Chapter 51: Aftermath

Middle of Nowhere, Austria

It was hard to believe that this was where Moter had spent her last days. Yet apparently, it was.

There wasn't a place nearby. Mother must've hated it. Or at least the mother he knew. He still wasn't sure about the woman he saw last.

He kept thinking about how much she had changed those last few weeks. He wondered how much of her behavior had been influenced from her becoming a veela. He had actually read the book she gave him now. It at least put some things in perspective like her affair with the werewolf. He still didn't like a lot of the things she had done this summer, but at least it made more sense.

Draco wrinkled his nose. His allergies had been bothering him non-stop since they got there. Though he knew his watery eyes weren't just due to the spruce trees.

"Are you okay?" Cousin Sirius asked.

"No," Draco said. There was no point in lying. His Cousin knew just big of a wreck he was. More than he'd like to know. So much for tact….

It had been a week since the fire. A week since his life had been forever changed. There was nothing left of Mother. He didn't expect much since the village was in ruins. Just a pile of ashes.

He also hated to admit he was worried. Worried about what Father would do.

"I don't know why I thought it was a good idea bringing here."

"Because I asked," Draco said. "I had to see it to believe that…they're gone."

Just thinking about Mother's death was bad enough. It was hard believing that Artemis, Trixie, and Nyx never had a chance at life at all. He wondered if Mother would've even came here had he not hurt her.

"I'm sorry," Sirius said looking at the desolate valley where the village once stood. There was nothing left. Nothing to show that Mother was even here.

"I'm scared," Draco finally managed to say. "I'm scared what he's going to do now."

"Are you talking your father?"

"Yes, I'm talking about Lucius." He said.

"Lucius?"

"I can't…I can't call him Father anymore." Draco said, "Not after what he did to Mother and my sisters. I…I'm worried that he's going to try to get custody of me now that Mother's gone."

"You're a bastard he has no rights…" Sirius said.

Funny that. He was so upset earlier this year that he had essentially been declared a bastard a no-one, the stain of Slytherin house, and yet now that was his salvation. Or was for now.

Draco looked at him. "This is my father we're talking about. I've even wondered…"

He didn't want to say it. He knew the fire had been supposedly a magical wildfire, but it looked like fiendfyre something he knew Father could very easily control. He hadn't told his suspicions to anyone though. Not that they'd believe him.

"It was a magical wildfire, Draco." Sirius said knowing what he was thinking.

"It looks like the aftereffects of fiendfyre." He stated dryly.

"Most magical fires do," Cousin Sirius said though he noticed based on how the man's eyes looked he had made a valid point. He then asked, "Are you really scared of him, Draco?"

"Of Lucius. Yes, yes, I am." He said, "I know what he's capable of. I think I always have but seeing those photos."

Sirius grimaced. "I probably shouldn't have shown you them. I just…you needed to know the truth."

"I did," He said, "I was awful to Mother before she left."

"Cissy loved you. Don't berate yourself for that. She knew what you were dealing with." His cousin said.

Draco sighed heavily. "I still wish I could apologize though."

"She knew you loved her," His cousin said in a soft voice. "She also…well, she also granted me permission to do something if you really wanted to make sure Lucius could not get custody of you."

"And what's that?"

"She gave me permission to blood adopt you."

"Blood adopt?" He said sort of surprised his mother would agree to something so drastic.

Sirius nodded. "I wasn't going to bring it up, but if you really want to cut all ties that Lucius has to you off it's something we could pursue."

"And you would do that?"

Cousin Sirius nodded. "I would. But it's not up to me Draco. It's up to you."

"What about Harry?"

"It's not his choice," Sirius said. "And I honestly don't think he'd mind having a brother."

"I was an ass to him though," he said.

"You apologized though," He said. "And you two have been getting along as of late. Besides, nothing will really change much since either way you'll be living here. "

That was true, but not true. If he took the offer. Well, he'd essentially be Sirius's son and no longer Lucius's. All Malfoy-ness would be stripped from him.

"Mother would still be my mother?"

The man nodded. "Obviously."

If you asked him two weeks ago, he'd would call you crazy to think he'd even consider it. He had been so proud to be a Malfoy, even a bastard. But now….well, now the choice was obvious.

"I'll…I'll do it."

She couldn't believe she had agreed to this. To become Jane Lupin. However, after being back in Britain and seeing the papers she felt like she had no choice. Especially if she was going back to that school.

She still couldn't believe that her mother had agreed to let her get cosmetic treatments of all things or at least until she saw the papers and saw a horrible picture of her from first year plastered all over the papers.

She frowned seeing how her hair back then and how bushy it was. The curls she wore now were more manageable, though she assumed Jane wouldn't have any curls at all since she was told she'd be unrecognizable by the time the procedures were done.

She sighed heavily wishing she was back in Switzerland even though she knew Harry wasn't there.

He was in Austria right now visiting the village where Draco's mother had died. It had been a horrible accident, Remus seemed heartbroken. She knew he was seeing Draco's mother from what Harry had told her.

She had been the women who decorated her bedroom there. He hadn't gone to Austria though. He was here with her and mummy packing for the spa where she'd be spending the last few weeks of the summer for her to be transformed into Jane.

He hadn't just packed though. There had been talking. Lots of talking about who she was.

Her mother seemed shocked that Hermione had put the pieces together. She really shouldn't have been though.

"Mummy I looked nothing like Daddy and it wasn't like he didn't throw up my paternity every time the two of you fought."

"He…he did." She said.

"Am I ever going to see him again?" She asked. She hadn't heard from Daddy in months.

"He's not in a good place, sweetie." She said. "I don't know if you remember when he came to St. Mungo's or not."

She only had a vague recollection of it. She remembered their fighting and wanting to hide.

"I can see from you face you do." She said, "Dan…well, he wanted to sue for full custody of you. I had to tell the court about your true paternity."

"So, he has no custodial rights?"

Her mother nodded. "They…well, he was obliviated recently."

"Obliviated?"

"Amelia Bones had to," She said. "He was putting the statute of secrecy at risk. And technically he has no connection to the magical world…"

She felt her heart sink a little. "So, he knows nothing about me now?"

"I'm afraid not, sweetie."

It was a hard pill to swallow. And even though she liked Remus, she hadn't exactly accepted him as her dad of yet and he couldn't exactly replace Daddy. It wasn't something she even wanted to talk about when he was around because she was afraid it would hurt his feelings. She told her mind healer as much the other day.

She was told that of course he should know she should know that she viewed Dan Granger as her father, but she should give the man a chance.

And she would. It was just hard knowing that the man she knew as Daddy knew nothing of her existence and soon she would cease to exist as Hermione Granger herself once the treatments were done.

The name change had already been signed off on by Amelia Bones of all people.

The name Jane had been only a suggestion but she decided to go with it. It fit her better than her actual middle name—Jean. And it was the same name as her favorite book character.

Mummy had been trying to make her excited about her getting a different face and kept asking what color she wanted her hair to be. Honestly, she wanted to keep her hair and her face at this point, but she knew she couldn't.

"You could go blonde," Her mother said.

"Imagine me as a blonde," Hermione said rolling her eyes.

"Imagine Jane as a blonde," Her mother corrected. "You could also go red."

"No," She said. She did not want to resemble a Weasley at all though she supposed a dark red or auburn wouldn't be terrible just as long as it wasn't the same Chudley Cannon color of orange that matched the Weasley hair.

She thought about the article she read about the trial. They had been trying to paint her as insane. Apparently, Amelia Bones decimated him when she asked him about the severing curse.

She still had pain in her leg occasionally and the healers thought it was because of said curse. She had been told that her wound had taken a long time to heal that it had almost been amputated. She had a bit of a scar on said leg, something that was going to be remedied at this spa.

Her mother looked at her, "We have to leave soon."

Hermione grimaced.

"It won't be so bad, sweetie. You'll see."

She wasn't the one whose features were getting completely changed.

"So, he'll be my brother?"

"Half brother," Sirius said. "It won't change your position as heir to the dukedom or anything like that."

Harry rolled his eyes. He could care less about being the heir to the house of Black but apparently it was a big deal per his mother. And to his father too, though he was less up on that sort of thing than mum or Aunt Cissy ever was.

He still couldn't believe Aunt Cissy was gone. Seeing the place she died at it made it even harder. There was no way she could've survived what happened..

At first he thought maybe she would turn up like his mum, but after seeing what happened to the village he doubted it.

They weren't going to have a service, at least not yet. Her death hadn't exactly been announced yet.

Sad as it sounded. He knew they were all scared what Lucius might do with Draco which was one of the reasons he guessed Draco had accepted the blood adoption.

He still couldn't get his head wrapped around the fact that Draco was going to be his brother.

True, he hadn't been as bad lately…but.

"You don't have to like it," His dad said.

"It's not my choice," Harry said. "It's yours and Draco."

"It's Draco's." His father said, "It's your Aunt Cissy's last wishes and he is a member of my house…"

"You don't have to explain adopting him, Dad." He said, "It's okay."

The man sighed heavily, "Are you sure, Harry?"

He nodded, "Besides, it's not like I figured I'd be an only child forever. This is just not the way I'd thought it would go."

"Right…" His father said.

Harry wondered. He wasn't going to bring it up because they would deny, but he had his own suspicions.

Emma Pettigrew couldn't help but cringe as they entered what was more or less a magical plastic surgery center.

She still couldn't believe she had signed off for her daughter to get the magical equivalent of plastic surgery or for that matter was using her maiden name again, but here she was signing her daughter in to essentially get a whole body and face makeover paid by the school themselves and using her maiden name because technically Dan Granger and her never met. At least in the normal world.

She listened as one of the healers went on about the procedures her daughter would be receiving. Some of them just made her cringe. She was only glad that Hermione did not seem as enthused about the idea as she thought she would.

She actually seemed a bit reluctant, but it was also obvious with the media it was her best option at a normal life. Even Amelia Bones had told her as much when she signed the name change order that Ted had drafted.

She would give it for the head of the DMLE she had been an advocate for her daughter. She had definitely decimated Percy Weasley's defense and she had come to Emma's aid when it came to her divorce.

Though, to be fair Dan had more or less become a risk for national security for magical Britain. Hence why he had no memory of her or their prior life.

She hated seeing her ex this way.

Ex.

She was actually single for the first time in a long time.

She looked at her ringless hand. It wasn't as liberating as she thought it would feel, but she didn't feel empty or had a desire to get a cat either.

Instead, she just felt raw. She had finally just got done unpacking their new flat in Chelsea when Hermione and Remus had unexpectedly come home. And she realized her daughter knew all along that she wasn't Dan's.

That had been a treat. And then to find out Remus's girlfriend had died…

Her ex was a mess to say the least. She almost felt bad about leaving him alone while she stayed at the spa with Hermione, but she wasn't exactly going to leave her daughter alone when her whole body was being transformed. She also knew Remus would be visiting when he could even though he wasn't exactly good company right now.

He had come before they drove off this morning and had given Hermione a ton of books for her spa stay. He seemed thinner than he was only a week ago. She cornered him while Hermione got her bags.

"You look terrible."

"Why thanks, Emma?"

"Seriously," She said. "Have you slept any?"

He shook his head. "Not really. I keep thinking about what she experienced in her last moments."

She grimaced knowing Healer Black had died in a wildfire of all things.

"Sirius went to Austria yesterday," He said. "He said there was nothing left."

"I'm sorry," She said.

"I'm sorry I haven't really been here through all of this."

This meaning Hermione transitioning in Jane.

"You're here today," She said. "And I'm sure you'll be visiting."

"I will," He said. "I just feel bad letting you bear the brunt of it."

"She's my daughter," She said. "Of course I'd bear the brunt of it."

And she would. Still just being at this place was the antithesis of who she was and what she preached. Yet for her daughter's sanity, she was willing to let her just change herself to survive.

"Draco wants me to blood adopt him," He told Bella when they got back to the lodge.

It was still hard rationalizing that.

He knew Cissy had asked him before she left, but he never thought the boy would actually consider the offer.

"Blood adopt? Do you really think that's necessary he's a bastard already. Lucius has no rights." He asked.

"It's necessary." Narcissa said crossing her arms on top of her ample stomach. It had been a few days before she had transformed he still couldn't believe how big she had gotten. She had wanted to talk to him about her affairs the first and foremost being Draco. He could tell that she was worried about what was about to happen to her. They all were.

He frowned, "You really think…"

She raised an eyebrow, "I don't under estimate Lucius especially after what he did to me. I want you to blood adopt him, Siri, if something happens. I would've done the same for Harry."

He knew she would and sighed. "I'll do it if he wants me to."

"You mean that?"

"Of course," he said. Cissy was all about his sister in blood, he would do anything for her. "It won't exactly be the first time I have a kid with my cousin."

She glared at him, "First cousin once removed."

"I thought it was second cousin."

She rolled her eyes. He still wasn't used to the fact that looked almost identical to Claire's now. It just didn't seem right.

"I'll have the paperwork prepared," She said. "So you can expedite it if he chooses."

"He's worried about Lucius," Bella said. "I know Cissy was. I know that's why she suggested it in the first place."

He nodded. "He told me…well, he suspected him of starting the fire."

Bella gasped. "Seriously? It was a magical wildfire."

"I know that and you know that. But the fact he even thought that Lucius would be willing to kill Narcissa with fiendfyre."

He didn't even say more.

"I don't have any objections to it," she said. "Not that it's any of my business."

"I didn't think you would," he said knowing that she'd want to protect Cissy's son to the best of her ability. "I'm just surprised that he agreed to it."

"When…"

"Soon," he said. "I'm going to file the paperwork at Gringotts that Cissy had prepared and then we'll do the ritual before they leave for that blasted school."

"I want to get married before they go to the school as well," she said. "Could we sign the paperwork at Gringotts?"

"I thought you wanted a big ceremony?"

"That was before…"

He knew he was referring to Cissy's death.

"I can probably get a marriage contract drafted as well," he said. "I still want to give you that ceremony you want, Bella."

She sighed, "At this point, I don't know if I want one. Cissy…"

He knew she wanted her sister there.

They all did.

Chapter 52 Preview: Both Draco and Hermione go through changes.