Chapter 64

"Uncle Severus! Uncle Severus!" a younger Draco exclaimed, running up the walkway, heading towards the open door at Spinner's End.

Severus, though very happy to spend a few weeks with his godson, didn't show his enthusiasm as his godson was doing.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy, control yourself," Lucius reprimanded as he followed his six year old son at a more sedate pace.

Draco stopped only a few steps shy of colliding with his godfather, a pout on his lips. He hated being scolded in front of his godfather because there was a chance that Uncle Severus would scold him as well, and Draco didn't want that at the beginning of their visit.

"Thank you for doing this, Severus," Lucius said.

"It's not a problem," Severus responded.

"I'll pick him up in two weeks time," Lucius said, and then turned his attention to his son. "I'm leaving now, Draco. I want you to behave yourself. Do not give your godfather any reason to punish you."
"Yes, sir," Draco said, a hint of pink flush climbing up his neck to his cheeks. He so hated being talked down to in front of his godfather.

"If I hear of you causing trouble," Lucius began, "you will get double punishment when we return home."

Severus never liked listening to Draco's parents talk down to him. But he learned early on never to interfere. Yes, there had been plenty of times that Draco had thrown a tantrum or two, but it was nothing that warranted Severus having to tell Lucius. As Severus saw it, once Draco endured his punishment then the matter was closed, not to be brought up again.

"Severus," Lucius said and turned and walked off without saying another word to his son.

Severus saw Draco's shoulders sag. Stepping closer to his godson, Severus put his hand on the small child's shoulder. Draco looked up at his godfather. Severus, looking down at the child, gave the smallest of winks and brightened up the child next to him. Draco seemed to forget the chastisement he had just received, smiling up at his godfather.

"Are you ready?" Severus asked.

Draco grinned.

Severus looked up and saw that Lucius was no longer in sight. Putting his hands under Draco's arms, he scooped the child towards his chest and in a flash the two disappeared.

The two landed in Lewsham in front of a two story house. Draco, clutching hold of his Uncle Severus' robes looked at the house and knew exactly where he was.

"Min-Min," Draco called out, bouncing in Severus' arms.

Hearing the apparation pop, Minerva opened the door and was greeted with a squeal of delight. Draco squirmed out of his godfather's arms and as fast as his legs would take him, he ran towards Minerva to give her the biggest hug a six year old could.

"Min-Min! Min-Min!" Draco squealed as he ran towards her.

Unlike earlier, Draco made it to his intended target and was able to wrap his small arms around the woman's waist, squeezing as tightly as he could. Minerva returned the embrace just as enthusiastically.

The time spent with his Uncle and Min-Min was magical. Uncle Severus was strict, as was Min-Min, but Draco always had fun during his stays.

"Mr. Malfoy. Mr. Malfoy," Minerva said sternly. Draco's eyes seemed to focus on where he was. "Do pay attention."

Draco couldn't believe that he just started daydreaming in class. And in Transfiguration class at that. He looked up an saw the stern Professor looking at him. He could be wrong, but it looked like there was a little bit of concern etched in her face. He looked around the room and saw that there was a mixture of looks geared towards him. Some were sneering. Some had a look of contempt on their faces. But what surprised Draco was the look on Harry's face. He wasn't showing contempt or smugness. He wasn't even showing amusement, as Weasley was doing.

What was that? Draco thought as he averted his eyes to look back down at his hands. There was too much on Draco's mind for him to worry about why the Golden Boy was looking at him with concern.

"Mr. Malfoy," Minerva said, bringing the blond teen out of his musing. "Stay after class."

The rest of the class was uneventful. While the others were getting their things together, Draco stayed seated. Almost everyone was gone, when Minerva walked over towards the door.

"I only need to speak with Mr. Malfoy, Potter," Minerva stated. "There is no reason for you to linger."

Harry looked like he was going to say something, but quickly closed his mouth from the look he was getting from his Head of House. He then turned and left the room, leaving Draco and Minerva alone.

Minerva walked over to where Draco was sitting and sat in the chair in front of his desk.

"Mr. Malfoy," Minerva said, her voice was soft.

Draco's throat began to burn at the tone he was given. It had been so long since he heard that from Min-Min. He wanted to spill his guts to the woman that he would and could tell his secrets to when he was younger. He remembered so many occasions when he had gotten in trouble with his godfather and she would sit in his room with him and comfort him and let him know that he was still loved and cared for. Oh man, would he love to hear those comforting words again. But he knew that he would never hear those words again. He knew that they no longer loved him anymore.

"Draco," Minerva said, once again bringing him out of his musing. "Your distractions are really worrying me. What is going on?"

"I wish I could tell you," Draco whispered, lowering his head.

Two fingers curled under the teen's chin. There was a slight resistance but they were successful in lifting the teen's head. Draco choked on a sob when he looked into the concern eyes of Minerva.

"Even though your parents revoked Severus' godfather title, didn't change how I, we, feel about you."

Draco blinked. In that small moment, a calm washed over him directly before anger. Parents revoked Uncle Severus' title. Parents revoked. The phrase repeated over and over. His mum told him that Severus didn't want to be saddled with him anymore.

"Revoked," Draco choked out.

A clarity looked passed over Minerva's face as she looked at the teen across from her.

"You didn't know?" Minerva said. "You thought – oh, Dragon, it hurt your Uncle Severus deeply when he was told to never send for you again."

The tears that Draco had been so desperately trying not to let escape began to free flow from his eyes. All this time he thought he lost both of his favorite adults because of something that he did and it turned out that his parents stopped his visits and then lied to him.

"Uncle Severus is going to kill me," Draco confessed.

It was Minerva's turn to just blink. That was not something that she expected to come from Draco.

"Excuse me," Minerva said.

"When he finds out, he's going to kill me like he did Auntie Bella," Draco cried.

Minerva was at a complete loss. Looking at the child in front of her, she couldn't believe that he actually believe that his Uncle Severus, her son, would do anything to hurt Draco. But kill. She couldn't wrap her head around that.

Draco lowered his head on his arms on the desk. Minerva combed her fingers through his hair until she cupped the back of his head, resting her hand on the child's neck.

"What class do you have next?" Minerva asked. She was prepared to excuse Draco from the class and keep him with her. She had the rest of the afternoon free.

Draco shook his head, not lifting it up to look at the woman.

"Come with me," Minerva softly ordered, standing up.

With a slight tug of his arm, Draco was finally coaxed into standing up. They walked towards the back of the room towards the entrance to her office. They continued on until they got to her chambers. As they walked, she hoped that Sirius was in dog form. Walking into the sitting room, Minerva saw Sirius standing in the doorway. He quickly changed into Snuffles before Draco could lift his head. Which didn't happen as his head stayed lowered.

Sirius was surprised when he saw that Minerva wasn't alone, but what shocked him more was that his cousin was with her. He wasn't really close to the child. As a matter of fact, he tried to stay as far away from that side of his family as he could. It wasn't that he had anything against Draco. He didn't know the child, but Bellatrix and Narcissa and their husbands left much to be desired. The only one that he was close with was Andromeda and her husband, Ted.

While in his dog form, he could sense that something was really wrong with the child. He could sense that he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders and was really close to a breaking point. He watched with apt attention as Minerva and Draco sat on the couch. Slowly he walked over towards the two of them, sitting closer to Draco.

"I didn't know you had a dog," Draco said, conversationally, absently rubbing the dog's head.

"I haven't had him long," Minerva commented. "But I find that he's a good listener when he's needed."

Draco didn't respond to that, he just continued to rub and pet the dog's head.

"What's his name?" Draco said after a moment of silence.

"Snuffles," Minerva said smirking at the look she was getting from Draco.

Draco wanted to laugh at the name. It seemed completely contradictory to how the dog looked. It was a light feeling that he welcomed wholeheartedly. He wish he could feel this light all the time, but he knew that was an impossibility.

As quickly as the light feeling came, it vanished. Minerva could see Draco's expression change again and she knew she needed to get the child to talk.

"Draco," Minerva said. "Please talk to me. When you were younger, you would tell me secrets. You knew then that you could tell me anything and I would listen to you. No matter what it was about; be it your parents or your uncle." She said the last part with emphasis on Severus to try and open Draco up a little. It seemed to work.

Draco's hand seemed to still in the middle of Minerva talking, and when she got to the part about his Uncle Severus, his fingers absently gripped the scruff of the dog. Not that Sirius minded.

There was so much on Draco's plate. He just couldn't stand anymore. He hated what he was told to do. There was no way that he could succeed. Kill Professor McGonagall. There was no way that he could do that. Forget the fact that this would be his very first kill, Draco knew that he did not have the heart to go through with it. But he knew that he couldn't refuse to do this mission either. One did not say no to the Dark Lord and lived.

Draco wasn't a total fool either. He knew about the relationship between his Transfiguration Professor and his Head of house. Before he even started Hogwarts, Draco would spend a week or two with his, at the time, godfather. He always enjoyed those weeks with his Uncle Severus.

Over and over Draco tried to work out if he should bite the bullet so to speak and completely confess. He looked down at the dog and back up at his Transfiguration Professor.

Draco took a deep breath and opened his mouth.

_0000_0000_0000

Albus stormed in his office. The door slamming behind him. This was not supposed to be happening. Severus was supposed to be under his thumb. He was entirely too close to Harry. Albus could not stand for that.

Walking over towards his desk, he began going through the drawers. Finding what he was looking for, he placed the small phial on his desk.

Since he had tried and failed to get Severus alone from the Professor and some Order members, there was only one other way to get Severus back to being hated again by everyone.

Looking at the silvery strain in the phial, Albus knew that he was going to have to have a few people witness this particular memory. He figured that once Severus was discovered murdering his father, the potions master would be alone once again.

Albus needed to try and break the bond between Harry and Severus. As long as that bond was there, Albus would loose his hold on his key players for this war.

_0000_0000_000_0000

Minerva sat back while Draco talked. Once Draco began talking, he could not stop. Everything just poured out of him. Minerva said nothing while Draco talked. She feared that if she interrupted him he would clam up again, so she waited patiently while Draco talked. He talked about a mission that the Dark Lord wanted him to do, but never said what that mission was. He talked about his parents and his aunt and uncles. He even spoke about his godfather and how he wished that the summer hols were still the same.

When Draco finally finished, he was completely drained, but he truly felt lighter.

Snuffles never left Draco's side. He stayed there as a silent supporter. His head never leaving Draco's lap.

Once Minerva was sure that Draco was done talking, did she open her mouth to speak.

"Who?" was all Minerva asked.

Draco had a surprised look on his face as if he didn't realize that she was in the same room the entire time.

"Who?" Draco echoed.

"Who were you told to kill?" Minerva clarified.

Draco audibly gulped. He really didn't want to answer the question.

Slowly reaching over and firmly gripping Draco's hand, she asked her question again. Draco took a deep breath, turned and faced his professor and uttered the one word he really didn't want to.

"You."

TBC