Unpleasently familiar.. (open)

[headauror]

Busy.. unusually so for this time of year. That was the best way to describe Diagon Alley as he made his way between the shops on this chilled Autumn day. The students were out while repairs were being made to Hogwarts after the attack on the dance. It was clear though by the way parents kept their kids close and the air lacked the excessive laughter and patter of small feet running about at will, that things were changing.. in an all to familiar and unpleasant way. People didn't feel quite as safe or secure in letting their children out of sight these days. After all, if Hogwarts of all places could be attacked, its defenses broken through then really what place 'was' what could be considered safe? This mindset, this 'feeling' in the air.. weighed heavily on Harry. He imagined the looks thrown his way, for there had always been looks, gauwkers.. something he had grown use to.. were more accusing than riddled with awe today. Or possibly he wasn't imagining that fact at all. After all he should have been able to prevent it. Should have been able to foresee a traitor in the ranks of his auror's sooner and should have weeded the bloody excuse for a law keeper out, been rid of him before the damage could be done. And though none of the parents hurrying through Diagon could know of the subtler details, it was no secret that his department had been responsible for provideding extra protection for the school, protection that had failed to keep their kids safe, even under the watchful leadership of Harry Potter himself.

He'd just been to Weasleys' Wizard Weezes to relay a bit of information to George and was now on his way to the Leaky cauldron for passage into London planing on taking to longer route back to Grimmald Place. Granted he could have apparated but the cold air and time was a blessing really.. gave him a chance to think, sort things through in his mind without a load of Order members constantly pressing him with questions.

He be due back to work soon enough, he still had reserves of having taken off a week for 'personal' reasons, ( in fact it couldn't be helped, organizing was needed within the Order and he felt his place was closer to his boys till he was certain they were both past the lingering effects of Malfoy manor) and was now trying to think his way ahead of the work he'd be behind. Granted thoughts would do nothing to deplete the piles of paperwork he know would be building on his desk, even if he had been sending an owl for anything of urgent import each day, but there were some things that he could prepare for. Such as sorting out the mole in his department and seeing him on his way.. providing he hadn't taken that step of their own accord by now. If he hadn't depending on the level of cases he'd been working on a trip past the desk of Austin Blake for a little memory adjusting might not be out of line.. The more information they could keep from Bellatrix and her damnable pawns the better.

[.DRACO lucius MALFOY !]

DRACO ABRAXAS MALFOY

*******

Draco’s steps were loud and long, his head was rising but a dark hood covered his blond hair. His eyes were maintained looking forwards, almost hardly blinking or looking around himself. A few people looked his way with a wondering expression. This people were of course muggles, unaware of who he was or why he wore the strange black robes that covered most o his body. He knew that many other wizards wore muggle clothing while walking around London, but Draco nor his family ever bother with something like that. They were proud of who they were and would never lower themselves to fit in with the muggle community. Plus he hardly cared if some weak muggles found him strange, at this moment Draco cared very little about things. Even if his expression was hard and almost emotionless his insides were still burning with anger.

The memory of what had went on in his own childhood home was still as livid as it had been that night. The face of his own son still shone on his mind at that dreadful moment went he was taken with the other captives by Harry Potter and his little followers. Draco had always known that Scorpius did not completely agree with their ideas, something that he always saw as a rebellious idea. That with time he would quickly forget and find himself ion the right path that had been placed for them all to follow. It was a great disappointed to witness his son betray their ideas in such a heartless form. But more importantly to allow himself to be around people like the Potters and Weasleys alike. He had always trusted that his own flesh and blood would be better than that.

His father had always told Draco that he was to weak around his children and needed to harden up like his wife Astoria. Draco had always imagined that he was a bit to hard, he loved his children. But now looking back maybe Lucius had been right. He should have stopped this, he should have seen this coming. Now his children were gone, his little baby girl, his Narcissa. His boy, his Scorpius whom he had watched grow into almost a man. Once more Harry Potter had gotten the light, he had taken the attention of his own children. Burt he wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen, he still hoped that they would see the light. Or he himself would go and bring them back were they belonged. Finally coming to a stop he looked up at the family Leaky Cauldron, stepping inside quickly.

He didn’t bother to stay there much he had a few things to do in Diagon Alley, something that Regulus Lestrange had asked from him. He was still taking back when Regulus was the one to take the reins after the Lupin boy had killed Bellatrix, he had always imagined that his own father or Rodolphus would be the ones to follow after Bellatrix. He didn’t had anything personal against Regulus himself, he was a good leader and he had an immense amount of knowledge about the Ministry. He was just still a bit taken back about all that had happened in there. Draco had been almost ready to make it into Knockturn Alley when his eyes fell on a far too familiar person. His face darkened instantly and he threw the hood back revealing his face fully. “Look what we have here, our savior Harry Potter, the boy who lived, no the chosen one.”

******

[headauror]

Harry pulled up short as a hooded figure with a nauseatingly familiar swagger to it's step stopped some distance from him. As the hood was thrown back he frowned and his expression was anything but thrilled as he took in the pale face of the rat that had been dogging his steps since his first year at Hogwarts. Right.. dealing Malfoy and his mouth was the last thing he'd wanted placed on his 'things to accomplish for the day' list. But there you have it..

The jeer thrown his way was one so over used and tired that Harry couldn't help the visible rolling of his eyes in annoyance. Honestly, didn't the man have better things to do with his time than stalking Harry for the chance to get in a bad jab at every opportunity? Torture small animals...parenting classes maybe?.. Those would be helpful.. seeing as Malfoy's own skills in the area had given Harry a house full of troubled teens. All of whose states, be it directly or indirectly, were the result of Draco's failure to be a decent father to his own kids. That alone was enough to make Harry loath the man. If you were going to have children damn it, be there for them.. to the best of your ability.. add to that the past history between the two men now glowering at one another in the street of Diagon and you could practically see the tension build in the air between and around the two. He responded with a tight voice..one that while calm and quiet for the benefit of keeping passers by comfortably in the dark on matters that didn't concern them, had a decidedly unpleasant edge to it. Not that there were many left the immediate area, anyone bold, or stupid enough to throw verbal punches at Harry was someone most in the wizarding world would rather not be privy to the conversations of.

" Wrong war Malfoy, See... now it's head Auror.. leader of the Order.. and the "Man" that's going to have an active hand in seeing you and the rest of your cowardly, child torturing lot off to Azkaban. "

As a mother dragged her curiously starring young tyke off to the safety of a nearby shop Harry was reminded for a fleeting moment of the old westerns that occasionally turned up on the Dursley's telly when he'd snuck in a watch on occasion as a child. His wand hand twitched where it was shoved in his pocket, curled around the tool that was all but an extension of himself. In all honesty with the feelings he had towards Malfoy and his lot, the pain and suffering this mans actions, and/or lack there of had caused so many, drawing his 'gun' for a 'show down' was a rather tempting idea.. but not a very smart one as long as it could be avoided. While the street immediately around then had become rather empty, and risk of anyone else getting hurt was low, he was certain watchful eyes still viewed the confrontation from various shop windows.. it wouldn't do for the head of the auror department to be seen drawing his wand on an apparently 'innocent' man for the crime of a mere jab at his fame. Now should Malfoy draw first... well, he could hope..right? A sneer of disgust crossed his face as he spoke again in the same quite tone as before.

" Tell me Malfoy, I know you couldn't give a bloody arse about my son, probably enjoyed the show sick bastered that you are,.. but how did it feel? .. Standing there and watching them rough up your own boy.. doing nothing to stop it..because honestly.. I really couldn't imagine. Or perhaps you even had a hand in things? Your twisted version of tough love maybe? "

[.DRACO lucius MALFOY !]

DRACO ABRAXAS MALFOY

*******

Draco’s face lit up the moment that Harry Potter responded, his pale face turning bright red clashing with his golden hair. In an instant his hand had gone to his wand inside his robes and it was out again, pointed at the center of Harry’s chest. He knew it was foolish enough of him to bring a fight between himself and an Auror, that now led that department. Especially since the resent events that had occurred, but the anger within Draco was boiling heatedly. His body trembled harshly and he could fear his eyes burning up, Draco loved his children very much. He would have never before thought about hurting them, it was true that during that night he had been forced to witness his own son get punished. But he interfering would have only mane things worse for the two of them, plus if only Scorpius had stayed were he was. Nothing bad would have happened to him, if only he had not been so foolish.

But he also was well aware of a few of the things his father did, but they were things that Draco himself had gone though. It wasn’t as bad as few people may believe. It had been the way that all his family had been brought up as, he was unable to change it. Yet he did know that Bellatrix had been a different story, many times Draco had kept Scorpius out of her grasp. But it was impossible to change the mind of that woman, secretly Draco was happy that she was gone at last. He had always feared her and he could understand why Scorpius had also feared her, but she was gone and he wanted his children back. He couldn’t stand to see his wife suffer with their departure and he himself was also suffering. He couldn’t forgive Potter for causing that much pain of his own beloved wife, he could be Ministry all he wanted.

But that was not going to happen, Draco may be unable to retrieve his children just yet, but he would not allow Potter to tell such lies. He may not like him or his family, but he had never felt more sickened as Bellatrix punished those children and his own blood. He couldn’t do anything to top it, been out numbered and having some type of brain cells left, but he had not been proud of the sight that had taken place on his own. He had already been forced to face such things during his own childhood, no father would be proud of that. “Don’t you dare say that out loud Potter, I never wanted my son to suffer like that. Don’t think I was happy about it, I know how it feels to be forced to do something that you do not want to. I told Scorpius to stay out of things to follow everything she told him, it would have kept him out of her sight.”

His hand was now trembling and s et of hot tears was streaming down his face, it was rare to see Draco show his emotions like that. Bur like that day in the common room, he was trapped inside a web of emotions far to large for him to handle by himself. Having Potter pull his strings like that was not helping his state of mind at all. The only thing stopping him from cursing the other man away were the now watchful eyes that came from the windows of the shops that surrounded them. But if things kept going that path not even that would be stopping Draco Malfoy today. “Don’t you even begin to think that I don’t love my children, they are everything to Astoria and me. All that I have done is to make sure that they would be safe from the rage of Bellatrix Lestrange, you don‘t know what is like to be around her. She is far more dangerous that what you are led to believe and her supporter. are very like her. Bellatrix may be gone now, but he still remains behind and I won't be foolish enough to go against him.”

******

[headauror]

Harry smirked as Draco's wand was brought to his chest. He'd picked up a few tricks over his years as an Auror.. not the least of which was honing the ability to perform silent magic. what Draco didn't know was that the wand in his pocket was angled at Draco in turn, what he also failed to realize was that with a simple thought which would take less time to complete that Draco's lips would need to form an incantation, Harry could have the man disarmed or worse...

" Get your damned wand off me you fool... think your tyrant will be pleased if you get yourself locked up for attacking an Auror? Or perhaps your going for that angle.. is that it? Get your self thrown in Azkaban and easy your guilt by dealing with at least a fraction of the the suffering you've caused your own kids. 'They' came to 'me' Draco!.. they want out of what you cower to so easily... Your son had more backbone as a sixth year than you've shown your whole life! the kid stands up for his friends and won't back down for what he believes in, and you FAULT him for it?! and still have the nerve to say you love the child?!.. right!.."

Harry snorted in disgust.

" And If shes so bloody horrible to be around, her ways so awful, then why do you stay?! Why insist your wife remain in that warped setting and why strive to bring your kids back to it when they so obviously ..don't..want..to..be..there!!.. I realize your a ferret when it comes down to it Draco but grow a spine if you care for them..rodents 'are' vertebrates after all. Be a man for once and do the right thing for your own damn family! "

As his rant subsided, his anger vented, the red cloud of anger and tunnel vision clearing, something Draco had mentioned finally began to register. Bellatrix was ...gone? They'd heard rumors of as much but nothing had been confirmed. Was he saying that she was in fact dead? And who was the 'he' that Draco had mentioned..the new dark lord spoken of in the prophecy?

" Hold on... what are you on about Draco? Are you saying the women's dead?? And if that's the case, this person, if you care to call him that.. that's taking her place... you realize in supporting him your doming your own kids right? Be damned that their pureblood and might be given the "privilege" to go on living, their freedom, their friends..all that they hold dear... he'll strip it from them...leave them slaves to his whims, it that what you want for them?? Look at yourself man!..your bloody face is a wet mess over them, yet you don't care enough to take them from a situation that from your own mouth you stay in out of fear.. one that could very literally be the death of them in the end... "

[.DRACO lucius MALFOY !]

( 2 months late, D: )

Draco’s face was now bright red, with hands pressed into firm fists, his knuckles white by now. The only thing on his mind at the moment was the punch the lights out of Potter, but Draco knew that it would be a very dangerous move in such a public place. Then there was that side of him that knew he couldn’t just stand and allow Potter to keep talking like that, maybe another person he would have been able to ignore. But the history between the Potters and Malfoys went back generations and allowing such weakness to be witnessed by the other party would not be allowed. His wand rose higher, now pointed at Harry’s neck before he removed it. He wasn’t worth using magic on, he wasn’t even worth his time. The only reason why he was bothering to do this was because he did not wish for his children to remind under the wind of this filthy blood traitor.

“You have very little right to even say that, while Hogwarts was fully under the control of the Dark Lord you and your little group of friends hid away, while your so called friends did all the fighting against the Carrows. You who hid for almost year from the Dark Lord while people were killed off right on the streets, what right you have to call me a coward. Draco smirked, but there was very little humor on his face. The only thing in his mind was to spit all of the venom from his anger into this man. What he thought his life had been placed on a silver plate, maybe his childhood. But it was Draco who had to live under the watchful eye of Lord Voldemort and then Bellatrix Lestrange. “I did what I had to do to stay alive and too keep my family alive, the Ministry is slowly falling. If they rise, I won’t take any chances to let my family end up dead or worse. You have those people watching your back, but we have to watch our own Potter”

“The only reason why he even went with you is because you and your scum brainwashed him, you say you wanted to protect him. But you only placed them in danger now, he will never be safe as long as he is viewed as a traitor and I won’t allow you to put them in more danger.” Draco took another step closer, now standing facing Harry Potter, his face still as angry as before. He wanted Harry to begin the fight, that way at least he could give the image that he had no other option, but he was starting to doubt he could keep his cool down for much longer. Every word that came from potter’s mouth just made him even more angrier, he had not right to talk to him about how he should rise his children, he knew what was best for them and that was them staying alive.

“Of course she id dead Potter, you should know that by now, since it was one of your own that killed her in the end.” Draco looked at Harry, but what Regulus had said to them he was sure that he would have a good idea of what had happened to the woman, if you could still call her even that. “Killed by the Avada Kedavra curse, your Ministry friends didn’t bother much with her. I would have thought that your little godson would have wanted a better4 revenge against the woman that killed his mother. Who is next on his list, Antonin Dolohov the murderer of the wolf.” Draco eyed Harry closer now, his face loosing the redness. “The Order is not filled with saints after all, you are almost as rotten as the Death Eaters by now.”

“I don’t support him, I hardly care what the Death Eaters do anymore, they are mostly insane by now. Mudbloods, blood traitors those are the small parts of what they want. Complete power over both words.” Draco looked away for a moment, it had been a long while ago since he had given up on gaining more power, he o0nly stayed around for safety reasons. “But I wouldn’t be foolish to turn on them, Bellatrix she allowed things because I was the son of her sister. But he hardly cares about that, I wouldn’t even begin to dare and try to get on his bad side. When it comes to him, the Death eaters are the last thing I worry about.”