After the Dark Lord fell dead at the Potter boy's hand, it didn't take long for the owls to go out and the Wizarding World to come out of hiding. Former Ministry members, Aurors, the press, locals, healers, curious bystanders, and foreign diplomats alike ventured to Hogwarts to glimpse his corpse with their own eyes.

"Don't. Stay here." Severus pleaded from his bed in the Headmaster's quarters.

The involuntary wince he made at each word betrayed his pain and made her shiver.

"I must, you need a better tonic for your pain, I have to get to your old storeroom," Narcissa responded, standing in the doorway.

She couldn't stand to see him like this, she wouldn't.

"You and I, we're not heroes in this war. If you are seen-" He warned.

"I won't be." She assured him, not knowing what to expect outside of their safe haven.

The battle had been over for quite some time, yet Draco and Hermione had not come to visit. Her mother's intuition made it that she could not help but assume the worst.

Leaving the safety of the golden griffin, she ventured into the hallway and down the nearest flight of stairs. She carefully peered around corners as she moved and avoided disturbing any of the stone rubble in her path; she had no intention of alerting anyone to her presence.

But for how long? How long before she would be faced with questions and investigations. Even though Lucius' body lay dead in the courtyard, it would be just like before, the last time the Dark Lord fell. The remaining Malfoys would once again be scrutinized, our assets compromised by raids, and our reputations, if anything good remained, would be disgraced entirely.

She'd set out for tonic, but the overwhelming need to protect her son took precedence.

Upon arriving at the ground floor, she ventured off course, towards the sound of voices.

"You can't!" A female voice rebuked, freezing Narcissa in place. "You're making a grave mistake!"

Rounding the corner, she found Draco in the arms of two Aurors and Hermione brandishing her wand.

"He is a suspect in the murders of Charity Burbage and Alastor Moody, a known follower of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and as such will be placed in our custody." One of his captors responded.

"You're not listening to me!" Hermione exclaimed shrilly.

"You're welcome to come to the Ministry and make a statement, but in the meantime, he's coming with us."

I watched my son, head hung low, clearly annoyed but restrained. He would go willingly, he had, I hoped, nothing to hide.

Without reason or sense, Narcissa withdrew from her hiding place and made herself visible to them.

"He won't be held in Azkaban, will he? Please, there must be something we can do. Quels imbéciles!" she exclaimed, marking her own fate.

Two more officials stepped into view.

"Narcissa Malfoy, you are under arrest for aiding and abetting known Death Eaters and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Albus Dumbledore, and are henceforth in Ministry custody for questioning regarding the innumerable crimes committed in your household." Announced a man to her left, at least those were the parts she understood.

Fear crept in, paled her cheeks and fogged her ears.

Mother and son were escorted into the courtyard, directly into the line of camera fire.

"This is outrageous!" Hermione exclaimed as several reporters snapped their cameras viciously. "These people are innocent!"

"Then they should have nothing to fear." Admitted one of the Aurors restraining Narcissa.

The cameras flashed as the two Malfoys were pulled towards the exit, faces cast down in shame.