A Family Affair

Draco managed to struggle through American public school for the few weeks left in the academic year. He excelled at Mathematics, which he'd had a good basis for in Arithmancy; English; and History, which was not so very different from Professor Binns' class, really. Science was a bit of a struggle for him, as Muggles had such strange ideas about how things worked; being a wizard, Draco knew that a good many scientific principles flew in the face of magic, and therefore could not possibly be correct.

Shortly before the end of the school year, Draco managed to make his first enemy. Hurrying to a class he was already late for, Draco dashed around a corner and collided with a massive wall of angry boy who had been hurrying in the opposite direction around the same corner.

"Watch where you're going, asshole!" The boy snarled.

"Pardon me for being in your hallway," Draco drawled, moving to collect his scattered books and papers.

"You want to watch your smart mouth, punk," the other boy warned.

Draco's eyes narrowed and he straightened to face his fellow student. "And what if I don't?" he asked smoothly.

"Then you'll answer to me," the bigger boy replied threateningly. In a flash he grabbed Draco by the shirt front and slammed him against the metal lockers hard enough to rattle the ex-Slytherin's teeth. Although he was a bit alarmed to realise that his feet were not quite touching the ground, Draco didn't back down. He never had known when to quit.

"You'll excuse me if I find that thought less than harrowing," he said coolly.

A teacher had stepped out of a nearby classroom, drawn by the noise, and broken up the fight. Knowing the bigger boy's reputation, she had sent the two students to class rather than deal with having Billy McAllister angry with her. He wasn't the sort of person you wanted to be on the bad side of.

"Your ass is mine," Billy promised before he walked away.

Draco pushed the incident from his mind, not knowing enough to be concerned with the very real threat of the biggest gang-banger in the city, much less the school.

Over the summer, Nathan arranged for a private tutor for Draco, so that he would graduate from high school with Kate the following summer. In spite of his tutoring sessions, Draco was still left with a lot of free time over the holiday that he quite frankly was unsure what to do with.

The answer came from Jill. She taught him to play guitar, and also set him the task of helping her with the piano lessons she taught. The newly acquired guitar earned Draco a bit of admiration from some of Kaitlyn's crowd, and he suddenly found that he was not only tolerated by them but that they actually looked forward to his presence among them.

A young woman named Savannah Linyard especially enjoyed his company. Savannah, with her big blue eyes and her soft blonde curls, looked a bit like the Muggle paintings of angels that Draco had seen. However, Savannah was no angel. She had a fiery temper and an iron will, and when Kate's friend Matt provided the group with liquor one night, Savannah and Draco out-drank the lot of them.

It was while walking home from Savannah's house one afternoon that Draco landed himself in a bit of a mess. He was running late and cut through a small patch of woods that he believed would serve as a shortcut and get him home before curfew. Waiting in those woods, however, was Billy McAllister.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" a familiar voice rang out as a huge wall of hot, sweaty man stepped in front of Draco.

Draco was less than thrilled to see Billy McAllister standing in front of him. His apprehension turned to outright alarm as two of Billy's thugs stepped up from somewhere and grabbed Draco from behind, holding him firmly despite his best efforts to get away. If only he had a wand, he knew he could get away easily. But physical confrontation had never been his forte.

"I warned you, you candy-ass freak. You don't fuck with me. It's time to teach you a little lesson."

Struggling wildly to get free, Draco cast his eyes about the little clearing in the woods, trying to find a weapon, a way out...anything to help him. There was nothing. Draco braced himself against the blow he expected to feel at any second.

It took a moment for Draco's brain to register the fact that Billy was unbuckling the narrow leather belt that Karen Jaffe had bought for him a few weeks before. When his jeans and boxers were roughly jerked down, Draco's mind clicked back into gear and he began to thrash wildly, struggling to break free.

Cold steel pressed against his throat stilled him instantly. He reached out with his mind, with his soul, grasping for straws, calling on whatever deity might be listening to please, please let him have one of those unexpected bits of accidental magic.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion then. With the knife blade still pressed to the boy's throat, Billy dug into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out a lighter. He struck the lighter across his denim clad thigh to pop the lid open, then struck it against his leg again to spin the wheel. A flame burst into existence, and Billy held the lighter up before Draco's frightened green eyes for a moment, feeding off the terror in the boy's eyes. He moved the flame nearer to Draco's face, daring the boy to flinch. Fear of the blade pressed against his jugular outweighed the fear of the flame, and Draco willed himself to stay perfectly still. The flame licked at Draco's slightly pointed chin and the boy winced. Just a hint of heat, and then the lighter was drawn back again. Certain now that he had the boy's full attention, Billy lowered the lighter slowly, tauntingly. A cold sweat broke out on Draco's brow as he realised what Billy intended to do. He wanted to close his eyes, but they were firmly fixed on the flame in Billy's hand.

The sharp snapping sound of a small branch breaking drew the attention of all four boys. The hand holding the knife to Draco's throat flinched slightly, nicking him. Billy didn't even notice as a thin line of bright red blood bloomed against Draco's pale skin. He was looking off to the edge of the clearing, to what had made the sound.

Standing stock still in the fringe of trees was a tall, reedy man. His worn leather work boots were planted firmly a shoulder's width apart, and his hands were raised before him, his right wrist clamped firmly in his left hand. He had a Glock 33 pointed directly at Billy McAllister's head.

"Drop the knife and the Zippo, you piece of shit," he called out.

Billy did as he was told.

Keeping the .357 aimed at Billy, the man on the edge of the clearing stepped forward slowly. "Down on your face, Billy. Nice and slow."

Again, Billy did exactly as he was instructed. As soon as Billy was lying face down on the ground, the man kicked the knife far away from his prone body. "You two drop the kid and get the fuck out of here, before I blow a hole in your friend," the man said, keeping the gun trained on Billy and making sure that all three of the gang members were in his sight. The two goons let go of Draco and fled. The man might be outnumbered, but he had them out-gunned.

Trembling with an adrenaline rush borne of fear, Draco managed to drag his clothes back on.

"Get the knife," the man said. Draco hurried to comply, wondering why the thought hadn't occurred to him already. "Billy," the man said, "you're gonna stay there till you count to five hundred - slowly. If you come up too soon, you're gonna wish you hadn't. Comprende?"

"Yeah I fucking comprende. You're a dead man," the boy on the ground snarled.

"Promises, promises. Just remember, you're trespassing Billy. I could kill you and walk away untouched. You don't want to fuck with me."

Without ever taking his eyes off the boy lying on the ground, the man walked over to where Draco stood watching the strange scene unfold before him. "Come on," he said to Draco, gently taking the knife from the boy's trembling hand. "I'll get you home safe."

Since the man had just saved his life - or at least his manhood - Draco chose to trust him. He followed the stranger out of the clearing and through the woods. A short distance away, hidden by the trees, stood a magnificent two-story modernized log house. The man led Draco up to the back door of the house, slid open the glass door, and gestured for the boy to precede him into the house. In the cool, comfortable -and above all, safe- house, Draco felt some of the adrenaline drain away, leaving him feeling rather light-headed and weak in the knees.

The stranger seemed to sense this. "Make yourself comfortable," he said simply as he crossed the room and disappeared through an open doorway. Draco sank down onto the overstuffed sofa in a slight daze. The man reappeared a moment later with a glass in each hand. He handed one to Draco, and the boy took it numbly.

After a hesitant sniff, Draco took a deep drink of the amber liquid, grateful for the burning sensation sliding down his throat with the liquid. He coughed a little and his eyes began to water.

"Easy there," the man said as he dragged an ottoman over in front of Draco and sat down. "I don't think we've met, but I've seen you around. I'm Sean Jacobs."

Draco took another drink of the whiskey and said nothing.

"You have a name?" Sean asked, smiling a little.

"Uh.. sorry. Michael. Talbot."

"Finish your drink, Michael, and then you can get cleaned up before I take you home."

Draco drained the glass and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Sean smiled at him. The man didn't seem so dangerous with a smile on his face and a drink in his hand rather than a gun. Studying Sean for the first time, Draco was surprised to find that he appeared to be quite young, perhaps only a few years older than Draco himself.

"Bathroom's through there," Sean said, pointing toward the entryway. "First door on the right. I'm sure you don't want your parents to see you looking like that."

Nodding mutely, Draco wandered across the little foyer and into the bathroom. Flicking on the lights, he stared in horror at his reflection in the mirror. Blood was running down his neck and staining the top of his shirt. Draco had never cared much for the sight of his own blood.

As Draco was cleaning the still seeping wound, Sean appeared in the open doorway. He slipped past the boy to rummage in a cabinet where he managed to find some antibiotic ointment and gauze pads. After quickly tending to Draco's wounds, he tilted the boy's head back to look into his eyes for a moment. He nodded.

"You don't seem to be in shock. I think I would be after that little ordeal. Billy McAllister is not someone you want to mess with, Michael."

"I think I've figured that out, thanks," Draco replied sarcastically.

Sean gave a little snort. "Yeah I guess you did figure it out, and the hard way at that. Come on, let's get you home."

A week or so later, Draco decided on a whim to cut through the woods again on his way home from Savannah's house. He was careful to keep an eye out for Billy and his thugs, but he saw no sign of them. After getting just a bit lost, he finally managed to find his way to Sean's house again.

Sean was surprised and pleased to see the boy he knew as Michael Talbot at his back door. He greeted him with a wide smile and a shot of whiskey.

"You know I'm not old enough to drink," Draco told him with a lopsided grin as he took the offered glass.

"Like I give a fuck," Sean replied, smiling.

They talked about cars and women and music and all the normal things that men find to talk about for a long while before Sean offered to drive Draco home.

By the end of the summer, Draco's visits to Sean were almost as frequent as his visits to Savannah. As he entered into his senior year of high school, Draco had made his first real Muggle friend as well as his first real Muggle enemy. He had his first serious girlfriend and he had his guitar. He was learning from Sean how to drive, he was teaching music to little kids, and he was learning what it was like to have a brother and a sister. Life as a Muggle was beginning to feel normal for Draco.

He couldn't decide if that was a good thing, or a bad one.

*****

School started up again in August, and Draco fell back into the routine of classes and homework. He often spent time at Savannah's house under the guise of studying, but all they really studied was one another. By the time that Halloween came and went, Savannah had gone from being Draco's first serious girlfriend to being his first lover.

Around that same time, Billy McAllister was finally caught red-handed by the local police and locked away, much to Draco's relief.

For the most part, life was going smoothly. In fact, if it were not for the daily struggle with the hated contact lenses and the twice month battles with Muggle hair dye, Draco might have actually been able to forget for a time that he had ever had any other life. He might have been able to forget all about his father, and his mother. He might have been able to forget the feeling of power he had while casting a spell, or the feeling of freedom he had when flying on a broomstick. He might have been able to forget the thrill that went through him when he caught the Snitch or won one of his verbal wars against Potter and Weasley. But the ongoing challenge of keeping his disguise intact -and his efforts to keep his doing so a secret from his foster family- assured that he would never forget his past.

Often as Draco lay in Savannah's arms, he felt a profound sadness threaten to overwhelm him. He felt guilty about not telling her the truth about his former life. He hated the fact that it was Michael Talbot rather than Draco Malfoy that she had fallen in love with. And he knew that he could never give her a more permanent commitment. Draco felt torn between holding on to one of the most precious things in his life and letting go of the girl he cared for so as not to hurt her any worse than was necessary. In the end, he held on for as long as he could.

************

Draco's first Christmas away from home came, and he suffered a horrible bout of depression. For the first time in many months, he found himself wishing for a sleep draught so that he could simply hide away from his pain. He missed home and his mother very much.

His mind often turned to Hogwarts as the holidays approached. He thought of the Great Hall with its twelve massive Christmas trees, and the splendid Christmas feast, and the last visit to Hogwarts before the holiday to buy presents for his friends. He couldn't help but wonder what they were doing now - Pansy and Vincent and Greg and Blaise...and Hermione.

Everyone believed that his parents had both died, and that this was his first Christmas without them. Essentially, this was the case, and for all Draco knew, it could very well be true. The kind words from Jill and Danny only made him feel worse, however, and he began to avoid everyone as much as possible.

On Christmas Eve, Draco was sulking in his room, lying in bed and staring at the ceiling. When a knock sounded on his bedroom door, he ignored it, hoping that whichever O'Brian was outside of it would simply go away.

"Michael," Jill called. "You have a visitor."

Groaning, Draco clambered out of bed. He didn't want to see Savannah. He didn't want to see anyone. Still, he dutifully reported to the family room to greet his guest.

Draco was pleasantly surprised to find Sean Jacobs sitting on the sofa chatting with Adam about whatever video game the boy was currently addicted to. The young man looked up as Draco entered the room and flashed him a bright smile.

"Merry Christmas, Michael," he called.

Draco gave him a ghost of a smile. "Happy Christmas, Sean," he returned.

"Haven't seen you around lately. Kept hoping you'd drop by so I could give you your Christmas present."

"He's become a hermit," Kaitlyn said from her seat on the hearth. The way she was looking at Sean made Draco smirk a little; she looked as though she wanted nothing more than to drag him to her bedroom and never let him out again.

"Yeah, well, we all do that sometimes, I guess," Sean said. He pulled a small box from the pocket of his heavy brown leather jacket and held it out to Draco.

The boy looked at his friend with a puzzled and slightly troubled expression on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but Sean cut him off.

"Now, don't go telling me that I shouldn't have gotten you anything. I wanted to, so I did. That's one of the advantages to having money, and it's one of the advantages of playing by your own rules - you get to do pretty much anything you want to."

Draco grinned wryly. Had Sean been a wizard at Hogwarts, he would surely have been sorted into Slytherin. "Thank you," he said, as he gingerly took the box from Sean's outstretched hand.

Perching on the arm on the sofa, Draco unwrapped the small package. Inside was a plain white box. Lifting the lid, Draco found the contents wrapped in layers of tissue paper. He folded back the paper and stared in confusion at what lay inside - a pewter keychain shaped like a dragon which held two familiar keys.

"What are those to?" Adam asked.

"They're the keys to Sean's car," Draco replied, bewildered.

"Your car, Michael," Sean said.

"What?" Draco breathed, sliding from the arm of the sofa onto the seat in shock.

"Holy shit! You just gave him a car?" Kaitlyn cried.

"Kaitlyn, watch your language, young lady," Jill admonished from the doorway.

"The title's still in my name, but we'll switch it over when you turn 18."

Draco's jaw was clenched and his hands were shaking. Long ago his parents had given him such extravagant gifts, and they had seemed his due. Now he knew he didn't deserve anything so spectacular, and he was slightly overwhelmed.

"Come on," Sean said gently, "Let's go show her off."

Afraid that his voice would desert him, Draco merely nodded. Grabbing his coat, he walked with Sean out to the driveway, followed by Kaitlyn and Adam.

"Holy shit!" Kaitlyn cried again. "That's not just a car. That's a fucking '65 Mustang fastback. I so hate you now, Mike," she babbled, hugging her foster brother unexpectedly.

Draco knew the car well. He had spent a good deal of time over the summer learning to drive it. He had also spent some time under the hood, learning basic mechanics. While he had secretly hoped to own one like it one day, he had never expected to have this one handed to him.

Eventually Adam and Kaitlyn went back into the house, leaving Draco alone with Sean.

"Sean, I can't accept this from you," Draco said.

"You can and you will, and that's the end of the discussion," Sean said firmly. "Look, I know how hard it's been on you this past year. You lost everything and had to start over. I've been there, Michael. I know how tough it is. I just thought you could use a little Christmas magic," he continued more gently.

Draco flinched inwardly at the word 'magic' but said nothing for a long moment. "A mere 'thank you' just seems so inadequate," he said at last.

Sean laughed. "Yeah, well, you probably won't be thanking me when I put you to work helping me restore the car I bought to replace this one. My new project. It needs a lot of help, but it's got potential."

Favouring Sean with a genuine smile at last, Draco held out his hand to the older man. "Thank you, Sean," he said.

Sean took the boy's hand in his to shake it, but then pulled Draco in for a quick, manly hug. "You're welcome, kid," he said.

After driving Sean home, Draco drove solo in the Mustang for the first time. With nothing but the car, the road, and the radio, he felt a freedom akin to if not exactly like flying. Somehow, he was certain that feeling of freedom was exactly the reason Sean had given him the car.