Near the end, there is a reference to a scene that was cut from the Deathly Hallows Part 2 film, and does not exist in the book (this is, Draco breaking rank). I really wish they had kept the scene, because I think it says a lot about Draco's character. This Dramione chapter is different because Hermione appears by name only. There are two kinds of "breaking away" occurring: one being physical (or at least a mention of) and the other philosophical. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. =)
Theme Six: Break Away
"No, I will not stand for it. I forbid it," Lucius Malfoy thundered. He paced back and forth between his wife Narcissa, who sat stiffly in a chair, her hands folded neatly in her lap, and his son Draco, who stood rigidly in front of the fireplace, his arm resting on the mantle.
"I wasn't asking your permission, Father."
"I will not allow my son to marry a muggle-born! Yes, I'll admit, she has grown to be quite pretty, so I allowed you to indulge your desires and make her your girlfriend. But if I had known you actually had feelings for the girl, that you intended on marrying her, I would have ended it."
"I love her."
"Love," Lucius sneered. "You make yourself stop loving her. You can't actually tell me you seriously want to make a muggle's daughter your wife. You are a pure-blood, the last of a great wizarding family. I will not have you sully yourself with some filthy little mudblood," he spat the term in disgust, as though it tasted foul in his mouth. "I raised you better than that, raised you to understand the differences in and importance of bloodlines."
"And look where that got us!" Draco shouted. Lucius stopped walking abruptly and stared at his son; even Narcissa was shocked by his sudden outburst. "Your prejudices nearly killed all of us! Serving a man who didn't care whether we lived or died, actually hoped I would die in my mission to kill Professor Dumbledore so that he could punish you. Humiliated you in your own house, took your wand. I was chosen to be a Death Eater, I had no power to decide for myself, because of your stupid blood ideologies."
"Draco, you know I never –"
"It all happened because of you. Since I was a child, you have filled me with your narrow-minded ideas. You have never let me make my own choices. You made me into you. I don't want to be you. I want to figure out what I believe, who I am, for myself. Hermione lets me do that. When I'm with her, I feel more like myself than I ever have. She challenges me and teaches me, inspires me to be a better person. I love her. Maybe once I scorned her because of her bloodline, but not anymore. She is the greatest witch I have ever known, and the best friend I have ever had. I am going to marry her." Draco's face was flushed in anger and determination, his hands balled into fists. "I had hoped for your blessing, but I do not require it. I just wanted to inform you of my plans to propose, because I have never kept secrets from you, even after everything, as you have kept them from me."
"Draco," Narcissa's voice was soft. "My child."
"I'm sorry, Mother," Draco's eyes were pained but resolved. "I love you both dearly, but I refuse to subscribe to your ideologies." He stormed from the room. The front door slammed, and they knew that he had apparted just outside the gate.
Lucius assumed Draco's place by the fire. "What do we do, Narcissa?"
"We give him our blessing."
Lucius stared at his wife. "How can you say that?"
"His ideas are not yours, Lucius," she said, gliding from her chair to where he stood. She took his face in her hands. Time and hardship had aged him, but he was still the man she had fallen in love with all those years ago. Years that she had remained always by his side. "We have been through too much. He is our only son. Let him marry for love."
Lucius sighed. "Why couldn't he have fallen in love with a pureblood Slytherin girl?"
"Would you have been happy then, when you see how Miss Granger loves him, how she cares for him and makes him happy, motivates him to be the decent young man I always prayed he would become? Do you think Pansy could have done that? Could she have looked after our son?"
Lucius grunted.
"He will marry her whether you accept his decision or not. My love, do not punish him for making his own choice for the first time in his life. He has cast aside our ideals, do not allow him to break away from us as well. I could not endure losing him. And I know you could not either."
"I know."
Narcissa smiled, and wrapped her arms around her husband's waist. "Then tell him. We will welcome the muggle-born as one of our own." She stood on tiptoe and kissed his forehead. "Despite what you may believe, I did not marry you for your blood, Lucius Malfoy. I loved you, and I would have loved you had your blood been as black and dirty as coal."
XXXXX
That evening after dinner, when Draco had returned, Lucius called his son into the parlour and had him sit down. Draco obeyed rather reluctantly. Lucius moved his own chair in front of the boy and pressed the tips of his fingers together. He cleared his throat and began, "Draco, I want you to know that I do these things out of concern for you, even when it may not seem like it." Lucius sighed. "I have made a lot of mistakes, and I have done much wrong by you, but please believe my intentions were good and I would never willingly harm you."
He looked at Draco hopefully, but his white face was an impassive mask.
"Son, I care about you, and I desire your happiness. I just need to be sure this is what you really want." In his heart of hearts, Lucius knew this to be true. Saw his life laid out before him, from the moment he had held his newborn son in his arms, and knew he would have laid down his life to keep his son safe. But had he held on too tightly, thus pushing his son away? Was the chasm between them too wide to ever be bridged again?
Draco considered his father's words for a moment, and then asked, "Father, do you remember the final battle against Voldemort, when we believed Potter to be dead? I stood among my classmates, and you called me to join you, and I did."
Lucius offered a small smile. "I remember." Yes, his good and obedient boy.
"But you must also remember my hesitation, my reluctance. When Potter revealed he lived, I broke away from the ranks of the Death Eaters, and I threw him my wand. I wanted him to defeat the Dark Lord."
Lucius nodded, his mind struggling between the disapproval he had felt when Draco had helped Potter – the boy who had caused them so much trouble, who had hurt his son at Hogwarts in ways he would never know – and pride at his son's courage and goodness.
"Do you know what prompted me to do that?"
"A sudden impulse to see the War end, I suppose."
"Hermione. I saw her grief-stricken face on the other side, the pain in her eyes when she believed all hope was gone and her best friend dead, and I thought of all she had suffered – all the suffering I had caused her – this poor muggle-born child, who had known nothing of the Dark Lord before Hogwarts, and I suddenly felt that I must do something. I did not want to cause anymore pain, if it was within my power to stop it. She made me want to be good. She makes me want to be better. I hope you can understand, Father."
Lucius thought of Narcissa, of the years they had spent building their life together, of her faithfulness through it all. He smiled. "I do, son."
"Then you will bless my marriage to Hermione?"
Lucius looked into his son's eyes – his eyes mirrored back at him, yet so different, so haunted at such a young age – and felt a sudden surge of guilt. He had failed as a father to protect his son, but he would not fail him now. "I will."
Then, in a rare moment of affection, Draco hugged his father – and Lucius Malfoy returned it.
