After a War ((Old Copy))

Chapter 17 Book 2

The Wanderers

Now they had codenames. They just sat by the lake. Silently. Pansy had gone back to find Blaise and make sure he was ok, apparently he hadn't been well lately. Maya and Solomon had gone to Remus, and Nymphadora's new house, it was more like a cabin though. It was on the other side of the forbidden forest because, well, Remus was a bit afraid of the neighbors figuring out that there were ghosts living next to them. Solomon and Maya had been told to come home to a family dinner.

That left two.

Draco sat next to Hermione as the sun slowly crept towards the horizon. Tonight was the full moon, which meant they were going to get Justin. Hermione's brother. Pansy ran up behind them right when the last sliver of the sun disappeared.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked when he noticed Pansy not only looked scared, upset, and worried, she was also crying. Hermione and Draco stood.

"D-Draco..." Pansy sobbed. Hermione walked over to Pansy and hugged her.

"Is it Blaise?" Draco asked softly. Pansy shook her head on Hermione's shoulder.

"What is it Pansy?" Hermione asked in a whisper.

"...T-t... They're...D-dead..." Pansy mumbled. Draco looked towards the castle, Blaise and Theo were standing within hearing range. Both of them were on the verge of tears too. Hermione hugged Pansy tighter. Draco returned his gaze to the girls.

"Who?" Draco asked. It was someone who had been a part of all of the Slytherins lives, otherwise Weasel and Potter would be there.

"Draco." Pansy said. She stood up straight and tried to pull it together. "Code Jenavive." She said as she tried to stop crying. Draco basically fell apart right there.

"What's Code Jenavive?" Hermione asked.

"Does your apparating work? Mine and Hermione's stopped working." Draco asked Pansy.

"No, mines out too. I don't know what's wrong." Pansy said. Draco grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her towards Blaise and Theo.

"You know what to do." Draco told Theo as they all grabbed each-others hands and appeared at St. Mungos.

"We need to see the four new patients." Pansy told the woman sitting at the counter, she was the only one that both knew the situation and was able to speak. Draco could barely stand, his knees where shaking and his head was throbbing uncontrollably. Hermione grabbed his hand and held it tightly. The woman nodded.

"Are you related?" The woman asked. Pansy looked at Hermione.

"Yes Ma'am. I am the daughter of one of the four women, this is the son of one of them, and the daughter-in-law of the same woman. Then the other two are sons of the last two women." Pansy explained. Draco looked at Hermione for a moment, she didn't seem phased at all at being called the Daughter-in-law of Narcissa.

"Mr. Zabini? Mr. Nott? Mrs. Parkinson? And Mr. And Mrs. Malfoy?" The woman asked. Pansy nodded. The woman lead them to the door of a room. "I'm afraid that I cant allow you in just yet, and Mr. Nott, I need to speak with you privately for a moment." The woman added. Theo nodded and followed her down the hall.

"What happened?" Hermione asked.

"Jenavive." Pansy said.

"What's Jenavive?" Hermione asked. Pansy looked at Draco, who was pacing up and down the hall, rubbing his temples every few seconds.

"After the war, we created a thing called Jenavive-"

"We?" Hermione asked.

"Me, Draco, Blaise, and Theo." Pansy explained.

"What is Jenavive?" Hermione asked.

"Jenavive is just a code word. It means our parents were attacked by the remaining death eaters, at least, that's what we think. The clipboard I stole at the desk says that there are wolf bites, and scratches. It was just our four mothers, our fathers are all either in Azkaban or drunk somewhere on the other side of the world. The clipboard doesn't say if anyone died or not." Pansy said sadly.

"Does it say where the attack happened?" Hermione asked.

"Malfoy Manor, it says on the bottom of the paper that Theo's mum was awake and they asked what was going on before she blacked out, this is what she said. 'A red wolf, with fangs longer than normal wolves emerged from the basement and interrupted our lunch, spells had no effect on the beast and nothing could pierce its skin.' That's all they got before she blacked out." Pansy said.

"Does that mean Narcissa is in there too?" Hermione asked, now tearing up.

"Yes." Pansy said, she was already crying. The woman returned with Theo by her side, Theo went to where Blaise and Draco were pacing first and told them something. Blaise and Theo walked to where Hermione and Pansy were standing. Both of them had broken down and were crying. Draco yelled and punched the wall, leaving a large hole in the wall, he calmed down for a moment and repaired the wall with his wand.

"Theo's mum is gone, and they're saying that the fangs of the wolf were laced with a poison that kills them slowly and painfully. They say we can visit them now." Blaise said. Draco made his way to the door first, even though he was the furthest away. Hermione had never met any of the women, other than Narcissa of course, but even she was unrecognizable. Other than the fact that she was paler than the other women. Pansy's mum was awake, and Blaise's mum was stirring. Narcissa made no movement, other than a steady rise and fall of her chest, proving she was still breathing.

"Draco, she fought the hardest, saying it was her house." Pansy's mum said. Draco ignored her and faced his mother.

"Mum... M-mum, wake up." Draco mumbled, He cupped his hands on her cheeks and rested his forehead on hers. He felt a hand on his shoulder and wrapped his arms around Hermione.

"Its ok, she'll be ok." Hermione whispered to him.

"Blaise." Blaise's mum said as she woke.

"Mum." Blaise rushed to her bedside.

"Dear, take care of the others, ok? You know the troubles of the family, and your friends." She told him softly.

"Mum, I will, but, not yet, because you'll be fine." Blaise insisted.

"Yes, of course." Pansy's mum told Pansy. They had been talking to, but Draco only focused on the bed closer to his mothers. Narcissa moved, slightly, but moved. Draco was right there immediately.

"Draco." Narcissa said, without opening her eyes.

"Mum." Draco said with a shaky voice. There was no point in trying not to cry now.

"The house is yours, just, make sure you change it, not so dark. End the Malfoy tradition, don't be too proud, don't be as greedy, and love whoever you want." Narcissa smiled and opened her eyes, she looked at Hermione. Draco tried to stop her but she lifted her hand and looked at her ring. "My only regret is that I didn't see you marry the girl you loved. But, this is for the day you do." Narcissa said, she took off her ring and put it in Draco's hand. He stared at it for a moment. Then he stood next to Hermione, and got down on one knee.

"Hermione Granger, the love of my life, will you marry me?" Draco asked.