This round was about forbidden relationships and the first Chasers had to write about a relationship between two characters with different blood statuses.
Prompts:
9. (word) practically
12. (word) anatomy
14. (word) euphoria
Enjoy reading! :D
A Mother's Voice
The only thing he could hear was his fast heartbeat, as his heart thumped against his rib cage, trying to burst out. His rapid, somewhat irregular breathing that he wasn't able to get under control made him even more nervous.
He glanced at the old grandfather clock in the hall-like room, ticking softly. The bigger hand moved slowly, inching towards his meeting with his parents. He gulped. Why was he so nervous? Two fingers pinched the bridge of his nose as he squeezed his eyes tightly shut, trying to not only shut out the light but everything else as well. Why was this situation so nerve-wrecking? Why was he so afraid to tell his parents that he fell in love?
Because you fell in love with a man, his inner nasty voice replied. He scowled. He couldn't control with whom he'd fall in love, now could he? His parents had organised a betrothal between himself and some other rich pureblood he had yet to meet. He didn't want to meet that person. He didn't want to marry someone he didn't love, hell, didn't even know!
His parents' marriage was the product of a betrothal between two high class pureblood families that had needed this connection in order to keep their influence on the wizarding world up and going. He was pretty sure that his parents loved each other, but he had never seen them act loving or caring towards each other. The only reason why he knew that his mother was able to love was her treatment of him. How she spoke with him, how she hugged him... His father had always been this untouchable persona, not even being himself whilst talking with his own son. Or maybe he couldn't act any different? He grew up with elders, never allowed to get in touch with people his age. Maybe his father didn't know how to properly interact with someone younger than him - his son at that?
"Draco."
His eyes snapped open, his head up and his hand to his side. He desperately tried not to clench it as he saw his mother walk into the room, a soft smile on her face and her arms opened wide to greet him.
"It's been such a long time!"
"Hello, mother," the nervous wizard said as Narcissa Malfoy embraced him. "It's been too long."
"Way too long." She pulled away and held him at arms' length. "You look good, darling!"
"Thank you." A pink tint coloured his cheeks as he tried to squirm under his mother's gaze. She had always enjoyed to just look at him. "You do, too."
Her high laugh echoed through the room as she pushed a strand of white-blond hair out of his face. His partner didn't like him slicking it back, so he had gotten rid of the habit his father had pushed on him in his early days.
"I like your hair better this way," she said in a soft voice as she felt the soft texture between her fingertips. She cupped his cheeks, gently pulled his face down towards hers and kissed his forehead. "I missed you, Draco, love."
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the love he felt radiating from her. "I missed you too, mother."
They stayed like that for a while, just enjoying the feel of someone there. After a few, short minutes, Narcissa ran a slender hand through his hair and smiled at him. She had unshed tears in her eyes that she didn't even bother to blink away - something she would have done immediately if his father had been in the room.
Draco bit back a sigh. It's always been this way. His mother had always locked away her human side whilst near her husband and Draco had not known better than to follow in her wake. His father did not appreciate them showing emotion or how he used to call it 'weakness'. At the time he had not known why he had acted like that, but during the war he had had suspicions that his father had merely acted that way to keep them safe, to protect them and teach them to not let others see what they could possibly use as a chance to attack. But he hadn't changed after the war was over, which was the one thing that made him wonder whether Lucius Malfoy really thought of emotions as weakness. If that was the case, he didn't look forward to the conversation they were going to have.
"Why did you come here for, love?" His mother's soft voice interrupted his thoughts as she looked at him, concerned. "You don't have trouble with the Ministry, have you?"
Shaking his head, Draco watched as relief lightened the blond woman's face. "No, nothing bad happened. But I do have something that I need to tell you. You and –"
"Draco!"
Said young wizard raised his head and looked at the origin of the deep voice. His father stood in the door frame, a neutral, yet calm expression on his face as he looked at his only son. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw his mother straighten up and tense. He just barely held back his infamous scowl as he looked his father into the eye.
"Hello father," he said politely, because there wasn't any love between them. He respected the man who sired him, but that was all.
"How are you, son?" The elder Malfoy asked as he walked into the room and positioned himself next to his slightly frowning wife.
"I am well, thank you, father. I have come to tell you something of great importance."
"Is that so?" Pale blonde eyebrows raised as the grey eyes beneath them studied him with mild interest and curiosity, although their owner would never admit the latter.
"Let us go into the parlour and have some tea," his mother said with a look towards him that clearly spoke of the tension that he felt slowly building around them. "Limpy?"
With a loud pop, a small female house elf appeared in front of his mother, bowed slightly and looked up at her with huge, watery eyes. "Mistress called Limpy, Ma'am?"
"Yes. Could you please bring some tea into the downstairs parlour? My husband, son and I would like to have a nice afternoon conversing."
"Of course! Limpy can do that, Miss. Limpy will bring tea there immediately, Miss." And with another pop, the elf vanished.
"Shall we?"
*~*PBHB*~*
His fingers clenched and unclenched around his fragile mug as he tried not to show his nervousness. His parents sat on the settee in front of him, occasionally sipping their tea, but otherwise not trying to start the conversation he was getting desperate to have. He sighed as he put his cup back on its saucer.
"Mother, father, I have come here for a reason," he began and sat straighter as his mother's eyes softened at his slightly nervous tone. He could practically see her struggle of not getting up and comforting him. He swallowed and turned towards his father. He did not want to show weakness in front of him. He would not show how much this meant to him, how much this scared him.
"I have found someone I plan to spend the rest of my life with."
There. It was out. It was said. He inhaled deeply as he forced himself to not look away. His eyes jumped from his father, who wasn't moving, to his mother, whose face hat lightened up drastically. Her smile gave him strength to continue.
"I want you to meet him sometime in the near future. He means the world to me and I would really appreciate it if you-"
"He?" Lucius forced out between continuous coughs. He had nearly spit out his tea as his son had unconsciously given them too much information in his opinion. That couldn't be! His son was the only heir of the Malfoy family! His son was of pure blood; blood so pure it could be traced back hundreds of years. His family had power and influence. His son couldn't… no. No, this had to be a misunderstanding. There was no other option for this. He wouldn't accept this… phase.
"Yes, father, he." Draco swallowed as he heard his own voice waver. His father had gone deathly pale, his fingers were clutching onto the thin porcelain cup, his knuckles slowly turned white.
His mother sniffed and turned towards his father. He knew this would happen. He knew they wouldn't be able to accept this. He knew they wouldn't be able to accept anything out of the ordinary. He had been no fool. He knew they wouldn't jump up in euphoria, exclaiming how happy they were that he had found the love of his life, but he had had hope that they would at least accept it, although the chances were close to none.
He felt his eyes tingle and lowered his gaze towards his folded hands in his lap. He didn't know how to… how to react. It was obvious that his father wasn't taking it very well. He knew what all of this meant for the Malfoy name. He knew men weren't able to become pregnant – at least not yet. The research in the potion department wasn't being still – they still looked for a method to allow wizards to carry biological children, but he knew that it would be years, hell, probably decades until they had a breakthrough! He worked for that freaking department, damn it!
"Draco, dear," he blinked rapidly as he rather felt than heard his mother take a seat on the settee next to him. She took his hand in hers and waited until he looked her in the eye. Her smile was sad. Her bright blue eyes gazed into his, her free hand came up and cupped his cheek lovingly. Draco swallowed. She had never done this in front of his father. Never.
"Are you sure?"
Draco sniffed and laughed sadly. He knew that question would be coming. He had waited for it. "Yes," he whispered. "Very sure."
The smile on Narcissa's smile softened as her eyes roamed over her son's face. Her beautiful baby boy, all grown up, trying to fight his own demons in order to tell them the truth, trying to fight his own fears. From an early day on he had been told that he would one day marry a rich pureblood woman, one from a well-known family and provide them a Malfoy heir. He had been told it would be his responsibility to make sure the Malfoy name would be carried on. And now he was sitting beside her, his face wet with tears she was sure he didn't know were there, his bottom lip stubbornly held in between his teeth to keep it from trembling and yet… when she looked into his eyes she saw determination. He knew what he was doing was the right thing to do – the only thing to do, but that did not make it easier for him.
"Who is that special someone?" She asked, a secretive smile on her face.
Draco sniffled softly and a shy grin started to spread over his young face. "Harry," he breathed and an adorable blush coloured his pale cheeks.
"Harry Potter?"
They turned around and Draco flinched slightly as he saw the furious expression on his father's face. He had stood up and was towering over the two of them, the perfect picture of pure fury.
"Lucius-" His mother put a hand on his shoulder as she tried to calm her husband down, but he wouldn't have any of it.
"I will not allow my son to be in a relationship with a man!" He hollered as he took as step forward, his finger pointing accusingly at Draco. "A halfblood," he spit, disgusted, "Harry Potter at that! You will end this immediately, Draco, do you hear me? You will stop thinking with a certain part of your anatomy and start thinking like a Malfoy! With your brain! You will end it this very instance or I will-"
"You will do what?" His mother yelled and jumped up, completely forgetting about the cowering young man next to her. "I am fed up with this constant pureblood talk you can't push aside for one moment, Lucius! This is your son! You should be happy that he has found someone who he deems worthy of his love and attention! You know he doesn't give that to anyone lightly! You have made sure of that! You should be happy that he trusts us enough to tell us - in the full knowledge that he might possibly disappoint us!"
She stood there, trembling and breathing rapidly, staring daggers at her husband who stood in front of them, a shocked expression on his face and completely frozen. "You will accept his decision," she said in a much quieter voice, grabbing Draco's hand and pulling him out of the room, leaving her husband behind.
She had better things to do. She needed to meet her future son-in-law.
I hope you liked it :) Please leave a comment! I love reading and answering them!
Word Count: 2199
See ya! :D