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How To Train Your Auror 2: Family Ties	By : Alcoholic_Rootbeer Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 7990 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, and I will not make a profit from this story

Chapter List
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I never meant to lie to anyone. I had every intention of getting this written last weekend and uploading it. But... life happens. If you follow me on facebook, you know I've been going through some self-discoveries. I apologize to everyone I, unintentionally, lied to while not uploading this chapter sooner. If it makes you feel any better, I've only been able to upload one chapter of Squirm since that time, so I haven't been the best author lately. I'm hoping to change that. Yes, I know, I'm entitled to a life outside of fanfiction, but I don't like breaking my word.
On a side note, Squirm has been nominated for the semi-finals of the Dramione Award's "Best WIP" (work in progress) category! If you'd like the link to vote for me, please PM me! It would mean the world! Unfortunately, HTTYA wasn't nominated for anything this time around, but I'm not going to be picky. I'm just surprised and humbled Squirm made an impact.
As always, LightofEvolution needs a big round of applause for helping me with this plot, as well as doing some beta reading. Waymay is on vacation (solo trip) to London this week, so the sweet Sunful824 dropped everything to beta for me this time around! Thank youuuu!
Anyway, I'm going to pick up Tango very soon again. My focus has been this story this week while I get back into the writing swing, as well as a 3 part story I've been writing as a birthday gift to LightofEvolution. If you're reading any of my works in progress, know I don't plan to abandon any, and they will all be updated soon.
~A.
"Angel By The Wings" by Sia
Rubble. Dust. The air was thick with it, hanging like a guillotine ready to strike. It was the dust which brought Draco to his senses; he coughed until his lungs burned, and only then did his eyes open to the horrific sight before him.
Malfoy Manor -his home- looked as if it were cleaved in two, the central focus being the dining room. He knew it would come to this -it was his idea, after all, to place the bomb where it would go off easily, once it drained enough magic. But he never expected for everyone to still be in the vicinity when it took its revenge.
He couldn't see Scorpius, but he found Hermione not far off, blood trickling down her cheek from her nose and her eyes shut. Immediately, Draco thrust the Gray magic within himself out and felt for a pulse. Upon finding it, he relaxed slightly, and then he sent it off again, searching for Scorpius, his mother, and the others. There was Potter, and Dean… albeit, they were incapacitated. A flicker of blonde hair indicated his mother, and, despite a cut across her cheek, her heart rate was normal, indicating she would be alright. The last person he found shook his mop of brown hair, face heavy with soot and charred remains of the Manor.
Diggle woke up within the rubble, his head swimming with pain. His arm stung, and there was a ringing in his ear. He felt a thick, strange tingle in his lower leg, and when he glanced down, he saw it impaled with a thick shard of glass. Wincing, he sat upright, ignoring the pain, for now, to search for important faces in the sea of the incapacitated: Hermione, because no matter how hard he might try to douse them, his feelings for her would always prevail, and Draco Malfoy, whose life depended on Diggle just as much as Diggle's life depended on him. To his relief, he found the sod not too far off, just awoken.
Malfoy turned his attention on him, noticing the movement in the rubble, and the two men shared a singular thought; they were lucky to be alive. With a nod of his head, Diggle turned to see a few others stirring beneath the piles of fallen brick and wall. It's when he caught sight of two things at once; Scorpius, just past Draco near the entryway where he had last been, and the archer named Bruno Shafiq, whose hood had fallen back during the explosion. Now, Greg finally understood why he kept his face hidden; a long scar drew up from the middle of his chin, between his lips, before veering off diagonally and slashing across a milky-colored eye. No doubt, that scar was the work of dark magic. It then dawned on Greg: Bruno Shafiq had a handicap, and he still managed to be a near perfect shot. It made the realization that much more frightening when Bruno lifted his arms and formed his bow once more, aiming a conjured arrow at the back of Draco's skull.
"MALFOY!"
It was all Draco needed to act on Auror instinct, rolling over on his stomach just as the arrow jettisoned in his direction. Thanks to Diggle's warning, it missed him, soaring through the air and hitting a crumbling pillar instead. Unfortunately for Greg, it also brought his attention to Shafiq, whose lips curled back in a confident grin before taking aim at Diggle instead.
"Daddy!" Scorpius's sudden scream pulled all three men from their concentration, and all eyes turned on Scorpius Malfoy, who lay only ten feet away from Bruno Shafiq, his leg caught between a fallen wooden slat from the bones of the Manor. Shafiq, in a quick attempt, went for the boy, but Malfoy was quicker, sending his arm out and grasping the man by magical force. He swung his arm and sent him hurdling in the opposite direction, which was, in fact, closer to Malfoy himself. Shafiq transformed mid air into a light-footed tiger, landing on his paws with fluid motions.
"Diggle!" shouted Draco, throwing up a barrier between himself and the tiger just as Shafiq's claws came at him, "Get Scorpius out of here!"
"But you-"
"Bollocks to me! This is all for nothing if anything happens to my son!" He dodged a claw in the nick of time just before Shafiq transfigured into his human form once more, sending arrow after swift arrow at Malfoy.
Diggle looked between the two blonds, conflicted. That was, until he saw the stirring of Abraxas Malfoy from the center of the room, coughing and sputtering. "Damn it all," Greg cursed. He tried to ignore the pain in his leg, but found him useless to stand -so he crawled, across the floor, over to Scorpius, eyes carefully trailing between the awakening Abraxas and Malfoy defending himself, quite successfully, against Shafiq. Scorpius wiggled in fear at the sight of Diggle, but the man put a finger to his lips, gesturing him to be quiet.
"I'm here to help, mate. Friend of your father's." He then pushed the bit of rubble off of Scorpius and slung the child into his arms.
Something miraculous happened. Scorpius threw his arms around Greg's throat, sobbing into his shoulder. "Mummmmy…. I wa-a-ant Mummy…."
The crying attracted the ears of Abraxas, who sat up, smirking as he laid eyes on Greg and the child.
"Malfoy!" shouted Diggle, "We have a problem!"
Draco barely dodged one of Shafiq's arrows as it grazed him by the shoulder. Wincing, he threw up his best barrier spell and turned his attention on Abraxas. It was a mistake, because Abraxas sent a boulder of rubble toppling in Draco's direction. It smacked Malfoy clean in the chest, throwing him back against the wall to crumble on the floor.
"Shit!" Diggle looked around for anyone else to have awakened but found it useless. He saw Shafiq approach Draco, arrow drawn and pulled back against his bow -at the same time, Abraxas's eyes fell on the boy again. It was a choice -to stay and fight meant abandoning Scorpius. To leave meant turning his back on Draco's safety, which could only lead to…
He didn't hesitate. He knew the path to take, even if it cost him the ultimate sacrifice.
"Hold on tight, Scorpius! This is going to sting a little…" And with that, he concentrated all his efforts on the grounds outside, away from all of the fighting and savagery. If he was going to die, he'd die somewhere peaceful. Knowing he couldn't escape the grounds without the Dragon Scale Pendant dispelled, he focused on the one place he knew. He'd seen a picture of them once featured in Witch Weekly -the most beautiful private magical gardens in all of England. If he was going to die… it was going to be somewhere beautiful: just like Hermione Granger.
Pain ricocheted up Draco's arm with a sickening crunch as he hit the wall -the wind knocked out of him, and he was sure he ruptured something internally as he fell to the floor. His vision blurred; the pain was extraordinary. But it was nothing compared to the relief he felt when he caught sight of Diggle just before he disappeared, Scorpius in tow.
THUNK. It was hot at first, like a blazing poker stick being shoved into his stomach. The heat grew, filtering through his organs until they felt boiling. As he looked down, he saw the arrow lodged in his abdomen, pinning him to the floor. Only then did it dawn on him what the burning was -it was more pain.
"Good man," he could hear his grandfather call out, though he sounded distant, like the wind. Clunk. Clunk. Clunk. Someone approached him, and he saw, through hooded slits, Bruno Shafiq above him, another arrow pointed, this time at Draco's heart.
"You sullied it up!" shouted Shafiq, less composed than ever before. "My parents -my entire world was turned upside down thanks to people like you. Tortured. Stripped of their status all because they sympathized with muggles. I ought to-"
"-But you won't," said Abraxas, laying a firm hand on Bruno's shoulder. "Come now. I think Draco's learned his lesson." At his words, Shafiq took a few lingering steps back, allowing Abraxas the opportunity to crouch before Draco, smirking. "That looks mighty painful. Shall I fish it out for you?"
"You do, and I'll spike it right through your heart," Draco sneered back, spitting blood.
"Shafiq, go fetch the boy. And this time, do not lose him."
"I'll be damned-"
PING! A bolt of silver blue light whizzed across Abraxas's shoulder, deflecting into a fallen painting. To Draco's surprise, he found Hermione standing amongst the rubble, legs wobbly, but in her hands was the walking cane. Two blue pandora stones glistened back at Abraxas as if to taunt him.
"Now, Harry!"
"Stupefy!"
The spell barely tickled Abraxas, but it was all Draco needed- he coughed up crimson as he reached for the arrow in his stomach and, with a quick yank, wretched it from his body. Before he was able to be stopped, he disappeared and reappeared at Hermione's side.
"Draco, you're hurt."
"Yes, obviously."
"So heal yourself!"
"I can do that?"
Hermione rolled her eyes, setting her hand on his stomach. The next thing Draco felt was warmth -not like the boiling before, but a soothing heat which spread through his core. When she removed her hand, his stomach was nearly like new; all that was left was a small scar from the entry wound.
"That's... " He shook his head, stirring himself from his daze. "No, I-" His eyes fell on Shafiq, who had already disappeared through the archway toward the den.
"Go," said Hermione, We've got this."
Draco didn't need to be told twice. He took off in Shafiq's direction, only looking back once to see Dean and Harry rise to the occasion, surrounding Abraxas in a triad of force.
Across the way, Theodore Jameson awoke to the sounds of a sputtering cough. His ears prickled as he jolted upright, startled and in dismay. An explosion… there had been an explosion. His first instinct was to jump up and fight until he heard a timid gasp of air close to him. Rolling over, he caught sight of Lindy, covered in soot but otherwise perfectly fine -that was, until he saw her sputter up blood.
"Lindy…" With all of his strength, Theodore crawled toward her, even though every muscle in his body ached to stay still. He managed to make it to her just as she rolled over and spewed a stomach full of near-black vomitus. Some of it landed on his lap, but he ignored it, pulling her against his chest and leaning her head back against his arm.
"Theodore," she smiled, though the obvious amount of pain she felt could be seen shimmering in her tear filled eyes. "I'm sorry."
"What happened to you?" he asked, searching her over for injury. "Were you struck? Internal hemorrhaging?"
"I… broke my...vow…"
It struck him like a house falling from the sky. It didn't matter that his parents had been healers; no amount of medical background could have prepared him for this. There was nothing he could do. And it had been done for him. "Why?"
"You dummy," she laughed, curling into his chest. "I love you. That's why. I just… wanted us to be happy."
"Lindy…" Years ago, they'd been two children who met at a bridge in Glasgow. He never noticed -not through their childhood, nor when they grew apart in Hogwarts… not even when they finally rekindled a friendliness for each other in Auror training. All this time, and he'd never seen it… Theodore cursed himself inside for the way he was; his lack of emotion was simply a barrier put up to keep from getting hurt, but if he'd actually been a friend instead of a colleague, perhaps Lindy would have never been caught up in any of this. "I…"
"Shh…" she put a bloody finger up to his lip. "I know." Lindy nodded and smiled. "I know, you big dummy."
One moment she was there, and the next she was gone.
For the first time in years, Theodore felt tears slip down his cheeks. He drew Lindy up against his chest tight, fearing to let go. The last bit of his childhood slipped through his fingers like the snow in Glasgow the fateful morning they met.
"Come on, Malfoy. Is that all you've got?"
"Dean!" shouted Harry, ducking behind a broken bit of table to keep from getting hit with a powerful stunning spell, "Maybe now isn't the best time to taunt the man! -Reducto!" He sent a fallen beam crumbling on top of a nearby Sacred Twenty-Eight member. One by one, Abraxas's troops were awakening, adding to the number of formidable foes he, Dean, and Hermione could take on. It was bad enough battling one over-powerful Malfoy. Sprinkling more witches and wizards into the mix only meant more unavoidable casualties. Merlin's pants, why did he agree to take on the Lead Auror position!? Why couldn't Harry have taken to something less stressful, like taming dragons in Romania or giving it a go in the Department of Mysteries as an Unspeakable?
Somehow, the three managed to scrape together behind the most solid chunk of the dining table, Hermione holding the cane in her hands as if it were a sword.
"Anyone got any ideas?" asked Dean as the table shook from the force of one of Abraxas's spells. Hermione handed the cane off to Harry and placed her hands on the table, holding it in place.
"He's after the cane, right?" Harry said, an idea forming in his head from being passed the cane. "Hot potato, anyone?"
Hermione's eyes widened, and she looked as if she could kiss him. "That's brilliant!"
"I'm game," nodded Dean, "count me in. Though I don't know how much use I'll be on this-" Hermione placed her hand to his knee and healed it, "-leg…"
"Right," Harry tried to hide the amazement in his voice. The table squeaked as it moved backward a few inches. "In between being 'it', let's try to dislodge that pendant from around his throat. It's what's keeping the Ministry from coming in!"
"One," said Hermione.
"Two," Harry nodded.
"Three!" exclaimed Dean, and the three scattered just as the table barreled over their heads and smashed into the wall. Dean took off left, Hermione right, leaving Harry as living bait holding the most glorious of prizes.
"Well, come on, then!" he shouted.
Abraxas lunged forward, but when he landed to the ground, he was no longer human. His white robes were replaced with a silken, ivory coat of fur, teeth bared and eyes glowering. The wolf took off at a dead run, and Harry threw the cane with all his might in Hermione's direction. Her Gray magic did the rest, sending it soaring into the air to land comfortably in her hand. The wolf stopped just short of Harry, head turning in Hermione's direction.
"I doubt your speed will help you!" Hermione said, disappearing and reappearing at the edge of the archway nearest the foyer. "Come on, puppy! Keep up!"
Dean tried a stunning spell to no avail. Harry realized, no matter how hard they tried, there would be no magic that could remove the pendant. So, counting his blessings he had lived this long, he did something reckless, foolish, and above all else: moronic. As Abraxas tore off in Hermione's direction, Harry ran toward the wolf, and, somehow, managed to latch his arm around his neck and swing his full body around until he was riding the wolf.
"Who-o-oah!" At first, it was simply clinging on for dear life, the pattering of feet below confirming his success. The white wolf snarled, rearing up on its haunches to rid the Auror, but Harry dug his fingers into his fur and pulled, keeping his grip. Abraxas nipped back, his teeth scraping across Harry's pant leg but missing his skin by millimeters. Later, Harry might look back on the moment and find it comical, but here, in the mix, he was terrified. Still, he had a job to do, and he wasn't about to let his fear get the best of him. After all -he'd defeated Voldemort. If he could do that, he could certainly take on - "AH!" Teeth tore into his thigh as the white wolf curled his body around. Harry, in quick succession, reached around the neck of the wolf. His fingers found metal, and he tugged, jerking, hearing the snap of a clasp before he was thrown to the ground.
"Oy, oy!" Dean could be heard yelling across the dining room. "Come and get your bone, boy." He waved the cane like a chew toy. "That's it! You smelly brute!" Abraxas released Harry's leg and tore off in Dean's direction. Squealing, Dean began to run, full strength, toward a tapestry. "Wingardium Leviosa!" He pointed to his shoes and sent himself soaring up into the air, one arm reaching out to grasp the top of the tapestry and hold on tight.
"Harry, your leg!" It was Hermione, back at Harry's side once again.
"No time. The necklace."
"Finite Incantatem."
The grounds beneath their feet shook, rumbling and groaning in desperation as the Dragon Scale Pendant's magic was dispersed.
Briefly before, at the other end of the Manor, Draco was in hot pursuit of Bruno Shafiq, determined not to let him get away. The image of Scorpius behind held at knifepoint drove the father to sheer hatred. He caught sight of the billowing wisp of robes as Shafiq turned the corner, and Draco sprinted to capture. When he rounded the corner, he found the hallway empty. The only other door in the hall was shut, and he hadn't heard it open. Which could only mean one thing: Shafiq disillusioned himself and was standing here, before him, invisible.
Draco struggled to catch his breath as he roamed his eyes down the long corridor, searching for any tells. The Gray magic in him was tired- probably because, despite his best efforts, Draco's ego waned. He felt like a failure. So much of this could have been avoided if he'd just been a man and stood up to his grandfather in the woods instead of using the cowards way out to stay alive.
No. This wasn't helping. Self-loathing only worsened his powers. If he was going to do this, he needed to remember all the good he'd done. He'd informed Potter of his grandfather's involvement. He'd located both Pandora stones (mind you, he did give his over to Abraxas in exchange for his life). But he'd done all that he'd done to protect his family. And what good would dying do, anyway? It would have put more of the people he loved in danger, not keep them alive. When push came to shove, he told himself he did the right thing. Then, he began to believe it.
A glimmer of a human form molded to his right, and he thrust his hand out, sending the figure up to the ceiling before dropping him with a SMACK to the floor. Shafiq's glamour dispelled immediately, and Draco smirked in triumph, kicking the man in the side.
"Serves you right, you bellend."
As his confidence grew, the Gray flickered inside of him, finding new kindling in his accomplishment. So much so, he sensed another presence in the den at the end of the hall. Cautiously, he approached the door and pried it open.
"Father?"
Lucius Malfoy lay slumped in front of Winifred Malfoy's portrait, sallow and covered in blood. Draco rushed into the room, falling to his knees beside his father and immediately recognizing the puncture of three arrow wounds in his chest. The arrows, being magical, must have disintegrated, but it only made the bleeding worse as Lucius's breath rattled.
"No you don't," Draco seethed, pressing his hands over his father's chest. "You don't get to be a fucking martyr. You're not dying tonight." He prayed Hermione's healing expertise with the Gray would work for him, and he closed his eyes, imagining the wounds sealing beneath his palms. A cool tingle dripped down his arms and into his hands. When he opened his eyes again, he found Lucius breathing normally, though he still remained unconscious for the time being.
There came a mighty rupture across the foundation of Malfoy Manor, roaring and causing the structure to moan.
Lucius bolted upright, gasping for breath and staring in confusion at his son.
"Draco?"
He didn't know what came over him, but Draco found himself flinging his arms around Lucius and clinging on like a child come back from Hogwarts term. All of the hatred and resentment sloughed off like snake skin, revealing the boy underneath. The boy who just wanted to love, and be loved, by his father.
"Oh… um… are we hugging?" Lucius asked in a formal tone. He patted Draco on the back, but before long he gave in and wrapped his arms firmly around his only son.
"I thought I'd lost you," Draco said.
"For a moment there, you almost did. -Scorpius, Narcissa, are they-" but Lucius was cut off when the fireplace behind them burst into green flames. Out from the floo stepped Auror Kingston, wand drawn and horn-rimmed glasses hanging precariously off of his nose.
"Malfoy?" he spoke not to Lucius, but to Draco. It then dawned on him he was supposed to be in Azkaban.
"Er… fights in the dining area," said Draco, peeling himself away from his father in a fit of embarrassment. "Potter's there, in case you're wondering."
"I take it you found my letter?" drawled Lucius, smirking up at Kingston. One by one, more Aurors stepped out of the flames, each turning a curious eye on the Malfoy men.
Kingston cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes. "I'll be taking you in after this is over," he said.
"If you think you can catch me," smirked Draco. He helped his father to his feet and watched as Auror after Auror followed Kingston out of the den and toward battle.
"Where are you going?" asked Lucius as Draco turned to follow.
"What does it look like? To do my job. Someone's got to put Abraxas down."
Lucius stared firmly at his son. "Let me assist you."
Draco tried his very best to not sound cruel as he said, "You'll only get in my way." Then he pulled away from his father and retreated out of the room, sprinting down the hall to catch up. When he made it to the archway, he found Dean clinging for dear life up at the top of a tapestry, an enormous white wolf pacing back and forth at the bottom. Aurors were throwing spells right and left at him, but they bounced off, unphased.
No. No more people would be put in jeopardy on his family's account.
Draco thrust out his hand and summoned the cane to him before shouting, "You want it? Come and get it!" before disappearing with a POP!
I know, I know. Another cliffhanger. But I didn't want to force everything into one chapter. Next one is the final boss fight. Promise. I'm not trying to drag it out...
Hopefully, you enjoyed and are ready to travel with me on this adventure to the very end.
We haven't much more to go.
~A.
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How To Train Your Auror 2: Family Ties