Chapter 21

Draco helped his aunt peel vegetables in the kitchen of his aunt and uncle's house. Tonks had said she was going to bring Lupin over for dinner so his aunt was going out of her way to make a meal perfect for the company. His aunt had insisted that Draco didn't need to help her, but Draco still felt like doing something worthwhile.

Ever since he had arrived in the house, there had been a limited amount of work for him to do. McGonagall had sent over some textbooks for 7th year courses that Draco would have taken if he had stayed at the school, but he could only study so much at a time. Draco found that he began to spend a large majority of his time talking to his extended family and getting to know them further. His uncle was interesting and the two of them often had heated debates over topics. But they also found that they agreed on a large majority of things.

And when Draco wasn't talking to Tonks or Uncle Ted, he was helping his Aunt Andromeda out around the house. Because her family didn't have a house elf, Draco got to experience firsthand what it was like to do housework. He supposed it was similar to living like a muggle, except for the sense that there were spells he could use to make his work easier.

He could tell that his Aunt was worried about their dinner guest that night. Meeting the significant other of your child is one thing when they are around the same age as your child, but an entirely different thing when they are a few years younger than yourself.

Draco was setting the table and his aunt was putting together the final details on the meal as the fireplace glowed. Tonks came running down the stairs from her room, where Draco assumed she was busy getting ready. He noticed that his cousin had pulled her hair back and gone slightly out of her way to make herself look nice. He liked how his cousin didn't go out of her way to make herself look good, nor did she use her metamorphmagus skills to physically change her appearance.

Tonks rushed to the sitting room where Draco presumed Lupin had just come in through. The pair walked into the kitchen moments later. Remus smiled at Andromeda and Draco as he handed a bottle of wine to Andromeda.

"Hello, Andromeda. It's good to see you," Lupin said with a smile as his aunt took the bottle off his hands.

"And you, Remus. I hope all has been well recently," Andromeda greeted him cordially.

"Yes it has, thanks for asking," Remus said before turning to face Draco. "Hello Mr. Malfoy. It's been a while since the two of us have seen each other. I trust all is well?"

"Yes it has been, Professor Lupin," Draco said awkwardly. He had no idea how he was supposed to greet his ex-teacher.

"You can call me Remus. It's been a while since I've been your professor," Remus said kindly.

"Uh thanks. I guess you can call me Draco then," he said, still feeling slightly awkward.

Tonks smiled at the two of them, obviously relieved that he was getting along with Lupin. Draco then noticed something different about his cousin. He noticed an average size ring on her finger. The ring was in no way fancy or expensive, but it still meant the same thing; his cousin was getting married.

Draco's eyes widened at the realization as he looked back and forth at the two of them. Tonks must have noticed his expression because she had a desperate look on her face; one that showed that she didn't want him to say anything

So Draco busied himself by continuing to set the table while his aunt talked to her future son-in-law, while unaware of his new relationship to her.

As they all began to dig into the food, Ted turned to Lupin.

"So Remus, what brings you by our house today?" Ted asked the man kindly.

Remus cleared his throat nervously. "I've actually come to ask you something." Draco noticed that a similar expression of fear was donned on Tonks' face as well.

"Oh? and what might that be?" Uncle Ted asked the man a bit wearily.

"Sir, I care for your daughter very much. And I would never want to do anything to harm her or yourselves. And with that said sir, I would like your permission to marry your daughter," Lupin said, his voice losing confidence with every word he said.

His uncle had an uncomfortable look on his face. "Are you sure now is the best time for all of that? I mean we are in the middle of a war right now. And the two of you do have a significant age gap…" his uncle's voice trailed on.

"Dad, I know all of that. But Bill and Fleur are getting married within a few weeks and both of their families have accepted that," Tonks argued.

"They still had a one year engagement, Nymphadora," Andromeda said after a moment. "I'm sure the two of you have decided that you don't want to wait that long, haven't you?"

Draco noticed by the way the two of them hesitated before answering, that his aunt had been correct.

His aunt noticed this as well, "So how long are you planning on waiting?"

"We decided that it would be better if we got married sooner rather than later. You never know with these sorts of things," Tonks answered again.

"And are you two certain? Nymphadora, you're still young, how do you know what this is what you want? You're stubborn Dora, you make up your mind that you want something then no one can convince you otherwise. But later on you always change your mind. So how do you know you won't do the same thing? Is it fair to Remus if you do?" Andromeda said, questioning her daughter.

Tonks rolled her eyes. "Mom, I'm not 12 anymore. Remus isn't some toy that I'll grow tired of. I love him, and I do want to spend my life with him."

Draco felt like this was a conversation she shouldn't be a part of. He could tell that his uncle and aunt were both dancing around the fact that Remus had a good 13 years on her.

Lupin finally seemed to get his confidence back. "Andromeda, Ted, I know that this puts the two of you in an awkward position. I am not exactly young, and I am sure that is a concern for the two of you. And then on top of that, there is also my Lycanthropy. I am not the perfect candidate for your daughter and I am sure there are many men out there who would be a lot better suited for her than me. But I love her, and for some reason she seems to love me back. So if you'll let me, I promise that I will treat her properly."

Tonks spoke without allowing her parents to respond, "Mum, Dad, the two of you got married despite your parents' wishes, Mum. And the way you had to do it was to cut yourself off from your family. I love Remus and I am going to marry him; the question is whether we will have your blessing or won't we?"

Draco watched as Andromeda and Ted exchanged a look, before his aunt replied to her daughter's ultimatum.

"Sweetheart, we love you. And while the circumstances between my marriage to Ted are different than those you currently face, that doesn't mean that we would ever cut you off from our family. So if you want to marry Remus, and you are certain about that, then your father and I will support you 100 percent."

Ted nodded in agreement. "Nymphadora, with that said, I still wish the two of you would have a slightly longer engagement," he said as his daughter began to protest. However Ted held up his hand to silence her. "But if the two of you are certain that you do not want to wait, then we will be more than happy to help you with your wedding plans."

Tonks smiled at her parents, obviously glad that she wouldn't have to cut them out of her life. "Thank you, Mum, Dad. It means so much to me that you guys accept that I love Remus and want to be with him."

Remus nodded, "It means a lot to both of us as well that we have your blessing. I never would want her to be in a position where she was forced to choose between her family and I. And to be honest, I don't think I could ever make her have to choose."

Tonks squeezed her fiancé's hand. "So Draco, are you interested in helping us plan the wedding?" his cousin asked him teasingly.

Draco made a face. He was never one for formal planning and whatnot. Generally, whenever his family hosted events, he left all the planning to his mother. "Uhm, I would rather not…" Draco said, his voice trailing off awkwardly.

"Come on kid, you have to pull your weight if you're going to be living here," Tonks said with a smirk; his signature smirk. He guessed some traits really were genetic.

Draco groaned as everyone around him began to laugh. He had a feeling that while the wedding probably wouldn't be a big affair, that it would still consume most of the next few weeks.

Severus Snape groaned to himself. He had been purposely avoiding Narcissa. Ever since the news of Draco's 'death' had reached her, she had become more withdrawn. While he knew that her son was alive and well, he wouldn't be able to give her the news of his well-being. Instead, he would have to give her false information which would probably destroy her.

He hated that he had to lie to the woman he considered to be an older sister. He was about to crush her soul, when in reality her son was doing what she wished he could; surviving. So mentally he prepared a reason of why he had to leave her son. And it killed him that he had to do so, but if Narcissa did not display the pain of a mother losing a child, then Voldemort would not buy Draco's death.

Narcissa sat by the window of her bedroom. She stared out, half hoping to see her son apparated onto the estate. But she knew that as every hour passed, the chances that her son would return to her were slowing declining. She didn't want to believe that he was dead; as a mother she knew that she should be able to sense if her only child's life had come to a halt. But she thought she was being overly optimistic. The chance that her Draco was still alive was very miniscule.

She remembered after Severus came in after the mission had ended.

His face was paler than usual and she saw that the life had nearly been sucked out of his body. As he approached her, he did not make eye contact. Instead he walked right past her, ignoring her presence, and walked straight toward the Dark Lord.

He bowed before greeting his master, "My Lord," he said in his deep voice.

"Severus," the Dark Lord said with a raspy voice. "I trust that everything went according to plan?"

"Yes my Lord. Albus Dumbledore is dead at the hand of the Death Eaters."

"And the young Draco; what has happened to him?" the Dark Lord asked, voicing the question that Narcissa had wanted to know since he entered the room.

"Unfortunately my Lord, he is no more. He hesitated in killing his headmaster, so I had to step up and do so. However moments later the Order of the Phoenix entered the room and one of them shot a deadly spell at him. It is my deepest regret that there was not enough time for me to save him and manage to get out of there alive," Severus said, with a voice that did not contain even a hint of remorse.

It was at that moment that her entire life stopped. She felt herself grow faint and if she had forgotten where she was, she would have collapsed to the ground.

Her son; her only son was dead. The boy who she had raised and groomed from a boy to a man was no more. She had heard of other mothers losing their child, but they did not describe the pain she felt with justice. It wasn't as if it was just her heart breaking; it was her entire world collapsing in around her. She had lost the most important thing in her life, and nothing would be able to change that fact.

"I see," the Dark Lord said in a voice that betrayed no emotion. "That is a shame. I had hoped to groom him into a higher up position but I see that it will no longer happen. And now that the Nott boy seems to have disappeared, I fear that I am losing the younger generation entirely."

She turned her head as she heard the door knob turn. If anyone saw her in this sulking state then it would probably be reported back to the Dark Lord.

Narcissa's eyes narrowed as she realized that it was Severus who had entered her room. "What are you doing in here?" she said angrily, forgetting everything about keeping her composure.

"I wanted to explain myself to you, Narcissa," he said in a quiet voice.

"What's there to explain? You may have fulfilled the terms of your Vow, but as far as I am concerned, you broke them. All I asked was that you kept him safe Severus, and you failed to do that. You left him there! You could have saved him; all you needed to do was bring him with you. But you cared more about yourself than my son; your godson."

His eyes had sadness in them, but Narcissa did not feel any guilt. She looked down into her lap so she no longer had to look at the face of her son's executioner.

"Narcissa, please. I tried, I really did. I killed Albus so he wouldn't have to become a murderer. I just didn't think that the Order would come through the doors so quickly. I had hoped we would have a little more time to get out. But once they came in, it was utter chaos. Before I knew it, someone had hit him with a spell. He was dying, Cissa, and I couldn't do anything about it. It was not a spell I recognized and even if I brought him with me, there would have been nothing I could have done. He would have died on the way out of the school. I had to Cissa," he said, in a pleading tone.

Narcissa looked up at him and saw that his face was tear-stained. Seeing him cry released a waterfall of tears, cascading down her face. It was the first time since she had received the news of her son's death that she had allowed herself to cry. Severus brought her into a tight hug and held her tightly while she cried for everything that this war had made her lose. And while she still had him, she had never felt more alone in her entire life.

Pureblood supremacy had cost her everything. It lost her the love of her sister, Andromeda who was now happily married to a muggleborn. And it cost her the sanity of her other sister, Bellatrix, who would do anything to gain a bit of affection from the Dark Lord.

The war had cost her the relationship with her husband, and now her son. All she knew was that Lucius joining up with the Dark Lord seemed to be one of the worst mistakes that have happened to her. Her once caring husband turned into a monster that would do anything to please his 'master'. And he raised her Draco in a way that made sure her son would turn out the same. It made her slightly relieved to know that her child did not turn out to be a replica of his father, as she feared he would at a younger age. And so she lost her husband earlier in the year to the confines of Azkaban. And while in front of other Death Eaters, she put up a sad façade, she did not feel sorry. The husband that she once had loved was long gone. And now, so was her child.

It cost her all the family she ever had, and in that moment, Narcissa wondered if any of it was worth the outcome.

The only thing she knew was that she didn't want this life anymore. She wanted out.

As Severus' arms slowly unwrapped from her torso, she considered the possibility that she should leave the Death Eaters and join up with the Order of the Phoenix. While she had no idea where their headquarters were, if she visited her sister and told her everything, then she would be able to get out.

But all chances of that were cut short once Narcissa heard a commotion downstairs.

"Ah, so it has happened," Severus said with a smile.

Narcissa looked at him curiously. "What, Sev? What has happened?"

"The Dark Lord said he had some plans to help us increase our numbers once more. It must have gone favourably."

Narcissa knew that it was all she was about to get out of Severus, so she stood up and made her way down the spiral staircase to the lobby of her house.

There, standing in the middle of her home, was her husband. As she made her way to greet him with a fake smile plastered upon her face, she felt all hopes of escape fly out the window.

"Hello Narcissa," he greeted as he embraced her. While his tone was filled with happiness, Narcissa knew that it was an act for their fellow Death Eaters. She had been married to the man long enough to be able to detect the coolness in his voice.

"Lucius," she greeted. "It's good to see you at home."

She cringed internally as she knew that she was stuck in this home and there was no way she would ever be able to escape Voldemort, or her husband.

A/N: So I ended up writing more about Narcissa than I had intended, but I`m glad that I did. I wanted to show how a mother would feel knowing that her son is dead, even though we know otherwise. And while writing her section, a few more ideas came to mind for this story. So I hope you liked it.

I loved reading all of your reviews and reactions to this story. I find it amazing how many of you favourite/review on this story and I hope to keep it up to expectations.