Draco Malfoy and the Deathly Hallows

by Tribi

Summary:

sequel to Snape's Daughter: a girl!Harry, Severitus, Drarry how it should have ended

Chapter 1: Chapter One

"It's weird to not be at the Dursley's."

"What do you mean?" asked Draco from his spot on the settee where his nose was buried in a wickedly dark book.

Brogan was on a window seat with her head resting against the glass, her scar actually but she was hoping Draco wouldn't notice the way she was rolling it across the cool surface. She glanced over and saw that he hadn't taken his eyes off the book, "It's just I'm always at the Dursley's on my birthday you know, waiting up for owls so I can let them in."

"And bask in the glory of all your presents?" Draco asked with a teasing lilt in his voice.

Brogan smiled at him, "pretty much I guess. Mrs. Weasley sent me a whole birthday cake once and the Dursleys never found out."

"You ate the entire cake yourself?" Draco sounded impressed. Brogan blushed and shrugged a bit, Draco finally put his book down and got up to join her at the window, peering out into the darkness around Grimmauld Place looking for the one speck of white among all the lights of the city that would grow and grow until Hedwig burst into the room. Draco had grown up scanning the sky for owls but he hadn't mastered the art of finding them in the city. He felt like he hadn't mastered anything about the city or the person sitting across from him, or his place in this strange new world.

He and Brogan had left Hogwarts early, right after Dumbledore's funeral. It was an open secret that Brogan's father, Snape, had killed Dumbledore and half the school was ready to arrest her for that while the other half was trying to ask her how best to pledge their lives to the insane Dark Lord. Since they didn't want either of those things to happen they had simply fled.

Not that it was that simple, Draco's father seemed to be getting more and more frantic about Draco coming home to meet the Dark Lord and officially joining their ranks. Voldemort was also getting impatient about meeting Brogan Snape and probably marking her too.

But that was never going to happen, well at least not for as long as they could possibly delay it. Voldemort and Brogan were destined to meet again at some point but there was no way at all that Voldemort wouldn't recognize her as Harry Potter when that happened so, it was best that they delay the encounter until they were sure Voldemort wouldn't survive it. And also, more importantly, until they were all sure that Brogan would.

They sat silently for a while, until Draco began to worry that maybe no owls were coming. Harry Potter had gone pretty far underground after the paternus potion wore off and he turned (back) into a girl. Plus they were in an unplottable house protected by a secret keeper, true the secret keeper was dead so who really knew what kind of state the charm was in now. And then that secret keeper had been killed in cold blood, or so it seemed, by Brogan's father, so those who knew the secret - how likely were they to send a gift?

Draco worriedly scanned the sky again and then looked over at Brogan. She nudged him with her bare foot, "Stop it, I know what you're thinking. You're worried that no gifts are coming."

She smiled at him, "It isn't like I ever got huge amounts; just Ron and Hermione, Mrs. Weasley and Hagrid really. I think all four of them still like me, well they still like Harry Potter, or whatever. And Hedwig is clever, one year she showed up at Hermione's house a few days before my birthday -just dropped by like, 'Hey Hermione how's it hanging? Oh you have a package for Harry, what a coincidence.'"

Draco laughed at the Hedwig impersonation; with Brogan's wide green eyes it really was funny. He leaned his head back against the wall and started scanning for Hedwig again, "I guess I always imagined that the whole wizarding world would send you birthday wishes. Free Firebolts, custom stationery, chocolate frogs? Anything?"

Brogan smiled wistfully, "Never, they might have tried when I was a baby or something but there were probably wards on the house to keep the owls away. To keep me safe in my obliviousness."

"To keep you unpretentious too, that part worked."

"I think I could have managed to eat a few chocolate frogs without them going to my head."

"Well, everyone knows chocolate frogs go to your bum, so maybe a few more wouldn't hurt." Draco teased as he pulled her onto his lap. Brogan wriggled around until she was comfortable, leaning her forehead against the coolness of his neck while Draco's arms came up and wrapped around her sides. They both went back to watching for owls.

Brogan dozed off soon enough like she always did and Draco's bottom was starting to fall asleep. He was carefully weighing the pros and cons of moving soon or moving later when Snape stalked in. Draco startled rather badly but didn't wake her, Professor Snape sneered anyway and gestured with his arms for Draco to pass the sleeping girl over.

When Snape moved to carry her upstairs Draco pulled him back and gestured to the empty settee. "She wanted to stay up and wait for owls."

Snape put her down with a sigh; he sat down himself and pulled out a vial, twisting it between his fingers. "I was planning on giving her dreamless sleep tonight," he admitted.

"Why?" asked Draco, "she's been okay recently, well her scar was bothering her tonight but… oh, tonight. Is he planning something for tonight, because of Harry's birthday?"

Snape nodded and wrapped his long fingers tightly around the vial. He looked down at his daughter, she seemed to be sleeping peacefully but he had seen that change quickly before. She never learned occlumency, not that it would have even helped with his new understanding of the horcrux connection he feared she shared with the Dark Lord, but when she was asleep she seemed so much more vulnerable to visions and Snape knew that the Dark Lord had dark plans for this night.

But of course the brat wanted to stay up and wait for her owl to come flapping though the night with whatever lumpy knitted atrocity the Weasleys would send, whatever boring book Hermione decided she needed to have, or Merlin forbid, a box of pranks from those twins winging towards them even now. He rubbed his nose as he thought of the carefully guarded house being revealed to all around because a squadron of idiot owls carrying luridly colored boxes of pranks flew straight to the front door.

He glanced around the room and found a clock, it was nearly midnight, perhaps the owls would come soon.

"The owls should be here soon," said Draco, "why don't you stay, maybe we can have a bit of cake and then she'll take the potion like a good girl and go back to sleep in her bed?"

Snape nodded, since that was the only reasonable course and what he had decided too. Well, except for the cake, he had forgotten that there should be cake. "Cake?" he asked in a dark silky tone, "the house elf is treating you well then?"

Draco was walking over to reclaim his book and mark his place for the night but he turned to Snape with a bright smile. "Oh yes, he's much improved now that he gets to serve a pureblood Black heir."

"Did she give him to you outright? That's very trusting, we know the wretched thing has spied before."

"Yes, well, that was part of the reason too. If it spied again and reported on your daughter moving in here, why on earth would your daughter have a claim on Sirius Black's old house? It's far more, well slightly more plausible that Sirius might have left it to me."

"You've gotten better at considering all the angles Draco."

Draco nodded with a small smile, "Shall I call our little spy for some tea sir?"

Snape looked at the clock again and then the sleeping girl, "very well."

They were just finishing their first cups when Hedwig arrived. She ignored both men and flew straight to Brogan, landing on the table near her with a soft clatter and a gentle call. Brogan rolled towards the sound and sleepily opened her eyes, the two looked at each other for a long moment. "Hey, girl," whispered Brogan finally, "safe flight?"

The owl seemed to nod and pushed the package tied to her leg forward a bit. Maybe it was a trick of the light, the shadows that swayed gently as the lamp flame danced, but in that moment Brogan looked so much like Harry Potter. Draco and Snape caught each other's eyes briefly, as if to ask if the other had seen it too.

Over the last year it had become harder and harder for them to remember that Brogan wasn't just the girl that they had grown to love; she was the Saviour of the Wizarding World, Triwizard Cup Champion, and a neglected orphan boy too. Somehow she managed to tuck most of that away, but Hedwig wouldn't allow that sort of stoicism. Hedwig had been with her at the Dursley's and for the whole crazy ride.

It was only a moment though and then she was girlish again, reaching out for the package and nuzzling her owl. The package was a book, really, from Hermione. Draco yawned without even noticing.

Some commotion followed that as Pigwidgeon arrived with a burden almost the same size as the squeakly little owl, and then a school owl swooped in. Snape pulled a small parcel out from his sleeve and added it to the little pile. They used the saucers from the tea service to eat chunks of Mrs. Weasley's amazing chocolate cake and it wasn't a bad little party. Until Snape noticed that Brogan was chewing slower and slower and her arm kept reaching up towards her forehead before she would jerk it back down.

He pulled the plate out of her hands and replaced it with the vial of dreamless sleep he had been toying with before. "Alright now," he soothed, "your gifts will all be here tomorrow too." He pulled her up off the couch and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "I know what the Dark Lord has planned for tonight and none of it is as pleasant as this has been."

Brogan didn't argue at all as she followed her father upstairs.

The next day she was up bright and early eating cake and poring over the letters that had come with her gifts. She was biting her bottom lip, adorably, and Draco was entranced by that as much as he was by the concept of cake for breakfast. Brogan folded up the letter and looked at Draco nervously, "so I'm of age now."

"Yes, happy birthday again I guess." Draco helped himself to a small piece of cake, for starters to see how it worked out.

Brogan kicked him, "that's not what I meant. I mean, I can do magic anywhere now. We can leave."

"Leave?" asked Draco, a bit stupidly he realized and immediately popped up to get himself some coffee.

"Yes, leave. Go on that mission thingy you know, to find and destroy horcruxes before the Dark Lord takes over the world."

"Oh, that thingy." Was it Draco's imagination or was the milk curdling in his cup? "And where exactly are you going to start?"

"We're starting with this fake horcrux, we need to make sure the real one has been destroyed."

"How do you know that isn't the actual horcrux and the note is a fake to send you off track? These are probably Slytherins we're dealing with you know."

Brogan pulled out the locket she had taken to wearing since the night of Dumbledore's death. "I can tell that it isn't like the diary horcrux, the diary had a sentience about it, this is just a piece of metal."

"Is Professor Snape still here?" asked Draco suddenly, "if that note was written by a Slytherin he might recognize the initials."

"He said he would return to ascertain if I suffered any ill effects from the dosage of dreamless sleep he administered."

"It's creepy when you quote him using his voice."

Brogan just smiled.

When Snape did return to ascertain the ill effects, and also it happened to be lunchtime, he took the locket, examined the tiny note, and then looked at them like they were idiots. "How long have you had this fake horcrux?" he asked while rubbing his long nose.

"Since the night Dumbledore died sir."

"And this is the first you thought to mention that it's a fake and has a mysterious note? What on earth have you been doing for the last month?" He glanced up just in time to see the two teenagers smile at each other and he quickly held up a hand, "No! Don't answer that."

"RAB," he cleared his throat and dragged them back to the mission thingy, "is undoubtedly Regulus Black. Sirius's younger brother WHO GREW UP IN THE HOUSE YOU HAVE BEEN LIVING IN."

"Oh, yeah, Sirius said he chickened out of being a Death Eater and that Voldemort himself might have been the one who killed him." Brogan put in helpfully, or not.

"DO NOT say his name." bellowed Snape. "There's a jinx on it and the Death Eaters can apparate to wherever it's said."

"Wha?" said Brogan, nervously moving towards the window.

"That is immensely clever, Harry Potter and a few of the Order members are probably the only ones who actually use He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's name. Using their own arrogance against them, immensely clever. Was it your idea sir?"

Brogan spluttered some more, but pulled herself away from scanning the empty alley next to the house to hiss, "it isn't arrogance to use someone's name!"

"I would say it's more like stubbornness Draco than arrogance. And no, it was not my idea. Have you forgotten that Harry Potter is my daughter and the only family I have in the world?"

"And you like me!" added Brogan helpfully.

Snape gave her a weird smile, "That too, I believe it was your father Draco who came up with this nefarious jinx."

"Well, it is immensely clever."

"So you've said about fifteen times now. But aren't they coming?"

"What part of unplottable, protected by a secret keeper are you forgetting now Brogan?"

"The secret keeper is dead, remember, weren't you guys present when he was killed by you? And I have no idea what unplottable actually means."

Snape sighed and poured himself more coffee.

They eventually managed to pull Brogan away from the window and get her to eat some sandwiches with them. Snape had asked, "would you like lunch or would you rather write me a sixteen inch essay on the unplottable charm? I find it outrageous (again) that you have been here for months and haven't even acquainted yourself with the spells in place to protect you."

"Mmm, sandwiches!" said Brogan with fake enthusiasm.

Kreacher had been serving them in his usual desultory fashion but his enormous ears pricked up when he saw the locket that Snape was examining. "Master Regulus," he sniffed reaching out and then slamming his hand back down to his side.

Brogan patted his shoulder and tried not to notice when he cringed away from her touch. "Yes, it is Master Regulus' locket, you must miss him very much."

"Kreacher and Master left it in the cave, how did you get it?"

"I got it from the cave Kreacher."

"Halfblood girl-child went to the wicked cave and came back alive?" Kreacher looked at her dubiously.

"Yes." Brogan responded firmly. "I rode in the little boat to the island, I helped my headmaster drink that potion and then we found this locket and not the one we wanted to find."

"That potion was great evil," Kreacher said sympathetically and actually patted her hand back. "Kreacher had to help Master Regulus drink it."

"You went with Regulus to switch the lockets behind the Dark Lord's back?" asked Snape with a new respect blooming for the long dead rich pure blood scion that he had never really cared for before.

"Yes, and then Kreacher was supposed to destroy the locket he brought back."

"But…" prompted Draco.

"But Kreacher couldn't, he tried lots of ways, even elf magic ways, but Kreacher couldn't destroy the thing. Master Regulus was such a good master and Kreacher couldn't do his task."

"Yes, well when I was twelve and destroyed a hor- one of those things I used a basilisk fang. I don't suppose there are any of those around your potions lab Da?"

Kreacher looked at Brogan with a sudden light crossing his face, "Half blood girl child destroyed an undestroyable object? Kreacher didn't have a basilisk fang to use…" he mused.

Snape was gobsmacked but eventually he noticed that his daughter was waiting for a response. "No, I don't have a basilisk fang. They are beyond rare and more or less mythical. Where did you get one?"

"It, um, it sort of fell out of the basilisk's mouth when it bit me. You know, I saw on Shark Week that sharks are like that, they just grow new teeth, I guess basilisks do too. Well, not that one. Not anymore." And she smiled.

"Battled a lot of sharks too have you?" asked Draco smiling too.

"Sharks? Hmm, well there was Victor's transformation during the lake task, and all those grindylows, and the pissed off merpeople… but no actual sharks."

Snape was taking deep calming breaths. "I believe we have found another adventure that the Headmaster neglected to share with me."

"Well, you couldn't expect him to tell you about it once he found out I was your daughter. You would have killed him…" Brogan trailed off awkwardly.

Draco tried to bring them back to task, or the mission thingy before he was reminded again of how dreadfully lame his life had been. "Kreacher, where is the undestroyable locket now?"

"Did we throw it out Kreacher when Sirius had us cleaning?"

"Only Sirius Black would bin the last known relic of Salazar Slytherin."

"Shut up Draco, it was clearly dangerous."

"Nasty children tried to throw it out but Kreacher saved it, to keep it and finish his task."

"Is it in your room, er, nest?" asked Brogan getting excited that it could possibly be that easy.

"It was but nasty smelly man stole it when he robbed us."

"Smelly man?" asked Draco. "Wait, the Most Noble House of Black was robbed?"

"Dung!" chorused Brogan and Snape together. Kreacher nodded and the three shared filthy looks just thinking about the petty thief.

"We need to wait for Ron and Hermione so we can figure out what to do next." Brogan whined for the umpteenth time.

"Don't be ridiculous, two Slytherins can come up with a better plan than those Gryffindorks."

"Hey! We've come up with plans before."

"Don't make me recount them in front of your father; he looks like he's had enough shock for one day."

Brogan looked over to see what sort of sneer her father was giving Draco for that comment but he wasn't sneering at all, he did actually look a little shell-shocked still, huh, it looked like Draco had a good point.

In the end, as he was clearing the dishes actually, it was Kreacher who came up with the plan. "Kreacher will go find the smelly man and bring him back here."

"Excellent," replied Draco with a significant look at the little elf, "you do that Kreacher and then we will deal with him for his thefts." They shared some sort of pureblood outrage look and then Kreacher vanished with a clatter as the dishes he was about to bring to the kitchen dropped to the floor.

Brogan looked at the dented goblet on the floor and gave Draco a glare, "nice Draco, you'd better hope he's back before dinner. He was going to make shepherd's pie for my birthday."

They ended up eating out that night.

Chapter 2: Chapter Two

Kreacher was still not back the next day and another school owl showed up that morning while they sulked over cold cereal and horrific coffee. "It's from McGonagall, something to do with Professor Dumbledore's will. I have to go to her office; Ron and Hermione are named too."

"Who was the letter addressed to?" asked Draco.

"Um, Harry Potter. Oh, damn, polyjuice. I'm really sure she knows though."

"I am too but there will probably be ministry officials present." Replied Draco as he studied the back of the cereal box.

"Will there be a test? At the Triwizard Tournament they weighed our wands, not that it seemed to matter for anything, more like Dumbledore just wanted to know what everyone's wands were made of. I just wonder if wands are like id cards or something."

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about Princess. They might use the Sorting Hat, if your meeting is in the headmaster's office it will be right there."

"Oh good idea, the hat will verify that I'm me. If it looks like they're leaning towards some spell or potion I'll suggest the hat instead."

"You do so love to have a plan."

"Shut up, if trouble stalked you like it stalks me you wouldn't get out of bed in the morning without a plan, and possibly a teddy bear."

"Believe what you must," murmured Draco, his eyes scanning the word jumble feverishly looking for the word spoon.

Draco had taken her for her apparition license the day before so it was a simple matter to apparate to the front gates of Hogwarts. It felt odd to push the glasses back up her nose. And then it felt odd that that should feel odd because he had done it about a thousand times a day for most of his life. With a shrug Brogan realized that she already missed Draco.

Draco had stayed behind in London because it would be too odd by far for Harry Potter to show up holding hands with Draco Malfoy. Even Snape couldn't come along, Brogan looked around warily, how easy to stage an attack right here, right now. Anyone could have intercepted that school owl and here she was all alone.

She jumped about a foot when a familiar voice sneered, "get inside the gates, anyone could have intercepted that owl."

"Draco?" she asked peering around, she studied the grass and saw a squashed bit not too far away. "Did you steal my cloak?"

"I'm borrowing it, now get inside the gates."

Brogan strolled through the gates with a smile now, "borrowing without asking is the same as stealing."

"No it isn't, not if I intend to return it. Stealing is stealing."

"Hmph." Sniffed Brogan. "Are you coming all the way?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"I mean, are you coming up to McGonagall's?"

"Probably not, there might be a lot of people and it could be difficult to stay hidden."

"What are you going to do then?"

"I guess I'll poke around, we should get a fang while we're here."

"We should, I can meet you in Da's quarters after my meeting and take you there."

"Alrighty, have fun."

Brogan assumed that he had walked away but it didn't feel like he had walked away, it felt like he was still right there beside her and waiting to do something to make her scream or jump, or for her to start talking to herself so he could laugh, or for her to start freaking out because she didn't know if he was gone or not. Brogan decided she hated that cloak.

It was nice to see Ron and Hermione standing in front of the gargoyle, they were trying to guess the password. "Harry!" shrieked Hermione and Ron jumped. Suddenly the Harry persona seemed to fit again, Brogan took advantage of her slightly taller stature to pick up Hermione and swing her around. Ron thumped him on the back happily but stopped when Hermione burst into tears.

"I'm sorry, it's so stupid. I just, I missed your face you know." She blubbered.

"It's okay Hermione, it's always okay."

Ron was at a complete loss, Brogan was hugging Hermione tightly and she glared at him over Hermione's hair, trying to give him instructions without getting too much hair in her mouth. Eventually Ron manned up and pulled Hermione away and tucked her under his own arm.

"That was very authentic Hermione," Brogan chastised, "but you know you could set off a chain reaction and then if I started crying too it would all be ruined."

"Thanks so much for being pissy Harry, I think I've got it under control now." Hermione snarked back.

Ron grinned suddenly, "I wonder if McGonagall will cry too or if she'll just start stuffing biscuits at you again."

"I don't know, but if we see Hagrid I am going to run for it."

"Harry, that's a horrible thing to say!" Hermione was aghast.

"I'm a coward," Brogan shrugged accepting it, "I would rather run than lie to him."

"You could say 'I've missed you so,' and junk like that, it wouldn't be lying."

Brogan paled and took a step back, "is he up there?"

"Don't know mate, we couldn't figure out the password." Ron nodded towards the stone statue.

Brogan smiled at the challenge, "biscuits?" she asked the stone gargoyle. "Shortbread? Fresh parchment? Sugar quills? Tartan?"

The gargoyle didn't budge, Ron and Hermione had tried almost the exact same phrases already so they just shrugged. Brogan paused and looked at the familiar gargoyle, looked deep into its stony eyes and felt a pang of sympathy for the object. She suddenly missed Dumbledore a lot. "Lemon drop."

And the staircase started moving towards them.

Professor McGonagall was sitting behind the enormous desk and the sunlight streaming in made her hair look steely. She smiled kindly at them, "figured it out I see."

She signed something with a flourish and then got up to walk around her desk towards them, "Mr. Potter," she said with fondness and gave him a brief hug. It was strange enough behavior for his old head of house that Brogan seemed just uncomfortable enough to be Harry.

"Now students," McGonagall continued, "I believe you know our Minister, Rufus Scrimgeour."

Brogan took a moment to thank Merlin for polyjuice potion and then gave the minister a tight smile. She wondered briefly if she should look gobsmacked or not and then decided that thinking too much about how she should look was not in fact a good look.

The minister seemed to notice that Harry Potter was completely flanked by friends and allies, he waved feebly. Which was all well and good because McGonagall had a look about her, something her students recognized as 'quills out and don't ask questions until she asks you to ask a question'.

"Now, minister, I sent owls to these children and they have come, do you require further verification of their identities?" McGonagall was tapping a stack of parchment as she waited.

"No, headmistress, it's fine."

Brogan tried so hard not to sigh or sag that she almost flinched. "Especially," continued the minister, "given the nature of the bequests."

"Yes, well the nature of the bequests that you are allowing." McGonagall sniffed back.

"Now, Miss Granger, Headmaster Dumbledore wanted you to have this book, my dear."

Hermione brushed under her eye and stepped forward to take the copy of Tales of Beedle the Bard that Professor McGonagall was holding out to her. "He hoped you would find it 'entertaining and instructive'." McGonagall read from the parchment in front of her.

"Why do you suppose that is?" asked Scrimgeour in a most unpleasant manner.

"Because she's muggle born and hasn't read them before? Because he knew she loved books? Because it was a nice thing to do?" Ron would have continued but McGonagall shut him down with a, "Mr. Weasley! That's quite enough."

Ron grumbled and Hermione tucked herself into his side, cradling the book and looking at the minister with a baleful glare.

"Mr. Weasley, Professor Dumbledore left you one of his gadgets, this" she came around her desk again and held out a small brass object, "is a deluminator." She snapped it open and gave him a quick demonstration by turning the lamp on her desk off and on.

Harry snorted, "I think he wanted you to have a less violent way of putting people's lights out Ron." Scrimgeour had just opened his mouth, no doubt to ask why Dumbledore would have left that to Ron, but he couldn't ask that now.

McGonagall patted Ron on the shoulder as he examined the object, "he asked that you remember him when you use it Ron."

Ron took a deep (shaky) breath and smiled at his professor, "thank you ma'am."

"And now for you Mr. Potter, the Headmaster wanted you to have this. The first snitch you ever caught in a game at Hogwarts, I remember that game well my boy. His notes have some pish posh about perseverance and skill, personally I think you just take an unholy glee in flying like a mad man -not that it hasn't done your house proud."

For a moment it looked like she was going to add something about the last year but she closed her mouth suddenly, not wanting to bring the topic up in front of the minister. "The Headmaster also wanted to return to you the Sword of Gryffindor."

"Return!" grumbled the minister.

McGonagall glared at him, "Yes, returned. Young Mr. Potter found the sword after it had been lost for centuries and handed it over immediately to the Headmaster. Why shouldn't it return to Harry?"

"Because it wasn't bloody Dumbledore's to give away!" thundered the minister, apparently picking up an argument they had started earlier.

"Clearly Albus recognized that and that's why he was trying to rectify the situation by returning it to Mr. Potter!"

"It wasn't Mr. Potter's either, it's a bit more complicated than finders keepers Minerva! Perhaps he wanted to give the Sorting Hat to someone, why the bloody not? Let's give the Sorting Hat to Neville Longbottom and how about the keys to Hogwarts to Draco Malfoy! Yes, bloody good ideas those. Merlin's underpants Minerva the man was as barmy as a goat."

"That's too far Rufus." The famous McGonagall ice voice cut through everything.

The minister picked up his hat and turned abruptly to the fireplace, "the boy cannot have the sword and that's final."

The sudden silence of his departure was interrupted by Harry's laughter. "Mr. Potter, my goodness, what has gotten into you?"

"Professor, I'm sorry, I was just remembering my career advisory meeting." He chuckled, "you do seem to get rather riled up on my behalf ma'am. And I appreciate it."

McGonagall laughed a little too, "I'm sure you do." She dropped back into her chair and gave a quick glare at the painting of Albus Dumbledore, which was feigning sleep.

"So the sword is tied up in the office of magical artifacts, not that you have any right to it. I can quite agree with him now that he's gone. But really that goat comment was too far."

"Perhaps," Hermione ventured, "perhaps he just wanted you to know Harry metaphorically that the sword of Gryffindor was yours or with you."

"Yes, perhaps Miss Granger." McGonagall turned to read the parchment in front of her again, a task made a little more difficult when her lamp turned off and then on and then off again. "Mr. Weasley!" she snapped, not quite out of her temper yet.

"Sorry, ma'am."

"Yes, well then. I'm afraid I have work to do, feel free to wander about before you go. I'm sure you will anyway. Mr. Potter, it would be nice if you said hello to Dobby while you're here but don't let the elves get so excited about you that they forget my tea."

"Oh, never ma'am." Harry smiled.

The students got up to leave the office but as Hermione opened the door Professor McGonagall just had to ask. "And Mr. Potter, what would you have done if the Minister demanded a test to prove you are not under polyjuice?"

Ron and Hermione both froze and paled a little but Brogan smiled, "I would have asked for the Sorting Hat to verify that I am the exact same person he sorted into Gryffindor all those years ago ma'am."

"Well answered, five points to Gryffindor."

"Don't you mean Slytherin ma'am?" asked Brogan arching her brow in the exact way her father did.

The look seemed to sadden Professor McGonagall and too late Brogan remembered that night on top of the astronomy tower and her professor's cries. McGonagall sighed and shot a completely justified glare at the painting that was still feigning sleep.

"Have a good summer children, try to stay out of trouble." And with that the circular stair started moving and they knew to go.

They silently rode the staircase down and started walking down the hall. "Well, that was interesting," said Ron.

"It was," agreed Hermione.

"That's a curse isn't it? May you live in interesting times?" asked Brogan, tossing the snitch lightly from hand to hand. He almost dropped it when his wand started to vibrate wildly. "Potion time!" he whispered peering around cautiously and pulling out a small flask. He made a horrible face while drinking it but, still drinking to maintain was a hundred times better than the initial transformation.

"Draco is waiting in my da's quarters. We were hoping to get a chance to go in the Chamber. There's a lot I haven't been able to write in a letter." Ron and Hermione nodded before falling in behind Harry on their way to another adventure.

Or, as it turned out, lunch.

"So Dumbledore destroyed the ring horcrux, how do you suppose he did that?" asked Hermione primly around her sandwich.

"Mebbe it was with the sword n' tha's why he wanted us to have it?" answered Ron not nearly as successfully.

"But we don't have the sword and we have better things to do than to try and steal that too." Responded Draco.

"Well, there's not much sense in collecting the horcruxes if we can't destroy them," replied Ron after he swallowed hugely.

"But remember, I destroyed the diary with a basilisk fang and there's a whole cavern full of them just below us." Brogan peered at the floor thoughtfully, "well, probably not just below, I think it's off that way more."

"Whatever," replied Ron. "Did you bring a broom? Last time we had a phoenix to carry us out, I wouldn't want to count on that again."

"Bugger, I don't."

"Did you leave one here?" asked Draco.

"Of course not, I wasn't going to ever come back why would I leave a Firebolt behind?"

"We could sneak out and borrow a school broom," suggested Ron.

Brogan sighed, "I don't know, what if we see someone?"

"That's why it's called sneaking. Besides if it's you and me, we're allowed to be here for a while and who would wonder about us heading down to the pitch? We could toss your snitch around for a while just to make it authentic."

"What if you lost it?" asked Hermione in a very concerned tone. She got three withering looks for her trouble.

"As if, Hermione. When have I ever -ever lost a snitch?"

"It's still risky, I'm sure there's something inside that thing."

"Maybe you'll be there at the end to see," teased Brogan referring to the ghostly writing they had found on the snitch 'I open at the close'.

"You bet your boots I'll be there." Hermione huffed, causing Brogan to smile.

"Children please," snarled Draco. "We are not leaving the castle without a basilisk fang, it's absurd to think otherwise. Now, why do we need a broom?"

"There's like this slide thing that you go down to reach the chamber, it's all slimy and gross, I don't think we could climb up it," explained Brogan.

"What about a sticking charm on our shoes?" asked Hermione.

"Maybe, but brooms would be faster, and safer too in case the sticking charm doesn't work. It would be bad to discover it doesn't work at the bottom of the slide."

"That's a good point Ron," said Draco, ignoring the shocked looks he was getting. "You and 'Harry' take the snitch down to the pitch and pretend to play for a while. Do not lose the snitch! Then throw the cloak over two brooms and bring them back here. Hermione and I will wait here."

"I could go with them and watch, it's okay if someone sees me," argued Hermione.

"Yes, but it would be a better use of our time if I told you what we have learned from Kreacher, things we didn't want to put in a letter," explained Draco patiently.

Brogan sighed forlornly, dreading seeing Hagrid on the grounds but a tiny bit excited about fooling around on the Quidditch pitch with Ron again. Ron looked at the time, "come on mate, take another dose and let's hit the pitch."

Brogan couldn't help but smiling a tiny bit as she followed Ron out.

Hermione was nervous about being alone with Draco. He was not her favorite person, she knew that Brogan liked him (a lot) and Ron had come to some sort of 'let's protect Brogan together' truce, but Hermione and Brogan were still looking for a truce so there wasn't much for her to build on with Draco. Plus he had spent years calling her mudblood scum so there was that too.

"Hermione…"

"Hermione," Draco repeated as she slowly came back to the present.

When she was finally looking at him Draco continued, "I'm sorry for calling you names all those years. It isn't an excuse but I was young and I regret that I lacked the moral fibre to go against my family and my house to do otherwise."

"It wasn't just names, there was the tooth thing too." Hermione chided him with her cheeks pink.

"True, but you ultimately came out ahead on that one. I never knew why you didn't have a mediwizard fix them earlier."

Hermione was very pink now, "I asked my parents but they were nervous about it, that's actually their field of work. –Not, not mediwizardry but dentistry, they're dentists and they work on teeth."

"Could they have fixed your teeth without magic?" asked Draco, too intrigued to be as polite as usual.

"Yes, they would have glued wires to my teeth and then tightened the wire slowly over time to gently pull my teeth back. But you need to get the wire adjusted frequently and with me at Hogwarts we weren't sure how to manage the appointments."

"It's so interesting to learn how muggles manage."

"Well, it's not like we have much choice, except to 'manage.'"

"I'm sorry, manage isn't what I meant. You have exceeded expectations, Brogan said that muggles have walked on the moon. And we went to the London library once and she showed me the internet. Imagine if we could just google horcruxes instead of looking through each book one by one."

Hermione started to laugh, just a little but she was outright smiling by the time Ron and Harry came back, rosy cheeked and windswept.

Brogan held up the snitch before anyone could say a word. "Didn't lose it," she gasped.

"Who was worried?" asked Draco. "Let's go."

"You seem eager, excited to see Salazar Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets Draco?" teased Brogan.

Draco flushed a little and was about to retort something stupid when he realized that he was reacting to Harry Potter waving a snitch around, he closed his mouth and thought for a moment about whether or not Brogan should let the polyjuice potion wear off. His teeth clicked as he realized there really wasn't a good reason to risk it. He was still unreasonably miffed though, Brogan seemed to realize it and bumped shoulders with him in a silent apology.

Ron was unwrapping two atrocious school brooms from the invisibility cloak. Two, wondered Draco and then thought about sharing a broom with Harry Potter, because there was no way anyone trusted him to share a broom with Hermione. He flushed again and wished for a moment that Pansy was around to witness one of his fifth year fantasies coming true.

It took almost a wizard's swear that this truly was the way in to Salazar Slytherin's secret chamber to get Draco to enter Moaning Myrtle's GIRLS lavatory. But he got over that quickly when he saw Harry, Brogan, drop to his knees and purse his lips together to hiss at the sink tap. The sink tap was not a part of his other fifth year fantasy but the awe, even for a full blood wizard, of watching the secret entrance grind into the open made up for it.

They gathered around the smelly hole in the wall and held up their wands, even four lumoses couldn't really penetrate the gloom. "Well, it was safe last time," said Brogan finally as she started to climb in.

"Wait, are you mad? It's filthy," barked Draco.

"There are cleaning charms, I know for a fact that you know sixteen of them."

"Yes, but we have brooms right here, I thought this was what they were for," Draco did not whine.

Hermione looked for a moment like she might prefer the slimy unknown slide to riding on a broom but Ron had already hopped on and the cradle of his long arms seemed plenty safe enough.

Draco had hopped on a broom too and the cradle of his arms looked weird to Brogan while she was disguised as Harry. She looked at his face and then almost killed him by exclaiming, "oh, is this one of those fifth year fantasies that Pansy told me about?"

Ron thoughtfully plunged himself and Hermione into the dark before Draco could see their faces, and Hermione's little scream almost drowned out his laughing.

"Oh, and now we're alone," teased Brogan. "Draco, I know we're enemies but please you must help me. Help me Draco Malfoy, you're my only hope."

The sight of Harry Potter batting his eyelashes in a clearly joking manner should not have been as effective as it was. Brogan gave a little start when she realized that, but then she shrugged and went with it, wrapping her arms around Draco's waist and giving him a tentative kiss.

"You're very strange," murmured Draco into her lips. "And I'm incredibly appreciative of that." He kissed her some more and then pulled her onto the broom in front of him, tugging her back so their bodies were very close.

Laughter echoed out of the chamber again.

Ron and Hermione were standing among all the tiny rodent skeletons and Draco paused only briefly before he decided against touching down himself. He hovered; his arms still wrapped around Harry, and gestured towards the dark tunnel, "that way?"

Ron got the idea right away and hopped back on his broom too, a few bones making a small snapping sound as he moved. Hermione, who was wearing tidy little white trainers, climbed back on too.

Draco and Brogan had a small fight for control of their broom, because Brogan knew where they were going and Draco was a prat. Their squabbling petered out as the collapsed wall came into sight, a pathetic little hole just barely visible at the top.

"Merlin's pants Ron, I fit through that hole?"

"I told you, you were a speccy little thing mate, and Ginny was just a first year."

"What happened here?" asked Draco.

"Professor Lockhart, he was using my wand. And my wand had broken when we crashed into the Whomping Willow, right, so he didn't know that and it backfired on him when he tried to obliviate us and the ceiling crashed down. So Lockhart and I were stuck on this side and Harry was on the other with the basilisk and Ginny." Ron started explaining while flicking his wand to make the hole larger.

"Harry went on to save Ginny and I made that little tiny hole, by hand mind you, for them to climb through when they came back."

"That must have been horrible for you Ron," sniffed Hermione.

A brief snerking noise could be heard from Draco before Brogan elbowed him sharply. Ron stuttered a bit and Hermione made an impatient gesture, "well think about it, your best friend and your little sister trapped in a strange tunnel with a basilisk and you left behind with an unconscious teacher and having to explain that to McGonagall."

"And Mum, don't forget facing her." Ron added fervently.

Draco and Brogan both nodded. "Point well made Hermione," agreed Draco.

They flew through the bigger hole; the other side of the cave in seemed darker and wetter already. "Getting scared Draco?" murmured Brogan.

"Of course not, Brogan, I'm with you," Draco whispered back in her ear, causing goose bumps to erupt all down her arm. It was very romantic except for the part where she was a boy and they were in a dank dark cavern with rodent corpses and a giant snake skin.

"It's weird that there aren't any torches," complained Hermione as she lit their way unsteadily with a lumos.

Brogan shrugged and hissed "lights!" to the general area around them. Sure enough high up on the walls torches started to flare to life. It was Draco's turn to shiver then.

The brooms really were a great idea, in no time at all they were in front of the massive doors, Brogan had no recollection of closing them but she wasn't surprised to see them locked up again. "Open," she hissed imperiously and the stone snakes sprang to life, slithering around the door hastily unlocking it.

Draco was staring at the doors with an exceedingly longing look. "You want these for the Slytherin common room don't you?" asked Brogan with a suffering expression.

"Yes, although I don't know how much time I'll be spending there so maybe for the manor instead, leading to my bedroom."

"Way too much information there Draco," Ron cut him off.

The doors groaned open and Ron grimaced at the sound he didn't need just then. Draco just laughed, but he regretted opening his mouth when the smell hit him. Flitwick would have awarded extra points to all four of them for the speed with which they conjured bubble head charms.

The bubbles made the scene unearthly. It was quiet and dark until Brogan hissed for the torches in the chamber to light too. The torches were high up on the walls and as the flames swayed shadows moved across the floor, making it look as if the giant rotting corpse was moving too. Maybe it was, maybe there were all sorts of creepy crawlies moving on it. The corpse was the most disgusting thing Brogan had ever seen, although she had to pause when she remembered the inferi. Inferi were pretty disgusting too, ah the wizarding world.

There wasn't much chatter as they approached the basilisk. It was bigger than Brogan remembered, which was weird because usually when you're little your perspective gets thrown off the other way, but then she supposed that it could have been some sort of coping mechanism, downplaying the horror so she didn't lose her mind at age twelve.

Suddenly she realized how very tightly Draco was holding her now and then she felt Ron's leg brush hers and saw that he was hovering that close next to their broom. She reached out and grabbed his hand; Hermione pried one of hers off the broom stick and placed it over theirs. They didn't seem to need any words.

Silently and slowly they drifted around the chamber, drawing ever closer to the basilisk. When they were close enough to see the massive statue with a hole for its mouth Brogan pointed up at it, "the basilisk came out of that hole when it was called, maybe it has a, a nest back there."

"Did Ginny call it?" asked Ron.

"No, the diary had absorbed enough of her, her magic I guess, that it was able to manifest as Tom Riddle. He was the same age as when he made the horcrux, but he knew things because Ginny had written about them in the diary. Like about my parents and me, and Lord Vol- I mean, You-Know-Who."

"You-Know-Who?" asked Hermione.

"Shut up, you know who –my Da said that there's a jinx on the name and if you say it the Death Eaters can find you," explained Brogan.

"And you're just telling us this now?" demand Hermione.

"Well, it's not like we could pop it in an owl post," defended Brogan.

"I know," sighed Hermione, "we have to find a way to communicate."

"So you were here with just your wand against that, and then the phoenix came with the sword?" asked Draco.

"Yeah, Fawkes came with the Sorting Hat actually and when I put the hat on the sword fell out."

"You pulled the mythical basilisk-killing sword of Gryffindor out of a hat?" snorted Hermione.

"Right Hermione, you can't make this shit up," laughed Brogan.

"Must be another muggle thing mate," Ron said to Draco as they looked at each other.

Eventually the only thing left to look at was the basilisk. The beast's mouth was still a little bit open but nobody seemed willing to try yanking a fang out.

"How did you actually manage to strike the killing blow?" asked Draco curiously.

"I know, it's not like I had ever used a sword before, right? Well, first, Fawkes was amazing. He blinded it see, he scratched out the eyes so the thing couldn't turn me to stone. But it didn't actually slow it down much, I guess with scent and sound and being so used to the dark and all it really had no trouble chasing me. And then I guess it caught me, and it had its mouth all the way open and was about to eat me in one bite when I held the sword up and it bit the sword, went right through the roof of its mouth and into that tiny little pea brain. Which actually, that's a bit of skill isn't it –hitting a brain that size?"

"That's like saying you killed it be giving it indigestion or something," laughed Draco. "You should have made up a better story than that, I'll help you come up with something properly dramatic later."

"Thanks, don't forget to keep it plausible though. I can't imagine how else a kid with a sword could have killed that thing," replied Brogan.

"But Harry, if it had nicked you the tiniest bit you could have died. Basilisks are extremely poisonous," it seemed Hermione was properly impressed with the tale.

"Um, Hermione, it did bite me. That's how the fang came out, that one actually," said Brogan pointing to one fang on the ground near a smear of dark brown.

Draco pulled out a little bag from one of his mysterious wizard pockets, which Brogan coveted, he accioed the fang and levitated it into the bag without touching it.

"Only the point has poison you big baby," grumbled Brogan. I held the other end and stabbed the diary with it and nothing happened to me.

"How would you know, you were dying?" asked Draco. He tried to sneer a bit while he asked but sitting so close Brogan could see that he was distressed by the thought.

"I was only dying for like two minutes, and then Fawkes healed me," protested Brogan.

"Admit it mate, death is your bitch. You really are the Boy Who Lived."

"Or girl," added Hermione.

"Hey, have you almost died this week?" asked Ron.

Brogan yanked control of the broom from Draco and started chasing Ron. Hermione screamed and it echoed all around the room, but then laughter was echoing around too and they gave it a few more swoops before leaving the chamber forever.

Brogan drank more potion as soon as they reached Myrtle's bathroom, then they piled the brooms in Draco's arms and threw the cloak over him. Hermione made them return the brooms on their way to the main gate.

They apparated back to Grimmauld Place, there was always the hope that Kreacher might be back and his Shepherd's Pie with him.

Kreacher was not there so they sent Draco out to get some curry from the takeaway up the road and settled in to figure out how they could communicate securely. "We can phone, but there's no phone here or at the Burrow and if we go anywhere else there probably won't be one either."

"Yes, thank you for that analysis Brogan." Said Hermione from her perch on the ladder searching the top shelves of the Black library.

"What about the DA coins, we could use them for short messages."

"Short messages aren't the problem, we need to send long detailed absolutely private messages."

"What if you put that charm on a pair of journals instead of a pair of coins?" asked Ron.

"That might work, but with the charm one coin is the master and the others just update to reflect it, so it's only one way writing, no replies." Explained Hermione.

"What if you did the left pages as the reflection of one book and the right pages are reflected back? You know?" said Brogan, who was incidentally, back to her usual form.

"No, I don't think I followed that." Said Ron lazily but Hermione was already shrieking and rapidly descending the ladder.

Ron jumped up, she was moving so fast he thought she was falling, but when he did that he accidentally dumped the person who was laying on his stomach off the couch.

"Owwww," whined Brogan, "thanks Ron. You know she wasn't actually flying, levitating possibly –accidental magic being what it is."

"Brogan, do you have any extra journals around here? How long do you think it will take to charm every page?"

"Hermione, we can't be the first to think of this. I'm sure you can buy journals like that somewhere, and I'm sure we have access to the foremost authorities on wizard shopping: Draco and Pansy. We'll ask about it when Draco gets back with the curry."

"And since when Brogan, does Draco run out to the chip shop to buy dinner for you? Is he going to use muggle money?"

"Yeah, he's almost completely domesticated now. He doesn't like to sit around the house, he doesn't like to sit around ever really, so we go out a lot. And Draco doesn't like to be clueless about things, ever. So I guess the combination of nowhere else to go and not wanting to look out of place gave Draco a crash course on muggle life.

We were thinking of signing ourselves up for driving lessons too, we're kind of scouting it out first to see if it would ring any alarm bells."

"Ooh, that's so smart," crooned Hermione.

"Not really, it was at least 85% boredom and the other 15% was probably frustration with the tube system," confessed Brogan.

"Don't forget ten percent was wanting to buy a Jaguar," added Draco waltzing in with the food.

"Oh yes, we have brochures and everything!" laughed Brogan.

"Well, I hope you aren't using those math skills to count your change at the chip shop Draco," observed Hermione as she helped spread the food out.

They all thoroughly enjoyed Ron's faces while he poked and prodded at the foods he had never tried before, but eventually he settled down to being Ron and shoveled them in.

Soon enough though Ron and Hermione had left and it was another quiet night at home for Brogan and Draco. Brogan trudged upstairs to brush her teeth at 9:00 and Draco puttered around turning off lamps and making sure the doors were locked.

Chapter 3: Chapter Three

Kreacher showed up again two days later, the coat of Mundungus Fletcher clutched tight in his bony fingers, the rest of Mundungus Fletcher squirming madly to try and get out of the coat.

Draco had his wand out instantly and the tip of it was in Fletcher's face before his rheumy eyes had even opened. "What's this murder and treason?" moaned Fletcher as he looked up at the two teens.

"A Malfoy and the Snape girl," he peered around the kitchen a bit more, "at Grimmauld Place, well, what's happening here?"

Draco pulled his leg back as if he was going to kick Fletcher but Brogan grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Stop it Draco," she hissed.

"Mr. Fletcher," she started, "we're here doing an inventory and it seems some pieces have gone missing. Faithful Kreacher here told us you might be able to help us track the items down."

It was a good story, one that they had worked out days ago. It was pretty common knowledge that Draco's mother was a Black, she could have inherited the Black ancestral home, and of course if she had an inventory might make sense, maybe. It was all just plausible enough, not for Lucius or Bellatrix but for Mundungus Fletcher –it was more than plausible enough.

"Now then, why don't you have a seat Mr. Fletcher," gestured Brogan sweetly while Draco and Kreacher hauled him into a chair. With a flick of her wand Brogan had a list of random items that she knew Sirius had thrown out, and a few that she had heard about Fletcher stealing. There was no sense in risking anything by asking about just the locket.

They painfully went through the list, the really ugly goblets with the crest that neither Draco nor Brogan would ever dream of using were sold to someone in Wales and had probably been melted down already.

A few of the darkish artifacts from that cabinet in the drawing room were at Borgin and Burkes, what a shock that. And finally, just as Brogan thought she would faint from the tension, they came to the locket.

"A locket with a big S on it would be a lovely gift for my Miss Snape, wouldn't it Fletcher? How good that I inherited such a thing when my dear cousin Sirius passed on. I don't suppose you know where that precious family heirloom is right now?" Draco asked.

Mundungus Fletcher actually brightened up a little, "I do sir, I remember that trinket perfectly. Sirius was tossing that precious heirloom out, he had no respect for family that one, I reckon it was your fine elf there that recognized it and saved it from the bin. And then I suppose you could say I nicked it from the elf, but that ain't a crime now is it. Stealing from an elf? An elf can't have no property."

Nobody shared Fletcher's smile and it quickly slid away. "Anyway, that was a handsome trinket and I gave it to a lady what works at the Ministry. A sour looking lady with the most ridiculous little sweater and hair thing," he gestured absurdly at his own temple, "she threatened to write me up for half a dozen piddling infraction things, things a decent person never minds, but then I saw she kept looking at that locket so I made her the offer of taking it for free and she let me go my way."

"A sour looking lady?" asked Draco in a tired voice but Brogan was pawing through the stack of Prophets in the corner. In no time at all she was spreading out a page between them.

"Is that the witch?" she asked jabbing a finger violently at the little moving picture.

"Aye that's her. Look, she's wearing it ain't she?"

Draco grabbed Brogan around the wrist because he already knew that if he didn't hold her she would start banging her head against a wall, because sure enough, when they actually looked, it was a picture of Dolores Umbridge wearing the Slytherin family locket horcrux, right in the pages of last week's newspaper.

Somehow they made it through the rest of the list, they were both distracted but Fletcher probably thought it was because Miss Snape wanted that locket with the S on it. They let him go with a few grumblings about how he better round up what he could and return it as soon as possible, Fletcher lying that he would and Draco lying that he better or else.

"Now, I know you're real broken up about that locket," said Fletcher as he was leaving, "but that ministry witch is a real piece of work and she's awful fond of that locket. I ain't offering to get that back, I'd have to walk right into the Ministry, right up to her desk, and and ask her. There's no way she would go for that, not from me anyways." And having made that point abundantly clear, he hoped, Fletcher saw himself out the front door. The portrait of Mrs. Black screeched, "thief, thief," just before they heard the door slam.

Kreacher made them tea and shockingly sat down at the table with them, nobody said anything, this was Kreacher's quest too.

"Maybe she would give it back if you asked Draco. The bitch always liked you," said Brogan finally.

"It is a pretty good story we came up with, me inheriting the house and wanting that locket to give to you."

"Da said that when you're lying it's best to keep to the truth. As much as you can, of course, considering you're probably lying for a reason."

"I think master should go, Kreacher will go with master and swear that it is a Black family heirloom." Added Kreacher comfortably from his spot at the table.

"She won't want the drama of a house elf all upset about his family heirlooms, or the inquiry into how she came to have stolen goods, she won't even have a bill of sale, right?" Brogan was starting to believe in this plan.

Draco had ordered a pair of linked journals and they sent one to Hermione. It seemed like Brogan spent the rest of the week endlessly scribbling in it and he wondered if he should have placed a bulk order. There were countless iterations of the note to be sent to Umbridge; some versions were too terse (which Draco disputed vehemently as an impossibility) and some were too elaborate by far, he was a Malfoy after all he did not babble.

Finally they reached an accord and did what Draco wanted since he was the one signing the note and attending the meeting. The post owl that they hired (sorry Hedwig you're too famous) was told to wait for a reply and the note that it brought back was just as terse as Draco's had been, not much more than a confirmation of a date and time on which he was to appear.

It was on the tip of Brogan's tongue to say something about dressing extra nice that day but luckily she stopped herself. When did Draco not dress nice and who exactly was she, in jeans and a t-shirt today and everyday since she had left Hogwarts, to tell him anything about dressing?

Draco did dress nice: his slacks had sharp creases, he was wearing a tie that wasn't his school tie (and yet still slightly silvery and green) and thrown over the whole thing carelessly and chic was a light summer weight robe. He looked like a student at Oxford or something, all rich and elegant. Seeing him like that, or maybe it was because she was really looking at him, raised all sorts of ugly feelings in Brogan. Obviously she was jealous because she was never that effortlessly attractive, and she was resentful because it reminded her of the Draco that used to tease, and she was hurt because he was so damn comfortable in his own skin, another thing that she wasn't.

"You're making a face." Draco pointed out as he straightened his tie and fussed with his already perfect outfit.

"I have a face, isn't it always there?" replied Brogan, trying to distract him.

"That was pitiful, why do you look like someone just stepped on your kneazle?"

"Stepped on my kneazle? I don't have a kneazle, do I? Is that a thing? Is that a thing that other people say and I can say too or are you just setting me up to embarrass myself more?"

"It is a thing, it's a real thing, even Pansy says it. What do you mean by embarrass you more? You won the last time we played frisbee didn't you?"

"I did, but isn't that weird? That I can beat you playing frisbee and your hair is nicer than my hair?"

"Sweetheart, my hair is the nicest hair ever so you shouldn't let that make you feel bad." He looked at her and frowned back at her frownie face. "Do you want to pull it or something? Pansy does that sometimes, usually right before we enter a ball together, she messes it all up and then feels better."

Brogan was looking at his hair, seriously considering the offer which hadn't really been intended as a serious offer so Draco stepped closer still and wrapped his arms around her, in a hugging yet also pinning-her-arms-down move. He expected her to squawk or wrestle a little but instead she hugged him back, trying to burrow into his shirt with a shuddering breath.

There was a ritual that Draco did whenever this happened. It didn't happen often, well sort of often but not every day, not every second, which is how often Draco thought he would freak out if he suddenly learned he was really a witch. In his head Draco started a soft litany of curses: he cursed Voldemort, he cursed Dumbledore, he cursed Snape, he cursed Lily, he cursed Slughorn, he cursed the Dursleys, he went back and cursed each Dursley, he went back again and cursed every hair on every Dursley head and then he thought about cursing every hair on Dumbledore's head and my wasn't that a lot of hair -but then the Dark Lord didn't have any hair so what could he curse about him. And all the while he kept his arms wrapped tight around Brogan and swayed just a little.

Brogan sort of wanted to wrap her legs around Draco too, he could hold her for a surprisingly long amount of time, but that would wrinkle his outfit and make him late for his meeting.

"You know it's okay if I get wrinkled, I can even be late." Draco murmured into her hair because when they were standing so close together he could just about read her mind.

Brogan gave a final squeeze and stepped away, "thanks," she started, "but I would rather not have to explain it to Hermione."

"Oh, but I would adore explaining it to Umbridge, she's so repressed it would be just the thing to put her on the wrong foot."

Draco's eyes glinted mischievously and she had to give him a quick kiss, which turned into a slightly longer kiss when he slid his fingers into her woefully tangled hair. He kissed her nose too while he tried to disentangle his hand without starting the whole I'm-a-terrible-girl meltdown again, but Brogan just rubbed her nose against his and bit his jaw a tiny bit before she helped him let go.

"Maybe I'll keep busy while you're gone by spending some quality time with that Sleak Easy potion that Hermione mentioned," she mumbled.

"Or not, some people find that rumpled just rolled out of bed look kind of sexy you know." It was just over a year since Harry had become Brogan and she hadn't noticed yet that the clothes she initially bought with Bill Weasley, all of her jeans and t-shirts, which were comfortably loose and sloppy then were getting tighter now. Draco had actual nightmares about someone else noticing and mentioning it to Brogan, he dreaded going back to the baggy -dreaded going back at all, fifth year fantasies notwithstanding.

Kreacher gave a little cough then so Brogan gave him one last hard kiss and then eyed his lips speculatively. "It's subtle but I think she might notice," she promised.

With a smile Draco stepped away and towards the floo that Kreacher had waiting. "Thanks for the charming send-off dear, I'll be back in a tick."

"Good luck storming the Ministry Draco," replied Brogan brightly.

Draco spent the first two minutes of his meeting with Umbridge trying to keep his eyes from watering. He gave it up soon enough and just allowed himself to be distracted by the kitten painting behind her, it was the same revolting painting she had brought to Hogwarts of course, there just could not be two of them. He vaguely recalled saying something about it once and being introduced to the kitten, of all things, and now he was trying to remember the name of the blasted creature. He was certain Umbridge would fawn all over him if he could actually remember but he couldn't, and then he wasn't sure he wanted her to fawn on him. Perhaps it would be best if he actually paid attention to what she was saying.

Rather than try to catch up though he just opened his mouth, "that's just lovely I'm sure Miss Umbridge," he interrupted having no idea at all what he was calling lovely. "Perhaps you have heard that I am doing a bit of a favor for my mother this summer and inventorying the Black estate in London? It's been difficult of course, with so many generations of pure blooded wizards collecting all sorts of utterly priceless heirlooms.

And of course through the centuries bits and bobs go missing all over the place, one must just accept a certain amount of shrinkage as it were through the generations. Kreacher," he gestured expansively at the little elf who was standing deferentially behind his shoulder, "assures me that once upon a time there were twelve dozen silver goblets engraved with the family crest and now we can barely find enough for a small dinner party of sixteen or so. But goblets are easily made aren't they?" He waited for Umbridge to nod, or at least for her lips to stop moving as she unconsciously repeated Draco's words.

"Kreacher has also informed me, and the family inventories agree, that the House of Black had in its possession a locket. A very special locket with green emeralds forming an S upon the front. Now I don't suppose you have kept up on the Hogwarts gossip in recent years but it's hard to imagine you have not heard of Severus Snape's daughter, Brogan. Miss Snape has become a very special friend of mine, of course we're too young to say more than that but I don't think anyone would be surprised if there was a bit more to it not so many years from now." Draco watched as Umbridge's lips moved on Brogan Snape.

"Ah, I see you've got it now, a locket with an S for my Miss Snape. Horrifically trite and all that but I'm hopeful that the provenance will redeem the act somewhat." And Draco willed himself to stare at the locket that was around Umbridge's neck; her hand went to it.

"I, I, I'm sure I don't know why this concerns me."

"I'm sure you do know why it concerns you, that's my locket and I would like it back."

"Based on the word of a house elf?" retorted Umbridge, she rose angrily to her feet but the difference in height was only nominal.

Draco cocked his head at her move, "My mother is abroad at the moment but my Aunt Bellatrix could be summoned, no doubt she will recall seeing the heirloom when she was a child visiting. Or perhaps you could tell me where you purchased the locket and I can go about it that way Miss Umbridge?" Kreacher crossed his arms and glared so that Draco wouldn't have to.

Umbridge sat down again.

Less than ten minutes after the meeting started Draco was striding back through the atrium of the Ministry. The locket was wrapped up and stuffed in his slacks pocket but Draco was quietly freaking out, convinced that he could feel evil creeping along his thigh. The distraction was ill-timed; his father's associate Yaxley was passing through the Ministry at the same time.

Yaxley had dined at Malfoy Manor just the night before along with too many of his unsavory associates. The food had been good and not all of his associates had been terrible, Lucius and Severus -most of the parents actually were doing their best in a bad situation. It was strange to think of Severus as a parent but apparently the girl had been sorted into Slytherin. And Yaxley understood why Lucius continued to foolishly brush away questions about where Draco was and when Draco would be attending one of their dinner parties (and receive the Dark Mark of course.)

Severus wasn't under as much pressure, his daughter was more of an unknown and also the Dark Lord tended to dismiss witches, because of course he would be sexist too. But still, the situation was not ideal and Lucius was barely coping with the absence of his wife and son. There was no way Draco could be aware of how his father was suffering, because if he knew surely he would come home. Nothing was more important to Malfoys than family.

Yaxley just needed a moment of Draco's time to share a few words with him and this was an incredible chance, nobody had seen Draco in weeks. He took a sharp detour and began walking quickly in Draco's direction, he hoped to grab him before he reached the apparition area and when it looked like he might not he stretched out anyway getting yanked away to Draco's destination.

And what should have been a joyous celebration of getting the locket was quickly derailed into something else. And what could have perhaps been finagled with a bit of fast talking, something that Draco would have been more than capable of accomplishing -just as soon as he realized what the hell was going on, was instead a very bad something else.

Draco had apparated to the front step and stumbled inside with Yaxley quite before he knew what was up. Brogan was waiting in the sitting room, with a clear shot of the front hall, so when she saw Draco fall with a known Death Eater behind him she reacted quickly, just like her da had taught her.

Yaxley went flying through the foyer and crashed against the wall, taking down an unfortunate (or perhaps fortunate depending on your perspective) elf head. The lucky or unlucky elf in question had extremely pointy ears and a great bloody smear went down the wall below where it had been hanging and ended at the heap that was Yaxley. It probably wasn't that bad, it was probably just a scratch on his cheek or something, but Yaxley was incredibly still in his heap on the floor only the blood that was slowly seeping out from beneath his head showing that his heart was still beating.

Draco was pretty sure his heart had stopped though. Yaxley was a Death Eater and a nasty piece of work on top of that, but, but he often got on quite well with Lucius and no doubt he was here because of Lucius in some way. Because his father missed him, or to let Draco know what a difficult position he was putting his father in… probably not to attack.

Brogan made a noise and wrenched Draco's attention back to her, she looked a little pale but very steady. Her wand was still out but she wasn't pointing it at anyone any more.

"What did you cast?" asked Draco, hoping it came out firm and not a whisper.

"Just a stupefy," she answered, seeming disdainful that Yaxley had smeared blood on the wall and continued to ruin the floor. She walked over and flipped the body over with her foot. There was a thin slice on his cheek which was still bleeding steadily but Brogan didn't seem concerned about that.

"His name is Yaxley, he's a friend of my father's. He probably wanted to give me a message about my father. He grabbed my arm just as I was apparating…"

"You brought him through the wards Draco."

"I guess so," said Draco, finally moving to heal Yaxley's cheek; fighting to not feel self conscious as he healed a Death Eater in front of her. "We can wake him up and talk, tell him it was a mistake, or alter his memories…"

"No," said Brogan, surprisingly firm. "The Dark Lord is too good at legilimens; and with the wound there will be reasons to wonder what happened. This location is compromised, we have to go. Did you get the locket?"

"Go?" asked Draco, feeling three steps behind. "Go where? Yes, I have it. The meeting went ridiculously well."

"Anywhere for right now, then we'll figure something more long term out later." She gave Draco a piercing look, his wand was still hovering near Yaxley. "Leave him out while we pack," she ordered with a hand on his arm.

Draco lowered his wand with a sigh and then nodded and moved to go up the stairs and pack. Brogan hesitated until he was out of sight and then cast a full body bind on the unconscious man -just to be sure. Before she left to pack too.

He was still unconscious when they met again in the sitting room, there was much to discuss.

"Shit, it's been twenty minutes. People might be missing him already," Draco cursed. "We should have figured him out before we packed."

"I needed the time to think it through," said Brogan.

"Oh, and did you figure it out?"

"I think so, well I have a suggestion to start with. We heal him and clean him up and then wake him, tell him he got splinched or tripped a ward, have a lovely lunch, maybe slip him a little befuddlement draft just to smooth the edges, and then tell him we're heading out of town but you'll call your dad when we get back."

"We have lunch? You almost killed him half an hour ago and now you're going to sit and eat with him like nothing happened?"

"You think I can't?"

"I don't know, maybe I just don't want to think of you having to do it."

"So, you're trying to shield me? And I didn't almost kill him, it was just a stupefy. It was an accident that he scratched his cheek."

"Whatever, you were pretty quick on the draw."

"Well he is a known Death Eater and we are at war. If he had seen Harry Potter in the drawing room he wouldn't have hesitated either and it would not have been a stupefy."

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just, he's a Death Eater yes. And he's a terrible person, but he isn't terrible always you know."

"You mean he isn't terrible to his pure blood friends."

Draco had no response to that.

"You think it will complicate things for me to be here?" Brogan asked with a resigned slope to her shoulders. It looked like she was nervous about leaving Draco alone. Draco couldn't decide if he was angry about her being over protective, or angry that she didn't trust him, or angry that she was right about him defending Yaxley for being nice to his friends. But wasn't everyone nice to their friends a petulant part of his brain whined, they are answered another part that sounded disturbingly similar to Neville Longbottom's voice, but he's vicious to people for just being born isn't he?

Draco did not have time now to deal with Gryffindor voices or his apparently new conscience. The longer Yaxley was missing the deeper his absence would be probed. He closed his eyes and struggled to be Slytherin and rational.

"They expect us to be together," he finally answered. "It would be best if you were here, it might distract him more too. Do we have befuddlement potion?"

Brogan nodded briskly, "My da gave me a few things. I'll grab it and bring it to Kreacher, we can leave our bags here since we're telling him we were on our way out. Right?"

"Yeah, I'll go wake him up and tell him that the wards attacked him. Is he in a body bind too?"

Brogan didn't even blush as she nodded. Draco despaired a little at that, he didn't like soldier Brogan. He remembered a year ago when she would cry herself to sleep on his lap over the littlest things and now she was flinging men around and not even shaken by it. He tried to convince himself that he was upset because she was changing and not because she didn't seem to need him anymore.

Yaxley was a mess all through lunch. He dribbled and his eyes kept rolling around, Kreacher had probably overdosed him because of the damage he did to Kreacher's mum's head (her ear was chipped now.) "Draaacooo," he whined as he tried to put a bit of quiche in his ear, "why did you leave the manor? Your father keeps getting asked where you are."

Brogan had changed into a skirt and blouse while Draco was at the Ministry and she was now draped over Draco's lap, showing way too much leg. This was a part of her befuddlement plan that Draco wasn't warned about, and why she had wanted to be at the lunch.

"Why would Draaaacoooo want to beee at the manor?" she snarked back at Yaxley. "Too much adult supervision there don't you think?"

Yaxley was looking at her thigh and thinking he would quite like to be in Draco's seat now, he watched Draco's long fingers slide up and down the bare skin. The bit of quiche fell off the fork and he stabbed himself in the ear.

Eventually they scooped him out of his chair and had Kreacher bring him home.

Draco put his head on the table and tried not to panic.

"Draco, what's the matter?" asked Brogan sounding genuinely confused.

"He was potioned out of his mind, it's going to be completely obvious that we were trying to hide something." Draco answered in a voice that Brogan found rude.

"I know," she said. "I wanted it to be obvious, that way they won't look too deep. They'll legilimens him, I hope it hurts the bastard, and see us making out on the dining table. And then they'll think, oh that's what Draco's trying to hide and goodness he's hopeless at hiding things."

"You really think that they'll believe I could be so bad at dosing someone with befuddlement potion?" Draco asked to cover up how behind he truly had been.

"Of course not Draaaacooooo, I added it to his wine myself just at the edge of his vision while he was still a little dazed from the stupefy. It's just the kind of thing that you notice only when you're looking at a pensieved memory." Maybe she should have told Draco more of her plan, "I was trained you know, by the most Slytherin double agent of all time. You shouldn't feel bad."

"I never said that I feel bad," retorted Draco ignoring how he had been slumped over the table moments ago. "Did you figure out where we're going now?"

"Well, I was thinking of a hotel I guess. A really super fancy hotel with room service because I don't think we should bring Kreacher with us and it will just be for a little while until we figure out what's next."

"Super fancy?" asked Draco as the gleam returned to his eyes.

"You got the locket today right? We should celebrate with a super fancy hotel and an amazing dinner with courses and courses of food like we had in Paris that time."

"And wine."

"Lots of wine," agreed Brogan.

"Credit cards?" asked Draco.

"Lots of credit cards," agreed Brogan.

Chapter 4: Chapter Four

They spent the morning hungover in their super fancy hotel picking at a room service breakfast and wondering what to do next. "Well, should we destroy that thing?" asked Brogan.

"Did you bring the fang Draco?" got her a withering stare but Brogan perked up anyway at the thought of something so productive to do.

"Should we do it here?" she continued, "oh, but what if there's a magical backlash, what will the muggles think? And what if they, like the ministry or someone comes, if they track us here they'll be watching all the posh muggle hotels and we won't be able to stay in one again."

"But it is malevolent, so let's go somewhere today and do it." Draco wasn't even bothering to nod anymore, he was just sipping his coffee and watching - she really enjoyed these plans of hers.

"We'll go to the most cheap hostel, yeah, that's a good idea, maybe a hostel in like Liverpool? Yes, even better, it's so good to have a plan." Brogan nodded decisively and drained her coffee, popping up to get dressed for the trip to Liverpool.

They didn't check out but they did pack up their things just in case, plus the rucksacks gave them an air of authenticity. They apparated together to Liverpool, fingers linked and wandered a bit, Brogan even bought a t-shirt, until they found a little youth hostel. They didn't check in but used some notice-me-nots to sneak into a small dingy bedroom full of creaky bunk beds. There wasn't too much to destroy Brogan was pleased to note as Draco placed the locket on a rickety desk.

Brogan stood near the door with her wand drawn while Draco reached into yet another of his wizard pockets and pulled out a silk handkerchief that he unrolled the fang from. Brogan got a shield charm ready on the tip of her tongue while Draco reached to open the locket. It wouldn't open and Brogan suddenly remembered how they couldn't open it that summer at Sirius' house. Draco looked flustered and Brogan suddenly remembered the snake on the top, that it was Slytherin's, she took a step closer and hissed open with a snap the locket did.

Brogan half expected another young Tom Riddle to pop out but instead an oily looking smoke poured out. The smoke funneled out towards Draco and swirled around into the shape of a fashionably thin blonde woman, "Dragon," the smoke woman sighed, "I thought family meant something to you. If the Dark Lord is defeated your father will be so ashamed, he could lose everything," the smoke paused as if to see how he was reacting to that.

"Dragon," the smoke reached out for him, "I thought you were going to come to France this summer. Dragon you wrote, you promised. I'm so frightened for you, you're all I have in this world. You're my everything and you promised you would come this summer. I don't know what's happening," she finished in a very girly voice.

"Draco! That's not your mum," insisted Brogan, "Stab it, stab it quickly Draco. It's feeding off you and getting stronger."

It was, but Draco couldn't move he was staring at the smoke Narcissa like she was the most divine thing ever. Brogan left her post near the door and wrapped her warm fingers around Draco's limp ones. He started to pull away from her, he started to turn and ask her to wait just one moment, he hadn't seen his mother in so long. But Brogan didn't allow him to; she jerked his arm up and slammed the fang down. Narcissa screamed a long keening cry, like she was dying the most horrible death ever. Brogan's stomach dropped and Draco looked like he was going to be sick or faint or both. Brogan reached out to touch him, she thought maybe they could spare a moment for her to bury herself against his chest again and take a few shuddering breaths, but Draco flinched and noises from outside their room started to filter in.

Brogan wrapped the fang and locket up quickly and stuffed them in her pocket. Draco followed her out the fire exit and across a bunch of yards. Finally they stopped, cheeks red now and both of them puffing but Draco refused to look at her. Brogan leaned her head back against the rough stone wall, that scream was still echoing in her ears. She closed her eyes and saw Yaxley crashing into the wall again, blood streaking the wall again.

Draco had been right about Yaxley, he just wanted to ask Draco to go home, the same as fake Narcissa. And Draco kept hesitating, because he was unsure, because he saw more than just black and white, because he did love his family, because she was just some sorry excuse for a wizard or witch or whatever.

"I'm going to head back to the hotel, I'll update Hermione. You, you can take you time or, or whatever, yeah?" She leaned over quickly to peck his cheek, he seemed to flinch less than before. Brogan shrugged and apparated away.

She unwrapped the fang and the locket before she pulled out the journal. Brogan sat for a while staring at the pieces and remembering before she finally picked up the pen, "it worked but…" she wrote.

Hermione apparated to the hotel rather than make Brogan write so much. The locket was still open, it had a charred aspect to it, the soot seemed greasy when Hermione rubbed at it. The malevolence was entirely gone now, it just seemed dead. The fang seemed dead too, the tip had broken off at the hostel but Brogan had carefully gathered all the pieces.

"I think it dried out you know, being out of the basilisk's mouth for so many years. I wager we were bloody lucky it worked at all."

"What happened?" asked Hermione. Brogan told her about Yaxley and having to leave the house. Then she told her about going far away to destroy the locket, about the wraith of Narcissa and how Draco had paused, how the wraith had fed off of his hesitation to get stronger, how the thing had screamed at the end.

By then Brogan was wiping her eyes pretty steadily and Hermione was blinking her own. "He couldn't look at me after," sniffed Brogan.

"Oh dear," said Hermione patting a heaving shoulder. "I know what you need. Get yourself tidied up, I'm going to pop out for a bit and then I'll be right back."

Brogan nodded but once Hermione left she just cried harder. Hermione wasn't gone long, nor was she surprised to see that Brogan hadn't moved. "Come on," she said, "we're going to the Burrow."

Mrs. Weasley was about as flummoxed as you would expect to have Hermione lead Snape's daughter up to her door. She quickly took in the tear streaked face and looked up to see Hermione mouthing, 'boy trouble'. Well, Mrs. Weasley had raised a lot of sons but she remembered being a young girl just fine.

They got Brogan settled in the parlor with an afghan while Molly made tea and gathered biscuits. Hermione then had a whispered conference with Ron and Ginny in the hallway. Ginny didn't seem peeved about the Slytherin just confused about why she was at her house.

"She needed a mum and mine is doing a root canal," said Hermione.

"What's a root canal?" asked Ron.

Hermione paused, it would be easier to snap 'it's a dentist thing' but explaining all the gory details was tempting too. Oh but then there would be that poor daft muggle look in their eyes. "She's working, remember my mum's like a doctor."

That came out too harsh, dear Molly hadn't really dressed for company that day and she looked frumpier than ever. Hermione considered bursting into tears herself but Ron saw her chin wobble and wrapped her up in his ridiculously long arms and just crushed her to his chest.

Hermione feared for a moment that whether to cry or not wasn't really a choice anymore but then he stepped back and pulled her into the parlor.

"Hey Ron," Brogan croaked, scrambling to sit up more.

Ron frowned at the wretched face, "budge up princess," he ordered settling himself in easy reach of the biscuits and arranging Brogan along his side. He patted the cushion on his other side and Hermione sat down too.

"I can read us a story," she suggested rummaging in her wristlet and pulling out the book Dumbledore had left to her.

"Beedle the Bard!" crowed Ron happily.

"I've only translated a bit though," she apologized.

"We have another copy," said Ginny who had been leaning near the door. She turned to run and they could hear her thump up the stairs.

"A delicate flower, our Gin." Said Ron fondly.

"Shut it Ron," scolded Hermione but Brogan gave him a tiny smile.

Ginny came back with a very worn book and a small stool. She set the stool on the other side of the biscuit tray and opened up the book. "Where do you want to start? She asked.

Both girls shrugged, Hermione had translated the titles but she didn't know if she had missed something and didn't want to embarrass herself more. "Hoppin Pot?" asked Ginny and Ron smiled broadly.

Ron and Ginny took tuns and read the whole book to their guests. The afternoon passed swiftly and pleasantly. "That one about death was my favorite," said Brogan, "it gave me goosebumps when you read it Ginny."

"Really?" asked Ginny. "that one always seemed kind of tame to me. I mean sure people die and all but they don't die very dramatically."

"Maybe that made it seem more plausible to me, like invisibility cloaks are real, wands are real, ghosts are real." Explained Brogan.

"Hmm," said Hermione who was busy comparing the Weasley edition to Dumbledore's. "I wonder which story was the Headmaster's favorite?"

"It's strange to think of Dumbledore as a little kid and his mum reading the same stories to him." Said Ron.

"But it's nice too," said Ginny, "to think that Dumbledore heard the same stories from his mum and Hermione's mum read her stories and," she looked over at Brogan, unsure if she should continue. The look on Brogan's face said not to.

Ron pulled her closer and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "So, are you going to stay for dinner? I'm sure mum will insist."

Brogan could only smile at his graceless change of conversation, "thank you Ron and I would love to but I kind of stalked off on Draco in a bit of a tiff and I should go back and check on him."

Ginny almost fell off her stool to hear someone talk about Draco Malfoy so casually in her parlor but Ron seemed to expect it.

"If you must, but I'm going to head back with you," announced Ron.

Ginny opened her mouth, she was going to say something about asking mum or missing dinner but then she realized Ron was old enough to apparate, Ron was old enough to do most things, Ron was considered an adult. And also Ron wasn't upset at all about having Draco's girlfriend sitting on the couch with him, he had his arm around Draco's girlfriend. Even Hermione didn't mind that Ron had his arm around Draco's girlfriend. When the bloody hell had they all grown up? Ginny decided to keep her mouth shut and not seem like the juvenile in the room. It was a bit harder to do when she realized she had read them fairy tales all afternoon like a little kid.

"Ginny, thank you so much for reading to us. I hadn't ever heard those stories before and to hear them from you and Ron for the first time, it made me feel like a proper witch and I'm so grateful to you for sharing your history like that." Brogan said with shining eyes.

Hermione looked up at Ginny too and added her own smile, "truly Ginny, it was a magical afternoon."

Ginny beamed back at them, pleased that she didn't suck.

Mrs. Weasley didn't mind a whit that Ron would be seeing the girls home, Ron looked only a bit crestfallen when he saw the Shepherd's Pie that she was making for dinner. "I'll save a bit in the oven for you Ron in case you don't have time to eat while you're out." She offered to her youngest son. Ron smiled back hugely and Mrs. Weasley chuckled at him.

They took Hermione home first. Brogan had never been there and Hermione was instantly apologetic about it. "Oh, you should know where I live in case of an emergency."

"Hermione, if there's an emergency I'm not going to lead whoever to your house!" Brogan was aghast.

"Well, not all emergencies are like that," said Hermione.

"All of my emergencies are exactly like that," corrected Brogan.

Hermione opened her mouth to argue more but ended up not saying anything. Her parents were still at work so she led her friends into the house and even let them poke around her bedroom. It was embarrassing though, Hermione had successful parents that doted on her and it showed.

She didn't know if Brogan would be jealous, Snape doted on his daughter quite a bit but he had only known that Harry was his daughter for a year. Before that the Dursley's were quite beastly and cruel to Harry. And Ron's parents didn't really have the money or the time to spoil him. Hermione's life was probably closest to Draco's actually, maybe that was why the two competed so fiercely.

Neither Brogan nor Ron seemed to be turning green though. Hermione's room had massive bookshelves, a desk crammed with fancy pens, and a very girly bed with coverlets and pillows and ruffles everywhere. It was strangely just the room they would have picked out for their Hermione and both were pleased to see that her parents had agreed. It was like finding out that something they loved and treasured was loved and treasured by others, no jealousy there just more happiness.

Ron had a huge smile on his face, "Hermione, you're a girl!" he crowed and jumped on her bed sending pillows and plushies flying all over. Brogan laughed too and jumped, the bed made a loud metallic squeak when she landed next to Ron. Hermione dithered for a moment about her bed collapsing and then dove for Ron's other side.

They ended up bouncing a lot and the bed didn't break, but if it had they all knew the reparo spell.

Finally Ron brought Brogan back to the hotel room. It had been an extremely surreal day for her: buying a Beatles t-shirt, killing Draco's mum, seeing Mrs. Weasley and Ginny, jumping on Hermione's bed…

They apparated to an alley near by and walked in the door to the elevator. Brogan didn't want to go straight to the room in case Draco was there, or in case Draco wasn't there. She also wanted Ron with her in case Draco was or wasn't there.

The only chance she got to explain it to Ron was on their walk from the alley to the room. "The horcrux made a wraith that looked like Draco's mum and she said things to make him feel guilty and he froze so I grabbed his hand and made him stab it to death and when it died it screamed like we had murdered her. And it was awful and Draco wouldn't look at me, so I told him I was going to the hotel room and he could take some time. But then Hermione came over to find out what happened and I was a mess so she took me to your house and then we went to her house and now it's like six hours later and what if he went right back to the hotel room to talk to me and I've left him alone all day?

"Or what if he isn't back yet and I have to sleep there alone tonight?

"Or what if he came back and I was gone and I forgot to leave him a note and then he got mad at me and left to go to France to check on his mum?" the words kept spilling out of Brogan now.

"I can see why Hermione brought you to the Burrow and we kept you entertained for the last six hours. If she had left you alone you would be a mess by now."

"I was already a mess, remember before Ginny started reading? And I can feel the mess creeping back in now, I think that was just an interlude."

Ron squeezed her hand tightly as she tried the room key card again, strip to the left this time.

Draco was there, he was watching tv and looked pretty wretched. Brogan wasn't sure if she should throw herself into his arms or not; was he still mad at her, would he mind because Ron was there? What if he flinched and Ron saw? Would Ron take her back to the Burrow?

"Hey Draco, how are you?" she asked softly. She dropped her stuff on the table and went to sit next to him. It seemed to be okay.

"I'm better now, how was the Burrow?"

"The Burrow was good, how did you know I was there?" asked Brogan with a wrinkle on her forehead.

"Hermione left a note." Answered Draco.

"Of course she did," said Ron.

"When? I didn't even notice." Said Brogan, a little miffed that she had fretted about not leaving a note when there had been a note.

"I don't know when, before you left I guess." Said Draco, "I'm sure you were all snot and blubber at that point and wouldn't have noticed much."

Ron snorted and dropped himself on the couch too, telly was still mostly new to him so even the commercials were addictive. This was a commercial for a pizza chain and it made Ron's stomach growl loudly.

"Have you eaten yet?" asked Draco with a roll of his eyes.

"No," said Ron without a trace of shame, he was probably so entranced by the commercial that he hadn't noticed his stomach grumbling.

Brogan smiled at Draco, "hey, are you in the mood for pizza?"

"I think I am," he replied. "Would you like to take a walk with me and get some?"

"That would be lovely sir, I don't think Ron will mind." She replied sweetly, "Ron, oi RON!"

Ron finally dragged his eyes away and looked at her with a very blank face, "We're going to pick up a pizza we'll be back in a half hour, okay?"

Ron didn't respond.

"Ron," she repeated stepping in front of the television, "nod your head okay."

Ron nodded while leaning off to the side to peer around her at the dancing toilet brush. Brogan was pretty sure he had never seen an inanimate toilet brush before.

"You tried," said Draco and they walked out of the room.

"I'm so sorry about the horcux Draco." Said Brogan as soon as the door closed behind them.

"I'm so sorry that I reacted poorly," responded Draco twining their fingers together. "As a Malfoy I feel like I should not have been so hoodwinked by a dark artifact."

"Tom's pretty good at being evil, he's hoodwinked older and wiser wizards than us." Said Brogan.

They held hands the whole way there but it still felt like something had broken between them.

They got two pizzas, one with just cheese in case Ron's appetite decided to suddenly become weird and one with mushrooms and sausage because Draco only ate his veggies when they were delicately sauced and cheap tomato sauce didn't count.

There could have been grasshoppers on Ron's pizza and he might not have noticed until Brogan got frustrated and turned off the television. There wasn't a whole lot to talk about though: not how Brogan had turned up tear-streaked at the Burrow, not how their only known horcrux destroyer was used up, not how they had no idea where or what the next horcruxes might be.

They ate the pizza and made plans to meet up again in a few days and try to figure out what they should do next. September first was only a few weeks away and that was another whole issue.

That night Brogan and Draco crawled into the hotel bed together. It started as awkward and awful, Brogan felt like there was a block of ice in her chest and she stayed flat on her back (to roll on one side would have been either too close or too far) instead she stared at the ceiling and watched the patterns that headlights made across the smooth flat paint.

It seemed to take forever to drift off and then she was in a vision, Voldemort was in London too and he was flying down the Thames with other dark shapes throwing curses at bridges and buses, laughing and laughing into the night. She woke up suddenly with her heart pounding and her hands clamped over her mouth. Draco shoved a bin in front of her and all that ill-advised pizza came back up.

Draco put the bin in the hallway and came back with a glass of water and a wet wash cloth. The lights on the ceiling were red and blue and flashing frantically now, there were sirens too.

They held hands and crept to the window to look out, there was fire and smoke all around them.

When they watched the news the next morning they could see that it really had been all around them, a circle about six blocks in diameter that went perfectly around their hotel. "Draco," croaked Brogan, "is there a locating spell that only gets that specific?"

Draco nodded, "he probably won't be able to pinpoint Harry Potter exactly but that's how close they can get."

"They might not even care about exactly, not when they can hurt so many people and know that I'll feel responsible."

Draco could only nod some more and rub her back. They didn't speak as they showered carefully, enjoying the luxurious room as much as they could, and packed up their things. The clerk was not surprised when they checked out.

"Where do you want to go?" asked Draco quietly.

"Somewhere empty, somewhere that doesn't have another person for half a mile in any direction."

"Like a forest?" asked Draco timidly.

Brogan nodded somberly. "Fucking camping," muttered Draco under his breath.

They didn't dare go to Diagon Alley to look for supplies and they couldn't think of anywhere in Hogsmeade that would have camping stuff. "Do any of your friends go camping?" asked Brogan. "I know Mr. Weasley borrowed a tent for the Quidditch World Cup, he might still have it."

"Slytherins camping?" asked Draco incredulously, but then he thought about it. "Pansy has a little brother and I think he read a book about someone camping and they all had to go to some forest with him after that… Yes, I'm sure I'm remembering that right now. We should write to Pansy and see if they still have their tent."

"We can write to Ron too, his could be a back-up," suggested Brogan. "Um, how do we write to them?"

"Let's walk for a while to get away from this," and he waved his hand to encompass the smoggy air and wailing sirens, "and then we'll find a café to sit and write and then we'll go somewhere discrete and you can call for Hedwig."

They started walking in a more defined direction for a while and then Brogan asked, "what do you mean call for Hedwig? I've never called her before, do you mean shout her name? Because she might be far away and not hear."

"You've probably already started calling for her because you're thinking about how you need her. You two are very close and your magic will unconsciously summon her; have you never noticed?"

Brogan shrugged, "I guess I just thought she was clever."

"Oh, never doubt that she's clever; but you're calling her too."

Learning something basic about magic that Brogan had never even suspected before usually left her feeling wrong-footed and stupid but learning this was very satisfying and warming. She smiled all through her chai latte while she wrote to Ron and creatively inquired about a tent. 'Draco is working so hard on his potions this summer and he needs some weird plant thingy that blooms only in the darkest part of the night and I'm not bloody sleeping on roots and shit, do you have a tent?'

Draco shamelessly stole her story, 'Pansy love, I am determined to brew the slug reviving potion that is featured as one of the most difficult on the seventh-year curriculum. The potion requires pepperwort picked in the darkest part of the night and of course, buying such a crucial ingredient from the sods in Hogsmeade is entirely too risky, who knows if they just grabbed it at midnight and called it good enough? I remember when your precious brother Sage was so entranced with the stories of the Cranebill Twins and demanded a night in the forest, might you still have that old tent lying around?'

As soon as they sat down on a deserted bench in the park Hedwig fluttered out of the closest tree and stuck out her leg. She was engulfed in a hug first and Brogan was convinced that her owl smelled of smoke and was probably almost killed in the attacks of the night before, but eventually Draco got the bird free and tied on their letters.

"You'll be able to find us when you have replies?" he asked her. Hedwig gave him an imperious look and hooted.

"Excellent, thank you so much." He murmured back, and then Hedwig was off.

They sat until she was just a speck and then Brogan pulled Draco off to a muggle camping store. "Maps are maps you prat and we might find other useful things. Besides what else is there to do today?"

The shopping was fun because shopping with Draco was always fun. They withdrew huge amounts of cash from several ATM machines, not that they thought the goblins would betray them or that Death Eaters were clever enough to trace credit card transactions, but because they were just that paranoid.

Draco bought nice hiking boots and they got some extra socks, which made Brogan sad and Draco confused, and then they puttered around with all the gadgets and Brogan quizzed Draco relentlessly to see if wizards had found a spell that did the same as this or that gadget. They shouldn't need a flashlight or a compass or matches or water bottles, but the strange little packets of unpalatable food might come in handy.

"So the tent will have all sorts of charms on it and we can go food shopping and then put the food away in the tent kitchen and then the tent charms will take care of making it light and tiny and not let it fall all over the place when we pack the tent?" Draco gave Brogan a look like she wasn't a wizard at all. Brogan punched him in the arm as hard as she could.

They worried for a long time about where to sleep that night, stay within the circle since that perimeter was already destroyed or go somewhere new and risk another perimeter strike? In the end they stayed within the circle but found another hotel, not quite as posh. It was with great great relief that Hedwig arrived that evening with notes from Ron and Pansy that both of them had tents.

The next morning arrived without sirens and they set off after breakfast for Pansy's house. Brogan didn't want to go, she didn't want to endanger Pansy but Draco was nervous about leaving her behind. In the end they both just hoped to Merlin that Pansy's father wouldn't be home.

Pansy told Draco to meet her in a spot on the grounds of their estate, actually it was just off their grounds and thus just outside her father's wards. Pansy and Draco had been about ten when they discovered that the wards only covered half of the tennis courts, they were playing a set in late fall and it started to snow big fluffy flakes. But the flakes only fell on half the court because her family had some sort of 'no-snow-except-on-the-grass ward.

Pansy had dug out the old tent, slipped it into her tennis raquet bag and slipped on her little white dress that morning. Draco brought Brogan to the unwarded half of the court at the suggested time and they even goofed off and played a few sets, just for authenticity.

Sage was a pompous little shit that night and reported to his Daddy that he saw Pansy and Draco playing tennis that day. Pansy's father was thunderous, knowing how Lucius had been discretely, yet with increasing desperation, trying to fetch his son home.

Pansy sullenly showed her father the note that Draco had sent. She hadn't asked her parent's permission to loan Draco the tent but she seldom asked her parent's permission for anything so that didn't surprise them.

"Why did you have him meet you at the tennis courts dear?" asked her mother with only the barest hint of interest in the actual answer.

"My backhand has sucked recently, the aim is still good but there's hardly any spin on it; I wanted Draco to show me his grip." Answered Pansy, inwardly chortling 'hardly any spin my arse'.

Her parents accepted her response without question and went back to their dinner. Sage pushed his vegetables around sullenly for a while, Pansy wasn't in trouble at all and now he sort of wanted to go camping again. He didn't dare ask though, his parents seemed too relieved that the tent was gone.

Chapter 5: Chapter Five

Seeing Pansy alive and well with her vicious swing intact was a balm to both Draco and Brogan, they talked about it over and over again until it wasn't reassuring anymore. They apparated to a park from one of their maps and rushed to get the tent set up while it was still daylight.

Inside the tent was not as large as the Dursley house but certainly more tasteful. They explored the bedrooms and the kitchen and then settled themselves in front of the fireplace in the large sitting room. Draco summoned parchment and a Bic pen, "we should make a list he announced."

"Okay," said Brogan staring at the empty fireplace.

Draco looked up and asked, "why are we fighting this war?" at the same time that Brogan said, "macaroni and cheese." Then they both said, "what?"

They didn't laugh and silence grew uncomfortably between them.

"I'm fighting this war to keep the muggles and the muggle-born safe," said Brogan quietly.

"We should buy some of that cereal you like too, it keeps for a long time."

"The milk might be a problem, why are you fighting this war Draco?"

"To keep you safe, so that my friends and myself can have freedom to choose things instead of having to listen to a madman. We can buy lots of bottles and put preservation charms on them."

"Freedom sounds so much nobler than what I want, it's like I just want to cut off the head of the snake. I can say it's because he's a mass-murdering sociopath but it's for revenge too. It's like you're fighting for a new world order.

Like if You-Know-Who is gone then maybe another Death Eater will take his place and they might not kill as freely but they'll still have the same agenda. But you're fighting for a new Wizengamot, a new Ministry." She laughed, "I'm still such a Gryffindor aren't I?"

"Always," said Draco. "It's good to have all kinds though."

"All kinds, a hot-head and a sneak. You know there are other houses at Hogwarts, do you remember the children with the ugly yellow ties?"

"We could assemble a war council; get Luna to represent the Ravenclaws and um, a Hufflepuff."

"You can't just say a Hufflepuff, you have to nominate an actual person. They have actual names you know," teased Brogan.

"Well," drawled Draco. "Not Zacharias –that's for bloody sure he's a nob. Not Ernie either, he's completely obnoxious."

"Not Hannah," laughed Brogan, "she's daft. Susan, Susan Bones is the only possible 'puff for our war council."

"Agreed," said Draco.

"Should we? Should we actually write to her or something, I could sign the letter Harry Potter and tell her I don't know, that she should stand by in case we need an opinion on what the loyal thing to do would be?"

"You don't need to write and ask her to stand by, she's a Hufflepuff, she'll help you whenever you ask."

"Hmm, I guess that's true," mused Brogan. "You can't imagine how much it sucked having the whole of Hufflepuff hate me. I mean they're 'puffs, they're not supposed to loathe people."

"'M sorry," said Draco quickly, pulling her in for a hug. "That whole year must have really sucked for you."

She nodded and Draco wished for a long time that they had never started talking about Hufflepuffs.

They couldn't figure out how to use the journal to tell Hermione where they were (not specifically enough for her to apparate) so Brogan pulled out her invisibility cloak and apparated to her house. Hermione met her at the door asked her to wait a moment before she reappeared with her coat and wristlet. They went to the Burrow next and borrowed Ron to go see a movie, which seemed like a good lie at first but then they had to explain what movies are and then when Ron found out it was a lie he was completely bummed out.

It was dark by that time and Brogan worried that she wouldn't be able to find the tent but there was a cheery glow and amazing smells leading them in. Draco had summoned Kreacher and Kreacher was working his magic. There was mushroom soup and some sort of meat entrée with steamed vegetables in an assertive and yet, perfectly seasoned, sauce. Hermione looked a bit ill and ate only the soup but Ron gorged himself silly.

"So you found another tent?" he asked.

"Pansy had one too, as it turned out, we weren't sure," apologized Brogan.

Ron shrugged, "why the sudden interest in camping? There's no telly here." He said it with a smile but his voice had a sorrowful tone.

"If you had a telly Ron you would know. Death Eaters attacked London the other night, they destroyed everything in a huge circle that had Brogan's hotel at the center." Hermione said softly.

"They must have used a tracing spell," said Draco.

"But wouldn't they need blood to do that?" asked Ron.

"Would Snape have given him your blood?" asked Hermione, "Not enough to let him really track you of course…"

"He wouldn't need to," said Brogan in a small voice. "The Dark Lord used my blood in the resurrection." The others gasped and looked at her with horror, Brogan curled in on herself. "You knew that," she mumbled, "I told you."

Ron patted her arm, "I guess you did mate but I just didn't think of it like that. You and You-Know-Who have the same blood."

Brogan nodded miserably, "he used Wormtail's flesh and Wormtail owes me a life debt but I haven't been able to make anything positive from that."

Draco tried hard not to look revolted but he felt as if he had been sleeping with more of the Dark Lord than he knew. Brogan looked the other way and gave him some time to process.

Hermione bravely tried to talk more about the tracing spell. They guessed that maybe it was actually a good thing the two shared blood, the Dark Lord's own presence was making the spell less precise for one thing. It also seemed unlikely that he would either leave a big jar of his own blood sitting around or allow it to become common knowledge that he and Harry shared blood.

Brogan had also seen the attack in her dream so it was possible they could get advance warning that way. All is all the discussion did not reassure because now they had an impossible task and they were being hunted.

"I shouldn't risk going to either of your houses again but if we keep moving the tent I don't know how you'll find us" said Brogan.

"We'll stay with you of course, so we can keep working all the time," responded Hermione. Ron nodded quickly but he looked a little startled.

"Besides," said Hermione, "I really want to get all this sorted by September first."

Nobody was surprised that Hermione had already packed everything she could conceivably need in her wristlet, and nobody was surprised that Ron hadn't thought of packing stuff yet.

The tent had three bedrooms: two with big double beds and one with a pair of twin beds. Hermione carried her wristlet into the room with the twin beds and declared it the girls' dorm. Brogan followed her with her rucksack and Draco claimed the master bedroom while Ron went back to the burrow to get his stuff.

Before Ron left Draco pulled him aside, "these are your friends Ron, and I know you want to be here to protect them. With that tracing spell out there we can only stay here for a short while. By dusk tomorrow we're moving on, whether you're back or not. I'm sorry, but we have to complete our task and we can't do it from the Dark Lord's dungeon."

Ron grunted at him and then shook off his hands and left. Draco felt a tiny bit bad, they could probably wait a few days for Ron, and they probably would, but he could imagine how difficult telling his parents was going to be for Ron and he honestly thought the deadline would help.

Ron was back just after lunch the next day with a ginormous hamper of food. "I would have been here sooner," he said, munching shamelessly on a biscuit from the hamper, "but Mum was cooking for us."

"How did that happen?" asked Brogan in amazement and joy.

"The Ministry was all hopped up about those attacks in London, I explained that they were attacks on Harry and they were in a circle like that because of a tracing spell. Dad even had some ideas about which spell they might be using and things we can maybe do to throw it off more. But anyway I told them that you were going to be camping to stay away from innocent people and moving every day or so to keep ahead of the spell and they understood everything."

"Dad gave me that other tent too, in case we need a spare. And while Mum was cooking she sent me to the twins to get whatever they had that might be useful, which was a lot."

"You know Ron, you could probably apparate home for lunch any time you wanted," said Brogan with a teasing smile.

"Well, I might do that too rabbit, but just in case." Said Ron who hadn't really thought about it.

"You can too, Hermione," said Brogan softly. Hermione made a soft noise and then bustled off to the kitchen to put away the food. It was only moments later that they heard Kreacher shouting and then he popped out to Draco with a sullen look and his arms crossed.

"Does Master need Kreacher when m- girl has food? This strange house has no place for Kreacher to sleep, Kreacher doesn't know what he's supposed to be doing if house is not a house and m- girl has all the food." Kreacher grumbled and grumbled.

Draco put his hand on the small shoulder and glared meaningfully down at him. Kreacher calmed and gathered himself quickly. "You raise excellent points. Plus we need spies to gather information for us if we are going to destroy the wizard who killed Regulus. Can you go back to Hogwarts and remain unseen but listening?"

"Yes, master," breathed Kreacher.

"And Kreacher, you have an ally at Hogwarts, Dobby the house elf will share the task with you. If you learn something you can send Dobby to us or come yourself," added Brogan.

Kreacher seemed to be swelling as they talked about missions and allies and especially about avenging Regulus. Hermione looked very unimpressed with their manipulation but Ron didn't seem to mind.

"It isn't manipulation Hermione," said Brogan after Kreacher had popped away. "Being unable to complete a task for Regulus drove him mad and now working on Regulus' final wish is bringing him comfort. Don't you find it comforting to be working on Dumbledore's final wish?"

"Destroying You-Know-Who wasn't Dumbledore's wish, peace was Dumbledore's wish. You should learn the difference Brogan." And with a sad, disappointed look Hermione stalked off to her bedroom. Which was also purportedly Brogan's bedroom but Brogan decided she would probably sleep with Draco that night.

They moved to another bit of nondescript forest, and then another one and tempers frayed faster than any of them had imagined possible. They would spend hours discussing Hufflepuff's cup but they each had their own thoughts and there was no new evidence to bring their arguments together, or to lead them to any sort of action.

And then they would get on the topic of how to destroy the next horcrux even if they could find it, with the fang in pieces. Should they sneak back to Hogwarts? Should they try to find the Sword of Gryffindor? Was there some secret thing about the sword that Dumbledore was trying to convey? Should they ask the elves if they had heard anything about the sword? Could an elf take them to the chamber? Could they teach an elf to open the chamber? Was it safe for an elf to pull a fang out of a dead basilisk's mouth? Was it safe for anyone?

Draco was a minority of one when he suggested getting an egg and hatching out another basilisk.

Newspapers became the most important thing. They apparated to different tiny settlements every day to get the Daily Prophet; there was even a rotation schedule for reading it. The Ministry was obviously under Death Eater control and so was the Prophet but even so they were all so desperate for news of their families that they devoured it anyway.

Ron had the most family of course, and the best ties to the Order of the Phoenix so he began popping 'round the joke shop on occasion to gather information. The Order still didn't know that Brogan was Harry Potter or that Snape was Harry Potter's father, if they had they probably would not have lost faith in him as a spy.

Most of the Weasleys knew and one night Bill and the twins came back to the tent with Ron so they could argue all night about whether the whole Order should be informed. Brogan was convinced that McGonagall knew and she didn't think anyone else needed to know. But the Weasleys were living in the wizarding world and they saw first hand how hopeless people had become. The public had not seen Harry Potter since Nymphadora Tonks impersonated him at Dumbledore's funeral.

They all agreed that it would be nice if Harry Potter did something for the resistance to give everyone hope but nobody had any ideas. Brogan refused to involve the Quibbler again, Mr. Lovegood was the only family Luna had and she didn't want to endanger him.

"Old Ollivander was kidnapped you know, snatched right out of his shop," said Fred.

"We could go rescue him," finished George.

"We're a bunch of Hogwarts drop outs at this point," hissed Hermione. "What business do we have trying to rescue anybody? The prophecy says that Harry Potter is the one, the ONE, with the power to destroy the Dark Lord, we can't risk her being killed on some superfluous mission."

"How is saving a person superfluous?" asked George. "Harry is always saving people."

George hadn't been there though when they all climbed on thestrals and tried to save Sirius. Endangering, killing, him instead and injuring themselves. "George," said Brogan in a tone that sounded as steady as Harry's ever had, "Hermione is right. Mr. Ollivander is a dear and worthy man but I can't go rescue him."

"Besides," drawled Draco, not that the Weasleys were overly interested in his opinion, "do we really want all those grown and trained wizards that are hoping Harry Potter will save them all to sit twiddling their thumbs? We want them helping us, not waiting for us."

"There is one thing they could do," said Ron and everyone leaned forward because you could just tell that this was going to be really good. "You-Know-Who has some of Harry's blood and he's using it to run tracing spells, that's why we're on the move so much. If we made charms with a tiny bit of Harry's blood in them and you sold them, or gave them out, to a lot of people it would mess with the spell."

There was silence as people thought about that. "Is that why they destroyed that circle in London? A tracing spell?" asked Fred with a speculative look.

Brogan nodded, and Fred continued "what if we took Ronniekins idea and made a really good effigy of Harry Potter and planted it somewhere that would make them destroy themselves?"

"Like a Death Eater's house?" asked Draco. "That would be interesting, there's already so little trust amongst them, and they're all fawning to please, I could see how that would create quite a bit of mayhem."

"And if they're Potter effigies it would keep Harry in the news." Added Hermione, her fingers were twitching in a way that the twins and Brogan and Ron recognized as 'must flip through a book and find something.'

"Alright then," announced Bill as the oldest one present. "Hermione, you and the twins work on making this effigy thing. Draco, you and Ron work on a list of places to plant the effigies. Brogan, you and I will work on how to get them to the places."

He stood up and stretched and then reached out a hand to her, "come on, I always think better when I'm walking." And with that they left the suddenly noisy tent and stepped out into the woods.

"Charm it to look like something else and send it by owl post?" asked Brogan.

"Excellent, glad that's sorted. Now tell me how you've been."

Brogan had not been all that well, she chattered while they walked and when they came to the edge of a nice meadow Bill found a rock to sit on and pulled her to his lap. It was the same way he had held her on the worst night of her life, when the potion wore off and her body changed back to a girl. Being together like that again brought back all sorts of memories and they were both quiet for a while.

"I'm so worried about my da. I know he's been doing this for a long time but now he has something that he cares about, if they hurt me they'll hurt him you know. What if he and Dumbledore had this whole thing planned out and then by changing who I am I ruined all of it?"

"I think you have always been Lily's child and Snape has always loved you for that. Even when he called you names I think he was just acting and inside he already loved you."

"Is that supposed to help?" asked Brogan tearfully.

"Yes, you idiot, it is."

"Thanks then, I shouldn't complain when you have so much family at risk. And Fleur, how is Fleur?"

"The Order asked her to go on a mission in France."

"Really? Do you miss her? Does she write?"

"We write quite a bit, I think the separation came at a good time. I had too much going on before to give her as much attention as she wanted but corresponding I can handle and it's keeping things going so that maybe later…"

"That would be nice Bill, she deserves your respect and attention you know. She is a Triwizard Champion."

"She never mentions that, I mean she talks about the year a lot but not the tasks."

"Please don't," asked Brogan. "I'm already going to have to sleep with Ron tonight because I know I'll have a Sirius nightmare, I don't want to dream about Cedric too."

"Is that how You-Know-Who got your blood? That night in the, what was it a graveyard?"

Brogan nodded against his neck. "What was there to resurrect? Why did he choose your blood?"

"Bill, it's part of why we don't have time to rescue Ollivander okay? We're working on a way to destroy him forever."

"And a fully grown and trained curse breaker can't help you?"

Brogan shrugged, "It's hard, I mean Dumbledore chose not to tell the Order so we have been following his lead and not telling too. But if it ever seems obvious that you could help us I think we'll tell you. It's also kind of dark and evil and something you can't unknow. So we're keeping your conscience clean."

"I'm a curse breaker, I already have a pile of evil in my head. And we're wizards, we can obliviate each other and unknow crap any time."

Brogan shrugged again but had no verbal response to that. Bill sighed and tugged her closer, she fit so well on his lap. He wondered if Ginny was too tall now for cuddling like this, she had grown up a lot lately and he missed having a baby girl he could carry around.

Then he remembered what Brogan had said about Fleur being a Triwizard Champion and worthy of his respect, Brogan was one too and not a baby girl for him to carry around, except sometimes like this.

They were so quiet for so long that a doe and her buck wandered out from the woods across the meadow. It might have been a coincidence but it felt like magic, it felt like a benediction for the tasks they had assumed and the path they had chosen.

Brogan stared at the spot where they disappeared back into the woods for a long time and she asked herself about the razor's edge, or was it a chasm, between deposing a tyrant and reaching peace. If they locked up every Death Eater would that end the terrorism or would it just enrage their families and sow a whole new crop? Could they show compassion without appearing weak? Does war ever really end or is it a matter of constant vigilance?

Hermione sent her patronus to summon them back, the silvery otter scolded them gently with a chittering noise and they followed it scrambling and leaping over roots through the dark forest.

Hermione's team had assembled a list of possible potions that would work and a list of ingredients that they would need. Ron and Draco had apparently almost come to blows when Ron had written down, 'any ruddy Slytherin' on a scrap of parchment and then wandered off for pie.

Either way it was a pleasant diversion and made life in the little tent a bit more bearable for a bit longer.

"Hermione," asked Brogan tentatively one morning a few days later, "I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go home for the day, the Prophet really seems to be downplaying these attacks and I wonder if you could ask your parents what they've heard?"

"I can't," said Hermione quickly and quietly but the tent was instantly still and quiet as everyone froze.

"What do you mean?" asked Brogan as softly as she could manage, "did you have a fight when you left?"

Hermione shook her head and stopped meeting their eyes. "My parents have been gone for weeks, I started almost as soon as I got home. I, I couldn't bare to endanger them and, and they would never leave me. They loved me, you know. They never would have left the country. And I'm Harry Potter's best friend, and muggle born and top of my year and they never would have left me." Hermione was weeping now and Ron had his arms around her, rubbing her back while Draco and Brogan just stared.

"What did you do?" asked Draco, knowing he had no right to know, no right to judge, no right to anything except he had parents too and he had to know.

"I obliviated them," she sobbed. "And, and made them fancy Australia."

"You made them forget you?" asked Brogan. Ron glared at her. Then Ron took a look at both of their aghast faces and quietly led Hermione to his room. Draco brought him a calming draught later and even though they were scheduled to move to another place that night neither one was seen until morning.

Draco and Brogan retreated to Draco's room, they whispered together even though they had already cast silencing charms. "I can't believe she would do that," said Draco in a hollow voice. "Did being your friend really put her parents that much at risk?"

"It's more than that Draco, muggles are just so powerless against witches and wizards. When Hagrid brought my Hogwarts letter he cursed my cousin Dudley with a pig's tail and Dudley had to have doctors take knives and cut it away; they cut through the bones and the nerves and then used thread to sew his skin shut. It was right on his bum too so he couldn't sit comfortably or lay on his back for weeks while it healed.

A couple years later the twins gave him a ton tongue toffee and he almost choked to death when his tongue swelled up because his parents had no idea how to reverse it. Those are just stupid mindless pranks in your world, but they're shame and pain and misery to muggles."

"And then we wonder why your aunt and uncle were so cruel to you? Huh?" asked Draco.

"No, that isn't the point I meant. They were plenty cruel before that, the point is that muggles are defenseless in all of this. I even hope that the Dursleys are safe now, not because I like them but because it's so bloody uneven."

"I guess I understand, I mean my mum left the country, but I wouldn't ever obliviate her. Make her forget she's my mum, or Lucius' wife."

"It might be nice to make Lucius forget though," pointed out Brogan.

"Yeah, that would actually be quite efficient," agreed Draco. "But still, she could have or should have thought of something better. Something that would achieve the same end without being so drastic, so foolhardy."

"No. Stop Draco, don't you ever suggest such a thing to Hermione. Don't talk about it, don't think it, don't look like you're thinking it. You have no right. You really really have no right."

Brogan looked like she wanted to say more, a lot more, but she was tired and she didn't want to piss Draco off so much that she had to sleep alone in the girls' dorm.

Draco was oddly formal the next morning, "Hermione," he started and Ron and Brogan held their breaths, "you were in an impossible situation and you bravely chose the route that offered your parents the greatest protection. I can see why the hat placed you in Gryffindor."

He didn't say that she had done well, or that he would have ever done the same thing, or any other slightly more comforting thing that another might have added, but he believed what he said and Hermione could tell that. It affected him though, after that night whenever he looked at Hermione he thought of his mother all alone in France, and he remembered clearer than before all the things that the horcrux wraith of Narcissa had said to him.

Brogan tried to cajole him back into any of the tasks they had looming: avoiding the tracing spells, where to place the effigies, how to find the horcruxes… Draco looked at Ron's 'list' and just shrugged, "it's probably as good a list as any. It would be nice if you could spare Pansy or Blaise but their fathers are in fact Death Eaters and sparing them might bring undue attention."

Nothing captured his interest and he slowly stopped eating the Weasley pies. Brogan tried summoning Kreacher so he could make something delicately sauced but he wasn't her elf anymore and didn't come. She even suggested that they get dressed up and go out to a fancy muggle place, they hadn't used their credit cards in forever it seemed.

When September first came around and they were no closer to anything, well the effigies were coming along but the potions were slow to brew so that wasn't nearly fast enough, the morale in the tent seemed to reach an all-time low.

Ron was sick about Ginny going to Hogwarts alone; they heard that at least two known Death Eaters were going to be teachers. They also heard that Snape was going to be the Headmaster; it took Brogan's breath away to think that she could go back, could be with her da and sleep in her room again, have that life again.

Draco yearned for it too, his triumphant seventh year as king of Slytherin, his favorite professor the Headmaster. He could see his friends again, and for a little while, at least until the holidays, they would all be safe. Snape could throw another ball or something and keep them all there over the holidays, maybe they could enter a time loop and stay seventh years forever.

It was far more tempting than it should have been but they had no leads, no ideas and it just flat wasn't fair that they had such an impossible task. Another year at Hogwarts was their birthright, they weren't really adults yet, it wasn't fair.

They might have gone back, except that Hermione couldn't go, no muggle borns were allowed anymore. And Hermione had nowhere else to go, she had sacrificed her family for this fight they couldn't leave her now. Well, Ron and Brogan couldn't leave her now. Draco still felt like she had overreacted or something, he still wasn't comfortable around her.

"Maybe if I'm not willing to fight for my freedom I don't deserve to have parents like them," she finally sneered at Draco.

"Are you trying to imply something about me or my family?" he shouted back feeling weak and lost. Because ever since Brogan had joked (was she joking?) about him obliviating his father he had thought about it constantly and known that even if it was the tidy way out and neat and solved a lot of problems, and even if he didn't agree with his father on a lot of things he still needed his approval too much to ever obliviate him. Draco spent most of his time operating under the assumption that the Dark Lord had hoodwinked his father somehow and by planting himself amongst the rebels the Malfoys were guaranteed victory no matter what the outcome.

It was all a tangled mess of double agents and possible fates that left him nervous and testy. Sometimes at night with Brogan sleeping softly next to him, curls tangled and looking more beautiful than he had ever thought possible, then it all seemed so clear. He would stay by Brogan's side and protect her and the end would come in whatever way fate decided but he would never betray her, nor even pretend to betray her because what if she didn't know he was pretending, what if something happened to her and she thought Draco had really betrayed her.

Just thinking so many thoughts at night seemed to disturb her sleep, his mind would race and her brow would wrinkle. Maybe it was her hand on his chest, maybe she was feeling his heart rate pick up, whatever it was though, her distress would pull him out of the thoughts and he would stroke her cheeks and gently untangle her hair until she was sleeping softly again.

And then just when it seemed they had all adapted to September second, to missing their seventh years for the sake of the task, the Daily Prophet reported on an attack in France. A party (attended mostly by veela half breeds) had been disrupted by Death Eaters and a few casualties/many injuries were reported, though none by name. When they read the news Brogan remembered Fleur's mission in France and asked Ron to get Bill.

Ron was back in half an hour with a very grim Bill. He almost staggered to their table and Hermione pushed a cup of tea in front of him immediately, she glanced at Ron and quickly went to get a second cup.

"The Order sent Fleur to France almost a month ago with orders to protect Narcissa Malfoy," he began without any pleasantries. "Snape spoke quite highly of her last year and even after (he didn't have to say after what) we still thought she was worth protecting or at least keeping an eye on. It was pretty easy for Fleur anyway and Fleur didn't consider it a big hardship to attend the parties and hang out at Mrs. Malfoy's cousin's manor.

But the recent proclamations about blood purity from the Ministry started raising flags. Not many creature bloods have infiltrated wizard blood purity like veelas. Fleur knew they would be attacking soon, she knew it would be an event with a lot of veela descendants, and believe it or not she was prepared. The Death Eaters expected to annihilate everyone there and they didn't come close.

They attacked a garden party at the magique royale estate, over five hundred were in attendance and only three were killed." Bill looked over at Draco's stricken face and quickly added, "Narcissa was not killed, she was injured but only slightly. Fleur reported that she was treated by a mediwizard on site and then went home to convalesce."

"Fleur is alright too?" asked Brogan. Bill nodded so she continued, "And Gabrielle and everyone else in Fleur's family?"

"Yes, they're all fine. Amazingly, if Fleur hadn't been there though, she got the French magical police to cooperate with the Order and they were so prepared. They even managed to capture six Death Eaters, who will be tried by the French courts. I don't think You-Know-Who will dare to strike out at another country now."

"That's a relief," said Hermione. But Draco didn't look relieved, he looked pale and upset. Brogan slipped her hand into his to give it a hopefully reassuring squeeze but Draco barely responded, his head and his heart were already miles away.

Bill left early because they decided to move again that night. Draco was in his bedroom stripping everything down. "Call Kreacher if you need him, you know to take care of your Mum," said Brogan in a small voice. She was twisting the bottom of her t-shirt up and felt like she always did when the Dursleys were heading off on a vacation without her. She wondered suddenly if Mrs. Figg had moved out after Brogan did or if she was still there minding the Dursleys.

"Thanks, I might do that," said Draco in a very matter-of-fact and business like tone that made Brogan twist harder.

She held out her journal, "Will you take the journal too, I could write to you from Hermione's and then we can set up how to meet again?"

"I'll take it but, I don't know if I'll be returning here."

"What?" asked Brogan blankly.

"Brogan, we've been running around for weeks now and nothing is changing. We could be running for years until one of us trips over a horcrux. After I visit my mum I'm going back to Malfoy Manor."

"What? You can't!"

"Brogan," Draco finally made eye contact with her and felt horrible when he saw her white face and brimming eyes. He tugged the shirt out of her hands and tried to smooth it out again, deciding that was hopeless he just pulled her into his arms. "It will be okay, my father will protect me, so will Severus and I'll use the journal to let you know what I learn.

"Doesn't that sound all sorts of reasonable?"

"No," she sobbed, "it doesn't. It sounds like you're leaving me."

"One wonders how I could have possibly forgotten your abandonment issues," sighed Draco, it was meant to be funny but it wasn't.

"My parents left me, my godfather left me, Dumbledore left me, my da left me, and now you're going too."

"I'm not dying."

"You can't promise that, you have no idea what he's like. At the graveyard he saw Cedric and he said 'kill the spare' and Wormtail just did it, instantly. If he sees you, if he sees you and decides he doesn't trust you that's it, he'll just kill you where you stand. He doesn't hesitate."

"I know, I believe you. But,"

"You can't promise me anything."

"I guess I can't, but I'm going anyway. We have to get more information if we're going to move forward."

"I might get a vision you know, he could start letting things slip that way."

"Or you might not, think how many more people are going to get hurt if this drags on."

"I know, I'm thinking but it isn't fair. Everyone I love has been forced to sacrifice for this stupid war, there are some you know that have barely even had their schedule changed."

"After all this it will seem so so quiet. Days will go by and we'll look at each other over the paper and say, 'oi is it Tuesday then?'"

"A Tuesday, already? Goodness you'd think there would be some notice before such a thing." Replied Brogan playing along.

Draco pulled back a little bit so that he could wipe the tears away from her eyes, "those hormones still messing you up Potter? One would think that after a year you would grow a pair."

Brogan gave him a watery laugh and then hid her face in his armpit again.

"Come on now, this is me being all Gryffindor, be brave with me?"

Brogan just tightened her arms, "I don't want to."

"Alright then, how's this? I'm going to pop out to visit my mum, she's just had an awful fright so you can't begrudge me that. And then I'll be right back, I'll be back before Tuesday."

Draco had the decency to stand still and shut up for a while then so Brogan could collect herself. She wiped her face on her sleeve several times and then looked up at him shyly, "I suppose I might be too snotty to kiss good bye."

Draco pulled out his handkerchief from a wizard pocket somewhere and carefully dried her eyes, blotted her nose and even ordered her to blow. "If you're all stuffy it won't be a very long kiss, hmm?"

Brogan's cheeks flushed red but she blew all the same, tossing the handkerchief into a corner. The good bye kiss was totally worth it.

Chapter 6: Chapter Six

Ron and Hermione were unsurprised that Draco was leaving, of course they thought he was just going to visit his mum and come right back. Brogan didn't correct them, she didn't want to go through the whole thing all over again and she knew that neither Ron nor Hermione would be able to change his mind because he was right. The war was going to drag on forever with more and more people getting hurt unless they figured out a way to get more information.

It seemed stupid to take off on such a long journey so late at night but he left anyway. It seemed stupid that he didn't want a few pies in case he got hungry later but he left anyway. It seemed stupid that Brogan would choose to go to sleep alone in Draco's bed but she wasn't sure where Ron and Hermione were in their relationship and she didn't want to mess anything up.

When morning finally came she didn't remember dreaming but she woke up with Ron on one side and Hermione on the other.

The potions finally finished brewing and Hermione tried to explain to Brogan how the lump of wax and twigs was an exact magical replica of her/Harry Potter/Lord Voldemort. Brogan was immediately distracted by picturing, no not picturing definitely not picturing, the worst ménage à trois ever and just nodded along to whatever Hermione was saying. The list was still all the Slytherins and the distribution plan was still transfigure and mail so the details of that part kept them busy for a while. Eventually all of the effigies were transfigured into green and silver serpent stuffies and mailed out from a completely pretend new shop in Hogsmeade.

A long week later, an incredibly busy week but one in which they hadn't learned anything at all about the hidden horcruxes Draco wrote in the journal.

'Arrived at the Manor after pleasant visit with Mum, Father was all open arms and my son, my son. Then he asked why I wasn't at Hogwarts, I told him Hogwarts wasn't worth my time, he chortled a bit about how different Hogwarts is this year and had Headmaster Snape come round to convince me otherwise.

Headmaster Snape, the old snake, agreed with me that the current faculty and curriculum is certainly beneath me (another year of Slug in potions, never!) and then he switched to how noble the history of Hogwarts is and went on and on about the founders. The completely noble founders and the lasting impact they had on our world, why Brogan, did you know that the Sorting Hat is a founder artifact? The Sword of Gryffindor is one too. (It gives me shivers just thinking about founder artifacts.)

Naturally this led to discussion of other artifacts and father got quite excited. They drank several glasses of excellent brandy and discussed making a project for me of researching these artifact things. Perhaps they could be gathered up and put on exhibit at the new Ministry? Perhaps this would instill me with a proper respect for Hogwarts?

Aunt Bella came too, she was a little sullen at first but eventually (practically another full bottle) she came around and shared the most exciting news: the Dark Lord found an actual artifact. A cup belonging to Helga Hufflepuff was given to my very own aunty for safe keeping. She has it in her vault at Gringott's, talk about safe keeping.

I laughed that this project of theirs was so easy to do, one founder done. I'm going to try my hand at researching Rowena Ravenclaw next, it would be easier if father or myself was friends with anyone actually from Ravenclaw. Like to like I guess.

Yours,

Draco'

"Merlin's Pants!" shouted Brogan after she read his entry. "He's been gone a week and not only does he sound perfectly safe but he found the cup. He will never ever let me live this down. We'll be doddering old people with drool on our chins and he'll say, remember how quickly I found out where that cup was hidden Princess?"

"Hey, at least you might live to be doddering now," said Ron.

"Yeah," said Brogan, "right after we figure out how to get in the LeStrange vault. I guess we could ask Bill."

"Maybe Draco could have her get it out for that exhibit thing he mentioned."

"The Dark Lord is not going to allow his horcrux to be on exhibit in the Ministry."

"That's true," agreed Ron.

"But at least we know where it is, that's so much more than we had before. And Hermione will be back from buying groceries soon, think how excited she'll be to plan a bank robbery. I bet she's always wanted to plan a bank robbery."

"She does have that sexy criminal mastermind thing going on."

"That's too far Ron, too far."

Hermione was not pleased about having to break into Gringott's. "It's never been done!" she spluttered for about fifteen minutes solid.

"It was done our first year, we should find out what he did," corrected Brogan.

"Now that might be something Bill could help with," said Ron. "Fancy a trip to the seaside?"

The seaside was wretched. Bill freaked out severely when they asked about the attempted robbery, he was of the fervent belief that the goblins would be able to smell that the others had asked him about it. He wouldn't make eye contact let alone answer a damn question.

And also the cottage was kind of bare and lonely looking and the late September wind was frigid off the sea. It was a miserable trip and they came home chilled and sullen. Ron tried to make them hot chocolate to cheer them up but he let the milk foam up and boil over into a sticky mess. Once they had vanished the mess they discovered that was the end of the milk.

Dejected they all went to bed at 8:30.

Brogan dreamed that night of wands and when she woke up she wrote to Draco about it. 'Gringott's might not be so impervious as your aunt thinks, I remember it was broken into six or so years ago. I tried to find out the details of how that was accomplished but I'm afraid I was unable to learn anything.

Wandlore is becoming my newest interest, maybe one of the founders left a wand behind? Or maybe there is something to that old Beedle the Bard story about death and the Elder Wand? Wouldn't that be something to add to your exhibit?

Keep in touch, I miss you terribly.

Yours,

Brogan'

Draco hoped to Merlin that nobody ever stumbled upon his journal. They were both terrible at subterfuge, the Elder Wand bit was interesting though. He knew that poor Mr. Ollivander was currently a guest in the dungeon of the manor. There was no reason he could fathom for the Death Eaters to have locked up the old man, several of them were quite peeved about it because they had eleven year-olds wanting wands that fall, so it must have been on You-Know-Who's orders. Which meant that You-Know-Who was obsessed with wands. Why would that be?

And was the Dark Lord in pursuit of the Elder Wand from a children's story? How would he know about the tales of Beedle the Bard, Draco was quite sure there wasn't a copy in the orphanage that Brogan had told him about, curiouser and curiouser.

Draco was in the Malfoy library when he glanced up and saw Lord Voldemort. Luckily mind numbing fear was the appropriate response to seeing the Dark Lord in your library, with a candlestick? "May I help you my Lord?" asked Draco as steadily as he could.

"Ah, you must be the young Malfoy. Finally we meet, what are you reading boy?"

"It's a book of fairy tales my Lord, written by Beedle the Bard."

"Why are you reading them now boy? Surely your mother read them to you when you were a cossetted little thing?"

"She did my Lord, but I learned that Albus Dumbledore left a copy of this book to the mudblood Hermione Granger and I was wondering why he would do such a thing."

"Why indeed, do you have a hypothesis yet Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes sir, I believe it's because she is a mudblood, he probably gave it to her to assist her in integrating with our culture. I can't see any hidden meanings in the tales."

"That does seem likely, but you took good initiative in checking. I am impressed, have you heard that there is a new book out about Dumbledore?"

"Yes sir, I heard that there was."

"I wish you to read it boy and see what you can learn about the late great Albus Dumbledore, even in death I would not be surprised if he caused trouble."

"As you wish my Lord."

And with that, the Dark Lord swept out again. Draco wondered why he had come in in the first place if he was leaving without a book. Perhaps Draco had distracted him, if so what if he came back cross because Draco had distracted him? Draco snatched up his book and ran from the room, using the most elaborate route necessary to get him to his room with zero chance of seeing Voldemort again.

When he got to his room he locked the door, wedged a chair under the handle, and then dragged a pillow and a candle into his closet –where he also locked the door and wedged a chair under the handle. It was a large closet –much bigger than Dudley's second bedroom so he was quite comfortable once his heart stopped hammering quite so hard. He waited until he could hold the quill without his hand shaking wildly, 'Dearest Brogan, it is not enough that the headmaster of a school which I am not attending gives me research to do but now my own Dark Lord has asked me to read that horrible Skeeter woman's book about Dumbledore. I wonder, what is the point of dropping out of school if I must read so much?

Are you near by? I miss your voice and I wonder if seeing your chicken scratch unfold will be as comforting?'

Draco sat there pathetically staring at the blank page for what felt like hours until finally words started to appear. 'Draco, one should know thy enemy. Where they were born, how they were raised, who their friends are; all that sort of stuff is useful when taking their measure. It's clever of the Dark Lord to have someone read that book, and even smarter to not do it himself –Rita Skeeter is a terrible writer!

Let me know if you find any choice gossip. I miss you too, love Brogan.'

"Draco talked to You-Know-Who!" announced Brogan, she felt like she might faint and she wanted her friends to know why if she did.

"Oh my goodness, is he alright? What happened?" asked Hermione, looking faint as well.

"I have no idea, but he said that You-Know-Who asked him to read Rita Skeeter's book about Dumbledore."

"That's interesting," said Hermione.

"Isn't it, I thought about how Dumbledore spent all that time tracking down little bits of Tom's childhood and here Tom gets a whole book written for him. He doesn't even have to read it himself, he's going to have Draco report on it."

"That means Draco will have to see him again," said Ron.

"Stop, I'm already so frightened I think I'm going to faint. Or hurl."

"You're such a girl now," teased Ron.

"I could hurl on you," threatened Brogan.

"Ron, do you think your mum has that book? We need to read it too." Said Hermione.

"Why?" asked Ron. "We actually knew Dumbledore."

"Oh, where was he born? Does he have family? What was his wand made of?" rattled off Hermione instantly.

"Fine," grumbled Ron. "I was in the mood for pie anyway."

The book was horrible so Hermione made Brogan read it with her. They both fumed through most of it. "I can't believe he was from Godric's Hollow and never mentioned it to me." Spat Brogan.

"This story with his sister seems far more complicated than what Rita managed to write down." Mused Hermione.

"I know, we should totally learn more about that. Do you think there's anyone at Godric's Hollow we could talk to?" asked Brogan.

"Probably not," said Hermione, "and it seems a bit like a side task to the mission. It didn't even give me any hints about why he gave me that Beedle the Bard book."

"But Voldemort wanted Draco to read it, there must be something." Whined Brogan.

"Mate! What did you say?" demanded Ron from the table.

They could hear apparitions popping in all around them. Hermione gasped and looked at Ron, then she looked back at Brogan and shouted, "incarcerous!"

Death Eaters captured the outlaws Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger with a bound and gagged Brogan Snape only moments later.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" chortled a greasy haired man that none of them recognized. "A couple of wizards living on the run and they think they can hold somebody prisoner?"

Brogan was livid, she did a wonderful job of thrashing around and trying to scream. "I think these kids might be on the most wanted list, best get them back and sort it out," said another man,

"To Malfoy Manor then?" asked the first one. And off they went.

"Draco!" called Lucius and Draco walked quickly and quietly to answer him, the Dark Lord had gone off somewhere that morning and Draco had no idea when he would return. No sense in dawdling.

He was shocked at what was waiting for him in the foyer though, all three of his friends were bound and gagged. Bruggins, one of his father's less savory associates was explaining, "we caught these two," and he jerked his wand at Ron and Hermione, "with this one all tied up."

"And you didn't think to untie her?" sneered Draco rushing to do that and blessing whichever Gryffindor had thought fast enough to come up with this cover. He assumed it was Hermione but tried to be charitable.

"That's Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger and they have captured Headmaster Severus Snape's daughter," Draco explained quickly while he fussed over Brogan's wrists.

"Take those two to the dungeon with the others," ordered Lucius, "and send for Severus at once. Draco, take Miss Snape upstairs and help her get cleaned up for her father."

"Yes father," said Draco, already leading Brogan away. "And of course you would get kidnapped while barefoot," he scolded.

Snape flooed in directly and Brogan didn't have to feign anything as she threw herself into his arms. He tilted her head back as if to check for damage but Brogan heard him whisper 'legilimens' so she shoved all the things she wanted to tell him to the front of her mind. It was probably a mess, probably the equivalent of babbling at him in ten different voices at once, but he was a clever man.

"Severus, so this is your famous daughter. I was wondering if she was a myth, it's been over a year and this is the first we meet?" interrupted Lucius.

Brogan tried to make herself look presentable for Malfoy, not that she cared but she was supposed to be Slytherin. She smoothed out her hair a bit and kept her eyes down, not sure if the charm to make them less Harry Potter green was on them or not. She had stopped using it while they were in hiding, because there had to be some perks to being in hiding. Snape prodded her with his wand, "head up Brogan, we know you've been through an ordeal but it's all over now."

Which Brogan, correctly, interpreted as, 'you can look up, I fixed your eyes. This is going to be an ordeal and it's only starting.'

Brogan looked up squarely at Malfoy and asked herself, 'what would Pansy do?' nothing would set the man more at ease than a typical Slytherin female reaction. First Pansy would accept all the fawning in the world, second when she grew tired of that she would go on the offensive –but not too much Ron and Hermione are already in the dungeon, we don't want them killed too.

Brogan gave a tentative sniff and looked down at the red marks on her wrists, Snape immediately produced a jar or something foul smelling from some wizard pocket somewhere. He managed to open it with one long-fingered hand while holding her still with the other and started smearing it everywhere. The smell was so potent that her eyes began to water for real. It felt nice though.

"Miss Snape, earlier this summer you were working on restoring the Black Family Mansion with Draco weren't you?"

"Yes Mr. Malfoy," Brogan answered praying he kept to yes/no questions –her state, her delicate state, please stick to yes/no questions.

"Why did you leave there?"

"Draco was brewing potions too and he wanted to gather ingredients so we borrowed the Parkinson's tent. That was okay, wasn't it? Pansy gave it to us but I'm sure she asked her parents."

"Yes, I'm sure that's fine. When did you start living in the tent?"

"Oh, it was right after the attacks in London, we figured it was wizards but the muggles said that it was terrorists, and I thought that if it was just muggle terrorists they wouldn't know to not target us.

And also, that Black House needs a lot of work done, there's this horrible portrait that we couldn't get down and it yelled at me like every single day. And the Parkinson's tent is really nice. So once we had it set up to get the ingredients it was really comfortable and nice and it doesn't have an attic that needs to be tidied, and it doesn't have a dark kitchen in the basement that's all uneven stones and frigid in the morning. The Parkinson's tent has all the most modern conveniences a witch could want.

I mean, I was only really staying with Draco because that house was so much better than Spinner's End but then the tent was nicer than Draco's house."

"You could have come here my dear."

"Oh sir, I wasn't sure about that. You know with my, um, heritage, I didn't want to be too much underfoot."

"Hmm, that may have been a prudent decision. But you do seem utterly charming, I assure you no harm will come to you under my roof now."

"Thank you sir. It does seem odd that we haven't met before, I've been so close this year to Draco and my da."

"I'm sure they were just trying to protect you from my… curiosity."

Brogan blushed instead of running from the room screaming. Mostly because her father was still smearing that ointment junk on her and had a death grip on her arm.

"So then, you learned of the attacks in France?" Malfoy was indeed curious.

"Yes, and of course Draco had to go check on his mum. And then he came here but I wasn't sure if I was welcome here so I just stayed in the tent."

"And why aren't you at Hogwarts?"

Brogan shrugged a little, "I left early last year and it seemed like a lot of trouble to make up whatever work I missed so I could go back."

"You don't seem too keen on work Miss Snape."

"Sorry sir, I don't think I'm really that way though. My da could probably show you my grades, although it might be best if you didn't look too closely at my charms grade. I had a rough start in that class and never really caught up."

"Did you take Ancient Runes?"

"No sir."

"What about Arithmancy?"

"Um, no sir."

"Well, I suppose it's nice that you aren't a busy body know-it-all like the mudblood in the dungeon."

"Sure sir. She was my charms tutor though."

"And how did you end up captured by your charms tutor?"

"Well, she's Gryffindor too. She and her boyfriend thought it was suspicious that I left early last year and they also heard that my da killed the headmaster so they were capturing me."

"Did they say where they were going to bring you?"

"Not specifically, but to Ron's family probably I guess. Thank you ever so much for rescuing me from that by the way."

Lucius threw back his head and laughed at that, Snape gave her a small smile and muttered, "cheeky brat."

"Draco, why don't you and Brogan head back to that tent and gather your things up so Brogan can get changed for dinner? -Severus, I hope you can stay?"

Snape inclined his head but excused himself to make arrangements.

Even at the tent site they barely dared to look at each other let alone talk. It was so very obvious that Ron and Hermione had been living in the tent too, there were even three bowls of cereal getting soggy on the table. Brogan swept up all of Hermione's possessions and stuffed them in the wristlet, Draco arrived with all of Ron's things stuffed in his rucksack and Brogan stuffed that in too. Then she thanked Merlin that she had breasts and nobody would wonder why she had a wristlet. And she thanked Merlin for Hermione who spelled the wristlet and thought fast enough for Brogan to be invited to dinner instead of being served up to the Dark Lord.

And then she tried to stop thinking because she was getting all wobbly. They ended up stuffing the tent into Hermione's wristlet too, hopefully they could help the others escape and hand the thing off.

"Hang in there Princess, you still have to dress and attend dinner," Draco reminded her just as she was thinking they might all survive this.

She wore the same outfit from when she had met Mrs. Malfoy; the irony cheered her a little bit. For a moment it looked as though she might have to sit next to Bellatrix but Severus saved her by murmuring something about 'proper seating going girl boy, girl boy.' So Lucius sat, like a lord upon his throne, at the head of the table with Brogan and Draco on his right and Bellatrix and Snape on his left. Sitting straight across from Bellatrix wasn't really bearable but at least the witch couldn't touch her from there.

"Weren't you lonely in the woods all by yourself child?" asked Lucius after they talked about the tent for much too long.

"Not really, Draco wrote to me a lot. We have a set of paired journals –is that what they're called Draco?"

"How romantic," sneered Snape and Brogan heard it as, 'Merlin's pants you are imbeciles –please tell me you burned the pages after they were used.'

"It was romantic Da, and I didn't mind being alone that much. Not after spending most of a year with two of the most sarcastic people in the world, it was refreshing to just be myself and not constantly on guard."

"Which in Brogan's case means she wore pajamas all day and ate ice cream right from the carton," Draco translated.

Lucius laughed, a stupid indulgent chuckle which pissed Brogan off, but Bellatrix cackled like only the truly insane can and that was terrifying. Brogan started praying for no more jokes and dessert with equal fervor.

It seemed like a sentiment that only Lucius wasn't sharing. Dinner consisted of very little eating and less talking. Brogan didn't dare to ask anything at all about You-Know-Who, or her friends in the dungeon, or when Bellatrix was planning her next trip to Gringotts.

She thought about mentioning Skeeter's book and stirring up a we hate Dumbledore hatefest but she couldn't bear to be the one starting such a discussion. Fawkes might never rescue her again.

The meal dragged on and on, it was strange how much longer it lasted when no one was really eating. Meals with Ron flew by and a lot of calories were accomplished. Brogan started daring to look at Bellatrix a little bit more directly. Was it better to try and get a hair off her dress and polyjuice as her to break in to Gringott's or should they attempt to kidnap her and use the imperious. Did the imperious curse work better on the mentally ill or worse? Because there was no doubt that Bellatrix was mentally ill.

Brogan knew what it felt like, knew very well thank you, what it was like to be under the curse but she had never cast it on someone else. If it was anything like having Volde- You-Know-Who in her head then she didn't think she could hold it on Bellatrix and they should try the polyjuice.

With a small start Brogan realized that the occupants of this table were probably the most qualified to answer her questions, out of all England probably. The thought almost made her laugh, she even wondered if she could make it some sort of dinner party game. Maybe if this wasn't her first day meeting them all. But no, probably never, these were all suspicious Slytherin bastards. She wished that she could chat with Hermione for a while.

"Brogan, are you finished?" repeated Snape in his deep rumble.

"Hmm," asked Brogan coming back from la-la land. "Oh, yes sir, sorry. I guess I got distracted."

"We understand, why don't you come for a walk with me? You can clear your head and we can catch up a little before I have to get back to Hogwarts."

Brogan almost vaulted the table for the chance to be alone with her da and away from Lucius and Bellatrix. She might have but she was wearing a wool skirt.

Their stroll took them outside, warming charms kept the chill out of the air and Snape was reasonably sure they had some privacy. "What happened?" he hissed.

Tears instantly filled her eyes, "I said his name, I was so so stupid. Ron and Hermione could be killed, I don't even know what's been happening with them."

"Miss Granger cast the incarcerous charm on you?"

"Yes, she did it so quickly, I'm sure she had thought about it in advance and had it worked out. I don't know what we would have said otherwise. They might have guessed about Draco too if she hadn't."

"I might have to give points to Gryffindor when I return, that was well done." Snape spoke quickly and quietly to try and cut off the hysteria he saw creeping up on his daughter.

"What should I do now Da? I mean clearly we have to get Ron and Hermione out of here but do I go with them or stay? If I go then they'll wonder about Draco, but I can't stay here, what if You-Know-Who comes back? I'm sure he'll recognize me."

"I'm sure he will too," murmured Snape rubbing his hand up and down Brogan's arm to soothe her. Why did everything have to happen to his daughter? He was going to kill that Snake-Faced Bastard for causing all these tears.

"I think you should come back to Hogwarts with me, at least for a little while. Once you're gone from here, maybe late tonight, we'll arrange for everyone in the dungeon to escape."

"No, I should be here and stay while they escape, then go to you and then, then maybe we can stage a fight and I can leave there. What day of the week is it?"

Snape quirked a brow at her, "it's Thursday."

"Oh perfect, only a complete idiot would start school on a Friday, you can decide that I'm to start Hogwarts again on Monday. And I'll stay here until Sunday, but we'll break everyone out tonight."

"The Dark Lord might be summoned if there's a break out."

"Or not, why would they summon him to tell him bad news? They'd rather cover it up, he rules by fear not loyalty."

"True."

"Also, Lucius said he likes me, if the Dark Lord is coming Lucius will want me to leave first so he isn't seen hosting a half blood."

"Also true, I can award points to Slytherin as well.

Brogan," he waited until she looked up at him, "it was an accident and we will fix it. You're okay, it's going to be okay."

Brogan wavered for a moment and then got a hold of herself. "Yeah, thanks Da. Um, one thing though, how do we save them all?"

"You need inside help, a Malfoy house elf could apparate them all away, but a Malfoy house elf would be forbidden from doing so."

"Unless the Malfoy house elf was free."

Hours and hours and hours later from the richly appointed guest rooms that were pointedly nowhere near Draco's rooms Brogan called out to the dark, "Dobby? Dobby can you hear me?"

It seemed the little elf couldn't but before despair could overcome her Minksy popped in. Minksy was the Malfoy elf that Draco had summoned last summer to assist Harry with his recently restored female parts. The elf had proved herself invaluable and ended up visiting Brogan a few times.

"Minksy, how are you? I was wondering if I would see you here" asked Brogan sinking to her knees in front of the little elf and hugging her.

"Master Harry should not be here," replied the elf tearfully.

"I know, I'm leaving soon Minksy. My da is going to take me to Hogwarts again on Sunday. And please, can you call me Miss Brogan now? My da finally gave me a girl name."

"Not a very proper girl name," groused the elf.

"It's good for me," chided Brogan gently. "Did you see my outfit tonight? Wasn't it nice?"

Minksy and Brogan were sitting on the bed now, facing each other and chattering as if they were at a slumber party. Finally Minksy asked why Brogan had been calling for Dobby.

"I needed Dobby to do something private for me. I guess he can't hear me because he isn't my elf. I know it's late at night but do you think you could call him or get him for me?"

"Minksy can go to Hoggywarts and get Dobby for you. Dobby was a gentle elf when he was here. And Minksy will not ask any questions, but maybe I can help you get ready for dinner tomorrow night? Your clothes are pretty but they needs ironing, and your hair needs minding."

"I know, minding is just the word for it. That would be wonderful, I'll still be here and I'll look for you tomorrow."

Minksy was probably trying to look disapproving but she was altogether too fond of Mistress Harry to do anything but smile as she popped out.

Dobby appeared only a short time later. He listened carefully while Brogan explained how the Death Eaters found her but clever Miss Hermione saved her. And now Hermione and Ron were in the dungeons.

"Others are down there too," said Dobby glumly.

"I know, Professor Snape and I were thinking that it would be best if you rescued all of them Dobby. That way they won't suspect me, or well, maybe they will suspect the Great Harry Potter saved them, but really it will be you."

"Can Dobby save you too sir?"

"Not yet Dobby, Minksy will watch out for me and on Sunday I'll come to Hogwarts. We don't want them to think that Brogan Snape is secretly a Gryffindor."

"No, that would be very bad."

"So, can you save them all? Can you apparate them somewhere safe without getting hurt or caught yourself?"

"Of course, Dobby can do that."

"Thank you so much, this is Hermione's bag, can you give it to her?"

Dobby took the wristlet and slung it over his bony shoulder, "get in your bed and under the covers, pretend you are asleep." He ordered.

Brogan did so, she laid there very quietly for a long time listening as hard as she could for alarms or shouts or anything at all, eventually she fell asleep.

Minksy roused her in the morning and led her to some clothes that were laid out and neatly pressed. "Shower first Miss Snape, you still look sleepy."

When Brogan emerged from the glorious outrageous, oh my god if the guest room was this nice what the hell did Draco's shower look like, bathroom quite a while later. She felt bad about possibly holding up breakfast but Draco always seemed to sleep until whenever.

Washed and appropriately clothed she bravely set off in the general direction she thought the dining room might be. Unless there was a breakfast room and of course there would be a breakfast room somewhere. But shouldn't it be near the dining room because they should both be near the kitchens so the food stayed hot, unless that didn't matter because you had magic. And an army of house elves that you could beat for not keeping the food hot.

Unsurprisingly she got lost but Minksy found her and led her to the bright sunny breakfast room. As she got closer Brogan realized that if she had followed her nose she could have probably found it herself.

She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down after a long drink. "Oh Draco," she said, when her eyes opened enough to behold him eating granola nearby. "this coffee is divine. I can feel my brain cells springing to life just from the smell alone."

"That's because you are addicted."

"No, that's because coffee is awesome." They bickered gently, like they usually did in the mornings, until Lucius strode in like a thundercloud. A little voice in Brogan's head sang out, I know who pissed in your cornflakes. She wished it wouldn't, she was supposed to be innocent.

"Is something wrong father?" asked Draco the sycophant all smarmy even this early.

"The prisoners escaped last night."

"What?" asked Draco jumping up from his seat. Brogan was hugely impressed with his acting skills until she remembered that he wasn't included in the plan again, that was probably going to start really pissing him off soon.

"Luckily, I was concerned about you and your little friend having some sort of tryst last night so I had you locked in your rooms and tracked all night long."

"What?" asked Draco again, while Brogan felt almost faint with relief. But she figured faint was a good look for the innocent and shocked.

"What are you going to do?" asked Brogan, she actually had her hand over her heart, oh good grief.

But Lucius gave her his paternal little smirk which he probably thought was some sort of smile thing. "Fear not, we can catch them again."

"Are you going to tell, You-Know-Who?" asked Brogan, she really needed to know.

"The Dark Lord is pursuing his own interests just now and it would be inappropriate to bother him with such a trifling matter." Brogan sighed in relief, so did Draco, in fact the very walls seemed to sigh in relief too.

"What about Aunt Bella, is she still around?" asked Draco.

Oh good point, that nut job would call Voldie herself and hang Lucius out to dry in a heartbeat. Lucius seemed to be having similar thoughts, it was strange to see such a pale fair man pale more.

"My sister-in-law left shortly after Severus last night."

"Will she return?" did Bellatrix have a home? Did anyone care if she did or didn't?

"She's gone for the weekend," sniffed Lucius as if he would be able to round up all those missing prisoners before Monday; it was like a demented version of a John Hughes movie. Brogan was exceedingly glad she was getting the hell out of there.

But still, it would be nice to take Bellatrix with her one way or another; bound and gagged or just a chunk of her crazy hair.

Draco and Lucius made manly comments to each other for a while and Brogan played with her spoon completely ignoring the massive spread of food in front of her.

"You know Persephone –this isn't hell. Even if you actually eat some of the food here you can still go to Hogwarts with your father." Draco was quite proud of his little joke, his father was too judging by the way he actually patted Draco on the head.

"Ten points to Slytherin for correctly applying a mythical story," said Brogan.

"It isn't a story," protested Draco.

"Oh sure, next you'll say that the Resurrection Stone is real too."

"It is," said Lucius, "all the deathly hallows are real. The stone was passed down through an old pure blood family –they've all died out now though so nobody knows what has become of it.

The cloak is doubtless being handed down through a pure blood family too but there are at least a dozen families with cloaks being passed down –it was a bit of a craze about two hundred years ago. Even some less than pure blood families started passing down invisibility cloaks to make it seem like they might be old enough to be a hallows family. Inferior cloaks are breaking down though, eventually only one will remain and we will know it's the true hallow."

"And the wand?" asked Draco, his eyes shining.

"The wand was passed down victor to victor, it has a bloody history that's easy enough to follow up until the recent past. Or maybe not so so recent, it's probably been a few decades, who's to say what recent is."

"Do you know who had it last?" asked Brogan.

"Some believe that Gellert Grindelwald had it during his rise to power, he was certainly obsessed with the Hallows –he drew the symbol for them all over Durmstrang." Lucius, in his expansive mood even sketched out the symbol on the table cloth with his wand tip. Brogan started at it, vaguely remembering it.

"And then Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald, do you think Dumbledore had it all those years?" asked Draco excitedly.

Lucius shrugged, but his eyes said clever boy I think so too.

"Draco told me he was reading the same book that Dumbledore left for Hermione, and that's the book with the death story in it, right?" asked Brogan. The others nodded, "so do you think Dumbledore was telling Hermione that he had the wand?"

"Maybe, but it was buried with him wasn't it?" said Draco.

"I guess so," said Brogan. "Which pure blood family was passing down the Resurrection Stone?"

"It started with the Peverells and then we believe it went to the Gaunt line. The Gaunts often claimed they were descended from Salazar Slytherin himself, they might have been too because parseltongue ran in their family. But they slipped into destitution and died out."

"You know so much," said Brogan quite sincerely.

"Oh, I think almost every boy goes through a period of trying to find the Deathly Hallows. The one who unites all three could be the Master of Death, who wouldn't be intrigued by that?"

"Draco, were you a Hallows hunter?" teased Brogan.

"Not until very recently my dear, very recently."

In Brogan's room later he asked if she still had the snitch and the cloak. She pulled out the cloak and they went over it inch by inch, it showed no signs at all of wear or tear. "Do you think it's the hallow?" she asked finally.

"It's hard to prove a negative, you know. It would be much easier to say it does show signs of being the hallow such as a tag that says Peverell rather than saying it doesn't show signs of not being a hallow."

"You sound like Hermione, but I think I get it. If we researched the Potter line we could see if it's connected to the Peverells."

"I can do that later in the library. Let's see the snitch."

The snitch remained steadfastly closed. Draco tried a bunch of charms that were supposed to turn it translucent but nothing worked, not that they expected anything to work, snitches were made to be impervious to spells.

"I bet Dumbledore had the Elder Wand." Said Draco.

"It makes sense, he won it fair and square and nobody ever wrote about Grindelwald's being destroyed. But Draco, we need to focus on the original task. Have you done any work at all on finding the other thing? Or figured out how to get the first thing you found?"

"No, what have you done? You wouldn't even know where the first thing was if it wasn't for me. I don't think you can berate me for pursuing something else that seems interesting and could very well be relevant when you haven't even dealt with the first thing I told you about."

"You're right, I'm sorry. It's just hard you know. We asked somebody about the last time, it was our first year, when somebody tried to take something from the place and the guy almost chopped our heads off. He was afraid his coworkers would smell that we had asked him about it."

"Goblins have excellent noses. There was a goblin in the dungeon you know, I suppose he was rescued too, father did say everyone was."

"Which goblin?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Goblins do have names you know Draco."

"If you say so, I'm sure I never learned that one's name though."

"You're such a prat."

"Ollivander was down there too, I'm a little bit glad he was rescued, he was much too old to be in such a damp room all the time. And I quite liked him after we went last summer."

"Yes, quite. He would definitely know about Dumbledore's wand."

"Do you suppose that's why he was here?"

"Probably, or maybe he was brought in to advise on a brother wand situation. Brother wands can be very tedious, especially when the bearers don't get along."

"Are yours still?" Draco gestured because it was too horrible to voice.

"Of course they are, it's the same feather as before, just the wood has changed and the wood has always been different. His is yew and mine was holly."

"Shh, we're getting specific. Maybe we should make out for a while so they won't wonder what we're conspiring up here."

"Okay."

Dinner with Lucius and Draco was quite pleasant, probably because Bellatrix was gone and Snape wasn't there to glare at her about potentially saying the wrong thing (again) and destroying the world. Lucius actually brought up the founders artifacts himself at dinner and went on for some time about the diadem of Ravenclaw.

Brogan wondered if they were really that lucky or if Lucius was really that good. She spent a good half hour in her room hoping that he was actually a double agent too. After all it didn't look like he had done anything at all to try and recover his lost prisoners.

Chapter 7: Chapter Seven

Sunday came before Bellatrix did and Brogan went tripping (and sprawling) through the floo back to Hogwarts. Severus had rooms up by the Headmaster's office and he had been nominally using them but he happily abandoned them to go back to his old suite with Brogan.

They spoke almost constantly about retrieving the cup of Hufflepuff and the diadem but didn't come up with anything good beyond, 'maybe I'll ask Luna, she's a Ravenclaw.'

Then Snape lectured Brogan about the changes at Hogwarts that year. It was a huge stroke of luck that the Dark Lord had arranged for Severus to be Headmaster, it allowed him to keep an eye on the students and keep them safe and it also allowed him time to talk to Dumbledore's portrait. Which, he maintained, was every bit as infuriating as the real man.

"You really do need to finish up last year's work before we can allow you to join classes. How long were you thinking of staying here?"

"I don't know, a week or two? I need to find out where Ron and Hermione went, but I can just ask Dobby that I guess. Dobby did make it back here okay didn't he?"

"Yes, he reported back to me that night, right as rain and twice as annoying."

"I almost couldn't summon him, actually I couldn't summon him at all but Minksy got him for me."

"Good old Minksy."

"Shut up, she's super nice. You owe her a lot for not having to explain feminine hygiene spells to me yourself."

"I would owe you a lot too if you promised to never utter the words feminine hygiene to me again."

"Oh Da, you are a hopeless bachelor. What are you ten?"

"Cease your ramblings, how do you propose departing after two weeks my little truant?"

"I thought we could have a fight or something."

"Why is that always your go-to plan. How many times did you plan out staged fights with Draco?"

"Constantly and we never got to have one; I've been gypped."

"You can fight with someone besides me, Miss Weasley is here as are the Carrows –deeply violent and sadistic Death Eater siblings. I would prefer you fought with Miss Weasley, the Carrows are likely to curse you with the cruciatus for farting out of line."

"Really da? Farting, you are ten."

Snape grabbed up his daughter and tickled her mercilessly, it reinforced the belief that he was ten but it was fun.

Later, when the gasping had died down and eyes had been dried, Brogan looked at the 'problem' philosophically. "Perhaps if they are so bad, I should just try to stay here for two weeks without getting thrown out and not worry about causing it myself."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be the cause."

"Shut up."

Snape positively bloomed for the next few days; he went back to eating breakfast with Brogan in their rooms. He would sulkily sip coffee at the head table too but not eating there simply added to the mystique. The mystique needed all the help it could get because Snape was caught, more than once, smiling in the hallway. A Ravenclaw fourth year even swore, on Merlin's pants so help me, that he saw TEETH.

"Will you be alright when Brogan's interlude ends and she goes back out where the war is?" asked the painting of Dumbledore.

"The war is here too Albus, or have you not noticed the Carrows practicing unforgiveable curses on the children? –Oh but I forgot, that year when your close personal friend was impersonated by a Death Eater –all that year unforgivable curses were practiced on the children too. I would be ever so worried about screwing up but thankfully the great Albus Dumbledore set the bar so low."

"I see you're already out of sorts just thinking about her leaving," sighed the painting as if paintings needed air.

Brogan was enjoying her time in the castle too. She learned from Dobby that Ron and Hermione were unharmed when he brought them to Bill's house. There had been a whole lot of dithering about the two journals, should she give Hermione hers back and let Draco keep one since eventually Brogan would be with one group or the other again. Or should she keep one and give Draco the other since she cared more about writing to Draco every day than pretty much anything else. In the end she figured that Hermione was more than clever enough to figure out how to reach Brogan again and she did the selfish thing, keeping the two journals between them.

Well, Draco had to have a journal no matter what; he had all the information the stupid always right prat. Brogan mused almost fondly about Lucius and his boyhood obsession with the Hallows. If only there had been a little more time to ask him about founders' artifacts. It would have been cool to somehow mention to him that she had taken Draco down into Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets. The Chamber which she found all by herself thank you very much. Because she wasn't raised in the wizarding world, she was raised by muggles, and by the skin of her own teeth and she could be a creative thinker. And because she actually took the time, on occasion, to talk to ghosts when everyone else just took them for granted, or was mean to them.

No wait, she was an idiot, Brogan corrected herself. She jumped off the bed that she had been thinking all of her deep thoughts on and stormed out of her room. The dungeon was cold on her bare feet and she froze for a moment thinking a little bit more. Her first instinct was to go to Nick, she had the best relationship with him, by far, but the Gryffindor house ghost didn't know she was Harry Potter.

She could look for the Bloody Baron, the Slytherin ghost knew her pretty well since her father had been the head of house last year but he was frankly terrifying so perhaps not. Besides, what she really wanted was information about Ravenclaw so maybe she should go to the Ravenclaw ghost, the Grey Lady whom she had barely even seen over the last seven years. Only at Hogwarts would one remark that they had not seen a ghost.

Luna might know her better though. So, she needed to find Luna. She had no bloody idea what Luna's schedule was like this year, but then she heard the clatter of a hundred students leaving their classes and heading for lunch. 'Lunch!' her stomach agreed heartily. All the students would be in their uniforms though and she was still mostly in her pajamas, and also bare foot. So with a grumble (from her stomach) and a sigh, she went back into her room to get dressed. But at least she had a plan now.

Luna was subdued this year, which broke Brogan's heart every time. Her hair was neatly combed and braided and her uniform was technically correct; apparently her house had finally found some compassion and they were pulling her together so the Carrows couldn't rip her apart. At least not for anything her house could control.

It was still easy to get a seat next to Luna and Brogan squeezed right in, pulling up a plate immediately and being ignored by most of the students. "Luna," she finally said after a few bites and some gulping, "do you know the Grey Lady?"

"I know of her but we haven't spoken much," replied Luna.

"I'm sure you've spoken to her as much as anyone then, do you think we could look for her later and you could introduce me?"

They finished their lunches and Brogan had three hours before she was to meet Luna again. She was wandering towards the library when a house elf found her and asked her to come to the Headmaster's office. She got to the gargoyle and looked at it critically, what would her father set as the password?

Last year his chamber password had been 'privacy' but she doubted he would be so snarky in a public setting like this. Maybe a potion ingredient, but which one? If it was a bludger it would have killed her, "asphodel" she said and the gargoyle leaped aside.

Snape was frankly astonished to see her, "how did you get up here?" he asked.

"I guessed the password," she bragged.

"How many tries?"

"Just one," she beamed.

"Either you are more clever than I thought or I am less than I thought," mused Snape.

"We should go with the first one, it's more flattering to both of us. Does this mean you didn't send for me?" she asked settling into the chair in front of his desk.

"I did not, I wonder what interfering portrait might have done so?"

"Interfering coot would have been my second guess for the password, if I needed it, but I didn't, because I'm even more clever than you thought." Snape flicked a lemon drop at her head, which she caught and popped in her mouth.

"So headmaster," she asked looking at the sleeping man in the portrait, "did you send for me sir?"

The portrait made a great show of waking up and then smiled down at her, "yes, yes, I did. I suddenly recalled that there was another memory I meant to show you last year and we never got to it."

"Oh, should I see it now?"

"No, I think I can just tell you about it, the humble word and all that, after Tom Riddle graduated he went to work for Borgin and Burkes for a few years, no doubt so he could add to his collection, but many were appalled that he would choose such a position when he was a truly gifted wizard. People knew he was offered internships at the ministry which he turned down, one job he actually wanted was Defense Against the Dark Arts professor here. He applied for it right after he graduated but my predecessor Headmaster Dippet turned him down because of his youth. More than ten years later he came to Hogwarts again and inquired about the position. I was the headmaster by that time and I refused him the position as well.

He had committed more than one murder by that time, I'm sure he would have tried to recruit the children to his campaign. There was no way I would have hired him at that point."

"I'm sure sir," said Brogan.

"And that is the point, by the time he graduated Hogwarts we were barely civil to each other. He must have known that I would never allow him to teach here, and yet he came in person, and sat in that chair, just to hear what he already knew.

And we all know his vanity, to subject himself to being turned down…"

"There must have been another reason then, something else he did while he was in the castle."

"Yes, Severus, clever is the word for her," said the portrait to Snape.

"You think he hid something here, it must be the Ravenclaw artifact. Where would he put it?" Brogan was pacing around now, peering at the cabinets as if it was sitting on a shelf. "There's the trophy that was awarded to Tom after Myrtle died, but I don't think he would put it with something that said Tom Riddle."

"The Dark Lord has a trophy in the trophy case?" asked Snape with a mixture of outrage and bemusement.

"You know where the Hufflepuff cup is?" demanded/asked Dumbledore.

"Yes, it's in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault at Gringott's. If you have any thoughts on how to get it please feel free to share."

"I will give the matter my utmost attention," promised Dumbledore.

"Imperius or polyjuice," sighed Snape.

"Yeah, that's what we figured; neither one will be easy. But we would need her wand to go with the polyjuice, Bill admitted that they use wands to verify identies on the vaults too old for keys. That's about the only useful thing we could pry out of him, the good little company man."

"His loyalty does seem inconvenient," agreed Snape with an evil potions professor glint in his eye. Brogan smiled fondly at him.

"He would have put the horcrux somewhere that he thought showcased how well he knew the school, not the trophy case. I'm sure he would have put it in the chamber but it takes time to get there and it's dirty, and I don't know. It would have been odd to put Ravenclaw's thing in Slytherin's cavern."

"Her diadem," said a portrait that Brogan didn't know.

"Rowena Ravenclaw was famous for her diadem, it's the only possession mentioned in any of the histories. But she lost it even before she died," the portrait was dark with age and the witch was wearing a very old looking costume but her eyes were bright with the excitement of the chase.

"Someone should ask Helena," remarked another portrait. And suddenly there was a cacophony in the room, dozens of old headmasters shouting over each other with their opinions of what was hidden and where.

"Silence!" thundered Snape. "Asking Helena, is doubtless the best next step. I believe Brogan has already arranged to do so."

"I have? Helena? Oh, is that the Grey Lady?" Brogan asked, Snape nodded.

"And she's Helena… ?"

"Helena Ravenclaw, Rowena's daughter."

"You're joking! Haven't you already asked her before then?"

"I believe the diadem, and it is undoubtedly the diadem, was Dumbledore's 'ace in the hole'. We're fairly certain it's here somewhere and the Grey Lady certainly isn't going anywhere, so we left it undisturbed for now."

"Right, because if he finds out you're suddenly making inquiries he might move the others, or start making more."

"Precisely."

"So, is it safe now or should we wait until we figure out how to rob Gringott's?"

"Carrows aside, I don't think there will be a more convenient time. And I believe it is everyone's wish to expedite this process."

"You mean end the war?" asked Brogan, teasing her father for his pompous vocabulary.

"Yes, Brogan, that –thingy."

"Okay, well I'm supposed to meet Luna to find Helena and talk to her now. I guess I should go do that, and I'll keep thinking about a place to hide things."

"You do that."

"Da,"

"Yes, Brogan?"

"Why are all the portraits so quiet still? It's kind of creepy."

"Because I am the Headmaster and some things at least, are required to listen to me."

"Huh," said Brogan and she took her leave.

Helena was sort of touched that the two girls would seek her out and ask for her story, and of course she wanted to end the war, with great expeditiousness. But other than confirming she had told Tom where to find the diadem she didn't know much. The girls were slumped over a pair of fancy desks in the transfiguration classroom where they had tracked down the ghost and Brogan heaved a gusty sigh.

"Now what?" asked Luna, she knew they wanted to find the diadem but not exactly why and she was far too smart to ask.

"Now we think about a place to hide things."

"Should we do that on the seventh floor corridor by Barnabas the Barmy?"

"What?" asked Brogan, but she had already made the connection and was flying out the door and up the stairs. Luna ran right behind her.

When they finally reached the seventh floor they leaned against a wall panting for a moment. "How did you think of this Luna? It's genius, it's divine inspiration!"

"It was what you said thought Brogan, that's how we always talk about the Room of Requirement."

"Okay, are you ready?" they linked arms, for luck, and walked back and forth past the tapestry. When they opened the door the room beyond was cavernous, the room made cavernous seem cramped. It was overwhelming but together they walked in.

"Does it smell like sherry?" asked Luna, frowning at some empty bottles that were getting dusty near the door.

"It does, this room is huge. Do you think we can just accio it?"

"You are very good at that spell," said Luna.

"Well, it didn't work last time I tried to accio a hor-thingy."

"What's a horthingy?"

"You don't want to know, but actually, now that I think about it. The hor-ject wasn't real, it was a fake. I wonder if I had said accio fake horthingy, maybe it would have worked."

"Oh, so should we say 'accio diadem' instead of horject?"

"Maybe," agreed Brogan. She braced her legs apart in the fighting stance her da had taught her and gripped her wand tightly, "Accio Diadem of Ravenclaw!" she shouted.

There was a rustle, and a thump followed immediately by a clatter and then a tiara started flying through the air towards her.

"A tiara? Is that what a diadem is?"

Luna smiled, "If everyone knew that the diadem was a tiara Padma and Pavarti would have spent all their time searching for it."

Brogan laughed, she gave an empty brandy bottle a jaunty little kick as they left. There really were a lot of empty bottles in that room.

Severus almost had a heart attack when he returned to his quarters that night and the lost diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw was sitting on his kitchen table. He poked it with a long finger, "what, you're not wearing it?"

"I can remember Dumbledore's hand from last year thank you very much. He tried on the Gaunt family ring didn't he?"

"Yes, he did," admitted Snape.

"The Gaunts were descendants of the Peverells, Lucius told us at breakfast the other day, the family ring was the Resurrection Stone. And Dumbledore tried to use it."

Snape just nodded, so Brogan continued. "I can't believe that he made a horcrux out of the resurrection stone and didn't know it was the resurrection stone."

"It is one of the great comedies of our age."

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask if James Potter was also a descendant of the Peverells, if the cloak was the same as the one from the story, but she didn't ask. Even if Snape told her it wasn't she would still believe it was, and maybe she would need that faith later –more than she needed the truth.

"So how shall we destroy this priceless artifact?" asked Snape, looking glumly at the beautiful tiara.

"I can run down to the chamber and grab a basilisk fang, or maybe we should bring the diadem there. Unless you have the Sword of Gryffindor handy?"

"The minister confiscated it after Albus tried to leave it to Harry Potter."

"A field trip it is then!" chirped Brogan, "come on, I know you have always always always wanted to see the secret chamber of Lord Slytherin and a real live dead basilisk!"

"Actually, I have," and Snape smiled, with teeth.

He was like a bubble-headed boy in a candy shop, or rather a potions shop – a potions shop that only carried one sort of ingredient but an exceedingly rare ingredient. Bags and beakers flew out of dozens of wizard pockets and he scraped this and that and the other disgusting bit into their own separate containers, even though they were all mixed up together on the snake. "Would it be easier to just shrink it down and haul the whole thing up to your lab?" asked Brogan seriously after what felt like hours in the cold damp cavern with an annoying bubble-head charm.

"No, it would not. Using magic on the carcass could damage it."

"It's already dead," pointed out Brogan.

"Hush, why don't you explore. Go hiss at the walls and see if they open up."

Brogan stalked off but when she got near the big carving where the great snake had first emerged she did try hissing, a little, softly. Of course rock snakes started slithering all over the wall and a person-sized door appeared. And of course she went in.

The room wasn't much, it was so small she had to take the charm off: a little wooden couch with piles of dust where pillows must have been once, a round window that was charmed like the ceiling of the great hall, and a single book case jammed against the head of the couch with a few books. Brogan reached out gently with one finger and the volume she touched turned to dust instantly. She gasped and stepped back, but she hit the other wall before she got very far.

Suddenly she realized that this room was just about the same size as her cupboard at home, it gave her a fluttery feeling in her stomach to think about it. The chamber outside was huge and opulent but it was also too open. One couldn't sit on that giant floor and just quietly read a book, to quietly read or think one needed a room like this. A little couch and a window, that was all.

She sat on the couch and drew her feet up so she could lean against the wall and look out the window. The thing with a magical window dozens, maybe even a hundred feet underground, and possibly underwater too, is that you can have any view you want. The view from this window was of the mountains around the lake, she could see the moon reflected in the Black Lake and stars coming out all around the night sky. It was nice.

Brogan had been sorted into Slytherin House and she was a parseltongue somehow, but sitting quietly in Salazar's little nook was the closest she ever felt to him. And the most peaceful she had felt in a long time. She realized that she didn't really want to share this place with her father, she wasn't sure he would understand why it resonated so much with her, in a good way. And she couldn't explain it.

On her birthday, was it a million years ago or three months, Hagrid sent her a mokeskin pouch. The pouch could hold almost as much as Hermione's wristlet but it had the added power of keeping the contents safe from anyone else. Brogan had been wearing her pouch and stuffing things in it since she first learned what it could do. The Slytherin locket was in her pouch now and she reached in to find it.

They could gather all the artifacts and put on a display at the ministry but it didn't seem like the right thing to do in Brogan's mind. Lord Slytherin was so human now that she had seen his most secret chamber, and poor Rowena who lost her diadem and her daughter, or her daughter to her diadem. Brogan didn't want the wizarding world to worship these ordinary people as gods any more than they already did. And nothing in this room spoke to cunning, it spoke to –not loneliness, but maybe aloneness. The two were different somehow.

And Rowena's diadem was just a tiara, a bauble that any mother would trade for her daughter –not a pinnacle of wisdom, far from it.

Brogan pulled out Slytherin's locket and tapped the wall next to the couch with her wand tip. In her cupboard there had been a nail in just that spot and she used to hang things from it; once she made a necklace with a piece of yarn and a washer. She used to spend hours winding it up and twirling it in her cupboard. A nail appeared where she had tapped and she hung the locket on it. Then she left the room and went back to her father.

"Back already?" Snape greeted her, it looked like he had transfigured his clothes to a biohazard suit and he was rummaging around in the snake's guts. "Find anything interesting?" he asked while stretching something out.

Brogan gagged and stepped away. "Not really. Are you almost done?"

"Yes," said Snape sadly, cutting off a bit of the part he had stretched and dropping it in a vial.

"Super," they still had to destroy the diadem. Her da was worried that magical backlash from the horcrux destruction might damage the (already dead) specimen. Brogan tried reminding him that a horcrux had already been destroyed in close proximity to the (already dead) specimen. But she suspected that he was manipulating events to keep her hostage down here until he had sequestered every ounce of the snake into a separate little vial.

Snape fussed around for a little longer but he really was almost done. As soon as he had the last vial stashed in a wizard pocket he vanished all the weird protective clothing and stood before her as calm and as fresh as ever. Brogan picked up the diadem nervously, "so," she began, "the thing is that these things don't die quietly.

The locket made this smoky version of Narcissa Malfoy and she said all these horrible things to Draco. It was really ugly and I had to help Draco kill it.

I just want you to know that in case something nasty pops out of the tiara here, um. I'm with you and I, I do love you no matter what Tom Riddle's horcrux might say."

"Brogan, I love you too. I guess we should get this over with now." He pulled a pair of dragonhide gloves out of his pocket and walked over to jerk a fang out of the specimen.

"You didn't collect a fang?" asked Brogan incredulously.

"I did, but I don't want mine to get damaged," sneered Snape levitating a bit of rubble over to make a table to put the diadem on.

"Last time I just did it on the ground, but then again I was lying there dying at the time. And you're older so I guess you don't want to injure your back."

"Do you always get rude when you're nervous?" asked Severus sharply.

Brogan couldn't decide on a response to that so she stuck out her tongue.

Finally the rubble was in place and the diadem was on top of it and Snape had the fang in his hand. He raised it up and brought it crashing down on the big blue gem at the center of the tiara. It shattered into a million pieces and they could hear a woman's voice, with a thick old accent reading off the theories of transfiguration and then the voice changed to others shouting and screaming. Brogan was certain that she heard Vernon calling her an idiot and Snape yelling that she was a block head; other voices were shouting too maybe Snape's family or maybe voices from the orphanage where little Tom Riddle had grown up.

Brogan realized that none of them had enjoyed very nice childhoods and she thought maybe she should share Slytherin's little room with her da. But Snape turned to her then, his face grim and announced, "that wasn't so bad. But maybe it was only bearable because of what you said before." He hugged her very tightly.

Before they left the chamber Brogan picked up the broken diadem and flicked it all the way across the cavern, as if she had been playing frisbee in the park with Draco all summer just so that she would have this skill now. The diadem flew through the air and skidded across the damp puddles before sinking down into a larger pool in a dark corner. Gone and lost forever again.

Brogan was rather pleased with herself when she wrote to Draco about the destruction of the Ravenclaw diadem. She was determined to continue calling it a diadem and see if anyone ever asked what the hell a diadem was. Draco seemed strangely cool when he wrote back, she told him that her da had pretty much verified that the Gaunt ring was the resurrection stone and it was probably in the snitch. Draco was a little more intrigued by that. She wondered if he had looked up the Potter family to see if they were descendants of those dratted Peverells but she still didn't want to ask, didn't want to know for sure.

It felt like time to meet up with Hermione and Ron again, to see if they had figured out how to rob the bank yet, but she still wasn't sure about how to leave Hogwarts. It was kind of an eyebrow raiser for the Headmaster's daughter to drop out. And she was a little ahead of schedule, what with taking out that horcrux and all.

Brogan was already enjoying all the food at Hogwarts and all the leisure time, she realized one unseasonably balmy afternoon that she could be enjoying the quidditch pitch too. The Gryffindor team was practicing when she got there. It was a little uncomfortable being there without Ron around, or Draco or Blaise. But she smiled a bit at Ginny, not enough to make Ginny look like a traitor or anything, just a little nod really.

Brogan decided to wait in the stands for the Gryffindors to finish and then she would practice a little. With a snitch from the supply cabinet of course, not the one she had inherited. She took a seat way at the top of the Slytherin stand and pulled out her journal, she could write to Draco about where she was and how perfect the weather was. Then he would write something rude back because of his intense jealousy and thus she could pleasantly pass the time.

Writing to Draco was extremely engrossing, she didn't notice when the team stopped running drills and started a scrimmage. She didn't notice when Ginny screamed her name, well she noticed a little, just enough to look up and get smacked in the head with a bludger and as she tumbled off the stand and started falling (falling, falling, why had she chosen the top row?) to the ground she thought to herself, oh this should work for getting out of here.

After all the hullabaloo of getting Brogan to the infirmary Ginny remembered that Brogan had been reading or writing in the stands and she went back out there to collect Brogan's things. She was tempted to read the journal but with a shiver she remembered the diary and steadfastly closed up the book and gathered the strange plastic tube and brought it all to the infirmary.

If there wasn't so much concern about Brogan's head being broken already Snape might have smacked it again when he saw Ginny Weasley walking in with that dratted journal. He snatched it out of her hands, listened to her murmured apology and then let her go. Most of the pages had been wiped clean obviously, but the last one was filled with Brogan and Draco's nauseating flirting and about three lines of Draco writing Brogan? Brogan? Brogan? Larger and larger.

Snape grabbed the Bic pen that Ginny had thoughtfully picked up too and wrote, 'Draco, Brogan was injured by a bludger while the idiot Gryffindors were practicing. She will recover fully but will need to rest quietly for a few weeks while she heals. Suggestions for a tranquil place to send her?' The 'somewhere not crawling with Death Eaters' was unwritten but understood.

"I shall kill them all. Perhaps somewhere near the sea?"

One of the few things that made Severus's time as purported headmaster bearable was Minerva McGonagall. She was not overly fussed about being unseated by the new regime, she understood the times they were living in. And she was by no means a stupid woman, she could see how Severus was using every ounce of his cunning to make the school bearable for the students. And most importantly she knew that Brogan was Harry and there was no way Severus was loyal to the Dark Lord when he doted on Harry Potter the way that he did.

Minerva hastened to the infirmary as soon as she heard about the accident. "That this was done by the Gryffindor team is an outrage Severus, they shall all be severely punished for their negligence."

"Be careful what you say Minerva," said Severus thinking of the Carrows' definition of severely punished. "Besides, I know it was an accident.

So long as Brogan heals quickly with little discomfort it's actually convenient. We needed a way to get her out of the school again, starting a fight with the Carrows to get expelled probably would have resulted in even more injuries."

"My goodness, Severus. You shock me," gasped McGonagall.

"We do need your help though, I want to send Brogan to Bill Weasley for her convalescence. Can you contact Bill and arrange it for me?"

"Of course Severus, if Bill doesn't –wait a minute. Has Bill known all along?"

"Quiet woman, of course he has. He was on guard duty that night."

"And he kept it from the Order?"

"Yes, you would have done the same thing. Think about it, he always hated the fame and the fawning public. He's free from all of that now, safe –mostly safe, in his anonymity."

"I guess so. Do you know where the rest of the trio is?"

"I believe they are with Mr. Weasley too."

"Perfect, I will go talk to them. Do you know when Pomfrey might release the poor girl? She looks pretty bad this time." It was as if McGonagall had finally really registered the person in the bed across the ward from them, her head was swathed in bandages, one eye was swollen shut and splints covered one whole arm.

"Probably tomorrow afternoon, we might have time for Draco to visit before she leaves."

Snape ended up spending the whole night in the ward, they weren't sure if she was unconscious enough to not dream. The night was mostly peaceful though, there was a dose of skelegrow at one point and Brogan tossed her head and moaned for a while after that but mostly peaceful.

Draco arrived in the morning to take over while Snape went to his office. "This is why I was hesitant about you Brogan, bedside vigils are so boring."

"Not when you make it a reunion party darling," drawled Pansy strolling into the infirmary. They greeted each other like long lost friends, it had only been a few months but they were used to spending all day every day together. Blaise showed up too and it was a reunion party.

Luna and Ginny came in together during lunch time and Ginny looked extremely uncomfortable. She tried to apologize for the accident but Blaise brushed her off, "I heard that you tried to warn her before anyone else realized what was happening, and you sped to the infirmary first to get Madam Pomfrey, and you went back and gathered all of Brogan's things for her, and then, most impressive of all, you delivered them personally to Snape and spoke to him."

Draco smiled kindly at the embarrassed girl, "that, my friends, is what Gryffindors are made of."

Ginny looked as though being complimented by Draco was more horrible than everything else combined. She stammered out her thanks and best wishes then ran away. Luna said something incomprehensible about the Grey Lady and then followed her.

"Now what?" asked Blaise when they were alone again, he was running his hand down Brogan's uninjured arm –one of the few places that seemed safe to touch.

"Now, believe it or not, we're sending her to Ginny's brother to rest and recover."

"Why is she going there?" asked Pansy.

"They're good friends and we're reasonably sure there aren't any Death Eaters in residence which can't be said for the Manor or here."

"Or my house," agreed Pansy sadly. "Has she woken yet? These bandages look awful."

"She hasn't but the bandages are partially for show. At least that's what Severus told me when I got here, he does lie on occasion. When it suits him."

"What does Pomfrey think?"

"She's cursed."

"Madam Pomfrey was cursed?"

"No, she thinks Brogan was cursed, it's too much bad luck for one person and she can't think of another reason."

Chapter 8: Chapter Eight

Brogan ended up at Shell Cottage without ever waking up. Madam Pomfrey floated her through the floo and got her all settled in to a small but bright guest bedroom, telling Hermione everything she needed to know and promising to return in the morning. It was slightly unusual that she was still unconscious after so long but Brogan had a habit of running herself down and her body could be quite violent about seizing rest when it was finally offered.

When she finally woke up the first thing she saw was a massive jar of bruise balm, the second thing she saw was a window framing a pretty little piece of sky. Seems like somewhere safe she thought to herself and then rolled over and went back to sleep.

The next time she woke up Ron was smiling at her and holding a breakfast tray. "If you were two days dead you would still wake up for bacon."

"Has it been two days? It feels more like three."

"Well, yeah it has been three days but I was making a joke. I guess your brain hasn't recovered all the way yet.

Bill made more than you can eat, budge over." And with that Ron climbed in to the bed next to her and together they demolished the tray. Brogan fancied that she probably could have eaten all of it herself but Ron warm next to her was better than a third piece of toast.

After she had eaten and showered and dressed and found her way to the sitting room Ron and Hermione whisked her off again to another tiny guest room so they could talk. Hermione was delighted to hear that the diadem was gone, Brogan waited for either of them to ask but either they knew or they didn't care what exactly a diadem was (secretly she assumed one of each). Ron seemed a little troubled though; he borrowed her journal and wrote to Draco for a while. He even left the cottage the next afternoon to meet up with the Slytherin.

Brogan and Hermione were outraged, they shouted and begged but he refused to take them with him or tell them what they talked about, 'male bonding' was all he would say as he borrowed some of Brogan's bruise balm for his fat lip.

They had met in a cafe in London of all places. Two of the most pure-blooded wizards of their year and they each ordered a ridiculous frappuccino with no sense of irony at all. Somehow Hermione hadn't realized that there was a horcrux inside Brogan -linking her to Voldemort and causing the visions, but they had and Snape confirmed it. Now the three men were in a mad race to find a way to get rid of the horcrux without killing Brogan. And Brogan with her ridiculously efficient, oh I found and destroyed a horcrux over the weekend, wasn't helping at all.

Snape was presumably still working on finding a way to save Brogan, it was almost impossible for Ron to correspond with him these days. After Snape had discovered the truth last year he spent months training Brogan until she was practically an auror now. The only way Draco and Ron could see that helping the situation was she could now blast anyone else who realized she was a horcrux and tried to kill her. But still, they were useful skills and more time could only be good. Snape had probably searched everywhere for a potion or spell too but in his heart Ron knew there was never a lot of hope for finding an answer in a book. That was part of why he hadn't told Hermione.

Draco's current plan was to collect the Deathly Hallows and 'use their power' to avoid death. Ron had spent his whole life believing that the tales of Beedle the Bard were just stories and he was not at all impressed with Draco's plan. They came to blows (they always came to blows,) and to be fair, Draco's plan was more than a little on the vague side.

Last year he decided that he wouldn't tell either girl about the seventh horcrux; he didn't want to spoil their term, then he didn't want to spoil their summer, then there wasn't really much they could do, then there were so many other things they had to do first anyway. And hey, there was still the cup to destroy, Ron assured himself, maybe they weren't as close to the end as he feared.

Except Hermione had thrown herself fully into planning the robbery and Fleur, an ex-employee of Gringotts was a frequent visitor to Shell Cottage and more than happy to help. Draco could easily get them crazy lady hair, he might even be able to steal the wand, but polyjuice could only get them so far. And even if they were able to find the cup down there in the vault they also wanted to leave alive.

Electronics didn't work at Shell Cottage so as soon as Brogan was feeling up to it they apparated to a nearby city and got a suite of rooms at a posh hotel, Brogan had missed using her credit card. Hermione dragged Ron with her to rent all of the heist movies she could find. Brogan was in charge of getting (junk) food and Fleur was not allowed to accompany her. They left Bill behind to keep Fleur entertained, that was the other reason they were in a suite.

Sprawling all over that hotel room eating endless slices of pizza and watching something that a pink-cheeked Hermione insisted was relevant despite the hassle of explaining surfing (no, they don't use levitation charms) and muggle American politics (the president is like the minister, hush). It was one of the best nights of Brogan's life, undoubtedly of Ron and Hermione's too, judging by how they were constantly touching. Hermione insisted that they write down all ideas, no matter how ridiculous and the others took it as a challenge to be ridiculous.

They wasted almost a solid week trying to figure out how to trick Bellatrix into thinking she was dreaming of getting the cup out when she was actually getting the cup out. "What if we polyjuice as You-Know-Who and have him tell her to get the cup and bring it to him?" suggested Ron with a lot of excitement.

"We can't," said Brogan dismissing the plan immediately.

"Why not?" asked Ron disappointed.

"He hasn't any hair!" said Brogan.

They proposed Ron's plan to Draco just to see what he would say. When he also pointed out that there wasn't any hair Hermione suggested toenail clippings. Draco refused to write back for twenty minutes. Twenty minutes which he insisted he spent heaving in the loo.

Finally after too much dithering they decided to go with polyjuicing Bellatrix. Draco sketched out in the journal exactly, well to the best of his ability, what Bellatrix's wand looked like and the twins made a fake replica of it.

The Death Eaters usually got up to some sort of grand mischief on Halloween, to remind people of how their Lord was reduced to shadow and vapors by a baby no doubt, so they decided to steal the wand before then. It would only nominally reduce the amount of trauma created on Halloween but Bellatrix would also be disappointed if she couldn't participate.

The thought of teasing her was so delicious in fact that they expanded the plan a little and the twins made half a dozen fake wands. Draco switched wands on Bella during breakfast one groggy morning over a week before Halloween - before she had her tea. He disappeared with her wand but then placed it back in her room. She eventually noticed her wand was a fake but before she could fully enter a freak out she found her real wand in her room.

There was an extra twitch above her eye for the rest of that day. Draco did the same thing again and again and by the time he was slipping her the sixth and last fake wand she barely even cared, her real wand had shown up safe and sound every time before. She reasoned to herself that maybe it was some weird hex she had been hit with during a raid, but certainly nothing worth mentioning to Lucius or her Lord.

But that day, Halloween morning, Draco was tying the real wand and some pieces of crazy hair from her brush –he hoped it was a brush she used for her hair, it was hard to tell since her hair hardly ever looked brushed, to an owl and sending it off to his friends.

The plan was afoot. In addition to having Hermione pretend to be Bellatrix they disguised Ron as a foreign wizard –there was a lot of discussion about this. Ron wanted to be someone real but real people had a way of walking in while you were impersonating them. The British wizarding community was so small that he just had to be someone foreign but his accents were all terrible.

"Ronald!" scolded Fleur, "you have been around me for weeks now, how can you not do a French accent?" Ron's ears turned red but he didn't dare to answer her. "What is this blush? He can not possibly pretend to be a French wizard, you must make him Russian or something where he just grunts and nods." And that was what they did with some transfiguration and a furry hat, Ron was too relieved to be the slightest bit embarrassed.

Brogan was with them too but under her cloak and with her wand out ready to secretly confund (or imperius) as needed.

Walking in was fine, there were some nosy wizard guards at the doors but Brogan took care of them without Ron or Hermione even noticing. Approaching a teller was sort of fine the teller wasn't very happy to serve them and they didn't have Bellatrix's key of course but her wand was sufficient proof (Fleur had assured them it would be.) Their goblin, Bogrod summoned 'clankers' but Bill had told them what clankers were and what they were used for so Hermione was able to resist asking and stay in character.

Their downfall came, as expected, halfway through the wild cart ride at the Thief's Downfall, a magical (of course) waterfall that washed away all magical concealment. Well, not quite all but with her friends revealed and the cloak all soggy, Brogan pulled it off anyway. Bogrod was screeching and wailing almost louder than the alarm they had set off until Brogan got him under the imperius curse. It was a smooth cool connection between them and Bogrod swiftly, quietly, led them to the vault.

Ron and Hermione looked grim and bedraggled in their wet disguises, they seemed disappointed in Brogan too for using the unforgivable curse but she ignored their looks. They were robbing a bank for pity's sake, to stop a mad man, Brogan was happy to do the time for this –just later, after it was all over. Plus she had experienced the curse so many times personally it didn't seem as unforgivable anymore. And anyway if this goblin had any moral fibre wouldn't he be shaking it off like Brogan did?

They finally reached the vault deep below the surface only to find a dragon standing guard in front of the door. "A freaking dragon?" hissed Brogan. "Why is it always dragons?" Ron shook the clankers and the enormous dragon stumped away, as it moved they could see its milky eyes. Hermione gave a little gasp when she realized the beast was blind and Ron grabbed her hand before she could throw a knitted hat at it or something.

Even after the dragon had cleared out they were almost afraid to enter the vault. Under extreme duress (from Fleur) Bill had given them a list of curses that were used to guard the treasure in some of the more paranoid vaults, he was pretty sure that the LeStrange vault would have at least one of them. "What curses are on this vault?" Brogan asked Bogrod in a demanding voice.

"I don't know," answered Bogrod in an even flat tone. Hermione gave a moan of despair.

In his research Draco had found several curses that could destroy a horcrux, none of them were as safe as a basilisk fang - which was an alarming thought if ever there was one. But fiendfyre wasn't quite so dangerous if it was contained, kept to a limited space by a thick door and rock walls. It was a dark curse though and neither of the Gryffindors was aware that Brogan had planned all along to torch the LeStrange vault.

The curse was difficult and dangerous and dark but the pluses of using it were so many: first they could avoid whatever curse or curses were on the vault contents, second they could make sure the horcrux was destroyed even if they didn't escape from the goblins, third it was quick, and fourth it would bankrupt the LeStrange family. Reasons that made it an easy decision for Draco and Brogan, they might have even seemed compelling to Ron and Hermione too but Brogan didn't risk sharing all of her plans with them, with anyone actually she realized sadly.

Moment by moment Ron and Hermione were growing more uncomfortable. Moment by moment alarms were getting louder and closer too, they could hear carts, many carts, thundering down the tracks. "Open the door," ordered Brogan.

When Brogan stood in front of the open vault door to cast the curse Hermione made a noise that could have been impressed but Ron didn't even seem to recognize it, until the great fire snake started swallowing down gold. Brogan kept Bogrod still and stared resolutely into the vault until the fire climbed one wall in particular and reached one gold cup in particular, the familiar greasy smoke burst out and a voice screamed 'you've gone dark now, there's no turning back after this…' before it ended abruptly. Satisfied Brogan flicked her wand and sealed the vault shut.

"Alright, we got the cup. Now for the escape plan," muttered Ron. Brogan sent Bogrod back up the tracks in the cart, hoping that he would block at least a few of the carts coming down towards them. The three looked around hopelessly, they could try to hide down one of the tunnels and wait for things to quiet down before they tried to sneak out but Bill and Fleur both warned them that goblins could be extremely vindictive and they would flood the tunnels with guards searching for them.

They had also considered hiding in Harry Potter's vault until things died down, but Harry's vault wasn't anywhere close. The Blacks had a vault too of course, but they didn't know where the key was. Brogan suspected that the portrait of Mrs. Black could tell them if she was speaking to them, maybe she would soften after they had avenged her sons' deaths.

Hermione held out the portkey they had brought which they were all sure would not work, and it didn't. With a small, well we expected that, shrug she stuffed it back in her bag. They started moving away from where the noise was getting louder and unknowingly closer to where the dragon had ambled off to hide from the clankers.

Hermione almost died of fright the night she rode Buckbeak with Harry but at least she knew how to deal with these situations now; she climbed on the back of the dragon behind Ron and wrapped both arms tight around his waist. After she buried her head in the back of his hairy Russian jacket she closed her eyes for good measure and just started praying.

Brogan was in front, because she was either fearless or far more used to these sorts of things. It wasn't even her first dragon. Once they were all aboard or whatever, Brogan slashed with her wand and cut all of the chains holding the dragon down, UP she hissed, and whether dragons understood parseltongue or there was some unconscious compulsion charm thing going on, the big blind dragon stretched out and started flying.

The tunnels were narrow, the dragon must have been younger and smaller when it was first led down there. Ron took left and Brogan took right as they blasted arches wider. The dragon seemed to know where it was going thank Merlin, who knew how long it had lain down there dreaming of escape, scenting freedom on the stray breezes that found their way to the depths.

They had flown over the goblins, the dragon roaring and throwing fire at them, and around the waterfall when it actually seemed like their escape might work. "Drink the potion," shouted Ron into Brogan's ear.

Tragically, the best thought out part of their escape plan, which was totally half-assed and barely anything, was the capture contingency. Brogan was wearing her old Harry Potter clothes and in her mokeskin bag she had a dose of HP special polyjuice, if it looked like they would be captured or seen by the public Brogan had to disguise herself. The disguise wouldn't last forever (more like an hour actually) but if there were reporters gathering outside the bank photographs of Harry Potter still fighting the good fight could serve one last purpose.

Brogan would never remember how she managed it, she was somewhat controlling the dragon, her wand was gripped in one hand shattering stalactites that threatened the dragon's wings, and still she managed to throw back the hated potion. Either her body was getting used to that particular change or adrenaline was the greatest potion of all because the next thing she knew the tunnel was a blur and she had to dig out the stupid glasses again.

It was totally insane and it could have killed them all but it was just the sort of detail that made Hermione glow, when she wasn't terrified senseless and hiding under Ron's coat. And the picture of the Golden Trio bursting out of Gringott's Bank on the back of a dragon became a timeless emblem of the revolution and sold many many copies of the Daily Prophet. There were even t-shirts.

Once they were out of Daigon Alley and over some moors somewhere riding on the back of the dragon quickly became boring, even for Hermione, and then it became uncomfortable. They discussed apparating off but that seemed risky, Brogan refused to portkey because they couldn't convince her they wouldn't be portkeyed to one hundred feet above their destination, eventually the dragon flew low over an icy looking lake. The dragon shrugged and it was like a tremor rippling down the beast's back. "I think he wants us to jump off here," said Brogan.

"Can't he land somewhere and we'll climb off?" asked Hermione dubiously.

"Apparently not," said Brogan and she jumped, knowing or hoping the others would follow.

The water was beyond frigid, even icier than it looked, but when they slogged their way out they had a warming charm frenzy and nobody lost any toes.

"Now what?" asked Hermione, "we destroyed all the horcruxes didn't we? How does the prophecy go?"

"He will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives," responded Brogan quickly. "But it says he and I keep thinking it isn't talking about me."

"It is mate," said Ron. Brogan shrugged.

"The diary, the ring, the snake, the locket, the tiara and the cup; I can't believe we got them all." Said Brogan dreamily stretching out and cracking her joints.

"A tiara? Is that what a diadem is?" asked Ron twisting his back next to her.

Hermione grumbled at the pair of them and then reached into her wristlet to pull out the tent. They all needed a nap and this seemed as desolate a place as any. They took hot showers, changed into normal clothes and even had a spot of tea before they climbed into Ron's bed. Pansy's tent was the best thing ever -next to Hermione's wristlet.

It was stupid of them to rest though. Voldemort learned swiftly that the contents of the LeStrange vault had been destroyed. All the contents. While Brogan slept she saw a flash of him screaming and destroying the Gaunt hovel. She sat up with a gasp and was trembling when she saw a flash of dark cliffs and ocean waves crashing. He knew, he knew and was checking on his other horcruxes.

She scrambled to wake up the others, "he's going to go to Hogwarts next," she cried tugging at them. She needed to tell Draco too, but it was the middle of the night. "Dobby!" she shouted and the little elf appeared before her instantly, still half asleep. Brogan dropped to her knees in front of him, so very very grateful he was there.

"Dobby, You-Know-Who is on his way to Hogwarts, please tell Draco."

"But Dobby should tell the wizards and witches at Hogwarts."

"We can tell them Dobby," Brogan insisted.

"But youse will have to go to the gates and bang and walk all the way up to the castle, it will take long long time. Dobby must tell them."

Brogan was almost sobbing from the pain in her head by now, "okay fine," she said digging the palms of her hands into her eyes. "Go to Hogwarts, but send Kreacher to tell Draco. Draco must be there as soon as possible."

"Brogan, what's wrong? Why does Draco have to be there?" asked Hermione. Ron had his own reasons for why Draco needed to be there but he was curious about what Brogan would say.

"Draco needs to claim Dumbledore's wand, I think it might be the Elder Wand. Draco is the one that disarmed Dumbledore on the tower, the wand should belong to him like in the story. He won it, and if he claims it he can defeat the Dark Lord."

"But you're the Chosen One," said Hermione.

"I don't think I can be if I don't believe I am; I'm sorry. I just, part of me wants to believe the Prophecy is real and part of me thinks it's broken. Or maybe it's Neville.

I'll try, I swear to you I'll try, but I don't think I can do it. And if I, if I fail I want the master of the best wand in the universe to be there to try next."

"If you fail there will be a long line of pissed off witches and wizards to try next," Ron comforted, or thought he comforted.

"Really Ron, was that supposed to be comforting?" demanded Hermione, but she smiled a little when she said it.

"Why do you think that Dumbledore had the Elder Wand?" she asked Brogan as they packed up the tent.

"Lucius has been going on and on to Draco about the Hallows, he told him that he heard rumors Grindelwald wielded it during his rise to power, and Dumbledore is the one that defeated him in a duel. Didn't you finish Rita Skeeter's book Hermione?

I think it also explains why Lucius has always loathed Dumbledore so much."

Ron gave her a look at that, "well partly explains," she corrected.

Chapter 9: Chapter Nine

Draco met them at the gates, he had some sort of key from Snape and let them in quickly before locking the gates behind them. "Severus and McGonagall are preparing the castle, they're putting all the underage children in the Hufflepuff rooms, they should be safe in the basement and the older students are preparing to fight.

Thank Merlin Kreacher came when he did; the Death Eaters were all summoned. Father expected me to apparate with them, I managed to stall but then I didn't know where to go.

I can't believe you robbed Gringott's and escaped on a dragon without me, I swear when I joined your little team I expected to be a full participant in all cool adventures. I may never forgive you for ditching me on the dragon ride." Draco nervously ranted as they made their way up to the castle.

"You'll forgive us Draco, the dragon chafed in the worst way imaginable," Ron assured him with a grim look.

"It was fat and blind too, next time we'll find a sexy dragon for you to ride," said Hermione.

"Hey now Hermione, if anyone is going to ride the sexy dragon," started Brogan but she petered off as the castle came in sight. The courtyard in front of the great doors was filled with suits of armor all bristling with spears and swords.

"Are they empty?" asked Hermione, and then she answered herself, "McGonagall must have been waiting years to use that spell."

Brogan stuttered to a halt when they were close enough to hear voices, unsure of what to do or who to be. Ron stopped as well, "Hermione and I will head inside to see how we can help. You and Draco go get the wand, stay as Brogan for as long as you can. If You-Know-Who shows up and wants some sort of show down we'll figure it out. Okay?"

Brogan nodded, grateful for the direction. She hugged them quickly goodbye and then set off towards the lake with Draco. Draco was lost, "what wand?" he asked.

"The Elder Wand, I think it's in Dumbledore's crypt. Is there a spell to break into a crypt?"

"Why are we desecrating the Headmaster's tomb to steal his wand?"

"We aren't stealing it, you are the proper master of the Elder Wand," corrected Brogan.

"How? Oh, I disarmed him that night didn't I? It was a cheap shot you know."

"I know, but it counts, wands aren't that bright."

When they reached the shore the moon was shining on the dark waters and it reminded Brogan strongly of Slytherin's little window. The view from here was almost the same and the coincidence startled her. She was just deciding that it was a good omen when she saw Fawkes sitting quietly on the marble tomb, because desecrating a friend's tomb wasn't bad enough she needed to do it in front of his bird too.

Fawkes trilled softly and it sounded like he was laughing at her. He flew to her shoulder and Brogan felt warmth and vitality seep through her from the sharp bites of his claws on her shoulder. "Hullo Fawkes," she murmured.

They stopped and Draco bowed his head next to her. "You know why we're here, don't you?" Brogan felt stupid talking to a bird but it seemed to be answering, there was a sad sort of chirrup sound anyway.

Brogan started to cry, "What, what way would be best?" she asked Fawkes feeling as if her heart was breaking. She had used the imperius curse and cast fiendyre today, but this was stopping her? She didn't even like Dumbledore, he had left her at the Dursley's on the stoop like a bottle of milk as Aunt Petunia had reminder her often enough. He had been reckless with her safety, with her happiness, she was really really sure that she didn't even like him, but now she was on her knees and crying hysterically and Fawkes was singing like mad and Draco was starting to panic too.

Draco took another step forward and cast a simple quick 'diffindo' there was a crack as one corner of the tomb slid away. Draco just barely murmured 'accio' and the Elder Wand was snapping into his hand. His first act as master of the Death Stick was to cast 'reparo' and mend the corner as if it had never broken.

Fawkes made a very approving noise and seemed to look at Brogan as if to say, magic duh. Draco then shoved the all-powerful wand in his back pocket, fully endangering his lovely arse, and pulled Brogan into his arms to lead her back to the castle. "Really Brogan, did you think we were going to dance on his bones or something?"

"It's been a remarkably shitty day," she mumbled into his neck. Fawkes flew along behind them and Brogan wondered if he came with the wand.

They were all gathered in the Headmaster's office, Brogan fussing over Snape's Dark Mark which seemed to be smoking, when they heard Voldemort's voice magically modified and booming out over the grounds, demanding Harry Potter.

Brogan had tried hissing at the mark, telling it to stop hurting her father but except for making Draco's eyes gleam it didn't seem to do anything. Draco and Brogan cast a numbing charm together with enough power to make all the instruments in the office zing and miraculously Snape's arm didn't ice up and fall off, but the pain became bearable. Not that he ever admitted to it being unbearable.

"Now what should we do?" asked Hermione. "All the horcruxes are gone, a gun should be able to kill him now, or an arrow, or anything." She expected to see nods all around her but there were none.

Brogan rubbed her forehead and the scar which could have also used a numbing charm, "there's one horcrux left isn't there," she asked the room.

"What?" said Hermione looking betrayed as the portrait of Dumbledore, Snape, Ron and Draco all sorrowfully inspected their shoes.

"Hermione, I'm a horcrux," said Brogan quietly. "That's why I get those visions, because part of his soul is lodged in me."

"What, no that can't be," but even as she said the words she realized it could be, it was. She spun around to point at Ron, "that's why you asked me not to research horcruxes –you were afraid I would figure it out. But I could have helped."

"Maybe Miss Granger but Albus, myself and Draco have spent the last six months or so researching. I believe Albus spent longer than that even. It is doubtful you would have learned anything new." Snape spoke softly, gently.

"You didn't even tell me," said Brogan.

Draco wrapped his arms around her, "your death wish needed no encouragement."

"Now what?" she asked.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, as if a painting needed to clear its throat, "I don't think you are a proper horcrux, more like an accidental one. That will work in your favor. And then you and Tom share so much, the same wand core, the same blood, I think that will work in your favor too. Ultimately, when things are as tangled and complicated as your relationship with Tom Marvolo Riddle is I believe magic herself shows her favor to one side or the other. Merlin knows magic was on my side when I battled Gellert."

"So it's just down to hoping?" asked Brogan.

"Hope is not a weakness Brogan," said Snape. "We hope when we have something worth believing in, we hope when there's something we love at stake, those without hope are the weaker ones."

"You still have the power the Dark Lord knows not," Hermione reminded her, "you have all of our love. Magic will see that." She felt like she was speaking as if Magic was the Great Pumpkin, but maybe it was.

There was a discrete shimmering and then Professor McGonagall's cat patronus appeared requesting their presence in the Great Hall, or to quote it directly, "The fat is in the fire Severus, get your arse down here."

Brogan would have stayed in that office forever, or maybe just for the rest of her life. She loved everyone in there with her and it felt so safe, but she loved a bunch of people outside the room too as McGonagall had reminded her. The group waited while Brogan rummaged around in her pouch for the polyjuice, it was getting very low. There was maybe two hours of Harry Potter left.

Before she could drink it though Draco stepped up and kissed her, for luck, Snape kissed her forehead too, and then Ron and Hermione. "You'll be back mate," Ron reassured her.

When they walked into the Great Hall together and everyone saw Harry Potter with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger pandemonium broke out among the students and teachers and Order members gathered. Harry pulled Snape and Draco up on the head table with him, "I need to introduce you to my spies, without the help of Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy the light would not have a chance tonight. But thanks to the enormous sacrifices they have both made we are still standing and soon we will take back our world."

The Hall looked doubtful but Ron climbed up and put his hand on each of their shoulders while McGonagall and Hermione stepped closer to them. The twins were there too and they started cheering, a few more joined them and soon enough the room was roaring again.

"The Dark Lord is not an immortal supernatural being, he is a wizard, he was a student here once when he went by the name Tom Riddle, he is a man and he can be stopped." Harry continued, "he rules his followers through fear and hatred but we will fight for the life that we love, for the friends that we love and we will win."

The crowd went crazy and Harry hopped down off the table. "You've been working on that speech in the shower for years haven't you mate?" asked Ron.

Harry nodded, for a while in fifth year he had been obsessed with Aragorn's speech in Return of the King but he worried that if he quoted it too much some people would recognize it and start laughing. It had taken him years to get all of the Tolkein out of The Speech.

"On a scale of one to ten how horrible would it be if I sucked out your tonsils now?" asked Draco.

"Ten," answered Hermione, "everyone would become so distressed and confused that the Death Eaters will just pick them off like fish in a barrel."

"Why would fish be in a barrel?" asked Ron.

"To make them easier to slaughter," answered Brogan grimly but she was staring at Draco's lips.

Ron smacked the back of his head, "stop that, people will notice and Hermione was right, although I don't know why she had to confuse the issue with fish."

"Every issue should have fish," said Hermione teasingly.

There was a throng of well wishers keeping a discrete distance but clearly waiting to be acknowledged. The teens finally stopped bickering enough to notice them, Neville and Ginny were among the first to step up. Nev thumped Harry on the back a few times and Ginny attached herself to his bicep.

It felt good to be able to acknowledge her friends again so Brogan took the time to greet everyone she could, tons of people had come to help defend Hogwarts. Knowing so many of them personally made it feel like they had come for Harry personally and Brogan wasn't sure how that made her feel, besides responsible. But eventually she realized that assuming they were here only because of her was selfish and unfair to the people, maybe some of them were here for her too but mainly, she was sure, they were here to defend something important to them.

They kept walking through the throng clasping hands and thumping shoulders until they reached the entry hall. "So now I head out there?" asked Brogan looking green. Steady and brave but green.

"Not alone," said Draco flatly. "Give me the cloak."

Brogan pulled out the invisibility cloak, then she reached into her pouch and pulled out the snitch too. She held it up to her mouth and said, "I'm about to die."

The snitch split open and the resurrection stone tumbled into her hand, she passed it to Draco. "Now you are the Master of Death," she smiled, "don't let it take me."

"Never," he replied feeling kind of faint about holding all three of the Deathly Hallows.

Brogan hugged her loved ones fiercely, Snape looking angrier and more lost than ever, and then together she and Draco slipped out the front door to go meet Voldemort. In Brogan's mind the sooner Voldemort killed her the sooner anyone else could kill him. Of course that didn't mean she wanted any of this to happen really soon, but better now than after someone else she loved died.

"I guess, I'll just walk up to him and surrender," Brogan mused.

"I will stay with you, until the end," promised Draco.

There was not a sound from the castle or the forest as Brogan walked across the courtyard. Voldemort's forces had flattened the gates and were massed on the great lawn in front of the school. There were no pennants snapping like in the movies, just row upon row of grim faces. Grim faced adult wizards who apparently didn't find it odd at all that a smallish teenager was walking up to their leader to surrender and doubtless be struck down in cold blood.

Not a spell had been cast, except for against the gates, by either side and everyone watched quietly as Harry drew closer. A few murmured softly to their friends how odd it was to see Harry without Ron and Hermione flanking him, Ron and Hermione were thinking the same thing. It was killing them to watch their friend walk out there without them, but they knew better than to suggest otherwise. Harry would never ever ever allow someone else to be the spare. The only reason Draco was with him was because he might at this moment actually be the most powerful wizard in Scotland.

Voldemort didn't seem to find Harry walking out by himself strange, doubtless he had grown accustomed to Harry's sense of honor. He seemed to find his apparent surrender delicious. "Harry, all alone. No mother to die for you this time?"

"I had forgotten that we have that in common too Tom," allowed Harry. "Both our mothers hid us from our fathers too, did you know that? It's spooky isn't it, how alike we are and yet the differences are rather dramatic.

One might even say they're as plain as the nose on your face."

"Bantering Harry? Are you frightened?" asked Voldemort.

"To the well ordered mind death is just the next great adventure Tom."

"You're awful young to speak like that Harry, isn't there a little trollop somewhere that you'd like to run and say goodbye to?"

"I said my goodbyes to all the people I love Tom, but I'm sure you've done the same."

"Well then Harry, wands at the ready, and let us bow again."

They both saluted with their wands and bowed formally but when Voldemort lashed out with the sickly green light of the killing curse Harry just stood there passively with his wand at his side. The green light engulfed his body and he collapsed to the ground with no sound.

Draco saw the whole thing in slow motion, and as Harry fell it seemed as though time stopped entirely. A figure appeared and walked up to Harry, unseen by everyone else frozen around them, Draco knew at once that it was Death.

In his usual, regrettable, swagger he walked up to Death pulling the cloak off as he went.

"Draco Malfoy," Death greeted him by name and sent shivers down Draco's back.

"Sir," Draco bowed slightly. "I am here to ask you to spare my friend. She has lived to the best of her abilities and her life has been as short as it has been difficult."

"And who are you Draco Malfoy to ask a boon of Death?"

"I am the one who wields all three of the Deathly Hallows sir."

"Ah, perhaps you are deserving of a boon then. But what precisely shall I do, the curse has struck her most squarely, she did not resist."

"She was cursed by this wizard when she was a child sir, he left a piece of his soul inside of her. Could you take that piece? We will do our best to send the rest of Lord Voldemort to you as soon as we can."

Death smiled at Draco Malfoy then. It was a terrifying sight but Draco found himself unafraid.

"I will do as you ask Draco Malfoy, it is magic's wish too but still a boon well used."

"I'm confident I will not regret my asking for it."

"No, I can see your heart Draco Malfoy and it pounds hard for this one, you will not regret this act." Death inclined his head to Draco then, "we will meet again many long years from now and not upon a battlefield. Be well."

Draco snatched the cloak down over himself and time resumed all at once as Death departed. He could sense though that Death had not gone far.

It seemed that nobody noticed the distortion of his cloak, or the five minutes that time had frozen while Draco chatted with Death. Sound rushed in, the Death Eaters were crowing, oh fabulous Bellatrix was here at least she didn't have her wand, and the odd strangled cry of 'Haaaarry' carried from the castle.

Draco was sure that Brogan wasn't dead but she was very still. And the Dark Lord was also not dead. The Dark Lord turned around to better see his fans, arms upraised as if in victory, when Harry stirred and started clambering back to his feet.

Voldemort heard the Death Eaters cry out around him and spun back around, he stared agape at the boy standing unsteadily before him. "Boy-Who-Lived, remember Tom?"

Voldemort struck again and this time Brogan flicked her wand as well and the beams met between them. The strange brother wand effect was much less drawn out this time, as if Tom's wand wasn't really trying. With determination Brogan drove the beads of wand light back down to Tom's end and his wand exploded in a green light.

When the light receded the Dark Lord's body was stretched upon the ground and Harry Potter was gone.

Actually Brogan was on her knees again panting and Draco was standing over her with the cloak covering them both. His heart was pounding, for her, as Death gave him a jaunty wave and walked away again, this time with a confused looking shade of Tom Riddle accompanying him.

The Death Eaters seemed flabbergasted and there was a pause which gave the sense that each one was deciding whether to fight or flee, the slightest noise or provocation could possibly tip them one way or the other. Draco swore that he recognized the discrete pop of his father choosing to flee. Several more Death Eaters, those with the most to lose, apparated out as well, parents tugging their mostly grown children away with them.

And still the moment seemed poised and Draco was there, in the middle of the bloody (metaphorically only so far) battlefield with no exit plan at all. Brogan was still on her knees but he couldn't tell if that was to keep quiet, to keep still, or to keep from passing out entirely.

In the next few seconds several more Death Eaters left and the empty suits of armor stirred to life. They began stamping their feet and slowly advancing on the remaining assailants. Draco tried to crouch lower as Death Eaters fired spells over him and towards the armor suits. The spells had almost no impact though and soon they stopped trying, more Death Eaters apparated away but the armor marched closer to where Draco and Brogan were invisible.

The field was noisy now and Brogan dared to whisper, "we need to get out of here" in his ear.

"Can you run?" Draco whispered back.

"I think so," Brogan promised, "although crawling might be more prudent."

They began creeping out of the line of fire, it was slow and painful making a wide berth around the fight, but oh so smart. Wizards and witches were coming out of the castle too now, backing up the armor and causing a few more to retreat.

Draco saw Ron and Hermione among them and he adjusted their course to go to them. As the field got more crowded and frantic they dared to walk more upright and eventually they took the cloak off and met their friends.

"You're alive!" cried Hermione as tears streamed down her face. "Is it gone? Can you tell?"

Brogan hadn't thought to check, she wasn't sure how to check but she felt okay.

"Say something in parseltongue," suggested Ron.

Brogan tried to say open since she seemed to say it so often but nothing came. She was shocked, and a little saddened, it was gone, he was gone.

"I guess it worked," said Ron, "stop crying Draco!" he teased.

Draco wasn't crying but he did seem a little sad, as if he hadn't thought of that consequence and maybe if he had he would have done things differently.

They made their way to behind a wall where it felt pretty safe to speak. Ron kept peeking over the top of the wall to make sure the battle, such as it was, kept its distance.

"What happened? Where did you go?" asked Hermione.

"Go?" parroted Brogan, "after the big green flash I fell to my knees and Draco covered us with the cloak. Then we heroically crawled to the side so we wouldn't get nailed with a curse or stepped on by an empty suit of armor."

"We seriously need to work on making better escape plans," said Hermione very earnestly.

"I feel like we still need one," said Brogan. "Are they going to think Harry died out there? Won't they need a body? -I know we didn't discuss it but can we kill Harry?"

"I think we better before you give yourself a psychosis," said Ron.

"That part I can handle," said Hermione rummaging in her purse. She pulled out an effigy from their plan to confuse the tracking spell.

"Is the polyjuice almost done?" she asked also pulling out a change of clothes for Brogan.

"I think so," answered Draco drawing a watch from his wizard pocket. To save time Brogan started peeling off her clothes, she couldn't put on the other ones yet though, they were too small. She ended up cuddled under Ron's cloak, the invisibility cloak was crap for warmth, waiting for five minutes until the transformation finally hit. She scrambled into her own clothes with Hermione's help while Hermione hissed at the boys for them to check on the battle.

The battle was almost over, just a few of the most insane with the least to live for were still on the grounds. There were almost no bodies on the ground, except for Voldemort's. It was starting to feel like a massive victory.

"Where would Harry want to be?" asked Hermione scooping up the Harry clothes.

"I swear you're going to make her mental," grumbled Ron.

"I can show you," said Brogan. She led them near Dumbledore's crypt but not exactly, it was as close to Slytherin's view as she could possibly remember. The spot gave her a strange warmth in her chest that she couldn't really account for. "Right here." She told them.

Hermione laid down the effigy and with a flick of her wand it grew to Harry's size, another flick and it was clothed in the exact outfit Brogan had worn to the battle, it was the same as when she had escaped from the bank too. Continuity was important. A few more swishes and it even looked like Harry.

It was sad to stand there and look at the Harry doll all stretched out and still. Brogan imagined it was worse for Ron and Hermione, they had spent so many years with Harry, she expected they were going to miss him the most. Not that she was actually dead, oh Merlin she was getting a psychosis.

They stood quietly until they heard others approaching them, there was a yell and then a few voices shouted 'Harry'. Hermione made a show of wiping her eyes but really looked behind them to see how close they were, "not yet," she ordered.

After another few agonizing moments she checked again, it sounded like Ginny and Neville were going to arrive first along with some strangers. "Close enough now," she told them.

Draco pulled out the Elder Wand and cast a conflagro (this was no place for fiendfyre) on the effigy. It burst into flames but was still recognizable; Ginny and Neville and the others would be able to swear that it was Harry –they had even put the glasses on him. The flames grew higher and Draco, after a deep breath, flipped the Elder Wand on top of the pyre.

Ron and Hermione gasped (all powerful and priceless artifact were no doubt running through their heads) but Brogan just took Draco's hand and squeezed it tightly. Nobody spoke until the fire was all burned out. Ginny was sobbing softly while Neville wrapped his arms around her. When Neville looked around he noticed that Brogan was there, where had she come from? And even more strangely the others were not crying. It was inconceivable to him that Harry could die like this and Ron and Hermione would just stand there quietly.

The twins arrived then and they also failed to look quite sad enough. Ginny noticed that Neville seemed confused about something and she looked around her too. "Brogan," he finally said as coincidences lined up, Brogan turned to look at him.

"Were your eyes always that color?" he asked, it wasn't what he had planned but when she turned it was like he noticed for the first time how brilliant and green her eyes were, strange how he had never noticed them before.

"Yes," she replied, "they say I got them from my mum." Neville startled and looked around at the others, they were all smiling at him. A lot of very knowing smiles.

Chapter 10: Chapter Ten

There was a week of tidying up and mourning, the only deaths were Harry and Voldemort but Percy Weasley showed up to fight with the Order of the Phoenix and he had twisted his ankle pretty bad tripping over an arm that had fallen off one of the suits of armor. He dented the arm pretty badly too and the suit was most disgruntled when it was reattached, even though McGonagall had fixed it perfectly, the suit still grumbled that it didn't swing as smoothly as it had before. McGonagall did her best to soothe the armor and then suggested that Ginny and Ron might want to avoid the South East corridor closest to the charms classroom.

Fleur and the Ministry managed to convince the goblins that since Harry had clearly imperiused Bogrod who could say that he hadn't imperiused Ron and Hermione too. Thus the conveniently dead Harry Potter took the fall for the bank robbery. And since Harry Potter had destroyed the contents of the LeStrange vault all of his fortune was transferred to them for restitution, the LeStranges were of course back in Azkaban serving life sentences again so the fortune went to the closest living pureblood heir, Draco Malfoy.

"Oh thank goodness, I was so worried about what I would do without my precious precious vault," joked Brogan when Draco gave her the key to her vault.

The Board of Governors decided to allow all the students back in Hogwarts, remedial classes for the late starters began immediately and those who had the misfortune of being at Hogwarts for the last two months were allowed to go home and be with their families. Everybody would start back up together again after the holidays and they would just go a few weeks later in the summer to catch up.

It all seemed logical and straight forward but it whipped Hermione into a frenzy not seen since OWL year. Draco followed her right down the rabbit hole giving Brogan and Ron plenty of time to catch up on Quidditch together. Blaise joined them as well, he was doing advanced potions with Snape instead of going home to his parents. A few others joined them as well, there weren't enough students to have house teams so they set up their own and played just for fun.

Brogan spent time alone too, she found herself missing Slytherin's little room even sometimes her cupboard. One day when she was sitting by herself near the spot where they had cremated Harry Potter a little snake slithered up to her. It was much too cold for a little snake to be out and about so Brogan scooped him up in her mittened hands and tried to block the wind for him. "I'm sorry," she said, "I wish I could be polite and tell you you're safe." The snake was circling around and around her palm, but when she spoke he settled and looked at her.

Lord Slytherin hears your wish and grants it speaker, the snake said quite clearly.

Really? asked Brogan. Parseltongue had been almost more trouble than it was worth but she missed it a little and it made her sad to think that with Slytherin's line ended there would be no more speakers. (Of course the thought of Tom Riddle continuing Slytherin's line was much much worse.)

Lord Slytherin woke me up to tell you, he said that you would give me a place to continue my slumber, is this the place? It is a little damp.

Brogan smiled excitedly at her new friend, I can find you a better place, she assured him. By the time Snape returned to their rooms that night Brogan was sitting on the floor next to a giant glass tank with tree branches and hot rocks, hissing to a little black serpent.

"What's this?" he asked, not that he was complaining.

"I think it's a gift from Lord Slytherin, I was outside looking at the lake and this little guy came up and told me that 'Lord Slytherin' heard my wish and granted it. I didn't even know that I was wishing to be a parseltongue again, but I am kind of glad that it's back. Mostly I just felt sad when I thought there might not ever be another one, you know."

"I hadn't thought about the gift ending, but you're right it could well have been lost completely. Do I want to know why 'Lord' Slytherin who has been dead for a thousand years is giving gifts to my daughter?"

Brogan blushed and shrugged, going back to playing with her new pet. "Your mother loved animals too." Snape said settling down with a cup of tea. "I noticed that you stopped charming your eyes to be a different color, if you start hissing too what will your classmates think?"

"I don't know, but it feels like whatever I do now, it's for the rest of my life –which I hope will be a long time, and hiding away parts of myself isn't what I want to do. A lot of people seem to be suspecting it now, I've been flying a lot too, but I guess they're too polite to ask the really awkward question."

"So you don't mind it being an open secret among your friends?"

"Not really I guess, it will be nice to have my friends again."

"And you wouldn't mind if they found out you really are my daughter, that it was Harry Potter who was inauthentic, in a way."

"Of course not, why?"

"I have an idea, that's all."

"Oh well, if that's all." Said Brogan, she didn't bother asking what the big idea was, obviously he didn't want to tell her yet.

One week later in 'remedial' potions (Brogan had protested that it wasn't really remedial potions it was just the catch-up class) a very red-faced (but then he was often a bit rosy around the cheeks) Slughorn unveiled the day's potion 'the paternus potion'.

"My da's subtleness is severely lacking these days," grumbled Brogan who was also rosy now. There were a lot of smirks in the classroom and an uncommon amount of nudging, a few students even said 'oh!' out loud to Brogan's dismay.

But afterwards things were better, much better. She was invited to the Gryffindor Tower a few times; the first time she went up there she almost ran to her usual couch spot and sank down with obvious delight.

"If it was a snake it would have bit me," laughed Dean Thomas watching her act exactly as Harry always had.

Brogan turned and hissed at him, flapping her Slytherin tie for extra measure.

"Tell me," he demanded dropping down next to her, "how many times did you sneak into our dorm last year?"

"Too many to count, I missed you guys so much."

"You know, looking back it explains why Ron coped so well with your absence. We spent the first few months waiting for him to explode in some way and when he didn't we actually thought it might be because he was more mature than we gave him credit for."

"Ha!" shouted Brogan, "no, it's because I was visiting him almost constantly."

"And when you say 'visiting' how does that pertain to the great Ron-has-a-hickey incident?"

"No comment," said Brogan blushing furiously. "We don't do that anymore anyway."

Dean laughed and then gave her a lascivious look, "pity that."

"I have my pointy little Slytherin git to keep me company now. All that pale skin, much better for marking."

"That is way too much information mate," said Dean urgently and seriously.

Brogan cackled in his face.

When the Christmas holiday rolled around again Brogan was invited to the Burrow again, at this point of the nine Weasleys five knew her true identity and only four didn't. She delegated telling the rest to Bill, "tell them without 'telling' them you know," she asked.

"No, I have no idea how to do that" Bill responded over the floo call. Fleur's well turned calves strolled into the picture then and she crouched down to say 'allo.

"What do you need help with my dear?" she asked kindly.

"Fleur, have you figured out who I really am yet?" asked Brogan looking at her meaningfully with her green green eyes.

"What do you –oh, yes," she looked closer, "yes I think I 'ave."

"Can you repeat that with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Percy and Charlie?"

"We will figure out how to do that. Excuse us now though; William and I have some things to discuss."

"Of course, sorry Bill or um, you know. Do you want me to come through?" asked Brogan looking hesitantly at Fleur.

"Non, it will be alright, Cherie." And with that Fleur shut down their connection. It was so sudden that Brogan got a nose full of ashes.

Her eyes were still streaming when the door opened and a fragrant green pine tree came through followed by Hagrid and her da.

Brogan coughed pitifully but Snape gave her a dismissive look, "using the floo without adult supervision again?" He relented though and started rubbing her back soothingly.

"It's nice to see you like this Severus," rumbled Hagrid, his beard made it hard to tell but his eyes always showed when he smiled. Brogan missed him so much and she wondered if she could have him back now. Her da seemed to hear her thoughts because he nodded at her and pushed her towards Hagrid.

"Hagrid, my daughter was somewhat rude about avoiding you last year but she maintains that she had her reasons. I believe she insisted that you were terrible with secrets." Both Brogan and Hagrid flushed horribly at that.

"I'm sorry Hagrid," said Brogan in a small voice, "I know you don't like keeping things from people so I thought that if I kept this from you, then you wouldn't have to worry.

I'm Harry Hagrid," she finished looking up and willing him to believe her.

Snape moved to stand next to her, he put an arm around her shoulders, "Lily was already pregnant when I took the Dark Mark, she knew that I couldn't just leave the Dark Lord after that so she never told me about the baby. Instead she talked to James Potter and he, knowing everything, agreed to marry her and raise the baby as his own."

"How, but he was a boy. Oh, they did something stupid with potions or a spell to try and hide it didn't they?"

"They were young and there was a war going on," Brogan said, not defensively but as a person who had spent long hours thinking about the matter.

"Of course they were, t'ain't our place to judge them. C'mere Harry or Brogan or –just come here, I've missed you so and then I thought you died." Hagrid was full on blubbering now and so was Brogan.

"Yes, well," said Snape stepping away from both of them. "There's my good deed for the Yule all sorted." He went to the kitchen to make tea.

"I'm sorry I let you think I was dead," said Brogan when she could talk again.

"Well, you were young and there was a war going on wasn't there?" said Hagrid kindly. "And look at you now, so pretty and all alive, and not famous. And best of all lad, girl, best of all you have a dad now, right."

"I think that is the best part too, once we stopped hating each other we started getting along really well."

Later as they were eating house elf made biscuits (much easier on the teeth than Hagrid's rock cakes) Hagrid asked why they were telling him now.

"Now that Voldemort is gone it isn't as dangerous. Last year I tried harder to hide it, I kept charming my eyes to be less green, and this year lots of people are figuring it out or guessing and I'm not denying it. I don't want to spend the rest of my life denying who I was or pretending, but I don't want to be Harry or some freak again."

"It's nice t'hear you talking about the rest of your life there," said Hagrid approvingly.

Snape was invited to the Weasleys but he declined, there was a staff party on Christmas day too and he preferred his colleagues company to screaming red heads. Brogan was more nervous about visiting the Burrow this year, she didn't want them to make a fuss over her or anything. She needn't have worried, Bill proposed to Fleur on Christmas Eve and nobody had a spare thought for her after that.

Well, when she first got there Mr. and Mrs. Weasley pulled her aside to privately hug her and assure her that they understood and there were no hard feelings. They also informed her that she was bunking with Ginny this year.

On Christmas morning there was a Slytherin green and silver sweater for Brogan with all the others, it had a big B on the front too. "Our first Slytherin," said Mrs. Weasley looking a bit overcome.

"I was sorted into Gryffindor too, well after I pleaded with the hat for a bit," protested Brogan.

"You can argue with the hat?" asked Fred.

"Fred, you can argue with anything," Percy informed him.

"The houses are kind of bunk anyway," said Ron, shocking everyone. "It's sad to think that if Harry hadn't argued with the hat I never would have been his friend. Why leave things like who's going to be your friend or not up to an old hat?"

"It's not just an old hat," said Fred in outrage.

"Sometimes at the ministry whole days go by without anyone asking me what house I was in," remarked Percy.

"When you get older whole years can by without anyone caring what house you were in," Mr. Weasley assured them.

"That sounds nice," said Brogan. "Sirius had a really hard time with his family after he got sorted into Gryffindor."

"I'm sure he did," said Mrs. Weasley. "Are you going to live in Grimmauld Place again?"

"Yeah, I think I will. I like being in London and I can't really see myself living with the Malfoys."

"Your father has a house too doesn't he?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"He does but it's kind of small and grim, I was actually thinking of putting a potions lab in at Grimmauld Place to see if I could lure him there."

"Careful, you might lure us there too," said Fred.

"Why does everyone love potions so much?" asked Brogan. "I really don't see it."

The holidays ended and all the students returned. Quidditch started and Brogan was the Slytherin seeker again. She and Ron had a huge fight about whether or not she should use the Firebolt. "It's too obvious!" Ron had shouted.

"You just don't want to lose to Slytherin," sneered Brogan.

The fight went on and on up and down the pitch, Brogan even tried getting teary and making up some crap about the Firebolt making her feel closer to Sirius. Ron didn't buy it for a hot second. Arbitration was called in, Neville was leaving the greenhouses when he heard the shouting and he had foolishly investigated.

"Neville, isn't it obvious that Ron's just jealous?"

"Neville, isn't it obvious that not everyone can play on world class brooms and to have one player use one is an unfair advantage?"

"Neville, there's nothing in the rules about broom quality."

"Neville, Gryffindor has a good chance this year our new chasers are really working well together now."

"See! See Neville, he only cares about his team winning, not about fairness." Brogan crowed triumphantly.

"The Great Neville has decided, do you solemnly swear to abide by the Great Neville's decision?" they both nodded solemnly.

"Brogan may use her Firebolt but not when her team plays Gryffindor. This treaty is subject to alteration if the Hufflepuffs are as good as they were last year."

"Fine," they both fumed and then they all went in for dinner.

And so the months slipped by, Draco forcing her to study harder than she ever had before for all of the NEWTs. Her da always seeming to know when she wanted to be quizzed and when she wanted him to tell her that she had studied enough and they hadn't sparred in forever.

One overcast day, when it was supposed to be spring but not in Scotland,it seemed like the whole Ministry came to Hogwarts so people from each office could talk to the seventh year students about careers after they graduated.

The Department of Mysteries was there and Hermione was very excited but they weren't that interested in talking to Neville, Hermione or Ron. Brogan remembered how much of the damage to that department was her fault and smiled her most charming smile while taking brochures from their table.

"I was fifteen, they can't possibly hold me responsible for defending myself from a Death Eater attack when I was fifteen," Hermione fumed and fumed, apparently she really was interested in the Department of Mysteries. Brogan gave her the brochure she had picked up, she had no intention of going there again herself.

Draco was at Percy Weasley's table Brogan saw with some shock. Well not really shock, more like a resigned sense of dismay. She kept walking until she found Mad Eye Moody and Tonks at the Auror table, that was what she wanted.

Tonks was more than happy to load her up with brochures, Mad Eye looked a little dubious and Brogan was tempted to let him know she was really Harry Potter. She didn't because that seemed like trading on her fame and that was why she had killed Harry, except Harry had done so much beyond having that curse bounce off his forehead. It wasn't a freak rebound that had saved the Philosopher's Stone, or killed the basilisk, or stolen an egg from a dragon, or broken into Gringott's thank you very much. Yeah, it was very tempting to reveal herself to Moody, but she figured that since she had done all that crap once she could do it all again. She was pretty sure that he would make her do it all again in front of his magical eye no matter what anyway.

Ron was behind her at the table, "still interested in this mate?" he asked. "I always thought you were just being prudent because of You-Know-Who."

"Well, maybe I was, but it's still what I'm best at."

"You could probably go professional in quidditch, even quidditch is safer than this."

"Maybe, but there's all that traveling for quidditch."

"There's late nights for aurors, the schedule is mad."

"I'm sure it is. And yet here you are."

"Yeah, I guess I am," Ron smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess the thing is, either one of those jobs has pluses and drawbacks, I'm not sure I would like either one unless."

"Unless, what?" asked Brogan already knowing.

"Unless I had a friend with me," Ron answered.

"Well, it's hard to say which has the better odds, us being recruited by the same professional quidditch team or us both making it through auror training."

"Why don't we start with the auror training, I think it will make mum happier."

"Ron, you can't choose your life's work based on that!" Brogan was aghast.

"You're so dramatic, it isn't my life's work. It's just the first training program I'm going to try. If I hate it I'll try quidditch, if quidditch doesn't work out I'll go round the shop and hassle my brothers into giving me a job. You're acting like the Chosen One here, this bit, this isn't important."

"I guess you're right. I like what you said about the first training program."

"Cool, so what do we need on our NEWTs for this thing?"

Nobody was surprised about Ron and Brogan going out for auror training together. Draco couldn't even scrape together any jealousy, he was too busy writing fangirl letters to Percy. Brogan was waiting for him to ask if she could get him an invitation to the Burrow, then she would know that the end had really come.

Except it wasn't the end, it was the beginning. The beginning of everything.

NEWTs took over their lives and everyone was crabby. Brogan had to quit the quidditch team after all, the requirements for the auror program were incredibly strict - she needed more NEWTs than a frog pond in summer.

And then one beautiful summer day they were all over and the professors were shooing them outside and inquiring about when they would be packed and vacating the premises.

Brogan was enjoying the lovely weather by sunbathing in shorts and a skimpy t-shirt down by the lake. She was in her usual spot when Draco found her. "You know it's creepy that you hang out in the spot where Harry died."

It was creepy but there wasn't a marker there or anything so not everybody recognized it. The little black snake was with Brogan today, it wasn't the first time she had brought the snake back out to the spot where she found him. Each time she expected the snake to give her an adios and take off into the grass but it wasn't warm enough the first day, the grass was too wet the second day and shockingly the third day it had been too dry and the ground was all hard. Today was really perfect though so Brogan figured if he refused to leave today they were probably going to be together forever.

The little snake hadn't given her an excuse to not leave yet and was contentedly sunbathing next to her. What did he ask? the snake inquired sleepily.

He asked me why I like this spot.

Do you know why you do? asked the snake back.

Not really Brogan confessed, the view though reminds me of a magic window down in the Chamber of Secrets.

One thousand years ago a house stood in this spot and Lord Slytherin lived here with his family. He was very happy, I think that is why you like this spot. When you returned his locket to him you returned some of his happiness and he shares it with you now.

He shares you with me now, doesn't he?

Yes, it is very distressing when you keep asking me to leave.

Then you should tell me you want to stay.

I want to stay, you are nice and the magic rocks are wonderful in the cold dark season.

Draco had sat down during the conversation, it was boring when he didn't know what they were hissing about. "What are you hissing about?" he whined.

"Oh, the snake was wondering why I keep asking him to leave when I have such lovely magical rocks and he wants to stay."

"So, is he going to stay?"

"Yes."

"Then will you name the bloody thing, I'm so sick of you saying the snake all the time, I keep getting confused and think you're talking about an underclass Slytherin."

He wants to know if you have a name, since you're staying we should call you something besides snake.

Snakes don't have names, that is why you never thought to ask on your own, in snake language it doesn't make sense.

He's going to insist. Do you like Black for your color?

My color will change when I shed my skin. It is silly to name me for something that changes.

What doesn't change? asked Brogan and then answered herself, The lake, maybe. It's the Black Lake you know, are you sure you don't like Black?

Stop, if you call me Black in your human language I won't know so why do you pester me? The sun is making me sleepy and your hissing keeps me awake.

"His name is Black, his color may change when he sheds his skin but I found him here by the lake so his name is Black."

"Lovely, naming it after your dead godfather isn't maudlin at all."

"I knew you would understand darling."

"Do you miss him? Do you want to talk to any of them?"

"What do you mean Draco?"

"I still have the resurrection stone, it's yours though. I keep meaning to give it back to you but then I think about the story and how the brother went mad from spending all his time with the shade of his wife. You have lost so many people that I, I guess I worried about the temptation.

But I remember how you helped me with the locket horcrux, how you held my hand during that and I thought that maybe if we did it together we could use it once so you can talk to them and then we'll get rid of it. Or something."

"Draco, that's both sweet and condescending, how do you always manage that?"

"It's a Malfoy gift," he shrugged.

"Hold on to it, I'll think about it, okay?"

"Okay," he said.

A week later and it was announced that the seventh years absolutely had to leave the campus, life was out there. Headmaster Snape acknowledged that Scotland was beautiful in June and the food at Hogwarts was indeed delicious, and the free laundry service was superb, and yes all of their friends were here, but NEWTs were over and it was time to get a move on.

"Was that the Hogwarts commencement ceremony?" Brogan asked him later.

"It's the only one you're ever going to get," he sneered.

"Have you decided what you're going to do with your life Da? I know it's beautiful here, and the food is good and all your friends are here, but you don't need to hide behind Dumbledore's walls anymore."

"You are so very very cheeky. But I will admit that your observations are not unique, Minerva said pretty much the exact same thing last night. She had an intriguing suggestion, I'm hesitant to share it with you –your own life being so in flux, but I can't get it out of my head now."

"What is it? What did she say?"

"There are wizarding traditions around 'potions tours'. Afficionados of the potion arts travel to various parts of the world where interesting ingredients can be found. There are different routes for different continents and such."

"Travel! That would be great for you, would Draco go with you? I think he would like it and also you know, a little distance from Percy could be a good thing."

"I thought of bringing Draco, of course. But also you Brogan, would you like to go with me too?"

"Me? But I'm pants at making potions."

"It's a tour Brogan, not a test. Are you turning your nose up at walking along a sandy white tropical beach searching for magical mollusks?"

"Oh, that does sound, um, educational. But not too educational. When would you go though? What about auror training? Not that I've been accepted into the program yet, but. Well, I guess it's pretty stupid to turn down a grand tour to wait for an owl."

"We could arrange to be back by September, that's when the training programme begins anyway."

"And auror training is just the first programme I'm trying, or maybe it will be the second if this potions tour counts."

"That was spoken like a true eighteen year old."

"Is it stupid or pompous or anything for the three of us to go off like that?"

"Are you concerned about what Ron will think?"

"No, maybe, I guess so."

"Ron will understand, but also you are incredibly wealthy, you can take your friends with you."

"I guess I could but it sounds nicer as just a trip for the three of us. Gryffindors create drama, you know."

"I agree."

As it turned out Ron and Hermione were planning their own trip, to Australia to collect Hermione's parents. Brogan supposed she felt as uncomfortable thinking about what Hermione had done to her parents as Hermione felt when she thought about Brogan throwing around fiendfyre and the imperius curse.

They each had their journals though so they could keep in touch and Brogan promised that she would join them immediately if they needed her. Ron promised that if she needed help finding magical mollusks along the white sandy beaches he would come too.

"Ron," Hermione said in that lecturing tone she had, the one that drove other people nuts but Ron and Brogan loved, "you speak as if there was no magical fauna in Australia. We're going to see loads of animals and plants. There are loads of snakes too Brogan, it's a shame you can't join us you could talk to them and learn all sorts of things I'm sure."

"Snakes are probably not as interesting as you think Hermione. Don't forget all the exotic spiders in Australia too."

"What?" asked Ron, "there are spiders?"

Chapter 11: Epilogue

Notes:

I'm so sorry, I was just trying to reach 50,000 words so I could 'win' NaNoWriMo.

They both got into auror training and when they met up in September to start it Ron was almost engaged to Hermione and Brogan was almost engaged to Draco but not quite yet. They were all still too young.

Training was hard, so very hard, it was physically demanding and Moody yelled all the time. Even Tonks lost her temper with them on occasion, but they persevered. Well, Ron persevered, Brogan flourished. She loved everything about it, learning new things, blowing up targets like she used to do with her da in the room of requirement, hanging out with the other trainees. She even loved the dorky training robes, and the holsters don't get her started on the wand holsters, it was like a fetish.

Draco enjoyed the potion trip and then he lasted less than a week on his internship with Percy before they had a huge shouting match and Draco stalked out. He sulked for a while and then Lucius, recovered well from the imperio that the Dark Lord had him under for three years, tried to draw him into 'managing' the family accounts. Whatever that meant. Brogan wasn't sure if she should be reassured or dismayed when after a week Draco still didn't know what his father did.

Snape came home from Hogwarts for a weekend and signed Draco up for the most rigorous potion program he could find and that was Draco settled for the next two years.

It didn't seem like two years though, it was like a blink and then they were in their twenties, but still too young to get engaged. Brogan graduated top of her class, she desperately wanted to tell people that she was Harry Potter, wanted them to know that Harry wasn't just the Boy Who Lived (or died as it were) but that Harry kicked arse. Draco had to keep assuring her that the ones who mattered already knew.

Ron sat next to Draco in the audience while she graduated, he had lasted half a year in the programme which was actually pretty decent. He got a certificate for it and everything. After auror school he worked for the Chudley Cannons for a while, not exactly as their house elf but not far from it either. When they finally started listening to him about strategies and what not they started to respect him but by then he was tired of the traveling.

The twins had opened a second shop in Hogsmeade but they hated being apart all day with one brother in each shop. Ron came in and took over the Hogsmeade shop for them. "Do you get lonely there Ron?" asked Brogan.

"Nah, and I can't imagine how on earth George ever got lonely, it's like the floo is open all day long. They're constantly calling or apparating, it would be nice if they left me for ten minutes." The Hogsmeade shop was perfect for Ron, he had a whole box of slightly scuffed products behind the counter and whenever a Hogwarts student came in with shabby hand-me-down robes he would slide the extra merchandise into their bags. The students all loved him instantly and he liked the village life. He ate so many meals at the Three Broomsticks that they teased him about his crush on Madam Rosmerta still being true.

Hermione threatened to sue the Department of Mysteries on discrimination charges when they didn't let her into their programme after she returned from Australia. She started following up on it too and in the process she discovered how dreadful and outdated the magical legal system was. She almost had to sue the legal system before they let her rewrite all of the codes. At least that was Brogan's interpretation of what had happened. Now Hermione did very complicated things that nobody seemed to understand except for the people she worked with, if she had succeeded in working for the Department of Mysteries she probably would have done wonderful things for magic. But instead she did wonderful things for the magical sentient creatures, maybe that was what magic wanted.

Her friends would tease her about becoming the Minister for Magic and she gave them looks which strongly suggested that becoming Minister would be an unacceptable decrease in her current power, thank you very much.

And then Ginny got married and it was like a dam breaking. Seamus got married. Pansy got married (not to each other.) And finally, finally, Ron and Hermione got married. It was a beautiful summer wedding at the Burrow, Hermione was radiant and Brogan was her maid of honor. Ron had wanted her to be best mate and he sulked for a while because when you have five brothers it's hard to choose just one of them. Somehow it all worked out though, they added Ginny to the mix and then there was a twin for each of them.

The wedding went on long into the night and when the Weasleys and all the Gryffindors became too loud for them Brogan and Draco wandered away. Brogan led him down a path to the swimming pond. There was a little breeze by the water and it was nice to be quiet for a moment.

"You never answered my question," Draco said breaking the quiet.

"What question?"

"Back at Hogwarts I asked if you wanted to use the Resurrection Stone, I offered to use it with you, just once, and then we would get rid of it."

"You still remember that?" asked Brogan stupidly. Draco just nodded.

"I remember it too" Brogan confessed, "I've thought about it more than once over the last few years. There were times when I wondered what they would think about something, should I stick with auror training? Should I get my hair cut? Should I kiss Draco now?"

"You should always kiss Draco, and you know the answers to all those questions."

Brogan kissed him, "I know, that's why I never asked for the stone. What else is there? I could ask them if they know I'm happy. But if they say no then I'll be sad."

"That's a vicious paradox isn't it."

"Exactly," said Brogan.

"I could ask them if I may marry you."

"You could but Da's answer would overrule theirs, and you don't give a damn about anybody's opinion on that. Yours and mine are the only ones that matter."

"And that's why I haven't used the stone myself," admitted Draco.

"It isn't a very useful artifact is it?" said Brogan.

"No, but it seems silly to have it and not use it."

"We can put it in a vault, we have lots of vaults you know."

"I guess we should, maybe someday it will be useful."

"Are you going to ask him?"

"Ask who?" said Draco turning red.

Brogan just laughed at him.

Draco did ask Snape, bless his heart, Snape was probably outrageously rude and tormentful with him. Either that or he just said 'obviously' and then they talked about potions. Because Draco took Brogan out on a romantic picnic and proposed to her and she screamed and cried and said 'yes but not for like another year because I'm still on probation.'

And Draco said, "obviously" because he had his Potions Masters test in eight months.

Narcissa despaired about ever getting grandchildren at this rate.

But the wedding did come to pass, a super grand affair at Malfoy Manor. It seemed as though hundreds of people were there. "I didn't know there were this many wizards in the United Kingdom," gasped Brogan looking out at the crowds.

"No, there aren't," said Draco, "but you knew my mum had relatives in France."

Walking down the aisle was almost as bad as walking out to meet Voldemort for the final battle. She was certain that she would trip or her dress would tear, or, and this was a really creative fear, the paternus potion would start to work again and she would turn into Harry Potter halfway down the aisle. In front of all these people that she had let believe Harry was dead for years.

"Do you know what's the worst part of that scenario?" Draco asked her. Brogan shook her head, his eyes were twinkling.

"I would marry you anyway. Imagine the scandal, some sort of drag Harry Potter zombie lurching down the aisle and I would just go through with the ceremony."

"You would?"

"It's that or return all the gifts Princess." There were a lot of gifts.

The aisle was absolutely terrifying but Da was so pale and shaky that he completely distracted her from her own trauma. And it wasn't like Voldemort was waiting for her at the end, it was Draco.

 

- Child, the first-

A year later Brogan was stretched out on the couch with her feet in Draco's lap while he studied astonomy books looking for baby names. "Why don't we let my da pick it out again?" suggested Brogan.

"I refuse to allow a baby to be named 'Sock Malfoy'."

"Oh you jerk," said Brogan kicking him. "All these years you've hated my name haven't you? I remember how you warned me that my da would give me an awful name, and then you were right." And suddenly she was crying. Again.

The auror's office had to put her on an extended maternity leave because she kept crying at her desk, and in the interrogation room, and on patrols. And once, unfortunately, in the elevator. Mr. Weasley had to hustle from his office and collect her that day.

Draco was working for St. Mungo's these days, helping to create specialized healing potions like the sleep potion he and Snape had worked on together for Brogan. Lately though he was obsessed with hormones and hormone balancing potions for the easily upset expectant mum. If he ever came up with something that worked he had all the packaging and advertising set to go in his head.

In the meantime cuddling worked. He gingerly moved Brogan's feet and turned her around so she could tuck her head against his chest and wipe her tears and snot all over him. He adored his princess and always felt like he had hoodwinked the whole world by getting Harry Potter as his wife, but she did test him on occasion. Although, now he felt bad for thinking that, his poor girl was all out of sorts because of him.

And really, that sock comment wasn't so awful. It had come to him weeks ago and he held it close waiting for the perfect opportunity, even now, it was still funny. In a moment, when the tears subsided, he was sure Brogan would think about it again and agree with him, it was comedy gold.

There were tests to see if the baby was a boy or a girl but Brogan was touchy about using them. She was touchy about all gender issues, Hermione said she had a unique feminist perspective. Ron said, yeah she's touchy as hell. So that meant they had to have two baby names picked out, one for each. Or as Brogan liked to sneer: a constellation name and a flower name.

"I'm sure it will be obvious as soon as he's born. Or she. We can be spontaneous. Because even if you do come up with the perfect name it might not be perfect once we actually see the baby." Said Brogan and she was right, it must have been mother's intuition.

Once Draco held his son in his arms all the poncy little names he had so carefully researched and rated went flying out of his head. He was so smitten that Sock probably would have been acceptable if Brogan suggested it.

"Well, what are we going to call him?" he asked.

"Your family will hate me," she warned.

"What about Harry?"

"Harry is awful -how could you suggest something so narcissistic?"

"Didn't your mother invent that shit?" snapped Brogan meanly.

"We could use the stone and ask somebody. I knew we were too young to be parents, I have no idea what we're doing." moaned Draco.

"Don't worry the house elves will help us." said Brogan.

"You're going to let house elves name the baby, that's worse than letting your father have another go."

"No, I meant they'll keep us from accidentally maiming the baby."

"Don't even joke about such a thing. Are you feeling post partem depression? I've done research on that as part of my hormone study. You must tell me immediately if you are," insisted Draco

"So you can keep the baby safe?" asked Brogan.

"No, I have potions to test. It's really hard to find a witch who will admit to post partem depression, it's like a matter of pride or something."

"Pride has rarely been one of my faults." She boasted.

"Harry Malfoy just sounds stupid." sulked Draco.

"Well you need a middle name to make it properly pompous. Harry Draco Malfoy. Harrison Draco Malfoy." tested Brogan.

"Harrison, that doesn't make sense it sounds like Harry's son. Oh, well I guess it makes a little sense. But really, Harrison Draco Malfoy?"

"Keep saying it, it gets better" promised Brogan.

 

-Child, the second-

"Has a name popped into your head for this one? I didn't even bother flipping through the books this time." admitted Draco.

"Not that you had time, Harry's been a needy little bastard lately hasn't he?"

"Well he knew he had to stock up on parental attention before this little witch stole it all away." responded Draco giving little butterfly kisses to his new daughter. "So, is she going to be Lily something?"

"I don't think so, she doesn't have the green eyes, she has your eyes Draco."

"Stop, that was almost romantic you. We could name her Blue Eyes White Dragon."

"Really?" asked Brogan with faint excitement.

"No, not really."

"What about Bianca, doesn't that mean white or something?" hazarded Brogan.

"Merlin's pants you can't just guess at the meaning of a child's name." cuddling his precious little daughter away from the crazy lady.

"How about Drucilla, doesn't that mean spoiled?"

"Now you're mocking the dear sweet thing, just because she has blue eyes like a Malfoy doesn't mean she's going to be a demanding little spoiled brat."

"Sorry Draco," said Brogan feeling guilty.

"To judge if she's going to be a brat," Draco continued, "you really need to look at the mouth, see how it turns down there, just there in displeasure," Draco kissed the spot. "That's how you know she'll be impossible to please. That's my girl," he crowed. Harry was often too robust for Draco, though he would never admit it.

"So pick some delicate impossible to grow flower name for her, I'll come up with some nickname later and use it to make her love me best." decided Brogan before she continued, "How about Violet? It's so close to violent and reminds me of your mother when she doesn't get what she wants."

 

-Child, the third-

"Merlin's beard, how are we here again?" groaned Draco.

"I don't know, well actually I do. Didn't it go, 'Draco I'm so effing tired tonight if you touch me I'll kill you', 'oh come on Princess. I'll make it worth the effort.' Ass hat, now look at all the effort we've got. Another blighter to raise."

"True, but look at this one. I think it's your cutest one yet. And think of all the ways we've ruined the other two, this one is like a clean slate. We can get it right this time. I'm giddy at the prospect."

"Draco, what have I told you about sampling your post partem potions. They're lady potions, you shouldn't be taking them."

"Well, what does she look like?" asked Draco ignoring the tired old lady potion joke.

"Is Raisin close enough to a flower name? Grapes are fruit after all. Well Turnips are vegetables so they're definitely out."

"You moan and complain about these things but then you always end up loving them so much." said Draco unconcernedly.

"Of course I moan, do you have any idea how painful childbirth is?"

"Let's call her Primrose. You almost liked that name last time." said Draco meaning how many years ago when they were choosing a girl name for Harry.

"You're right I did." agreed Brogan and that was that one.

 

-Child, the fourth-

"I swear to Merlin if you make one more Weasley joke you will not live to regret it."

"But look darling, we've evened the teams. Two and two isn't that important? Now they can play mixed doubles tennis, Pansy will be so proud of us."

"I'm sure. Are we going to appease Narcissa with a star name this time?"

"I don't know all the cool star names are taken, the only one that's remotely easy to spell that's left is Polaris and that's just stupid."

"Hmm, if we name him Cygnus they'll make beak jokes. My god this is Severus' grandson too, the beak could still happen."

"How do you think the grandparents are holding up?" asked Draco still staring at his son.

"I don't know, but I did hear that they won't let you leave the ward until the baby is named. Is that supposed to inspire us to choose a name faster? Because really all the other sprogs are out there.

This is absurd. Hermione is five minutes late with her period and she and Ron have agreed on the perfect name by lunch." complained Brogan.

"I don't like it when your stories include Hermione, periods and food. You need to pick two and not periods."

"I don't like your face."

"Testy? I have a potion for that, a very effective potion." promised Draco.

"So effective that we're here again."

"Does Severus have a middle name?" asked Draco.

"Yes but he hates it."

"There's his mum, Prince. We could just name him Prince because you know he's going to be one, those sisters doting the jam out of him."

"It's illegal in Britain to name your baby Prince or Princess."

"So? What do we care about that?" demanded Draco.

"He might want to get a driver's license someday Draco."

"Oh he's definitely going to want a driver's license." replied Draco brightening.

"Draco, no."

"No what?" he asked with a twist of his lips.

"I know you, you aren't going to name my son Jaguar."

"What about Aston?" he wheedled.

"Your parents will never get it, I love it."

"And I love you."

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of Snape's Daughter