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Alessander reached the dining room in time for breakfast, quite proud of the fact that he was on time for once and without the help of a house-elf too. He opened the door cautiously, surprised at the lack of sound from the dining room. He thought with Draco’s friends in the manor the dining room would be louder than usual. His lips twitched in bemusement as he realized the problem.
At Narcissa’s end of the table, the seventh year Slytherins were nervously sipping tea and casting wary glances towards the head of the table. At the head of the table sat Lucius, Marvolo, Evan and Severus, all obviously under a silencing charm.
Les stood in the doorway another moment watching them. Evan was the first to see him. He stood up and crossed the room, breaking the silencing charm and attracting everyone’s attention. Evan hesitated briefly when he reached Les. Fortunately, Alessander had no qualms and threw himself into Evan’s arms.
“‘Dreams have only one owner at a time. That’s why dreamers are lonely.’” Evan said, not yet letting go of his child. He stood there with his arms wrapped tightly around the child he thought he had lost, his cheek resting on top on Alessander’s head.
Les laughed and held him tighter, burying his face into Evan’s chest. “‘Just because everything is different doesn’t mean anything has changed.’”
“Please restrain yourselves from the insanity until after I have finished my coffee,” Marvolo drawled from his seat at the table.
Alessander laughed, “My apologies.” He pulled Evan back to the table, sitting next to Marvolo and gesturing for Evan to sit on his other side. He gently brushed a hand along Marvolo’s thigh, smiling at him.
“About time, we were just about to start without you,” Lucius drawled, gesturing to the servants.
“Hey, I was on time today.”
Severus snorted. “Not only are you rarely on time, you frequently are the cause of tardiness of everyone around you, Lord Azrael.”
There were several gasps down the other end of the table when Alessander exhibited his maturity by sticking his tongue out at Severus.
They had just begun eating when Marvolo turned to Alessander. “Rabastan asked me to let you know he would pick you up here, at six.”
Evan’s fork clattered as he dropped it on his plate. Lucius looked at Alessander sadly, feeling a hint of jealousy at the idea of the young man with someone else. The teens down the other end stared at Alessander incredulously. They stayed up most the night gossiping and not once did Les indicate he was seeing someone despite their numerous inquires.
“You’re dating Uncle Rabastan, now?” Draco asked in the tense silence.
“No.” Les said through gritted teeth. He turned to Marvolo. “You did that on purpose.”
Marvolo shrugged with a mock-innocent smile, “I was just passing on a message.”
“Don’t play innocent with me, Marvolo. I know better. You were trying to get Ev…” he stopped at the name, “my father to forbid me from going.”
There were several gasps from the teens at the way Les addressed the Dark Lord, as well as a few exchanged glances among the adults at the way he referred to Evan.
“And why is it I need to forbid you from going?” Evan asked so coldly it caused Pansy to whimper slightly.
Les sighed and turned to Evan, knowing Evan was playing it up to the audience. “Rabastan invited me to join them for the poker game tonight,” he said squirming slightly for effect. He bit his lip and looked up at his father with innocent puppy-dog eyes.
“And you believe it is acceptable to go without any protection.” Evan replied in the same deathly cold voice.
“First of all, I don’t think I really need that much protection from Rabastan. He’s on our side in case you’ve forgotten. Secondly…” Les looked up at Lucius, his nervousness only partially feigned. “I wasn’t planning on going alone.”
Evan glanced between Lucius, who had an eyebrow raised in inquiry, and his wayward child. “Explain.” He demanded.
“Well…” Les glanced at Draco. “Rabastan invited Draco too.” He said in a rush.
Draco gasped. “Really? Please, may I go? I could help protect Alessander.”
“Alessander doesn’t need help protecting himself,” Les muttered under his breath.
Evan and Lucius exchanged looks.
“You will be attending?” Lucius asked Evan.
“Of course.”
“Will you keep an eye on Draco as well?”
“I will.”
Lucius turned his steely gaze to his only son. “You will behave in a manner befitting the Malfoy heir at all times and you will return home at the first hint of trouble.” He knew first hand the kind of troubles young recruits caused after long, hard training sessions followed by several hours of drinking.