"Teddy, can I talk to you for a moment?" Draco pulled Teddy aside.
"Anything wrong?" Teddy looked between Draco and Amethyst.
"It's not about her… it's about my mother. And your grandmother." Draco replied. A look of understanding flashed in Teddy's green eyes.
"Have they ever reached out to each other?" Teddy asked. Draco simply nodded. "I don't think so. It's been hard on my grandmother. There's a part of her that wants to see if there's a chance of reconciliation, but knowing that her brother-in-law was a Death Eater… it's been hard. Especially because my grandfather and my parents were killed by Death Eaters." Teddy's eyes turned a stormy gray.
"I can understand that. I only ask because there may be a chance that my mother will separate from my father. She didn't send Scorpius the howler, but we suspect that my father did and used her name." He explained what he'd discovered that afternoon.
There may be a chance, but I think your mum would need to be the first to reach out. I don't think change will happen overnight, but maybe it will start." Teddy squeezed Draco's shoulder and his eyes turned green again.
-
"Professor, I…" Alexia stood up as she noticed Amethyst approaching her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone… and I shouldn't have acted the way I have been. I've been rude and unfair. I'm sorry." She said sheepishly.
"Thank you." Amethyst sat down. She was definitely still weak. "I understand why you've been against me. I'm not trying to replace your aunt. I don't want Scorpius, or Draco, to forget her. I know what it's like to grow up without a mother." Amethyst took a shaky breath. Draco came over and sat beside her. James sat next to him while Teddy and Victorie sat next to Alexia. "I never knew my mum. I didn't even know her name until recently."
"What do you mean?" James asked.
"I was told that my mum was a muggle and that she had died after childbirth." Amethyst looked at Draco. He gave her an encouraging smile. "I only found out before Halloween that she was, in fact, a witch. A pure-blood witch. She had died after childbirth… because of a blood curse."
"…" Alexia gasped and looked between Amethyst and Draco. "Do you…?"
"No. According to my aunt - who got the blood curse information from my maternal grandmother - the curse did not pass to me. My maternal grandparents were supporters of Voldemort. My grandfather went to Durmstrang, his name was Boris Karkaroff. My grandmother went here, her name was Rachel Avery. My father was Alexander Abbott." She summed up what she had learned just before Halloween. "It's been a lot to process and I'm still not sure I've grasped everything."
"If you don't mind me asking…" James trailed off a little, thinking about how he wanted to word his question. "What happened to your wand?"
"Scorpius let it slip yesterday. James and I overheard him chewing Alexia out." Teddy answered confused look on Amethyst's face.
"Ah." Amethyst nodded. Orion jumped onto the table and then climbed onto her shoulders. "Long story short: my father jinxed his wand and then made sure I had to use it. Now, I don't think he can take credit for me having no luck in Ollivander's."
"What do you mean?" Alexia asked. Her view of Amethyst was beginning to change.
"Every chance I got, I went to Ollivander's to find a new wand. Last school year, I was going nearly once a week with no luck. Then I went once a month. Once this term started, I've only been once."
"How long have you been here?" Teddy asked.
"I've been in the UK permanently since the Summer of 2019. I was working closely with Charlie raising an unrelated pair of Welsh Green Dragons for about a year before moving into the Forbidden Forest. I lived in the forest between the summer of 2020 and this past summer. I was helping to establish the dragon colony in the forest - along with building relationships with the other beasts and beings. That's how I built up the relationship with Bane and the other centaurs." Amethyst explained.
"We never saw you last year." James mentioned.
"No, I rarely left the forest. I wasn't ready to take the teaching position last year, and someone needed to train the Welsh Greens to their new territory." Amethyst answered.
"Uncle Charlie couldn't?" Victorie asked.
"No, he couldn't take any more time away from his work abroad. He'd already spent the better part of a year establishing the unrelated breeding pair." Amethyst said. "One reason he's coming home for Christmas is to help introduce some younger Welsh Greens that are unrelated. We have to introduce new bloodlines every so many years to help keep the colony healthy."
"Won't the colony get too large that way?" Alexia asked.
"They'll establish a dominant pair or two, and the rest tend to leave the area. The dragons can establish throughout the forest so it could be a while before there is overcrowding." Amethyst went into professor mode. "Unlike the acromantulas, the Welsh Greens want nothing to do with humans and likely won't pose any threat. We will eventually need to raise sheep or some other small mammals to keep up with the colony. They are fine for now though, it's just future plans."
"How did you come by a kneazle and a phoenix?" Teddy asked. Just then, students began to trickle in.
"Those are stories for another day." Amethyst said as she stood. They made their way to their respective tables.
"How are you feeling?" Neville asked Amethyst as he joined them at the head table.
"Still tired and sore, but much better than yesterday. I should be okay enough to travel next week, but definitely not strong enough to go back to teaching just yet. Once we're back from London, I should be okay to go back to teaching. If not sooner." Hannah gave her a glare at the last comment.
"Don't push it." Hannah muttered. "I'm still not convinced that there wasn't even slight envenomation…" She trailed off. Amethyst wasn't so convinced either, but she wanted to observe her symptoms more. It would be unusual for an acromantula to attack and not envenomate. She knew that she wasn't bitten by the normal size spider, but she wasn't so sure she wasn't bitten by the one she shrank.
"If I was, it would have been by the one I shrank. The other one would have been way more noticeable." Amethyst said what she was thinking. They talked about holiday plans for the remainder of supper.
"I need to talk to Scorpius." Draco had been quiet all through supper as he was trying to figure out what to tell his son.
"Do you want me to go with you?" Amethyst asked. For a moment Draco almost said "yes", but then he saw how tired she was.
"Normally, yes, but I think you should head back to the hospital wing and get some rest." Draco kissed her forehead and then made his way to the Slytherin table.
"Dad?" Scorpius noticed his dad's facial expression
"We need to talk about something." Draco motioned for Scorpius to walk with him.
"I'll see you back in the dungeon." Scorpius told Albus and then joined his father. They headed out of the Great Hall and towards the Slytherin common room. "Is it about the howler?" Draco nodded.
"I called your gran this afternoon. I received a letter with almost the same sentiment." He took a deep breath. "After reading the letter and talking with Amethyst, I started to really think about it. It also helped that I was able to calm down enough to think straight. Anyways, I asked about the letter and the howler. She said it wasn't her. She hadn't even started a letter in response to mine."
"You believe her?" Scorpius asked. He wasn't quite sure.
"I did have some doubt at first, but then I spoke to Harry." Draco told Scorpius what Harry had told him. "Your gran risked everything because she knew was going to be her only chance to get to me. And I believe Harry. What he said made sense, plus he did save my life more than once all those years ago… despite my actions."
"If it wasn't Gran…?"
"Your grandfather is our guess." Draco shook his head. "She was going to confront him about it today. I don't know what that will mean for them going forward. If your gran separates from him, she'll need a place to live."
"The main house?" Scorpius suggested without hesitation. "You could lift some of the protections to allow her to live there, but still keep him out?"
"Yes, that can be done. I'm not sure if she will want to stay there long term, but at least until she can figure things out." Draco nodded. He had been thinking the same thing. "She said she wanted to meet Professor Abbott…"
"Really?" Scorpius sounded surprised. "What did Professor Abbott say?"
"She's not ready for that yet. She did suggest maybe between Christmas and New Year's. It wouldn't affect any of the other plans. We were surprised by that, too." Draco said. They had reached the entrance to the Slytherin common room.
"How is Professor Abbott? I saw that she was at supper."
"On the mend. We have to be in London next Thursday so she'll be taking it east in the meantime. I doubt she'll be back to teaching until after we get back." Draco paused while some students headed into the common room. "Her wand is finished so I'll be picking it up while I'm in London."
"That's good news. Has she spoken with Alexia?"
"Yes, before supper. Things are better, but still a long way from good." Draco squeezed his son's shoulder. "Get to bed, you still have class in the morning."
"Night, Dad." Scorpius smiled and headed into the common room. Draco tried to figure when he could get back to Hogsmeade tomorrow to check on his mother. He still had to sit in on the Defence class in the morning and he had a History lecture in the afternoon. He made his way back to the Great Hall to see if Professor McGonagall was still there.
"Professor McGonagall!" Draco called out when he saw her heading the other direction.
"Professor Malfoy?" She turned and stopped. He explained the situation when he caught up with her. "Go in the morning. It won't hurt for you to miss Defence, but I would really prefer if you were back for the lecture.
"Thank you, Professor." Draco said and then headed to the hospital wing.