TRAINING WHEELS

EXPELLIARMUS

7 April 1998

It was too warm to be cooped up inside Shell Cottage. Finally, England had started to receive some warmer weather, the temperature scraping just under twenty degrees, and Amora was craving to be out on the beach. She knew it would be a good day as soon as she heard the seagulls outside and felt the hot rays of the sun coming through the window.

When she realised there wasn't a cloud in the sky, she was quickly shaking Draco awake. The Malfoy boy had merely groaned and rolled back over, too tired to care about her 'exciting' news, but Amora didn't mind. She dug her yellow bikini from a box and slipped it on beneath a sundress, then raced down the stairs of the cottage.

"How hot is it?" Amora asked immediately, glancing around at everybody sitting around the breakfast table. "What's the temperature outside?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "I believe it's seventeen, soon to be nineteen."

"Ah!" Amora bounced in her step as she conjured some ice in her glass. "Harry, how are you drinking hot coffee? C'mon, it's ice season."

Harry glanced down at his coffee and furrowed his eyebrows. "It's only a few degrees warmer than yesterday."

"There's not a cloud in the sky – Merlin, it's like I can smell the suncream and feel the sand between my toes already," she cut herself off with a pleased sigh and sat down at the table with her iced coffee. "Is anybody else going out for a swim today?"

"We're busy," Hermione said.

"Yeah," Ron added, "We were actually discussing something important before you interrupted."

Amora ignored him. "Okay. I'll be swimming! Maybe some sunbathing too. Merlin knows I need it after being cooped up in Malfoy Manor all those months."

She rubbed her pale arms and then downed her coffee in one long swig. Ron was clearly looking at her as if she had grown another head, but Amora didn't care. Nothing could bring down her mood today. It wasn't the end of the war, nor was it being reunited with her Slytherin friends – but it felt like a blessing anyway.

She stood from her chair when there was a sudden knock at the front door and everybody froze. Harry and Hermione shared uneasy looks.

"Maybe it's Bill and Fleur coming back from their shopping trip?" Harry offered.

"Why would they knock?" Hermione glared before she called out in a wavering tone, "Who is it?"

Ron already had his wand pointed at the door with caution. Amora eyeballed the hallway, praying that if someone who wasn't supposed to be here had turned up then she'd have enough time to get to Draco. And Luna. But mainly her head consisted of her beautiful blond boyfriend sleeping blissfully in their shared bed upstairs.

"I – It's Amos Diggory!"

Amora's breath hitched and she darted forwards when a hand grabbed her arm. She looked back at Harry who gave her a stern look. She instantly seemed to remember the dangers of simply opening the front door and stayed in her spot, silently cursing herself for being so trusting.

"Prove it," Hermione called. "And state your reason for coming here."

"I'm here because Lupin told me Amora was here," Amos said on the other side. "The Secret-Keeper, Bill Weasley, gave me permission to come and see her."

"We asked for proof," Ron bit back.

"I – My son was Cedric Diggory, since he passed I haven't seen my niece as often as I should, but I did give her his prefect badge at the start of her fifth year when she was selected to be one," Amos rambled. "My twin sister is Elle Buckley and I work for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures at the Ministry."

"It's him," Amora breathed when everybody glanced at her for confirmation.

Hermione gave her a small nod of permission, hesitantly lowering her wand and allowing Amora to hurry over to the door. She twisted all of the separate locks and then yanked the handle, revealing her Uncle Amos. Immediately, so many memories of her childhood came flooding back — most including her mother and Cedric. Her heart clenched painfully and she grabbed him into a hug.

"Oh, Amora," her Uncle Amos breathed shakily. "I tried to get you out of that manor, I – I went to the Daily Prophet about Elle and you – and – Merlin, I had to stop — they threatened to take my wife. I'm so sorry, Amora, after everything —"

"It's okay!" Amora hushed the man, pulling away. "Uncle Amos, it's alright. I'm safe now. I – Well, I suppose I was always quite safe there anyway. I had Draco."

"Your mother mentioned him," Amos said, wiping at his clammy face with his shaky hands. "The Malfoy boy. I... You are still with him, I suppose?"

"Yes," Amora breathed, nodding. "And - And Uncle Amos, Cedric knew. Cedric even liked Draco for me."

Uncle Amos' eyes welled with tears and he held his hand to his mouth. "Cedric... Oh my boy. He knew?"

"Yeah," Amora smiled sadly. "Of course he did. It was a few months before he... passed. There was this issue and both Cedric and Draco somewhat worked together to help me."

"Well then I must approve myself," Uncle Amos chuckled. "Though your mother, she –"

"I know," Amora cut him off gently. "I know what my mother thought of Draco and I."

"Er, we'll give you two some space," Hermione suddenly cut in.

Amora had forgotten that the three Gryffindors were even there. Hermione reached for Harry and Ron's arms and quickly yanked them backwards, out of the kitchen. Amora watched over her shoulder, catching Ron's eye roll and feeling herself grow angry. She shook her head. Now was not the time to worry about Ron's pettiness.

The sun was up, the sky was blue, and Uncle Amos was here. The only last blood relative she had, she was pretty sure.

The only one she knew.

Her heart skipped a beat and she grabbed Uncle Amos' hand, leading him around to the table. "Would you like a drink?" She offered quickly. "Something to eat?"

"Oh, I'm fine, Amora. I honestly cannot stay too long. I don't like to leave Maria alone for too long," Amos admitted. "After what happened to Cedric, and then especially with your mother..."

Amora chewed on her bottom lip. "It's awful, isn't it?" Her voice cracked a little. "What they did to her..."

"You know what they did?" Uncle Amos sat up, his eyes wide.

Amora swallowed thickly. "I know that it was the Killing Curse." She didn't have the heart to tell him about the snake – Nagini. "She was made an example of, apparently. In front – in front of all of the Death Eaters."

"Like Cedric in that graveyard." Amos' voice wobbled and his fist smacked against the wooden table. "I cannot wait for this war to be over — to see the people who have murdered my family either rotting away in Azkaban or six feet under."

"I know," Amora whispered.

"I heard about your father too."

Amora's head snapped up. "Hm?"

"That he ran away – left you here with Tonks and Lupin."

Amora didn't say anything for a short while. Then, hesitantly, she asked him, "Uncle Amos... Did you know the truth about him?"

Another heavy silence followed. Uncle Amos tilted his head to the side a little, his eyebrows furrowing. Before he could open his mouth, the sound of heavy bare feet smacking against the kitchen floor filled the room. Both Amora and her uncle glanced up at a shirtless Draco whose hair was pushed upwards from sleep, his eyes soft from his recent awakening.

He was scratching his pale chest, still covered in the faint scars of Harry's attack on him last year, and yawning – though he froze when he realised that Amora was not alone. His hand paused around the mug he had been about to pick up and he straightened slightly, his eyes almost narrowing, his jaw tightening.

"Amora, who's..."

"This is my Uncle Amos," Amora quickly introduced them, watching the remembrance dawn on Draco's face – she knew he was reliving that awful third task. "Uncle Amos, this is –"

"Of course this is Draco Malfoy," Uncle Amos stood with a small chuckle, lifting his hand for the teenage boy to politely shake. "I've heard good things."

Draco looked taken aback, his hand stilling in Amos' before he pulled away. "Really?" That's a first, he thought, but he knew better than to say it out loud.

"Amora seems very fond of you indeed, and I heard my son was quite the fan," Uncle Amos beamed, his face as pink as always. "It's nice to meet you. I must thank you for looking after my niece all of these months. It couldn't have been an easy task."

"You don't need to thank me," Draco replied seriously. "But, erm..." He tried to think of something quickly. "I've heard some nice things about you too, Mr Diggory. It's nice to finally meet you too."

Uncle Amos seemed thrilled by this news and grinned, turning back to look at Amora. "I like him," he decided and sat back down in his seat next to his niece.

Amora's eyes narrowed on Draco's back as he turned, revealing streams of nail marks. Her heart skipped a beat and she coughed, making Draco turn around to face her. Luckily, Uncle Amos hadn't seen.

"Maybe go put a top on, Draco. Then you can join us," Amora said pointedly.

Draco took a second before he seemed to get the hint. Amora could only tell from his silver eyes, for his face gave nothing away like usual. He pursed his lips and gave a small nod before retreating out of the kitchen. Amora grabbed her uncle's wrist and forced him to face her so he didn't see the marks that she had left behind on her boyfriend's gloriously pale skin. She really didn't need that kind of humiliation – especially not from the last family member she knew of and had.

"You were saying, dear," Uncle Amos said once Draco was gone.

"The truth," Amora repeated, watching remembrance strike Amos' face, guilt swimming in his eyes. "You knew the truth about my parents?"

"Look, Amora," Uncle Amos breathed, cupping her hands on top of the table. "This changes nothing about the way they feel about you. You are still their little girl – still the light in their lives. Why your father walked off, I have no idea. He's always been a bit odd."

"Uncle Amos, this changes every–"

"But just because you don't come from a loving marriage, that does not mean they do not love you," Uncle Amos finished and Amora felt her heart stop for a second.

She was quiet.

"Your mother and father wanted to keep themselves as well as you safe – that's why they did what they did," Uncle Amos continued softly. "I think they really did fall in love whilst your mother was pregnant with you, Amora. They never left each other alone – he was really smitten with you."

Uncle Amos had no clue that Klaus Buckley was not her real father. All he knew was that Elle and Klaus had married each other out of obligation rather than love. She felt disheartened, but at the same time, sort of glad that she didn't have to bring up her biological father right now. She hadn't been expecting to have any of this conversation today, and that would have been far too much.

Draco suddenly came back down, this time wearing a shirt over his joggers. His hair was styled better, his face shinier and the faint smell of his aftershave filling the kitchen with him. He poured the hot water from the kettle into the mug with his tea bag inside and then brought it over to the dining table, placing himself down opposite the uncle and niece. 

"I hope I am not interrupting," Draco said as he used the spoon to his side to squeeze his tea bag against the sides of the mug, watching the hot, steamy water turn darker.

"You drink your tea with no milk and sugar?" Uncle Amos tutted playfully. "You can't be doing that."

"I'm not a fan of sugary or sweeter things," Draco replied.

"Makes a change from Amora's habits!" Uncle Amos laughed boldly. "Are you still putting in an obscene amount of honey in your porridge every morning, or did you grow out of it?"

Amora could barely muster a smile.

"Oh, she is still there," Draco said, "At the Slytherin table, she had her very own honey pot designated for her."

Uncle Amos shook his head and laughed. "It's a wonder your teeth haven't fallen out, Amora."

Uncle Amos only stayed about fifteen minutes longer and then he was gone. He left Amora and Draco behind in a heavy silence as the brunette stared at her coffee which had filled up with melted ice by now, becoming a watery mess.

"You want to swim?" Draco asked her. She could tell he didn't want to.

"My Uncle Amos has no clue that Klaus Buckley's not my real father," Amora muttered. "She really kept it a secret from her twin brother."

Draco's eyebrows furrowed together.

"Honestly makes me think if she would have ever even told me. I mean, Klaus only knows because he found those photographs," Amora muttered.

Draco sat forward at the table, leaning on his elbows. "You know what, Amora? You may never know. All these things may have gone along with your mother, so maybe it's best that you don't dwell on it. Of course it's normal to think about, but... You owe it to yourself to not live in the past. Especially not during a war. You need to be living in the present at all times, because I can promise you the world, Amora, and I will do everything in my power to give it to you, but... at the end of the day, we're just a couple of teenagers."

Amora released a heavy breath and reached across to grasp his large hand. "You're completely right."

"Of course I am," he smirked at her teasingly, making her roll her eyes. "When am I wrong?"

"Oh, don't even get me started on that list, Malfoy..."

D.M + A.B

23rd April 1998

Draco felt like he was losing his mind. Again. He'd go through periods where he was okay with being at Shell Cottage, but this was too much. How long had they even been here now? Cooped up with the most insufferable Gryffindors he had ever met and Luna Lovegood. At least she tended to keep out of the way, but Ron Weasley really was going to the death of him. Irritating ginger bastard. He seemed to be everywhere, complaining about everything, so smug to be in the know with Potter and Granger.

They tried to do things to distract them from the boredom and stress – Wizarding board games that Bill and Fleur had lying about, (a lot of sex), hanging around the beach on the warmer days, cooking together — Amora even cut Draco's hair the other day, and she was quite proud of it. Even Draco seemed to like it, which was a relief considering how terrified he had been to let her come near him with the scissors.

"Hey," Amora said softly, reaching for his leg which was bouncing. "You okay?" She whispered.

Draco stopped bouncing it beneath her touch. "I'm... fine," he eventually muttered.

The brunette released a quiet sigh to herself and didn't remove her hand from Draco's leg, even when she saw Ron roll his eyes in her peripheral vision. It seemed as though the Weasley boy thought it was impossible for Draco to genuinely feel anything, as if Ron thought Draco was faking it all.

"Problem, Weasley?" Amora spat without thinking, and she couldn't help but think she sounded exactly like a first-year Draco Malfoy.

Ron narrowed his eyes. "Yeah. You two should have been out of here ages ago. How's Malfoy not got the pennies for somewhere else?"

"Ron," Hermione groaned from where she sat beside him with a Muggle newspaper. "Shut up, will you?"

"Merlin, Weaselbee" Draco seethed as he sat up, finally having enough. "The way you go on and on almost makes it sound as though you are in love with Amora. I mean, seriously, get a grip. Pay attention to your own girlfriend for once."

Ron's face was red with rage whilst Hermione's wore a blush. "O -Oh. No, we're not – we haven't –"

"I am not in love with Buckley. Far from it, actually," Ron spat. "Somehow, my best mate is though, and –"

"Was, Ron," Harry cut him off harshly. "I've already told you that anything I felt for Amora is in the past. Malfoy's right – you need to get over it."

"Hear that?" Amora gestured towards Harry. "Harry's over it. There's no need anymore. You're eighteen years old, for Merlin's sake. It's been years."

Ron huffed loudly and stood up, abandoning Hermione and Harry's side to leave the living room. Draco glared after her, wrapping his arm around Amora's waist tighter.

"He's... stressed," Hermione admitted quietly.

"Aren't we all?" Draco muttered to himself.

Ron's snide comments still didn't end there though. It was constant pettiness, almost as if he did it merely to drive Draco up the wall. He got a reaction most of the time, much to everyone's dismay. Whether it was Draco or Amora, they never let things slide.

It was first of May when Ron yelled at Amora for accidentally knocking over the glass jar of sugar. It smashed on the ground, the glass shattering around her feet and the sugar spreading over to Ron from where he was a few feet away buttering some bread. He immediately stepped back and released a furious groan, his blue eyes dark and yet beady as he stabbed visual daggers into her.

"Watch what the bloody hell you're doing, will you?" Ron seethed, "Look at the mess you've made?"

Draco's head had automatically snapped up at the loud crashing noise, but his face curled in disgust when he heard the words that Ron was saying. Amora already spoke up though.

"Don't talk to me like that," she snapped back at him. "It was clearly an accident and I can clean it up. Jeez."

"Accident or not, it should never have happened," Ron continued. "I mean, for Merlin's sake, it's as if you can't do anything right, Buckley. No wonder you've had to turn to a group of Death Eaters for friends. Nobody else would take you."

The sound of Draco's chair sliding back as he climbed to his feet was nearly drowned out by Amora forcefully grabbing Ron by his shirt and slamming him back against the set of drawers behind him. Her wand was dug up into his chin in a painful way, and she refused to loosen her grip when he choked slightly.

"You don't have a fucking clue what you're on about," Amora growled at him. "And look at you now. Cowering against my wand with no Hermione or Harry to come and save you." She knew it would hurt him and that's why she said it, "You've always been the most useless of you three."

Ron's hands suddenly snapped out in a fit of rage and he grabbed Amora by the arms. She had no chance to react with a spell when he flipped her so that she was slammed against the drawers this time. She coughed when the wind was knocked out of her.

Draco spat out something so quickly that Amora didn't hear anything, but then Ron's hands became wobbly on her arms and he had no choice but to release her as they fell to his sides. She held a hand to her mouth, amused when Ron tried to lift them up to look but couldn't.

"Petrificus Totalus," Draco said again, so much venom behind his tone as Ron collapsed to the floor among the glass and sugar, frozen in a full body-binding curse. "Don't you ever fucking touch her like that again, Weaslebee, or I promise you that you will regret it."

Amora rubbed her arm as she glanced down at Ron with a slight glare, her wand tightening in her own hold. Then, the sound of running came from the stairs and Hermione and Harry burst into the kitchen, horrified when they found the third part of their trio lying on the ground, still.

Harry's wide eyes snapped to Draco. "Expelliarmus!"

Draco hadn't been expecting it, his wand flying from his hand and into Harry's. "Give me my wand back, Potter!"

Amora pointed her wand at Harry too, but Hermione was quicker. "Expelliarmus."

"Hermione —"

"Two against one?" Hermione questioned, appalled as she darted over to Ron on the ground. "Finite!"

"It wasn't like that at all, it was —"

Ron was hauled to his feet by Hermione as he pointed an accusatory finger at the Hufflepuff and Slytherin. "They attacked me for basically nothing! Because I snapped at Buckley for smashing the sugar jar."

"It was more than —"

"Malfoy wasn't even done, bet he was gonna hex me with something else. Merlin forbid, I bet he was gonna pull out the Cruciatus Curse on me!" Ron continued pathetically as Hermione tightened her grip on his arm.

"Oh, come off of it, Weaselbee." Draco gritted his teeth. "You have absolutely no evidence for that."

"You're leaving." Amora's eyes suddenly widened as she looked at the bag around Hermione's shoulders and saw Griphook lurking by the door. "Where are you going?"

"That's none of your business, as we've told you before," Hermione huffed.

"Is that... Polyjuice potion?" Draco glared down at the bottle in Hermione's spare hand.

"Petrificus Totalus," Harry panicked, hitting Draco with it.

"Draco –"

The spell hit Amora next. She lay beside Draco, unmoving, the three of them staring helplessly up at the three Gryffindors. Ron looked far too smug. If Amora could have said anything, she would have. She would have spat on him, in fact.

"I'm sorry," Harry said, "But we can't have anyone knowing anything or you stopping us. It's too dangerous."

Amora wanted to know what the hell made Harry think they would try and stop them, but there was nothing she could do. She couldn't even feel her body. It was quite scary actually.

"We're going now," Hermione said worriedly. "Luna will be down soon. But... hopefully, we will be one step closer to ending this war by tonight."

They moved out of eye sight and Amora heard a few things being moved about, as well as grumbling from Ron. Griphook said something about hurrying up and there was another brief apology from Harry before they left the cottage altogether. Amora could hear their muffled voices outside for about ten minutes before everything went silent. She wished she could look or talk to Draco, but instead, she stared up at the ceiling above.

Then they heard the humming and Amora had never been so relieved to see Luna. She gasped, rushing over.

"Oh dear," Luna muttered and then said, "Finite." She waved her wand over both of them.

Draco choked as he regained feeling, rubbing the back of his neck furiously. "Gryffindor bastards," he spat. "How the fuck did we get done by those three? We're out of bloody practice, otherwise - otherwise they wouldn't have stood a chance."

"What happened?" Luna questioned as she helped Amora to her feet. "I just got back from my walk. Where are the others?"

"They've left," Amora said, spotting her wand on the table and heading over for it. "They got all defensive and cursed us."

"Oh," Luna frowned.

"They didn't even leave my bloody wand!" Draco yelled, running a hand through his blond hair. "Stupid fucking Saint Potter."

Amora immediately went to coax him, placing her hand on his back and rubbing it comfortingly. Though, she couldn't help feeling angry too. How could Harry just leave Draco without a wand in the heart of a war? She pursed her lips to stop her from saying anything, but then moved over to the window and glanced outside. They were gone.

Amora could only hope that wherever they had disappeared to with Draco's wand, it was for a good cause.

D.M + A.B

later that day (1 May 1998)

"Up! Up! Up!"

Amora and Draco jumped, lurching awake on top of the couch. They'd managed to fall asleep later that afternoon without the company of the Gryffindors, Amora's legs on top of his, her head curled into his chest. However, the last thing they expected was to be woken up by Luna. She sounded firmer than usual, her eyes hard, her wand out and ready.

"What's happening?" Amora pulled herself off of her boyfriend, quickly rubbing the sleep from her brown eyes.

"There was a patronus sent out!" Luna gasped. "How did the two of you not wake? We need to Apparate to Aberforth Dumbledore's house this instant!"

Draco swallowed, his hand clutching Amora's wrist. "Why?" He demanded gravely.

"It's Harry. He's back at Hogwarts, and he needs us all. I think..." Luna swallowed worriedly. "I think tonight is the night."

Amora and Draco glanced at each other with fallen faces, their hearts sinking in their chests. And yet, it didn't stop them from standing up from the sofa, Amora reaching for her wand on the table.

"There's another thing," Luna said. "They broke into Gringotts bank today – stole something from Bellatrix Lestrange's bank, reports say. And then rode about Muggle London on top of a dragon."

"I can't..." Draco exhaled as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I cannot say that I am surprised, honestly."

"Well, hurry," Luna said. "We must leave immediately."

Amora whirled to face Draco. "Wait. You can't come."

Draco's eyebrows furrowed and he shot her a cold look. "What? What do you mean I can't come? What if I say you can't come, hm?"

"You haven't got a wand, Draco," Amora reminded him. "If Luna's right, if there's a fight tonight, then you can't be walking around with zero protection. That's practically suicide."

"I need to come," Draco said. "I'm fighting with you and Blaise and the others. I don't care, Amora. If I don't go, you sure as hell aren't going without me."

Amora pursed her lips in thought as she stared at him and then she disappeared wordlessly from the room. He called her name but Amora bounded up the stairs. She reached the room that they were sharing and then found the box filled with her mother's belongings.

"Accio wand," she said.

Her mother's wand wriggled out from towards the top of the box, landing in Amora's hand. She clutched it tight and ran back down the stairs, finding Draco and Luna where she had left them. She thrust her own wand into Draco's hands.

"Wha –"

"You can have mine," she proposed. "I am willingly giving it to you, which hopefully should allow you to have lots of control over it. And also we have the same core, so that should mean something too."

"Whose wand have you got?" Draco frowned down at the other wand in her hand.

"It was my mothers."

"How do we know it will work as well for you?" Draco urged her. "I'm not letting you walk into a fight with a temperamental wand. That's just as much of a suicide mission, Amora."

"Well, it's not hers anymore, and I'm sure she would want it to work for me," Amora said thoughtfully as she ran her fingers across the apple wood. "And I used it a couple of times when I was younger, when she wasn't looking."

"Try something on me," Draco ordered her. "Go on, Stupefy me."

"I'm not doing that to you!" Amora shrieked. "Look —" She pointed her wand out. "Expecto Patronum."

Her blue, wispy dragon extended from the tip of her mother's wand and flew around all of their heads, gliding magnificently. Amora smirked proudly.

"See? That's a hard spell – it works."

Draco pursed his lips and then released a heavy breath. "So I suppose we are really doing this, then?"

Amora glanced nervously from him to Luna who also looked a little on edge, but also determined.

"Yeah," Amora swallowed and grabbed his hand, forcing a shaky smile. "C'mon. Let's go back to Hogwarts."

...

im so sorry, i hate this chapter so much but it's important to get to the next bit. im really sick with covid right now so i apologise if there are any mistakes. the next chapter may take a while because it's the battle of hogwarts and i obviously want to be really happy with that. i can't believe that chapter has crept up on me so quickly.

but also i have a sirius black x oc x remus lupin book out on my account if you wanna check that out! i won't be updating that until this fic is done ! <3 and i may put a pansy one out soon too!

i really hope this chapter was okay! thanks so much for reading <333

word countL 4.8k

dyiansobrien.