Not long after Harry's birthday and the debacle at Bill and Fleur's wedding reception, Severus Snape got word from the Dark Lord that no one had seen hide nor hair from Lucius Malfoy in weeks. The last report of Lucius' whereabouts had him with a group of Death Eaters near Malfoy Manor. Lucius had claimed he was just going to pop into the Manor to make sure everything was ready for the Dark Lord to move in and then Lucius would rejoin the Death Eaters for a muggle raid.
Lucius never showed and Malfoy Manor was deserted and not by any means ready for anyone to move in. The house had been stripped of everything, including furniture, but the Dark Lord just ordered his followers to furnish the place and then moved in without the Malfoys. The Manor was now the Dark Lord's primary base of operations, but Lucius was still gone. The Dark Lord was livid at the desertion, for it was without a doubt desertion at this point; if Lucius had been captured, the other side would be boasting about it. Or if a setback had come up, Lucius would've reported back. Neither had happen, ergo Lucius was a deserter.
The Dark Lord had just issued orders to his assembled Death Eaters that Lucius was to be killed on sight.
"My Lord, if I may speak?" Severus asked.
"You may Severus," Voldemort replied in his cold, high voice.
"Last time I saw him, the Malfoy scion was still in very poor shape from a sectumsempra Potter hit him with. I think it is possible that Lucius found his son and is busy tending to his dying only child and has thus forgotten about his other responsibilities. Perhaps we ought to bring him in for questioning, before he is to be executed?" Severus asked. "Perhaps compassion is called for when faced with losing one's only heir." He knew the Dark Lord would not be swayed by compassion, but His followers would sympathize with what is viewed as the ultimate loss among purebloods.
"You still believe the youngest Malfoy to be dying then?"
"Yes, my Lord. I mended the wounds multiple times, but the mends would not hold and would deteriorate."
"And the other Malfoys?"
"Druella is an old woman and her presence was a hindrance on our dear Bellatrix's time. Narcissa is weak; she is no fighter. I highly doubt any of them have turned against our cause or will be in any way opposition to us. They simply are not in a position to contribute bodily strength right now, although Lucius has left you this house for our meetings; is that not enough? Do we not need ordinary witches and wizards on our side, lending us support, my Lord?" Severus asked.
"Very well spoken Severus. You are correct; Lucius did leave us his home and use of the galleons in his vault; we can grant him a temporary leave to deal with his family matters. Do not kill him on sight, but bring him in for questioning if found," Lord Voldemort announced.
When Severus was given his assignment, he left Malfoy Manor and went to the Malfoy's villa in France to deliver the good news. After a short meeting it was agreed that it was time for another communication with Lucius. Narcissa set to writing the next coded letter and Severus went up to Draco's room to check on his charge.
Draco was doing increasingly worse; sleeping all hours of the day and waking up only to eat and drink and then falling back to sleep again. Most days now he didn't even bother leaving the bedroom and he certainly never had the energy to make it down the stairs. Severus didn't have the proper medical background to predict this result of the separation between Harry and Draco. Since then he had pulled out his medical reference for a brush-up on male pregnancy and then began searching for other medical books on male pregnancy, to look for the cause of the problem.
Severus found several cases of Peverell pregnancies where the birth father was inordinately exhausted. The books all cited situations where the other father had left and therefore was not available to transfer magic to the birth father on a regular basis. In those cases the birth father was unusually exhausted and always tired, but not nearly as bad off as Draco. But then Draco was carrying twins, which increased the magical load, and Severus couldn't find any documentation on cases with twins where the other father had left. He could only assume that the increased severity of the symptoms was due to the extra baby and hope that the medical references were correct in their assertions that the energy drain was never life threatening. And to think, they hadn't even realized magic transfer occurred during male pregnancies, much less how important it was; critical, really.
Draco woke up when Severus was halfway through his diagnostic spells and since Draco needed to eat as much as possible, Severus handed Draco the bunch of grapes from the bedside table. Severus went back to work casting his spells while Draco ate. One baby, the baby in the front, was bigger and healthier than the other. It always took a bit of work, but if Severus aimed just right, he could get the spells to penetrate from the right side of Draco's body, where the smaller twin was located. While the first twin was thriving, this second one was only surviving, so he always made sure to get a reading on the little one to make sure all was still well.
"Still healthy. How are you doing today, Draco?" Severus asked.
"Tired," Draco replied and popped another grape into his mouth.
"Hang in there. I have word from the Dark Lord that he cannot locate your father. Your mother is sending the next letter to him."
"Great," Draco said and continued eating. He was so tired these days that he rarely had much to contribute to conversations. One of the babies elbowed him, but he was used to the discomfort by now and didn't pause in his consumption of his grapes to acknowledge the movement.
Severus sat with Draco until Draco finished eating and then vanished the debris from the grapes and handed over a glass of milk. Draco's nausea had decreased, but they were still mixing the anti-nausea tea in with Draco's milk, just in case. Draco was thinner than Severus would've like for this far along, so they were making every effort to get as much food in the young man as possible and prevent any vomiting attacks.
Draco handed the empty glass back to his old professor and closed his eyes, tired already. But this was the most exciting part of his week, because Professor Snape was here, so he forced his eyes back open and asked, "How was He? Was He mad about Father?"
"Yes, but I talked him down. I explained that you were likely dying and your father needed to be with his family right now. Lucius left the Dark Lord galleons and the use of the Manor and I was able to convince Him that that was enough."
"Good." It took Draco a minute to gather his thoughts, but then he added, "How are the babies? Is the little one any bigger?"
"They are both well. The little one has grown a bit and that's encouraging."
"Great," Draco answered sleepily. He suddenly felt his coin with the Protean charm burning in his pocket. His Dark Mark had been burning off and on since Dumbledore's death, but his coin had lain dormant up until recently. He pulled the coin out of his pocket and read it.
"What is that, Draco?" Severus asked.
"A message from Harry; says he loves me," Draco replied handing the coin over to Professor Snape.
"I'll just put it in your nightstand for you," Severus said, placing the charmed galleon in the top drawer of Draco's nightstand, where he knew for a fact Draco kept other mementoes of Harry.
"Tell me about what's happening on the outside. Has anyone heard from Harry?" Draco asked.
"Mr. Potter was believed to be at the Weasley's for the wedding of their oldest son, but when Death Eaters broke up the party, Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, and Mr. Ronald Weasley were all nowhere to be found. The portrait of Professor Phineas Nigellus Black assures me that he has heard the ruckus noise of three annoying teenagers inhabiting the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and the portrait of Walburga Black told him that there have been mudbloods, halfbloods, and blood traitors in her house again."
"So he's safe, yeah?"
"He is safe. The Dark Lord has infiltrated more of the ministry and has moved his headquarters to your house. He has once again inhabited the guesthouse and uses the first floor to conduct his meetings and various businesses. And he has ordered me to return to Hogwarts as headmaster."
"That's brilliant. You'll make the best headmaster; I almost wish I could go to Hogwarts this year just so I could see it."
"Thank you, Draco."
Severus told Draco of his various plans for taking over the school, such as which faculty would have to be sacked, which ones the Dark Lord had already fed to Nagini, and which would be coerced into maintaining their positions. Draco closed his eyes and fell back to sleep while Severus was talking, so Severus went to check on Narcissa, who was in the drawing room with Druella and just finishing her letter to Lucius.
"You're all a bunch of namby pamby blood traitors if you ask me. Lucius should stay out in the real world and do His work!" Druella said to no one in particular.
"No one is asking you, Mother," Narcissa replied patiently. She was very familiar with her mother's views on everything; Druella was a very outspoken old lady.
"Draco is sleeping again. The examination went well," Severus told Narcissa.
"Excellent. I was just going over my note to Lucius; care to check it over for me?" Narcissa asked.
"Of course, Cissy," Severus said taking the note. He read it, but it only contained a funny antidote about how Druella had gotten her wand stolen by doxies last week. "It's coded then. What does the rest say?"
"Just that we have decided to align ourselves with the other side after Draco fell in love with the opposition and that it is in the best interest of our family, if the Dark Lord is not successful," Narcissa replied.
"And it's a crying shame too! That boy should've been taught to look where he's sticking his tallywacker before he winds up up the duff!" Druella exclaimed.
"Yes madam, you're absolutely correct," Severus agreed.
Narcissa huffed and replied, "Well it's too late now. You're only choice is to accept the marriage and resulting children or be sent back to Bella. Draco is my only son and I intend to keep him."
"And that's what you get for having only one child! If you'd had three like me, you'd have room to disinherit one and send another off to the nuthouse. Did you know that the last time Bella checked on me she started cackling at the tea?" Druella asked.
"Yes mother, because you've told this story to me at least a dozen times. Perhaps I should set a house elf to count them for me," Narcissa replied.
"I shall let you two lovely ladies enjoy your evening; I must be getting off to Hogwarts. Do send out your letter right away, Cissy," Severus said.
"Yes, I will. Thank you so much for stopping by. I'll see you next week!" Narcissa said.
Severus left and Narcissa went over her letter one more time, before calling Mipsy and having the elf deliver the letter. Delivering mail by house elf was safer for the mail, if more risky for the elf, and had the advantage that the elf could come back with information on Lucius' whereabouts and even carry a return message.
Of course the owl that had carried the first letter to her husband had come back with a return message. It was written on the back of the original letter and read only, "If that is how it must be, then so be it." This time Narcissa was hoping for a more detailed response as well as information regarding Lucius' location.
Once Mipsy was off, Narcissa talked her mother into a game of cribbage to pass the time. The old woman muttered a bit more racist nonsense, which Narcissa politely indulged and she even agreed with most of it. Three hands in, Mipsy was back with a pop.
"Lady Narcissa Malfoy, ma'am, Mipsy is having a message from Lord Lucius Malfoy, sir," Mipsy said.
"Yes, go ahead Mipsy," Narcissa said, putting her cards down and holding her breath. She could feel her heart rate speed up at this critical moment.
"Lord Lucius Malfoy, sir, said to tell Lady Narcissa Malfoy, ma'am, that family always comes first, ma'am, and that he wishes Master Draco Malfoy, sir, did not feel such a way, but that if Master Draco Malfoy, sir, truly does feel thusly, he will concede, ma'am. He would also like to know if the entire Malfoy family, sirs and ma'ams, is alright, because he has been very worried about the family, sirs and ma'ams. He has heard that Master Draco Malfoy, sir, is greatly ill and he would very much like to help care for Master Draco Malfoy, sir," Mipsy said.
"And where is my husband located?" Narcissa asked.
"Lord Lucius Malfoy, sir, is a few miles south of here, ma'am, hiding in a cave, ma'am. He told Mipsy that he is hiding, ma'am, from Death Eaters, Aurors, and all other manner of witches and wizard, sirs and ma'ams."
"That close?" Narcissa asked with a gasp. She desperately wanted to see her husband again after more than a year of separation.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Well don't just sit there!" Druella exclaimed. "Send the elf to get him, just like Severus brought me! I don't even know where the bloody knickers I am and neither will he. What bloody harm can we possibly do?"
"Mother, Severus needs to examine Lucius' with legilimency and veritaserum before we can let him in! Draco and the babies' lives depend on this!" Narcissa replied.
"Frosted whiz-bangs, you know the man can get past all that with his occlumency and whatnot. He fooled the Ministry the first time around, didn't he?" Druella asked.
Narcissa conceded that her mother had a point, but since it was her Draco's life on the line, she insisted on waiting for Severus. She sent an owl off with a letter to Severus immediately. Severus replied back that he couldn't do it today, but that he would do it next week, so she went back to playing cards with her mother. She wanted to send her husband another letter explaining that Severus would come for him next week, but she didn't want to give Lucius the chance to spring a trap on Severus or report back to the Dark Lord, if this were a trap. So she didn't write and stuck to her game of cards.
Author's Note: I modeled Druella after my own racist grandmother. She's one those old WWII era fireballs. My aunts say that she'll live 'til 120 just to spite them.
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