Chapter 19 - Sweet Isolation

Orion slammed the door to the Common Room, too focused on his own uncertainty to notice the force had cracked the door frame. He hadn't meant what he'd said to his brother. He loved him.

'Why did he say that?!'

He'd spent a couple hours after leaving the infirmary, wandering around the castle, trying to calm himself down - he'd reached the door twice only to find it glitching, fazing in and out with his rage.

"What is the matter?" Sophia said gently from where she was lying on the sofa.

"Why were you so harsh to Draco? You know he would never mean to hurt Hermione." He asked, confused by her actions as well as his own.

"I don't know," She frowned, "I felt an uncontrollable rage at seeing Potter alive; so much so, I couldn't concentrate on what he was saying, just lost control. I figured I shouldn't stay in there; only went to see if they were alright but I could feel my anger rising so I left."

Orion stayed silent trying to figure out his own reason why. His mate noticed his despair.

"What happened?"

She sat up and faced her shaking mate.

"I told him if I saw him near Mione again, I would kill him."

"What?! How could you say that to him?"

His body started quaking as he sobbed; Orion covered his eyes, trying to stop the tears.

"There is something wrong with me. I can feel it." He gasped.

The door slammed open behind them, making the pair jump. The Tuck brothers charged into the room, their faces grim. Orion cowered away, almost trying to hide in the wall he was leaning on, from them both as anger radiated from them.

"Do you have any idea what you have just done?" Alerion asked his voice calm.

He could have understood if they had yelled at him but the cool compassionate way he'd been questioned made it all worse.

Tears formed in Orion's eyes as he answered, "I don't know. I really don't know. How could I say that to him? He's my best friend as well as my brother, how could I do that to him? Is he okay?"

"He had a panic attack and passed out...what with all the other things that happened today, I am surprised he didn't crash earlier. What happened back there?"

The younger Angel let out a broken sob, "I made him have a panic attack?"

Andy sighed, dragging his hands over his face, "To Angels, our mates are everything but so are our families. And you just tried to keep them separate; of course he wasn't going to take it well. Had it been anyone else, Draco could have torn them apart but because it's you, his brother, it makes everything a little more complicated. Add that to the abandonment he felt when the house wouldn't let him in and you have a fucking disaster," He stretched a hand and placed it on the quaking boy's shoulder, "Orion, what happened back there?"

"I don't know. One minute I was fine but then he said about Mr Malfoy and I just exploded. Like all my anger left me at once, rationally I knew what I was doing wasn't right but I couldn't control it. I promise you I never meant to hurt him. I couldn't control it. I couldn't control it…"

He repeated the last sentence over and over as his focus wandered to the look of horror he saw as he screamed at his bedridden brother.

"I don't feel well… Move!" Orion mumbled, hand covering his mouth.

Andy drew his hand back quickly, breathing in through his teeth in shock as a painful tingle suddenly seared up his arm. The younger angel slumped as the restraining hand left him. He swayed slightly before pushing himself off the wall.

"Move!" He cried as he staggered to the bathroom.

"Wait, there's something very wrong with you!" The Tuck brother called after him.

Orion caught his foot on the door frame and crawled the last meter before purging a black viscose liquid into the toilet bowl. He choked and spat out again, his body shuddered as it forced the taint from it's flesh.

A patter of footsteps sounded, "Jesus, what's wrong with you? Are you ill? ...That is not normal..."

A glass vial appeared in the toilet, enclosing the dark bile and lifting it from the basin.

"Professor Snape will want to see this." Hermione said softly from the door leading to her room.

"Severus already knows what it is." Andy replied, sending off a Patronus silently.

She whirled startled, one hand on Orion's shoulder and the other pulling out her wand from a hidden spot between her thighs.

Andy froze, "Sorry 'Mione, didn't mean to make you jump."

She sheathed her weapon, "What do you mean 'Snape already knows'?"

"It's a poison and Snape just pulled an entire apothecary's supply out of Draco."

A look passed her eyes that made him flinch, "I think you need to start at the beginning, Tuck."

The twin began talking about what happened after Ron dragged her mate away to where the Aurors were investigating the classroom, about how he vanished and found himself in the Manor with one unlucky guest.

"Lucius was torturing Potter and Draco recognised his screams and went to kill him, only it was a trap. Malfoy Senior had them shackled in the dungeon and while Potter was given this poison a drop at a time, the bastard poured a year's worth of this crap down his throat and left them there to rot. Draco was consumed with rage at seeing your attacker alive that he threatened him but Potter honestly seemed to have no idea, so he forced himself into his mind and...Hermione, Harry has been under Malfoy Manor since halfway through the summer holidays. He didn't know a thing. I am so sorry..."

The girl gulped, swallowing her tears, forcing her pain to stay at bay, she couldn't break just yet, "Continue."

"...I am so sorry Hermione," She waved him off and let him go on, "Some of Harry's memories seemed to have two of him, Potter that is, in them and then another confirmed Draco's fears. He saw Lucius swallowing a potion to make him Potter. With the mix of the poison and Draco's anger, he pulled the iron manacles out of the wall - straight out! After setting his father's...sorry, his donor's study alight, along with his supply of Polyjuice, your mate snuck up on him and gained access to his memories and my god...'Mione, he's Michael."

Hermione stilled, her expression going cold, "I think I already knew that he was Harry, subconsciously, I keep having these dreams… The rest?"

"Fuck! Draco strung Lucius up and left him to burn and then rescued Potter, apperating just outside the gates and walking up the drive...which is when you saw them and ran off - understandable. Sophia cursed them but it bounced off, Draco told us Potter was innocent but everyone was obviously pretty wary. He shot a single body-bind curse at us and it froze us all, his power is unbelievable and growing. Draco went to the infirmary to drop off Potter and then came here to explain. Except, the house wouldn't let him in, it abandoned him outside for hours as the poison gnawed through his brain. After that, he climbed on the roof and we went to find him. By the time, Alerion and I found him, he was practically feral. He almost killed us. The only reason we are alive is because Draco snapped Alerion's wings with his bare hands and my protective instincts kicked in and I almost killed him instead. If it weren't for Snape knocking me out, I would have. When we got to the infirmary, Severus pulled this crap out of him and he woke up fine. Until this pillock told him, he'd kill his brother if he came near you after hearing about Lucius."

She contemplated all the information clinically, ignoring the growing sense of disgust in her stomach, "So why is it in Orion?"

"What?"

"Orion...you know...the Angel currently puking up this poison...?"

"I don't know...that's why I called for Severus."

"There's a link between Draco and I, isn't there, because we are brothers? Could that be why Sophia and I reacted so strongly and no one else did? Because his fear and rage were leaking through and I in turn, leaked it to her?" A small voice put in from where he'd collapsed by the side of the toilet.

"Oh shit...I should have thought of that. The poison, it leaked through the Angel bonds and in turn you shared it with Sophia. Nothing is supposed to do that. It must be really Dark magic."

"It is." Snape drawled from behind them.

Those standing whipped round in shock. Hermione's wand poked out of her sleeve, ready to attack the intruder.

"My apologies Miss Granger, I should have announced my presence. I have been researching that particular poison all night. It has unforeseen side-effects... I should have known Lucius would pull something like this," He growled, "It's called Tabes Pestis (loosely translated as The Plague) and it was designed for Angels, not humans like I had originally thought.

Lucius was probably experimenting on Potter before he had a chance to use it on Draco.

The poison was used mainly during the Great Purge in the Middle Ages, after the disappearance of Merlin. Magical creatures like Veelas, Giants, Centaurs and Angels were all killed in fear. Worst hit were Angels, being a focal point of muggle religion, wizards thought that they would become slaves to us and the Muggles would worship us, thinking we were next to god. When that didn't work, muggles instead purged their country of witches in the trials thinking us blasphemous. They next decided to use our bones, blood, hair and feathers for all sorts of protective rituals, but they used this potion to render our bonds null as to not get rescued - Not that these rites were ever proven to work of course... It attacked the brother and mate bonds, so that they couldn't be found, as well as causing a lot of pain. If given the wrong dose, it has been seen to leak through the bond before but that's incredibly rare, and hardly ever been documented fully, merely mentioned. Thankfully, the Ministry outlawed its use and made us a protected species.

The original poison didn't cause rage but I've heard of rumours of underground fight rings, never before put much stock to the hear-say, now I think differently."

"Why would they do this to us?"

"Everyone is scared of things they don't understand and at this time, many muggles and wizards alike were dying from water borne diseases, as our knowledge wasn't at all as…. as it is now. There was also a plague of Dragon Pox around that time, many hundreds of people died, wiping out several influential families in the matter of weeks. Once the outbreak started, many rich Pureblood families closed their doors to visitors, keeping their servants within the grounds as to not get contaminated but leaving the staffs' families out, leaving them to the mercy of the Gods. Charlatans in many towns professed to having a cure or being able to protect against these ailments; these men spun tales of Angels drawn from Muggle Holy Scriptures.

In their fear, normal folk began hunting us to keep themselves from harm, even though there was no evidence to support the liars' claims."

"What do you mean by 'fight rings'?" Andy asked, worry clear in his tone.

"You've seen Draco fight. If you could profit off that - Kidnap and force him to fight; if he fights well, reward him with food and water; if he doesn't let him starve. Taking Draco would be very profitable, he's easily looked over, doesn't look like a fighter, but would be a very safe bet for his owner."

"And the Ministry just lets this happen?!"

"No, it's very illegal. But I doubt they take the rumours seriously, as we are very rare."

"Couldn't that be the reason we are dying out because we are being used as entertainment, as weapons?"

"I'll look into it Tuck. It may come to nothing, so don't worry about it until we have confirmation."

The gathered nodded and turned their attention back to the ill Angel.

"Son, I'm going to draw the poison out of you, like I did with your brother. This may hurt." Severus began chanting, pressing the tip of his wand above his heart.

Hermione watched fascinated and appalled as the black seeped out of his skin. After a moment, the black turned to pink and the professor stopped his incantation.

"Well, that was unpleasant." Orion croaked, wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

He had turned a sickly pale grey, sweat pooling at his brow, lips taking on a blueish tinge.

"I'm going to the infirmary to check on Draco. Orion, you are not to see him until he calms down. Stay here and recover a bit." Hermione said quietly, turning to leave.

"That's fine, I don't think I could stand right now anyway…" He trailed off, slumping back against the wall, "…Ron with you. Take Ron with you."

She squeezed his shoulder gently in acknowledgment before leaving to find her redheaded friend.

Draco pushed the covers from his bed and let them pool by his feet as he stood. For a second, he felt light-headed but he pushed down those feelings and crept out of the Infirmary, careful to not wake anyone up.

"Where are you going, Mal...Draco?"

He jumped and spun around, ready to attack the person that had crept up on him.

"Pomfrey is going to kill you, when she sees you're not here. "

"I can't stay here. Go back to sleep Potter."

The Angel kept to the shadows as to not be seen. He wandered around the castle with no knowledge of where he was going, no aim in sight. A breeze on a tapestry caught his attention.

There was no visible source for the wind so he pushed the material out of the way. He found a small door of about four foot high. Curious, Draco pinched the thumb lock and crouched through the doorway.

He was surprised to find that he had inadvertently found the house-elves dorm. Tiny bunk beds filled the room, on each lay a tiny pair off slippers, a folded top and a night cap. Each of these items looked like luxury, so unlike anything Draco ever imagined them having. Everything was pristine, unlike the facilities Lucius had provided for the house-elves at home. He just hoped they had gotten out of the Manor before it went up in smoke.

The corridors were silent. At this time of night, it was hardly surprising but Hermione didn't feel like running back to the dorm or shooting hexes round corners just to make sure they were clear. She supposed she had Ron to thank for that. The youngest redheaded male strode quietly beside her, his long legs taking smaller than usual steps to accommodate the shorter girl. He had a tiny smile on his face as he focused on their direction.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked gently.

Ron appeared startled at first but a grin soon found its way across his lips, "Andy."

"Oh yeah, what about him?" Hermione teased.

"Everything," He gushed, looking a tad star struck, "He's just so beautiful. And wow - Mione, kissing him is amazing. He actually listens to what I say and takes it into consideration most other people just think I'm stupid, after being the least smart one out of you and Harry as well as with my brothers. He makes me so damn happy Hermione."

They giggled at his gushing, linking arms and almost skipping down the corridors.

"How about you 'Mione?" Ron asked, "Over thinking about anything?"

"You know me!" She laughed before turning serious, "I want to stop being afraid. What he did to me was wrong and horrific but I don't want it to define me. I want to stop hiding from the world as if it hurt me. I want to help fight this war and I won't be able to do that if I'm cowering in my room scared."

"You have a right to be scared you know?"

"I know but I don't want to be. I want to work on it every day, so that one day soon I'll be able to walk around the castle on my own like I used to, when I thought it was safe."

"You are safe now. Your Angel killed him and he will never hurt you again."

"I know, but that doesn't stop the fear, the what-if's! And Harry is back. And I'm glad he is safe now but every time I close my eyes, he has his face."

"Oh 'Mione."

They stopped walking as he engulfed her in his arms. She froze waiting for the terror but none came. A sob bubbled up her throat and she sniffed, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

"I'm sorry Hermione I didn't mean to…" Ron said startled as he tore away from her, deep sadness etched into his face.

"No, no, no. That's not why I'm crying," She waved her hand mollifyingly, a watery chuckle escaping her, "I wasn't scared, I was crying because I'm happy! I didn't get scared when you surprise-hugged me!"

"Does that mean I can do it again?" He grinned.

She nodded and then giggled when she was swept up into the warm hug usually associated with Molly Weasley, before continuing on their way.

The cheerful atmosphere crumbled as they pushed open the heavy doors and came face to face with a sickly-looking Harry Potter.

Hermione's breathing pattern shifted to scared, short and fast gulps of air passed her lips. Her eyes widened and she slipped her wand out of a hiding place under her arm. Potter looked equally as frightened, taking a couple steps backwards away from the doors.

He cleared his throat, "If you are looking for Draco, you've just missed him. I told him to stay but like he'd listen to me." He let out an uncomfortable chuckle as if laughing at himself.

"And if we came looking for you?" Hermione retorted hard.

Harry stepped back again, "Then, you can't hurt me until I've recovered from the poison, Pomfrey's orders. But I'd like to know what the fuck has been going on and how did you not notice I was gone?"

"When you came back you were acting differently and you kept disappearing at night but I thought you were just visiting Ginny. Having your best friend not actually be your best friend isn't exactly the first thing you think of. I thought you were having trouble with your scar again, like last year, and it was making you grouchy."

Hermione explained the happenings of the first couple of weeks back, not leaving out any important details but not elaborating on them; giving the bare bones of the school term.

The boy paled as she went on, disturbed by the lack of emotion in his friend. The urge to vomit peaked and Potter twisted to the side, cowering over a metal bucket. He wretched twice, a disturbing sound of liquid hitting solid, splatted around the Infirmary.

Pomfrey bustled in upon hearing the sound and started rubbing his back.

"There, there Mister Potter, I told you, you have to take it easy."

"What's wrong with him?"

"Ah Mister Weasley, apart from the prolonged exposure to torture of many forms? The thing that is making him vomit, my dear, is the stasis charm that was used on him so that he needn't eat, drink or do many other human bypasses whilst in captivity. Our Mister Potter is simply having a bad reaction to food."

The Great Hall was buzzing as they each read the defaced tapestries hanging in mid-air. The usually bright house banners were now, void of colour; the house crests looked lifeless as their mascots disappeared. Big block letters tore through the fabric, 'Black Lake, 2pm.'

By Two O'clock, the message had travelled across the whole castle; there were many speculations about what was going to happen by The Great Lake: Some thought that it would be some sort of mass prank, others were more wary and thought that it would be some threat from the upcoming war - although people were quick to point out that Dumbledore would never let that happen. So just after lunch fifty or so students ventured out towards the Lake and were surprised when they came face to face with a stern looking Draco.

"You're late," He started, glancing at his pocket watch, "Next time, be early or there will be consequences. Dumbledore told you that you are going to be taught how to fight, to defend yourselves, so we are going to do a practical. Split into two groups. One group will attack me, the other will watch. Of the group attacking, if you lose your wand, then you will go stand out, without your wand you are practically dead."

Draco began numbering each gathered student either a one or a two and motioned for them to stand with their equally numbered friends; making sure there was an equal balance of first years in each but not caring much for the other years.

"Group number one, you will attack first, confer with your friends about a plan. Two's, stand aside and stand back. I'll go easy on you today, I will say my spells out loud. In a real battle, it is not good to depend on your enemy telling you what curse they are using, you have to focus on the characteristics of the spell to defend against it."

The students began murmuring amongst themselves, trying to come up with a fail-proof plan that would work with their levels of knowledge.

"He said that if you don't have a wand, you are dead. So we need to disarm him, right?" One said softly, making sure that the Angel didn't hear.

Smiles and smirks broke out within the first group as they agreed.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

The first years in the group looked around unsteady, their knowledge of defensive magic next to none but the higher years had an air of arrogance about them; 'time to knock them down a peg,' Draco thought.

A seventh year was the first to strike and was shocked to see the bright blue light of a Reductor Curse peter out feet away from the Angel, even though he hadn't moved.

"You'll have to try harder than that." He smirked.

The mood of the attacking students turned to resolve as they began circling Draco, determined to overpower him. Jinxes and Hexes flew through the air from all angles but none actually hit their target. The defensive spells being used by Draco diminished all the offensive ones.

"Expelliarmus!" He shouted, aiming at a cluster of older students.

A Ravenclaw and a Gryffindor both lost their wands and retreated out of the fight, grumbling and cursing. More spells were cast as the angrier they got, not used to Draco's level of defence. A lucky first year got one in; a strong Disarming Charm struck him in the chest and he flew backwards, hitting the floor hard. Winded, he quickly jumped up and disarmed the rest, leaving only the first year with his wand.

"Nicely done." Draco said cheerfully to the now shaking first year, who now thought he were to fight alone.

The Hufflepuff seemed to slump in relief when he realised he was mistaken.

"Do you know where you went wrong?"

The group shook shrugged collectively.

"For a start, your plan was to disarm me, except I do not have a wand. You were not organised, the longer we continued, the angrier you were getting. If you get angry in a real fight, you will not be concentrating properly and you will be distracted. You should have been working together as a team, for example, split into groups where some will distract your opponent and the rest sneak attacks or try and wind them up. A team of two should have been able to beat me easily. Next team, are you ready?"

The attack started again and ended quicker, with a surprise Jelly Legs Curse.

"Good everyone. Now this time, I am not going to shield myself. I want the last group to work on Disarming spells with a partner; I want seventh years with first, sixth with second and so on. Higher years, your job is to teach the lower ones, is that clear? One, are we ready?"

Those not participating in the fight moved further away to practise as they were told, leaving a larger space free for attacking.

The practise started off like the others, jinxes flying everywhere, except Draco used the counter-curses of the spells to make them void. A few slipped past him and struck him but they were mostly weak variations and virtually harmless. The students who were still fighting were bolstered by the sight of him taking a few of the hexes and shot spells off faster.

Almost overwhelmed, Draco got an idea. His pupils were surrounding him and beating his defences but were not expecting him to start dodging the curses. The gathered looked on in awe as the Angel spun over the brunt of the jet of lights, forgetting that they were still fighting. The dodged spells soon hit flesh and a couple more students were out of the fray. The remaining few forced a counter attack but soon found themselves disarmed and out of the battle.

"That was good, you nearly got me then. You have to be ready for anything, even if you aren't, you cannot let something surprise you as your enemy will use that to your disadvantage and you will get hurt."

Draco was clearly affected, his breathing was heavy and sweat covered most of his body. A couple of the curses had torn through his uniform and a few had even drawn blood. Not wanting to stop, he made the groups swap and he started again. This time the Disarming Curses were more effective by all; the time to work on them had been useful but Draco still bested them.

"Good, good, that was good. Everyone...Christ, I am so unfit. I think we need to do fitness training as well. We have to be ready for the upcoming battle and if we can't handle duelling with multiple enemies for at least an hour straight then we are all dead. I want everyone to run around the castle as far as you can go, then you can go back to class; if anyone asks where you were, tell them you were with me, if they don't like it, send them to me. Tomorrow, bring a friend, maybe even two."

Draco ushered the students into a run, shooting a small stinging spell at the heels of those who weren't putting in any effort. At around the halfway point, he motioned for them to stop, aware that most of them were suffering; struggling to breathe and battling side stitches.

"You all did better than I thought you would but we will still work on that." He stated cheerfully as he transfigured a large stone into a deep bowl and then filled it with water before passing it around.

A small first year grabbed his attention, "Mr Draco, how come you can do Wandless magic? I thought only the great wizards could do that."

"You can do anything if you put your mind to it, including becoming a great wizard."

He ruffled the small boy's hair and pushed him gently towards the castle.

"Off you go. You've all got lessons and remember to be early tomorrow."

Draco watched as the last person entered the castle before turning and beginning to run. He ran around the perimeter of the grounds, until his legs started shaking and his head span. He collapsed to the floor, focusing on getting his breathing back to normal instead of the fractured gasping he was doing now.

Professors Sprout, Sinistra, Binns and Vector made their way out of the castle grumbling between them. They soon spotted the Angel lying on the ground and made their way over.

"Mr Malfoy, what was the meaning of you pulling our students out of class?" The Herbology Teacher scolded.

"You would do well not to ever call me that name, Pomona. Do you want your students to survive the upcoming war?"

The woman bristled at his tone.

"Of course we do but by pulling them out of class you are making them more likely to perish, they need to be taught. And you are just a child, who are you to be teaching?"

"You teach Herbology, Astronomy, History of Magic and Arithmancy. How the hell are those supposed to help them defend themselves? I see that the other teachers, i.e. Defence against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration have no issue with my timing, even though I know some of the students I corralled were in those classes. First years don't even know how to disarm an opponent correctly, let alone conjure a competent shield charm. If this continues then we are all dead. You know full well that Death Eaters do not discriminate; they will kill man, woman and child and they will have no remorse. We have to be able to work as a well-oiled unit and we are running out of time. I do not see you offering to teach your students how to survive. I, however, am more qualified than you ever will be to teach that to them, I know how Death Eaters work, I know how sadistic they can be and I know who they have to look out for. Still, you can go back to hiding behind your desks because the children you should be protecting are going to be fighting your battles for you."

The ghost was the first to retaliate, "You cannot talk to us in such a manner - we are your superiors."

"You are superior to no one. I am trying to save lives. You don't like the fact that I am cutting into your time. If I do not see you on the battle field when the time comes, then I will hunt you, including you Binns, I know some dark curses that can end you too. You also will not punish the students for attending my classes or I will tell Dumbledore that you are going against his wishes. Is that clear? We are supposed to be all working together to rid this world of the evil that plagues it, but if your pride is causing you problems because you have to be told this by a child, then you are no use to us. I'd think about what kind of person lets their students protect and maybe think about which side you should really be on."

The quartet continued to argue but were soon pushed away, back to the castle, by a strong but gentle blast wave, originating from the Angel's tired form.

All he wanted to do now was to curl up with his mate but he knew he wasn't welcome so he sighed and debated where he was going to sleep tonight. If he wasn't allowed to go to En Lucem, which had quickly become his home, he didn't want to be found. Draco summoned his broom and swiftly flew to the highest point of the castle. The pitch of the tower roof meant that he couldn't even stand up there, let alone sleep. He frowned. They had found him on the roof before. After bobbing up and down in the air a few times, at the towers peak, the Angel had an idea.

He turned around and angled his broom towards The Forbidden Forest, landing just past the first trees. Draco slipped off the Firebolt and let it hovering by his side.

The forest looked different from the first time he'd been here, for detention with Hagrid. Then, it had been a dark ominous mass, void of light and with Voldemort attacking the Unicorn population. Now, it almost looked comforting. The Angel wandered around slowly, looking at each tree he passed, pressing his palm to each trunk, feeling the warm bark under his skin.

Draco stopped at one tree, startled by the strange gashes in the surface. The claw marks were old; the tree had healed from them. The surrounding trees didn't have a scratch on them, just this one. How odd, he thought. Draco looked up at the branch structure, in an attempt to route a path to the top.

He looked back towards the school, he wasn't too far away from the border if anything went wrong. Draco nodded in satisfaction before starting to climb; occasionally using his fingernails as claws when he couldn't find any handholds.

The Angel's feet were already six foot off the floor before he could reach the lowest branch, relying on gripping to the knobbly trunk with his fingertips and praying that his feet wouldn't slip, as he used the inside of his feet and legs, as anchors.

The first time Draco placed his free hand on the branch, he pulled it back quick.

"Ew."

A thick -almost- liquid had smeared his hand. The sap was golden but didn't seem to want to come off as he wiped it against the tree trunk. Draco stuck his hand out again, adjusting his placement and was satisfied when he felt the warm bark under the stickiness on his hand. He gripped on tight and reached over with his other hand, confident that his feet were safe from slipping. From his position, the branch was too far away for him to pull himself up on it easily.

"Fine." He growled to himself.

Draco returned to his original position, clinging to the trunk. He looked between where he was and where he wanted to be, adjusting his stance minutely before propelling himself into the air. He pushed off with his legs, putting all his power in that action so that he wouldn't fall short.

The branch met Draco in the middle as it forced all the air from him. For a second he scrambled, worried that he was going to fall, before he pulled himself up onto it properly. He sat there, his legs dangling either side of the bough, as he planned his next step and was pleasantly surprised to find he could practically walk up to the top of the tree. The Pine had grown in a structure not too much unlike a spiral staircase.

Within half an hour Draco was thirty foot from the ground, his palms covered in drying sap and his uniform scuffed, a grin on his face. This was the first time he'd felt content since playing Quidditch the other day. He stopped climbing, putting his back flat against the trunk. He took off his cloak and transfigured it into a large net. With the help of magic and his broom, Draco fixed the net between two branches, creating a platform, comfortable enough to sleep on. He summoned a thick blanket and a couple pillows from his room in En Lucem, before scourgifying his hands and settling in for a nap.

The second lesson saw the numbers almost doubled. The newcomers were told to watch as both groups from the day before, circled their teacher.

"I want you to pair up. I want one of you to be on the attack and the other on the defence; like a sword and shield. Those on defence, it's your job to protect your partner and yourself from me. Begin."

At first, it went well - the pairs worked efficiently together, equally defending and attacking but it soon went wrong as the defenders got bored and went on the offence. Draco soon disarmed the lot, angry.

"What was that? What the hell happened?"

A Slytherin from the spectator's group raised their hand, "The defence stopped?"

"Exactly. So you are all dead. The defence is the most important part; you have to be able to rely on your partner. Everyone get into two lines, you're going to duel, mainly practising how to disarm and dodge curses without a shield."

Getting almost a hundred students into organised lines was a trial, but a couple tense minutes later, the kids were appropriately stood. Draco watched as they sparred, making notes of improvements to be made and the stronger fighters. Those who looked more apprehensive at attacking their friends, the blond made sure to remember as to give them a choice to learn primarily healing magic, to help out Pomfrey and St. Mungo's in the inevitable influx of injured wizards.

He was aware he was being watched, he could feel the eyes on him. The Angel relaxed and expanded his view, glancing gently to the sides. Tuck brothers stood separate, one just under the arch of the courtyard and the other a couple meters away from Draco. Andy winked as their eyes made contact and pulled out his wand.

Draco's stomach flipped at the movement, worried about the curse that was going to come his way. His nerves were unwarranted however as a small curse stung the back of a seventh year's heel. The Ravenclaw boy swore, cursing a storm, as he turned to find his attacker.

The twins had moved and now looked the picture of innocence.

"The fuck was that for?" He snarled, turning his anger towards their tutor.

The gathered slowly stopped their lesson, waiting in bated breath for Draco's response.

The look in their teacher's eyes had turned dark, "Excuse me?"

"What the fuck was that for? You cursed me!"

Students gasped and twittered at his blatant display of disrespect.

Black's lips parted in a snarl, "If you had been paying attention to your surroundings you would know that the one who cast the minor stinging hex at your feet, was not me. The one who did is watching and grading your clear temperament. You might be a liability to us, having a temper such as yours."

Andy spoke up, his voice cold, "I was merely testing how far along your training is. I expected a seventh year to be able to keep his composure better. Clearly, my expectations were too high. I believe an apology is in order?"

The boy swallowed visibly, "I am sorry Mister Malfoy."

"My name is Draco Black. Apology excepted. Although, if anything else like this happens again, we will be having private lessons to work on your temper."

He bowed his head, "Yes Professor Black."

The blond turned his attention back to the class, "I see everyone has stopped, does this mean you are all caught up on disarming and believe you could take me?"

Many flushed as they shook their heads.

"No matter. You have to learn to not be so easily distracted, which will take a good while yet. What Tuck was trying to test was whether we had covered defence on all angles."

The angry Ravenclaw raised his hand, "How can we do that? Even with magic there is only so much we can do with it."

"Indeed. Which is why I am trying to get you all to come round to the idea of attack and defence. You'll be paired, maybe even grouped. You'll fight back to back, protecting your friends from all angles. You are correct, we cannot rely on magic so strongly that we forget about our own instincts. When the time comes, you'll be grouped together with people you have the utmost trust in, so you'll be able to concentrate on your own section, your own bit of war. Do you understand?"

The students all nodded, finally realising the importance of his lessons, small determined smiles breaking out across their faces.

"Good. New group, come circle me. Attack and defend like we've discussed. Go!"

"Draco?" A voice called out, making the Angel freeze.

Orion stepped out from behind the tree that had become his home.

"I need to talk to you brother."

Draco let out a broken snarl, "Leave me be!"

"I can't I need to explain. I need to apologise. Please Draco!"

"Fine! What do you have to say?" He sighed, pressing down on the anger that wanted to lash out.

"I am so sorry, for everything. I never meant any of what I said to you that night. I didn't have control. I ended up throwing up that black shit Severus drew out of you. We think it passed through the bonds and that's why Sophia and I reacted like we did. But I promise you, neither of us meant what we said, we are so very sorry. I'd never try and keep you away from Hermione."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, okay I forgive you."

"That's it?" The Black boy asked surprised.

Draco was confused, "What were you expecting?"

"At least a little yelling, a lot of grovelling, maybe a curse or two..." He replied sheepishly

"You forget I know what that poison is like. I should apologise for passing it on."

"Severus said that the intention of the poison is to render the Brother bond void so that no one could find the kidnapped Angel. So, apology not needed."

The two sat in awkward silence, not knowing what to say to each other now that they had resolved their problem.

Orion cleared his throat, "There's someone here to talk to you. I'll see you later."

The question of 'who?' was left on Draco's tongue as his brother disappeared.

"Malfoy, can I speak to you?"

A small growl was forced short before he replied, "Only if you don't ever call me that again - Reminds me of Lucius. "

Harry paled, "I'm sorry," He stuttered, "Was he always like…that?"

The shaking boy shuffled his feet, kicking at the leaves littering the ground, wringing his hands.

Draco motioned for him to sit, as he himself sank to the floor, leaning against the warm bark of his hideaway.

"Was he always a sadistic monster? Pretty much...yeah."

Potter flinched, drawing his knees up to his chin, wrapping his arms around them.

"I'm sorry. What was your mum like?"

"She was beautiful and so full of life. She always tried to protect me from him and ultimately, that's why he made me kill her."

"What do you mean made you?"

Draco looked up harshly and glared at the boy for moment before his eyes softened, "I forget you weren't here for the explanation. He put me under the Imperius Curse and I tortured her before killing her."

"So that's what I heard. I remember the screaming came in bursts but didn't last very long, but then it never came back…"

"You were there for that?"

"Yeah."

"Fuck! I am so sorry. The only reason I'd have to go in the dungeon was to be tortured so I tended to stay away from it. I am sorry."

"It's okay, I don't blame you. I wouldn't have wanted to go down there either."

The duo were silent for a long while before Draco broke it.

"What's your home life like?"

"I wish I knew my parents. My Aunt and Uncle, they don't like me very much. They dote on their son, my cousin; he is a blubberous, dim boy, incapable of being nice to someone like me - he was a bully. I'd always get his hand-me-downs, even though they were always several sizes too big and if he wanted something he'd get it straight away, regardless of the cost. I remember one of his birthdays, before coming here, Dudley got 36 presents and he complained that the year before he'd had 37 and they bought him two more within hours. That Christmas, I think I received a toothpick and a fifty pence piece. A Christmas before, Aunt Marge brought Dudley a really cool toy robot and got me a box of dog biscuits, that she took back to feed her mutt," Harry's voice was getting steadily more bitter as he went on, "They treated me like a dog…or worse. I slept in a cupboard for the first ten years of my life, under the stairs, which was barely a meter wide, meter high on one side, meter and half the other. I had to curl up into a ball some days, just so that I was comfortable. I had a few broken toys, passed down from my cousin but usually I had nothing to entertain myself with if I had to spend long in there..."

"They locked you in?"

"Yeah but when I started getting letters from Dumbledore, they were all addressed to that 'cupboard under the stairs'. So they moved me to Dudley's spare room and fitted a cat flap, to push food through…"

"They made a hole in your door to give you food? That's not good Potter, they made you a prison cell."

Harry seemed to deflate, whispering he murmured, "Before second year, I had an incident with a house elf, Dobby, and they put bars on my window and only let me out to pee; Ron and a couple of his brothers came and helped me escape...That time."

"Fuck! I didn't mean to get you into trouble. Dobby was my friend - I overheard Lucius talking about the Chamber of Secrets and I knew the scheme had something to do with you. As in, something detrimental to your health. So I told Dobby and sent him to warn you about the plot. I didn't mean to get you in trouble… And there is no way you're going back to that place! You haven't ever told Weasley or Granger have you? I mean, there is no way they'd leave you there. They'd have smuggled you out of there no questions asked."

"You serious?! He didn't warn me, just tried to prevent me from coming to Hogwarts. And where else do I have to go? I won't intrude where I am not wanted. I can't stay at the Weasley's because the sight of me makes Hermione tremble. My godfather is dead. But it all comes back to - no one noticed I was gone."

"That elf is always getting his wires crossed. I know for a fact that the Blacks have an ancestral home, can't you use that, Sirius being the last true heir and all?"

"Sirius gave it to the Order to use as headquarters. I mean, Sirius left it in his will to me but they are still using it. I can't just kick them out."

"You can come live with me. I can't stay in the Manor, even if I hadn't burnt it down. I will need to build something on top of it but in the mean time I'll need to get an apartment, so you can stay with me."

"What? Why?"

"I owe you. You were tortured for weeks in my home and I didn't notice. I owe you."

"You don't owe me anything, you rescued me, you got me out. I thought I was going to die in that house without ever seeing the sun again," Harry's voice trembled until he was only able to whisper, "But what about Hermione? I know that she'd be visiting you too."

"We will work it out, don't worry so much. First things first - Survive killing Voldemort - We will worry about the other stuff later."