A/N: At tilly90, thank you so much for your lovely review and for following me over from Family Ties! It's pretty amazing when someone likes what you've written so much they decide to see what else you've done. Thanks for all those that left a review. I love getting them, and as always the more the better! So Review and Reveiw and Review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Venenum Tenebris was a foul disease.

It ravaged the body, turning each cell into something malignant fueled by the dark magic that had been introduced and festering inside the host.

The similarities to muggle cancer left her with a better understanding of it, but experiencing...that was another thing entirely.

It wasn't fair.

It wasn't fair at all, and it hadn't really hit her until she'd woken up the night before to Draco retching in the loo at 3am as though his very stomach was trying to purge all the darkness mentally and physically out of his body.

It had seemed so relatively contained in it's own separate sphere before then.

He'd go in every two days for a transfusion, at which point his immune system would be completely repressed before he was given the infusions and left to sleep through the process.

Draco had even managed a way to avoid staying in the hospital wing the recommended two days following the procedure by promising Padma that he would actually remain resting in their room. In fact, most of the time he'd feel well by the end of day 1 and would be back on his feet researching in his alchemy book and having meetings with Kingsley.

So in all, it had felt like nothing had truly changed.

That had been fundamentally shaken by the events of the night before.

She sighed, stroking his hair. Draco let out a puff of air softly against her palm in content as he nestled deeper into his pillow.

He was snoring softly, a result of the slight cold he'd gotten following his last transfusion that he still hadn't managed to shake.

Padma wanted him as well as possible before he underwent the cleanse procedure.

It was actually a clever idea to repress a patient magically and immunologically and drain them of the magic before offering them infusions. The spells alone had been fascinating.

Though, to imagine Draco having to go through it made her stomach churn.

Perhaps he had been sheltering her from his discomfort this entire time, but regardless she didn't want him to suffer more than that.

And he would suffer under a cleanse regardless of the benefits it would offer.

She let out a breath and continued watching him just sleep peacefully.

She really should join him. It was still obscenely early into the new day, and they all needed their rest.

She shut her eyes unsure how she would manage to sleep when she heard the faintest sound of voices outside her room door.

With a barely suppressed groan, she pulled herself up and propped open the door to stick her head out into the hall.

Harry was walking the hall with Teddy holding his hand arguing quietly.

"Teddy. They're sleeping. We shouldn't…"

"Please. I want to see Draco. I need Draco." Teddy said, tugging on Harry's arm and looking near tears.

Hermione resisted the urge to smile at the obvious love Teddy had for his older cousin.

"Harry." She whispered, waving him over.

He shot her a grateful look and Teddy quieted seeing her. The little toddler broke from Harry and bolted toward her, wrapping his tiny arms around her legs.

"I wanna see Draco." He mumbled against her.

She stroked his hair.

"I know love, but he's sleeping now." She murmured.

Harry shot her a look as though warning her from divulging too much about Draco and why he needed rest.

She nearly rolled her eyes at his antics, but at the same time felt warmed by his concern over Teddy.

"He woke up from a nightmare and really wanted Draco. I tried to walk him a bit, take some stress from Dromeda and hopefully tire him out." Harry said softly to her as she rocked Teddy slightly from where he stood against legs.

"I know. I'd wake him, but he only just fell a-"

"'Mione…"

She turned slightly to look into their room, noticing Draco upright on the bed and rubbing at his eyes.

She winced unhappy that they'd woken him up.

He dragged himself over to them, blinking as he became more alert as he came to the doorway.

He glanced down at Teddy and without a word, picked him up and turned back into the room.

"We'll take him Potter." Draco mumbled over his shoulder before falling on the bed with Teddy automatically curling into his side.

She sighed and turned to Harry, who simply shook his head and bid them all goodnight. Though, before he disappeared down the hall, she could have sworn she saw his face twist into the semblance of a smile.

"Come back to bed Hermione." Draco muttered, patting on the mattress as Teddy cuddled closer to him.

She laughed softly at the sight of them both looking so alike with Teddy's hair morphed to match.

She slipped in behind Draco, throwing an arm around his waist as she let her head rest between the blades of his shoulders.

"You're such a softie." She mumbled feeling her eyes dropping at the surrounding warmth and her body's demand for rest.

His low chuckle rumbled in his chest.

"Don't tell anyone. I have a reputation." He murmured, his words slurring as his breathing evened out signaling his easy descent into dreamland.

"Hmm. Never." She murmured, only too quick to join him.

Draco woke to the sensation of a firm but tiny body pressed to his middle and the feeling of cool sheets behind him.

He stretched slightly, blinking his eyes open as he took in Teddy, who was half sprawled on top of him. He grinned slightly taking in the way his cousin's hair was coming out in every which direction as he smiled contently and slumbered on.

Carefully, he pulled Teddy off of him, repositioning him to sleep comfortably on the mattress as he slowly got up.

He was stiff.

He felt heavy in a way that went beyond tiredness. His muscles didn't want to move. His bones protested the weight he pressed on them to stand.

Then there was his stomach that was operating in various states of rebellion.

He'd forgotten about the nausea.

The first time, it had been crippling. He'd dropped so much weight so fast. Weight he couldn't afford to lose starting out as a more thinner child than was normal. It had been dangerous and part of the reason that his strength hadn't come back soon after he was on the mend.

He'd tried to be better about it this time, eating when he could while also avoiding taking another potion to simply suppress the nausea.

He was already on so many he felt that most of him now must be pure chemical; ensuring his heart beat steadily as he got nutrients and starved off the pain that was already beginning to grasp him from the inside out.

Though, today would be a relatively good day if all he had to deal with was the nausea and minor aches.

He was about to head into the loo for a shower when the door to the room eased open allowing his aunt to stride in slowly. She stopped near the doorway seeing him up and awake.

She flashed him a thin smile.

"Morning." He said with a voice that was still too rough to be well understood.

She murmured her own in return, walking the rest of the way toward him.

"I'm sorry about Teddy. The poor dear just wouldn't rest." She said softly taking a hand and running it through his hair and then cupping his jaw.

He gave her a weak smile.

"It was nothing. He fell asleep almost immediately."

She nodded, her long fingers touching the bruises beneath his eyes.

"You don't look too good darling." She said dropping her hand from his face and rubbing his shoulder in a rather comforting manner.

"How is today?"

He shrugged slightly.

"Ok. At least I didn't wake up and immediately rush to the loo to be sick."

"Draco." She said in a tone that indicated a need for the truth and only the truth.

He crossed his arms, pressing them tight to his chest as his gaze dropped to the floor.

"It's just…" he cleared his throat, "I keep thinking about...about before, and how I had my parents. But now...and I guess even if Lucius was here it wouldn't matter. It wouldn't be the same as even just having her."

Something flashed in Andromeda's eyes. Something that reminded him of guilt.

"Your father...he cares for you Draco. In his own way, he always has. And far be it me to defend him, but I can understand how the ways we are raised harden us. If we aren't touched in some way...to soften us, we don't learn to show all that we mean."

He said nothing for a moment.

"I dreamt of her you know, about Mum, and I...I don't know. Maybe I'm going mad from all the things going on in my head."

Andromeda looked sharply at him.

"What did you dream?"

He bit his lip, shifting his weight on his feet.

"I think I dreamt of the veil."

He watched his aunt carefully, for some sign or reaction. Aside from the flash of that thing that seemed like guilt, he saw nothing.

Though if he could gage anything else from her demeanor, he'd say she seemed more worried than anything.

"I'm sure it was not what you seem to think it was." She said softly, running her hand back through his fringe in a manner reminiscent of Narcissa, "Some things reveal themselves to us in their own time. Be patient." She pressed a kiss to his temple.

He nodded.

He let out a breath before he spoke.

"But I do feel relatively good today. I might try to research some more. Maybe I'll hold another lesson."

Andromeda smiled brightly at him.

It was a good sign, he supposed, that he was wanting to actually pursue some sort of activity instead of sleep.

Though, some of it was less about want than need.

He'd probably actually go mad if he did nothing, and Shacklebolt was hardly advocating for him to do nothing either.

His meetings with the man had led to new plans being drawn up for several attacks on satellite camps. They'd also given Shacklebolt an opportunity to request he teach (when he felt well enough) spells to help pull the Order's fighters into shape.

He'd been rather strict so far with whom he admitted into his short classes that were reminiscent of Hogwarts DADA.

The Order may have gained members, but they were inexperienced, ill-prepared, and, in some cases, ignorant of what they could potentially experience in battle.

In truth, he'd suggested the higher ranking Order officers take up the mantle and teach something more than just basic defence before they sent their poor excuse for fighters to him or even Theo.

Potter may have to be healed and prepared to defeat the Dark Lord, but it didn't mean the war would end with the fall of the dictator.

Andromeda kept the smile on her face as she turned from him and scooped Teddy up into her arms.

"That's great dear. I'll leave you to dress, and I'll see you at breakfast with everyone else. In fact, I'm sure most are already there. I know I saw Hermione headed that way while I was coming over."

He smiled at the mention of Hermione, and his aunt shot him a knowing one in return at the sight.

Andromeda pecked him once more on the cheek before shifting a still sleeping Teddy in her arms and leaving him alone, wondering why she had looked guilty along with the other things he had to worry about.

He may not feel incredibly drained today, but with everything going on inside his head, he was already developing a headache.

Hermione hummed to herself, scanning the few sheets of notes she'd brought with her before she stowed them away the entrance to the eating hall.

Her research was at a stand still.

She'd finished her translations and was now sure without a doubt that Voldemort had become transfixed with the idea of turning magic from bound to wild.

What she couldn't be sure about was whether he had done it.

Draco.

It all came back to Draco.

He'd been in the Inner Circle. He had to have some idea, more than Theo or Pansy would at any rate.

She just couldn't bring herself to push the subject, even though he seemed to be a man obsessed when he felt well enough to research on his own.

It came down to guilt, she supposed.

He had given so much. From the very beginning, all those years ago, he'd begun giving up these pieces of himself as his own dreams forced him to change and risk his family, his friends, and his own life in order to do as he was beginning to see was right.

Where was the line though?

His own mother was cold in the earth, and in truth, she wouldn't have blamed him if he'd simply given up and fled following that.

He hadn't though.

Maybe that came down to all those he still had left or what he saw and still didn't say.

It made her heart ache to think that, to him, he still hadn't done enough to balance out all he'd done in the past.

She was proud of him, for all he'd done to tear down who he'd been to who he'd become.

On some level, he had to know that.

She let out a breath, her hand idly going to the pieces of parchment that were shrunk and now safely in her pocket.

She stepped into the hall and froze in shock at the sight of two members of her usual table.

It really shouldn't be so shocking after everything she had seen in her short two decades, but it was enough to make her head spin.

Luna was sitting, leaning rather heavily with her lips engaged in a rather bruising kiss with the figure to her side.

Blaise.

"I'd close my mouth before you catch dragonflies sister dearest." Theo said coming up beside her and playfully tapping her chin.

She whirled to her brother and searched him for any signs of shock at the sight. Her jaw clamped shut when she found none.

"I just. When did that happen?" She said in a hushed whisper as Theo smirked and crossed his arm through hers, leading them both to the table.

"Believe me. I was shocked too. I mean Blaise never seemed like the monogamous type."

She said nothing as she dumbly fell into a chair before the couple with Theo claiming the seat to her right.

Luna tore herself from Blaise, not looking the least bit flustered at their presence.

"Good Morning Hermione." She greeted.

She opened her mouth to return the greeting only to find that no sound came forth.

Blaise looked at her knowingly as he covered his mouth and snickered quietly at her speechlessness.

"When did this happen?" She blurted before flushing at her outburst.

Luna's smiled didn't fade as she regarded her.

"Blaise was friends with Draco." She said simply as though that were explanation enough.

Blaise cleared his throat, though the amusement was still clear in his face.

"Luna, I think Granger means how we got together."

The blonde tilted her head regarding Hermione intently.

"That was rather recent. We started out friends though sometime in that last year at Hogwarts." Luna's face pinched slightly in pain at the end of statement, and Hermione couldn't help but contemplate if it was because of all the memories associated with that time as well as the fear she must have felt for her family, Draco included.

Her opportunity to ask more about the subject passed as their table filled.

First Harry offered everyone a good morning before falling into a seat beside Luna.

While that might have been more than enough to shock her one more, the true shock came when Ron joined them all not a few minutes later.

She regarded her two oldest friends with a mixture of awe and pride.

This was more than just an attempt at half-hearted civility. This was an olive branch.

Ron met her gaze then with a brow raised.

"What?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but another voice spoke before she could even form a syllable.

"She's shocked to see you amongst so many snakes Weasley."

She turned and met Pansy's smirking face. She winked at her before turning to face Ron, waiting for his reaction.

Ron stared at Pansy for a moment, his jaw slack as he blinked twice.

"Bloody hell Parkinson?"

Pansy's smirk widened.

"The one and only."

Ron continued to gape as he floundered about for something to say.

She laughed at the sight.

It was so blissfully refreshing.

Normal really.

Ron and his inability to speak around a girl.

And Pansy was most certainly a girl, one he hadn't seen in years and had changed all for the better in all that time.

Pansy turned to her with a wicked sort of grin on her face.

"He's not always like this is he? Brain dead and tongue tied?"

She returned the grin.

"Sadly yes." She said flashing a teasing smile to her reddening friend.

"Hey." Ron exclaimed forcing them both to dissolve in laughter.

She gasped for breath before sharing a look with Pansy and digging into the breakfast that had appeared on the table.

She ate surrounded by a surprisingly pleasant atmosphere.

It made them quite a sight and topic for gossip, all the intermingling between what had traditionally been seen as enemy camps.

Her eyes drifted to the odd assortment of people and subsequently couples, her mouth twitching into a smile as she took it in. It brought the memory of her former Headmaster to mind. She may not have always agreed with the man, but she had agreed with him on this...this possibility that had become reality.

Her gaze drifted to Harry, who seemed to have a similar war of emotions playing out on his face.

He'd seemed troubled lately.

It had been subtle at first, some time after he came up on Draco collapsed on the floor. She'd barely been in the state of mind to do more than notice it, but now it pulled at her mind and forced the cogs to turn in her head.

His behavior had been odd for him. Especially, it seemed, during the rare but extremely valuable classes Draco taught at Kingsley's insistence when he felt well. Harry was normally so good about DADA, picking up spells, demonstrating them, and helping others with their wand work. Now though, he barely stayed long enough to learn it for himself before disappearing.

Unlike him.

And frankly something about the way his magic worked now, how his spells seemed almost flimsy to her…

It scared her to think about, but she vowed she'd confront him about it soon. With Draco seemingly stable for the time being, her mind was slowly coming back to her as her fears and anxiety calmed.

Speaking of…

Her eyes drifted to the figure walking carefully toward their table, his head firmly in his book with two more floating easily next to him.

She was caught between smiling fondly at the sight or frowning at his display of wandless magic.

He really shouldn't be expending much of it, even if his body was currently overflowing with it as it went between high and low outbursts of his core.

In the end, a smile won out as he displayed rather familiar behavior that was reminiscent of her, sitting beside her without looking up from his book.

She lent over and pressed a kiss to his temple.

"Morning Bookworm." she said lightly.

Draco looked up, blinking a few times as he seemed to adjust to the sight before him.

"Morning." He murmured, his voice slightly scratchy.

"You're displaying some very Hermione like behavior." She teased as she combed her fingers through the hair at the base of his neck, taking him in.

He looked better, if only marginally. The previous sickness he'd had through the night seemingly hidden from his face.

He still looked haggard; exhausted to the point that it seemed entwined in him.

"Well Draco was the swot of Slytherin, closeted as it may have been." Theo quipped up.

Draco shot him a withering glare to which Theo only smirked.

"I was not just some swot. You don't take over a whole House with just intellect." He sniffed, though the faint glimmer in his eye told her that he was simply playing along with Theo.

It was a good sign.

"Whatever you need to tell yourself mate." Blaise said flashing her a wink as he openly grinned at Draco's scowl.

"And you wankers say you're my friends." He muttered, wincing slightly as his hand came up to massage his throat.

She regarded the gesture sharply, which he seemed to purposefully ignore as he reached for a cup and poured himself some tea, his eyes flickering back to the pages of his book.

"Draco." She said turning her seat to face him fully and dropping her voice low. "Look at me love."

He sighed lowly before meeting her gaze.

"How's today?"

He bit the inside of his cheek, seamlessly pulling on a blank expression.

"Fine."

She bit her lip.

"You know you can tell me the truth...If you're feeling out of sorts or particularly bad."

His gaze softened as he let out a breath.

'I know. It's nothing, truly. My throat kind of hurts, but the rest is about as good as it can be."

"Alright." She said somewhat appeased by his answer, but worried nonetheless.

He smiled slightly nudging her playfully with his shoulder.

"It's fine Hermione." He said studying her face, "I think I might need to talk to Patel about switching up my potions. I don't think some are working. Probably something to do with my blood…" He trailed off as his mind seemed to get lost in his thoughts.

"Oh?" She asked, reaching over and beginning to fill his plate with various foods.

He glanced at the plate with slight distaste...before looking up at her.

"Hmm. Yeah. The Malfoys have old enchantments in their blood...different abilities." he gave her a meaningful look, "And different types of magic. I remember something about dragon blood tossed in there somewhere too."

"Really?" Her mind instantly attracted to the interesting information.

He shrugged.

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't know." he said with a thin smile, "They weren't all bad I suppose, my ancestors. They were innovative at the very least."

His eyes clouded over in some unnamable emotion; though, he kept the smile pasted on his face.

She cleared her throat, hoping to somehow change the topic and banish the beginnings of dark thoughts from entering his head.

Her eyes dropped to the book before him.

A new alchemy text.

"What's this?" she asked then.

He straightened, a spark lighting up in his eyes.

"Oh it's a book I pulled that was referenced in that first one. It goes on about the first characterization of magic and how it was first studied in runes."

His face relaxed as he seemed to brighten.

It was such a transformation really into an eager, nearly innocent boy, who was both curious and passionate about all that he was saying.

"It was referenced in those parchments that you were looking at." He continued, "But it also get's down to the fundamentals of magic as an entity independent of influence."

Her brow rose, the academic in her pulled to the surface by all Draco was saying.

"But how can magic simply be independent of influence. It exists in a way that it is influenced. By need. By wizard…" She trailed off, "Magic is controlled. Even around us it is bound by physical and energetic constraints."

He shook his head.

"No. You're thinking about magic like a muggle." He flushed then, looking down at the table seemingly horrified at what he'd said and perhaps implicated by saying it. It was rather endearing really, the way it spread even to parts of his neck and the tips of his ears.

He was so busy in his mortification that he didn't seem to realize that she wasn't insulted.

"Draco." She fought to keep the smile off her face as she spoke, "It's fine. Just continue with your explanation."

He looked up quickly to study her face before dropping his gaze, still somewhat embarrassed.

He gave a thin smile before gazing up at her through his fringe.

"Sorry. I just…know a lot about this." He said looking down at the book with the smile still on his face.

She kissed his cheek.

He was adorable like this. It was rare that she saw it, but Draco truly was as much of a nerd as she was.

"So teach me."

He laughed softly.

"Ok." He murmured, flipping the book to a particular chapter.

"Magic exists beyond intent. It is truly comparable to a living thing. It's dynamic. The difference is when something else exerts its intent on it. Essentially, that's what binding is. It can happen naturally, like in magical organisms; plants, animals, or other species." He said flipping the page again, "Or it can happen through spell work, which is the more difficult for obvious reasons. In fact, spell work was virtually nonexistent until the early beginnings of civilizations. Before than, magic was done by magical beings in a way that resembles wandless magic. Everything was done through a projection of intent while simultaneously fueling it with magic."

She nodded absently as her eyes skimmed the page.

"Why then the evolution of wands?" She said.

Draco scratched the back of his neck before reluctantly taking a bite from one of the waffles she'd piled onto his plate.

"Because just because it was common, didn't mean it was easy. Skill with that kind of magic was dependent on will, magical core strength, and control amongst other things. Not many had an aptitude for it, and those who didn't…" His brows furrowed, "Magic needs an outlet. You can't sit on magic and not use it at all. It does things to your body as it rebels at the inactivity. It-" His voice dropped slightly, "It made people sick not being able to effectively exercise their magic."

His hand went to cup around his right wrist that was still healing from the damage done by the magical brace.

He absently rubbed at the skin as his face morphed into a thoughtful expression.

"But if you go one way, you must be able to go the other." He murmured to himself.

She stiffened at the thought.

"So you can bind and unwind."

He paled slightly.

"From a spell to even the core of another individual." he said before looking up at her quickly.

"Oh Merlin. I know what he's done."