Author's Note: Harry Potter Wiki does not give the first names of Theodore Nott's, Gregory Goyle's, and Vincent Crabbe's mothers, but since I have made them all friends of Narcissa, I decided to come up with first names for them.

Additional Author's Note: Please excuse my sad attempts at trying to give Draco baby talk.


Narcissa looked at the clock. It still wasn't lunchtime. When would it be lunchtime?

Narcissa glanced over to where Draco was playing on the floor with his favorite stuffed dragon. Narcissa had charmed it to move, so Draco was crawling after it, trying to catch it.

Narcissa had made sure that the dragon wouldn't move too fast, so that her son would be able to catch it before he could get bored or frustrated.

Draco was currently nearing the dragon. He reached out a tiny hand and placed it on the dragon.

At Draco's touch, the dragon immediately stopped. It then turned to face the baby boy, and it shot out a small puff of bright but harmless "fire."

"Draga," Draco laughed. "Draga."

"Yes, Draco, dragon," Narcissa responded. "Just like you are."

"Draco draga," Draco said happily.

"Yes, you are a dragon," Narcissa said, now smiling slightly.

Narcissa suddenly heard the alarms going off. Someone wanted to come through the fireplace.

Draco stopped where he was, and he looked towards the fireplace.

Narcissa hesitated for a moment, fearing the worse. Then, she forced herself to approach the fireplace with a cool calmness to see who it was exactly that wanted entry.

It was Flora Nott with her baby son Theodore.

Narcissa allowed herself a slight sigh of relief.

"Flora," Narcissa spoke. "Come in. Come in."

A moment later, Flora, holding her baby son in her arms, stepped into the drawing room.

"Is this a good time, Cissa?" Flora asked. "I'm not bothering you or anything, am I?"

"No, of course not," Narcissa smiled. "I could use the company. Please, sit down. Would you like some tea?"

"That would be nice, thank you," Flora responded, sitting down on the couch.

"What about Theo?" Narcissa asked next. "Does he still like apple juice?"

"If he drinks any more of it, he will become an apple," Flora laughed.

Narcissa allowed herself to laugh as well. At the moment, she needed as many laughs as she could get.

"Well, I think he would make an adorable apple, so I'll get him some," Narcissa then spoke.

"That would much appreciated," Flora responded.

"Dobby," Narcissa called.

There was a crack, and Dobby appeared.

"Yes, Mistress," the house-elf spoke. "How may Dobby serve you?"

"Get us some tea and also some apple juice for Theo."

"Yes, Mistress."

Dobby then disappeared with a crack.

Flora began to bounce Theodore on her lap. She then looked over at Draco, who was once again crawling after his toy dragon now that all the excitement was over.

"Draco is so fast," Flora remarked.

"He can walk pretty fast as well, but he still prefers to crawl," Narcissa said. "I remember, though, the day he took his first unsupported steps. He walked all the way to Lucius without having to hold onto anything. Of course, the distance wasn't too far; but the way that Lucius went on and on about it, you would have thought that Draco walked a few thousand miles."

There was obvious affection in Narcissa's voice as she spoke about her husband bonding with their son. At the same time, though, her worry for Lucius returned at her mention of his name.

"You're worried too," Flora remarked sympathetically. "That's why I had to come over here. My husband's constant pacing was making me a nervous wreck, and that was starting to make Theo upset as well. Where is Lucius? Is he doing all right?"

"He's at the Ministry," Narcissa replied. "He keeps on telling me not to worry and he appears to be confident that everything is going to be all right, but he's always been good at hiding his emotions. I think he's more worried, though, about me and Draco than he is about himself. You know how Lucius is. He's always been protective over those that he cares about."

Flora smiled at Narcissa's words. She had more than once been on the receiving end of Lucius's protective nature.

"You're a friend of Narcissa," Lucius often told her, "and that makes you a friend of mine as well."

There was a crack, and Dobby appeared. He handed both Narcissa and Flora a cup of tea. He also handed Flora a cup with a lid on it.

Flora placed the lidded cup near her son's hands. Theodore wrapped his tiny hands around the cup.

"You got it, Theo?" Flora said.

Theodore began to drink in answer.

"Does Mistress require anything else?" Dobby asked Narcissa.

"No, that will be all for now," Narcissa spoke. "You may go."

Dobby disappeared with a crack.

The alarms suddenly began to go off again.

Draco once again stopped where he was, and he once again looked at the fireplace.

Theodore also looked over at the fireplace.

"Let me go see who it is," Narcissa said, setting aside her cup of tea as she stood up.

The worry was still there, but not at as much as it had been before Flora's arrival.

Narcissa hoped that the new arrival was another friend and not a group of Aurors.

It was two friends actually, Georgina Goyle and Nicola Crabbe. Like Flora had been, they were holding their baby sons, Gregory and Vincent.

"Cissa," both women greeted fondly.

"Georgina, Nicola," Narcissa returned, just as fondly. "Please, sit down. I'll have Dobby bring you two some tea."

Gregory and Vincent immediately began to fuss and wiggle when they caught sight of Draco.

Their mothers set them down on the floor, and they immediately began to crawl towards Draco.

"I'll have Dobby bring them some toys," Narcissa offered.

Georgina and Nicola both nodded their thanks before turning to greet Flora.

Narcissa could not help but notice that there was some worry in both Georgina's and Nicola's eyes.

Their husbands must be pacing nervously at home as well, Narcissa thought.

She then suddenly felt herself feeling glad that Lucius was out there and actually attempting to do something about their situation rather than just stay at home and do nothing but pace.

Narcissa shook her head. She knew that her friends had come here because they had needed a little break from this newest stress in their lives.

Narcissa called for Dobby and ordered him to get some tea for Georgina and Nicola and some toys for the babies.

As soon as Theodore saw the blocks, he began to wiggle in his mother's lap.

"All right, all right, Theo," Flora laughed. "I got the message."

Flora placed her son on the floor. He immediately began to crawl towards the blocks.

"Thank you for allowing us to come over, Cissa," Nicola spoke.

"You know that you're welcomed here anytime, Nicola," Narcissa responded. "I always appreciate the company. How is your husband doing?"

"He's really nervous," Nicola answered. "What about Lucius? How is he holding up?"

"He's at the Ministry to see what he can learn," Narcissa responded.

"Then we'll all be fine," Georgina spoke up. "If Lucius hears of any threats against us, he will know how to handle it."

Narcissa allowed herself a slight smile. She knew that her husband would do his best to protect them, but it was nice to hear from someone else that they also believed in Lucius's abilities.

"Did your husbands tell you what Lucius told them to do if the Aurors do come?" Narcissa asked.

"Yes," Georgina said. "They are to claim to have been under the Imperius, and we are to play our parts as well."

"Oh, yes, Mr. Auror," Nicola said in a voice that was a combination of mock sadness and sweet-sounding stupidity, "my husband was definitely under the Imperius Curse. He hasn't been himself lately. I couldn't quite place what it was exactly that was going on with him, but now that you mention You-Know-Who, it must have been Imperius."

All four women allowed themselves a slight laugh at Nicola's words.

"What's this?" came an amused drawl. "A baby invasion?"

"Lucius," Narcissa cried happily, leaping off the couch to embrace her husband.

Lucius planted a soft kiss on his wife's forehead as she buried her face into his chest.

He then turned to greet the three other women in the room.

"Lucius," they all greeted warmly in return.

"Dada," came Draco's excited voice. "Dada."

"Yes, Draco, Daddy's back home," Lucius laughed as his son began to crawl towards him, the toy dragon completely forgotten.

Lucius bent down to pick up Draco.

Theodore, who had been busy with stacking the blocks, looked up at the sound of Lucius's words.

"Hello to you too, Theo," Lucius smiled.

Theodore smiled back at Lucius before returning to the blocks.

Gregory and Vincent were too busy seeing how far they could throw the various toys to pay any attention to any of the adults in the room.

"What news from the Ministry, Lucius?" Flora asked nervously.

The mood in the room immediately turned serious as all the adults turned to look at Lucius.

"Mostly, everyone was debating whether or not the Dark Lord is really dead," Lucius spoke. "I didn't hear anyone, not even the Aurors, talking about who all they plan on going after on suspicion of being a Death Eater. I plan on returning later to the Ministry, though, to see what else I can learn. I know that the Aurors will eventually come after us, but if we all have our stories already prepared and rehearsed beforehand, we should be fine."

Flora, Georgina, and Nicola nodded their heads.

"Thank you for your news, Lucius," Flora spoke. "I'll let you and Cissa eat lunch now."

"You don't have to leave on my account," Lucius responded. "You are welcomed to stay for lunch, Flora. The same goes to you, Georgina, Nicola."

"Thank you for the offer, Lucius," Georgina said, "but I really should be returning home as well. I don't think it would be wise to leave my husband alone at home for too long."

"Same here," Nicola muttered. "Thank you for the tea, Cissa. It was nice seeing you again, Lucius."

There was an exchange of farewells as the three women gathered their sons and then made their way towards the fireplace.

Lucius, meanwhile, pushed back his long platinum blond hair to keep Draco from grabbing it. Fortunately, Draco was no longer as interested in his parents' long hair as he used to be, so he didn't try to go after his father's hair. Instead, Draco just allowed himself to be content with just being held by his father. The grin on Draco's face was full of Malfoy smugness.


As soon as they were alone, Narcissa turned to face Lucius, who was still holding Draco.

"You didn't tell them everything," Narcissa spoke. "What else did you learn at the Ministry?"

Lucius sighed slightly. It was hard for either him or Narcissa to hide anything from the other.

"Barty intends to betray me," Lucius said.

"What?" Narcissa said in disbelief.

"He's angry at me for abandoning the Dark Lord," Lucius explained, "so he decided that he was going to have a temper tantrum like the little boy that he is."

"What are you going to do, Lucius?" Narcissa asked, her voice full of worry. "Barty's father has long hated you, and as popular with the public as he currently is, he doesn't need much of an excuse to go after you."

"Barty can only say so much against me without risking betraying himself as well," Lucius replied, "and I don't believe he's yet willing to go that far."

"But he could still be dangerous to you," Narcissa returned.

"Yes, he could be," Lucius agreed, "which is why I've already taken steps against him. I haven't said too much yet, but I have said enough to get Fudge to start spreading rumors."

"Just as long as he doesn't reveal who started the rumors," Narcissa responded.

"He won't," Lucius reassured his wife. "He wouldn't want to risk exposing me in fear that would put me in danger, which would then mean that I would no longer be able to give him any more 'useful' information. It would be best, though, if you got in contact with Bellatrix as quickly as possible to try to convince her that being in Barty's company would not be in her best interest."

Personally, Lucius could care less if Bellatrix got killed or captured, but he knew that Narcissa cared about her sister and that it would devastate her if something happened to Bellatrix.

"I will write her a letter," Narcissa responded. "Hopefully she will answer it."

Lucius looked at Narcissa with a concerned expression.

Narcissa knew what her husband was asking. He was asking her if it would be all right for him to go further in his quest to take action against Barty, especially since Bellatrix was closely involved in his activities at the moment.

"I will try to talk to Bella," Narcissa spoke, "but if she's determined to go down, then that's on her. But I'm not going to lose you, Lucius. You do whatever you must to keep yourself safe."

Lucius nodded his head.

"Dada," Draco cried in a voice that clearly reflected his annoyance at having been ignored for so long.

"Don't worry, Draco, Daddy knows that you're here," Lucius laughed. "My arms are starting to get heavy."

"It's time for lunch anyways," Narcissa spoke. "Draco is probably hungry."

"Food," Draco said.

"Yes, Draco, we're going to get you some food," Narcissa laughed.

Lucius and Narcissa then began to make their way towards the dining room.

There was still plenty of work that needed to be done to ensure that they had the best future possible, but they could afford to spend a few minutes being the family that they were.