A/N- WARNING... This chapter will pull on your heart strings. At least it did for me. I'm tearing up right now and I WROTE it. Not quite sure if I got the whole mother/son protectiveness thing though; I'm not a parent.
This was actually a really fluffy chapter when I started out, but it just sort of morphed into angst. Sorry! Next chapter will be super duper fun and it will involve Draco dancing on a giant piano (there's this toy store in New York which I can't remember the name of and it has this giant piano that you can step on and it plays music). Next chapter will also have some flashbacks of what happened in between the time Draco met Blaise and when they got on the plane.
Also this chapter talks about 9/11. Not a lot, but I just figured that Hermione would pick up on that two of the largest buildings in the world were missing from New York.
ANYWAYS enough rambling! Enjoy le chapter.
Chapter Ten
Draco was discovering that he really didn't like airplanes. For one, they were too noisy. People were clattering about, talking in loud voices. And the intercom, it was so obnoxious that Draco wanted to storm into the cockpit and strange the pilot. Also, the seatbelts were much too constricting, digging into his skin. The bathroom was too small, the ascent too horrifying, and there was an obnoxious child sitting behind him, kicking his seat.
"I swear to every god, demon and saint alike, if that child kicks my chair one more time…" Draco threated, whispering in Granger's ear. The brunette shot him a wary look and hissed back,
"Oh shove it, Malfoy. It was your friend who got us these seats in the first place,"
The blonde rolled his eyes, looking to his left at Orion. The young boy was playing with his toy cars, quietly running them up and down the window. The sun was peaking over the horizon at six o' three in the morning, and Draco concluded that the view was the only good part about the ride.
"Orion, are you having fun?" He questioned, refusing to call his son Ronnie.
Silver met silver, "Yep!" Orion stated, blinking up at Draco fondly. The child then proceeded to drop his favorite red car into the crack between the wall and the seat. Orion glanced over at his mother, his chin trembling.
"I'll get it!" Draco announced, unbuckling his seatbelt swiftly, dropping to his knees on the floor. There was gum on the carpet, which the blonde unknowingly set his hand in.
"YEEEEAACKK!" He half yelled, half barked as he stared down at the dirty pink glob. Granger sniggered behind him, not making a move to do anything about the half-chewed atrocity that was plastered to Draco's skin.
"Screw you, Granger," Draco whispered, low enough so that only he could hear. He then proceeded to reach into the dusty area in which the toy car resided. Orion was now watching him, a small smirk on his face. After several painful moments of searching, along with several… interesting discoveries (a half-chewed Cheeto, several grimy coins and a ball of hair) the red car was recovered.
Draco sat back in his seat, snatching several of the 'complimentary hand wipes' out of the pocket on the back of the seat in front of him. He wiped off his hand, and the car, before giving the toy back to Orion.
"You're silly," Orion stated, taking his once lost toy.
Granger snorted, and Draco mumbled, "Malfoy's are not silly,"
X
"New York!" Hermione gasped as they walked around the corner. Draco sighed and pressed a hand to the bridge of his nose, tired of her constant chatter.
"Yes, it's wonderful," The blonde dodged a very sick looking man lying on the street. New York had not been what he had been expecting. It was smelly and dirty, with too many people pressed up against one another.
Granger loved it.
"The City of Dreams!" She cried, throwing her arms in front of her dramatically. Her black purse dangled on her elbow, swinging in the breeze. Her black suitcase nearly hit several pedestrians rushing past, and they glared at her in the true New York fashion.
Orion and Draco shared a look, as though it was expected that she act this way. They held hands as not to lose each other in the hoard of people, keeping the wild-haired brunette in sight. She knew where they were staying, as she'd booked the hotel last minute. They'd flown into an airport in Brooklyn, were they'd proceeded to hop on the subway to get to Manhattan. The subway was disgusting and crowded. Plus, the tunnels were dark and had scared Orion quite a bit. He did not like going underground.
"The City that Never Sleeps!" She burst out, awestruck, "I've always wanted to come here!"
"Why the… does she always act like this?" Draco asked, turning to the young boy next to him. Orion shook his head slowly as they walked, his lips pursed in thought. Draco thought that he looked rather like Narcissa when he did that.
"No," He answered finally, "She used to be sad all the time, because of the Dark Place,"
Draco closed his eyes for a full five seconds, he knew because he counted, and then reopened them. The Dark Place… How the hell is this kid not completely screwed up?
They walked in silence for a few moments, keeping Hermione a short distance away. She didn't say anything; she was lost in her own world. Her neck would crane upwards, staring at the peaks of buildings.
The Dark Place…
How did she survive it? Nearly four years… four years in which she was forced to become a Death Eater and kill people to save her son from torture. Draco realized that he had barely begun to scratch the surface on his understanding of what they had been through.
I won't let it happen again. I will protect Orion at all costs. Granger too. She might be a Mudblood, but she didn't deserve what happened to her. She definitely doesn't need to go through it again.
"You look like me,"
Orion shocked Draco out of his thoughts.
"Er…" The blonde glanced around, trying not to freak out. He might've become friendly with Orion, but he still had no idea how to deal with children.
"Will you be my daddy? I don't have one, and you have my hair. You make mummy laugh sometimes, and she never used to laugh before. And you're magical, like mummy and me. Please please please please ppppppllllleeeeaaaasseeeee?" It was probably the longest thing that Orion had said to Draco in a consecutive period of time. Plus he was so adorable, with big silver eyes and pouty lips.
"Of course," Draco muttered, ruffling the child's hair. He received a scowl in return; obviously Orion had inherited the 'Malfoy Hair Vainness Trait'.
"Well," Orion said slowly, once they had begun walking again, "If you wanna be my daddy, you have to marry mummy,"
Well. Shit.
"I..." Draco was at a loss for words. Before he could cover up his long pause, however, an airplane flew overhead. Orion giggled and held up a hand, pointing to it.
"Look!"
Draco breathed out a sigh of relief, and hurried to catch up with Granger.
X
"So here's where you'll be sleeping," Hermione gestured to the room weakly, moving to stand to the door next to it, "And this is our room,"
Malfoy nodded, staring at the rusty golden '42' nailed on his door, "Ok…" He fingered the plastic key card helplessly in his hand, though he showed no confusion on his face.
"Oh for the love of Merlin… give me that!" Hermione snatched the key from the blonde's hand, sticking it in the slot. It blinked green, and clicked open.
"Magic," Malfoy whispered, only half joking, and he pulled his bag into the room after him.
Orion peered up at his mother curiously, "Not real magic though mummy. Real magic is better," Hermione smiled and took his hand. They went into the room together. There were two twin beds covered in green comforters with starchy pillows piled on top. In the corner there was a blue upholstered chair, and in a wooden cabinet, a T.V. The wooden desk had a phone and a notepad on it, as well as several cheap pens.
Hermione made sure that all the lights worked, including the ones in the bathroom, before setting her purse and small suitcase down at the foot of her bed.
"Here we are," She said, turning to face her son, "You want to go out and get for lunch?"
Orion shot her a look before stubbornly crossing his arms, "I want to wait for daddy,"
Hermione, mouth agape, stared right back at the young boy, "What?" She asked at last, wiping the befuddled expression off her face.
"I asked your friend… if he… would be… my daddy b-because he looks like me!" Orion burst out, beaming wildly, "He's nice mummy!"
Hermione smiled, breathing a sigh of relief. The awkward confrontation in which she would have to tell Orion about his parentage could wait.
"Great honey. Do you want to go get him?"
Orion nodded, reaching for the door handle. He had trouble twisting it, however, and ended up stamping his foot on the carpet in frustration.
"I can't open it mummy! I d-don't know h-how…"
Suddenly, he burst into tears.
Hermione rushed forwards, gathering the small child into her arms, "Shhhh Ronnie, shhh," She soothed as she sunk to the floor, rocking him back and forth in her arms. Gasping for breath, Orion tried to wipe away his tears. The brunette pulled a wadded up tissue out of her jeans pocket and did it for him, cradling his head against her chest.
"W-why can't I o-open the door m-mummy? I just couldn't d-do it!" Orion burst into hysterics again, burying his face in his mother's shirt.
"I'll teach you, ok?" This was the way she always calmed him; when Orion did not know how to do something, no matter how small of a task, Hermione would promise to help him. She did it at Malfoy Manor, when they were alone. She'd teach him how to use the 'big people toilet', how to brush his teeth, how to put on his clothes. They had not been living in luxury (Hermione almost laughed at the thought) but after she'd taken the mark they'd been given a small room with a miniscule bathroom off of it. It was better than the dungeons at least. And Hermione had assisted her son in learning everything that he might need to know to get along in the world. How to talk, how to walk. She'd begun to teach him how to read, though it was difficult with just a single battered dictionary that had been discovered under the floorboards.
Her son didn't have nightmares, and when he did they were never discussed. Hermione pressed, asked if he was ok, but Orion refused to talk about what he dreamt of. The only breakdowns were the ones like these; when Orion could not do something that he should know how to do.
Her son didn't want to be different.
He had scars on his back and arms, though not many. One could just presume that he was a clumsy child. He didn't act different from the other children he'd interacted with, except for the occasional confusion on what something was. The only thing that set Orion apart was the 'Halfblood Filth' engraved in spidery handwriting on the back of his hand. The thought of it made Hermione want to scream, though it was a white-ish scar and barely visible in the light. What they had done to him was wrong, so very wrong, no matter if many people did notice it was there…
She knew it was there.
"Mummy?" Orion peaked out of her shirt, his eyes rimmed red. Hermione glanced down, overwhelmed with emotion. Love for her son, hatred for the bastards that had managed to break the one thing that she'd promised herself to always protect, self-loathing for taking the mark in the first place.
"Ronnie?" Hermione asked, pushing his blonde hair out of his eyes.
"You're crying mummy," Orion stated gently, putting a small hand to her face, "Please don't cry,"
The brunette smiled sadly. She was exhausted all of a sudden, and wanted nothing more than to lie down in her bed and sleep. She couldn't, however, as someone was knocking on the door.
"Granger, open up! I want to see if your view is as good as mine!"
Hermione stood, drawing Orion to his feet with her. She approached the door, kneeling on the ground. She pulled her son's hand to the doorknob, which she put her hand over as well, guiding him. They twisted it open together, a proud smile gracing both their faces, though for different reasons. Orion was proud because he'd done it. Hermione was because her son was elated about what he had done.
Draco stood in the doorframe, tapping his foot impatiently. When he saw them on the floor, however, his brow creased.
"What are you… what are you doing?"
"I learned how to open the door daddy!" Orion gasped, and something flickered in Malfoy's eyes. Was it… pain?
Of course not, Hermione, don't be ridiculous.
"Lunch then?" He offered, avoiding Hermione's curious look.
X
Draco shuffled down the street in Lower Manhattan, full from lunch. They had gotten pizza at a place that was overly crowded. The wait had served its purpose, however, when they tucked in. The pizza was… well, it was like heaven with cheese.
Granger had been oddly quiet, though her eyes were oddly red when Draco had opened the door to the hotel room. She walked next to him, Orion's hand in hers. They tried not to look at each other, though Draco kept sneaking glances. Her brunette hair was rather rumpled, puffing out at odd angles. She wore a long-sleeved blue cardigan, though it was almost eighty degrees outside.
Since leaving the pizza shop, Granger had been intent on staring at the ground. In the last few minutes, however, she had been alternating between the sidewalk and the sky, as though determining if a flying saucer was up there. Finally, the obviously intrigued woman turned to Draco and asked, "Where are they?"
"What?" The blonde hadn't a clue what she was talking about. He looked to the tops of the buildings, like something was missing. No building had disappeared, as far as he knew.
"The World Trade Center, the twin towers. Where are they?"
Draco swallowed, remembering the news from a year ago. She wouldn't know, she had been in the Manor. He suddenly couldn't seem to hold her questioning gaze, looking at the passerby's instead.
"Well, last year in September, a group of terrorists called Al-Qaeda flew a plane into the towers. They brought them down," Draco stared into nothing, loss echoing about in his chest. What a waste of life. Why were people so cruel, so heartless?
Are they really so different from the Death Eaters?
Granger sucked in a breath, "Oh. Well, I… Sorry, it's just that the Trade Center has always interested me and…"
She fell silent, letting her words drop into nothing. The trio stood there, each lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Draco shook his head, blinking to get himself out of the morally-challenging feelings he was experiencing. Because what were the differences between Al Qaeda and the Death Eaters?
Besides magic and the group they were targeting, nothing.
"Shall we move on then?" The blonde asked, meeting the warm brown eyes of Hermione.
"Yes," She whispered, jiggling her arm to get Orion to focus on what she was saying, "We should,"