Severus Snape's Sister

XV. Diagon Alley

Draco Malfoy

Draco, now forty, sat at the table reading the Daily Prophet. The Hogwarts advertisement for DADA teacher was gone from the front page. He flicked through the paper to find who had taken the job. He dropped the paper and stared at the name Natasha Prince. He hurt inside slightly and felt guilty. His wife had died only two years ago and here he was thinking about another woman. He tried to rationalize that it was because he was lonely and they were similar.

"Scorpius, are you nearly ready?" he hollered so Scorpius would hear him.

"Nearly," he replied.

"Get a rush on," he yelled, "or we'll be late."

Scorpius slid down the banister and fell off slightly. "That didn't happen," he said as he walked over, sweet in hand.

"Sure it didn't," he chortled as he stood and put on his cloak.

"I hope we see Albus."

"You sure like that Potter, don't you?"

He blushed and said, "Yep." Draco didn't notice Scorpius's blush as he swept out the door with Scorpius right behind.

"You'll need new robes again. Stop growing so much. Soon you'll be taller than me!"

"Oooh." Scorpius stood on his tiptoes, nearly the same height as his father. "Make way! Make way!"

"You're strange. I have no clue where you get that from." Scorpius went down to his heels. He laughed as they walked.

When they got to Diagon Alley, Scorpius drug his father along to find Albus. Finally, the two boys found each other. Draco and Harry were left with each other. Attempting to make conversation, which wasn't his strong suit, Draco said with an attempt at airiness, "So, did you hear Natasha Prince is back in the wizarding world?"

"Oh yeah," said Harry, glad to have something to talk about. "She's going to be DADA teacher, isn't she?"

"Yes," he said tensely. "She'll be good at it. Well, if anything does happen during a lesson, she can heal them."

"How many times has she healed you?"

"A lot," he admitted. "The last time we talked..." He couldn't finish. He still felt guilty for chasing her away. She loved him for one reason or another, but he wasn't smart enough to listen to her. At least he was lucky enough to find Astoria. Now, he was betraying her memory with another woman he hadn't seen in over twenty years.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked with concern.

"Do you wonder why Natasha left for so long?"

"I don't know. I'd say family, but her father was all she had. He was abusive at that. Ginny told me so anyways."

"I think it may be my fault," he said quietly.

"I don't think so. She was too strong for that. Just think what she went through, with Bellatrix and all."

"Still," his face showed guilt that was heavy in his heart. His chest felt constricted.

"It's not your fault," Harry assured him. "Regardless, she must be alright now, since she's coming back and teaching DADA." Draco nodded even though he wasn't convinced.

James came up to them. "Hey dad, I saw a woman in the Flourish and Blotts and she asked me to give this to you."

"I told you not to talk to strangers," he said as he took the small package from his son.

"She said she was the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher and had to be going. I wasn't going to take it, but Neville came up. He started talking to her and wished her luck with the new job."

"Okay." He opened it to see a picture of a mastiff. Draco was looking over Harry's shoulder because it was Natasha. He picked up the picture and saw a snitch underneath it. It floated up lazily and fluttered in the air. It wasn't a normal snitch, Draco realized. At Harry's touch, it spun around and transformed into a tiny wand. He touched it again, and it turned into a broom. "That's something."

"I've never seen anything like that before," Draco said.

"Me neither." Harry turned over the picture. It had a note on the back.

Harry read out loud, "Harry, I found this in Boston while going through the wizarding part of town. It's hard to tell, but the wand is a replica of yours. I do wish you had told me about the trouble with your son and Draco's. I'd have helped of course, especially with Albus' arm after it broke. McGonagall told me of course. I'm so glad you named Albus after Severus. He'd be proud of you and your children, Albus in particular. My dog in the picture is named Moony. I still miss Remus. I'm sorry for my isolation over the past years, but it was necessary. I hope you can understand. - Natasha Prince."

Albus looked at Harry puzzled. "Dad, who is she?"

"She's a friend. Severus Snape's sister. Remus Lupin prized her," he explained shortly. "James, do you know where she went? Hermione and Ginny were good friends with her."

"She waved to mom but nothing else. She seemed in a rush." Draco eyed Harry trying to communicate 'because of me'.