A Family Affair

The door to Severus' sitting room opened unexpectedly, and Harry and Ron tumbled inside, grinning at each other over some private joke. Ron stopped short at the sight of Hermione standing in the circle of Draco's arms. Disregarding the sudden intrusion, Draco whirled Hermione around in time to the song coming over the Wireless, grinning down into her smiling face.

When Ron realised that Hermione was dancing with Draco - thus explaining her proximity to their former enemy - his heart began to beat again.

"I can't!" Hermione protested with a laugh as she tripped over her own feet and knocked Draco into a table. "I told you I'm hopeless at this."

"No one's hopeless, Hermione," Harry contradicted. "If I can learn to dance, anyone can." He paused a moment. "Except maybe Ron."

"You just need to want to learn," Draco explained, dropping onto the sofa. "I'll have to work on finding the right motivation," he added in a sultry tone as he pulled Hermione down onto his lap.

Ron grimaced, sickened by the sight of Draco Malfoy snuggling up to his ex-wife. Harry smiled stupidly at the couple as he took a seat on the opposite end of the sofa. Alex immediately invited herself into 'Uncle' Harry's lap for a cuddle.

"You smell funny," Alex informed Harry, wrinkling up her tiny, aristocratic nose in disgust.

"I do not!" Harry protested.

"Yes you do," Alex insisted, climbing off his lap and going to curl up in an armchair.

"Actually, Harry, she's right," Ron noted.. "You smell like one of Snape's nastier potions."

Draco smothered a laugh in Hermione's hair. "Taken up smoking, Potter?" he asked knowingly.

Harry flushed a little but said nothing.

"Whatever gets you through the night," Draco added with a slight shrug.

"You really shouldn't encourage him," Sean cautioned as he emerged from the sauna-like steam of the bath room. Disapproval was written on his lean face. "We all need to be able to think clearly tonight."

"About that," Harry cut in. "I've been thinking..."

"Did you hurt yourself?" Draco teased before he could stop himself.

Harry scowled at the other man, the expression looking foreign on his pale face. "As I was saying," he continued in what was supposed to be a stern voice. "I've been thinking, and I don't like the idea of Sirius putting himself into danger. Again. Remus, either, for that matter. And I'm certain Ron would rather keep his brothers safe, as well."

"What do you propose?" Draco asked, suddenly serious.

"That we leave now. Lucius and the others are more relaxed during daylight hours. They seem to suspect that any offensive would be launched at night."

"Go on."

"Snape managed to get his hands on an invisibility cloak when Alexis was born. I have one as well...."

"That will get the two of us close enough for me to take out the wards, with you watching out for me - am I right?"

Harry nodded. "Then we'll go in, in pairs, as planned. You and I will take the front, and Hermione and Ron can go in through the door to the rose garden. We'll give them a signal when the wards are down."

"Right," Draco said, locking his gaze with Harry's. "Do you realize how....Gryffindor...your plan is?"

"It's better than the alternative," Harry said quietly.

Draco sat in quiet contemplation for a moment. "Let's do it," he said at last.

"What about Alex?" Sean asked, looking down at the wide-eyed child who was struggling to understand the adult's conversation. "We can't leave her alone."

"That's where you come in," Harry explained.

"Oh HELL no," Sean replied vehemently.

"Sean," Draco cut in. "Please. I can trust you to take care of her. If we call anyone else, it'll give away our change of plans. I need you to do this, Sean."

"Goddammit, kid!" Sean raged, pacing like a caged animal. "All right," he said, throwing his hands up in a gesture of defeat. "You win. But you better come back, you hear me?"

"Why wouldn't he come back?" Alex asked, clearly frightened by all the commotion.

Gently pushing Hermione off his lap, Draco moved to kneel before his sister's chair. "Alex, I have a job that I have got to do. It's dangerous, but very important. I have to do it."

"Why?" Alex wanted to know.

Draco tried to come up with an answer that the child would both understand and accept, but he found himself at a complete loss.

"It's like in your Muggle film, Alex," Harry interrupted. "You remember how...what was his name? The one that ran away?"

"Simba," Alex provided helpfully.

"Yes, him. You remember how he had to face his uncle? It had to be done, and no one else could do it."

Alex nodded, dawning comprehension showing in her eyes.

"It's kind of like that," Harry concluded.

"Only without all the singing and dancing and small, furry creatures," Draco teased.

"I don't know about that," Hermione said. "We were dancing earlier, and Alex says she's been having you sing to her..."

"And we could always turn you into a ferret again," Ron added, a bit vindictively.

"A ferret?" Sean asked, amusement glinting in his bright blue eyes.

"That was a very traumatic experience for me," Draco replied in a hurt voice.

"I would imagine that being dropped from over fifty times one's own height would be rather traumatic," Hermione said sympathetically, glaring at her ex-husband.

"I've never cared for being entirely at anyone's mercy," Draco said quietly. The room was silent for a moment. "We should go now. Potter, go and fetch that cloak of yours."

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

Draco shut himself into Sirius' room to prepare for the coming confrontation with his father. After careful consideration, he pulled on a set of wizard's robes over his Muggle clothing. Reaching into the side pocket of Sean's backpack, he pulled out the lone item that resided there - the one thing that Sean never left home without.

The Glock 33 was a familiar, comforting weight in his palm. Rummaging in Sean's pack, he located the ammunition for the handgun. He checked the magazine, and then loaded it with one lone bullet. One was all he required - either it would find its mark and no more would be needed, or it would miss and he'd lose his only chance.

Slipping the gun into the pocket of his borrowed robes, Draco practiced drawing the weapon and bringing it to bear. The garment was enchanted so that a wizard could quickly and easily retrieve his wand and thus offered little resistance.

Tying his long brown hair back from his face, Draco went to rejoin his brothers-in-arms. Ready or not, the final countdown had begun.

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

Sometime later, Draco led the others along the back passageways of Hogwarts and past the wards to Apparate to the clearing near Malfoy Manor.

"When you can see us, come running," Draco instructed, trying to keep his tone light.

Ron and Hermione nodded tensely, and a moment later Draco and Harry disappeared beneath their cloaks. The two wizards clasped hands through the shimmery fabric so as not to lose one another as they moved about. Draco felt decidedly odd holding hands with Harry Potter.

Taking care to leave their surroundings as undisturbed as possible, the two moved nearer the ancient house. Draco arrested their approach when he was certain they were within range to cast the spells needed to dismantle the wards. Dropping Harry's hand, he transferred his wand from his left hand to his right and began to softly speak the words of his spell.

Time seemed meaningless while Draco worked on the wards. For Hermione and Ron, who had no frame of reference whatever, the time passed by very slowly. For Harry, who was trying to watch every direction at once in order to protect the other wizard, time stood still altogether. For Draco, however, the time passed too quickly; every second made discovery - by either Lucius and his minions or by Snape and Sirius - more likely.

At last, Draco's work was done. He was certain that the wards were down; as they were linked to his blood, he could feel the faintest tremor when they fell. He hoped desperately that his father hadn't felt that tremor as well.

"They're down," Draco said in a near-whisper.

"We're not signaling the others," Harry replied.

"Of course not. Do you really think I'm stupid, Potter? On second thought, don't answer that."

Harry smothered a chuckle in the silvery folds of his cloak. When he felt something brush his arm, he reached out, letting his hand slip along Draco's arm until they were once again hand in hand. Feeling a bit disconnected from reality, he let Draco lead him up to the front door of Malfoy Manor.

"Perhaps we should just ring the doorbell and run," Draco mumbled to himself before whispering a spell to unlock the door.

Giving Draco's hand a reassuring squeeze, Harry dropped the other man's hand and reached out to open the door. The slipped in, quiet as thieves, single-file, hoping. The entryway was clear, and they both allowed themselves a sigh of relief.

Draco threw off his cloak, eager to be rid of the confining fabric. Harry followed his lead, and gave him a questioning glance. The blond nodded towards one of the doorways leading off the foyer and headed in that direction, his left hand clutching his wand and his right in the pocket of his robes.

The two stole into the hallway and up the stairs, pausing often to listen for any signs of life. The house was strangely silent, however. The silence made them both uneasy.

On the first landing, Draco paused, turning as if to say something to Harry. His grey eyes went wide, and then suddenly he was in motion. In one fluid movement, he swept Harry aside with his left hand.

With the right, he pulled the Glock from his pocket. Raised it. Fired.

The bullet hit its mark, but - as Draco should have expected from years of experience - was a little higher and farther to the right than had been intended.

The smirk on Lucius Malfoy's face was replaced with a pained, enraged grimace as blood blossomed from the wound in his shoulder. He dropped his wand as he pitched forward onto his knees, clutching at his wound. On either side of him, Pansy Parkinson and the nameless dark wizard raised their wands and pointed them at the two men on the stairs.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry cried, sending those wands sailing through the air. A moment later, and both Pansy and the unknown wizard were stunned.

In spite of the tremendous pain he was clearly in, Lucius had retrieved his wand while his bodyguards were being dispatched. Taking advantage of his son's momentary shock, he shot off a spell of his own. Draco was taken completely by surprise, but Harry's reflexes had been honed first by Quidditch and later by his battles with Voldemort. The raven haired man threw himself between the two Malfoys.

Harry's knees buckled as the Cruciatus curse hit him, and suddenly he was tumbling down the stairs, free of the Unforgivable but with fresh jolts of pain shooting through his body. He lay at the bottom of the stairs, silent and unmoving.

Rage flashing in his stormy grey eyes, Draco dropped the gun at his feet, switching the wand to his free hand and leveling it at his father. Whatever curse might have left his lips died there as Ginny rushed into the room, putting herself between Lucius and his son.

Ginny looked down at Lucius with love and pity in her eyes, then she looked up at Draco. In an instant, her wand was trained on him.

"Say 'Goodbye' to your Daddy, Draco," she said coolly. "Imperio."

Once, long ago, Draco had been trained to fight off the Imperius curse. He had gotten quite good at resisting even his father's iron will. Years of living as a Muggle hadn't helped his spell resistance any. He found himself in the grip of the curse, powerless to stop it.

"Pick up the gun, Draco," Ginny said softly.

Draco dropped his wand on the floor at his feet as he bent to retrieve the discarded Glock. "Why are you listening to her?" a voice chimed up in the back of his mind. The voice sounded suspiciously like Sean. "Don't be such a fucking pussy, kid. Tell her where to get off."

"Put it to your temple, Draco," Ginny instructed calmly.

He raised the gun towards his face. Faltered.

"Now, Draco!"

Her voice was only moderately loud. Inside Draco's head however, she roared like a lion. Shaking, he raised the gun once again. Tucked the muzzle against his temple.

Realised through the haze that Ginny couldn't possibly accomplish what she wished to in this manner.

Somehow that one bit of information made all the difference. He felt the tendrils of control release his mind, but held the gun in place, buying himself a little time.

"Pull the trigger now, Draco love."

Draco closed his eyes, tried to think. Couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger, even knowing the gun was empty.

"Now!" Ginny screamed.

"No, I don't think so," Draco said calmly as he opened his eyes once again. Tossing the gun aside, he reached for his wand.

"Accio wand," Lucius said through clenched teeth.

Draco made a grab for his wand, but the spell worked faster. He was utterly defenceless.

Ginny helped Lucius to his feet, fussing over him like a concerned lover.

"Come here, boy," Lucius commanded.

As if of their own volition, Draco's feet hastened to obey his father's command. Lucius' voice held more sway than Imperius ever would.

"What have you done to yourself?" Lucius asked disgustedly as Draco stood motionless before him. His cold eyes swept over his son's long, brown hair, numerous earrings, and bronzed skin.

With an effort, Draco forced himself to meet his father's eyes, but remained completely silent. His steady gaze never faltering, never telegraphing his intentions, Draco shot a hand out and tugged his wand lose from his father's weakened left hand.

Backpedaling quickly, Draco brought his wand up, wondering how he would ever defend himself against both Ginny and Lucius but refusing to go down without a fight. Watching Draco stumble up the first few risers on the stairs, the older Malfoy laughed - a cold, triumphant sound - and brought his own wand to bear.

The last thing Draco heard was the silk-and-steel voice of his father casting the Killing Curse.