SOME TIME LATER

The battle raged on around us and between the remaining seventh years we decided that the safest place in the castle was, ironically, the Slytherin common room. Those students who were underage and hadn't been evacuated into Hogsmeade sought refuge in the common room. We stationed ourselves in and around the common room to make sure that no harm came to them. That meant keeping some of our own out. No harm was going to come to these students and we needed to make sure of that.

It was for that very reason that I was being made to face off against one of my oldest friends. She had managed to sneak out of the common room, to join the fight. But she was on the wrong side. And if word of her allegiance hadn't gotten through then I would have let her into the common room without a second thought. But I knew better.

And as Pansy drew closer to the entrance, I drew my wand and aimed it on her approaching figure. She didn't flinch at the sight of my wand and only held hers in a tighter grip.

"Wait- wait, wait. Aunt Pansy?" Scorpius, now 9 rose to his knees, looking between his father and me in confusion. "Aunt Pansy was on the side of the death eaters?"

"That didn't make her evil," I reminded my son quietly, reaching out to hold Draco's hand after he stiffened at the careless words. "Just … misguided."

Scorpius looked unconvinced but sighed anyway, sitting cross legged once again on the carpet. His younger sister Cassiopeia snuggled into his side, still too young to understand the importance of what her brother was listening to. My son moved to push her away from his side and stopped when he saw the look his father sent his way. Turning back to me he silently encouraged me to continue with a story from long, long ago.

"Why are you doing this Pansy?" I asked, wondering if she was so far gone not to realise that between the pair of us I was the more capable duellist. But she knew far more painful spells than I did.

"This all needs to end," she reminded me, watching as I drew my wand up and prepared to defend myself. I wasn't going to be the first one to fire a curse. The moment either of us threw a spell our friendship would be over and I didn't want to be the one to cause that.

"The Dark Lord said himself that the filthy need to die."

"I don't want to hurt you," I pleaded quietly.

But she didn't listen. She angrily threw a curse my way, jumping in surprise when I blocked it quickly, sending the curse recoiling back towards her. Dodging the rebounding curse, she narrowed her eyes at me.

"I never knew you were a blood traitor Hyde," she sneered, barely managing to block the stunning spell I sent her way.

"Better a blood traitor than a pureblood supremacist," I snapped, thinking back to the number of innocent young students hidden safely in the common room.

"They're filth," Pansy snapped and I clenched my jaw tightly. "Dirty blood."

"Who says?" I demanded, advancing on her as I sent spell after spell her way. "Their blood runs red; just as red as yours or mine."

Before she could possibly send a curse my way Pansy pitched forward suddenly as someone stunned her from behind. She fell to the ground and my eyes widened as I looked to the boy – no, the man advancing through the corridor. Salazar, he looked like he's gone wild, like this battle had stripped him of his everything.

"Daddy?" Cassie asked in obvious excitement, looking to her father. "Was it you?"

Draco nodded, smothering a smile in little Lyra's blonde curls when Cassie started to chant 'Superhero Daddy'. Scorpius glared at his sister in annoyance and eventually covered her hand with his mouth.

"I want to hear the rest," he scolded her, looking back to me. "Then what happened?"

"Well, before your dad could reach me, old no-nose called for a respite. An hour's time. And I hurried to get the students into Hogsmeade."

"She ran away," Draco cut in, sharing a smirk with Scorpius. Merlin, no matter how much I thought about it, Scorpius really was too young to know how to do that.

"Mummy ran away?" Cassie asked, looking between both male Malfoys with wide eyes. "Why?"

Lyra, settled into her father's lap, tried to wriggle away. But Draco held on tight to the two-year-old and gestured for me to continue. I rolled my eyes at him.

The moment the respite had been announced the rest of the seventh years organised the operation to evacuate the last of the young students into Hogsmeade. They were escorted to the Room of Requirement where they would meet the waiting Head Boy who would take them safely to the Hogs Head. Draco somehow managed to convince everyone that he was on our side and led the team to the passage way, keeping an eye out for anyone who dared to break the armistice.

When he returned to the common room I was busy discussing plans with one of the members of the Order of the Phoenix and was roughly pulled away by a hand on the wrist. Again. I glared up at Draco, pulling my wrist away from him. Merlin, all I wanted to do was hold onto him but I couldn't.

"What is your obsession with my wrists?" I demanded, refusing to address my inner wish.

Draco dropped my wrist and took my hand instead. He dropped something into it and when he released my hand I stared down at his family ring.

"That one?" Cassie interrupted again, getting a glare from her brother. She paid him no heed and instead continued pointing to the ring I continued to wear on my right hand. I nodded and she beamed, seeming pleased.

"What have we said about pointing?" Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

Cassie proceeded to apologise to her father and Scorpius rolled his eyes. He rose to his feet and walked closer to me, sitting beside me on his bed. "Carry on, mum."

"I thought I told you to never take it off," he demanded so fiercely that I stared dumbly up at him. "I told you to never take it off so how could you just go and give it to Blaise to give back to me?"

"Uncle Blaise," Cassie cheered again and when she laughed at Scorpius's glare I knew she'd done it on purpose to irritate her brother.

"Can't you silence her?" he asked Draco who seemed to be considering it.

I remained silent, unsure of how to answer him. It had been an impulse of mine. The moment I'd found out about the mission given to Draco I had taken the ring off and handed it to Zabini with explicit instructions to return it to his best friend.

Draco sighed, "I knew you'd leave me if you knew the truth."

"You didn't have to do it Draco."

"I didn't do it," he insisted.

"We all know," I assured him with a sigh, "Everyone knows Snape killed Dumbledore. It's just that you could have told me at any time and I would have helped you. Instead you kept it to yourself."

"Did you want me to endanger you too?" he demanded incredulously, voice loud and echoing through the practically empty common room.

Before our conversation – or argument, I guess – could progress any further everyone was summoned to the courtyard and we went, with fear brimming in my heart. It was in that moment there that we got to see just who it was that was threatening to wipe out life as we knew it. Lord Voldemort's death eaters stood across from us and for once we saw them as a whole; the ones that dared to come into our school to destroy it. My eyes roved over the death eater ranks until they settled onto Mr and Mrs Malfoy whose eyes were locked onto their soon who stood by my side.

From the corner of my eye I watched Draco take a deep breath only to let it out. His mother called out for him and I half expected him to go to her side. But he didn't. Instead he reached out to take my hand, threading his fingers through mine. He refused to budge, even when his mother called out for him.

I looked up to him in surprise and he only clung tighter to my hand. With a grim smile, he asked, "Give me one more moment of peace?"

"And then what happened?" Scorpius asked, looking between his father and me.

"You know the rest Scorp," I said looking to the stubborn boy who refused to go to bed without knowing about the Battle which he'd managed to read up on.

"But dad was a death," he cut himself off, shaking his head.

"I made some choices that I came to regret," Draco spoke softly, looking to Cassie who had gone to his side and snuggled under his arm and promptly fallen asleep. "I made bad choices, difficult choices but in the end, I made the right one."

"The right one?" Scorpius asked around a yawn, slipping under his duvet without a protest.

"I took your mother's hand that day and I never let it go."

"Literally," I teased with a grin, pressing a kiss to the top of Scorpius's head. "Your father's rather clingy."

"But wasn't the right choice fighting against Voldemort?" Scorpius protested, watching as I took Lyra from Draco so he could lift Cassie into his arms.

"That too," Draco agreed as we prepared to leave the room. "Night buddy."

I shut the door behind me and we walked through the Manor to place Cassie in her bed. Draco tucked her in with a kiss to her forehead and joined Lyra and me as we waited outside the bedroom.

"You, little miss," Draco said with a sigh as he lifted our youngest into his arms, "need to hurry off to dreamland so mummy and daddy can finally get some alone time."