The grandfather clock struck 9 o'clock. Throwing back his forest green covers, Draco leaped out of bed, and made his way to his chest of drawers. He rummaged through pairs of jeans, dress pants, and joggers until locating what he wanted. Finding a white T-shirt to match with his black pair of jeans, he called, "Maisy!"

"Yes Master Draco," the house elf bowed.

"Are my parents up yet?"

"Yes Master. Mistress has been up since 7 and is in her study and Master Lucius has been up since 7:30 and is taking his breakfast on the terrace."

"Alright that's all," he waved as he grabbed his trunk. Unclasping it, he shoved his robes, ties, and various shoes into a compartment. Just as he was about to close his trunk, he spotted a moving picture of Narcissa wrapping her arms around his nine year old self from behind and smiling before placing a kiss in his hair. He lifted the frame, hesitated and then put it back on his bedside table.

"I'm not a baby," he mumbled to himself before closing his trunk. After he finished getting dressed, he stored his wand in his front pocket, making sure the tip was facing towards the outside world and not the inner crevice. As he was dragging his luggage along, the corner was scratching the black floors of Malfoy Manor.

"Father will deal with that later, I imagine," he thought as he continued down the steps towards his mother's study.

"Mum, I'm ready to go!" he stated excitedly in the doorway of her study. She was adding a vial of flower petals over a cauldron that was releasing a pale purple smoke. As Draco inhaled the scent of lavender and the environment just after a rainstorm, he felt an overwhelming feeling of calmness and bliss.

"I will be ready in 5 minutes, Draco," she smiled.

"What're you working on?" he bounded over to her as his eyes met hers with a child-like curiosity.

"A calming potion," she said plainly.

"Can I try it?" he said, retrieving a cup from under the table the cauldron was on and attempting to dip it in.

"No," Narcissa pushed the cup away, "I don't know all of the side effects yet."

"Well I think it works without drinking. I'm so much calmer and happier than I was before I walked in!"

"Are you sure?" Narcissa laughed, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you two ready to go? It's nearly 9:30," Lucius was leaning against the doorframe with a small but evident grin on his face.

"I just have one last thing to do, and I'll be ready." She waved her wand and the midnight blue liquid ascended into the air and swam about until it landed in a flask on the windowsill with an amethyst lid sealing it.

"All done," she nodded, smoothing her black dress pants and adjusting her black blazer with silver trim. Lucius held out a hand, and she took it without second thought, intertwining their fingers and pulling herself closer to him.

"Come, Draco," she held out her own hand. He went to go take it, but suddenly shied away.

"I forgot something! I'll be right back," he dashed up the marble staircase and into his room where he grabbed the picture he had put back from earlier. Running back downstairs, he nearly collided with Lucius, who had moved to the bottom of the staircase with his back facing Draco.

"Slow down, Draco. We do not need to be running like a headless hippogriff through this house."

"Yes, Father," he bowed his head as he unclipped his trunk to store the picture in. Once he was all situated again, he took Narcissa's hand that has moved to her side, and the trio apparated to a side street right across from King's Cross.

"Mum, can't I put this in your purse?" Draco whined, motioning to the beige trunk.

"Of course, darling," she said, kneeling down to his level. She stuck her hand in and rummaged around. Giving a quick glance to the people she was surrounded by, she lifted his trunk. Reclasping her purse, she stood back up.

"Honestly, Draco, you couldn't drag that for 5 more minutes?" Lucius shot him a glare.

"Nope," he said, jogging ahead of them. As they reached the platform, he spun around, trying to comprehend what he was seeing.

"I only see platform 9 and 10. Are you sure we're at the right place?" he asked.

"Yes," Narcissa said, walking by him and grabbing his hand as she continued, "It is right there in between." She pointed as they kept walking.

"But I don't–" Draco was cut off as they teleported through the brick wall.

"Woah! That was wicked!" Draco said with his mouth wide open. "Can I have my things now?"

Narcissa undid her purse and unloaded the trunk, his brown barn owl, and a bag full of sweets and cakes.

"Oh, there's Blaise. And Crabbe. And Goyle. Ha! Looks like I won't have to worry about a compartment." He waved at the boys who caught sight of him and waved back.

"We don't want to hold you up. So, do try and stay out of trouble and study hard," Lucius said.

"Of course, Father. I won't disappoint you," he stiffened before shaking Lucius' hand.

"And I hear the Potter boy will be there this year. Make sure you and he are on terms."

"I will."

"Write to me after you get sorted and unpacked," Narcissa interjected.

"Mum, I will see you again in four months!" Draco groaned.

"I know, but I want to know that you got there safely."

"Okay, I will. I promise," Draco rushed, glancing over at Crabbe and Goyle who indicated they were finding seats for everyone. Blaise was telling his mother when he planned to come home, and, by the sound of it, was requesting a vacation spot for the holidays. Draco returned his attention back to his parents before flinging his arms around Narcissa.

"I'll miss you, mum," he whispered.

"I'll miss you too," she said, wrapping him in her own embrace. They stayed like that for a minute before Draco pulled away.

"I love you," she said.

"Love you too," he said, running over to Blaise and playfully punching him in the upper arm as Blaise wrapped him in a headlock. Lucius placed a hand on her waist and drew her into him.

"Can you believe he's this old?"

"No. I can still remember when he would look at you and wail," Narcissa snickered.

"I think he still does that, dear." The train let out a honk as the smoke picked up. They spotted the unmistakable platinum blonde in a window three down from where they were currently standing. He eagerly waved as the train sped up and before long, it disappeared into the sunny horizon.

"Shall we return home or would you like to go somewhere?"

"Home. I have a dozen potions I need to perfect before Wednesday."

"You'll do fine."

"I know I'll do fine. It's not the skill aspect I'm worried about," Narcissa rambled as they strolled out of the station. She brought her hand up to her mouth and started biting at one of her nails.

"I'm sure you can refuse the veritaserum," Lucius offered as he removed her hand from her lips and intertwined their fingers.

"And risk having my application withdrawn? Absolutely not! It will be fine," she said more to herself.

"Narcissa," Lucius stopped and brought his hands to rest on either side of her shoulders.

"Hm?" she responded, her eyes darting everywhere but his own.

"Please be careful. Now, don't take this the wrong way. You're an exceptional witch, but why would Dumbledore recommend you for this position?"

"You call me exceptional and then act like I lack the foresight to see this situation as suspicious," Narcissa answered, harsher than she meant to. "Of course, I've thought about why he might have asked me, Lucius, but, in the end, I'm doing this for Draco. Whatever scheme Dumbledore has concocted is irrelevant as long as our son is safe and happy."

"And what about your safety and happiness?" he said, relaxing his hold on her.

"I'm already happy and you know we could never be safe," she tapped his forearm where the Dark Mark, despite diminishing in color, was still evident.

"But he's gone, Cissa," Lucius began.

"Is he? Then why is your mark not gone?"

"It's scarred."

"Don't lie to me."

"I would never think of it. I do, however, think he branded us all for eternity, so we would never betray Him." She glared at him once before disapparating the pair into the enormous foyer of Malfoy Manor. Lucius flung his black traveling cloak into the waiting hands of Dobby, who gave a small whimpering before scampering off to hang the cloak up. Narcissa unclasped her forest green one and folded it into a neat square, placing it in outstretched hands of their other house elf, Maisy.

"Maisy, will you please prepare some lemongrass tea with honey and bring it to my study?"

"Of course, Mistress Cissy," the elf bowed with the cloak still in hand before hobbling away.

"Oh, Lucius," she said as he was walking up the steps to his second floor study.

"Yes?"

"Would you mind if we practiced some defense against a few spells? I want to make absolutely sure I have it perfect."

"What spells?"

"Um," Narcissa hesitated before swallowing and replying in a lowered tone, "The imperious and cruciatus curse."

"No!" Lucius said, turning away from her, "and I cannot believe you would ask me. Do you think I would be able to cast either of those against you?!"

"I was hoping…"

"No," Lucius muttered, continuing his ascent of the staircase. Sighing, she sulked to her study where a silver tray with a tea kettle, tea cup, sugar, and honey was set on a clear table.

"Can Maisy get Mistress anything else?"

"No, that is all, Maisy." The elf bowed as Narcissa crossed the room to retrieve mandrake root and crushed unicorn horn from vials along the window sill. The hours ticked by as the tea kettle's contents wane and the sky turned from a warm fusion into a deep blue. She continued stirring the contents of the cauldron as eleven vials next to her contained various colors and consistencies of liquid and one remained empty. Carefully, she dropped a maple leaf into the boiling liquid below. It fluttered for a moment, and eventually glided down to breach the surface. The leaf sparked with embers before disintegrating and releasing a thick, white smoke. Smiling to herself, she flourished her wand, and 5 drops of it made their way to the empty vial. Glancing over at her other ingredients table, she spotted a moving picture. Her head rested on Lucius' leg as he sat in an armchair, and a young Draco was sitting on her lap eating Bertie Botts jelly beans, laughing. Beside that was a picture of a younger version of her, Regulus, and Sirius climbing a tree. Sirius giggled before reaching for another branch that appeared unstable while Regulus reached a hand down to help Narcissa up. All three turned back around and waved. Finally, there was a picture of Bellatrix with Narcissa in a headlock on platform 9 ¾, ruffling her hair and spinning her around while Andromeda cheered in the background. Bellatrix had just graduated while Narcissa was just entering her third year and Andromeda her fifth.

"I can do this," Narcissa stated to herself. Closing the vial with a cork, she said one last time, "I can do this."