Chapter 6: Protective
Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire, England
January 23, 1987
He had been protective of Draco ever since the Aurors had come to Malfoy Manor. He really didn't like to have Draco out of his sight for very long. He had taken to sleeping in Draco's room, placing himself on the divan at the end of Draco's bed, just so he could be between Draco and the door, between Draco and danger. There should never have been any danger at Malfoy Manor. Theo had never thought of Malfoy Manor as a dangerous place. It was a place of sanctuary to him and his pseudo-siblings. It was home. They should never have been made to feel afraid in their own home.
Lord Malfoy had reassured him that it was not his fault. He had told him that even if Theo had been in the room with Draco that he would not have been able to prevent the Auror from doing what he did to Draco. He knew that Lord Malfoy was right, but Draco had been hurt. He had been hurt and Theo hadn't been there. Theo was the oldest of the children in the combined guardianship of the Heir Malfoy and Lady Malfoy. It was his duty and his privilege to look after his pseudo-siblings. When he had seen Draco in the hospital bed at Saint Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies, paler than usual and looking fragile, Theo had felt like a failure.
He wondered why Draco didn't protest his overprotectiveness. Was Draco still feeling shaky? Was Draco afraid and he secretly appreciated Theo's protection? It didn't really matter if Draco appreciated it or not because Theo had no intention of ceasing to protect him. Draco was the youngest child in the house. He was the youngest of Lord Malfoy's grandchildren and he would one day be Lord Malfoy. Theodore currently outranked Draco. He was already Lord Nott because his father had been a traitor who had turned on his Ardenvraar. Orran Nott had been the first Arden in recorded history to turn on his sworn brother. Theo didn't often think of his father. Sometimes though, Lord Malfoy told him stories about the former Lord Nott. The stories were mostly happy and showed Theo that his father was not always a terrible traitor. Those stories broke Theo's heart anew each time he heard them. He was not naïve despite his youth. The end results are usually what counts in the end though. It is what history records, Theo had come to understand from his lessons. His tutors rarely cared how he had come to the correct result so long as the result was correct in the end. If it was not correct he was punished. Orran Nott had been wrong in the end so he was being punished.
The thing was, sometimes others tried to punish Theo for what Orran did.
Just a few days ago he and his siblings had been shopping in Diagon Alley with Lady Malfoy and with her sister, Madame Tonks. They had been forced to stop and converse with Mr. Marcus Spungen, his eldest child Royce, and two boys who looked to be around Theodore's age. He could still remember the stirring of hurt and anger in his chest as Royce Spungen, Cassius Warrington, and Terrence Higgs had taunted him by saying that he would never be fit to be Ardenvraar for anyone.
"Someone would have to be really stupid to take you as their Arden," Royce Spungen taunted him.
"Yeah, he's a traitor's get," Cassius Warrington had sneered. "Everyone knows that he'd just betray his Arden if he were ever blessed with one. Just like dear old dad, eh?"
Terrence Higgs snickered. "Poor little baby, I think he's going to cry," he had sneered causing Royce and Cassius to laugh.
A hand upon his shoulder made him flinch and returned him to the present. He turned his head and stared into the silvery-gray eyes of Draco Malfoy. The other boy was smiling at him and Theo couldn't help himself. He returned the smile. "Did you need something Draco?"
Draco shook his head in the negative. "No, but you did," his friend said. "You were thinking about bad things, I could tell. Your green eyes go all cold and you get that frown," Draco said.
Theo smirked. "You'll be a Slytherin for sure. I don't think that Ravenclaw's are so observant, despite their vaunted love of learning," he praised.
Draco blushed slightly. "I wouldn't be so sure. Aunt Selene is very observant and she was a Ravenclaw. Our Luna will probably be a Ravenclaw too, and she's observant."
Theo nodded his head, conceding the point.
"What were you thinking about, Theo?" Draco said while he played with the edge of his book.
Theo didn't know what Draco had been reading, but he had been reading most of the afternoon. He had even declined an opportunity for a flying lesson today in favor of staying inside with Theo, Blaise, and Dane. It was odd behavior for Draco. Theo wondered what was so interesting about the book that Draco would decline flying for it. He shook his head and looked away. "Nothing important," he hedged.
Draco sniffed in disdain at that. He was remarkably like Lady Malfoy when he did things like that. "Don't lie, Theo, please," Draco said softly. "Not to me," he implored.
Theo glanced back at Draco and saw earnest gray eyes staring at him, imploring him to unburden himself. He already knew he would tell Draco some of it. Draco had said please. He rarely said please. "I was thinking about something that Spungen, Warrington, and Higgs said to me when we bumped into them in Diagon Alley," he said. He watched as Draco frowned in thought. The younger blond had not heard what Royce, Warrington, and Higgs had said to him because he and Blaise had been doing their best to shield Dane from the sneering words of Marcus Spungen. Theo had been picked from the herd and torn to pieces, albeit verbally, by Royce and his two great friends.
"What did they say?" Draco asked him in a gentle voice.
Theo frowned then. "As I said before, it really is nothing. I mean, it's stupid Royce and his stupid friends," he tried to deflect.
Draco closed his book and set it aside then. He then reached out and grabbed Theo by the wrist and he held on. "If it were nothing then you would not be bothered by it," Draco said. "Tell me, Theo. Trust in me. Uncle Sev says that trust is a two-way street. It must go both ways. You must trust in me if you expect me to trust in you. Am I wrong to trust you?"
"Someone would have to be really stupid to take you as their Arden."
The words of Royce Spungen haunted him then and he stared at Draco with wide eyes. "I," he swallowed hard and felt the sting of tears in his eyes but he fought them back. "No, Draco, you are not wrong to trust me. Please, believe me, you aren't wrong!"
Draco moved his hand from Theo's wrist to his hand and he clasped their fingers together. "I don't know what Royce said, Theo, but he's wrong. Whatever he said, he's wrong."
"You can't know that," Theo said and he looked away from Draco's face, but he didn't pull his hand away. Instead, he held on tight. He couldn't let go, he needed Draco too much to let go. He needed an anchor because inside he was bleeding from the words that Royce and his friends had uttered.
"I do know that Royce rarely says anything of true worth. He delights in hurting others. He uses his words like vicious weapons but he's a poor warrior because he throws his venom everywhere. A real snake knows when to save their venom for the right victim, they wait for the perfect moment, then they strike."
"You have spent too much time with Uncle Sev since you keep using his ways of describing things," Theo attempted to joke.
Draco smiled at that. "Uncle Sev is really smart," Draco shrugged. "Tell me, Theo," he said then returning to a serious tone.
Theo nodded as he looked at Draco. "They said that someone would have to be stupid to want me as their," he trailed off and found that he could not hold Draco's gaze. "As their Ardenvraar," he finished.
He heard Draco suck in a breath and he felt Draco squeeze his hand before he slowly exhaled that breath. "Royce is the biggest idiot that ever lived!" Draco declared. "Don't you dare, Theo! Don't you dare let what he said hurt you anymore! Anyone would be damned lucky to have you as their Arden!"
Theo blinked in surprise as he looked at Draco. He knew that Draco was loyal to him, a true friend and brother, but he had not really prepared himself to be defended by anyone. He had let himself be so torn up by the thought that maybe Royce was right that he had not thought anyone would defend him. He had let himself wallow in misery, questioning his self-worth.
"I would become your Arden today if it were possible," came the gentle voice of Dane Spungen.
Theo's gaze slid to Dane. He took in the boy's earnest expression. He was so unlike his older brother, Royce. This boy with the curly pale-gold hair was gentle and kind, the very opposite of his older brother. Dane was looking at him with heartfelt ice-blue eyes. "I know that you might not want someone like me to be your Arden, but I would be honored if you would consider it, Theo," Dane was saying and Theo stared at him in surprise.
"Why?" Theo asked, his voice harsher due to his roiling emotions. He didn't deserve someone kind and gentle as his Arden. Not if he could end up a traitor like his father.
Dane flinched due to the harshness of his voice. "Because you are kind and smart. You are brave but cunning. I don't think you would rush forward to get us into troubles. I think you would think first," the boy said.
"I'm the son of a traitor, my father betrayed his own Arden!" Theo snarled then because it hurt, oh how it hurt that his father was a traitor. It hurt that everyone expected him to end up just like him.
"So," Dane said with a shrug. "My father is a horrible bully who enjoys other women more than he does his own wife. He hurts my mother and he used to hurt me. You don't think I'll grow up to be like him, do you?" the boy asked softly.
Theo felt as though he had been punched in the gut. The idea that Dane was afraid of becoming like Marcus Spungen had never occurred to him. "No, Dane, no, you won't become like your sire," he said firmly.
Dane smiled at him. "And you won't become like Orran Nott," the boy said firmly. "We'll make sure of that, Theo."
Draco nodded his agreement. "You aren't like your father Theo, even Grandpa says you are more like your mother than like your father. Your mother was said to be beautiful, kind, and loyal to her loved ones."
"Maybe you should visit your Greengrass relatives and learn more about your mother," Dane suggested. "Here you hear good things about your father and out in society you hear bad things about him, but it's like everyone forgets that you had a mother. You don't even look much like Orran. You look like your Greengrass relatives," he said.
It was a good idea, Theo acknowledged. He did enjoy the chances he had to spend time with his cousins Daphne, Astoria, and Ernie. His Aunt, Lady Evelyn Greengrass nee Turpin, was always very kind to him when he visited with her. She was now one of the ladies he saw often visiting Malfoy Manor for tea with Lady Malfoy. She was one of Narcissa's circle and a fellow Mother of the Crone's Council. He had spent less time with his Uncle Nicholas than he would have liked. The man was a true Slytherin, or so Uncle Severus had said. Theo had overheard stories of Nicholas bravely fighting Death Eaters who had invaded his home during Samhain of 1980. Theo wished that he knew the man better. Perhaps if Theo requested time with Lord Greengrass and with Lady Macmillan then he could ask them questions about his mother.
"I'll ask Aunt Narcissa if she can arrange it," Theo said at last. He watched the two pale-blond boys smile at him. Dane's smile was shy but clearly happy that Theo had taken his suggestion to heart. Draco's smile was a gentle upturn of his lips, a soft and gentle smile that could vanish in a moment, but it softened the mercury of his eyes. Draco's smiles had become like that ever since he began training in politics. They were rarely the whole-hearted smiles that he used to gift them. Theo knew it was necessary that they learn better control of themselves, lest their enemies find a weakness, but he missed the days when Draco would smile with his whole being.
"What book has kept you indoors all day?" Theo asked of Draco as he glanced at the book that Draco had set aside.
"I've wondered the same thing," Blaise said as he came to sit beside them. He had remained quiet during the previous deep conversation. Blaise often did that, only entering the conversations when he felt his assistance was truly needed. Their quiet observer was Blaise.
Draco took up his book and held it to his chest, protectively. "It was a gift sent to me," he said simply.
Green eyes met golden-brown as Theo shared a look with Blaise. Theo inclined his head to Blaise, a sign that Blaise should continue.
"A gift from who?" Blaise asked of Draco.
Dane looked curiously at Draco. "It's okay if you don't really want to tell us, but the adults know, right?"
Draco sighed then, a soft blush on his cheeks. "Yes, Mother knows," he said. "It's, a book about Dragon's," he admitted as he slowly turned the book around so that they could see the beautiful white dragon moving on the cover of the book.
"What type of Dragon is that?" Theo found himself asking.
"Whatever it is, that's the Dragon all of you blond haired Malfoy's would turn into," Blaise teased then.
It was a simple statement but a reminder none-the-less that even Theo had Malfoy blood in his veins. Blaise didn't. He lived in Malfoy Manor because he was the second cousin once removed from Lady Malfoy through his Rosier Blood. For the first time, Theo wondered if it bothered Blaise that his tie to them was through Narcissa and not through Lord Malfoy? He didn't ask though. It wouldn't do to make Blaise feel cornered. The dark-haired boy would feel cornered if Theo asked with Draco and Dane as backup.
"It's an Antipodean Opal-Eye," Draco murmured in answer to Theo's question. "And yes Blaise, they do suit us Malfoy's, but I think that you would be a Hungarian Horntail. You are vicious when you choose to be."
Blaise looked pleased by Draco's words. "Thank you," he said.
"But who was the book a gift from?" Theo asked again.
Dane frowned at him. "He doesn't have to say, Theo," he protested.
"Aren't you curious?" Blaise asked of Dane.
"Yes, but," Dane huffed. Theo was grateful to see it. Just two weeks ago, Dane was still too timid to show any signs of frustration with him. "It's not our business, Blaise," Dane reaffirmed.
Draco smiled at Dane. "It's okay Dane," he said to his cousin. "It's not like I am afraid to tell you guys," he said. "It's just, well, this is the first time that someone that wasn't Mother, Father, Grandfather, or Uncle Sev got me a present when it wasn't a holiday or my birthday."
Theo nodded at that. He could understand why Draco would find that so special. Lady Malfoy was always very firm that they should never become spoiled. He really had not understood what she meant by that until he had met Vincent Crabbe. The little butterball of a boy was given whatever his heart desired by his parents. He was incredibly overindulged. Theo didn't want to end up like that. He remembered he had been extra affectionate toward Narcissa after the Crabbe's had gone home. He was so grateful to her for taking such good care of them.
"So, who is it from?" Blaise pushed again for Draco to tell them.
"Ginny Weasley," Draco said simply.
Theo watched Draco for a moment but he couldn't tell what emotions his kinsman was feeling. Draco was wearing his little Lord mask. Approachable, yet remote. He remembered meeting Ginny Weasley years ago when Walburga Black was dying. She had been soft-spoken to them. She had blushed when Draco had kissed her hand in greeting. She had stolen glances at Draco for the rest of the long day of waiting. She had been at Walburga's funeral as well. She had brought a pretty violet with her that Theo had thought she would place before the Black Mausoleum, but she didn't. Instead, she had given the flower to Draco. Theo now remembered that Draco had brought the flower home with him to Malfoy Manor. Theo was ashamed to admit that he would have waited until Ginny Weasley had gone away and then placed the flower with the rest that was sitting before the Mausoleum. Draco had been kinder, not wanting to hurt the girl's feelings. This was probably why Draco got along better with Daphne and Astoria than he did. Draco seemed to inherently understand when he should step carefully so he wouldn't hurt a girl's feelings.
"That freckled, red-haired monstrosity?" Blaise asked.
Theo smirked slightly. He wasn't prepared for the growl that emitted from Draco's throat. He stared wide-eyed at Draco. The future Lord Malfoy looked thoroughly angry.
"You will take that back right now Blaise Zabini!" Draco snapped at him.
Blaise blinked in surprise as he took in the hard glint of Draco's eyes.
"Draco," Theo murmured in confusion.
Dane shook his head sadly. "You should apologize, Blaise," he said. "What you said about her is very mean."
Blaise glanced at Dane before nodding. "I am sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have said that about her," he added.
Theo watched Draco cautiously as he stared hard at Blaise as though he would rip Blaise apart if he found anything about Blaise's body language to suggest that he wasn't sincere in his apology. At last Draco subsided and Theo felt himself relax slightly as Draco spoke. "I forgive you, Blaise. I know that you have very high standards as befits a Rosier, but Ginny Weasley has her own beauty. Do not say those things about her again."
Blaise nodded his agreement. "Alright," he said simply, but Theo could tell that he was still confused by Draco's swift defense of the red-haired girl with the freckles.
Theo could understand Blaise's confusion. There was no love lost between Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley. Mr. Arthur Weasley had accused Lucius of being a Death Eater who somehow bought his way out of Azkaban at the Last Ministry Ball. Arthur Weasley seemed to despise their guardian for reasons that Theo didn't know. He had asked Lady Malfoy about Arthur Weasley and had learned that he was four years older than Lucius Malfoy and had been in Gryffindor House at Hogwarts. Arthur had been betrothed to Avice Parkinson of House Parkinson but had eloped with Molly Prewett of House Prewett thus causing a great scandal. He was penalized by House Parkinson and forced to pay reparations for his actions. Those reparations had put him and his growing family into the poor house because his father, Lord Weasley, had decided that Arthur should have to pay for the crime alone. Theo didn't blame Lord Weasley for that at all. Arthur had been the one to end his betrothal in such a damaging way so, of course, he should have to pay. Arthur's family was slowly growing popular now because he had betrothed his son to Pansy Parkinson the Heir Parkinson when he was a year old. Arthur no longer had to pay reparations to the House of Parkinson so, his family now had a decent income. They were no longer seen wearing threadbare clothing. Lord Weasley still treated his son coolly in public though, a sure sign that they were still somewhat estranged. He didn't understand why Draco was so swift to defend Ginny Weasley. Maybe it was just that gallant side of Draco that didn't like to hear any girl disparaged.
"So, she sent you the book at random, hoping that you would like it?" Dane asked of Draco.
Draco blushed slightly at Dane's question. "She picked it out because she thought it was interesting and my name is Draco. She thought if I didn't already like Dragon's then maybe I would at least find it interesting to learn about them. She said in her letter that one of her older brother's is hopelessly fascinated by them."
Theo smirked then. "So that is who you have been writing for the last week?" he asked. "I have seen owls come and go from your room, but I assumed you were trading correspondence with Harry, Dudley, Leonis, Orion, or even Daphne."
"I did trade correspondence with Daphne, Leonis, Harry, and Dudley," Draco admitted to him. "But I also found time to write a few letters to Ginny."
Dane smiled at him. "I've never met her," he stated. "Is she nice?"
Draco nodded his head and smiled that soft smile. "Yes, she's really nice Dane. I think you would like her."
Theo fought down the urge to laugh at the sparkle in Draco's eyes. The future Lord Malfoy wanted to be friends with a Weasley child. Surely the fates were having a laugh at Draco's expense. There was an old feud between House Weasley and House Malfoy. Surely, he knew that. Yet there he was, defending the honor of a Weasley child, exchanging letters with her, accepting her gifts. What was the world coming to?
Thank you for reading and for your wonderful support. I am sorry that it seems to take me much longer to update the spin-off stories of Renewal than it does to update Renewal. I apologize for the wait between chapters. I hope that everyone enjoyed reading this chapter on Theo, Draco, Dane, and Blaise.
