Funeral for a Flower - Chapter One

By: Dragon

It was the midst of the holidays, just after the summer solstice and Draco was more bored than ever. He had sent owls out to everyone he knew in Slytherin, and attempted to send a Howler to Potter (I will not reveal the contents) but he never received a reply, so there wasn't even hate mail to bounce back to. This holiday, in Draco's view, could not get any worse...

"Draco!" his mother called upstairs one sun-filled morning. "Would you like to help me with the garden darling?" Draco half-winced, half-scowled at the thought of pruning petunias and ruffling-up roses.

"No mother I have better things to do!" he called back sharply. "I don't have time, I have business to do, remember!" He was already acquiring his father's tongue when it came to escaping from Narcissa's claws: brutally honest. "Don't ask me next time!" he called back harshly, as if Narcissa had asked him to run a mile for no reason. Draco turned around to return to his room after leaving it to yell down the stairs, failing to hear the pop behind him he got a rather large shock when his mother was standing over him, a look of anger and upset on her face.

"Now you listen here young man," she started. "Ever since that Potter boy freed Dobby I've been up to here..." she gestured at the empty space over her blonde hair."...with housework and the likes!" she yelled in his face. "I have better things I could be doing than following you men as you bustle around the house on 'business', dropping this, leaving that..." Draco didn't feel it was the time to point out that none of her friends had written to her in six months and she didn't have a job, as far as he knew. Surprisingly enough, no matter how bad this holiday seemed to be going, he still wanted to start his sixth year come September, and keep his head nicely on his shoulders, Nearly Headless Nick's demonstration wasn't something he would forget in a hurry. "It was partly your fault so you have to help me in the garden! Payback for losing that stupid house-elf." Narcissa finished, standing upright, hands on hips.

"Mother!" he yelled, no-one spoke to him like that, not even his mother. "I have things to do okay! I have better things to do than help you with your bloody roses! I have business because I'm sixteen and not a boy anymore that has holidays for only Quidditch practice! Leave me alone!" He pushed his mother backwards and she stumbled down the landing. He swooped in a 180 degree turn and strode back into his room at high speed. He had never pushed his mother before...

"Draco Lucius Malfoy!" she yelled, the loudest he had ever heard in his sixteen years of being her son. "Get out here NOW!" Draco rolled his eyes in despair, why did his mother bother him so much? She didn't know about the things he had to do... he had half a mind to yell at her to leave him alone for the rest of the summer holidays, but he needed to be fed, so it wasn't a good idea... He opened his door to a red faced mother and smiled innocently. "What?" he grinned sheepishly.

"Don't you what me!" she snapped with venom to kill a million people. "You pushed me. Nobody pushes Narcissa Malfoy and gets away with it. Garden. Now." Draco scowled but agreed and half threw himself down the hallway – determined to be outside for little more than ten minutes. Hell knows he had work to do!