Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

"Please don't go."

The words sounded pitiful to her ears, but she couldn't stop herself from saying them anyway. When he'd told her, he'd said it so fast she'd barely comprehended.

In retrospect, that was probably intentional. Quick, like ripping off a bandaid and waiting to deal with the fallout afterward.

But she'd had time now to maul it over, and none of it felt right to her.

None of it was right.

How Draco was treated wasn't right.

He was ill to the point he could die, and still Kingsley had 'politely' asked this of him.

A small part of her hated him for it...for being the tough leader the Order needed him to be, but more of her hated him for simply not doing enough to negotiate better terms for them. Christ to negotiate period.

But then, she was sure Draco was seen as somewhat expendable to him...to the Order.

The whole thing made her feel ill.

"Hermione." Draco breathed, taking her hands from where they'd gripped his shoulders to in between his two larger ones.

"You know I have to go."

She shook her head, forcing her eyes up to his.

He seemed much more alert now than he'd been for days. Idly, she wondered if that had anything to do with him not taking any of his medications or because of a wit sharpening potion he'd snuck in between.

Probably both.

Draco sighed, gripping her hands tight.

"Blaise will be there too." He said softly, "We can trust him."

She didn't know why she was fighting still. She couldn't win with this.

Reluctantly, she switched their hands so now hers curled around his as she brought them up to her lips and pressed feather light kisses on his knuckles.

"Be safe." She said.

He gave her a small smile.

"I always try to be."

With that he kissed her quickly on the lips before darting toward the staircase and up to the outside of the cottage where Blaise and the other Order member assigned to him were.

She clenched her hands into fists at her side. Her eyes were still fixed at the staircase as though staring would somehow give her confirmation that everything would be fine.

She didn't even stir when she heard footsteps sound behind her. A hand came to rest at her shoulder.

"So what's the plan?" Theo said.

She reached in her pocket and gripped her wand.

"Give me a minute." she muttered.

Draco blinked at the light as he stepped from the cabin.

He hadn't been in actually daylight for quite some time. It felt strangely pleasant.

He closed his eyes, relishing the feel of the warm rays for a moment before he dug his fists into his pockets and stepped completely off the porch of the cabin toward Blaise.

"This is going to be shit show." Blaise muttered.

"Thank you for the confidence." He muttered. He silently cast a spell on their feet to cancel sound as they stepped away from the protective wards of the Order.

He was about to ask who their third member was when his question was answered by the arrival of another.

He nearly choked at the sight of her.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

If he hadn't been well aware that fate loved to fuck with him, he would have been sure of it now.

How else could anyone explain Katie Bell's presence?

He eyed Blaise out of the corner of his eye, and the bastard wisely avoided his gaze.

He waited then, studying Katie's face. It betrayed nothing; something he could begrudgingly admire.

"Malfoy."

He said nothing as they stared each other down.

Beside him Blaise snorted. "Fuck." He moved passed them.

They stood silently for a moment more before Katie moved to follow.

He winced before he called out.

"Wait."

Katie half turned to face him.

"Look. Bell." he began, "I'm-"

"Malfoy." She interrupted quickly. Her face softened momentarily. "I know."

He cleared his throat, nearly coughing at the lump that had now wedged deftly into his airways. He gave a quick nod in response.

Katie's mouth twisted into a thin smile before they both turned and trudged deeper into the forest after Blaise.

They walked for 10 more minutes in silence before it was time for them to split up. Katie went to his left, leaving Blaise to go to the right, while he continued on straight.

He pulled his wand and idly tapped it at his thigh as he walked taking care to cast revealing spells the deeper he journeyed into the forest.

He couldn't help the added sense of dread that was growing with each step he took.

The weariness of his bones didn't help matters either.

Not knowing what to expect had his mind running in circles conjuring images of possibilities.

He hated it; hated that he'd been forced into this and hated himself for accepting.

Most of all he hated Lucius for having put him in this position to begin with.

He finally stopped walking at the sight of a small clearing before him.

Without even thinking, he began casting protection spells, sealing the area off to uninvited guests human or otherwise and keying rudimentary wards to very specific people.

Then he walked over to the one stone bolder and sat down wearily resigning himself to wait.

He didn't have to wait long as it turned out. He'd sat for not more than 5 minutes before a twinge of the wards alerted him to a drawing presence.

Even if the wards hadn't revealed the encroaching person, he was sure he would have recognized him anyway.

It was such a strange thing to realize, that having lived with someone so long you innately begin to pick up the smallest of details about them.

The sound of their steps.

The way they would draw breath as they moved.

The pulse of their magic.

Although that last one may have had more to do with his own tumultuous core than it did in his ability to detect magical signatures that were familiar to him.

And Merlin was this magical signature familiar to him.

He stood stiffly, turning himself slightly to meet Lucius's eyes.

His father had stopped so that they were a near 3 feet away from one another, but even from this distance he could pick up on the small things that told him what state he'd found his father in.

Ironic really, that he could make out his own exhaustion that marred his face on his father's...mirrored in a way he shouldn't really be surprised to see.

But he was, he was even more so to see the barest bit of warm sentiments in Lucius's cool steel eyes.

Could he really have been concerned for him?

He cleared his throat then, having come to the realization that Lucius would not speak unless he did first.

He dug his hands into his pockets, gripping his wand so tight he was sure he'd cut off blood flow to his fingers.

"They said you'd only speak to me."

Hermione cast her fifth revealing spell as she and Theo continued trudging even deeper into the Forbidden Forest.

It came back negative just like the other 4 had.

She couldn't help it. She was a bundle of nerves, and she couldn't for the life of her shake the feeling that something was going to go incredibly wrong.

Like she was the seer and not Draco.

"We need to cover more ground." Theo said looking distinctly unhappy at his suggestion.

She bit her lip. Theo was right of course. They hadn't even picked up the faintest trace of a magical signatures for miles. Draco, Blaise, and whoever else had a head start on them. They could walk aimlessly for hours and still not happen upon them.

"So we need to split up."

"Hermione-"

"Theo it's fine." She insisted, "Patronus if anything is wrong or the coins." She fisted her hands. "Please. We're wasting time."

Theo bit the inside of his cheek and looked over her face.

He let out a tired sigh, and for a moment she was struck that she wasn't the only one who'd not slept well in quite some time.

"Fine." He said slowly, "But anything...anything out of the ordinary Hermione."

She interrupted him by taking his hands into hers.

"Ok. I promise."

Theo's grip tightened before he let go and inclined his head to the left. She nodded with a forced smile as Theo spun on his heel and stalked off.

She took a breath before casting another silencing charm on her feet and heading in the opposite direction.

She couldn't say how long she actually went before her spell came back detecting a person. It surely had felt longer than it actually was. Being alone, traveling in a forest that had scared her for so long...for so many reasons while she'd been a student, it certainly clouded her general perception.

She gripped her wand casting disillusionment spells and headed in the direction her spell had highlighted.

Kingsley may have granted Draco some sort of protection, but she doubted it was sufficient. There were so many factors that had to be considered. Whether Lucius Malfoy could be trusted to arrive alone or unfollowed for that matter came to mind.

She lent against a tree turning the corner and leaning her head to listen for anything out of ordinary.

A slight rustling drew her attention and she shifted ever so slightly toward it.

A few feet in and she caught sight of a dark cloak of a person's back.

She turned to circle the figure, a male if the build was anything to go by. She didn't recognize the face as she finally came to the front.

His dark brown eyes were darting to and fro like he was waiting for something.

Yet, for what?

She couldn't say how she knew, but she had a feeling the man hadn't come as an ally to Lucius.

The man straightened then, and before she could even figure out what he'd noticed, she was slammed backward by a released force, falling into a tree and tripping on the upturned roots.

She bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain. She could taste the barest hint of rust in her mouth from where her teeth had split her lip at the action.

"Come out so I can see you." The man said turning slowly to circle the clearing. He frowned as his eyes drifted around and she held her breath, relaxing only when his eyes passed unsuspecting over her form.

"I know it's you blood traitor. So cowardly, you hide even now."

She wasn't able to brace herself when he once more let out a blast that knocked her into the bushes, scratching her skin and twisting her ankle further.

She let out a low hiss, before drawing her wand and healing her ankle. She turned quickly, tossing a spell the other's way.

He easily dodged and she moved just as he sent his spell in return.

They went on like that until he once more let out a pulse of energy that threw her spiraling back and slamming her head at the base of a tree.

She was still scrambling to her feet when a spell was shot out from behind her, hitting her assailant square in the chest and sending him stunned to the ground.

She gasped in surprise as her eyes scanned the area for her hidden savior.

She didn't have to wait long before a tall dark haired figure stepped from the shadows and into the clearing his wand held loosely in his hand as though to indicate he came peacefully.

The similarity was uncanny, so much so that she nearly dropped her disillusionment and raced to embrace him.

But she didn't, because though this man was named Theodore Nott, he wasn't her Theo.

As though sensing her, his eyes drifted to her exact spot.

"I know you're there. You can come out."

She bit her lip, debating her options. She had no reason to trust this man.

"I didn't get you out of London for you to hide from me now."

She stiffened, her mind made up. Dropping her disillusionment, she stepped forward with her wand raised in front of her.

"Don't." She said sternly when he made to walk toward her.

He stopped, keeping his hands raised before him so she could see them.

"What are you doing here?"

He looked at her, his eyes soaking her up hungrily. The recognition was still blazing in his eyes, and she wondered just how much she looked like his first wife…

Too much apparently.

"I came with Lucius. We suspected we'd been followed." His eyes drifted to the prone body as though to say that their suspicions had been founded.

"Well you've done your part, you can go now." she said firmly, struggling to keep her voice steady. She hardly wanted him to know how strongly he affected her.

His very existence, nevermind his presence, shook the very foundations of her life. It was hard to figure out what was real and what was not?

"Is it wrong for a father to check up on his children?" he said after a moment.

She couldn't help it then, she snorted barely restraining herself from full out laughter.

"Children?" she said, licking her lips, "I'm not the pureblood princess you wanted. I'm the girl with the trace of muggle blood that you abandoned." She eyed him harshly, pleased when she caught him wince at her words.

"I don't know why you'd bother either way." she continued cruelly, "From what Theo tells me, you weren't much better to him."

He looked anguished, and a small part of her felt guilt at having been the cause of such pain, but her words weren't false.

He looked ready to speak when a third presence joined them.

"Hermione." Theo rushed over to her looking her up and down to take in her numerous scratches that still marred her skin.

He looked pale, hesitantly taking one of her hands into his before the other went to her hair and the cut she knew was slightly bleeding and wetting her scalp.

"Did he hurt you?" Theo suddenly demanded, "Did he touch you Hermione?"

She barely mustered the sense to shake her head before Theo had whirled around and aimed his wand at his father's chest.

"What are you doing here?"

Nott Sr. gave them both a wistful look before willing his face into a calm and blank expression.

"I came with Lucius." he said simply.

Theo gave him a chilling glare.

"Then perhaps you should go back to him." Theo said coldly.

Father and son eyed each other and for a moment, she swore she saw Theo soften slightly at their father before his expression became cold once more.

Nott Sr. turned to go before his eyes met hers

"I wanted you." he murmured softly...so much so that it was a wonder she could hear it at all. "I wanted you the minute I held you, even if I hated myself for it."

With that, the older Nott spun on his heel with his robes billowing behind him as he drifted away and was lost into the dark of the forest.

"You never make it easy do you?" Draco said after moment, breaking the silence that had settled between them.

"You didn't ask them for me just so you could torment me further, did you?" He continued bitterly.

Lucius said nothing. The bastard wasn't even facing him, he was to his side looking out into the forest as though watching for something.

He huffed in irritation before standing and making his way out to leave when Lucius called out, "Wait."

His brow rose as he turned back to face his father.

He waited, watching in rapt fascination as a few emotions flickered across Lucius's face before he seemed to settle on his familiar and firm blank one.

"Potter's curse. You've figured it out then?"

He debated his answer before slowly speaking, "We have some ideas."

Lucius shot him a knowing look before murmuring something to himself.

"When you break it, he will know. Do it only when you're ready, battle won't be far behind it."

He nodded, holding his tongue so not to interrupt him. A learned behavior he couldn't shake even now.

Don't speak unless spoken to. Respect your elders and especially respect the head of your household.

Yet, that had not been Lucius for quite some time, and still he couldn't forget to do as he'd been raised.

"You will also have to find the last of his." Lucius pursed his lips in disgust, "his pieces. He does not seem to know what it is, but can sense its existence. If you move quickly you'll be able to find and destroy it faster that he can."

He wanted to comment on how his father knew these things. He wanted to pry and dig deeper, but suddenly his head was pounding and his heart drumming and the only thing he could ask...the only thing he really cared to know the answer to fell from his lips.

"Why?" he said harshly, "Why are you doing this now?"

Lucius froze.

"Should I have a reason?"

He felt his frustration building along with a sense of pure incredulity.

"You always have a reason." He bit out.

Lucius took a breath as though calming himself before he spoke.

"And I suppose if I say my reason is you."

"Bullshit." Draco snapped, "Don't you fucking dare say anything like that. I have never been a reason for you to do anything."

Lucius's eyes glinted; though his face remained a cool mask.

"You don't know what I've done-"

"I know exactly what you've done that's the problem." Draco exclaimed.

"Don't presume you know my reasons-"

"So what?! You've secretly been parent of the year and I've been too blind to realize?" Draco shouted, "Don't act like I'm the one who's deluded. I asked you a question just give me the truth. Fuck. I deserve it don't I. I…" Draco stumbled for a moment. His hand went to his head as a sharp pain spread over his temples, blurring his vision for a moment.

"Merlin." he mumbled, blinking. His gaze sharpened and he noticed Lucius had paled, staring at him with his jaw slack.

It was then that he realized where exactly he was staring.

"Shit." he muttered reaching his hand to his nose not in the least surprised when his fingers came away crimson.

Suddenly, he felt himself being led to sit and his head tilted back.

He heard his father sigh as he pulled from his pocket a handkerchief and pressed it against his nose. He accepted it reluctantly as he closed his eyes and kept his head back. He was surprised when Lucius kept his hands steadying his head. It felt almost gentle.

After a moment, he seemed more able to reorient himself. He pulled away, sniffing as he somehow made it to his feet walking a foot a way. He needed space...Lucius standing over him...everything.

It suddenly felt like too much.

He let out a breath, keeping his back to his father like the coward he was.

He heard shuffling behind him as Lucius cleared his throat.

"How long?"

He nearly choked on his next breath as he spoke. "Longer than I should probably admit." He bit his lip and turned back to face the other man.

He kept his eyes trained to a point over Lucius's shoulder, unable to meet his gaze quite yet.

"I've been...I've felt poorly really ever since he came back."

Lucius winced, and for a moment Draco saw an indescribable guilt leak out from behind Lucius's normally carefully crafted mask.

Guilt and...worry, fear, everything imaginable.

"The Order has...has been treating you…"

"Yes." He cut in, not really wanting to elaborate or hear anymore of his father's awkward inquiries.

Lucius nodded stiffly letting out a shuddering breath.

"Merlin." He heard him mutter before Lucius looked back at him.

"Draco." He began, his face solemn...truly more sincere than he ever recalled seeing him, "I know I've made mistakes."

His breath caught...could this really be-

"And because of them I haven't been the father I should have been, but." Lucius cleared his throat, "But I did always try to do what I thought was best, safe, and proper, for you."

He stared at him. It was almost like he was seeing an entirely new person for the first time. He searched for some sort of sign, a hidden lie, anything and was at a loss when he found none.

"I'm sorry." Lucius continued, "and I want for you to know that I will always stand on the side you choose."

Draco didn't trust his voice so merely nodded in response.

Lucius cracked the barest of smiles before indicating he should sit back down on the bolder.

Numbly, he complied and they sat like that in comfortable silence before Lucius broke it in order to finish telling him all he knew.

When they were done, Lucius stood, placing a hand comfortingly on his shoulder.

"Plan carefully," He said before eyeing him for a moment, "And listen to the Healers."

Draco nodded, hoping he didn't look as tormented as he actually felt.

Lucius nodded in turn and seemed about to bid his leave when he came back to face him.

"And Draco."

He found his eyes automatically drawn to ones that were nearly identical to his own.

"I am proud of you."

With that, Lucius Malfoy disappeared back into the forest, leaving Draco wondering just how he was supposed to be alright with any of it all.