A Life Half Lived

CHAPTER 12

Morgan sat next to Draco in Snape's office. His earlier euphoria over winning the match had worn off, and the boy was looking unusually drawn. He also wasted no time in coming to the point.

"Can I spend Christmas with you, Aunt Morgan?" he asked, "I don't want to go home - I can't go home."

Morgan frowned. This was more serious than it seemed if Draco didn't want to go home.

"I had been planning to spend Christmas with P," she said, "but I can change my plans. Why don't you want to go home, Draco? What's wrong?"

The boy looked discomforted. "I wouldn't want you to change your plans, especially since I suppose they include Professor Snape, " he said, ignoring her questions.

Morgan blushed. "I am hoping they will include the Professor," she said gently, "however at this stage they do not. You still haven't answered my questions, Draco."

Draco squirmed. "It's Mother and Father," he blurted out - the self-assured seventeen year old disappeared, and a small boy emerged. Most people would have been surprised to see the tears in his eyes. "They barely speak. And when they do, it's so cold. Father's also wanting me to commit to certain things. Things I'm not sure that I want to do," he said cryptically.

Draco tried to be circumspect - he thought that his aunt had no idea his father was a DeathEater - believed her to be the social butterfly she appeared.

Morgan took a deep breath. It was now or never, she supposed. "Your father wants you to commit to Voldemort, doesn't he?"

Draco looked at her - his eyes wide with astonishment, and slowly nodded. "You don't want to - or are not sure?"

"I don't know," said Draco. "Two years ago I would have said yes, but well, things change."

Morgan nodded. "You've spent time with people to whom purity of blood means nothing - who believe that it's more important to be true to yourself than true to some obscure bloodline."

Draco nodded again, and looked at his aunt. "I'm afraid, Aunt Morgan. Afraid what my father will do to me if I disobey him. What he'll do to mother. But - I need to work out what I want - and I can't do that at home."

Morgan's heart went out to her nephew - and she stood and put her arms around him, kissing the pale hair. "Leave it to me, Draco," she said. "I'll arrange everything." She shifted around so she could face him. "I can't promise it'll be just you and I. And you will have to see your parents at least once. But I do promise that you will have all the time you need. No pressure. "

The boy looked grateful. "Thanks, Auntie," he said, reverting to a childhood term. "By the way - are you really shagging Professor Snape?" he asked incredulously. "Whatever do you see in him?"

Morgan looked startled at the question, and none too pleased at the crudity of it. "Firstly, Draco," she said sternly - looking more like Pilar than her normal carefree self, "that sort of question is crude and childish in the extreme -not one I would expect from a gentleman. Secondly, it's none of your dammed business." She took a deep breath, "and I have no earthly idea what it is I see in him. But he makes me feel whole - and when I'm away from him I count the minutes until we're together again," she finished softly - almost talking to herself.

Draco got up and hugged his Aunt. She was mad, but he had never seen her like this - so introspective. He'd seen all her moods in his life; lust - for life, for men; angst when a boyfriend went sour (he hated it when she moved onto the reading of romance novels!); hatred and joy.

And now he thought he saw love. But there was something else. Some sort of hunger - and something even more intense. Draco Malfoy shivered - for the first time in his life he felt vaguely apprehensive around his Aunt Morgan. And for the first time in his life he truly looked at the woman - and started to see beneath the surface.

Aunt Morgan was much, much more than she seemed. He hoped she would always be on his side. And he pitied anybody who crossed her.

As he left the office, he thought he saw a shadow move and slipped into the shadows himself, smiling as he saw Snape open the office door and enter.

He silently wished his aunt luck, and wondered how he would ever say "Uncle Severus."