A/N: So here's an actual chapter...Yes, I am probably even more surprised than you are! And there's another one half done too so yaaaay! Hope it's ok :) Lots of love, Lily xxxx

Draco's head whipped around as the front door slammed, heart leaping uncomfortably into his throat as he rushed forward to wrench it open and peer outside; The path was empty, providing no clue as to where Severus Snape had vanished.

Grey eyes swept frantically over the tiny, ill-kept front yard, the gradually encroaching hopelessness rendering him immobile, frozen to the threshold of Number Five Spinner's End, and praying with every ounce of his young soul that his godfather would appear and come back as though nothing had happened and everything was fine and they would all be sure that they had done the right thing by running away and coming here, no regrets, and everyone would be happy and-

"Draco?"

But Severus didn't appear. He wasn't coming back. And it was all his fault…

"Draco, love, come inside-"

But there was nothing he could have done differently, Draco thought desperately, unnoticed tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. He couldn't have stayed there, he couldn't have! And he had asked before, a hundred times, for help… There was nothing else he could have done!

Maybe… maybe he shouldn't have asked at all, Draco wondered, chewing fretfully at his lip. Maybe he should have just sorted it out himself, accept it like Father kept telling him to, let Sir get on with his own life without having to worry about him. He had asked for too much, gone too far, and now… and now it was too late, he had pushed the only person who really cared about him away.

Eileen watched, brow knotted with pity, as Draco's small body trembled and his head fell forwards. 'Damn you Severus!' she cursed him, not really meaning it, folding her arms around Draco's shoulder's and pulling him close.

He was neither willing nor resistant as Eileen gently lead him back inside the house; the drumming of his heart beneath his shirt drowned out the sound of his thoughts, numbness sweeping through him and anaesthetizing the pain of the guilt and the loss.

Sitting Draco down upon the threadbare seat of the living-room sofa, Eileen crouched down and looked up into the young, ashen face. He looked no better than he had the first night she had set eyes upon him, as though none of the good they had done had happened at all… and it broke her heart.

"Draco-"

"He hates me," Draco told her in a whisper, a tear splashing hard onto his lap. "I-I didn't know what else to do, I just… I just wanted…" His voice cracked and dissolved into sobs. "And now he h-h-hates me!"

"What happened Draco?" asked Eileen softly, needing to understand before she could reassure the little boy in the way he needed to be; Severus had a tendency to take himself away from everyone when he was unable to deal with things, and the speed of his return rested wholly on the gravity of the situation.

"I made him hex Father," came the murmured reply, words heavy with guilt. "I made him kidnap me. He didn't want to, but I made him…" Draco lowered his head in shame as he related, to the concerned Eileen, the events leading up to his abduction- the ghost in his room, the confrontation with his father and his argument with Severus, threatening to pitch himself out the window…

"I didn't know what else to do!" Draco finished miserably. "I needed him to help me but he wouldn't, so I pushed and I pushed and now he's gone!"

"Oh Draco…" Eileen sat back on her haunches and held her head in her hands. She didn't know what to say or what to do that would be of any use; this child needed more than mindless words of comfort. Fear for her son twisted her stomach- even on the off-chance that Lucius decides not to take legal action against Severus, it was a precarious position to be in, to have Lucius Malfoy as an enemy. But, as she looked into the frightened eyes of Draco, she knew that the boy was right- There was nothing else that could have been done.

At least there was one thing she could be certain of, "He doesn't hate you Draco," she tried to reassure him. "He's just… He'll have a lot to think about, after tonight, a lot to take in."

Draco gave a small nod, unconvinced.

"Listen," Eileen continued, taking his small hands in her own. "Long before you, for many many years, Severus and your father have been very close friends. All through school and after it- why else would Severus have been chosen to be your godfather?" Her expression warmed as she reminisced. "Your father sometimes came here for the holidays, did you know that? They were as close as anything, although I'm at a loss to know how it worked; they were so different and fighting constantly! They always managed to resolve it though, somehow. But then…" her voice trailed off, hesitating, unsure of how to word what needed to be said next.

Draco sighed despondently. "But then I spoiled it."

"No love," Eileen shook her head adamantly, her expression deadly serious. "I don't think it's much to do with you at all, really. When you came into the equation, it brought out a side of each of them that the other could neither accept nor forgive; Severus cannot accept the way in which your father is choosing to bring you up and your father cannot forgive Severus for interfering in something that is so personal and private to him. Neither will relent, they are at an impossible impasse and have been for quite some time it seems…" She sighed heavily and shrugged. "It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. He has always wanted to put you first, you know," Eileen told Draco, full of sincerity, anxious to make him understand. "But his friendship with your father has always come between doing what he knows to be right and doing what is easy. Now, there is nothing left, and it will be a while before Severus can come to terms with that. So you see?" She rose to her feet with a small smile. "He did not leave because of you, Draco, and he will come back to us. He just needs time to think, that is all."