Thin Lines

"Daddy! Daddy! Look what I found!" the little boy shouted, stumbling up the few porch steps to where his father sat working.

"What do you have there, Dom?" Draco reached out and placed him on his lap. Dominic opened his tiny hands to reveal a small green caterpillar on a half eaten leaf.

"Oh, brilliant!" Dominic beamed up at Draco.

"Can I keep him, Daddy? I could feed him leaves and take care of him." He gave Draco his best pout.

"I'm sorry, but you can't keep him. One day this little caterpillar is going to grow up to be a big, beautiful butterfly." The little boy frowned up at him thoughtfully.

"Okay, but keep Briseis away while I find a place for him." Dominic concluded sadly. Draco put him down and he tottered off toward the little patch of trees by his swing set.

"I promise. Not too fast now." Draco smiled after him and picked up the curious kitten as she prepared to follow after him. "Nice try, Briseis." He opened the sliding glass door and placed her gently back inside.

For all of the years in his childhood he had spent abhorring Muggle things and Muggles in general, this life suited him. It hadn't been easy, a rich, smug, talented wizard like himself adjusting to a normal Muggle lifestyle. But, he had done it. He had done it first for Hermione and then for Dominic. For the four years following their graduation from Hogwarts, Draco had acted as a spy for the Order. However, the more years he spent within the institution of Dark Magic, the more horrible the things he had to do to prove and maintain his loyalty became until he could no longer do it anymore. It was around this time that he and Hermione decided to get married. It was this decision that ultimately made it obvious to the entire community of Death Eaters that he was a traitor. Thus, they were forced into hiding; this meant very little magic use, no apparating under any circumstances and that they had to disappear into American suburbia like Muggles. Of course Hermione could never stay out of the fight. She remained an active member the Order of the Phoenix and he followed suit. They corresponded with them through Muggle mail and when an emergency arose, through port keys. To be safe, they moved around a lot, especially after they had Dominic.

Looking at him now, playing in the grass happy and worry free, Draco thought about how much of Hermione he could see in Dominic. Everyone observed how remarkable the resemblance between he and Draco was. Physically, Dominic shared many of Draco's defining characteristics: silvery blond hair, striking, sharp features and piercing blue-grey eyes. But in every other way, he reminded him of Hermione. His curiosity, his thirst for learning and he general good nature Dominic all got from her: all the good things. Every time Dominic smiled, it was like she was alive again, like she was sitting right next to him.

~~~

Hogwarts, 7^th year

Draco reached the astronomy tower, breathless, his head swimming. The seesaw of conflicting thoughts in his head was making him nauseous. He stumbled out onto the balcony and slid down into the corner. He had run away from her. She was pushing him; pushing in a direction it scared him to go because there would be no turning back. He was being groomed to be a Death-Eater. He'd spent his whole life in that world. Up until now that had been fine. In fact, it was all he'd ever had, ever known. He wasn't good with having choices. He had a father that made them for him. Now he had options and choices and his own original thoughts.

Draco had spent the summer deep in the depths of what can only be described as his own private prison. With the war silently raging in the wizarding world, Voldemort had yet to unleash the full extent of his forces. He was waiting; he was waiting for the next generation to be ready. Sure he had hundreds of loyal followers all over the world, but most of them were getting older and no longer possessed the stamina and quick reflexes need to battle The Order and their cohorts. He needed an army of young wizards and witches to back the knowledge and experience of the original Death-Eaters. As his father was fairly high up Voldemort's hierarchical chain, Draco was expected to represent him as such and be the same kind of forceful leader for his generation that his father was for his. After seventeen years of living with Lucius, he was forced into indifference. It wasn't as if he was doing his father's bidding because he believed in his cause; like many other talents in his life, he was just good at it. In his earlier years, he had done it to impress his father, to gain his approval. Draco had now come to realize that what he had wanted would never come the way he wanted it to. Even when he did what his father wanted, it was never enough for Lucius. Despite his growing contempt for the elder Malfoy, he knew nothing else. Draco knew he was naturally mean-spirited and had very little tolerance for the frivolities others his age engaged in; unless it was something competitive. The only things that had made him feel anything close to satisfaction or happiness were school and Quidditch. The only person he could never seem to beat at anything was Hermione. His grades were excellent, but they still felt short in comparison to hers.

Hermione wanted to understand where he came from. She honestly wanted to know what his life was like. That he could explain. It was when she started probing him about his father and the Death Eaters that he was at a loss. The shards of loyalty he still held toward his father kept him from telling her anything important or useful to the other side. Yet, he had realized tonight that he couldn't give her a reason. He really couldn't tell her what he stood for or why he stood for it. Truth be told, he really didn't know. It was just how it was. The more he thought about it now, the less the reasons they were supposed to be on opposite sides became.

~~~

In the two years since Hermione's death, Draco had thrown himself into his work. He no longer had to worry about his father; he was caught shortly after Hermione was killed. This made Dominic and him slightly safer than they had been. Still, Draco remained a threat, a minor one, but still a threat to the Death Eaters well being. Thus he still has to be careful. He didn't move around as often they had once had to. Now, with Dominic about to turn five, Draco was trying to figure out whether or not to put him into a Muggle school. That meant staying in once place and he wasn't really sure that it was safe enough for them to do that yet. He was already being slightly careless by using the small amount of magic he did within the house and while he was out working.

Draco added a short note about schooling to Harry on the back of the picture Dominic had drawn for him and Ron. Despite their differences, Harry had been very helpful to Draco over the years, especially when it came to Dominic. It had been very important to Hermione when he was born that Harry be named his godfather. And in true sickening Potter fashion, he had always kept true to that. Draco let Dominic drawn pictures for his Aunt Ginny and his uncles to be sent in with his monthly reports to The Order of the Phoenix. Mostly, these reports contained the names of possible members of Voldemort's entourage that were connected to the Death Eaters captured and interrogated by the American branch, The Order of the Eagle. Occasionally, he had documents confiscated from raids and other pertinent information to send along as well, but the information and the captures had started slowing down in the past several months.

As Draco added some final notes on his report, Dominic came back up the stairs rubbing his eyes and yawning. Seeing the gold and pink hue the sky had taken on, he realized that time had gotten away from him again.

"Almost bed time, isn't it buddy?" Dominic looked up at him sleepily and reached up his arms, which Draco responded to by lifting him up and carrying him back into the house.

With an all too familiar stubbornness, the four year old insisted on putting on his pajamas all by himself. Draco let him struggle with it for a few minutes before he laughed and helped him finish. Kissing the picture of Hermione on his bedside table, Dominic climbed hap hazardously up into his bed.

"Daddy, when I grow up, will I be a butterfly, too?" he asked as Draco tucked him in and shut the blinds. He let half a smile come to his lips to keep him from laughing.

"Oh, no. You'll grow up to be something better, something great like Mommy or Uncle Harry."

Dominic cocked his head to the side and thought for a minute. "Or like you, Daddy?"

Draco only kissed his forehead and turned off the light. "Go to sleep, Dom."

~~~

Hogwarts, 7^th Year

Draco admired the image that stared back at him from the mirror in the private Heads bathroom. The emerald hue of his graduation robes made his grey eyes more prominent and his features sharper. His narcissism was interrupted by a stern knocking at the door.

"Bloody hell! I haven't been in here that long, Granger. I'm nearly done."

"Come off it, Malfoy."

He opened the door and smirked at her, already dressed in her scarlet robes, hair fixed up around her face and her make-up highlighting the softness of her face.

"Stop staring at yourself. You're not that pretty." She smirked back at him, hands on her hips.

"No, but you certainly are." He pulled her inside with him and pushed her back up against the door with a smoldering kiss. He lived for moments like this. Moments when he didn't have to worry about getting caught or what would happen if they were. He often marveled at how thin the line between love and hate really was.

Keeping their secret had proven a challenge, but not a difficult one. They had hated each other for so long, it wasn't hard to for them to keep it up for appearance sake. They'd only had seven years of practice to back up their insults and avoidance. It was only at night, in the safety of the private Head's common room that they could let all of that go and just be. When they talked, they mostly talked about the war. The more he listened to Hermione talk and the more he thought about it on his own time, the more he wondered what his life could be like with Voldemort, without his father.

Draco and Hermione composed themselves quickly and left for the Great Hall, making an effort to walk a safe distance from one another. It didn't take long until they reached the clusters of students waiting to enter for the ceremony. As he slipped seamlessly into his group of Slytherins, he smiled slightly to himself as he imagined the look on Hermione's face when he told her decision. Tonight was the night he would tell her he no longer wanted to be a Death Eater.

~~~

Putting some milk and soft food out to distract the kitten, he slipped back out into the dusk to clean up the back porch. He added a salutation and signature to his report and placed it and Dominic's picture inside the envelope he had already addressed to go out. He made a neat pile of books and papers and, placing the envelope on top, carried it back into the kitchen. Despite his best efforts to keep her occupied, Briseis escaped into the back yard when he opened the door. With a sigh and a soft curse, he ventured back out empty-handed to find her before the dark set in. Luckily, she hadn't made it very far and didn't fight him as he lifted her back up. As he was about to gently scold her, he froze.

There was a rustle in the trees a few meters away from where he stood. He saw the shadows shift and moved cautiously forward, Briseis in one hand, the other behind him reaching for his wand. He stopped suddenly as the figure, robed in black, stepped out in front of him.