Draco laid on his bed. It was only the third week of the summer holiday, and nothing seemed to be going right. When he got home, he was shocked to see how many people were now living in the house. He was happy that he still had his room but didn’t like the quiet that was now gone.

As Draco looked up at the ceiling, one thing that kept running through his mind was that he missed his Uncle Severus. He never understood why Severus just stop sending for him. He used to love staying with him and his Aunt Minnie. It was the best three weeks of his life. He was never expected to be something he was not. He could be a kid.

Now, there’s no more Uncle Severus. It’s only Professor Snape. Draco still got choked up when he remembered when it was solidified.

Draco couldn’t wait until the feast was over. He wanted to talk to his Uncle. He tried to get his attention beforehand, but Severus never looked at him. When it was for everyone to go to their respective houses, Draco snuck away from the others. He knew that Uncle Severus would be in his office the night before classes began.

Draco walked to the door and knocked.

“Enter.”

Draco opened up the door and slid in. “Hi, Uncle Severus.”

Severus looked up from what he was doing and raised his eyebrow at the child standing in front of him.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Malfoy?” Severus said.

Mr. Malfoy? Draco couldn’t understand why Severus was so cold.

“I do not have time to chitchat, Mr. Malfoy, so whatever you have on your mind, please out with it,” Severus said, picking up his quill and began writing again.

“Why couldn’t I come over this summer?” Draco asked.

Severus put the quill back in the holder and folded his hands in front of him. He looked at Draco with no emotion showing on his face.

“That won’t be happening again,” Severus said, coolly. “And it is no longer Uncle Severus. You will address me properly. Now, if there is nothing else, it is getting late, and you have a busy schedule tomorrow. And I will not allow the excuse that you are too tired to do anything. So, I suggest you head back to your dormitory.”

Draco was dumbstruck. He didn’t know what just happened. One minute his godfather loved him; now it seems that he hated him. Draco tried to think back to what he could have done to make his godfather hate him so much. He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to run up to his godfather and get one of the comforting hugs that he used to get. And Uncle Severus would say “Everything will be alright.” Now it’s all gone.

“Goodnight, Mr. Malfoy.”

Severus’ voice brought Draco out of his musing. He turned and walked out of Professor Snape’s office. The tears didn’t start falling until he got into bed.

A knock on the door got Draco out of his head. When he sat up, he realized that he had been crying. Going to his ensuite bathroom, he washed his face and went to see who knocked.

“Yes,” Draco said, opening the door.

“Young master,” Tippy the house-elf said. “Your father wants you to come to the library.” She popped away.

Tippy was one of the newer acquired elves. After Dobby disappeared, his father bought three more house-elves. Tippy was the more timid of the three. She refused to pop in the room. She would only knock on the door if she was needed or was delivering a message.

Draco closed his door and headed to the library. When he walked into the room, his father wasn’t there. There were two large chairs facing the fireplace.

“Come closer young Malfoy.”

Hearing that voice made a shiver go down his spine. There was only one person who had that voice, and he didn’t want to be in the same room with him. Especially alone.

Draco carefully walked towards the chairs.

“Do sit down.” a pale hand came from the front of the chair, pointing to the other seat.

Draco took a deep breath and walked over to the chair. Sitting down, he saw the Dark Lord sitting next to him.

“I have a mission for you,” Voldemort said.

“Yes, sir,” Draco said.

“You will address me as ‘my Lord.’ You will be one of my Death Eaters. You must show respect.”

“Yes, my Lord,” Draco quickly corrected.

“Can I count on you?” Voldemort asked.

“Yes, my Lord,” Draco said. Even if he didn’t want to do it, he knew it wasn’t stupid enough to say no to Lord Voldemort.

“Very good.” Voldemort smiled, leaning back against the back of the chair. “I knew I could count on you. You will not disappoint me as others have. You will receive my instructions soon. You may go.”

Draco didn’t have to be told twice. He got out of that room as quickly as he could.

___0000____0000____0000

“I’m not sure I understand,” Albus said.

“You know I was against Harry staying with his relatives,” Minerva started.

“Minerva, dear, I’ve explained many times why Harry must be with his relatives,” Albus said, cutting her off.

“Yes, you did,” Minerva agreed. “But what I wasn’t going to stand for was them mistreating him.”

“What are you talking about? I feel that you are not clear.” Albus sitting back in his chair.

“All right, let me spell it out for you. Harry is being bullied and neglected by his relatives.”

“Come now, Minerva, surely you’re exaggerating,” Albus said with a little smile on his face. “Harry is fine. We’ll see him in the Fall, and he will be fit and healthy.”

Minerva nodded, leaning to the side to pull a piece of parchment out of her pocket and putting it on Albus’ desk.

“What’s this?” Albus asked, reaching for the parchment.

Minerva said nothing. She just looked at Albus.

Albus read the parchment. The twinkle in his eyes dulled. The small smile he had gone away. Minerva could almost see that Albus went a little pale.

“As you can see,” Minerva stated. “Harry is far from fit and healthy.”

Albus looked down at the bottom of the parchment to see who performed it, and his hands seemed to have tightened a bit when he saw the name.

“You knew I placed Arabella with Harry to watch him. What I am wondering is, why did you change from what I asked her to do?”

“Minerva,” Albus’ tone was soft, “you were so worried about Harry, so I had her watching the house for anything that would be a problem for Harry.”

“That was the point of your blood wards. To keep people that wanted to cause harm to Harry or his relatives.” Minerva got up and started pacing. “Now, I’m trying to keep my temper as you can see,” waving her hand in the direction of the parchment, “Harry was far from not being harmed. Some of those injuries were years old.”

“Do calm down, dear,” Albus said, waving his hand to protect his trinkets.

Minerva stopped pacing and turned to face Albus, her eyebrow arched. “Calm down. Calm down,” Her voice getting louder and louder. “This is Severus all over again.”

“Now, now, Minerva, it isn’t that bad,” Albus soothed.

“Do not think that just because you have protection over you little trinkets that I will not destroy you or your things. Harry is not going back to those people.”

“Now, Minerva—,” Albus started.

“He’s not going back,” Minerva said, enunciating her words. “Good day, Albus.”

Minerva walked out of Albus’ office. Albus watched her leave and then looked back down at the medical report of Harry. Looking down at the bottom, seeing Severus’ name was troubling. He needed to talk with his Potion Master. A walk down to the dungeons sounded like a good idea.

TBC