Draco was only able to take a few bites of his food without sicking up over the table. He would have much preferred finishing off the wine but wasn't going get himself pissed in front of Penelope.
When she finished her meal, he escorted the witch to her flat, received a chaste peck on the cheek, and apparated to the outskirts of the manor. He walked up the stone pathway towards the gate and placed his hands on one of the cast-iron rods, the magic embedded deep within recognizing his Malfoy heritage. It swung open, and he treaded up the path towards his childhood home, smelling the evening air and damp earth from the spring rain.
At the front entrance, he pulled out a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door, quietly entering. The moment he entered, he shirked his cloak and hung it on the coat rack. He scanned the area, searching for signs of life and glanced at his watch, knowing his parents already had dinner. His father was most likely in his office and mother may be having a spot of tea purposely spiked with Draught of Peace.
"Mippy," he called for the elf. The small creature appeared with a pop and bowed in reverence.
"Young Master Draco has returned. Mippy is so happy? What can she do for her master?"
"Can you tell me where my mother is?"
"Mistress is having tea in the blue room and will be happy Young Master is home. Mistress misses her son dearly."
True to Mippy's words, his mother dwelt in the blue room at the tea-table. She was in the seat facing the window, her back to him as she dropped a sugar cube into her tea and stirred it with her spoon.
"Mother," he said to her. She stilled and whirled around, her eyes somber but smile joyous.
"My boy," she beamed and sprinted from her seat like a young girl in her early teens instead of the aging woman that she was. In seconds, her arms were around his middle with her head resting on his chest. Humming in delight, she said, "You've come to see your old, withering mummy."
His mother may be getting older, but she was most certainly not withering.
"Ah, Mum," he chuckled, hugged her back. "You are not withering at all. You look the same as I did when I was little."
"You still are little."
Draco wasn't about to argue with the woman who was a head-in-a-half shorter than him. He patted her lovingly on the back and then pushed at her shoulders, solemnity in his demeanor. "I heard about Adrian. I'm so sorry you were there. I wish you would have let me know."
Eyes watering, her lips formed into a scowl and her fingers dug into his shirt. "The police forbade it. I had have thought you'd come sooner to see me considering it was four days ago when it happened."
"I didn't know. Potter informed me about Adrian an hour ago. The program is trying to keep this quiet."
"That's what they told me," she sniffled and delicately caressed her lower lashes, carefully catching the tears. "But it doesn't make sense. None of it does. Who would want to kill that boy. Out of all your little friends, sweetheart, he was the one I didn't have to worry about when you went to play at his house. Oh, and his mother!" she wept, burying her face into her son's shirt. "She is utterly heartbroken, and his father hasn't come out of his office since. Draco, please come home. It's not safe out there."
Sighing, he allowed his mother to cry freely on his shirt. "You know why I can't move back in."
"I'm sure we can persuade him in changing his mind considering what happened."
Not wanting to burst her delusional bubble, Draco let her believe that. Besides, he actually wasn't all that keen in moving back into the manor. What he wanted was a nicer flat and better pay. Maybe even a new girlfriend.
When his mother calmed down some, he peeled her off from him and sat her back down at the table. He watched as she took her cloth napkin and dabbed her splotched cheeks with it before taking a sip of her nearly forgotten tea. After swallowing, her eyes fluttered shut and she exhaled, the tension oozing out of her.
"Will you be a part of the investigation?" she asked softly, her hands gesturing to the tea set, telling him he was more than welcome to have a cuppa.
"Potter won't allow it," he professed. "He says it'll be too personal, and it could compromise the investigation. He demoted me to desk work for the time being."
"Oh," she whispered softly and placed her hands over her chest, a small but pleased smile on her face. "He listened."
"Pardon?"
"Earlier this evening he came for questioning, Very brief, but I asked him to keep you safe for me. Poor dear, I think I'll guilt-tripped him. He said he couldn't because you were one of the best field workers, so I may have…brought up one or two things from that past, causing him to see things my way."
"Mother," he groaned, refraining from throwing a tantrum. Staying out of the investigation was all his mother's fault because she saw him as fluffing three-year old learning how to fly on a new toy broom.
"It was you who wanted me to take this job," he reminded.
"Now it's me who wants you to be safe. Draco, the game is changing out there. It was dangerous when the Dark Lord was present, but everything that happened was expected. The criminals you are dealing with now are more dangerous than I could have ever thought possible. Their agendas aren't about taking over, they're about hurting people. With what happened at the UPA…"
"Mum," he said comfortingly and covered her hand with his. "What I do makes other people safe. It makes you safe."
Stubbornly, she lifted her chin and stated, "I regret urging you into the Auror program. I worry one day I may get a Floo call or a knock on the door. Sweetheart, please come home."
After his mother retired to bed, Draco apparated outside his father's office. Politely, he knocked on the door and opened it slightly, poking his head in. "Father, I'm visiting for the evening. I saw mother already."
Lucius was behind his desk, a quill in his hand and a glass of scotch next to it. Not looking up from his writing, he drawled, "Good to know. She's been disheartened for days, wondering when you were going to visit. The least you could've done, boy, was comfort your mother and give her peace of mind with Philip's son's death."
"I wasn't privy to the information until this evening."
His father made a noncommittal noise and said, "Your mother wants your permanent presence here, again. As much as it pains me seeing my wife want something she cannot have, I ask you again to find a proper witch and settle down. Regardless of how many courtships you can balance at once, Draco, those women will never replace the benefits of a wife. Not to mention how unseemly it is in living with two women."
"I'm not sleeping with them." Anymore.
"That's even worse."
Both men, unable to help themselves, shared a mirthful smirk, Lucius going so far as to crack a chortle. He set down his quill and offered the glass of scotch to his son. "You look tired, my boy. You obviously haven't been sleeping, but it's not because of Bianca and Theresa."
Lifting a brow at his father's knowledge of the girls' names, Draco admitted, "I've spent more time at work lately. Potter says that Gerard may be hiding somewhere in Germany. We're waiting for a confirmation before moving in."
"I doubt you'll be moving anywhere besides going to the loo down the hallway from your office. If I am to understand, your mother was rather persuasive in getting Potter to suspend you from the field."
Taking up his father's offer, Draco snagged the drink from the desk and snorted. He tempted telling his father the slight pay-cut that was surely to follow but refrained. He wasn't fishing for sympathy and didn't want to appear weak in front of him.
"That she was, but only for Adrian's case," he murmured bitterly into the glass. He drained it in a two swallows, his tongue tingling in delight at the expensive, preferable fine taste. He wasn't partial at all to the cheap shots at the Leaky Cauldron. Maybe if he was sneaky enough, he could swipe another bottle from the cellar before returning to his flat.
"I've meant to talk to you about a few matters. Important matters regarding your future, son." His father summoned another glass from the cabinet and filled it with another drink. "When your mother suggested you go into the Auror program, it seemed like the best idea at the time in restoring respectability to the Malfoy name. But…" He took a drink. "Now that we have some social status once more, have you given any thought about resigning and becoming something less life-threatening?"
Draco pursed his lips at his father's question. Yes, of course he fancied the idea of quitting his job, but aside from the pay and a dozy sod of a boss, he quite liked it. Well, he had liked it. If he was going to be chained to a desk until further notice, then another occupational search was due.
"I guess you could say I've wondered about other employment," confessed Draco. "But not for the reasons that you may think. What are you suggesting? Go to uni?"
Lucius bounced his head from side to side as if toying with the idea. "Intriguing idea, going to school. And you've surpassed the age of delinquency, so your mother and I wouldn't have to worry about you making a bloody fool of yourself and with your money. Hmmm." He tapped his chin and slit his eyes, leaning forward. "If you are serious about taking to your studies, Draco, then I may consider being more lenient with the finances."
"I'm…" This was going rather fast. Going to school had only been a slip of a thought. Not something to take seriously. But before he could say no, it was best to mull it over before outright saying no to his father. If he hastily declined, it'd be rude and any chance of future pity money would be out of the question.
"Let me think about it for a little while," he told the man.
"Don't think too long, son. My charity does have a time limit."
"I know."
"Have you seen Adrian lately?" Blaise asked, startling Draco into spilling his cup of coffee down his front.
"Blast!" he cursed and rifled through his top drawer and found some paper napkins to sop up the mess. He supposed it was a blessing that the coffee from the break room was never hot. He flung a glare at his friend in the doorway and answered honestly, "No, I haven't. Why?"
"Haven't heard from him in a while. Makes a bloke suspicious, is all." Blaise entered the office and made himself comfortable across his friend's desk, even kicking his feet up to rest on the wood. "But I have seen Theo."
"Have you?"
With a lewd smirk, Blaise straightened his tie and discreetly pointed his wand at the office door, closing it.
"Should I scream rape?" Draco said in jest and chuckled.
"Like I was saying, I have seen Theo. In fact, since I'm in London again, I thought I'd see both of you. Saw him first;hope you're not too jealous. I just like him more."
"Where are you going with this? Some of us have to work, and it doesn't consist of making calls and throwing money."
"Someone needs a hard shag, and I never thought it'd be you. You usually have chits up the ying-yang. How the mighty have fallen. Anyway, I stopped by to see Theo before you. Miraculously enough, he was in his office and not doing whatever it is that he does to some unfortunate blighter. And he wasn't alone." He jiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "But from where I was standing, I couldn't see anyone."
"Okay?" Draco said, unsure what Blaise was talking about. There had been someone in Theo's office who Blaise couldn't see. Draco's immediate thought was that he saw Granger, but the tart was hard to miss.
"Do you have any idea where I'm getting at?"
Draco shook his head.
"Bloody hell," Blaise cursed and scratched his jaw. "I'm talking about how there was someone under his desk."
Draco did not need that image!
Grunting in his disgust, he pinched the skin between his eyes and attempted to burn the image of Granger orally pleasing his best friend out of his mind.
"You're looking all peaky. I haven't even gotten to the best part."
"There's a best part?"
"Theo was doing brilliant at first. When I first entered his office, I hadn't a clue anything was going on. But after a few moments, I caught on. I questioned it and of course he denied it. The lie was weak, and he knew it. He told me to leave, and here I am." He chuckled wryly, eyes glimmering mischievously. "Who knew Daphne was that naughty, right?"
"Daphne?" balked Draco and Blaise's smirked widened.
"So you know." Blaise's tone was even yet melodic. His feet fell from the desk, and he leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. "You know it wasn't her."
"It makes sense, though," lied Draco. Actually, it didn't make sense at all. Their bloody joke of a marriage two years ago was nothing short of a tragic affair. Both parties of the seven month partnership were terribly wounded but compliant and at ease the moment the Wizengamot granted them an annulment.
"No, it doesn't," sputtered Blaise. "They'd skip backwards through Hades before reconciling. Besides, Daphne was in Rome this morning and was successfully warming a lucky bloke's bed."
In that moment, Draco agreed with his mother that Adrian had been his only friend that she didn't have to worry about. The two friends he had left were nothing short of morally insane.
"All right. I'll get to the best part," announced Blaise, his lips turning into a frown. "So I knew it wasn't Daphne even when Theo tried to convince me it was. Growing bored of his excuses, I left and passed the office of Mrs. Weasley nee Granger who clearly wasn't inhabiting the area. I was about to leave when one of the pictures on her back shelf caught my attention. It was of our graduating class, and I thought a gander was in order. Haven't seen it in quite some time, so I go in and have a looksee along with a smirk of nostalgia and turned around to leave. A note on the desk draws my eye, and I instantly recognize it as Theo's handwriting. Do you know what it said?"
Draco rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Bleedin' cripes, Blaise. You could have just spit out that you discovered they were shagging. You wasted five minutes of my time."
Blaise pursed his lips and rubbed his chin. "You don't seem that surprised. In fact, it was like you already knew."
"I may or may have not seen something odd while taking advantage of Theo's hospitality at his flat the other night."
Whistling at the news, his friend pensively shook his head, the mischievous glint dying in his dark eyes. "You know…Weasley's not a bad bloke. I think I'm more fascinated with Granger, though. Who knew, right? I just hope Nott knows what he's getting himself into. Married women," Blaise dryly chuckled and twisted his mouth roguishly, "can be like unstable fireworks. They can either burn you right away or put on a good show and disappear in the end. But enough about that, have you gotten the chance yet to try my new place."
Relieved about the subject change, Draco said, "I took Clearwater last night. She rather enjoyed herself."
"Speaking of, mate, when are you planning on making the bint your one and only."
Draco made a noncommittal noise, focusing his attention back on the file in front of him, scowling at the numerous grammatical errors he made. He tempted sending it to Penelope, so she could proofread and remedy the mistakes for him but decided against it.
"When do you get off work?" droned Blaise, his tone bored.
"At seven if I'm lucky."
"Skive the rest of the day and hang with your best mate. I doubt anyone will take notice of your absence."
"You sure do not how to make a man feel good about themself, Zabini. Words like that, I'm surprised you don't have more friends."
"More friends are a nuisance. So many names to keep track of and that's if they're single. You have to remember birthdays and their mothers', too. By the way, does your mum still fancy tiger lilies."
"It's freesias now."
The office door opened and both men turned their heads at the intruder and internally groaned.
"Yes?" inquired Draco to his employer.
Potter stared at Blaise in annoyance but said nothing about the man's presence, instead tossing a verbal assignment at his worker. "During your lunch break, I need you to go over to Ron's and pick up his report."
"Weasley can turn in his own damned report," Draco snidely commented. "He's a big boy and can do it himself."
"He can't. He's taking care of his daughter, so be a good little wanker and go fetch that report and have it here by one o' clock and no later."
"Doesn't he have a bloody bird he can send it through, or has he gotten so poor, it's come to that?"
Blaise snickered, earning a revolting glare from Potter.
"That would be a foolish thing to do, Malfoy, and you know it. One o' clock. My office. My desk. Don't be late."
The door closed behind Potter, and Draco glanced at his watch and pouted. "I have to leave now, blast it." He stood up and straightened his blazer and tie, glaring at Blaise's smirking face. "Don't you have anything better to do than leer at me? Go and be…I don't know…productive or some rot. In fact, go visit my mum for a bit. She'll like that and oh...try not grate on my father's nerves too much. I caught him at a giving moment not too long ago, and the last thing I need is for you and your ill-behavior to ruin it all for me."
"Your lack of faith in me wounds me terribly." Blaise painted a faux hurt expression on his face with a hand over his chest.
A/N: I know it's kind of a filler, but I needed a smooth transition for the next chapter.
Please, R &R! :)