A/M: short chapter, sorry! They'll start getting longer after this; I've got a lot planned for this book :) thanks for all the comments guys! The support for these stories is overwhelming!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A loud crack echoed through the streets of Diagon Alley as two witches apparated into a dark alley. Both of their faces were obscured by black hoods, covering their features and making them unrecognisable.

One of the women immediately started walking,much to the others chagrin.

"Cissy, wait-" the woman started, following her partner with haste yet more cautiousness than the other. She was more wary, looking around corners as they ventured to the meeting place.

"Cissy- Narcissa, please listen to me-"

"Go back, Bella!" The woman, Narcissa, snapped angrily. "It is not your place to be here, go back!"

The other woman, Bella, huffed in reply. "No." She said simply, continuing to follow Narcissa down the winding and dark alleys leading towards Knockturn Alley. They finally passed the sign, and the shops began to progressively advertise darker and darker items. Narcissa and Bella didn't show any signs of caring about the dark artefacts being sold, or the dodgy looking people stumbling around the darkened streets.

Finally they turned into a small alcove, walking up the steps to a black door. After muttering something under her breath, the door swung open and Naricssa stepped inside. Bella followed close behind, both women pulling down their hoods as the door slammed shut behind them.

Narcissa Malfoy was a tall woman, with long platinum blond hair that hung down to her waist. She was very pretty, her eyes a bright shade of blue flecked with silver. Her skin was so pale that in the dim lighting of the room it seemed to glow somewhat.

Bellatrix Lestrange pulled down her hood as well, her face set into a permanent scowl, upper lip curled. She, too, was pale, and once would have been a beautiful woman if not for her foul expression. Her hair was wild and frizzy, almost like she'd just walked through a thunderstorm.

"Severus," Narcissa spoke the name coldly, eyeing the man who was sitting on one of the couches.

Severus Snape didn't look too pleased at the presence of the two women, his pale features set into an expression of vague disgust. He looked like he'd much rather be anywhere else, and was probably wondering when he could return back to his home at Hogwarts.

"Narcissa," Snape replied easily, not acknowledging Bellatrix. "Why is it that you wished to meet me here?"

"You know why I'm here," Narcissa spoke in a hostile tone, frowning at the man. Bellatrix watched both of them curiously, sitting down in an armchair.

"Draco," Snape said, diverting his gaze. "He's living a perfectly happy life without you and Lucius interfering; why don't you just leave him alone?"

"He doesn't know what he's doing," Narcissa scoffed, looking offended.

"Well I can assure you he's getting a lot more attention than he was, say, when he was just a small child?" Snape snapped.

"You are speaking out of your right, Severus-" Narcissa started, her once pale face turning an ugly shade of red with anger.

"Face it, Narcissa, you've neglected him. I'm sure his life would be virtually the same if you didn't even exist in it, it would possibly be even better for him that way," Snape snarled. "He doesn't want to see you, so if that's what you want-"

"You know why I'm here!" Narcissa screeched. "You know what he's got planned for him!"

"So now you care," Snape sighed. "How tragic. You do know that everything that has happened in the past few years could have been avoided if you'd been a better parent? Remus Lupin treats him much better than you or Lucius ever have."

"I-I know," Narcissa murmured, looking pained. "I know, but I need you to help him. You're the only one who can."

"I don't know what I can do for him. There is no cure, no way to fix-"

"Yes, but you can protect him," Narcissa said firmly. "You can do that, and I can't."

"I've always done my best to protect him, and I always will-" Snape started, looking thoroughly sick and tired of the woman standing in front of him.

"Then swear on it," Bellatrix, who'd been silent up until this moment, spoke in a cold yet excited tone. Both of the other people frowned at her, waiting for her to continue. "Make the unbreakable vow."

Snape visibly glared at her. The unbreakable vow, well, the name itself was pretty self explanatory. Break it, and the consequences are dire.

Narcissa looked at him expectantly. "Well?" She asked, holding out her hand. Snape stared at her hand for a few seconds before taking it, Bellatrix letting out a gleeful cackle.

Bellatrix pulled her wand from her cloak, waving it a few times. From the tip of the wand white smoke began to appear, entwining and wrapping itself around their joined hands.

"Will you, Severus Snape," Bellatrix started, her voice clearly giving away how excited she was about this new development. "Watch over Draco Malfoy as he fulfills the Dark Lord's wishes?"

"I will," Snape spoke quietly.

"And will you, to the best of your ability, protect him from harm?"

"I will."

"And, should it prove necessary, if the spells fail, will you carry out the deed yourself?"

Snape visibly flinched at this question, pausing before drawing in a deep breath. "I will."

******

Harry awoke the next morning to the bed being empty and cold. In a haze of foggy sleepiness he regarded the other side of the bed with confusion, wondering where Draco was.

With a yawn, he managed to locate the werewolf somewhere in a room downstairs. After pulling on some clothes and putting on his glasses, he trotted downstairs. It was about 6 in the morning, and from what he could tell, Remus and Sirius were still asleep.

He walked into the lounge, seeing the TV still on, blaring an annoying static. Frowning, he grabbed the remote and turned to a different channel with some muggle cartoons he recognised on it.

Harry smiled as he caught sight of Draco, fast asleep on the couch, a blanket wrapped around him. He sat down beside the werewolf, tucking a loose strand of his white hair behind his ear.

Draco shifted at the contact, opening his eyes blearily. He looked exhausted, a distant look in his stormy grey eyes.

"Good morning," Harry murmured quietly, a soft smile playing across his lips. "Why're you down here?"

"I had a nightmare," Draco replied tiredly, sitting up. "Went for a walk and fell back asleep here."

Harry frowned, studying his grey eyes. "You should've told me. I can't sense when you're in trouble like you can sense when I am," he murmured. "I wish I could though. Wake me up next time, promise?"

Draco nodded weakly.

******

Diagon Alley was progressively becoming more and more filled with people shopping for their school supplies. Amongst them were the two couples, both fighting their way through the crowds to get school supplies.

Newt and Credence followed Harry and Draco from shop to shop, having volunteered to supervise the two as Remus didn't want to leave Sirius on his own. The Weasley family had gotten their supplies a few days ago.

After a trip to Gringotts which mostly involved Newt being quietly fascinated about the goblins and hissing random facts about them into Credence's ear every other second (much to his amusement).

They walked into Madam Malkin's to buy bigger robes, as both Harry and Draco had grown considerably and needed new clothes. Both of them were immediately filled with nostalgia, looking around at the place where they'd first met.

Newt however, became extremely excited as he looked around the shop at all the different outfits, pulling a pirate hat from a dress up, obviously advertising early for Halloween. He put it on his head, grinning at Credence madly.

"Captain Scamander!" He announced, trying to do his best pirate accent. "Yarr!"

Credence face-plamed, still smiling at his childish husband, listening skeptically as Newt began to tell a story about how he went back in time and was once a captain of a pirate ship. As soon as Harry and Draco were finished he grabbed Newt's hand, pulling him out of the shop before he managed to convince Credence to let him have the hat.

They continued down the road, eventually the small group catching sight of a large building standing at the end of the road.

It was a big contrast to everything else on the street; the bright colours of the shop immediately making everyone stop in their tracks and stare. The contents that they could see from through the windows were all flashing, or popping, or making odd noises that could be heard from where they were standing.

With eagerness, the four ventured forward into the shop.

It was filled with people milling around the aisles, every inch of the shop covered and cluttered with some random product. It was once of the most colourful places that Harry had ever seen.

"Fred, George, this place is amazing!" Harry said, catching sight of the twins. Fred grinned at him madly, George moving behind the counter to serve the growing line. Pickett, who was sitting on Fred's shoulder, let out a happy squeak at seeing Newt and jumped to his shoulder. The Magizoologist immediately began speaking to the creature in a hushed, yet happy tone.

"Why thank you! And it's all thanks to Draco," he replied with a happy smile at the white haired boy, who diverted his gaze.

Harry gave him a questioning look. "I may or may not have emptied out the main part of my personal vault in Gringotts to help buy this place," Draco replied. "I kind of knew we were all going to need a few more laughs around, and I've never had to use my own money before. Plus I'm still legal to get into my family's vault."

Harry just grinned at him, shaking his head.

"Well, anything either of you four want you can have for free," Fred said with a smile.

"We have money, Fred-" Harry started.

"No, I won't hear of it," Fred replied with a wave of his hand. "Just come and see George before you leave, I'm sure he'll want to say hello as well."

At these words, Newt handed Pickett back to Fred and immediately dragged Credence over to a cage in one corner of the large shop. Inside it were what appeared to be puffs of pink and purple fur, all bouncing around and emitting little squeaks. Credence frowned at them, barely able to see the little head of what looked like a bright pink mouse.

"Pygmy Puffs," he read off the information stuck to the cage.

"I want one," Newt mumbled.

"We have so many creatures at home though, my god, especially after that Occamy got out yesterday, destroyed the whole kitchen-"

"But it's so small, and cute, and I've never seen them before," Newt said excitedly, his blue eyes alight.

Credence sighed. "Fine. But it has to be a purple one." Newt gave him a questioning look, one eyebrow raised. "What?" Credence replied. "I like purple."

Harry and Draco could barely get near the shelves, but the werewolf had managed to grab what looked like a black crystal from the shelf. "Smoke detonator," he read off the label. "Creates a large cloud of black smoke."

Harry grinned. "Good for dramatic entrances, then."

Amongst the other products were the Skiving Snackboxes, which were flying off the shelves, a rather freakish looking Umbridge puppet screeching, fanged frisbees, a large array of dungbombs, and so much more.

There was a large section filled with girls milling around, all of the potions there seeming to be beauty products. Draco frowned, picking up a bright pink potion. "Love potions? Are they allowed to stock these?"

"Dunno, it's Fred and George," Harry replied with a sly smile. "Plus, I don't think either of us are in need of love potions."

Draco rolled his eyes, cheeks still bright red as he did so, putting the potion back.

******

Draco's arms ached as he pulled his trunk behind him, lifting it as best as he could once they reached the train platform. Harry was beside him, hauling his own luggage, both trying to make their way quickly towards the train to get a compartment.

Remus had dropped them off in front of the station, as he didn't want to leave Sirius alone at Grimmauld Place for too long. King's Cross had been packed with people, all giving them weird looks for carrying around cages containing birds and huge trunks filled with books and robes.

The two managed to push their way past other students yelling their farewells to their parents who were still on the platform. It was difficult for Draco to keep track of Harry in front of him amongst the other people, but soon they managed to find an empty compartment.

"I thought we were going to find Weasley and Granger's compartment," Draco said, dumping his trunk on the floor and opening the cage to let his raven hop out and stretch its wings. Harry did the same, Hedwig regarding Draco's bird with a form of distaste.

"They aren't too keen on me at the moment," Harry replied, sitting in the shadowier corner of the compartment and closing all the blinds, leaving the window showing the platform slowly speeding away from them open for Draco to look out of. He let his disguise fall, leaning his head against the wall, making sure to stay out of the rays of sun being cast on the floor from the window.

The werewolf had his gaze fixed on the outside world as it sped past in a blur of bright colours, the landscape open and beautiful before him. Trees, rivers, fields, small towns just in sight. The sun was high in the sky, only a few clouds dotting the periwinkle blue surface.

"Are you joining the Quidditch team this year?" Harry asked.

Draco's eyes flickered over to the vampire, an unsure look on his face. "I don't know if they'll want me back, even if I manage to beat Blaise. You're Quidditch captain for the Gryffindor team, aren't you?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Hopefully there won't be too many idiots to deal with. I bet if you tried out you'd get seeker again easily."

Draco shrugged. "I might."

There was silence for a few minutes, Draco watching as the train huffed past a lake, the reflection of the crimson machine shining brightly on the surface of the water.

"Can you do magic yet?" Harry asked quietly, noticing how Draco's expression fell.

He shook his head. "Not properly. I've been trying, but I can't do nowhere near as much as I could before. I can't do much wandless magic, and doing spells regardless gives me a headache," he murmured, looking hopeless.

"We'll figure it out," Harry reassured him. "I'm sure it'll get better over the year."

Draco sighed, but nodded, not looking completely sure of himself. "I hope so."