"Mya!" Dean called after her as she all but ran past him, "Mya!"

He met Neville's eyes, the worry he felt mirrored there. "Go," he commanded when it became clear she wasn't stopping. "Zabini and I have this." With a nod, Dean shot off after her.

"Do you think she's alright?" Blaise murmured, a frown appearing on his face as he turned to watch Hermione race down the hall.

"Not even close," Neville sighed, running a tired hand over his face as Blaise's attention was forcefully drawn back to him. "She was meeting Kingsley about Severus today, it doesn't look like it was good news."

"Fuck" Blaise hissed, his eyes going back to tracking Hermione as she raced down the corridor before disappearing from sight.

"Mya, for fucks sake, slow down," Dean shouted, running to catch up with her. It was difficult as he weaved around groups of volunteers who were just automatically moving from Hermione's path but who seemed to take over the corridors again as soon as she had passed.

"Can't." she muttered, "Need to move."

He blew out a breath before increasing his speed, finally catching up with her. "Where are we going?"

"The lake."

"Alright then," he hooked his arm through hers so he didn't lose her as she stormed her way down the lake. Finally, she let out a breath when they reached the edge, her hands shaking with adrenaline. "What happened?

"He's going to speak to Malfoy now," she whispered. "I thought…I thought we'd have more time. I…I'm not ready. I…Fuck!" she swiped under her eyes angrily.

With a pained look of understanding Dean wrapped her in a hug as she cried. "It's going to be alright."

"It's so fucking stupid. I've barely had him five minutes but I…god Dean I'm going to bloody miss him!"

"I know love," he crooned, squeezing her tighter. "But My, it's not going to be any less hard if you get another week or another month or even another decade. It's going to hurt regardless. And maybe this was what he wanted, maybe it was deliberate."

She scoffed, pulling back to look at him incredulously. "On what planet do you see Severus Snape turning himself three willingly?"

He grimaced, "Alight perhaps not. So what the fuck do you think he was doing?"

"I don't know," she whispered.

He pulled her back into the hug. "We'll be here," he whispered into the top of her head, "After. You are not alone. And it's going to be hard, but Mya, we'll help."

"I know," she murmured. "I do. I just…" she let out a breath, trying to corral her spiralling emotions. "Sirius is taking us to an island for a bit. But I think when I come back I'm going to do something about the war orphans. I…I think it'll help."

He hummed in acknowledgement. "We'll help with that too." he smiled suddenly, pulling her down to sit on the bank of the Black Lake. "I could teach them football. It's time we had more than quidditch. And Nev could have them gardening. And Sue could keep them all under control. Harry could teach them to fly. And Mrs. Weasley will no doubt feed them."

"And me?" Hermione checked wondering where on Earth she fit in this vision Dean was excitedly creating.

He smiled slightly, "You'll love them," he murmured, before he paused, "And presumably ensure they're well read and rule abiding."

"Arse," she muttered, smacking his arm half heartedly

"You love me."

"Unfortunately," she muttered, smiling to take out the sting before she hugged him again, "Thank you."

"You don't ever need to thank me for listening, love. We protect our own, you know that."

"I do." she agreed, dropping her head onto his shoulder.

They sat at the edge of the lake in silence until Dean cleared his throat. "Half an hour?"She nodded as he gave her a pained smile. "Then let's go."

Malfoy and Kingsley were waiting for her when Dean dropped her off at Minerva's office with a tight hug and a whispered, "Love you". Forcing her spine straight, she turned to face the centre of the room, her eyes landing on Malfoy first. He looked gaunt, pale and haunted. His mask was firmly in place, and she could almost see him waiting for the blows, his defiance wrapped around him like armour, almost daring them to comment.

"Get lost?" Kingsley teased.

"Lost track of time," she mumbled, not looking at him directly.

He hummed, seeing her reticence despite not understanding it. Deciding to brush over it for now, he continued, "As you can tell, Mr Malfoy has agreed to help. We're going to go now."

She nodded, "OK."

"Kitten," Sirius murmured softly, watching her with genuine concern, but she shook her head, keeping her spine rigid and her face blank.

"Let's get this over with."

Draco eyed her curiously, clearly attempting to understand her expression before he was distracted by a piece of rope in Kingsley's hand. "We'll portkey, I've been to Severus' before so we should be alright."

With their agreement, he murmured portus, whisking them away to Cokeworth.

Draco eyed his godfather's house warily, feeling the wards thrumming around him as he desperately tried to remember what he'd been told about bringing guests. He was almost sure that the entire conversation concluded with a stern, "Don't!" so he fell back on what he knew of other properties. "I think it'll need blood."

Kingsley nodded as if he had been expecting that. "Hold out our hand then. You can have your wand back only if you need to change the wards."

He did as he was told, before smearing the blood across the door handle. It opened with an audible click.

"Hold onto me and I should be able to take you through." he offered, staying on high alert in case something changed suddenly. Merlin knew they'd revoke the new rules and let a dementor kiss him if he inadvertently murdered the bloody Minister for Magic or Hermione Granger.

Hermione's eyes flew to his and he winced, flushing in shame at the obvious shock in them. "I ah…I need to…apologise…I.." he stammered, the words tumbling out his mouth before he realised he'd spoken.

"Later," Kingely commanded, cutting him off reluctantly, needing to get them inside quickly lest they attract the neighbours' attention. Motioning Hermione and Sirius forward, he waited expectantly until they'd placed a hand on Draco so he could admit them.

Hermione felt the magic washing over her as she stepped through the door into a dingy little house, sending a shiver through her. It wasn't unwelcoming, but it wasn't pleasant either. The look on Sirius' face indicated that it was worse for him. She filed that away for later as she looked around the room she'd stepped into. She couldn't imagine her Potions professor here, the darkness might have matched his personality but it seemed so small, so…mundane. For a man whose presence could fill a room, who was fastidious and deliberate, this rundown house seemed uncharacteristic. It hurt her heart in a way she didn't want to examine too closely to picture a tiny Severus here. No wonder he had been frightened.

"There's blood on the floor." Sirius gestured to a wide streak following the left-hand wall, a dragged hand print above it on the wall indicating that he'd used it to hold himself up. "It's leading to that door."

"It's his lab." Draco supplied, following the blood trail with his eyes, a sickened look on his face. "He kept it under the house."

"Of course he did," Sirius muttered as Hermione strode forward. She hesitated at the door.

"What are the chances of this letting me in?" she asked quietly, feeling the magic thrumming where her hand hovered over the door handle.

"Honestly, Granger, "I don't know," Draco admitted.

"Granger-Black." Sirius corrected sharply.

"What?" Kingsley barked, "but Remus…"

Sirius looked unimpressed with his insinuation. "I know the Blacks are inbred Kings, but most of us draw the line at our children."

"Your…Sweet mother of Circe." his face split into a sudden grin, "Congratulations! I'd forgotten you talked about it."

"That we did." Sirius agreed with a self-satisfied little smile.

Draco seemed stunned, looking at her as if he'd never seen her before before he shook it off. "Well then. Cousin." Hermione's eyes widened both at the term and the first flash of something other than the expressionless mask she'd seen on his face. "Shall we test those wards?"

"Oh absolutely not, Malfoy. Please never call me that again."

He smirked, a hint of mischief breaking through the mask. "But cousin…it's a new age now. Surely you're not going to deny family?"

Hermione wined, "Pads."

Biting back a grin, Sirius attempted to be an adult. "Why don't we see how he behaves, kitten? If nothing else evil relatives are character-building. Trust me. I should know."

Kingsley rolled his eyes. "The lab?"

"Right,'' tentatively Hermione put her hand on the door handle and pushed the door open, astonished when it didn't fight her.

"Well then. Looks like you can get in. Cousin."

With a huff, Hermione headed down the stairs only to run back up them at Sirius' yelp. "What happened?"

"It would appear he cannot get in unassisted. "Draco muttered, eying her thoughtfully. "Interesting. Hold daddy's hand cousin, I'll bring the minister."

She glowered at him, knowing he was just poking her now before Snatching Sirius' hand and dragging him down the stairs

Inside was a mess. The flame still burned, but glass and an unidentifiable yellow potion decorated the walls and floor, the obviously tipped cauldron resting on its side in the middle of the room.

"Jesus,'' Hermione muttered, picking her way across the room, careful not to touch anything she shouldn't. Spotting the gloves on the workbench, she shoved her hands into them and gingerly picked up the book that was sitting innocuously next to the flame. She felt rather than saw Malfoy appear behind her.

"I really am sorry you know." he whispered, "It doesn't…I know it doesn't make up for any of it."

"No," she agreed. "It really doesn't."

He blew out a harsh breath, "Let me prove I mean it?"

"Because my last name is now Black?" she asked archly.

"Because I was wrong," he contradicted.

She turned slowly to face him, taking in the tension in his shoulders, his blank face and the fact he was clearly waiting on her to shoot him down. "Let's figure this out and then we'll talk." she sighed, feeling some of her anger dissipate as she realised he reminded her viscerally of a wounded animal.

He nodded, not quite able to mask his surprise. "Alright. I..it's more than I deserve. Thank you Granger." he visibly drew himself back to the book in her hand. "There should be notes," he muttered.

"Like these?" Sirius held up a sheaf of parchment.

"Like those," he agreed, "is that the only ones?"

Sirius gave the room another cursory sweep with his eyes, "All I can see."

"I've taken a potion sample," Kingsley announced, waving his wand to extinguish the flame. "Let's get out of here. Can you change the wards to allow us entrance in case we need to come back?"

Draco paused, considering that. "I can but I'd like to help."

Kingsley's eyes moved between him and Hermione searchingly. She gave an imperceptible shrug, reading the question on his face. "Change the wards and then we'll talk," Kingsley instructed, handing Draco's wand to Hermione."Sirius a word?"

With a sigh, Draco trudged back up the stairs with Hermione following behind. She handed his wand over when he reached the door.

"Diffindo," he muttered, drawing blood. "I need you to do the same, Granger."

"What?"

"Or maybe…" he frowned as if realising something. "Granger go outside, and try to come back in."

"What? Why?" she asked bewildered, wondering if she could trust whatever he was up to now.

"A theory," he murmured.

"Your wand then," she held her hand out.

He gave a humourless huff of laughter. "You can't take it, it'll skew results. Go and give it to Daddy if you must."

"Stop calling him that!" she snarled.

"Done?" Kingsley asked appearing at the top of the stairs, looking at them both expectantly.

"Not yet, He wants to test a theory." Hermione handed him Draco's wand, before stomping out of the house.

"What theory?" Kingsley demanded before his jaw dropped when Hermione walked back in.

"How the fuck….?" Sirius trailed off looking stunned.

"I think that he made sure she had somewhere to go if she was desperate," Draco mused quietly, watching Hermione curiously. "Whatever he might have seemed, he'd have helped."

Hermione stood frozen, sure her shock mirrored Sirius' as she attempted to assimilate that information. "Without telling her?" Kingsley pressed.

Draco shrugged. "Maybe he meant to, maybe he meant to send a message, maybe he thought Potter would go looking for him. I don't know. I didn't say I understood but for her to be able to get into his lab when," he paused, as if suddenly realising he had no idea how to address Sirius. "Well, she could where others couldn't, so there's no way she wouldn't also have access to the house."

"Right," Kingsley muttered. Before shaking his head as if to clear it, turning to Draco. "It has been agreed that you can visit Black Manor while we work out what this means."

"Right," he looked visibly startled.

"Good. Let's go. We'll discuss the next steps if we need more than today." Kingsley held out his arm, "Hermione, if you would."

They appeared in the middle of the hall seconds before Sirius and Draco. Obviously having heard them, Severus barrelled through the door, ignoring Harry's shout for him to slow down, before hitting her knees.

"Mummy, Uncle Charlie came!"

"Mummy?" Draco choked. Severus' head snapped up to look at him, a glare already present on his face.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"Severus," Hermione warned, "What happened to manners?"

He pouted, whispering a "Sorry," before his eyes turned pleading "You lift me up mummy. Please?"

Hermione gave a huff of laughter, "You're a menace." she muttered, scooping him up and throwing him in the air to make him giggle. Beside her, both Kingsley and Draco were staring at her as if they weren't sure they weren't hallucinating.

"Missed you, Mummy," he whispered once he was settled on her hip, his arms wrapped around her neck.

She squeezed him tighter, hoping that this wasn't the last time. "Did you have fun with Uncle Charlie though?

"Yes!" his eyes lit up again. "He has pictures of dragons mummy! They look like my dinosaurs but with wings! And he said I could go see them!"

"He did, did he?" Hermione replied, her eyes meeting Charlie's sheepish ones over the top of Severus' head.

"That kid has some serious puppy dog eyes, My!" he whined. "I couldn't say no!"

"Of course you couldn't," she sighed. "Severus, can you say hello to Minister Shacklebolt?"

"Hi," he whispered shyly.

Kingsley looked stunned as if waiting for someone to give him a real explanation before he visibly gathered himself. "Hello to you too, young man."

Severus blinked, "He's a bit scary mummy." he stage whispered making them smile.

"He's not." Hermione contradicted, before her smile turned teasing, "He's just very important and he has to pretend to be scary so people give him five minutes peace."

"You're not wrong," Kingsley muttered ruefully.

"How important?"

"Oh very, very." Hermione replied exaggeratedly, "He's in charge of everyone. The big boss."

"Wow." Severus' head swivelled. "Can you tell mummy what to do?"

Kingsley snorted, "I might be important, but I am not stupid. Your mummy is far scarier than I am!"

"Mummys not scary!" Severus giggled, "She's Mummy!"

Draco snorted, his expression still slightly stunned as he watched the miniature version of his godfather cuddle his new cousin. "She's terrifying."

"She is not!" Severus retorted sharply.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Mr Malfoy is trying to be funny."

"Well, he's not," Severus muttered, making Sirius choke on a laugh. "He go home now?"

"Not yet darling, we need to read a book or two."

"Skellingtons?" he asked hopefully.

"Oh darling, if you as nicely, I'm sure Mr Malfoy would love to read you Funnybones," she smirked.

Draco looked like a rabbit caught in headlights. "Of course," he choked when Severus' eyes fell on him despite not understanding what he'd agreed to.

"Now?" Severus checked hopefully.

"Oh absolutely." Hermione agreed, "Let me just warn Uncle Harry he's here."

"And Uncle Ron Mummy!"

Hermione's horrified eyes met Charlie's. "It'll be fine." he smiled, looking wholly unconvinced.

"Gods, right." Hermione looked at Severus, "Can you stay with Grandpa for two minutes?"

"No, mummy!" he whined, "I come with you!"

"Nah come on Pup, we'll take the very important minister and Mr Malfoy into the kitchen and see if we can find Grandad's chocolate stash." Sirius wheedled, taking him from Hermine.

"Chocolate?" he checked, perking up immediately.

"Grandads definitely got some hidden in the kitchen, let's find it.

"Frogs, Grandpa?"

"Let's go look," Sirius commanded, hiding his wince at the title.

"Thank you," Hermione mouthed, before following Charlie into the living room

Harry's eyes zeroed in on her immediately, "How did it go?"

Hermione blew out a breath, trying to choose her words carefully. "Kings spoke to Malfoy and we've been to the house. So now, we need to look through his notes and the book we found. We'll also need to analyse the potion that was spilt all over the place, I assume."

"Ok." Harry nodded, trying to look unaffected. "So there's a plan. Here is he?"

"With Sirius searching for Remus' chocolate. I need to talk to you both quickly."

"What happened?" Ron demanded.

"Listen." Charlie hissed.

"Kings came back with us." Hermione began "And…so did Malfoy."

"What?" Ron barked.

"He apologised. And let's face it, Snape was his godfather, we probably need his help. He.. He's still Malfoy but muted I suppose. He's managed to be reasonably polite. Just…Severus is currently three. The last thing he needs is one of his current favourite uncles losing his temper, alright?"

Ron flushed. "I don't like it."

"No." she sighed, "It's…not entirely ideal."

"But I'll behave," he muttered, changing whatever he was going to say under the force of Charlie's glower. "as long as he does."

"Good." she nodded, "Thank you. Now, are you ready to hear Malfoy read to Severus?"

There was a beat of silence before Harry grinned, "Green Eggs and Ham?"

"Funnybones," she smirked.

"Damn. We'll give him Green eggs afterwards then." Harry nodded to himself, a look of glee on his face.

She snorted. "Go for it."

"Is this that book with the bloke trying to feed another bloke in random places with a collection of animals?" Ron asked, making Hermione laugh at his genuine confusion.

"Something like that." she giggled as Kingsley entered the room warily.

"We found the stash," he smirked, "Remus is rehiding it."

"Ah.'' Hermione nodded, spying Severus clutching a visibly confused Draco's hand.

"Skellingtons now, Mr Malfoy?" he asked, peering up at him.

"Granger…what is…?" he trailed off helplessly as Hermione summoned the book.

"We're all listening Malfoy," she smirked as she made a show of sitting down, Harry and Ron flanking her.

He looked momentarily flustered before he sat, opening the book, his tone utterly bewildered as he began to read.

"What in the name of Salazar was that?" demanded as he closed the book, eyeing it as if it were dangerous.

"Funnybones," Hermione smirked.

"Green eggs now?" Severus piped up hopefully from his perch beside Draco.

"What?" Draco asked the bewildered tone back in his voice.

"Of course,'' Hermione agreed, the book landing neatly on Draco's lap. He closed his eyes in resignation.

"I knew you were evil. Cousin."

Sirius and Remus had joined them by the time he'd finished. "That was…what was that nonsense!" he howled.

"Dr. Seuss," Hermione replied as if it explained everything.

"Are there more of them?" Harry wondered aloud.

"Oh yes! The cat in the hat, Fox in socks…."

"Who would put accessories on animals?" Draco demanded. "Why does this doctor seem to have an obsession with them? What's next? An owl in a tie?"

Hermione snorted before she began to laugh, "Oh! Oh Merlin!"

"Why is that funny?" he whined.

Hermione shook her head, it wasn't really, mildly amusing perhaps but not laugh-out-loud funny but the stress of the day was finally getting together.

"Is Mummy OK?" Severus whispered, looking at Ron.

"She's fine," he dismissed. "Sometimes girls are just a bit mental."

"And sometimes Uncle Ron forgets that Mummy is better at spells than him," Harry muttered as Hermione hit him with a stinging jinx making him yelp.

Severus giggled when Ron pouted.

Despite his amusement, Kingsley cleared his throat, "Right then, shall we look over the papers?"

With a sigh, Hermione nodded. "Dining room table"?

"I come too, Mummy!" Severus demanded.

Hermione cocked her head, "You don't want to stay with Uncle Ron and Charlie?"

"Oi!" Harry protested.

"And Uncle Harry," she added with an eye roll.

"You promised me dinosaurs." Charlie pouted playfully. "Don't tell me that you've forgotten?"

Severus looked torn for several seconds. "You staying in the house, Mummy?"

"I'll be in the dining room with Grandpa, Kingsley and Mr. Malfoy," she murmured, running her hand over his head with a smile

He nodded solemnly, "OK Uncle Charlie, let's get dinosaurs."

"You know," Remus mused, "If you look in the bag next to your toybox, you might find something interesting."

Hermione all but groaned, "What did you do?"

"We might have picked up some dinosaurs for him to play with," Remus muttered sheepishly.

"He's so spoiled!" Hermione lamented.

Remus shrugged, "Look how happy he is," he murmured.

"Thank you Grandad!" he squealed brandishing a stegosaurus before barreling into his knees and hugging him tightly.

Remus smiled faintly, biting back a wince as Severus' head collided heavily with his thigh "You're welcome. Now, why don't you go and play with Uncle Charlie?"

Hermione smiled watching as Charlie's large hand engulfed Severus' as the tiny boy tugged him forward towards the bag. Trusting Severus was occupied for the moment, she turned to follow the others out of the room.

"Right then." Kingsley gestured at the collection of items on the table. Shall we?"

"This is fucking insane," Draco muttered as he gingerly sat down.

Hermione kept her opinion to herself despite being inclined to agree as they gathered around the table, the parchment spread out across the surface, Hermione gestured to the book. "Will we start with that?"

There were hmms of agreement but none of them moved. Impatiently, Hermione picked it up, checking the page it had been left open on. "It was a time reversal potion." she frowned.

"Has he marked anything else? Any notes in the margin?" Draco murmured, moving quickly around the table to try and read over her shoulder

"What the fuck is a time reversal potion?'' Sirius demanded.

"Exactly what it says," Draco murmured, still reading. "It was the precursor to the time turner but…unstable with erratic results. It could send the drinker back an hour at a time, but it was too unpredictable and so it was eventually outlawed."

"Sweet Circe. Why would he be looking at that?"

"There was theory," Hermione began slowly, "That the potion reversed the body by that hour. If he'd tweaked it…if he'd made it longer, his body would have de-aged." Sirius frowned, "The damage Nagini caused would have gone." Hermione explained.

"Fuck!" he hissed. "That's…so he used that and something went wrong?"

"Potentially," Hermione agreed, her eyes travelling over the annotations in the book, "He mentioned combining it with Felix Felicis, draught of peace and time sand?"

"Time sand?" Kingsley asked sharply.

"I think we need to look at those notes now," she murmured.

Draco got there first. "Calculations," he murmured, scanning the page, reaching for the next. He read in silence, passing them to Kingsely once he was done. "Ah."

"Ah?" Hermione probed.

"He was trying…gods he's either a genius or he's insane."

"Malfoy!" Hermione interrupted sharply.

"He was trying to go back to the beginning," he explained softly.

"The beginning of what?"

"Before Voldemort. First year if I'm interpreting this correctly. It looks like he rushed the final calculations. He mustn't have been able to finish them. I think his balance of aconite to daisy root is off."

"Fuck me," she muttered, "he could have succeeded?"

"Yes." he admitted, "Although some of his calculations are…I don't know they look strange."

"Give them here." Hermione held her hand out.

She read over them quickly, frowning as she went. It was almost as if he was trying to make the arithmancy fit his conclusion. And then it dawned on her and her heart broke for the man he had been. "He wouldn't have succeeded."

"Why?" Draco asked, startled.

"Because he'd already decided on the answer. He manipulated the equations to suit. He was…desperate. And he wanted to believe he was right."

"What was his answer?" Kingsley asked curiously.

"Lily. He wanted to go back to Lily because he thought that was when he was happy."

She heard someone move from the table before an arm wrapped around her shoulder. It was only then that she realised she was crying.

"But he wasn't happy at Hogwarts." Sirius murmured, with a pained smile, "Because of us. It would never have worked."

She gulped, squeezing him tightly. "It wasn't just you. But no, you didn't help." she swiped angrily under her eyes, "Fuck! What are we going to do?"

"We can analyse the potion." Kingsley offered sounding reluctant. "Reverse engineer it."

"But?" Sirius prompted.

He blew out a breath. "Severus was an incredibly unhappy man. This potion was the act of a desperate one. Hermione, I have never seen Severus as free as I did in your living room. You're giving him a childhood. A family. A chance. Merlin, maybe I'm wrong but…I think turning him back does him a disservice. He gave up everything to two wars. Lived a bitter, lonely life. Assuming a Healer finds no issues with him, can't we reward him by giving him something more?"

Hermione let out a shaky breath, her eyes locking with Draco's. "You knew him. What do you think?"

"I agree." he said finally, looking like he couldn't believe what he'd just said "But I…I have a favour to ask."

"You can ask."

"I want to be in his life," he blurted not quite able to keep the pleading tone from his voice. "He…He wasn't the most affectionate of men but I knew my godfather loved me. He was there whenever Father's expectations got too much. He was the one who protected me during meetings. He shielded me as much as he was able. I…please. Please don't cut me out."

She nodded shakily. "Ok," she whispered.

"You'll keep him?" Kingsley checked needing to be sure. "Hermione, I need you to think about this properly. We're talking about a three year old little boy…it's not…you're only eighteen and I'm asking you to be a parent."

"Yes, I don't need to think" she agreed immediately, letting out a choked sob-like laugh, "Merlin, he already calls me Mummy. I've been a parent since I got him. Although someone else gets to tell Minerva I'm not going back to Hogwarts,."

"You're not taking your NEWTs?" Kingsley's eyebrows shot up his forehead.

"I'll take them," she contradicted, "At the Ministry."

"Soon?" Kingsely probed.

"Whenever you can arrange it.

He hummed, "After Hogwarts is ready to reopen, we'll set some dates. I was hoping you'd join me in restructuring the Ministry."

She shook her head. "No. I want to set something up for the war orphans. Merlin knows there's enough of them. And then look to encompassing abused children, both here and muggleborns."

"I see," he murmured. "Why?"

"Tom Riddle was abused. Severus was abused. Harry was abused." she hesitated. "Sirius and Regulus were abused. Several muggleborns terrified their families and were abused or murdered because of fear. It..it has to stop. There has to be somewhere for them to go. Somewhere that isn't fucking awful and traumatising."

Sirius squeezed her tightly, "Then let's do that, kitten." he smiled. "We'll help. Your Mr Zabini seemed keen and Harry isn't going to say no."

"I'd like to help," Draco murmured.

"Doing what?" Kingsley asked sharply.

"You don't think there's going to be Death Eaters children in that home?" he countered, "They'll be more likely to listen to me in the beginning."

"He's not wrong." Hermione agreed reluctantly.

Kingsley looked torn. "Alright. Depending on the outcome of your trial. I had intended to send you back to Hogwarts. Perhaps this is better. Newts will be mandatory."

"Can I take them at the ministry?"

"If you have a signed contract to whatever Hermione sets up, and agree to monitoring if they don't convict you."

He paled, but nodded, "They might." he whispered.

"They might," Kingsley agreed, "But I don't think so. Right, I think it's time I got Mr Malfoy home. Owl me when you decide how formal you intend to make your guardianship."

Hermione looked momentarily startled. "We'll discuss the options Kitten, Sirius soothed, seeing the unasked question.

"Thank you, Kings," she murmured.

"Granger…may I…may I owl you?"

She nodded slowly, "Alright Malfoy."

"And ah…Cousin," he smirked, "What's this about Zabini? Are we going to be family? It'd be nice to have one of them on my side."

She scowled, "Go home!"