Chapter 5

Hermione heart lifted ten times higher than it had been when she saw Draco.… when the Death Eaters attack had begun, pandemonium had taken hold of the camp site and she had feared he would not be able to find her, Ron and Harry but quite clearly that was not the case – it relieved her greatly. More than she could say...

"Are the three of you ok?" he said as he rushed over to where they were, as agitated as any of them were.

"We're fine," she said but it did not prevent her embracing him.

It was quite clear she did not appreciate he had been so far from them when everything had kicked off.

"Are you ok as well?"

He wanted to tell them that he had been well looked after but the secret of his mothers visits was something he had only ever shared with his father, who had the faith in him not to question it. He did not know how likely it was if friends would do them same.

"Yeah, I am fine…" he said as he begun to look about him. He did not know how long he was going to be but already he was looking for his father.

He had to come for him soon, didn't he? He was scared for him. What if he was in danger?

"How long has it been since all this begun?" he asked Hermione. He had lost track of time when he had been with his mother.

"I dunno, about ... half an hour, maybe."

So deep they were in the forest that they could not see what was going on. "Come on lets, get closer to the edge."

"Not a good idea," a voice from behind them proclaim.

"Theodore... what's going on?"

A warm friendship between the Nott and the Malfoy heir's had over the past year cooled into a causal acquaintance. Though he had not said as much, Draco knew since he had begun to spend more time with Ron, Hermione and Harry, he had lost a lot of respect from him.

Not that he had to say he cared much but he did miss the old days when they had been able to tell one another everything.

And he did to think he would turn him away that night when he was clearly worried.

He was right.

"The Death eaters Ere rallying again. Surely you knew that?" the Slytherin asked him.

It was then he understood that as the son of an insider he had been told that. His father had not confided in him – well, he did not know why.

But it meant he could play on that fact and pretence that relations with his father were not as warm as his friend thought they were at that moment. After all, he had to be aware of the trouble between him and his father in the past, and if they had been at odds once then they could be again, couldn't they?

He decided to play the dumb and yet ironically, mistrusted Ravenclaw son.

"I had no idea of that fact."

If he was a different boy then he knew Theodore would have smirked at that fact and indeed there were many in the house which he should have got in to which would have. However, that had never been his friend's way and instead he had a look of almost sympathy on his face.

"Father always said that his lord was going to rise again – and this is just the beginning of it."

How he was able to such a thing so cool when Harry was standing there with them he did not think he was ever going to know. Nott confirmed to him everything Sirius had said when they had been standing on the Malfoy Manor that night and even though Theodore was the same age as they were, he seemed to have a wisdom they did not about himself.

And Draco trusted his word.

"Then tonight is really only going to be the start, isn't it?" said Ron to him keeping his cool.

Over the years, he and Hermione had got used to the fact there was going to be a time when they were going to stand up be counted. And he knew that came not just from Harry but Draco too. He may not be the Boy Who Lived but from the first time they had seen one another at the Quidditch game, he had known there was something more about the Malfoy boy.

Theodore nodded.

"Then come on, we have to get out of here and find your family and my dad," Said Draco to Ron as he nodded to his old friend respectfully and he knew he was glad to be in his own shoes rather than Theodore's who he had no doubt had the weight of the world on his shoulders at that moment.

In a direct reversal of the way that the Malfoy's had done things, Theodore's father had picked his path for him it seemed.

The trio agreed and soon they were running through the forest. As much as he had been told to stay there and wait for his dad, Draco knew he could not bear to. He was not a child any more.

And he was not going to sit tight whilst god only knew was happening to his dad.

His dad was stepping up' this time. And so was he.

()()()

By the time that the rally came to an end and the others had had their fun, Lucius felt sicker than he had done in as long time. He was not accustomed to behaving or seeing other behave in that manner any more.

He knew he had softened and he felt his age. He was not as young as he had been and the things he was concerned by had utterly changed.

But that did not mean he had lost his stomach he realised as he ran through the camp sight. He had to get to the woods. While he was sure that the Death Eaters had been too concerned with the muggle family to turn on the supporters of the game, he had nothing to confirm this and he not going to take any chances.

Until he saw with his own eyes that his son was unharmed he was not going to believe it.

Who would be a parent? He thought to himself. He remembered when his son had turned seven, his nurse had said to him that by the time he was done raising Draco his hair was going to be one big mass of grey and now, he had to say, he believed her.

"DRACO!" he yelled knowing if he heard his voice he was going to come to him and his worry was going to be over sooner.

All he wanted was for the two of them to be together.

"SON!"

"Over here, dad!" though he had been calling, he was surprised to hear his son call back to him before he had ever got to the forest where he had told him to wait for him.

He knew he did not have the heart at that moment but of all the times his son had chosen to disobey him was that one. He knew Draco's generation had not yet had to see anything of the war; after all, they had been born on the tail end of the last one. He was going to have to talk to him and he knew it. He was going to have to prepare his son for what they as a community were about to go through all over again.

And he was not going to tolerate his disobedience. Not in this way...

But that was not for that night. No, as long as the two of them were both fine then that would be fine by him for then.

His eyes turned to follow the voice who had call him and he was relieved to see apart from the obvious alarm that was written all over his face his son appeared quite unharmed.

He was with his friends he observed quickly and though they were the reason he had not done as he asked, as fast as his mind was going it did not take him long to follow their line of thinking that if they were all together then they were going to be a lot safer than if they had been apart. He agreed with that.

He had done the right thing when he had stayed with them, he conceded begrudgingly.

Draco was instantly alarmed when he saw how pale his father was. It was usually too hard to spot if a Malfoy was off colour usually. But it was quite clear at that moment all was not well with his father.

Not only was he with his friends, Lucius soon saw but his son was with men he had not at first registered as well as a distraught house elf.

And by the look in his sons eyes, that were also mirrored in his own, he knew the two of them were not going to be able to sleep till they knew what the other had been through that night.

Even as the two them came closer to one another, though they knew they weren't being watched too closely, Draco knew his father was going to continue to be observed through this war and he knew since Harry was there it was ridiculous – but he felt as if all eyes were on the two of them.

()()()

"Winky's master did not come to the game, dad, you saw that as well as I did. And that was where Harry lost his Wand. I can't solve the mystery but I don't think it was her that took it. Surely - she couldn't do it without Crouch knowing?"

"Well, Dobby went to Harry without the two of us knowing about it when the two of you were in your second year."

The two Malfoy's were at last safe. Back in there tent together. As soon as Lucius had cast a spell around them so no one could hear what they were saying, they had started talking.

Their tent was just half the size of their home on the inside and the two of them sat in the spacious living room together but on the same sofas. Draco felt the need to be close to his dad as he had not done in as long time.

"What other explanation could there be?"

"I don't know."

"No theories?"

"Not one."

Silence took the two of them for a moment as they tried to think it over.

"Dad you have got to tell me if scuff like that is going to happen."

Lucius had been about to open his mouth to deny he had even known it was going to happen but he knew it was futile and unworthy of his son.

"For what it is worth, I only thought it might happen and I did not wish to worry you if it was not going to. The game was meant to be a time for fun." he said with a shrug of his shoulders. "but in spite of what my actions seem to display, I do know you are soon to be a grown man and I will tell you next time. I don't want you to be caught unaware again."

"Then there is going to be a next time?"

"I think we both know there is whether we want it to be or not."

Draco nodded and he moved closer to his father.

"I know you were only trying to protect me," he nodded. He understood his father well enough to know that.

"Perhaps, but there is going to be no protection for you in ignorance."

Lucius turned to look at his son and as usual he felt his heart swell. From the day he had been born to that, he had been the reason his dad had been able to hold his head so high and that was what Lucius soft grey eyes said to him at that moment.

Draco was only fourteen but there had already been far too many occasions when he had been forced to fear for his son's life.

And he knew if the war did come again then he would once more have cause to fear for him.

"My dear boy," he sighed and he held put his arms and Draco moved closer so that he could wrap them about him. They were not as affectionate as they had been when he had been a child but it seemed they both needed reassurance that night.

Which reminded Draco...

"Dad you know when I ran in to the forest tonight?"

"Yes son?"

"And do you remember what I said to you when I got back to the house after my second year."

It was clear he was having a little trouble trying to tell him whatever he needed to and so Lucius pushed his lips against his son forehead for a moment and he felt his boy relax and it was as if he was turning in to that little boy who had needed his father's comfort so.

"I am afraid you are going to have to be a little more specific - a lot was said that summer the way that I remember it."

"What I told you about mamma when I was in the chamber."

Draco could fell the change in his father. Whatever he had thought he was going to say, it was not that and he could feel how tense he was.

"She came to me again tonight."

He recalled the night when he had first found out that she had been going to see their boy. He had been so relieved to know she had not abandoned them entirely. And yet when the lad had gone back to school and he had had time to think on it, he had been unable to keep his jealousy at bay.

"Well, I am glad she was with you when I could not be." he sighed. From time to time, he thought it was getting less – the weight of the grief that he had to live with every day – then it came back and it crushed him just to spite him.

"Did she say anything?" he felt his heart race as his son nodded.

"She said to tell you how proud of you she is and that she misses and loves you."

It had been so unexpected, that he felt his throat go tight and as Draco thought about it he realise this was the first time his dad had had any message from his mother since the day she had died.

It had been far too long.

"She said that?" checked Lucius. His face betrayed the fact that this most welcome message broke his heart for love of her all over again.

"She did." And it was then that Draco made the wise choice not say anything, for no matter how much he wished to comfort his beloved father, he knew there were no words he could adequately do so with.

She was gone – and always would be no matter how many visits he got.

She was never going to get him up when he slept late, or send him sweets when he was at school. She would never sit in the stands at a Quidditch game or tell him off when he had not listened to her.

No, there was another women who did all of that and even though he knew he would never be able to tell his father even had he asked, he felt a longing to be with Jane at that moment and wished he were at home with her more than anything.

()()()

The feeling he got that night lasted all the way to the following morning and as soon as he got up he begun to pack. All he wanted to do was go home.

The Quidditch World Cup had been awful and he was glad it was coming to an end. The sooner he and his dad and Jane got out to France the better. His soften feelings for Severus from the night before also remained. He was going to say sorry as well. He was beginning to understand you didn't have to like someone all of the time to love them always. His uncle had and was always going to be a difficult character in some ways, much the way his father was and the sooner he learned to live with that the better.

If something had happened to one of them the night before and they had been mad at one another then the other would never had forgiven themselves. The family had to start sticking together more than ever before. The lot of them had to grow up...

"Son, are you going to run across to say bye to your friends?" said Lucius who had also got ready to go as soon as he got up.

Draco shook his head.

"Ron's dad said last night they were going to go as soon as they could so we said bye then. I'll write when we get back. Can we go yet?"

"We can but we are going to have to go up to Hogwarts so I can see Dumbledore before we head home. He needs to know what happened here last night. I can drop you off first actually if you'd like."

It was a very tempting offer, but Draco shook his head. It was probably best that he went with him so he could see Severus and then they could go and tell Jane what was going on together.

"I'll come with you," He said to him. "Dad – I meant to say last night – but I was proud of you as well, fighting against the Death Eaters and all - I mean ... you know."

"I know, son," said Lucius as Draco actually blushed so embarrassed was he as he tried to tell his dad the way he felt. It had been a long time since he had admired his father so much. But he had really turned back around from how he had been when he had been a second year and it did mean a lot to him. He had to know that.

"Shall we go then?"

Lucius nodded. That was a good idea. He was as eager as the boy was to get away from this placed.

"Come on, let's get to a port key, any port key and then I can apparent us to as near to the grounds as we can and then we'll walk up to the castle!"

()()()

"If what I saw last night is right, as well as what I heard, then I am forced to come to the conclusion that the movement has not only begun again but they are already recruiting. The Death Eaters are sure that there lord are going to come back with in the year, they think they are months away from reforming properly," sighed Lucius as he nursed the tea he had been given by the headmaster who congratulated himself. When he had got a spy in Lucius as well as Severus, he had struck gold. Between the two of them he was sure the Order was going to be a lot stronger than it had ever been before.

And what a change in the way that he spoke to him. He knew the man in front of him had never been fond of him when he had been at school during the event two years before, he had had no respect for him but that seemed to have been altered. He did not suppose Malfoy was ever going to like him for he had took his loyalty from his lord at his darkest moment but he did not regret it. He was sure he was going to loyal for the child's sake and no one else's.

But then Lucius was no young man himself now and as he looked at him that was brought home to him the man was tired. But he was going to have to get used to that.

"Thank you for what you did yesterday night, Lucius. All of what you have said to me has been very useful. Do you know when the first meeting is to be? Any dates?"

"Crabbe may have mentioned something about a meeting at the end of the month. He said he was going to write to me to confirm the time and the place but I don't know how much I trust him as a reliable source."

Albus had always thought he could read men well, yet to hear him say such a sentence that summed up his feelings about Lucius himself so well he could not help but sigh.

"Thank you for coming to me so swiftly with this news. I am very grateful to you." He nodded.

"This has been what you and Severus have been trying to get me ready for years, isn't it?" he asked him.

Dumbledore nodded "Indeed it is – though now the time has come I feel I must ask you to be honest with me - do you feel as if you are up to his job? If you are not then it is vital you tell me so."

Lucius shook his head. When he had been told he was to be a spy he had had such thoughts, that he would never manage it. But when he had done what he had asked, he had made not only the treasure of his heart proud but also the the centre of his day dreams – both his son and his wife had defied the odds to tell him how proud of him they were.

And now when they had such feelings for him, after all the time he had spent screwing up, well how could he deny them?

Her?

Him?

No, they were the pearls of his world and he was not going to give them another reason to grieve.

"No, I can do this and what is more is that I want to."

Pride and vanity at last at bay, he found he was able to say what he felt.

While his father had been seeing the head master, Draco had gone down to the dungeons. He had had to see his uncle and when they had got to the school, he had got the feeling that his father had not wanted him to go into see Dumbledore with him anyway.

He knew when they got to France his father was going to want to talk about what he was doing more and he was looking forward to it for he had to understand what was going on for it was going to affect them all.

He knocked on the door. He had seen his uncle hurt when he had let Sirius go free and he had not even flinched. His cheeks had begun to go pink by the time he had knocked on the door. He was a little ashamed of the way he had behaved he guessed – especially when he had been taking the moral high ground.

"Enter."

He walked in with his head down.

"Uncle," he greeted him.

Severus looked up with a look of shock from the desk.

"Were you ok last night?" he asked with great urgency. Severus got up and was soon sweeping around the desk. He had been concerned ever since he had heard what had gone on. The worry he had been suffering all night showed under his eyed.

"Yes, we were."

"Neither of you were hurt?"

It was as if he had forgotten the way that he had treated him when he had been at the house and before he had left school for the summer. He knew no matter the differences he had and would have with his uncle, he was always going to be there for him no matter what.

"No, we weren't but, uncle Sev – I am so sorry for the way that I have been acting."

Severus sighed. He knew he had in part deserved what he had got and when he had done it, he had expecting Draco to kick off. He had known he was going to hurt his nephew and yet he had been unable to stop himself or say sorry so that the load had had to come to him. He was not sorry for what he had done to Lupin... but he was sorry he had hurt Draco. "So am I."

If the night before had been the end of his friend and his nephew, he wondered how he would have felt.

Broken...

He knew better than anyone else in the world that such thoughts were the kind that might turn a man mad.

And so instead of saying anything to Draco he just took him in his arms and sighed and swore to himself he was going to be a better uncle from that day on wards.

Just as the Malfoy's could, he could feel the darkness and he feared it was going to take them all.

Once he was gone with the head master, Lucius went down to Sev and he could not put into words his delight that his son and his uncle were now once more most definitely on speaking terms.

The elder he got the more he hated it when there was conflict with in the family they had made for themselves.

Before they left, he was relieved to hear that Severus had changed his mind about France. Dumbledore could cope without him for the week. If he was needed he could flu back easily enough. When he had heard what had gone on at the world cup, the only place he had wanted to be was with his family and he was not going to miss the holiday – not for the world.

It was not worth missing the time he could be with them. They had enjoy what remained of the peace.

"Well, I am glad you are coming old friend," said Lucius finally as he drained the last of the tea his friend had given to him and stood up. "But I am afraid me and Draco should really be going home now. It has been a long night for the two of us."

Severus nodded. It was well past midday and he knew Lucius had stayed longer than he had met too.

"Yes, I am sure you are going to need a good night's sleep tonight. I will see you later this week on the other side of the channel then." He said to them with a smile and Draco nodded.

He felt more at peace now he had made things up as it were with his uncle. Suddenly, there meeting when he had returned to school after the summer between first and second year sprung to his mind and he knew that no matter what came between the two of them they were never going to be at odds with one another for long.

It was a quiet walk down the drive from Hogwarts and it was obvious they were both feeling exhausted now and Draco did not think he had ever been so glad to go home than when he put his hand on his father's arm and allowed him to flew them back into their grounds.

"I think I am going to go to bed when I get in." said Draco to his dad who could only nod in agreement.

A nice long, peaceful sleep before he begun to pack that was what he needed.

Going into the manor though all of their plans changed instantly.

The minute they were in the door Max came running out not so much to see them as to them, as to tell them off, it seemed by the way he was barking.

It soon became apparent he was distressed and so Lucius followed the pup thought the manor into the living room, his son hot on his heals where an alarming sight meant his eyes.

Jane was on the sofa, exhausted but all he had needed was one look at her to know the poor women had not had an ounce of sleep all night.

"I didn't know if you were dead or alive," she croaked her voice broken. And then she burst into tears without further ado.

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