Once her bags were checked in and she had received her boarding pass, Aurora walked over to Draco, who was patiently waiting for her.

"Are you all set?" Draco asked.

"Yes. I just need to find Dr. Hines and the rest of my group, I believe they are already at the gate."

Draco and followed Aurora to the main terminal, where they walked side by side. His mind drifted aimlessly when something unexpected happened- Aurora reached out, held his hand, and give it a light squeeze. Draco looked down at her and grinned sheepishly. He did not know what her reasoning was nor did he care, he was just happy she was holding his hand! The pair continued to walk in silence until they reached the gate.

"Well my dear, this is where I leave you. I hope when you return, you will be in higher spirits."

Aurora opened her mouth to respond when Draco continued.

"And please make sure you eat and sleep, you look dreadful."

Aurora playfully slapped him on the shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry I will-"

"Miss Pontellier!"

Aurora looked back to find Dr. Hines waving at her.

"Miss Pontellier, we are about to board the plane."

Aurora nodded and turned to Draco. "I'll be back in about two weeks." She stood on her toes and placed a light kiss on his cheek, and then quickly disappeared into the crowd of people.

Draco stood in silence placing his hand on his cheek, he couldn't believe that just happened! That girl did have a way of torturing him without even knowing. Draco was no fool nor would he deny the obvious, he wanted her and not in just some lust driven way. Of course he will never admit out loud that he did desire her, but he wanted all of her, body and soul. The only question was this: did she feel the same? Despite having excellent deduction skills, that was something he couldn't figure out.

XXXX

Aurora found her seat and to her relief she would be spending the next seven hours next to Malvina.

"So why do we have to sit here again? There's barely any leg room!" Malvina lamented.

"We're traveling with a group of Muggle geologists, remember?" Aurora said as she placed her carryon in the cabinet above the seats.

"I know that, what I mean is why do we have to sit in economy class like a couple of peasants? Why not first class?"

"No money in the budget?

"Yeah, right." Malvina stated sarcastically.

Aurora shook her head and smiled, taking her seat.

"So…" Malvina smirked mischievously. "Who was that guy you were with earlier? Your boyfriend?"

Aurora merely shrugged. "Yes, of sorts."

"'Of sorts'? What is that supposed to mean?"

Aurora leaned back into her seat. "Well he happens to be a boy and he is my friend. So yeah, he is my 'boyfriend'."

Malvina rolled her eyes. "Don't play dumb with me, I saw you! You kissed him!"

Aurora blinked slowly before answering. "It was nothing but a chaste kiss on the cheek, calm down."

"Who is he?"

"I told you already, he's my friend."

"Rory!" Malvina was getting frustrated with Aurora's cheek.

"His name is Draco Malfoy."

"Is he single?"

Now it was Aurora's turn to be frustrated. "I don't see how that's relevant."

"I'm just wondering."

"Well stop wondering."

Malvina smirked, it appears that she has struck a nerve.

"Well what about the funny one?"

"Funny one?"

"Yes, what was his name? Wyatt?"

"What about him?"

"Is he seeing anyone?"

Aurora shook her in exasperation. "You are just full of questions today aren't you?"

"I'm just trying to keep myself entertained. After all we do have to spend 7 hours on this damned flying machine, might as well have some fun."

"By what? Annoying me to no end?"

"Exactly. So come on spill! Is he single or not?"

"As of now yes."

Malvina's eyes sparkled. "Really?! Will you put in a good word for me?"

"Oh trust me, my dear, you are perfectly capable of bagging him on your own. However, I did tell him he's not allowed to date any of my friends."

"Why?"

"What's your opinion on casual sex with strangers?"

Malvina wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Thought so." Aurora smirked.

"So that pleasant, well-mannered boy is a philanderer?"

Aurora laughed out loud. "Yes, yes he is."

"Shame, and here I was thinking that he would be my new boyfriend."

"Spare yourself the trouble and go for a man who can last in a relationship for more than a week."

"Someone like Draco Malfoy?"

Aurora paused for a moment. "No."

"Why are you being so defensive?"

"I'm not being defensive!"

"Yes, you are! Listen, if you like him, that's cool. I won't pursue him."

"Pursue him? What? Like you actually think you have a chance with him?" Aurora asked sarcastically. She couldn't understand why she was getting "territorial"- Draco was just her friend, right? Sure, their friendship was a little unconventional. They were practically inseparable, but she had never given much thought to how she would feel if he had a girlfriend or how it would change the dynamic of their friendship. Come to think of it, the idea scared her. As horrible as it sounded, deep down, she wasn't sure how exactly she would fair if Draco had a girlfriend. Her opinion probably wouldn't matter to him either way, but still the idea made her heart sink.

"That was unkind." Malvina stated bluntly. "What, you don't think I'm good enough?"

Aurora sighed, I need to learn to keep my mouth shut.

"No, it's not that."

"So what?"

"Draco…well, you see-"

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, my name is Captain Fernando García. Thank you for flying with Delta Airlines. We are prepared for take off, so please take note of all of the emergency exits at the front and back of the cabin-"

Aurora sighed in relief, now she doesn't have to continue with this ridicules conversation.

"-please fasten your seat belts we will be taking off shortly."

XXXX

Draco couldn't help but shake his head at the sight of his father. Lucius was asleep on his favorite leather armchair in the grand parlor. His head was reclined and his mouth was wide open.

"You're going to get a kink in your neck like that, old man." Draco chortled.

He walked closer to his father when something caught his eye. Not too far from Lucius' feet was a leather bound book. Draco knelt down and picked it up. He turned it over to see what his father was currently reading and to his surprise, Draco found that his father wasn't reading a book, in fact he was actually looking at a photo album.

The album contain a plethora of old photos from when Lucius and Narcissa had attended Hogwarts. Draco flipped through the book absent mindedly until he spotted one photo in particular that made him smile. It was his parents on their wedding day and next to them stood a young man with thick black hair. Draco knew that this person was none other than Severus Snape, the late potions master. He looked so young! They all did, there his mother stood beaming with joy, his father smiled like a lovesick fool, and Professor Snape- well, back then, he was only known as Severus- was smiling awkwardly. Fresh young faces without a care in the world.

Draco missed his godfather; he often wondered what life would have been like if he had survived. Probably the same, except he would have had good old Severus to guide him when it came to researching and brewing medical potions.

Feeling slightly depressed, Draco shut the book and set it aside. He summoned a blanket and draped it over his father.

Lucius snorted and woke with a start. "Ah!" He sat forward, looking at his surroundings, and his eyes finally fell on Draco. "Oh it's only you, for a moment I thought you were- well it doesn't matter." Lucius began to wipe the saliva off his chin. "Did I sleep with my mouth open again?"

Draco nodded. "Father, how many times do I have to tell you? You shouldn't be falling asleep on the armchair, it's bad for your neck."

"I'm old, I can sleep wherever I please!"

"Of course, how silly of me."

Draco took a seat next to his father. "How was your day?"

"About the same, dull."

"Did you make anyone cry?"

Lucius laughed out loud. "Not today, my boy."

Draco chuckled. "Well that's a damn shame, maybe tomorrow."

"Perhaps."

Both father and son continued with their casual conversation, not noticing Narcissa leaning against the doorway with a content smile on her face. She absolutely loved it when Lucius and Draco chatted. A few moments passed and she decided return to the kitchen to oversee the chef's progress, as tonight they would be having all of Draco's favorite dishes for dinner.

XXXX

"RAMONA!" Wyatt shouted as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. "RAMONA!" he shouted again.

"What is it, child?" Imogen asked from the balcony of the summer home.

"Mother, have you seen Ramona anywhere?"

"Yes, she's down at the beach with your father and Eisley."

"Thank you!" Wyatt left as quickly as he came.

Imogen just shook her head at her overly active son and went back to reading her book.

Once he saw his father and sisters come into view Wyatt waved them down. "FATHER! RAMONA! QUICK!"

The party of three just looked at the boy as if he had gone mad.

"What is it, son?" Damocles asked.

"There's a dead Acromantula not too far from here. It appears it died less than an hour ago- quick, grab some vials, let's go!"

Damocles was carefully extracting the venom from the fangs of the dead creature all while explaining with great enthusiasm the rarity and many uses of Acromantula venom.

"Daddy, I want to try!" Eisley announced.

Wyatt chucked and grabbed Eisley as she started to run towards their father. "Hold on there, tyke, do you have any idea what Mother will do to us if we let you anywhere near that creature?"

"What's the big deal? It's dead."

"And we will be, too, if you go anywhere near it." Ramona stated plainly.

Damocles finished filled up the first vial and handed it to Wyatt. He continued on to fill the next.

"When do I get a turn?!" Eisley pouted.

"We already told you, you're not going anywhere near that thing." Ramona explained yet again.

"Father!" Eisley whined.

"Eisley please," Damocles sighed. "Daddy is trying to work."

"You call filling up a few vials work?"

"Yes, of course this is work, considering that the content that these vials contain could potentially kill all of us!" Democles drew in an exasperated breath; as much as he loved and doted on his youngest child, she could be a royal pain sometimes. "I'll tell you what, if you behave yourself I will buy you a new potions set. How does that sound?"

"Okay…But it has to be the 8 piece kit, not the 6!"

"Yes, yes- whatever your little heart desires. Now shut it!"

Imogen was pleased with the sight before her. All three of her children there laughing and joking and her husband would chime in whenever he thought the conversation was interesting enough. It was rare to see her children all together like this; ever since Wyatt and Ramona moved out, she rarely got to see them. Of course they would write to her and Damocles as often as they could and would visit them when time would allow, but nothing made her happier than these annual family trips.

These trips were a tradition that started way before Wyatt and Ramona were born. As newlyweds, Damocles and Imogen often went on wild adventures-touring through the Serengeti, cliff diving in Hawaii, snorkeling in The Great Barrier Reef- of course, when she had Wyatt and Ramona, they brought the children along them.

"So Wyatt, Father told me some interesting news yesterday."

"Yeah? And what was that?"

"He told me that you completed your thesis ahead of schedule and now you are in the doctorate program."

"Correction, dear sister, I am in the potion's division of the doctorate program."

Ramona smirked like a cat. "My, my, should we be expecting your Order of Merlin Medal soon?"

"Just about, I know exactly where to put it."

"Oh?"

"I will have it on display right next to father's Order of Merlin award." Wyatt stated smugly. "I'll save a spot for yours, sis." He winked.

Damocles shook his head. "Imogen, it appears that we have raised a couple of haughty children-"

"Make sure there's space for mine too!" Eisley exclaimed.

Imogen shook her head. "Make that three, dear."

"Children, let me tell you something…" Damocles began, and all three of his children groaned, for they knew he was about to give them the "success doesn't come easy speech"

"Success doesn't just fall into one's lap, it takes determination, focus, blood, sweat-"

"-And your first born child!" Wyatt shouted eliciting a laugh from both of his sisters.

"-And tears." Damocles finished.

"Love, don't bother." Imogen chided. "Our children are perfectly capable of discovering for themselves what it takes to brew success."

Damocles sighed and smiled at his wife, taking her hand and giving it a light squeeze. He looked over at his children and his heart swelled with pride; all three of them were intelligent in their own right, and erudite by the education he had given them. They were all destined to do great things.

XXXX

Aurora looked down at the magnificent sight before her, she had heard the Grand Canyon was one of America's remarkable natural wonders, but she never imagined anything like this. It stretched out for miles and miles, with endless valleys and cliffs. Aurora couldn't take her eyes off the valley below, it was truly incredible. She absentmindedly leaned forward to get a closer look, not realizing that she was actually leaning off the edge of a cliff, when someone grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her back.

"Do you have a death wish or something?" Asked a young man.

Aurora blinked a few times and gasps realizing that she could have easily fallen off a cliff. "Um…no."

"Then I suggest you be more careful, the last thing we need is someone to die on this little excursion." The young man extended his hand out to her. "I'm Xavier, by the way."

"Aurora." She shook his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise-It's amazing isn't?" Xavier said looking out to the canyon. "I'm still baffled by how that small river all the way down at the bottom carved out this whole canyon."

"Isn't that why we're here? To try to figure out how the Colorado River formed such a wonder like this?"

"Gather around everyone!" Dr. Hines announced.

These geological fieldtrips were held annually. Dr. Hines would select the top 5 students out of 400 in his Physical Geology course. These students would be working under him and assisting him with his research and in return they will gain the hands on experience they need in order to become full-fledged geologists.

"I am sure that all of you were briefed on what exactly we are doing here-"

"Ugh, how many times does this guy have to remind us? I he told us a billion times over the course of the semester." Malvina whispered as she came up behind Aurora.

"Shhh. Just listen." Aurora chided.

"-Okay team, our first stop during this trip is going to be to Vishnu Schist at the base of the Canyon, we will be traveling there by raft so make sure that you all have your life vests. Also we will be meeting with the head geologist at the University of New Mexico Dr. Grayson Kaiden and his team, all Muggles as you know, so I expect you to be on your best behavior. Any questions?"

"Where will we be meeting Dr. Kaiden?" Xavier asked.

"At the base of the Canyon."

"How are we going to get there? We're all the way at the top?" Malvina asked.

"Isn't it obvious Miss Vulaj? We're going to walk down! Now gather your things everyone!"

Aurora picked up her backpack which contained her chisels, bushes, hammers, and her other tools that were necessary for this trip.

"It's a good thing I wore my hiking boots today!" She beamed as she followed Dr. Hines down the trail, the girl could barely contain her excitement.