Chapter 23
Alex hated Hogwarts. Even though the last couple of days he had spent at the burrow had been the worst in his memory, he would have preferred never to leave. The eyes of his fellow roommates were on mother and son as Ginny unpacked his trunk. Alex could very well have put his own things away, but he allowed his mother this one thing. She slowly put his shirts and trousers away, sharing a smile with him every now and then. It was a fake smile, of course. Alex had become an expert at spotting one a mile away.
What would happen to his father had been answered soon after he and his mother returned from Azkaban. She had sent him to bed, retiring to his grandfather's study. Edmund and Everett caught him trying to eavesdrop, his ear pressed against the door to no avail. Their loan of the extendable ears had proven quite valuable.
It was nothing but shouting between his mum and Grandpa Weasley, with his mum doing most of the yelling. The Ministry had found enough in her memories to convict him. That's when he heard his mother cry, his grandpa whispering promises that he would make his father's last days as comfortable as possible. The Dementor's Kiss seemed all the more real to Alex. His father would never be coming back. He cried alongside his mum that night, though she never knew.
Now here he was back at Hogwarts, his mum so gentle and so concerned, that he couldn't bring himself to tell her how bad he felt.
"Do you like Kneazles?" Ginny asked as she closed his trunk with a flick of her wrist.
Surprised, Alex turned around on his bed to look at his mum more fully.
"You do like Kneazles, don't you? Your Grandmum told me that you've been begging them for a pet since you were a wee little thing."
Alex nodded.
"I want you to be happy and thought you could use a friend. One of Hermione's Kneazles just had a litter. I-I had her pick one out for you, I hope you don't mind. I've sent your cousins to fetch it."
Mere seconds later, a bright orange Kneazle bounded into the room followed by the sounds of his cousin's laughter. The Kneazle didn't even try to stop - it made a beeline for Alex, jumping on his lap, tipping him over onto his back in the process. The purring bundle of soft fur nuzzled against his neck, its warm tongue tickling his cheek. Alex's laughter joined his cousins as he tried to free himself and then gave up, wrapping his arms around the Kneazle in a hug.
"She likes you!" Ginny said as she petted her son's new Kneazle.
"And she kisses you just like Casey Wood!" exclaimed Edmund causing Alex's cheeks to match the fur of his new pet. His mother's raised eyebrows did nothing to help.
Who should appear like magic, but Casey herself. He tried to hide his face behind his Kneazle but it was of no use. She plopped beside him on the bed. "Is that a Kneazle?" she asked reaching out to tickle its ears.
"Keen powers of observation you have there," Alex snapped sarcastically and then wished he hadn't, when his mother told him to be nice in a stern tone of voice.
"What will you name it?" Casey asked, her fingers still messing with the fur of his new pet.
"I don't know," he said, jumping off the bed as soon as he felt Casey's head rest against his shoulder.
"How about Paws?" Edwin suggested.
Everett picked up the Kneazle from his cousin's arm, "Or Claws. Or better yet - Jaws! " Alex rolled his eyes as his cousins pretended to fall over in hysterics.
"How does your pet make you feel, Alex?" Ginny asked thoughtfully.
Alex stepped towards his cousin, cupping the Kneazle's head with both hands and gave her a kiss on its wet nose. They all laughed as the Kneazle wriggled free, leaping from Everett back into its owners outstretched arms. He couldn't help but grin at his new purring friend, burying his face in its soft fur. After a long moment, Alex lifted his head.
"I'm going to name her Paz."
"It certainly fits honey," his mum said, encircling her arms around both him and Paz. He didn't mind that at all. What he did mind was Casey joining in on the hug when all he wanted to do was tell her to bugger off.
"Casey and Alex sitting in a tree, K- I - S -S -I -N- G……" came the not so quiet infernal chanting of his cousins.
Bloody Hell, Alex thought. Not again! Mum wasn't defending him, but thankfully, his all knowing Kneazle did. She jumped from his arms, hissing, her back arched, chasing Edmund and Everett out of the dormitory.
Minutes later Paz wandered, no, strutted back towards Alex . He knelt down, catching his Kneazle in his open arms. "We are going to get along just fine, you and I. Just fine. "
*~*~*
Ginny passed a cluster of students in the courtyard on her way to the staff dormitories. It was a bright and sunny day, surprisingly warm for January in Scotland. Students from all houses were enjoying their last day of vacation, taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather.
"Care for a game, Professor Weasley?" came the voice of William Wood as a Snitch raced past.
Ginny snatched it out of the air without thinking. She handed the Golden Snitch back to William Wood who hovered slightly above ground on his broom. "No thanks, William"
As tempting as the offer was, Ginny had to decline. Quidditch had always been a way to forget her troubles. But she doubted that even her favorite sport could offer any escape. She couldn't stop thinking about her son, worrying about his safety and wondering if he would ever be happy again .
A persistent Wood had dismounted his broom, following Ginny across the courtyard. "That was a good catch,
Professor. Are you sure you don't want to play? We could use another Chaser."
Ginny was quite aware of the young man's crush and would not give him any reason to think her feelings were mutual. "I would really love to but I can't, besides, I doubt I'd even be able to fit into my old Quidditch gear."
"You look perfectly lovely to me!" William's broom fell from his hands upon realizing the slip of his mouth, "I mean perfectly fine, um, in Quidditch gear ,um, with nothing at all actually, um, oh bloody hell!" he said soaring off to the sounds of his teammates chastising him for flirting with their teacher.
"You look perfectly lovely to me too!"
Ginny twirled around to see Harry Potter. They both stared at each other and burst out laughing. "Looks like you have your own fan club Ginny. Your presence must be quite detrimental to the student body. How in the world can they pass their OWLS if the boys are mooning over their teacher?"
"Oh stop that!" Ginny said stepping into Harry's outstretched arms. "What are you doing here? I thought you and Ron were going to teach at that Quidditch camp in Australia? "
"Well, we were. The Canons wanted Ron and I to teach some up and comers and do a bit of scouting when the season ended, but plans change."
"Hermione and Padma will be happy." She had much respect for the two women. Being a Quidditch spouse was not as glamorous as the public thought. To go for months without seeing a loved one must be hard. How much more difficult would it be for her son to be separated from his father forever?
"Will you be coaching Quidditch then?" Ginny asked, attempting to keep her tone light hearted, "Hermione tells me that you coach all the houses when you come back to Hogwarts, must kill you to have to give your secrets to the Slytherins."
His expression turned serious as they walked side by side down the hall. "I'm here to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts until the season starts up again. It may take Hermione a while to find a replacement."
A replacement. The words echoed in Ginny's mind, reminding her that Draco would not be coming back. "Well, isn't that wonderful." Ginny said coolly stepping towards the ledge away from Harry and burying her head in her hands.
Harry put his arm around her, giving Ginny a firm squeeze. "Am I that bad?" he said, his faint smile touched with a hint of sadness. "Ginny, all of us want what's best for you and Alex. Hermione loves Alex almost as if he were her own." Harry paused just then seeming to struggle with his next words. "You do know that we can't have any children."
Ginny was taken aback by the news. "No, I didn't." Even survivors still suffered from war injuries and Ginny wondered if a damaging curse had been flung Harry and Hermione's way depriving them of a chance to have a child.
"When your son was born, we moved into the Burrow to help Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Hermione and I became so attached to Alex, we offered to adopt him. He reminded me so much of myself and Neville." Harry tore his eyes away from her staring at the rapidly darkening sky. "How wonderful, I thought, to provide him a family with a mum and dad. I would do right by him in a way the Dursley's could not for me. Mrs. Weasley wouldn't hear of it. Any day you would wake up, was what she would say. I suppose your mum was right."
There was a long moment of silence before Harry continued. "Hermione and I still care very deeply about Alex's well being. Considering all he's been through his attitude is amazing, yet there's always been an underlying sadness that I see in him. We want Alex to be happy, and the only way I can see this happening is if his father is released."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Ginny, we want to help you. Ron is working with our contacts at the Ministry to locate some of the guards and prisoners. If we can find at least one person to vouch for his relationship with you, he'll go free."
Never before had Ginny wanted to hug her brother more, but she still couldn't keep the disbelief from her voice. "Ron wants to help me?"
"Of course he does. You're his one and only sister. Ron might not even believe Malfoy's story, but he is willing to push all that aside for you and Alex." Harry looked at Ginny, anxiety mingling with hope growing in her eyes. "Do you love Malfoy?"
How could she answer such a question? She had loved him in the past, Ginny was sure of it. She had felt a closeness to him, an attraction to the man, even when she was trying to push him away. But that wasn't love. It was a memory of a feeling she no longer possessed. "Alex loves him very much."
"That's not a good enough answer Ginny. If for some reason Ron can't find anyone-"
"That's impossible, there were hundreds of people in Mors Mortis! There has to be a witness."
"If Ron can't find anyone that can corroborate Malfoy's story it will be up to you."
Ginny's face clouded with uneasiness. The few memories she had were going to condemn her son's father to a fate worse than death. "What I remember is going to give him the Kiss! I need to remember everything, Harry, and I can't. I just can't!" Ginny said, her voice choked with frustration.
"Is there nothing else?"
"I think I loved him," Ginny admitted hastily, looking away from Harry.
Offering Ginny a comforting smile, Harry took her hand and pulled her excitedly down the hallway, "There's something else Hermione and I want you to see."
*~*~*
Draco tore open a letter from his son, his fingers shaking as they did so. It was the first owl post he had received. In fancy script much too elegant for such a young boy was written :
Dear Father,
Mum and I are back at Hogwarts. Guess What?! She gave me a Kneazle! Her name is Paz and we are already great friends. Paz scratched up Lawrence really good. The dumb bloke tripped me in the common room when he thought Mum wasn't looking. I hope Madame Pomfrey leaves him with scars. Yes, it's quite bad of me to say so, but I hate him. Mum cornered Lawrence and most of my house before she left me with Paz threatening them all with the Avada Kedavra should they lay a finger on me. I wish she didn't have to do that. The other Gryffindors are calling me Mummy's boy now. Though it was wicked cool when she whipped out her wand on Lawrence. I think he almost peed his pants. You should have seen it.
I hate it here. I wish you were here. I love you.
Love your son,
Alexander Charles Weasley Malfoy
"I love you too," Draco whispered, slowly folding the letter and putting in into his pocket. He would visit the letter again when the pain of separation became too unbearable just as he had done many years ago when Ronald Weasley had presented him with Alex's baby picture. How many times had he pulled out that picture of his son? It was too numerous to count, just as he had relieved the moment in Diagon Alley when Molly Weasley allowed him to hold his son for the very first time.
"Don't you think you ought to get some sleep, Draco?"
"Not tired." Draco laid down on his cot, staring up at the ceiling, his mind anywhere but in Azkaban.
"Thought so," Goyle said sliding a box full of letters between the bars.
Draco shot up from his cot, kneeling down to retrieve the box. He rummaged through the contents, more than twenty letters all addressed to him from Alex. Some had already been opened, courtesy of the guards. He recognized one as the letter Hawthorne had waved in his face. "I can't thank you enough, Greg."
He opened one after another, desperate to hear Alex's voice, if only in the form of the written word. For now, it would have to be enough. Not one day was missed. From the dates on the envelopes, Alex had sent daily owl posts and on some days he had sent them almost hourly. One letter simply read - "I miss you." As each day of his imprisonment had progressed, the letters became more angry and heartbreaking.
Father,
WHY DON'T YOU WRITE ME?
DON'T YOU LOVE ME ANYMORE?
Alex
The last letter Draco hugged to his chest, wishing it were Alex he was comforting. His absence had hurt his son greatly.
"You'll see him again." Goyle said.
He would see him again, but not in the way he wanted. He'd never get to see Alex play Quidditch, never see him walk across the Great Hall as a graduate of Hogwarts, never see him marry. Alex was growing up before his eyes and he would not be there to witness any of it. He had already missed eleven years of his young son's life, how much greater the punishment to be denied a lifetime.
"Funny isn't it." Draco stood to face his old friend. "I'm in here with nothing and you - you Goyle are out there. How did it ever come to be? "
"I've never been a leader, Draco, but I didn't want to follow anymore. I didn't like what was going on around us, to people we had gone to school with. I never hated any of them really. Talk the talk I did, but never did I agree with any of the going-ons in the prison. What was I to do? All I knew how to do was run, and I did. For the first time I followed my own voice. Call me a coward if you must."
"You have a wife and son, correct?"
A smile emerged on Goyle's face. "Yes, and my wife is expecting another."
There had been numerous times when he had been jealous. Jealous of Potter and his fame, jealous of Granger and her brain, jealous of Ronald Weasley's easygoing ways. But never had he felt more so, than hearing of Goyle's happiness. He wanted what Greg had, a family.
Draco shoved a hand through his hair and swore softly. "You are a lucky man and I - I was a goddamn fool. It was I who was the coward, not you. I couldn't say no to my father and I couldn't say yes to my Ginny." Draco clutched at the bars, leaning his tired head against them. " I'm going to receive the Kiss, aren't I?"
"First you have to go before the Wizengamot-"
Draco interrupted his old friend, "Don't raise the small amount of hope I have, Greg." The last thing he wanted was Greg to tell him what he wanted to hear. What Draco needed was the truth. If all he had was a short time he wanted to tell Ginny everything, let her know that no matter what people said or would say in the future he loved her.
"From what I hear, Ginny Weasley's penseive isn't looking to be in your favor, Draco."
Draco let out a resigned sigh. "Can you blame them? Who would believe me?"
"I do."
"Why Greg? I'm not an innocent man." Goyle had been witness to his madness, had seen him terrorize Ginny that fateful day when he threatened to take her mind, body and soul in front of the other Death Eaters. "You saw me hurt Ginny."
"People change. My wife's part Muggle. Imagine that, a Slytherin with a half breed. But I love her. Saw you in Madame Puddifoot's. Wife made me take Ioan to see Father Christmas. I was surprised to see you there with Weasley and the little fellow. I saw the way you looked at her and the way you looked at Weasley's son and I knew. Maybe I had the reputation as not being the smartest bloke, but you'd have to be blind not to see that the three of you were a family."
Draco couldn't prevent the small corner of his mouth start to tug upwards. "I'm beginning to think your brain just may have rivaled mine back at Hogwarts."
"You mean Granger, don't you?" Goyle said in all seriousness before a flash of humor crossed his face.
"Knock a man when he's already down, and here I thought we were friends."
The bantered on the rest of the night, Greg pulling out a picture of his son and Draco bragging about Alex being the smartest wizard at Hogwarts. They shared in a laugh when Draco mentioned his young son already having a little girlfriend. It was a normal conversation between two parents sharing their hopes and fears for their children, were it not for the bars between them.
To be continued
Thanks for all those who have read and reviewed. Love all the comments, critiques and I don't even mind the flames. I promise you I will finish this before I am sent overseas with the Army next month! Again much love to you all.
Also, in case you were wondering - Paz means Peace
Also thanks to VioletJersey who keeps me plugging away at this fic when somedays I want to hit the delete button. Go read her fic GoodNight My Someone and beg the girl to update! More Thanks to Rainpuddle who helps bring this poor nurse's grammar and punctuation up to speed. Go read Rainpuddle's And Baby Makes Three for a wonderful read!! Actually go read all her stories! Run, don't walk!
Another thing - a very attentive reader pointed out that Crookshanks is male. Remember it's twelve years later and Hermione cannot have children, so she may find something to replace that loss. For her it's her Hogwarts students and more pets.