A/N: We're now at 100 followers. Just wow. Thank you for everyone who left a review. At catey1990: Thank you for your wonderfully detailed review. I'm incredibly overjoyed that you decided to follow me over to Descent from Family Ties. This story is my first hp fanfic and I'm truly happy with the responses I've gotten for it.

As always all reviews = love.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Draco let out a breath staring down at one of the many documents he and Theo had raided from the Ministry. They'd been locked away tight, though nothing a few galleons and flash of his arm hadn't solved.

It was troubling to say the least; how sparse the information was.

Theo, he turned to glance at his friend, had barely slept. He'd gone back to Nott Manor and grabbed as many of his personal effects that he could carry. Then, he'd raided his father's study. Journals, documents, anything that had seemed important he'd stuffed into his bag before flooing back.

If anything, he was handling it much better than he would have had the situation been reversed. Though it hadn't been seamless. After Hermione had passed out again, they'd both panicked, checking her vitals and gathering potions. Though, it seemed all was fine with her physically. She was exhausted, and the stress had forced her to sleep.

Frankly, he wanted nothing more than to join her in those first few hours. He was aching, miserable with every move he made.

But he couldn't leave Theo. Not when the other had wordlessly cracked a bottle open of firewhiskey and sat on the floor of his living room with two bags with extendable charms on them that held everything he valued.

He hadn't seen Theo like that in a long time. Not since 5th year when he'd caught him lingering a little too close to a balcony while on Easter break.

He shifted his pile of papers off his lap.

Hermione was still fitfully asleep, murmuring words that made no sense and tugging the sheets every which way.

She would have a lot to deal with when she finally woke.

He just hoped she knew it changed nothing between them.

"I thought she looked familiar." Theo let out a breath, closing his father's journal and running a hand through his messed tresses.

He raised a brow in question.

"The way she laughed and smiled...the way her eyes changed." Theo said quietly.

Draco nodded.

"I didn't know." Theo said, climbing to his feet and pacing, "I didn't know my father married my mum's cousin and that she fucking died in childbirth."

Draco stood slowly to his feet, uneasy at the way Theo's voice was climbing.

"He left her Draco. He left her, and maybe my grandfather had something to do with that, but it was no excuse. I mean." Theo tugged at his hair, "Just because her grandfather was a muggle? and they didn't know so they took it as a personal insult and betrayal. She was a baby."

Draco cast his eyes downward.

"I know Theo. I know."

Theo slumped into a chair. He rubbed tiredly at his face, letting his hand drop to cover his mouth. He nodded after a moment.

"It was probably for the best." Draco said softly, "She grew up loved Theo, and maybe it wasn't with magical relatives, but I think it was worth it. I wouldn't wish how we grew up on anyone else in the world, least of all her."

Theo nodded again, his breathing irregular and quick. He was struggling to hold it together when he so desperately needed to let it out.

He wished Hermione would wake soon. She was infinitely better at this than he was.

As though the gods had heard him, a small voice sounded from the edge of the room.

"Hi."

He caught her gaze, and she flashed a tired smile in his direction. Her hair was still messed, though she'd tried to make it somewhat presentable, pulling it into a bun. It brought a thin grin to his face to see strands of it falling out onto her long neck and into her eyes to frame her face.

She stepped further into the room focusing her eyes on Theo, who was speechlessly staring at her.

"Theo." She said, her voice nearly a whisper. She gave him the warmest smile she could manage. He knew it was hard for her, but she was still trying as best she could.

"I was already starting to think of you like a brother." She continued, her eyes dropping to the floor. "I guess this just makes it official."

He bit his lip waiting.

Theo stood and seemed to shoot across the room to Hermione and pulling her into a tight hug. She was shocked, but it lasted for all of a second before she dropped her hands to circle Theo. She pulled him closer so that his face was nestled in the crook of her shoulder, and he could see her murmuring reassurances into Theo's ear.

He bit his lip and turned toward the kitchen. He didn't want to intrude on them, and frankly, tea would probably make this all more bearable.

Even if it was mixed with shots of whiskey.

Theo was shaking in her arms. She'd seen the blemishes beneath his eyes and the shining moisture that had refused to fall from them before he'd run and taken her into his arms. He seemed to be falling into ruin in her grasp, and frankly, she wasn't too far away from joining him.

The moment she'd woken, finally lucid after hours in sleep and tumultuous dreams, it had crashed on her.

That she'd lived a lie.

Yet it made some sense now, in retrospect.

How her parents had been told over and over that they couldn't have children.

How she'd felt resistance when she'd cast the Obliviate on them. They must have had one on them before.

And yet through this all, as she was reluctantly and frightfully walking toward the lit living room, she'd heard Draco speak.

It was probably for the best. She grew up loved Theo, and maybe it wasn't with magical relatives, but I think it was worth it.

And she had. She'd grown up incredibly loved. Even if there had been barriers between her and her parents, that had always been the one thing she could count on. That they cherished her.

It had made it easier then, to walk in head held high and comfort Theo. It made it easier to banish the thoughts of being unwanted and undesirable simply because her mother had had muggle blood.

Yet, could she be surprised?

That kind of thinking had led them to this hadn't it?

Theo pulled away, wiping at his face before he looked down at her.

"Merlin." He whispered.

She cracked a smile. "It's a little weird huh?"

Theo laughed weakly, leaning his forehead on hers.

"I'm so so sorry Hermione."

She shook her head. "It wasn't your fault Theo." She bit her lip. "Draco's right. I...I grew up loved and happy, even if it was lonely and without magic."

Theo nodded, though he didn't look completely convinced.

"Did you…" She cleared her throat, "Did you find out about her?"

Theo smiled slightly and pulled her to join him on the floor amongst the papers as he told her the story of her birth mother.

Helena Castilian

A witch from Spain that had been betrothed to Theodore Nott Sr. when they were 14. They didn't meet till their late 20's, and accounts then became muddled. They were married that she could discern, but somehow at that point, the Notts had discovered her lineage was less than perfect as had been previously claimed.

The Castilian family was a wealthy one, an old one, within Spain. However, they were not governed by the same ideals as the greater families in wizarding Britain. Blood supremacy didn't seem to exist to the point of dangerous prejudice. They had nothing to hide, and yet, they had for one simple reason. The Notts were also an old family with wealth.

Again, it became unclear what the fallout had been, but secrecy became the theme. Though, it seemed that the newlywed Nott had become slightly fond of his wife, despite it all.

Then she'd been born, somewhere private and isolated without any of the normal supplies a birth required.

Her mother had died. Bled out from ruptures that were not noticed until too late.

She was given up to distant squib relatives that had long since forgotten anything to do with the wizarding world, and there she'd remained until her Hogwarts letter at age 11.

Ironically, what had been most shocking to her was that Jane Granger had been a squib relation of the Notts, but in the grand scheme of what she was learning it was a minuscule revelation. And yet, again it fit. Her mother's grandmother had been adopted, something she'd pieced together at the tender age of 12 when she'd been desperate to find some sort of reason...some connection to magic.

Someway to prove she wasn't the dirt that she'd been called.

Funny how she had turned out to not be after all this time.

After she'd learned to accept it.

The story continued with a new marriage contract between the two families after her birth mother's death. This time between her birth mother's cousin and her father which had then led to Theo.

At that, she'd had enough.

She stacked the sheets neatly together and placed them to the side.

Theo let out a breath, relaxing against the sofa. He seemed less agitated, and truly, she felt the same. They'd cleared the air.

"I have to leave." She said softly crossing her legs. "Sooner rather than later. The way I escaped...it surely put them all on edge."

She felt guilty then thinking of everyone under Andromeda's care. They would have to leave too. Perhaps smaller groups would make them less conspicuous. The way it stood now, anything out of the ordinary would raise alarms.

Theo said nothing, but dipped his chin in a slight nod.

"Come with us Theo." She said leaning over and putting a hand on his bent knee.

"Us?" His brow rose.

She bit her lip, looking in the direction of the kitchen. She let out a breath and lent in closer.

"He's not well here. I can tell no matter how much he puts into keeping it hidden. He has to come with me." She chewed her lip, her voice dropped, "And I can't leave him. Not again."

His lips thinned into a line before he reluctantly nodded.

She got the impression he would have said more on the matter if footsteps didn't sound to signal Draco's return.

"All good?" He asked holding out a mug for her. She gave him a warm smile, accepting the steaming cup gratefully.

"Yes." She said taking him in fully for the first time since she'd woken.

Like Theo, he looked exhausted to the point that his whole skin had taken a gray tone. His hair was tousled, no doubt from the numerous times his hand had combed through the tresses to relieve some of his anxiety.

She'd missed him.

It was such a silly thing. She hadn't even been away. Unconscious for hours and yet it had felt endless.

Without thinking, she knelt up on her knees and pulled him to bend down lower and meet her. She felt him shudder and shiver against her, and she knew that everything she'd been feeling he'd felt tenfold. He was the one who'd been awake waiting, unsure of when she would come out of it.

She let out a breath against his mouth that was twisting up into a familiar smirk.

"Well, it's a good thing I'm already friends with your brother love. Otherwise, any other person would have decked me for that."

She could hear Theo grumbling behind them and she let out low laugh before dropping once more to the ground. She patted the area beside her and in a second Draco had joined her on the floor.

She took a sip from her cup, relishing the way the heat dropped to her stomach and spread easily to the rest of her.

She let out a breath.

"So what happens now?"

Draco looked grim.

"We have to get everyone out."

Draco leaned against the door frame pulling his cloak tighter around him. He noted absently that it had begun snowing again.

He hadn't wanted to leave.

Correction.

He hadn't wanted to leave Hermione.

It didn't matter that Theo was with her and would likely die before he allowed anything to happen to her. No. All he could think about was the what if's.

He closed his eyes, relishing the way the cool air licked and cut at his face.

When she'd been missing, he'd felt completely hopeless.

When he'd heard she was at Nott Manor, he'd felt helpless.

It frightened him. Something he wasn't comfortable ever admitting to.

Hermione was his greatest weakness.

And his greatest strength.

And more than likely the last thread that was holding him together.

He opened his eyes at the sound of the door opening. He slipped wordlessly inside. Pansy looked at him expectedly, and he could see from the way she was threading and unthreading her fingers that she was scared.

"She's awake."

Pansy let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank Salazar."

He cracked a smile that cold Pansy had warmed to Hermione Granger.

or rather Nott.

He shoved that thought away peering over Pansy's shoulder to check on where the other occupants of the house were.

"Your Aunt's getting Teddy ready. Abbott is fusing over the other's making sure they have their things packed and understand that they're to leave tomorrow to join them." Pansy said answering his silent inquiry.

He nodded numbly, registering the sharp pang in his chest at the thought of the last bit of the family he had leaving.

He moved to walk passed Pansy and head toward Teddy's room when she grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Have you had any more nosebleeds?" she whispered pulling him close.

He winced, and he saw Pansy tighten her jaw in response.

"Draco." She admonished.

He cast his eyes downward to avoid her inquisitive ones. Damn Pansy for knowing him so well.

"Draco, you have to promise…" she let out a breath, "I want your word that you will leave with Hermione."

"Pansy."

She tightened her grip.

"No Draco. It's enough. It's more than enough." She took her other hand to pull him by the neck to meet her gaze.

"All of this is not worth you…" She trailed off.

He let out a breath. In truth he'd thought about it, or rather had thought about saying goodbye to Hermione.

Before, he would have been content and sought comfort in the fact that she would be safe. Safer away than with him.

Yet, after what had happened, he wasn't sure.

He had to think, speculate, plan, and he couldn't do so in this one moment that Pansy was begging for an answer.

"I know Pans." He said giving her a tight smile which seemed to momentarily appease her. "Now you have to promise me to take care of my aunt and cousin. Keep them safe."

Pansy smiled weakly.

"You know I will." She let go of his arm.

He turned ready to continue up the steps to Teddy's room, when Pansy spoke again.

"Just remember Draco. I'll be waiting on the other side."

He paused on the first step, turning his head to meet her eyes, growing lost in the force of her vehement demand. He felt himself nod before he continued up the staircase.

As he turned into the hallway, he heard a pair of footsteps behind him and immediately turned toward the sound.

Thomas froze, his hand automatically going to his side.

He felt the fury at the other flare. He stepped forward, and he saw Thomas flinch at his actions. To his credit, Thomas didn't fidget or attempt to leave.

Good.

"You absolute prick." Draco hissed stopping a foot from Thomas. Without thinking it, his wand had popped into his hand. He resisted the urge to jab it into Thomas's neck. He didn't think he'd resist hexing him if he lifted his wand, so he kept it out in view but not held out in clear threat.

"If anything had happened to her." Draco began letting out a breath to cover up his voice near cracking, "believe me that capture by Death Eaters would have been the least of your concerns."

Thomas shocked him then by nodding.

"If anything had happened to her, I'd have accepted it."

For a moment, he felt a flash of respect toward the other. He could admit to his wrong.

"You don't have to like me." Draco continued, "You can spew as much shit about me as you want, but don't you ever ever try to do the same to her. I won't be responsible for my actions if you do."

Thomas nodded as something flashed quickly in his wide eyes.

"You actually…"

"Yes." Draco growled before he could finish speaking. He felt his temper flare again, and forced a deep breath down to his lungs.

"You're a half decent fighter Thomas. Don't endanger any more people with your stupidity." He said turning on his heel toward his cousin's room at the end of the hall.

"Malfoy."

He paused but didn't turn.

"You'll tell her that I didn't mean…."

He heard Thomas clear his throat.

"Tell her I was wrong. That I'm sorry."

He said nothing but dipped his head in a slight nod and then continued down the hall.

He'd barely stepped into the room before he felt a small pair of arms wrap around his legs. He bent over with a thin smile at his lips before he picked up the tiny body.

"Hey Ted."

Teddy shook his head, his bottom lip trembling before he threw his arms around Draco's neck and buried his face in his hollow of his shoulder.

He sent a questioning look to his Aunt, who shook her head with a sad smile faint on her face.

'He's scared.' Andromeda mouthed.

He let out a breath and walked over to sit at the edge of the bed in the room.

"What's the matter Ted?" He said softly. Teddy tightened his grip muttering something that was muffled between his arms.

"I can't understand you Teddy." he continued with the same gentle tone.

He felt his cousin shift in his arms and turn his head so that he was looking up at him while remaining closely pressed to his chest.

"I don't want to go." Teddy said. Draco could make out the slight tremble in the small boy's voice, and his own arms tightened in response.

"Why not?" He said clearing his throat, "It'll be like an adventure. Besides, you don't want to leave your Grandmum to have all the fun do you?"

Teddy shook his head, tears clinging to the edges of his bright eyes. The poor guy was so distressed he hadn't bothered to morph his features. His rich natural brown hair was messed and those big blue eyes of his seemed more gray with all the moisture pooling in them.

"Don't leave Draco. Don't leave." He murmured turning his head to bury his face in his shirt. His throat tightened at the bits of moisture that were soaking through the thin material.

"Oh come on Ted. You'll see you soon."

Teddy looked up at him abruptly. "I will?" There was a measure of distrust in his claim that was easy to see in Teddy's gaze.

He wondered for about the thousandth time how his 2 year old cousin could be so smart already.

Teddy bit his lip.

"Promise?"

He felt his heart slow and his breath get caught in his closing throat.

Hadn't Pansy just asked him the same? Yet, he couldn't bring himself to dodge it this time as he had easily with Pansy.

He studied Teddy for a moment, incredibly aware that his aunt was also staring at him in wait of his answer.

What did he really have if he stayed?

The chance for more intel.

The hope that he'd eventually piece together an endgame plan that could end all of this once and for all.

Lucius.

He nearly grimaced at that.

The man was still his father, and a part of him could never fully abandon that filial responsibility and connection.

Didn't he owe his mother that much? To ensure that the man she'd loved to the point of insanity was safe?

Even if a greater part of him was content to simply let Lucius fight amongst the wolves and lie in the mess he'd gotten himself into.

You are worth more.

His breath hitched at the memory.

He was too confused to make a decision now.

He bit the inside of his cheek, feeling Teddy grow restless waiting for his answer.

"One day you will." he compromised.

Teddy said nothing, nodding after a moment.

He turned to his aunt who had come to stand closer to them.

There was a measure of disappointment in her eyes, but it seemed to be overshadowed by acceptance.

"You will take care won't you Draco."

He gave her a smile in response.

Her brow rose. "Draco Lucius Malfoy." She said in a threatening manner.

"I will." he said quietly.

She nodded closing the distance and reaching a hand to comb through his hair.

"Good."

Hermione went through more of Draco's drawers discretely picking out things and storing them into her new bag.

A gray jumper she'd loved on him.

His sketch book.

His mother's journal.

The stash of galleons he hid amongst his slacks.

She bit her lip.

"We'll make him leave. Even if I have to stun him and drag the body." Theo said softly joining her in the room.

"Would he…" her breath caught, "Would he forgive that?"

Theo sighed, putting a hand to her shoulder to squeeze in reassurance.

"He'd be angry, but he'd know it was for the best."

She was about to respond when she felt the wards shift.

Her eyes widened as she looked quickly to Theo. His jaw clenched as he motioned for her to stay put moving out from Draco's room to the hall.

She bit her lip before squaring her shoulders and summoning her wand.

She sat out from enough battles. She may not have trained to the point of drawing blood, but she was not useless. It was time for her to stop acting it.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

She heard Theo exclaim. She edged closer.

"I could ask you the same question Nott."

Her blood chilled.

Rodolphus.

Draco tore into his flat.

He'd felt the wards shift as he was nearing his building and had yet to stop running since.

Not again. Not again. Not again.

He threw open his door and heard two voices arguing, his heart sinking as he recognized both.

"I don't remember issuing an open invitation into my home Uncle." he spat.

Rodolphus looked at him balefully. He noted how the other's wand was already drawn as though he was simply waiting for one move out of turn to began hurling spells.

He felt a moment of relief that Hermione was nowhere in sight.

"There's no need to be rude Draco." Rodolphus said with a smile that churned his stomach.

They stood staring each other down. Briefly, he let his gaze settle on Theo who was edging ever slightly toward the hall.

No.

He nearly shouted in frustration.

Why couldn't the stubborn Gryffindor stay hidden and protect herself?

He nearly snorted in amusement as he thought it.

He wondered why he bothered thinking she'd act with even a ounce of self preservation. She'd been sorted into her house for a reason.

"Why are you here?" he ground out, stepping closer to Rodolphus, his wand nearly at his hand.

"I had a most interesting conversation with Rabastian," Rodolphus said as they began to circle one another, "of how a prisoner was brought and escaped while you were conveniently nowhere to be found."

Draco raised a brow adopting a look of boredom, which served only to enrage Rodolphus further.

"I told you I'd find out what made Dolohov weary of you." Rodolphus hissed. Then he moved faster than Draco had ever seen him toward the hall of his flat.

He threw a spell at him and felt his heart stop as Hermione darted out from her place a spell already flung toward Rodolphus.

"You're a traitor Malfoy. You and Nott." Rodolphus shouted.

He moved on instinct then, throwing up a shield around Hermione before blasting Rodolphus to the opposite wall of the room.

It all went to hell after that. Suddenly spells were flying across the room and clouding the air.

It wasn't until Hermione fell from a well aimed stunner that he felt something feral tear out and seize his limbs.

Like a fiend, he physically threw Rodolphus across the room. He jumped over the shattered pieces of his stray furniture, his leg coming up and then down hard on Rodolphus's side.

He howled in pain.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that." Draco hissed.

Rodolphus's eyes flashed with enough anger he was surprised he didn't burn from the fury of the fire in them.

"You arrogant spoiled and weak willed fucker." Rodolphus said in between mouthfuls of blood. "You were always weak and a disappointment. Tell me, what finally turned you? Was it her?" he spat in Hermione's direction, where Theo was attempting to revive her.

"What would your whore of a mother think? Consorting with mudbloods. She'd destroy you herself. She…"

He slammed his foot down harder.

"Don't you dare ever ever speak of her you fucking bastard." Draco shouted. Blinded by his anger, he forgot of Rodolphus's free arm.

Of his wand.

"Crucio."

His step faltered as the curse tore into him. Rodolphus's anger was charging the Unforgivable, and it was something fierce. His vision blurred as he weakly sent a spell that again threw Rodolphus near the balcony door.

The connection was momentarily broken, and he heard Theo send another spell at Lestrange before he was sent flying into the wall, falling cold to the ground.

Then he felt another Cruciatus take hold of him.

"No. No." Hermione screamed out from where she was trapped now beneath the weight of a broken couch.

He let out a breath and managed to reinforce the shield he'd cast on her. It was draining him fast, the crucios, the fighting, maintaining her shield.

He felt blood seep down from his nose and wet his lips.

Fuck.

He closed his eyes forcing himself up to his feet and taking a tentative step toward Rodolphus.

He was taking the bastard out, even if he went with him.

Rodolphus seemed momentarily shocked at his movement. So much so that the spell broke.

"Now who's weak Rodolphus? You can't even manage a decent Unforgivable." He spat.

Rodolphus's face contorted.

"Go to hell Malfoy. Ava-"

It happened so quickly, and yet as he watched in shock at the beginning of the green light from Lestrange's wand the world seemed to slow.

He fell hard onto his knees, not really registering the pain of the action as a spell set fire to half his flat and exploded outward taking with it half the wall and the balcony which had housed Lestrange.

His head was light as his vision continued to blur.

Yet through it he heard a voice that he'd know anywhere.

"He always did talk too much."

He choked overcome by a coughing fit that forced blood passed his lips.

Lucius's arms came around him, rubbing at his back before he forced a potion into his mouth once the coughing had subsided.

He felt part of the pain ebb and his vision immediately sharpen. He made out Nott Sr. tending to Theo before he hesitantly went to Hermione. With a flick of his wand the couch vanished. He watched her, and Hermione looked up at him with a fierce stare.

Nott dropped to his knees.

"Oh Merlin." He heard him mutter.

He tore his eyes away as he made out the distorted sound of his father's voice.

"What are you doing here?" he said hoarsely, stumbling up to his feet.

Lucius looked at him, and for a moment he swore he saw true relief in them before it was covered up with the familiar cool mask his father wore.

"I was following Rodolphus."

He inclined his head toward Nott.

"He was following Rabastian."

His brow rose in question.

"Outside in a sewer." His father answered.

He barked out a laugh, unsure why the vision appealed so much to him. He stopped abruptly as he hissed at the pain in his chest, faltering on his feet.

He didn't realize he was falling until Lucius gripped him once more pulling him up to steady him.

"You have to leave Draco. It's no longer safe for…"

He stopped listening, his eyes drawn to Hermione who now had Theo standing beside her as she spoke quietly and at a fair distance from her father.

Abruptly, as though feeling his gaze, she stopped. Taking him in, her eyes widened before she darted over to him and immediately took him from his father's arms.

"Draco. Fuck. Draco." she said, struggling to hold him with one arm as her other hand went to run through his hair and softly over his face.

He couldn't contain the murmur of laughter at her swearing.

"You all need to leave quickly. The Lestranges will have been noted as missing by now." Lucius said looking intently at Hermione. "And you were all not exactly subtle."

Hermione snorted.

"We didn't set fire to half the flat." Draco managed to say between forcing breaths into his lungs.

A ghost of smile pulled at Lucius's mouth before it disappeared.

"We will cover for you, but you must quickly…"

"How?" Theo interrupted.

Nott Sr. looked pained as his gaze drifted between Theo and Hermione.

Draco wondered what he felt looking at the daughter he'd abandoned and the son he'd all but neglected.

He let out a shuddering breath, and he felt Hermione tense around him.

"Through the tunnels."