Time was up. Summer was over and no matter how many times Draco tried to tell himself that it was his last year at Hogwarts, he couldn’t help fretting over what might be ahead of him. He knew he had to calm himself down. Since the day after the party he had been worrying himself sick. Draco did his best to keep from fidgeting as his stomach gave another twinge.

To distract himself, Draco looked at his mother sitting next to him in the hired car that was taking them to King’s Cross, but that only brought up more unsettling thoughts. Last night when he had finished packing his trunk for school, he had gone to his mother’s room. Draco knew there had been a time when his parents had shared a room but that had changed shortly before he had started school. When he got to her room, Draco found her packing as well and he knew that after his mother and the Pierces saw himself and Ben off, his mother would be going home with them.

“All packed?” his mother had asked him with a smile.

Draco just nodded, his eyes on his mother’s luggage. He loved his mother but why couldn’t she just choose? Either stay here and play happy families with Lucius or get a divorce from the man it was obvious neither of them cared for. Pick one!

“What’s the matter?”Narcissia asked, noticing the look on her son’s face.

Draco didn’t think he had ever spoken to his mother in anger before but there was a first for everything. Emotion that he didn’t know he had came out when he spoke, “Why don’t you just leave him? Leave him for good!” The suddenly weary look on Narcissia’s face was enough to keep him from going on but it didn’t stop the tears that were starting to form in his eyes. It had been years since he had cried in front of his mother.

“Oh Draco,” she started, but stopped as if she didn’t know where to start. After a long moment she spoke again, “Your father wasn’t always the way he is now. I wouldn’t have married him if I hadn’t loved him and I loved him very much.”

She paused as she took a seat on her bed and motioned for Draco to sit next to her. “He was sweet when I first met him,” she finally continued, “a perfect gentlemen, and very ambitious. And believe me, when all the other boys can talk about is the upcoming Quidditch season and how many chocolate frogs they were dared to eat at one time, a man who has a focus in his life is very attractive. I fell in love with him. He said he loved me. We got married and had you.”

“I didn’t think he could ever love anyone,” Draco interjected bitterly.

Narcissia put her arms around her son, “You should have seen the look in his eyes after I had you. He thought you were the most perfect creature in the entire world. He told me how much he loved me for giving him such a beautiful son and we would sit together sometimes and watch you sleep. I think the only reason he got his own office at the Ministry so early in his career was because everyone was tired of being interrupted just so he could show them your picture.”

“All we are to him now are tools to get him back up where he wants to be. Because of him Hogwarts is hell!” Draco sniffed, “He doesn’t love us. I can’t believe he ever did!” Draco buried his face in his hands. He didn’t want to hear this. Somehow it hurt more to know that his father had once had a real interest in him in a time back before he could remember. It was easier to think of Lucius as incapable of love.

Draco felt his mother’s arms tighten around him and felt her press her cheek to his. She was crying too. “I’m so sorry baby,” She mumbled into his hair, “I wish you could have known him the way I did.”

“Why!” Draco asked as his anger returned, “Why are we here?”

Narcissia sat back and looked at her son, “I…I guess I still hoped that the man I fell in love with wasn’t gone for good, that his ambition hadn’t completely taken him away from me. I didn’t want to know how bad he had gotten Draco, so I pulled us away from him, but I could never completely let go.” She paused as she blotted her face, “I guess I’ll have to let go.”

They hadn’t said anything else about their family situation since last night but it gave Draco plenty to think about. He suddenly knew an entirely new side of Narcissia Malfoy. She wasn’t just his mother but a woman who had had love and lost it. Draco couldn’t picture Ian ever changing so much as Lucius apparently had, but the mere thought of losing his lover in any way made him feel weak. His mother wasn’t perfect, but her love had kept her from giving up on her husband and Draco could understand that. As for Lucius himself…well, Draco had just been glad that his father hadn’t been around this morning. If he had seen the man, Draco wasn’t sure he could have kept it together.

Looking out the window to gauge their progress, Draco was surprised to see that they were passing St. Pancreas. A moment later, the car slowed and found a place to stop in front of King’s Cross. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he had missed most of the journey.

Narcissia paid the driver and soon they were pulling their luggage out of the car and making their way into the busy train station. Swarms of people weaved in and out and Draco and his mother joined them as they headed toward the barrier between platforms nine and ten. They passed the same pastry stand Draco remembered passing every year. Usually, the smells coming from the stand made him eager for the snack lady once they got onto the train. Today it just made his stomach give another funny switch.

With little delay, they made it to the barrier. One moment, Draco was heading directly into a brick wall and the next he was standing on platform 9 ¾. He and his mother were just looking around when they heard, “Draco! Aunt Narcissia!” A second later Draco found himself nearly bowled over as Ben first gave him a hug before turning to Narcissia to do the same.

Looking up, Draco caught sight of Ian watching them with an amused grin. It made him want to go over there and kiss it off him. Unfortunately, they were with his mother, Ben, and Kate and Holden Pierce on a crowded platform. Holden and Kate greeted him and his mother with warm hugs as well. Ian gave him a brief embrace, but even that was enough to send a shiver up Draco’s spine.

“Are you all set for Hogwarts Ben?” Narcissia asked with a smile.

Ben nodded, “I’m a bit nervous, but I think I’ll feel better when Harper gets here.”

“You know son,” Holden spoke up with a teasing look, “It not too late to change your mind.”

Ben’s eyes got wide for a moment, “No, no Dad! I’m sure I’ll get along great at Hogwarts.”

Holden just chuckled and pulled Ben to him for a brief hug, “That’s all I wanted to hear, son.”

Draco smiled at the exchange and he had to wonder howdifferent things wouldbeif Lucius had been more like Holden. He pushed those thoughts away in time to see Ian giving him a strange look. He shot his lover a smile.

“Ian, come help Draco and I with our trunks before Harper gets here!” Ben said before making a dash toward where their baggage sat.

“We’ll be back,” Ian told their parents before he and Draco went to follow Ben as the small boy struggled with his trunk.

Between the three of them it took only a minute to get the luggage up onto the train. They picked an empty car near the rear of the train and soon had their things stowed away. No sooner did they have things in place then Ben was suddenly off again, “I’m going to explore, I’ll meet you back here in a minute.” Before either Ian or Draco could react the hyper eleven year old was out the door, but not before Ben gave them both a very obvious wink.

“I think we’ve been set up,” Draco said a moment later as he looked up at Ian.

“I guess it’s the least he could do. He’s been teasing me since the party. Kept asking if the reason I looked so sad was because I was missing my ‘Pookie’,” Ian laughed.

“'Pookie', huh? Well I hope he realizes that we’re going to be spending the next several hours on a train together. I’ll have plenty of opportunity to get him back for that,” the Slytherin said with a fake scowl.

Ian moved closer and put his arms on Draco’s hips. “Or maybe you should thank him for giving us time for this,” he said as he leaned down to kiss the shorter boy’s lips.

With a small sound of agreement, Draco returned the kiss, opening his mouth as Ian’s tongue brushed his lower lip. It took only a second before they had their arms around each other and in each other’s hair. Finally, their lips separated, but they didn’t pull away.

“Definitely a thank you,” Draco whispered against his lover’s neck.

Ian pulled back a little bit more to look down at the blond boy, brushing his cheek lightly with his thumb. “We didn’t get to talk the other morning,” he said.

“No.”

Ian suddenly looked worried, “You were ok right? I didn’t hurt you did I?”

Draco couldn’t help but smile even as his face heated up to remember how intimate they had been together, “No, I was fine. A little sore, but it was worth it.”

A blush graced Ian’s cheeks as well and they both giggled as they stood their together, what they had done written all over their faces.

“I love you,” Ian said, “I brought you something.”

Draco’s grinned, “I love you too….what is it?”

“You brat!” Ian teased, before reaching down to grab a small bag he had sat down earlier. He opened it up and pulled out a gray, round think with a strange cord coming out of it and handed it to Draco.

“What is it?” the Slytherin asked as he carefully took it. Up close he could see buttons similar to the ones on Ian’s stereo.

“It’s a portable CD player. The batteries have been altered so it should work at Hogwarts. I figured that when the band is working on something we could record it and owl you a CD so you can be part of it too. I also got you a couple of other CDs to listen too to keep you company,” Ian explained as he fished the other items from his bag.

Draco leaned in and kissed Ian firmly on the lips, “Thank you, I was really going to miss listening in on what you guys were doing.”

“It’s not going to be the same without you.”

“One more year,” Draco replied even as his stomach gave another twitch.

Ian saw him tense, “Are you ok?”

“I’m just nervous. I have my stomach in knots,” Draco replied after his insides gave him something closer to a pinch.

“Relax,” Ian said, pulling him closer, “You’ll be fine. I’m going to write all the time. Maybe if I can arrange it I can make it to Hogsmeade some weekends.”

The couple just held each other until they heard someone at the door to the car. They jumped apart as it was pushed open. Luckily, it was only Ben, “I saw Harper and her family come through the barrier a second ago. We better go down at meet them.”

“Yeah,” Ian said as he and Draco made their way off the train, “Thanks little brother.”

Far too quickly Draco found himself again on the train, this time not to get off until they got to Hogwarts. He sat in the car with Ben and Harper as they pulled out of the station. He watched the platform until they got too far away. Even after Ben and Harper left to go talk with some other first years, Draco kept picturing Ian on that platform, mouthing ‘I love you,’ for only him to see.