**** I don't know anything Harry Potter. I'm just someone who fell in love with the series and stays awake at night thinking up alternate plotlines****
Draco walked into the formal dining room in the manor. He didn't feel like dealing with his mother and father, but after spending the entire weekend away from the manor, he figured it would be best to show his face.
"Draco, where have you been?" Narcissa Malfoy asked from her seat to the right of her husband. The years after the war had been kind to the female Malfoy, but she still wore the stress of the war on her face and in the set of her shoulders.
"Good morning mother. Father." Draco dipped his head but barely spared a glance at his father. Draco sat as far away from his parents as he could. Which wasn't a struggle considering their dining table could seat twenty-two.
"Your mother asked you a question Draco." Lucius reminded while setting down his goblet. While the years had been kind to his wife the same could not be said for Lucius Malfoy. His robes clung to his loose frame, and his once shiny mane looked lackluster. The harsh angles of his once aristocratic face only looked sinister now.
Draco gritted his teeth. "I had a commitment that required my presence elsewhere."
Lucius tapped his fingers on the dining table. "I see."
Narcissa looked uncomfortable but turned to face Draco fully. "Well, in any case, I am glad you are home."
Draco spared his mother a small smile. His mother had always been a beacon of love and understanding. Draco knew it wasn't fair how he treated his mother, but being in the same room as his father made him want to dance in a field of fiendfyre. Draco was not the same little boy he had been in Hogwarts or even the war. Draco did not idolize his father anymore and did not believe in his so-called family values. Lucius Malfoy should be rotting in Azkaban.
Breakfast passed in strained silence only occasionally broken by Narcissa attempting to make small talk with Draco. Draco glanced at his watch relieved to see it was time to go to work. Draco stood, his chair scraping loudly against the floor. Draco turned and walked briskly to the exit when his father's voice made him pause.
"Draco when you return I would like to speak with you in my study," Lucius stated calmly, but Draco heard the edge in his voice.
Draco raised his eyebrow, "until then." Draco did not like the calculating look in his father's slate colored eyes.
The Ministry of Magic was a mad house. Bulbs flashed, and paper memos swirled around the atrium. Draco ducked his head and began to shoulder his way from the fireplaces to the lifts. He worked at the bottom level of the Ministry as an unspeakable. He didn't need to work because the Malfoy fortune had managed to survive through the war and the war tribunal. However, after the war, no one wanted to take money that was tainted by the Malfoy family. In fact, Draco was lucky to have a job at all after he was cleared by the war tribunal. No one would hire him anywhere in Diagon Alley, and Draco refused to work anywhere that had a connection to the dark arts. His mother had written to Harry Potter and begged him to find employment for Draco. Potter had a soft spot for his mother, and so Draco found himself gainfully employed as an office lackey in the magical law enforcement department.
Fast forward ten years and Draco was now a respected member of wizarding society. People no longer sneered at him or gave him a wide berth when they came into contact with him. The first five years after the war had been miserable, but he had persevered, and now the only unpleasant thing about his life was his father.
Draco made it to the lift and stepped in beside another wizard.
"Potter" Draco nodded and smirked at the boy who lived. Harry Potter looked like he hadn't aged a day. His hair was still shaggy, and his glassy still sat crookedly on his nose. Potter was smartly dressed in black robes with gold fastenings. His robes were parted and showed that he was wearing black slacks and a white oxford shirt and tie.
Potter tugged at his tie and grimaced. "Bloody heads meeting this morning. You think we would have better things to do than sitting around and argue about letter heads!"
"Careful Potter sounds like you don't like being head Auror." Draco joked.
"That's because I don't." The lift had grated to a stop, and Potter stepped off. "See ya, Malfoy." As the lift doors closed once more, Draco watched Potter remove his tie and incinerate it.
Draco pushed himself back from his desk and groaned as he stretched his back. Today had been an incredibly stressful day, and a headache throbbed behind his eyes. Working in the death room was always something he dreaded, but today the whispers from the veil had seemed uncommonly loud. It probably didn't help that Draco had been distracted all afternoon by the thought of talking to his father. Draco barely spoke more than a string of sentences at one time to his father over the last eight years. Draco had made his opinion perfectly clear of where he and his father stood.
When Draco arrived home, his mother was nowhere to be found which was never a good sign. Draco squared his shoulders and headed to his father's study.
Draco paused before the door and drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Draco opened the door and walked in. Lucius looked up from behind his desk in surprise and then narrowed his eyes. Draco knew that not knocking would irk his father.
"Please have a se-" Lucius started to gesture to the chair in front of his desk, but Draco seated himself with an impassive expression. Draco lounged casually with his arm draped over the back of the chair and rested his ankle on his knee. Lucius took in Draco's calm demeanor with barely concealed disgust.
Lucius shuffled the paper on his desk and cleared his throat. "It has come to my attention that you have been spending a great deal of time away from the manner."
Draco only cocked a pale brow.
"You have a responsibility to this family, and you are disparaging your ancestry by consorting with whoever this female is and I know she is not a pure blood" Lucius spoke as if he delivered dire news.
Draco laughed and leaned forward.
"Oh this family is disgraced father, but not because of me." Draco sneered
Lucius stood and walked toward the fireplace of his office.
"We have a rep-" Lucius began.
"Of course we have a reputation! And the only reason that reputation is even half way decent is that I have worked to make it so!" Draco thundered.
"I will not have you bring filth into this family!" If Lucius was permitted a wand, Draco was sure his father would have cursed him. As it were, Lucius's wand was snapped as a condition of his release from Azkaban.
Draco forced himself to relax and let his pale eyes rest on Lucius's face.
"The only filth left in this family is standing before me."
Lucius snarled, "you won't be able to hide who she is forever. She will only use you for your money. Hiding your relations with this woman will not save you public ridicule!'
"Who said I was hiding her? Has it ever occurred to you that it is her that wants our relationship a secret because of who I am? You are behind the time's father dearest; pureblood society has changed much since your heyday."
"You will end this now!" Lucius slashed his hand through the air.
Draco laughed in earnest now. "Or what? You're going to be the one to stop me?"
"I will do what I must" Lucius spat forcefully.
"You do realize that you are only here in this house because I permit it. One word from me and you will be sent straight back to Azkaban. Threaten me again, and that is exactly where you will end up" Draco exited the study and balled his fisted.
The only reason Lucius was not rotting in a cell is that his mother begged for his release. When Lucius had come up for parole two years ago, Narcissa convinced Draco and Harry to petition for his release. Lucius was released into Draco's custody without a wand and under the condition that he would not leave the manner. Potter also routinely checks in with Lucius and inspects the manner. Draco couldn't understand the love and devotion his mother felt for his father even after everything he put them through.
This is my first time posting! Pretty nerve racking but I think I did alright. I am looking for a beta who wouldn't mind critiquing for a noob. Please be honest and I know I could work on setting the scene a little more but I am hoping some good feedback will help me.