Chapter 9: Draco's Dilemma

Disclaimer: Totally not my characters. I just borrow them for my own twisted desires.

A/n: From now on review responses will be put at the bottom of the chapters. Also, I'm not even certain you all wish for the responses to continue. Please let me know because if not I won't know what you'd prefer. A special thanks to the best beta in the world, bkermom1! And a special thanks to you all for being so patient with me. With college, a new job, and family life I'm ashamed to admit that it takes me far too long to update. I am filled with shame. But on with the show! Oh! I changed my user name, hope that didn't cause problems.

WARNINGS: This chapter contains attempted suicide, memories of a disturbing nature including: Torture, rape of a minor character, and mass murder. If any of this triggers you, you may want to skip Draco's memories.

XoxoxoxoxoX

The potion, finally finished, was taken to McGonagall to be given to the healers at St. Mungo's. Just in time according to McGonagall. The healers had sent a report the day before saying that Hermione's condition was worsening. Her body, left in a constant state of fear, pain, and panic was starting to give up. They had sent a gatherer, someone whose job it was to retrieve whatever potion ingredient was necessary, to get the flower that was so important but it was taking much longer than anticipated.

"I didn't know the flower was that rare." Ron remarked.

"It only grows in Brazil and is guarded by a certain breed of dragon." Snape snapped as though Ron should have known that.

"Well excuse me. You act as if I actually paid attention in your class." Ron grumbled. Severus noticed the idiot boy was much less intimidated by him when he was in this stupid cat form. As petty as it was, he got back at the brat by shredding a nearly completed essay of Ron's that he had left lying on the desk. The best part was that Potter had defended him as Weasley raged.

Hermione meanwhile was steadily improving. Her heart rate, having been raised in panic for so long, was normal and strong. She was expected to wake up any day now. Ron was in rather high spirits, looking forward to seeing his girlfriend awake again.

As this was going on, Harry was getting steadily more nervous about his rapidly approaching date. He tried to talk to Ron about it but the red-head didn't seem to know what to say, stammering about how he didn't really know how a date with a bloke differed from a date with a girl. So, instead of continuing to make his best friend stutter out hesitant advice, Harry had gone to talk about it with Draco.

"You're nervous because the only date you've ever been on was a complete travesty." Draco remarked from behind a large tome on potions. For some reason Draco had been spending his evenings in the eighth year Gryffindor rooms. When asked about why he was spending so much time in the lion's den he had simply answered, "Blaise has some new lover and I don't want to hear their disgusting copulating."

"I know my first date was horrible! How do I go about making this one better?" Harry huffed, frustrated.

Draco lowered the book with a sigh. "First, do not go to that completely obnoxious Madam Puddifoot's place."

"No problem there." Harry laughed.

"Second, what are you planning to wear?" Draco raised an eyebrow.

"Um…I don't know. I was probably going to wear one of my t-shirts since I usually wear muggle clothes to Hogsmead. Do I have to wear something special?" Harry shrugged.

Draco looked at him as if Harry had accused him of having a muggle relative. "You can't be serious. Where do you keep your clothes? I'm picking out your outfit for you." He hopped off the sofa and headed to Harry's room.

"Hey! Why do I have to dress up? I don't even know where we're going!" Harry followed after the blond who was now tearing through his trunk.

"You don't have to dress formally by any means but a nice shirt and trousers would be perfect." The blond held up a shit, scrunched his nose up, and tossed it aside. "Alright. You have absolutely nothing. We have to go shopping."

"Shopping? Where?" Harry asked as Draco hopped up off the floor, completely ignoring the mess he had made of Harry's clothes.

"Hogsmead, obviously." Draco rolled his eyes. "We're both done for the day. We're of age. We have every right to go to the village if we want to."

"And you're sure that's allowed?" Harry asked.

"Of course. As long as you bring that stupid invisibility cloak along so that we can get out of the castle." Draco waved a hand breezily.

Harry rolled his eyes. He had a feeling that even if he argued Draco would get his way in the end. So instead of wasting his time he went to get the cloak, tossed it over the both of them, and they set off.

"I really thought this cloak would be a lot bigger." Draco grumbled as Harry trod on his robes for the third time. "Didn't you, Weasley, and Granger use to traipse around under this thing?"

"Well yes, but it was much easier when we were younger." Harry whispered.

They made it to the front door without running into any crowds, most of the younger students still having class. As it was the middle of the day they found the front doors unlocked, allowing them to escape out the front and head down the road to Hogsmead. They kept the cloak over them until they were out of easy viewing distance of the castle. It was a windy fall day, leaves swirling about the boys' feet as they entered the village.

Hogsmead, unlike how it was on a weekend where students were aloud, was peaceful and quiet. Witches and wizards shuffled about in no great hurry as they visited the shops, several of which had sprung up over the summer in response to the influx of people wanting to see the village where at least part of the war had been fought. Draco dragged Harry to a clothing store that Harry had never seen before. It advertised a large selection of both wizarding robes for all occasion and muggle clothing for the witch or wizard wanting to blend in.

It only took Draco a moment inside the store before he was stacking shirts of every color into Harry's arms. "Don't you think this is a bit much?" Harry asked, voice slightly muffled by the pile of clothing.

"Of course not! I've never seen you in anything that looked decent on you so I have nothing to go on." Draco smiled cheerfully.

"Your mood seems to have gone up a few notches." Harry grumbled.

"I may have gotten my hands on a juicy bit of information. Not to mention I love shopping. Which you can blame Blaise for. I hated it when I was younger." Draco mused while looking at a black button down. He put it on the stack in Harry's arms and moved on.

"What bit of information cheered you up so much?" Harry tried to see the blond over his pile of clothes.

Draco turned with a grin. "You know how I said before that Blaise has a new lover?"

"Yes." Harry answered when Draco didn't continue.

"Try; just try, to guess who it is." Draco bounced on the balls of his feet excitedly.

"I have no idea." Harry huffed. "Is Blaise straight or bent? I know he went out with Nott for a while in sixth year."

"Oh that was just a little experiment on both of their parts. But yes, Blaise isn't generally picky with gender. That thing with Nott, though, fell apart pretty quickly. Blaise can't keep his cock in his pants and Theo wanted commitment. In the end he caught Blaise shagging some Hufflepuff girl." Draco gleefully informed while inspecting yet another shirt.

"Don't you think you've piled enough on here?"

Draco scanned the pile and gave a nod. "Yes, yes. Into the dressing room with you. Try each one on and come out to let me see each time. You may be fashion illiterate but we won't have Gundry knowing that." He proceeded to shove Harry into a dressing room. "Anyways, like I was saying, you'll never guess who Blaise is shagging now."

"I'm sure I won't. Why don't you just tell me?" Harry's muffled voice came from the dressing room.

"Alright, alright. Don't tell Weasley, he would lose it and possibly blame me, but Blaise is shagging the number one Weaslette, dear Ginevra Weasley." Draco smirked.

"What?" Harry opened the curtain that hung over the dressing room doorway, his chest bare. "Ginny is dating Blaise?"

"Well I don't know about dating but they've been pouncing on each other at every opportunity." Draco commented as he looked at his nails.

"Please tell me you're joking." Harry said as he disappeared back into the dressing room.

"Why? Jealous?" Draco teased.

"Ha. You're hilarious." Harry pulled back the curtain, revealing an outfit comprised of black trousers and a dark blue shirt. "I just don't know how Ron would react to that. Ginny is his little sister and I doubt he's realized that she's become…sexual."

Draco snorted. "Ginny Weasley has been sexual since her fifth year." He walked around Harry, looking at the outfit from all angles. "But I can see Weasley overlooking the signs and turning a deaf ear to the rumours."

"I didn't hear anything about it either." Harry mumbled.

"Yes well you never really did pay much attention to gossip while I did. She lost her virginity to Dean Thomas, I believe." Draco frowned. "No to the shirt, yes to the trousers. They make your arse look good. The shirt however, is wrong for your colouring. Go back in and try a different one on."

"Yes, master." Harry huffed.

They went through numerous different shirts in all different colours. Draco rejected them all one after another. Harry finally came out of the dressing room wearing an emerald green button down along with the same black trousers. Draco gave him an appraising look. "I like this one." He said after a while.

"Really? Brilliant." Harry grinned, relieved.

"Indeed. So grab that shirt, those trousers, the red shirt, the green and black stripped shirt, and that cream coloured one." Draco ordered.

"Why all of those? It's only one date!" Harry huffed as he changed back into his robes.

"All of the clothes you own, and I do mean all of them, look as though you found them in the shabbiest second hand store in existence. I am trying to get you a boyfriend and it is not going to happen if you look like a beggar."

Harry grumbled under his breath as he grabbed the garments that Draco had indicated and carrying them to the checkout. The woman that ran the shop rang them up cheerfully, accepting Harry's galleons with a smile and waving as the two left the shop. "So, where to now?" Harry asked as they strolled down the street.

"I'm thinking we should stop for lunch somewhere." Draco mused.

"Where at? The Three Broomsticks?" Harry suggested.

"I'm afraid I'm not welcome there." Draco frowned.

"Why not?"

Draco looked at Harry as if he were an idiot. "Do you even remember that it was me that put Madam Rosmerta under Imperius?"

"Oh yeah." Harry scratched his head sheepishly. "Okay. Three Broomsticks is out. Where to?"

"What about that one pub? What's it called? The Hog's Head? I've never been there." Draco suggested.

"I'm not sure The Hog's Head is your kind of place. I can't actually picture you there." Harry smirked. At Draco's questioning look Harry continued. "I can't picture you drinking from a dirty glass."

Draco's look of distaste made it clear that Harry was correct in his assumption. He chuckled and suggested, "How about that Silver Turtle place? I know Ron kind of ruined it for you last time you were there but at least you didn't cast an unforgivable on a member of the staff."

Draco shot him a mock glare. "I suppose we can go there. From what I remember the food was quite good at any rate."

So the boys headed to the Silver Turtle, chatting amicably enough about how the Gryffindor Quidditch team was going to thrash Ravenclaw in the next game. "Why did you turn down being team captain again?" Draco asked as they entered the restaurant, the hostess giving the typical star struck look as she saw Harry.

"I just didn't feel like it this year. To be honest I never really enjoyed being captain too much. There was too much pressure. I like quidditch as much as anyone but I was never as obsessed as Oliver Wood." Harry shrugged as they were seated, giving the overly bubbly waitress their drink orders.

"I don't think anyone was as obsessed as Wood." Draco rolled his eyes as he glanced at the menu.

They fell into a companionable silence, looking over the menus. A man's voice, coming from the booth behind them, sounded. "Have you heard about the mess going on in London?"

A second man's voice answered him. "No, what's happened now?"

"They found another body. It was in the Prophet. They suspect Death Eater activity but there was somethin' different about this one."

"What? What happened?" The second man asked, sounding interested.

"I heard the victim was all torn up, limbs ripped off, but he had a grin on his face when he died. And that's not all! He was a war hero! He sheltered 'bout a hundred muggleborns all while still working at the Ministry. Saved a ton of lives."

Harry and Draco listened closely, neither of them having read the Daily Prophet that morning. Draco's brow was scrunched as he listened, looking like he was thinking something over. But the men soon went on to talk about other topics. "That's quite odd. What they're talking about." Draco finally commented.

"Is it? There have been quite a few Death Eater attacks." Harry frowned.

"Well yes. But I can't imagine any Death Eater who was still at large going after such an insignificant man." Draco halted his speech as the waitress arrived with their drinks and took their orders.

"Well he was a war hero." Harry commented as he sipped his drink.

"Yes, but he was a hero for harboring muggleborns. Meaning he never fought at all. He didn't kill any Death Eaters. So why bother with all the work it undoubtedly took to track and kill him? And his way of death is odd too. Not so much the limbs ripped off but him dying with a smile on his face. Something about it is off." Draco finally began eating, still frowning thoughtfully. "To be honest I wish it would all just stop. My life becomes a bit worse at school after every new attack."

"You really can't help being so self-centered, can you?" Harry laughed slightly.

"Oh be quiet. Not all of us can be as self-sacrificing as you."

Eventually their meals arrived and they tucked in. They chatted about inconsequential things, finishing their meals without any more dark topics arising. They were nearly ready to leave when the voice of the worst possible person they could have met sounded. "Harry? Oh Harry, how absolutely lovely to see you!" Rita Skeeter smiled as she walked over.

Harry and Draco looked up at the reporter standing in front of their booth. She wore acid green robes, her hair curled, her rhinestone glasses perched on her nose as she grinned at them like the cat that had caught the canary. It was all but impossible to associate this Rita Skeeter with the unemployed one Harry had known in his fifth year.

"Skeeter." Harry greeted coolly.

"Why, when I came to Hogsmead to do a report on the upcoming war memorial I never would have guessed I would have the pleasure of seeing you! Skipping class, Harry?" She gave a conspiratorial wink, as if they were close friends.

"Actually I don't have class in the afternoon today, Rita. Not that it's anyone's business." Harry snapped, looking as though he wanted nothing more than to get away from the eager reporter.

"Of course, of course." Rita waved Harry's obvious rudeness away without a care.

"And what do you mean by war memorial?" Harry asked. "I thought the only memorials that were going up were going to be at Hogwarts."

Rita grinned. "Of course not Harry! There is a memorial that is going to be placed in the center of Hogsmead. I've been interviewing some of the residents to see how they feel about it and so far everyone is naturally very excited. I've heard it is actually going to have a lot to do with you Harry. It must be exciting to be immortalized, your figure being a permanent part of Hogsmead to be remembered for generations. I've heard that they're even planning to ask you to do a speech at its unveiling. Don't tell anyone I've told you. How do you feel about it, Harry?" Quick as a jinx Rita had her acid green quill in one hand and a roll of parchment in the other.

Harry grew slightly nauseous at the thought of his visage, probably looking stupidly prideful and holding his wand like a sword, bearing no resemblance to how Harry had actually looked at the battle of Hogwarts; dirty, tired, and world weary, going up in the center of Hogsmead. He imagined all of the people, people who would never know what the war was actually like, talking about how glorious it must have been. The thought left a bad taste in Harry's mouth, ruining his appetite. He mentally shook himself out of the horrid thoughts, giving Rita a cold look. "I'm not being interviewed, Rita."

The reporter gave a disappointed pout that Harry supposed she thought made her look pitiable bit in reality made her look as though she had just taken a bite if lemon. It was then that Rita seemed to notice Draco for the first time, blinking in surprise and regaining her toothy grin. "Mr. Malfoy. What a surprise! Certainly the last person I would expect you to be sharing a meal with, Harry."

"Who I have meals with is none of your business." Harry snapped.

"Come now, Harry. Readers would want to know if Harry Potter was sharing meals with a Death Eater."

"Draco hasn't been a Death Eater for a while now. You would know that if you focused on real news instead of whatever you could make up and print."

Rita's smile slid off leaving a cold look that was reminiscent of her days of unemployment. When the smile returned it was more of a mean curl of the mouth than anything. "Well, whenever you want to pass anymore secrets on to me Draco feel free to write. I'll even pay you. No doubt you'll need it now that I hear your assets are being frozen." With that she put her quill and parchment away and walked out of the restaurant.

"What did she mean; your assets are being frozen?" Harry asked, turning his attention to Draco.

Draco sighed. "Just a rumor. There are whispers at the Ministry that they may be seizing the Malfoy fortune for war reparations. Mother has ears in the Ministry but it's not like we've received official word yet." He shrugged.

Harry almost asked Draco whether or not he'd like him to write Kingsley asking about the rumors. He held his tongue though when he imagined Draco's answering look which would have probably looked as if Harry had offered him Buckbeak for a pet. He would write a letter later without Draco knowing.

"Well, you do realize you're going to be the main feature in that story she was writing, right?" Draco asked, sipping the lemonade he'd ordered.

"Yeah, yeah. What's new?" Harry rolled his eyes. The two finished their meals, grabbing Harry's clothing bags before heading back to the castle, pulling their cloaks tighter around themselves to shield against the cold wind. They used the invisibility cloak to sneak back into the school just as dinner was letting out. They were halfway back to the eighth year Gryffindor rooms when Ron found them.

"Hey! Where have you two been? I looked for you at dinner." He frowned at Harry.

"We snuck into Hogsmead to get me some clothes for the date. I did tell you before we went. I invited you along and you said that you'd rather go have tea with Moaning Murtle than listen to Draco give me fashion advice." Harry reminded him, rolling his eyes.

"Oh. I must not have been paying attention. Anyways, McGonagall wants to see us. She's going to take us to visit Hermione! She woke up! We're meeting her in her office! Come on!" Ron was literally jumping with excitement.

Harry matched the grin on Ron's face with one of his own. "That's brilliant! Let's go then!" Harry barely had the sentence out before Ron was basically dragging him down the hall. "Ron! Calm down for a minute!" Harry laughed. He pulled the red head to a halt and shrunk his clothing bags, tucking them into his pocket before allowing Ron to continue tugging his down the corridor. Draco trailed along behind them, looking mildly amused at Ron's excitement.

They entered McGonagall's office to find her waiting near the fireplace. She turned toward them as they entered. "There you are. About time, boys. Visiting hours end in an hour. Let's be on our way. Are you coming along, Mr. Malfoy?" She asked, looking at Draco.

"No. I think I'll be staying. I wouldn't want to miss the Weasley/Granger love reunion. I couldn't stand to see the squealing and tears. As well as whatever Granger will do." Draco smirked. Ron was so excited that he barely spared Draco a glare.

"Very well. Come along Potter, Weasley." McGonagall threw a handful of floo powder into the fire, Ron stepping in eagerly.

Once they were all gone Draco stepped out of the room and headed down to the dungeons. The wind was just beginning to pick up outside, howling against the windows and through the archways. Draco was about to start down the staircase to the dungeons when a voice sounded.

"Mr. Malfoy? May I have a quick word?"

Draco turned to see Lupin striding towards him. Draco raised an eyebrow. It was rather odd for professor Lupin to ask him for a word when he generally didn't pay him any more attention than any other random student. "Of course, professor."

Lupin gave a small smile, looking a bit more tired than usual. "I actually wanted to ask you a question; a favor more like."

Draco's curiosity was peaked. He had no clue what Lupin could possibly want him to do. It wasn't as if they had ever been close even as a student and teacher. "Yes, professor?" he prompted when Lupin didn't continue.

Lupin cleared his throat. "You of course know about my, ah, affliction?" At Draco's nod Lupin gave a small smile. "Forgive me. I'm not used to being able to talk about it so freely. Especially at Hogwarts. Old habits and all that. What I am trying to ask is whether you would be so kind as to brew a Wolfsbane potion for me? I'm not able to get any at the moment and my transformations are much…worse without it. Minerva tells me that you are quite an accomplished brewer. Not to mention that it was your potion that woke Hermione."

Draco blinked in surprise. Professor Lupin had never paid much attention to him specifically so the whole thing was rather out of the blue. Not to mention it was quite nice, and surprising, to know that McGonagall had brought up his potion skill. It made a warm feeling of pride shoot through him. There was one thing, however, that wasn't quite adding up. "May I ask why Professor Chambers couldn't brew it for you?"

Remus smiled. "Ah, yes. Well from what I've heard professor Chambers isn't…well…I try to never speak ill of my colleagues but…"

"But she couldn't brew a cure for boils without burning the school down much less a Wolfsbane potion?" Draco finished for him.

Lupin chuckled slightly. "Yes well, with the potion master being somewhat hit or miss when it comes to a successful potion, and with Wolfsbane being a rather tricky potion to make, I thought it would be more wise to ask you. If you do agree to do it then you would, of course, be rewarded. You would receive thirty house points for every potion as well as fifteen galleons for your labor."

Draco thought about it. It would be kind of nice to earn some money. As much as he shrugged it off when it had come up around Harry he and his mother were rather nervous about the rumors of their fortune being seized. His mother had already started saving what money she could before a decision was made by the Ministry. This, of course, meant that Draco wasn't receiving his usual monthly allowance as he had every year previous. Not to mention the fact that it would be kind of nice to be able to say he had actually earned the money by simply being better than most at brewing. "I would be happy to brew it for you but what about the ingredients. Some are in the student stores but silver flakes and wyvern fangs are rather expensive."

"Ah, yes of course. Well Minerva suggested that you should use professor Snape's stores. There are numerous rare and expensive ingredients in his rooms and no one to use them. The password is ex umbra in solem. You have standing permission to access the rooms whenever you want. I'm sure we can trust you not to disturb Severus' possessions."

"Of course." Draco nodded. "I would be happy to brew it for you in that case. May I ask when the next full moon is? I no longer have Astronomy."

"It's not for about three weeks. I'll have to take doses of the potion every night during the preceding week, of course."

"Yes, I'm aware."

"Well fantastic! Thank you in advance." Lupin smiled, seeming quite relieved that Draco had agreed.

"You're welcome, professor." Draco nodded.

Lupin excused himself and Draco continued on his way down to the dungeon, in rather high spirits considering the mood he was usually in ever since this horrid school year started. His mood shot down a bit as he heard two people whispering around a corner ahead. Their conversation was too quiet to hear anything they were talking about except for one word that nabbed Draco's attention. "…Malfoy…"

He came to a halt a few steps away from the whispering pair, straining to hear. If it involved him then he thought he had a right to know what the bloody hell they were talking about. Not to mention it had to be Slytherins talking about him this far down in the dungeons. He needed to keep up with the whisperings inside his own house. Finally he was able to catch their conversation. "Yeah, he was bragging about it to Eckley from Ravenclaw. Apparently they're sleeping together."

"I can't believe that Nykedimius guy would really fuck Eckley. What does he see in him?" The second voice asked, sounding amused.

"Who knows? Anyways he said that Nykedimius had told him that he had made a bet with Charlie Weasley that Weasley couldn't fuck Malfoy before Christmas. I heard that's actually why he asked Malfoy out in the first place." The first voice rang with the sound of barely suppressed amusement. Draco felt as though a led weight had dropped into his stomach. He listened even more closely.

"God that's pathetic. And with how Malfoy has been acting you know he's going to fall for it. He's been acting like a kicked puppy willing to hang around anyone who'll have him. Did you notice he's been sitting at the Gryffindor table?" The second voice let out a slight laugh. "Pathetic."

"Yeah. My mum went to visit his mother a while back. They were close before the whole war started, you know. She told me that poor Narcissa started taking potions for depression after Lucius was put in Azkaban. She isn't even getting out of bed most days. And now they're talking about taking the Malfoy fortune. Narcissa said she's also still getting hate mail, howlers and such, can't even block them with the wards since the Ministry ordered her to lower the wards so that they could raid at any time they felt they needed to. Ridiculous. She never even had much to do with the whole you-know-who thing, was dragged into it by her husband and son. Poor thing can't even leave the country since she won't leave her son here and it's part of his sentence that he has to complete his last school year. You can imagine how much better the poor woman's life would be if Draco would have just been killed in the war."

Draco had finally placed who the voice belonged to. It was Ardelle Tune, a seventh year who used to go with Nott. Her family had always been close with the Malfoys and her mother Lelia had been one of Narcissa's closest friends until the Dark Lord had returned. When it had come out that the Dark Lord was back she had told Narcissa that it simply wasn't safe for her family to be around the Malfoy's anymore. The Tunes, while never being outspoken against Voldemort, had never thrown their lot in with him or his supporters either.

Draco felt sick. Was his mother really taking depression potions? Lying in bed all day? Having to listen to the scum of wizarding society scream through howlers about how she and everyone she loved should suffer fates far worse than death? He felt bile rise in his throat and pressed a hand to his mouth to keep himself from retching down the front of himself at the thought. He had gotten plenty of those same letters himself so it was extremely easy for him to imagine what they were saying to his mother; his mother who had never hurt anyone and who had even helped the side of the light in that war. He turned the corner to see Tune and the other girl she had been talking to finally heading toward the common room.

He hadn't been planning to do anything with the Wolfsbane potion tonight, not with the full moon still so far off, but Draco headed toward Severus' rooms anyways. He couldn't go to the common room right now. If he did he knew he'd end up getting sick right there in front of everyone. He couldn't take the glares and whispers; people who hated him not because of what he had done but because he had chosen the losing side.

He stopped as he reached Severus' old rooms, giving the password before the senile old man in the portrait could start. He didn't notice that Potter's cat had joined him until it brushed passed his leg and went into Severus' living room before he even had a chance to take a step into the room. The cat turned, staring at Draco with its odd eyes, and gave a rather questioning meow.

"Are you alone and miserable as well, cat?" Draco asked, his stomach still clenching. Admittedly, it wasn't only the news about his mother that was making him feel so sick. What they had said about Charlie, could there be any truth in it? Draco knew better to take what he heard in second hand gossip for truth, especially gossip that originated from Desiderus' stupid mouth. But what if it was true? Charlie did express interest very suddenly when he had no reason to like Draco at all.

Draco pushed it to the back of his mind for now. He would ask Charlie about it later. Hopefully, if it wasn't true, this would make Charlie send Desiderus away and out of Draco's life once and for all. Prince gave another meow, sitting on the armrest of Severus' sofa, and Draco shook himself out of his reverie. He would get together the ingredients needed for the potion, perhaps begin preparing some of them for the first stage of the potion, and give the Slytherins that enjoyed loitering in the common room time to go to bed for the night.

He looked around the room. Only now realizing that this was the first time he had been in Severus' rooms since his fifth year. Severus had made some weird kind of tea that had been truly awful, though Draco hadn't told him at the time, and they had sat on the sofa, drinking and talking. Severus had suggested that he distance himself from Dolores Umbrige and Draco hadn't listened to him. Just like a foolish child.

The room was exactly the same as the last time Draco had seen it. The bookshelves that made up the back wall were overstuffed, books and scrolls stuffed and stacked so that the shelves looked as if one more book would send it all crashing down. Severus had kept meaning to sort his books but hadn't ever had the time to get around to it. His desk along the far wall was still stacked with papers, red ink marring many of them in his tell-tale hand writing. The small dragon shaped paper weight that Draco had given him for Christmas when he was nine sat on the corner of the desk and gave a roar of greeting when it saw Draco. There was a book propped open near the paper weight as though waiting for Severus to come back and finish his reading. Draco strode across the room and picked the book up, looking at the cover while carefully keeping Severus' place. It was a muggle book Game of Thrones, some story about different families fighting for control of some made up land, or at least that's what Draco gathered from skimming the summary. He put it back in the same position it had been in as if there was a chance Severus would come back later and notice his book being moved.

Draco felt his throat tighten and looked away from the desk. Maybe coming into Severus' rooms hadn't been a great idea after all. He went into the small lab, hoping to get his mind away from the morbid place it lurked in now. He found Prince sitting on the table, looking at one of the few scattered papers on its surface. Draco kept an eye on him so that he could shoo the cat away if he tried to play with a scrap of paper.

There was a caldron set up on the table, partially chopped ingredients near its base as though Severus had been beginning a potion when he was called away for the last time. His cupboard door was open and several ingredients could be seen floating in jars of different coloured potions.

It was hard for Draco to look at. All of it. It made him think about how much he truly missed his godfather. It made him remember coming in to watch the man brew in his first year. Coming to have tea and chat about books and classes and idiot students and anything. That was before Draco started preferring to spend time with his friends over spending time in Severus' cluttered rooms.

It made him wonder whether Severus had been hurt when Draco stopped coming or if he had simply accepted it as something that would always happen. Close as they had been when Draco was younger he had still always found Severus a hard man to read. A hard man to know. It was always hard to see exactly where Severus stood.

Grief, something Draco had tried very hard up to this point to force down, down, down, into a box so small that it might just wink out of existence, stabbed him sharply. Prince let out a meow, looking intently at Draco. Draco jumped slightly at the look of those black eyes. He gave a shaky smile, as if to comfort the cat or some such nonsense. "I don't think I can do this. Not tonight. It was a shitty night anyways and then all of this…" he gestured around the room before feeling slightly mad for talking to a cat in the first place. "Come on, cat."

Prince leapt out of Draco's reach, avoiding the scattered potion ingredients deftly. He meowed again, looking at Draco. The blond simply summoned the cat, rolling his eyes. "Leave it to Potter to get the most mental cat possible." He muttered, trying to regain a feeling of normality as he held onto the squirming cat. He resituated the wiggling animal and headed for the door.

XoxoxoxoxoX

Charlie, who had at first been overjoyed that Nykedimius had come to visit him while he had to stay at Hogwarts, was now getting a little suspicious. He had already noticed how whenever Draco was around Nyke would basically attach himself to Charlie's side. It seemed like Charlie hadn't been able to get a moment alone with Draco since before Nyke had arrived. And then there was the whole Quidditch incident. Nykedimius had nearly killed Draco but he certainly hadn't seemed overly worried about it.

And so Charlie was now headed down to the Slytherin dorms to ask Draco about it. As far as he knew Draco hadn't done anything to Nyke to make him act like this. He would ask Draco if Nykedimius had said anything to him. He was near the entrance to the dorms when Nyke's voice stopped him.

"Hey Charlie. I've been looking for you. Why on earth are you down here in the dungeons?" Nyke asked, giving a smile.

Charlie turned to him; slightly angry knowing that for some reason Nykedimius wasn't going to let him have a moment on his own with Draco. He was tired of Nyke acting like this and intended to know why he was doing so. "I told you I was going to visit Draco." Charlie frowned.

"Oh yeah." Nyke laughed. "I guess it slipped my mind."

"Right." Charlie murmured. "Well I'm just going to go talk to him."

"I'll come with you." Nyke gave a grin. "I can see how his shoulder is doing."

Charlie turned to face Nykedimius fully. "No, Nyke. I need to talk to Draco alone."

"Oh come on." Nyke's grin hadn't flickered in the slightest at the sight of Charlie's frustration. He seemed amused if anything. "I feel guilty for the quidditch thing. I'll apologize to him again."

"It doesn't seem to me that you're sorry at all!" Charlie snapped. "What's up with you and Draco? Do you have some problem with him?"

Nykedimius finally lost his grin. His face becoming serious. "I suppose I may have a bit of a problem with him." He said in a sulky voice, like a child being forced to admit that he'd stolen a cookie.

"What? What has he done to you?" Charlie asked loudly.

"He's not good enough for you!" Nykedimius finally snapped. "He doesn't deserve the attention you give him when I've been wanting it forever!"

Charlie blinked, surprised. He had no clue that Nykedimius was so interested in him. They had gone on a date years ago when they had first met but Charlie hadn't felt any chemistry between them. Nyke had agreed and they had decided that it was best for them to simply be friends. Now Nyke was telling him that he wanted more all along.

"You…what?" Charlie asked, not knowing what to say.

"He's nothing but a little Death Eater brat. You barely know him. You have no idea whether or not he's actually changed like you all seem to think he has!" Nykedimius' voice rose slightly.

"Nykedimius, you don't know anything about Draco." Charlie bit out angrily.

"Neither do you! You only want him because he needs someone to save him! Because he's weak and pitiful and you feel sorry for him!" Nykedimius yelled.

"D-don't act like you know! I'm interested in Draco for who he is! And yeah, I don't know him that well yet but that's part of a new relationship! I'm going to continue to learn things about him because that's how relationships work! Don't trivialize my feelings for him! I would be just as interested if everyone else completely ignored Draco! Don't pretend my attraction to him is some fluke!" Charlie yelled, face red.

"Why then?! What makes that pathetic Death Eater better than me?!" Nykedimius shouted clenching his fists, looking up at Charlie.

The anger slowly drained out of Charlie, him frowning as he looked down at his friend. "Nyke, we tried the whole dating thing. Remember? It didn't work out for us and I just don't think of you that way. You have to let me have a chance with Draco." He turned away, intending to go find Draco and have a talk with him. Ask him is Nykedimius has been bothering him and explain why.

Nykedimius' hands shot out, grabbing Charlie and spinning him around. Their eyes locked and Nyke's hands cupped his cheeks. "Please." He murmured and before Charlie knew what was happening his lips were sealed with Nykedimius'.

XoxoxoxoxoX

Draco continued to make his way to the door, trying to keep a hold on the squirming cat in his arms. He was quickly getting frustrated, tears already stinging at his eyes from the sudden downward spiral the day had all of a sudden decided to take, and Potter's cat being difficult wasn't helping in the least. He finally managed to push the door open, making sure to keep a hold of the damn cat, and stepped into the hall. He turned to shut the portrait but froze in place when he heard a voice come from just around the corner.

He knew he shouldn't listen in, surely he should have learned his lesson from earlier, but still he found himself leaning to listen in anyways. He took a quiet step away from the portrait hole to Severus' rooms, trying to sneak a peek at who it was having a chat after curfew. He gave silent thanks that Prince had calmed down in his grasp.

He peeked around the corner, seeing two male figures standing close to one another just out of the light of the nearest torch, making it difficult to tell who it was. One of them turned away from the other, beginning to walk away. Draco recognized who it was just as the second one grabbed the first. He was barely able to make out the deep red of Charlie's hair as Nykedimius twirled him around. Draco was about to announce himself when Nykedimius stepped even closer to Charlie, giving a quiet, "Please." before they were kissing.

Draco felt like someone had punched him in the gut. It was true. All of it. He really was just a laughing stock. Someone who had lost or was a hindrance to everyone he cared about. Someone who was now getting along purely on the pity of people like Potter while everyone else sneered behind his back, made bets and snide remarks, judged him and condemned him and would make sure there was nothing left to pick over before they inevitably forgot about him entirely. He stayed where he was long enough to see Charlie's hands come up to grasp Nykedimius' shoulders before he dropped the cat and ran in the opposite direction.

XoxoxoxoxoX

Severus had thought that surely it would be simple to convince Draco of who he was in his own rooms. Unfortunately, Draco seemed to be distracted, looking almost on the verge of tears as he looked around Severus' living room. It never even occurred to Severus that the boy may be missing him, mourning him. Surely it didn't occur to Severus that anyone would do that for him. Not even his own godson.

The boy decided that he couldn't be in the room any longer, grabbing Severus up and heading to the door. Severus struggled, not wanting to be carried when he had four legs that worked perfectly fine, and cursed the fact that he hadn't even had time to try to show Draco who he was.

They reached the hallway, Draco freezing in the act of closing his door when they heard voices. Severus couldn't fully turn to see what Draco was spying on so he was unprepared for being dropped followed by a small gasp from Draco. The boy stood for one second longer before he was running the opposite way as if all the demons of Hell were on his heels.

There was only a moment's hesitation before Severus took off after his godson. Something about the look on Draco's face after he dropped Severus, something about that gasp he had given, as if all the air had been forced out of him by a physical blow, made Severus run as quickly as possible after the boy.

He followed Draco out into the courtyard, the wind had picked up greatly, pulling at his fur and trying to deviate him from Draco's path. Clouds rushed passed in the shy with the wind as it was, being illuminated by the half-moon. The moon light caught on Draco's hair and Severus rushed over to where he was. It looked as though he had collapsed near the edge of the lake, panting and cursing.

Severus gave a questioning meow, pawing at his godson's arm. Draco glanced down at him. "Decided to follow along, did you?" He asked, giving a laugh that sounded so much like a sob it gave Severus chills. "You know cat, I don't even know what I'm doing here anymore."

Severus hissed without meaning to. He didn't like the look on Draco's face. He had seen it before, how could he not when he went through two wars? It was a look of hopelessness, despair and grief. Hadn't he himself had to hide the same look behind a mask of indifference countless times before? He was about to paw at Draco again, do anything to distract him from his current thoughts, when Draco spoke again.

"It's not about Charlie Weasley either. No, it's about being fucking used. It's about everyone in this fucking school thinking that I'm nothing. It's about Potter standing up for me while all of Slytherin turns their back on me. It's about my mother lying in bed all day while the rest of the wizarding world send her fucking howlers telling her about how she should have died and my father should have died and I should have died! IT'S ABOUT THE ONLY PERSON WHO CARED ABOUT ME AT THIS SCHOOL BEING GONE AND IT'S USELESS NOW! EVERYTHING IS FUCKING USELESS!" Draco was on his feet, hands clenching in his hair while Severus hissed below.

Draco cut his yelling off, panting and sitting back down next to Severus. "It's about me being pathetic." His voice was soft and tear filled. Severus could have screamed with how frustrated he was at his own uselessness. He approached Draco, giving a quiet meow. Draco flinched, looking at Severus silently before reaching into his sleeve and taking out his wand.

He seemed to contemplate his wand for a few moments, turning it over and over in his hand. "I'm not going to be like this anymore. My mother will be able to go live with family in France, this will be better for everyone." He laid his wand against the pale underside of his wrist for only a moment before Severus was in action.

Severus, acting in a panic, hissed loudly and jumped at Draco, clawing at his wand desperately. Draco gave a cry of pain as Severus' claws sank into him, Severus far too distracted with getting the wand away from the boy. "Put it down you stupid boy!" he yowled loudly.

"Stop it you fucking cat! Ow!" Draco tried to bat the furious cat away from himself, snarling in frustrated fury.

"Stop acting like a child Draco!" Severus hissed. He tried to calm himself, the fear of having to watch his godson commit suicide without being able to do anything about it sending him into a frenzy of panic. He finally managed to knock the wand from Draco's hand, sending it spinning into the grass.

Lightning fast, he was off Draco and over to the wand. He grabbed it in his mouth, tasting the wood and the dirt it had landed in, before running as fast as he was able back toward the castle. He had no plan at the moment. All he knew was that the sound of Draco giving a frustrated scream before giving chase could only be a good thing.

XoxoxoxoxoX

Draco felt like he was going to burst into flame. He ran after that thrice damned cat as fast as he could, air burning in and out of his lungs, tears streaming down his face, mouth curled into an angry snarl. He felt like he was going mad. He hated that damn cat. He hated this damn school. He hated all the students that hated him, hated the teachers that looked at him with mixtures of suspicion and outright disgust, hated Potter for his damn pity, and Potter's idiot friends for following along. He hated his mother for making him come to this school, and his father for belonging to Voldemort, and Crabbe for lighting that fire, and Charlie for acting like he cared, and Voldemort for existing, and Severus for dying, and himself for everything.

So he ran and ran after the cat, after his wand that had the power to put him out of his misery with one whispered slicing hex. He didn't care that it was after curfew and he was no doubt making a ton of noise. All he needed to do was find that stupid cat and he could stop feeling this way. Stop feeling like he was sinking down, down, down into a dark place where he couldn't breathe or move of feel anything.

He finally caught sight of the cat near the staircase that lead to the dungeons and lunged towards it. With a flick of the stupid creature's tail it was down the staircase, still toting Draco's wand. He followed the idiot animal, seeing it disappear into Severus' rooms which had been left wide open.

Draco slowly entered the room, glancing about for the cat. Why in Merlin's name had the cat brought him back here? Why had he taken his bloody wand in the first place? As if he had known what Draco was about to do and cared enough to put a stop to it. Even if the cat did understand, a ridiculous notion in and of itself, why in Merlin's name would it give a damn if Draco killed himself next to the lake?

The cat was nowhere to be seen in the living room or the conjoined kitchen area. The only other door open was to the lab, Draco slowly headed towards it, not wanting to spook the cat and send it running. The last thing Draco needed was to see a cat tear through Severus' rooms, upsetting papers and books as it tried to evade him.

As he approached the lab a funny feeling was pushing at his mind. The way the cat had attacked him when he had held his wand to his wrist, fighting him until it had gotten the wand away from him. The way the cat hissed and spat as if yelling at him for even considering ending his life. Something was…wrong with the cat. Something was different.

He entered the lab to see the cat sitting atop the long table. Draco's wand lay next to it but that wasn't what he was looking at. He was looking at the cat's eyes, the look of familiarity and cold fondness. He looked into the cat's eyes and found himself remembering the last two times he had ever seen his godfather alive.

XoxoxoxoxoX Flashback XoxoxoxoxoX

Draco had recently turned seventeen, not that there had been much of a fuss about it that year. With the Dark Lord living at the manor it wasn't possible to have the party that they usually had to celebrate his birthday. His mother had given him a gift; his great grandfather's pocket watch from the Black side of his family. His father hadn't even acknowledged his birthday. He was too focused on the Dark Lord's needs to pay much attention to his son at the moment.

Severus had come over on his birthday like he had every year previous and had given him a gift though. As if nothing had changed. Severus had always given rather odd gifts. When Draco had turned eight he had received a book called Ancient Egyptian Curses and Transfigurations. It had been an obviously old book that looked as though someone had bled to death on the cover. His mother hadn't actually allowed him to even look at it until he was fifteen because of some of the darker curses inside.

However, this year he had come up to Draco when no one was around, not saying anything. Draco hadn't actually spoken to his godfather since the abrupt end of his sixth year. Severus hadn't seemed to care though as he pulled out a small box from his robe pocket and handed it to Draco out of the blue. Draco had cut ties with his godfather almost completely during his sixth year and had assumed afterword that Severus had decided to stop caring.

"Can I open it?" He asked quietly, feeling stupid.

"I was under the impression that it was your birthday." Severus raised an eyebrow.

Draco opened the box to reveal a loop of silver carved to look like a snake. As he reached forward the snake moved, slithering up Draco's arm and coiling around his wrist, squeezing softly. "I charmed it. It will protect against minor to moderate curses and hexes."

Draco stroked the back of the little snake, its body flexing and squeezing comfortingly. "Thank you." He had said quietly, hoping Severus knew how much it meant to him, hoping Severus knew that the only reason he was quiet was because if he voiced his thanks louder he was sure to cry. Whether or not Severus knew Draco didn't find out. Severus nodded at Draco's thanks and stalked off, leaving Draco to look down at the snake as it gazed up at him with its silver eyes and flicked its miniscule tongue at him.

That was Draco's last good memory of Severus though it was not the last time he had seen Severus. The last time was a memory that Draco didn't want to think about, a memory that he tried to crush down over and over and yet it never seemed to diminish in the slightest. Instead it grew and haunted Draco's thoughts and dreams whenever he dropped his guard, whenever he forgot to remind himself. (Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Whatever you do don't think about it.)

It had been a few weeks before the final battle. That night the Dark Lord had allowed the Death Eaters a celebration for the death of one of the main members of resistance within the Ministry. Draco hadn't been allowed to join the celebration, not that he was even tempted to argue about it.

Instead of wallowing in his room all night he decided he would go to the library. He was halfway there, thinking about reading a certain French book of charms that he knew his mother had. He intended to go straight there, collect the book, and go back to his room. However he was stopped, almost as if a giant hand had reached out and grabbed him, by the sounds that came from the crack in the door of the ball room as he walked passed.

The noises were choked, wet, painful, panicked noises. For some reason, no matter how much he told himself to turn around, to not look no matter what, he found himself stepping forward and peeking through the crack in the door. His breath was coming out loudly even as he tried to keep as quiet as possible.

There were numerous Death Eaters in the room, most of them men. There were maybe fifteen in all, perhaps more. They weren't the ones that captured Draco's attention. It was the muggle-borns and muggles that drew his eyes with an irresistible and terrible force.

A young girl, not over fifteen, was being ruthlessly raped by Rowle. He was choking her as he fucked her, causing panicked gurgling noises to escape her mouth. Near them Greyback was playing with an even younger girl. She looked to be about eleven. As Draco watched Greyback bit into the child's shoulder and then let her go. She immediately tried to run for the door, Greyback letting her get so far before launching himself at her and grabbing her up again. He gave a boisterous laugh as he carried her back to where they had been. "Come now, sweet. All you have to do is reach the door and I'll let you go." He laughed before sinking his teeth into her arm.

Nearby, the girl's mother screamed as she was forced to watch her daughter be tortured while she herself was raped. Her screams echoed through the room. There were no words, just inhuman screaming as tears streamed down her face.

Across the room was a boy that Draco knew. He was a fifth year Ravenclaw, muggle-born, quiet, small, and cute. He had bumped Draco in the hallway once and had stammered out an apology, giving such a charming smile that Draco hadn't even had the usual impulse to snap at him. He was quiet now too as one of the men ravaged his body. His eyes looked glazed and he let out small gasps of pain every time the man plunged into him.

Draco took it all in, the blood and the death and the pain, and felt like maybe he was going to scream or vomit or piss himself or all three. The scream was definitely building, about to burst out. He could feel the terror and disgust brimming in him, about to spill over when a hand gripped his shoulder firmly but not harmfully, and turned him around.

Draco found himself looking at Severus, the older man's eyes oddly bright and his face even more pale than usual. "What are you doing here, Draco?" He asked, his voice so quiet it was nothing more than a hiss.

He seemed to understand that Draco couldn't answer at the moment because he gently moved his grip to Draco's arm and led him away from the ballroom. He took him into one of the drawing rooms and over to the fireplace. He grabbed some Floo Powder and tossed it in, barking out, "Severus Snape's rooms; Hogwarts." Before gently pushing Draco to the fireplace.

Once they had arrived in Severus' quarters Draco could no longer hold everything inside. He made a mad dash for Severus' bathroom and was violently sick into the toilet bowl. Tears sprang to his eyes as he dry heaved, gasping and retching. Severus came up behind him, standing in silent support.

Draco, shaking as though freezing even though it was quite warm, finally gained a bit of his control back. He sat back and looked up, Severus gazing down at him, unreadable, for a moment before offering him a hand. He helped the boy up and then motioned to the sitting room. "Come. I'll make tea." Severus murmured.

Draco followed plopping down on Severus' sofa, still shaking. He could hear Severus in the kitchen heating water and preparing the tea. A strangely comforting sound. After a few minutes Draco managed to calm his shaking slightly, only just managing not to spill his tea all over when Severus handed him a cup. Severus sat down in his armchair silently, studying Draco, his eyes still bright.

The silence was heavy, burdened by the words Severus needed to say and the horrors Draco had seen. They sipped their tea and Draco nearly choked on it. He had momentarily forgotten how bad Severus was at brewing tea. He tended to like it extremely bitter without milk while Draco took his with a lot of milk and two spoons of honey.

Severus put his cup down on the coffee table and finally looked Draco in the eye. "What were you doing looking in that room?"

Draco gripped his tea cup harder and looked at the floor. "I was going to the kitchens. I heard a noise and—"

"Do you have any idea what would have happened if one of the men in those rooms or the Dark Lord would have seen you?" Severus sprang to his feet, pacing the room in front of the fireplace in long, frustrated, stride. Draco could only shake his head in response. "They would have made you participate!" Severus hissed out viciously. "They would have brought you into the room and put one of their victims in front of you, a young girl or boy, someone maybe only half your age, and they would say, 'Fuck them, Draco.' And do you know what would happen is you refused?" Severus didn't give him a chance to answer. "They would have tortured you! Hurt you until you agreed to rape whomever they placed before you!"

Whatever colour Draco had regained in his face he lost again. He swallowed against the urge to once again be sick. "W-what do I do?" I'm…I'm going to have to do those things. They'll make me do those things! I can't! I can't do that and if I don't they'll kill me!" Draco could feel himself hyperventilating; Severus kneeled down and gripped his arm.

"Calm Draco. Breathe. Master yourself." Severus' tone was gentle, calming.

Draco settled, still breathing harshly. "Have you done those things?" he looked up to his godfather's face.

Severus stood and stepped away from Draco, folding his arms and looking distinctly uncomfortable. "The Dark Lord accepts that I do not enjoy physical contact. I have very rarely been made to do such things with anyone." He whispered, so soft Draco had to strain to hear. "But I have tortured. I have killed."

"Then what do I do, Severus?" Draco stood suddenly, his tea cup falling to the rug, creating the tinkle of breaking porcelain. Severus turned to look at him fully.

"You have to find a way to control yourself. Never let them see your doubt. Save your emotions, your hate and disgust and pain, for later. Do as you're told and never hesitate. And rest in the knowledge that soon…this will all be over." Severus' eyes were still locked with his, never wavering.

"Whose side are you really on Severus?" Draco found himself asking.

Severus didn't look away but something in his eyes changed. His lips quirked into a small, nearly nonexistent, smile. "The winning side," He finally murmured softly.

XoxoxoxoxoX End Flashback XoxoxoxoxoX

Draco took another step into the room. The cat was still sitting neatly, straight backed with his tail curled around his legs. Draco almost laughed. How did he not see it before? It was exactly how he had always sat, only slightly different.

The cat had gotten a piece of paper from somewhere and nudged it towards Draco. The younger man took it with shaking hands, holding it up to see a picture that he himself had drawn when he was a child of Severus brewing a potion while he watched. He didn't know that Severus had kept it.

A sob burst from him and he held the picture close, crumpling it to his chest. "You may not think that you are needed, Draco. Trust me, as someone speaking perhaps selfishly and someone who has cared for you since your birth, you have people who want very much for you to live."

Severus placed a paw on Draco's arm. The boy let out another sob, dropping the picture and grabbing Severus. Severus let out a surprised hiss as he was held to Draco's chest. Draco hugged him, blinking through the tears to look at the cat. Of course the cat was him! How did he not see it before? "I've missed you so much Severus!"

XoxoxoxoxoX End Chapter XoxoxoxoxoX

A/n: Whew. I am so, so, so sorry that it has taken me this long to update. Seriously, I'm ashamed. So to make myself and my fic more accessible to you guys I have made a twitter page as well as a tumblr page for it. Well…there's going to be other stuff on the tumblr page too…but also stuff about the fic. So, if you guys want to follow me on either site I'll be posting links to updates, updates about how the next chapter is coming along and when you can expect it, as well as other fanfiction recs and the like. If you'd like to follow you can follow TTAWOD on twitter or go to totolerateaworldofdemons dot tumblr dot com. I hope very seriously to be a million times better with the updating and keeping in touch with you all is sure to make me do that. Thank you for your continued support.

Now, I would like to thank cara-tanaka, RottenFruit, SuperSaiyanTeemo, AlmondWithUnicornHair, imici, BloodyRose90, Tokugawa Blitzer, alpharoyale, Lientjuhh, shadow, Christine Jay, , SanchiaSnape, mslight, SeverusSnapePrincess10, aliengirlguy, JKIsMyName, dem bones, boredperson7, unicorn34, Catzarossa, Dusk, Goddess Alexandria, risi, lonelyone808, ORgasmicPigeon, and LokiStickers3639 for your wonderous reviews. They fill the sky of my existence with wonder and light!

Thatsallwegot: Yes, eventually this fic will be a Snarry. However that probably won't be for quite a while. Haha. Thanks for your review!

ShodawCat13: You bring up a good point, my dear! It's true that a werewolf's saliva is usually what causes an infection but when I mentioned that Moony was licking Sirius' wounds he was in fact in dog form. It says in the books that an animagus in their animal form cannot be affected by a werewolf bite. Thank you for the review!

Grown Up Ron: On the off chance you're actually reading this, I will reply to your review. I'm quite sorry that you don't like my fic. It seems to me, judging from your review, that your main problem is with Draco. I apologize if you think everyone's actions regarding him seem off but I personally like Draco. I like the guy and want him to be a pretty main character in my story. That certainly isn't going to change. I'm truly sorry that you think that to this point "Right now pretty much everyone is badly OOC…" but I have gotten no such complaints from everyone else. I'm afraid I won't be changing anything. I'm sorry.

CatzaRossa: Haha. I suppose Severus could have black claws. I've truly never given it much thought. Thanks for the review.

Thank you for reading! Please review and if you must flame let it be for a good reason! Love, ToTolerateAWorldOfDemons!