securely to his robe. He sat down in front of Moody's desk, eyeing the various instruments, as well as the man. Moody sat behind his desk and met his stare, magic eyeball whirling.

"How are you doing after your father's imprisonment?"

"Better than one might think." Draco shrugged, watching Moody warily.

"I know your father was a Death Eater," Moody said. "He pleaded Imperius and never had to pay for his crimes. But now he's finally paying."

"Believe it or not, I'm glad."

"Did you know he was a Death Eater?" Moody raised the eyebrow above his magic eye, which seemed to be staring straight through him.

"I—had my suspicions."

"Hmm. I despised your father, I admit. But you never even met the Dark Lord. I have nothing against you, lad."

Draco's heart was still pounding. He wasn't sure he believed him.

"Right. Go on, then."

Draco stood quickly. At the door, Moody's voice stopped him again. "Check your little list for Dissolutum." Draco frowned, nodded, and hurried away.

SSSSSSSSSSSSS

Forgetting his other plans, Draco headed back to his rooms, to his bag, to find the list of potions he'd compiled with Hermione. "Dissolutum…" He scanned the parchment with his index finger. "Dissolutum, the unraveling potion. Only necessary to breathe in a small amount for the effects to be known. Will slowly weaken previously cast spells upon a person, ie. Binding charms, love potions, healing spells…"

Okay. It was time to talk to Professor Snape.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Draco sat uncomfortably under Snape's hawk-like stare as he explained. "Hermione and I never figured out what it was, but Moody obviously knew we were looking…" and ending with the scene in Moody's office moments ago.

"First of all, it sounds as if Moody is watching you, or the Slytherins, or perhaps Granger, who knows? Be careful. Second, we can't prove that was the potion he used as he admitted nothing, just threw a name at you. But it seems likely, yes. So the question is—what spell or spells were on you previously, and why did he want it or them removed?" Snape stood. "I can answer the first part. There's a potion to reveal any spells that have been cast upon someone. Would you like to take it?"

"Yes, please, sir."

Snape went into his supply cupboard and came back after a moment with a small green bottle and a measuring spoon. He poured barely a teaspoon worth, and gave it to Draco. "Drink."

Draco did. He felt a tingle begin at the tips of his toes and work its way up to the top of his head and fade away. A white-ish aura glowed faintly around him. Words appeared in the air above his head—a fairly long list, considering punishments, duels, and normal school life.

"Only one of these spells would have long-term lasting effects that would have required something like the Dissolutum potion to remove," Snape said at last. "A complicated charm designed to compel suggestibility and obedience to the caster. It was used a lot in the old days on Heirs of wizarding families and never officially outlawed."

Draco felt sick to his stomach. "Lucius."

"In all likelihood."

Draco took a deep breath. "Well. And here I thought I rebelled on my own."

"Oh, you did, don't doubt that. It was your choice. But the loosening of Lucius's spell made it easier."

"Did Moody know what would happen?"

Snape sat back down, looking thoughtful. "How could he have? What outcome could he have been hoping for?"

"Just to cause trouble? But he's an Auror—or was."

"An ex-Auror who holds grudges and has no love for Lucius Malfoy." Snape shook his head. "Don't trust him. Keep your eyes open."

"Already got both those covered. Thanks, Professor."

SSSSSSSSSSSSS

A/N: I'm gonna be tweaking the last chapter, explaining why they got into the Manor easily and a few other bits. This one explained more what Draco was feeling, which some people were wondering. I did warn everyone that Lucius Malfoy was a jerk in my story. I'm sick today so I hope this note makes sense.