Draco's First Words
Author: Slytherstein
Rating: T
Spoilers: None
Genre: Angst/Family
Main Character(s): Draco Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Lucius Malfoy
Ship(s): LuciusxNarcissa
Summary: Malfoy Oneshot. What would a baby's first words be when they're frightened by something? Or someone who is angry with them? A father figure? Prequel to The Secret Hidden Inside. LMxNM
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. They belong to J. K. Rowling.
A/N: This story popped into my head while I was writing my story The Secret Hidden Inside. It takes place when Draco's a few months old, during Lucius' second muggle-raid. To understand a bit more, read my stories: My Precious One and The Secret Hidden Inside. Please R&R.
"Draco's First Words"
…
Narcissa Malfoy watched, her eyes glistening with tears and her face stained, as Lucius slammed the doors to the Manor shut behind him. He left, yet again, at the Dark Lord's bidding.
The argument that had taken place only minutes before had earned her nothing but a sore throat, stinging eyes, and a slap across the face. To top that off was an aching in her chest, something she was growing rather accustomed to since her husband had joined Voldemort's death-eaters. She let out a sob when she heard the echoes of his furious voice fade.
From behind her, she heard a low moan, which had come from the small boy sitting on the stairs. Their son, Draco Malfoy, was only five months old. And yet, he already was forced to witness this quarrel between his parents, which he could not possibly begin to comprehend. Narcissa smiled weakly, as she picked him up slowly. He pointed toward her tearstained face with a confused expression.
"At least I have you, sweetie," she sighed deeply, kissing his cheek softly.
Draco frowned and continued to point at her face, now at the red mark in the form of a hand. When he lightly slapped her with his small hands, Narcissa shook her head at him.
"Don't ever do that, sweetheart! Don't be like daddy! Daddy's bad to do that, alright? Daddy's bad."
Draco nodded, as if he understood perfectly what she was saying. Narcissa hugged her son tightly, and simply sat on the staircase for what seemed like hours. She was pulled out of her daze when there sounded a loud knock on the doors. It caused Narcissa to mutter some bitter remark under her breath.
She walked over to the doors and was surprised to find her sister standing in the doorway. "Bella?" she gasped.
"Cissa," Bellatrix Lestrange replied with a warm smile. "And Draco!" she added in excitement.
"I…I thought you'd be at the…muggle-raid with Lucius and the Dark Lord," Narcissa said in confusion.
"Lucius is covering for me! I asked the Dark Lord if he could, and got the day off. So, I figured I'd come over and see my favorite and only nephew!" she exclaimed, looking down at Draco with a grin.
"Wait, Bella!" Narcissa snapped, not intending to seem rude. "Do you know when the raid will be over?"
Bellatrix raised an eyebrow. "It should be over in half an hour or so. It's a small town, so they'll be finished quickl—sweet Merlin! What happened to you?!"
Narcissa stepped back, slightly alarmed. "What's wrong?"
"Your face! Lucius hit you, didn't he?! That man is beyond dead! I've warned him time and again, but he just won't bloody listen to me! He won't get away with it this time! I'm gonna kill him!" Bellatrix screamed furiously, drawing her wand as she did so.
Draco recognized it as the stick his father used to make his mom upset, and within realizing that he was able to recognize this, he giggled loudly.
And Bellatrix smirked at him, "See? Even Draco likes the idea!"
"Bella, if you go anywhere near my husband, they'll have to arrange for a double-funeral," Narcissa warned, pushing Bellatrix's wand away with a dark scowl.
Rolling her eyes, Bellatrix pocketed her wand. "Fine! But you need to show him that you won't let him push you around like this! Make him sleep on the couch, if that's all it takes—if you ask me, he deserves much worse than that!"
Narcissa sighed. "He already does. I kicked him out of our room a few nights ago."
"Good! I'm glad you're not letting him be in charge!" Bellatrix snarled. Taking in her baby sister's distressed look, she decided that the poor woman needed a change in subject. "So…how's Draco's room coming along?"
"It's coming along just fine. Would you like to see it?" Narcissa asked, carrying her son to the staircase. Bellatrix followed her with a grin, eager to get out of the entrance hall. As they came to the room, Narcissa asked, "How are things with Rodolphus?"
"Honestly? Things are really great! It's not overly eventful, I'll give you that—nothing like you and Lucius, but I'd say things are going very well. Oh, and this room looks fantastic! Was it your or the house-elves?"
"What do you think?" Narcissa rolled her eyes, setting Draco on the ground. "They just need to finish painting, and they'll be done."
After a few moments of silence, Bellatrix gave up on the distraction that the bedroom brought, and instead turned to face her sister. "Cissa, I want you to tell me the truth. Are you happy with Malfoy?"
A small smile forming, Narcissa nodded her head. "Yes, I am. I mean…yes, there are a few flaws in our relationship, but we'll get passed that. There's supposed to be a couple of problems in the beginning, but it'll ease up later. It will be better before long. I'm sure it will."
Bellatrix frowned. "You don't seem to be that thrilled about Malfoy, Cissa. This turned out a lot worse than I thought it would."
"I honestly don't know what you're talking about," Narcissa looked confused.
"I just don't think it seems like either you or Malfoy are really in love," Bellatrix said with a sigh.
"I know I am," Narcissa answered rather snappily. "There's still times when I can't breathe around Lucius. I'd die for him any day. I get so nervous around him sometimes that I begin shaking the second he enters the room. I am in love, Bella. Don't ever doubt that!"
"And what about him? Does her really love you? Because, the way I see it, Lucius couldn't give a damn if you dropped dead this second! Hell, he may even kill you himself!" Bellatrix yelled, her anger rising.
At those words, Narcissa felt her heart ache painfully in her chest, and the stinging in her eyes returned. She herself had asked this question and had been trying her best to bury the truth. Dropping her gaze, as a tear escaped, she admitted to her older sister in a trembling voice, "I know."
Bellatrix glared. "I hate Lucius! That insufferable, heartless man! I can't wait until he's burning in hell with all the damned that he belongs with!"
Narcissa scowled at her sister furiously. "Please, don't ever say that again! Just the thought…"
After a long drawn-out silence, Bellatrix asked, "Where's Draco?"
The second Narcissa had set Draco down, the small Malfoy had wandered off.
He had crawled behind the tapestry across from his future room and down a long corridor. After that, he had slowly made his way down a flight of stairs, which was followed by another, even longer corridor. This led to an open doorway that did, in fact, lead into Lucius Malfoy's study.
Draco entered without a care in the world, looking around in awe. On the desk, he saw what appeared to be a wooden stick. With much struggle and help from the chair, he eventually made his way to the top of the desk. With curious eyes, he realized that this stick was the object his father used so often to make his mommy cry. 'Daddy's bad!' he thought, picking up the instrument. 'Bad daddy!' he thought, and his few barely developed teeth bit his father's wand.
In his small and not yet fully functioning brain, if he was able to chew the wood away, his mom would not be upset. And his father would not be bad anymore.
At that precise moment, however, Lucius walked into his study with a dark expression on his face. He stopped dead at the sight before him, however: his son was sitting on his desk, eating his wand!
"What the hell are you doing?!" Lucius roared furiously, rushing over to his son. He yanked the wand out of Draco's mouth, while he roughly set his son on the ground. Lucius waved his wand, but nothing happened. His silver eyes darkened with rage, as he rounded on his son. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?!"
Draco stared up at him blankly.
"Of course you don't! You're just a stupid baby! I leave my wand for a few minutes—I forget one time, and now it's ruined! Good lord, I can't believe this!" Draco began crying loudly at Lucius' feet, completely screaming his head off. Lucius did not seem to notice, his gaze still fixed on his wand. "Damnit!" he roared, slamming his fist against his desk.
"Lucius!"
Narcissa shrieked from the doorway. When she caught sight of her son crying on the ground, she rushed over to his side. Bellatrix entered the study behind her sister, glaring at her brother-in-law all the while. "What happened, sweetie?" Narcissa asked nervously.
Draco sniffed back the tears, as he pointed at his father. "Dada babba!" he cried.
Narcissa's eyes grew wide, as a grin spread across her face. She covered her mouth with her hands in order to muffle the laugh that escaped. "He spoke!" she exclaimed in pure delight.
Bellatrix's angry expression changed to excitement in half a second. "Wow…those are his first words!" she said, a smile clearly evident. Narcissa picked Draco up and practically ran from the room to write it in his baby book, Bellatrix only a few steps behind her the whole way.
Lucius stared after them in bewilderment, his useless wand dropping to the floor beside him.
Draco's haunting words filled his mind. Images of the hurt in his son's silver eyes flashed to the front of his thoughts.
"These…are my only son's first words…ever? He's never said a thing before this. Why…why did they have to be something like this?" Suddenly, the wand did not matter. Lucius gazed, unblinking, out the open doorway. This was something he would never be able to erase. Never be able to move past. What was worse, the words would be written in that stupid book.
An eternal reminder to Lucius. Of just how his son viewed him.
A/N: Well, there you have it. Please review.