Finding his place
By Lady-LunaPotter
Hello everyone
I know that I havn't updated "The woman I became", or any of my oither stories in a while, and it has all to do with a terrible writers block. I hope that this short story will help me get my inspiration back. This story will only be a few chapters long, no more than five. I hope you will enjoy it.
Chapter 1
Lucius Malfoy sat in front of the roaring fire, looking absently at the flames that brought some light to the otherwise dark room. His mind was not in the present time, but in the past. The past that had been both painful and joyous, depending on how you thought of it.
He had his black dress robes on, indicating that he had been to a funeral, because that was the only time Lucius wore black except for to death eaters meetings, but that had been years ago. This funeral had been the most pleasant he had ever been to, and he had been to a few.
He could not wrap his mind around the whole ordeal. How was it possible that a man who had escaped death so many times, died in such a simple thing as a car accident? The man wasn't even muggle! Lucius had told him that driving those insane things was suicide, but had he listened? No, of course not. Lucius stopped himself. He wouldn't speak ill about the dead.
Severus Snape had meant a great deal to him, more than he let anyone know. He had been the godfather to Lucius only child, Draco, and had been just as much a father for the boy as he had been. They had known each other from the year that they both started at Hogwarts, and 34 years had passed since then, making Lucius 44 years old.
The past three years had been the best in Lucius life. After the divorce from his ex-wife Narcissa, he had left the service of the dark lord, and joined the light side in the fight against him. He had learned that Severus had been on the light side for ages, and wasn't that surprised really. He had started to spend more time with his son, something that he didn't regret the slightest.
After a year, serving the light side, the war had ended. Gina Potter had defeated the dark lord, and most of his followers, and nearly lost her life at the same time. His son had been crushed.
Surprisingly, the two of them had developed a relationship between each other, not romantically, Draco was gay, but as a brother and sister. He had been forced to literally drag him down to the dungeon to sleep, the boy refused to leave her side otherwise.
Draco wasn't the only one that had been miserable while the girl who lived had been unconscious. Lucius hadn't noticed it at first, but one day when he walked into the infirmary, he had stopped dead at the sight before him.
In the chair that Draco usually occupied, sat a very tired looking potion master. What was more surprising was that he was talking quietly to the young woman in the bed. Lucius had studied him for a while, and been surprised of what he learned. It seemed like his friend had strong feelings for her, maybe even loved her? He had never seen his friend like this before...so open and vulnerable.
Gina Potter had awoken two days later, and Lucius hadn't known what hit him.
Without the threat from Voldemort and his followers, Gina Potter became a totally new person. The previous quiet and depressed girl literally glowed. Her laugh could be heard everywhere, and most of the time, it was Draco's doing. He also noticed that his friend became more and more involved with the girl, and a year later, they had been engaged.
Draco and Severus wasn't the only one that changed because of her. It had started lowly, but Gina had slowly warmed her way into Lucius heart, and he found himself sitting in her rooms quite often, talking about this and that, mostly literature and different defence techniques. Gina had taken the job as Head of Gryffindor and the defence post after her graduation, and Lucius taught history of magic, professor Binns had finally realised that he was dead, and passed over to the other side.
Now, all of that seemed so distant.
Severus and Gina had moved into the muggle world, Gina saying that if she was about to have kids someday, they would know of both worlds, and besides, living in the muggle world made life more peaceful, reporters had a harder time tracking them down that way.
Now, his friend was dead. Life wasn't fair. Severus had finally, after all the years alone and miserable, found love and happiness, only to die just a few years later.
His thoughts drifted to Gina. He hadn't spoken to her since the accident, and he felt bad for shutting her out. He didn't know why, but he couldn't speak to her right now. Maybe somewhere inside of him, he blamed her for all of this. He knew it was wrong, he knew he had no right to, but he supposed he did blame her in a way.
He heard the door open behind him, and he turned around in the chair, only to see his son standing there, looking at him with a tired expression.
"So, it's here you have been hiding." It wasn't a question, Lucius noticed, just a statement.
Lucius turned back to the slowly dying fire, and looked into the small flames once again. He wasn't in the mood for talking. Not now.
He saw his son settle in the other armchair beside him, and Lucius turned his head from the fire to look at his son.
Draco's blond hair fell in soft waves and reached him too his shoulders. Face looked worn and tired, and his robes were wrinkled. The otherwise so proud and handsome young man was now totally defeated, and he guessed that he looked no better himself.
"Were have you been? The funeral ended hours ago." Lucius asked.
He almost thought that he wasn't getting an answer until Draco spoke softly.
"The Burrow." Lucius raised an eyebrow.
"With the Weasleys? Why?" Lucius wondered what his son had been doing there, seeing as he wasn't on the best terms with the lot of them. Of course, they had come to an understanding with each other, but nothing more.
"Because Gina went there", was the reply. Lucius didn't know what to say to that.
"She refused to return home now, to many memories she said. And I understand her." Draco stood and threw some wood on the fire, making the flames grow bigger and bigger.
"Mrs Weasley told me that she could sleep there for the night, but she was afraid that she would have to little space when Bill and Charlie with families comes tomorrow. I told her that Gina could live here, if she agreed and if it was ok with you."
Lucius considered the options. The manor was big enough to host a whole family including themselves, so space wasn't a problem. If she wasn't to live with them, she would have little or no options but to return home, and if she was to listen to Draco, that wasn't an option either.
"She can live in Narcissa's wing."
He saw Draco nod form the corner of his eye, and Lucius stood. He bid his son goodnight and left for bed, still in deep thoughts.
Draco watched his father leave. It was a week since the accident, and his father had been like this since then. Draco had tried to talk to him, the few times he saw him, but the man just closed himself off.
Draco had been spending nearly all of his time with Gina. Instead of unresponsive, like his father, Gina had been the exact opposite. She had cried the whole week, and Draco was soaked every night when he came home, tonight was no exception. When she didn't cry, she planned the funeral. Dumbledore had offered to do that for her, but she had refused. She had told him that she would do this last thing for him even if she would break herself doing it.
In a way, Draco thought it was good that Gina took care of it. It helped her to deal with the sorrow, and it helped Draco to deal with his too. Draco hadn't cried during the week, just the night at the hospital, when Severus had taken his last breath, but he had this growing pain in his chest that eased a little when he was with Gina, planning the funeral.
At first, Gina had blamed herself, but Draco had forced her to listen and then forbidden her to even think like that. It was no ones fault, and certainly not hers, that this drunk man had been driving right in front of him, making Severus car crash right into it. Somehow, Gina had understood the message, and she stopped blaming herself, at least openly.
Draco felt his eyes begin to fall closed, so he got up and with a last look at the flames in the fireplace, he walked out of his father study and headed towards his room, in search for a bed and some rest.
The next morning, when Draco arrived at the Burrow, he was greeted by Arthur and Molly, who seemed to be the only ones up.
"Oh Draco, you're up early? Would you like some coffee?" Molly asked, and he nodded before sitting down at the huge table that was in the middle of the rather small kitchen.
Draco had really put in an effort when it came to the Weasleys. Gina had begged him to try and get to know them, and it had been hard in the beginning, but after a while, he was at least on speaking terms with all of them, not Percy though, but he was rarely there. He hadn't told his father about this, because he wasn't sure the man would approve. Lucius and Arthur was anything but friends, and had never been.
"So Draco, how are you, did you get any sleep?" Arthur asked, and Draco nodded. "Yes, some at least. How is Gina?"
Molly came with the coffee and Draco thanked her. Arthur sighed.
"I don't know Draco, she has been asleep since you left yesterday, so we don't know yet. I hope she will be alright though." Draco nodded.
"Did your father approve? Of having her stay with the two of you I mean?" Molly asked, and Dtaco nodded.
"Yes, he did. But even if he would have said no, I would have taken her home anyway, it's my house as much as it is his now."
Arthur nodded in understanding just as steps was heard in the staircase and a tired looking Gina Potter entered the kitchen. When she noticed the three of them at the table she smiled a sad smile and sat down beside Draco.
He looked her over in concern and asked her worriedly, "How are you?"
She shook her head and took the offered teacup from Molly. "I don't know, the only thing I am sure of is that I will live, but how is another question."
Draco drew her to his side and rubbed her arm, feeling her relax into his side. He reached to her red curly hair and drew his long pale fingers through it slowly. Gina drew back from the embrace and Draco drew his fingers back to himself. She swatted his arm and gave him a mock glare with her green eyes.
"Don't ruin my perfect hair, Mr Malfoy." Draco just smiled and gave her a brotherly kiss on her cheek. "Of course not, Ms Potter."
The two of them thanked Molly for the coffee and tea, before grabbing Ginas bags and heading to Malfoy Manor. They apparated just outside the wards of the estate, and they started to walk the long way up to the manor.
"Are you sure I can live with the two of you? I mean I don't want to be in the way. And Lucius, is he mad at me? Does he blame me?"
Draco stopped and stared at her. "Of course you can live with us. And what was that? Why would my father blame you?" They started to walk again and Gina voiced her concerns.
"He hasn't spoken to me since the night at the hospital, and at the funeral, he wouldn't even look at me."
Draco reassured her that his father was just grieving, and that he under no circumstances blamed her for what had happened. Draco just hoped that he was right. He would have to try and talk to his father again.
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