CHAPTER FOUR

Day Three Continued

"Malfoy would, Professor." Granger said with a snarky grin, before returning to her seat.

Surprised, I stared wide-eyes at Granger and then at Professor Franklin.

"That sounds splendid," Professor Franklin ushered me to the front of the room, "Come on up, Mr. Malfoy."

I shot Granger a much needed glare before dragging myself up to the front of the room. Daphne patted me on the back as I walked by.

"Alright, everyone!" Professor Franklin said with a little too much enthusiasm. "Take a sip!"

Suddenly, we were transported to the lush grounds of Malfoy Manor, years before the influence of the Dark Lord would lessen the appeal of the grand mansion. Several people gasped, having never seen anything quite like it in their lives.

A streak of color ran past us, then another, and another, followed by a gleeful laugh. A mud-covered, seven year old version of me was chasing the peacocks my father was oh-so-fond of, laughing as they evaded his grasp.

Right before he finally caught one, my mother opened the front doors of the manor and called out, "Draco, love. Come inside and get cleaned up before your father gets home."

Little me huffed before running to the doors to meet Mother. She placed a hand on his shoulder before he could enter the house.

"You're a mess, Dragon." She laughed, before pulling her wand out, muttering a spell and splashing him with water. Little me gasped as water starting to soak him and his clothes. He started laughing wildly as Mother dodged the splatters of mud coming of his clothes.

I smiled sadly as I took in the happy image of Mother and I, ten years ago, before the mania of having a Dark Lord in our home made us both crazy.

Once the mud was sufficiently off of his clothes, Mother spoke another spell and dried his now-soaked clothes. She ushered him inside and the rest of us were quick to follow. Once everyone was inside, a soft murmur filled the air as everyone appreciated the grandeur of the decor. My mother is an amazing decorator and used her skills to make the Manor fit for royalty. I did not notice Granger was behind me until I heard her speak.

"It looks nothing like when I was here last." She whispered beside me, her voice barely reaching my ears.

I did not responded, too ashamed to look at her face.

I focused on the scene in front of us.

By now, we were in the kitchen, surrounded by house elves.

"Pipsy," Mother spoke politely, "Would you please get Draco a small slice of that pumpkin cake we had for dessert last night? He's been running amuck outside and I don't want him to wake up hungry in the middle of the night."

"Of course, Mistress." Pipsy bowed and quickly retrieved a small sliver of cake for the grinning little me.

"Hurry and eat, Dragon. We don't want your father to know I let you have sweets before bed." She smirked and patted him on the head.

"Where is Father, mum?" He asked with a mouthful of cake. "I thought he didn't work on the weekends."

Mother hesitated for a moment, thinking of a way to word what exactly my father was doing at this hour.

"He's just out with some of his friends who are visiting, love, but he said he'd be home before you went to sleep so he could tuck you in with me." She shot him another motherly smile before grabbing his now empty plate and handing it to Pipsy.

"What do you say, Draco?" Mother raised an eyebrow.

"Thank you Pipsy!" He proclaimed with a sweet grin, "That was delicious!"

"Yous is welcome, young sir!" Pipsy grinned ear to ear as she placed the dish in the sink and began to wash it.

"Come now, Draco. Let's get you all ready for bed."

The group of us were ushered up to young Draco's room which was filled to the brim with Quidditch posters, memorabilia, toys, and action figures. The bedding on his King sized bed was covered in snitches and the Farmouth Falcons logo.

Little Draco jumped into bed and scurried under the covers.

"When will father be home?" He asked excitedly.

Just after he spoke, the familiar pop of Apparition resounded from downstairs. The sound of dragonhide boots on the hardwood floor were heard as Lucius Malfoy bound up the stairs. He strolled into the Little Draco's room with a small grin on his face.

"Good evening, son."

"Hi father! How was your meeting, sir?"

Lucius Malfoy, the renowned Death Eater, sat down beside his small son and placed a hand atop his head.

"What story do you want to read tonight, Dragon?" Narcissa asked as she sat beside her husband. "Let me guess…"

"Babbity Rabbity and her Cackling Stump!" She exclaimed in unison with Little Draco, showing it was a common story read in the Malfoy Household.

Then we watched as the usually stoic Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy reenacted the tale with voices and all, making Little Me laugh with glee. And once the entire story was read and all the laughs were out. We watched as they tucked him in and kissed his forehead before turning off the lights and retreating to their bedroom, hand-in-hand.

The memory dissolved and we returned to the Great Hall once again. I faced a room full of moderately shocked faces and Professor Franklin urged me to give reasoning.

"Believe it or not, my father wasn't always a piece of shit. Thanks." I said quickly, not wanting to prolong this any longer than necessary. As I began to move toward my seat, an irritatingly familiar voice spoke up.

"Oh is that all?"

"Yes, Granger, that is all." I said through clenched teeth. "I have nothing else that I'd like to share."

She raised an eyebrow, challenging me, "You're not going to heal if you don't at least try, Malfoy."

"Sorry we don't all have sickly heartwarming stories like you do, Granger. I don't have anything else to say on the matter."

Again, I attempted to retreat to my seat.

"Oh c'mon you bloody coward!" Granger's voice echoed through the hall. "Everyone else is at least trying and you, of all fucking people, should have some decency in showing us that your trying to change. That's the least you could do for us!"

"Why do I owe you anything?!" I shouted back, my face contorted into a scowl. "Why do I owe any of these fucking people anything?"

"Because your father killed some of my friends!" She retorted, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Your father tried to kill me, if you've forgotten, in the Department of Mysteries fifth year. Your father is the reason that Ginny got possessed her first year at Hogwarts and almost bloody died! You and your parents watched as I was tortured by your lunatic of an aunt in your own fucking house! What more do I possibly have to say?!"

"I'm not my father, Granger." I responded stoically, ignoring the rest of her speech.

"Really?" She asked incredulously, "Because it seems to me that you're just like him."

I clenched my jaw so tight I felt my ears pop, "Don't compare me to my father, Granger. You don't know anything about me."

"I don't?" She replied, incredulous, "I've gone to school with you for seven years. You called me a mudblood every chance you got. You tormented me and my friends. You poisoned Ron in an attempt to kill Dumbledore. You were a fucking Death Eat-"

"HE WOULD'VE KILLED MY MOTHER!"

The room silenced. Granger stared at me with wide eyes.

"Who would've killed your mother, Mr. Malfoy?" Professor Franklin interjected. "Voldemort?"

I nodded once.

"Do you want to elaborate or would you rather we end this here?" Franklin asked softly. She was next to me now and she spoke quietly enough for only me to hear.

"I feel like this should've ended a while ago." I responded angrily before storming out of the room.

I felt like my lungs were filled with fire. I was infuriated. How dare she come at me like that! She didn't have any idea of the shit I had gone through, especially not with my father!

I ran until I couldn't breathe.

I hadn't realized tears were running down my cheeks until I stopped for a breath outside the library, of all fucking places.

I walked into the back corner of the library and I sat silently as tears ran down my face.

"I shouldn't have come back here." I whispered to myself as I hung my head.

"Yes you should have."

My head whipped up and I stared furiously at the person who spoke.

"Leave me the fuck alone, Granger!" I shouted, forgetting where I was.

Granger shushed me by placing a hand over my mouth, "Would you shut up? Pince is probably charging back here now!"

I continued to glare at her and snatched her hand off my face.

"You realize that I left to get away from you, right? That wasn't an invitation for you to follow." I sneered.

"Yeah, I know." She responded with an eye roll. "I just think maybe we have more in common then I originally thought."

My eyebrow rose in question.

"I'm just saying maybe I was a little too harsh on you back there and I've been judging you without the whole story."

That set me off.

"Yeah, you think so? Maybe you should've fucking thought of that before you attempted to humiliate me in front of everyone back there. Piss off, Granger and don't fucking follow me again."

I brushed past her, ignoring the hurt look on her face.