A Different Halloween

Chapter 62

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Since his father had received a dementor's kiss for leading that attack, Draco dreaded the knock at the door that would signal the ministry coming to call. He was now head of the family, a family that appeared destined for infamy with destitution thrown in just to finish the Malfoy's off. Therefore it was with a great deal of trepidation that he opened their door, only to find the last person he expected to be standing there.

"Professor Black, what are you doing here?"

"Hello Draco, I would like to speak with your mother, if I may?"

Draco stood to the side to allow their guest to enter. As Sirius passed the boy, he felt compelled to say something. "I was sorry to hear about your father. He and I had never seen eye to eye, probably since we were about your age, but I would never wish that fate on anyone."

"Thank you professor, mother is through in the other room."

He found Cissi sitting straight up in her chair, ready to face whatever came through the door. She relaxed her posture slightly after spotting just who her guest was. "Sirius, to what do I owe the pleasure? I dearly hope you haven't come to gloat at my late husband's demise?"

Sirius gave her a weak smile. "Maybe once upon a time you would have been right with that thought Cissi, but not anymore. I have a wife and daughter who would be severely disappointed in me if I were to do something so crass as that, I never want to let them down. As I told Draco, Lucius and I never saw eye to eye on anything but I still wouldn't wish that fate on him. No, my visit here today concerns you and your son."

Sirius was invited to sit and politely turned down the offer of a drink before getting down to the real reason he'd made the journey. "It's no secret Draco hasn't settled in at Hogwarts, and I can't see this latest development helping that. With this in mind I have reconsidered my decision to fund his education." Sirius could see this almost had Cissi in tears so pushed on with his offer. "I think it would be beneficial to you both if Draco attended school elsewhere, and I'm prepared to fund it. Fees and any other expenses involved."

Cissi had to remind herself to breathe, she had thought for one awful moment there that Draco wouldn't be able to attend school at all. This offer could solve a lot of their problems but something was troubling her. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful Sirius, but why the change of heart?"

Sirius could hardly say that he didn't want the little shit anywhere near his family, next time Harry might do some permanent damage. He considered any extra expense involved in Draco changing school to be money well spent, the peace of mind alone would make it worth the extra gold involved. "Draco hasn't made any friends at Hogwarts, quite the opposite in fact. We both know children can be cruel and I fear the first argument that Draco finds himself involved in would escalate into spellfire the instant his father's fate was mentioned. As he's already on his last warning from McGonagall, I feel this is the best option for him."

Cissi's emotions had taken a real beating recently and this act of kindness saw her fighting back the tears. "Thank you Sirius, a fresh start would be the best thing for Draco. We'll look into our options at once and hope he can start elsewhere after the Christmas Holidays. I will ensure he knows how generous an offer this is and that I expect him to grasp it with both hands. You have my assurance his behaviour and academic performance will be closely monitored."

With phase one complete, Sirius now pushed on to the second reason he'd come calling today. "Cissi, I also have a job offer for you..."

"Sirius, you have done more than anyone to get us back on our feet but I won't accept more charity. Once I get Draco settled into his new school, I can then start looking for work."