Ookie Dookie! This is the last chapter until I get back from Canada! Sorry it wasn't a speedy update like last time. Been extremely busy preparing for my trip. Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter, and many thanks for the awesome reviews!
Where Do Young Witches and Wizards Learn Their ABC's?
I do not own Harry Potter
Chapter Twelve!
Aidan felt like today was the best out of all the days he spent with his teacher. He got to be one of Ginny's supporters, he was able to hold Chloe, the Weasley family accepted him as one of their own, and he was treated to ice cream by Hermione afterwards. It felt great and he didn't want this day to end, but eventually it did.
Hermione took him home after the ice cream shop. When they appeared in front of the black gates Aidan felt a sudden chill that crawled up his spine. He looked towards his house and it almost looked uninviting. He got a bad feeling that sat in the pits of his stomach. He almost took Hermione's hand and asked if he could stay at her house, but of course he couldn't. He hesitantly opened the little gate opening. Hermione noticed this. "Is everything alright Aidan?" she asked him.
Aidan turned back to her. "Uh, yes everything is fine."
She looked questionable at him, but accepted his reply. "O-kay."
"Um, I had a lot of fun today. Thanks for taking me with you and treating me to ice cream."
Hermione smiled. "I'm glad you had fun."
Aidan smiled back at her and then turned back around and headed up to his house. When Aidan reached his front door, Hermione apparated back to her home.
Aidan entered his almost too quiet home. He would usually hear the shuffling of his grandmother's feet in the kitchen. He would hear the banging of pots and pans. He would smell a whiffed of what was being made and would almost taste it. He would usually feel the warmth from the kitchen, but all he felt was a cold draft. He almost turned right back around convinced he was in the wrong home. But then he heard an all too familiar voice.
"Aidan, please come here."
Aidan wanted to run upstairs, but he followed the voice to the seating room. The fire was going, but Aidan didn't feel any of its heat. The room was bright, but it almost seemed dark. He stopped at the foot of the sofa. He didn't look up. He just stared at the carpet.
"Aidan what is going on? Is it true that you've been going to your teacher's house after school?" the voice sounded hurt.
Aidan finally looked up. "I'm sorry grandma."
When Hermione got home she threw her bag on the floor and slipped off her shoes. She walked half dragged herself to her living room. She slumped down on her sofa thoroughly exhausted, but happy. She shifted herself so that she was now lying on her back comfortably. She fell in to her thoughts of the past events. She was extremely happy that Ginny had her baby today and excited that she was going to be the baby's godmother. They even shared the same month, birthday wise. She slowly started to drift off to sleep when a thunderous knock rapped on her front door. She quickly but clumsily stood up and hastily made her way to her front door.
She swung the door open and found a rather stiff Draco Malfoy with a menacing atmosphere surrounding him. He held the Sorry game at his right side.
"Malfoy?" her head quirked to the side. She couldn't believe her eyes. Why would Malfoy be at her door?
"Granger." He replied with a rock solid voice. He shoved the game board into her chest, which she almost dropped because of the amount of force he put into it. He strode midway into her house. He stopped at her beige sofa that faced her dark brown coffee table and adjacent to her brown TV stand that held her black forty-two inch TV.
'Why don't you come in?' she thought sarcastically. She closed the door and walked into her living room to place the board game on top of the coffee table. She then made her way back to him and stood a good couple of inches away from him.
Draco stood there silently staring hard at her with no emotion readable on his face, but something was there in his eyes.
Turmoil.
She decided to start the conversation seeing as he wasn't about to. "Do you need something?" she asked hesitantly.
Draco's eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything. He kept silent for a whole minute. Hermione felt extremely uncomfortable with the silence and was about to ask again when he finally spoke.
"What the bloody hell is going through your mind Granger?" he asked looking at her like she had gone completely bonkers.
Hermione was taken aback. "Excuse me?" she asked confused.
"Who gave you the right to allow my son to deceive me?"
Hermione was now drowning in confusion. "What the bloody hell are you going on about?"
Draco's eyes darken with rage. His mouth turned into a snarl. "You know what the fuck I'm talking about! You deliberately had my son lie to me! And you have the nerve to act like you don't know anything."
Hermione was really confused. She didn't understand what he meant or why he was so angry. "Malfoy, I seriously don't know what you are talking about."
Draco looked ready to strangle her. He raised his right hand to his face and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Has my son been coming here or not?"
"Yes…" she answered hesitantly, still confused.
His hand fell from his face. "Then you know what the fuck I'm talking about!" He barked. "My son's been coming here without my consent and you, you fully endorsed it!"
Hermione was still at a loss. "Malfoy, I don't understand…Aidan said he confirmed it with you."
"Oh stop playing innocent! Why the bloody hell would I let my son come here? It doesn't make any sense, so don't pull that bullshit with me."
Hermione was really struggling with this. "But…I…I thought since you knew about me taking care of Aidan, that it would make perfect sense…" she trailed off lost in thought.
"When? At school? Of course you have to take care of him there, it's your job, which by the way you are no good at seeing as how my son got into so much trouble, and that is another reason why it is totally ludicrous that I'd allow my son here after all those incidents that you should have prevented."
"Those incidents were not my fault! And I was not talking about school, I meant during the babysitter incident…he told you didn't he?"
Draco went thoroughly stiff. "You? You are that friend he was talking about?"
Hermione loosely folded her arms across her chest. "I guess…if he explained it that way."
Draco looked about ready to explode. "So, you knew about the incident and you didn't have the decency to report it to me right away?" He seethed.
Hermione looked down to the floor. She felt a bit guilty that she hadn't. She knew he had the right to know, but she feared telling him. She didn't know how he would react and she didn't what to find out. "Well, I, um…" she struggled to respond.
"Well what?!" He yelled. He was extremely agitated right now and couldn't stand her hesitation to answer him.
Hermione looked back up at him. "Well I was going to, but you have the tendency to overreact…" she answered honestly.
Draco gritted his teeth. "Overreact, overreact! That bloody fucking cunt was fucking her boyfriend on my sofa, while my son was home! And you didn't want to report it to me because you thought I would overreact? What the fuck it wrong with you?! It doesn't matter what you thought! You should have informed me right away! I'm the bloody fucking parent!" Draco's eyes darkened. " You even knew this, and that's why you had my son lie to me again!"
Hermione couldn't believe him. "Do you even hear yourself?! You're blaming me for Aidan not telling you the truth?!"
"My son has never lied to me before!"
"First time for everything." She threw back.
"It would have never been a first if you hadn't corrupted him!" he retorted.
"Oh please Malfoy! I bet he lied to you way before he ever met me!"
"Do not speak as if you know my son! You know nothing!"
"I know enough to say that you've been neglecting him!"
Draco's face fell, but his eyes still held a menacing storm. He slowly walked forward. Hermione stood her ground her arms still folded across her chest. She didn't move an inch not even when he was mere inches away from her face.
"You listen here, and you listen good." He began in a low threatening voice. "You know nothing, and you'll never know anything. And I'll make sure of it. I'm going to do within all of my power to switch Aidan out of your class, so you can keep your big nose out of our lives, you deceiving, conniving bitch!"
Hermione's face became distorted trying to hold back tears that were starting to form. "You can't do that! It's not fair!"
"I can do whatever I want!" he bellowed.
Hermione's arms fell. "You are such a fucking asshole! You don't know what you are doing to your son! He needs me and you are just too ignorant to see that!"
"He needs nothing from you! He has me and that's all he needs!"
"Has you? Has you?! You are not even there! You can't leave Aidan shut up in your house just because you're afraid of him wanting to be around someone other than yourself!"
"I'm not afraid of anything!"
"Then why are you making such a big deal out of this?"
"I am not! Any parent would be upset like this!"
"I seriously doubt it."
Draco's face turned into a dark shade of red. "Fuck you! This discussion is over!"Draco turned on his heels and stormed out of the house slamming the door behind him.
Hermione stood there frozen. She almost couldn't believe what had just transpired. She couldn't believe she was losing Aidan. She couldn't believe how much her heart ached. Tears made their way down her face slowly. She started shaking her head back and forth in denial, until finally her body went limp and she fell to the floor crying into her hands.
Aidan was now seated on the sofa next to Narcissa. He explained that he didn't mean to lie, but neither did he mean to tell the truth because he knew then that he wouldn't have been able to go to Hermione's house.
"Aidan, that still does not give you the right to deceive me, your father, and even your teacher." Narcissa confronted him.
Aidan bowed his head in shame. "I know…but I really wanted to spend time with her…even if it only lasted awhile…"
Narcissa looked at Aidan astonished. "Aidan, why is she so important to you?" Narcissa asked extremely curious as to why he became so attached to this woman.
He got a little fidgety struggling to come up with an answer. "I don't know…she's just…she's just very nice and fun to be around. She treats me like…like I'm…I'm"
"Her son."Narcissa finished.
Aidan nodded his head.
"You really want a mother don't you sweetie." She placed her hand on top of his head.
Aidan looked down at his fingers a bit embarrassed. "She is very motherly to everyone…I kind of wish that she was my real mother..."
Narcissa pulled her grandson into a hug and kissed the top of his head. "Oh Aidan you really love this woman don't you?"
Before Aidan could answer there was a loud pop in the hallway. "Aidan, come over here right now!" Draco demanded.
Aidan quickly pulled away from his grandmother's embrace and jumped off the sofa. He did not, however follow the command his father gave him. He just stood there frozen. He knew he was in big trouble when his father used that tone of voice.
Narcissa got up too and quickly made her way to Draco. "Draco, please not now. He's very sorry. Just drop it already."
Draco ignored her. "Aidan!"
Aidan listen this time. He hastily made his way to his father. He kept his eyes on the floor when he was in his father's presence. "Yes dad?" He quietly asked.
"What the bloody hell were you thinking?! You lied to me and you even lied to your grandmother and for what?"
"I'm sorry…"
"You better be little man. I just finish having an agitating conversation with your teacher."
Aidan looked up at his father alarmed. "You yelled at her?! But I was the one that lied, not her! She didn't even do anything wrong!"
Draco was a bit abashed at his son's reaction, but he didn't show it. "She is to blame as much as you are."
Aidan stomped his foot on the ground. "No she's not! She didn't even know!"
Draco felt sickly annoyed that his son was defending Hermione and couldn't help his cold domineering voice. "Aidan, stop arguing with me. You are in enough trouble as it is."
Aidan did as his father told him and stood there silently.
"This whole calamity should had never occurred." Draco continue. "And to make sure this situation does not happen again, you are no longer allowed to go to her house-"
Aidan's face became awry and he couldn't help but interrupt his father. "But dad-"
"But nothing! You are forbidden to go there!"
"Why not!" Aidan demanded.
Draco tried to steady his voice. "Because! You shouldn't be going there! She's a teacher, she has work to do and can't be playing around with you all the time!"
Aidan glared up at his father. "Sorry dad, but not everyone is like you!" He spat. " They can actually put time aside for fun during the week. It's not all work! Work! Work!" Aidan then turned on his heels and ran up the stairs.
"Aidan you come back down here this instant!" Draco yelled, but Aidan didn't listen. All you could hear was the stomping of his footsteps and the slamming of his door.
Draco wiped his hand against a small vase sitting on a near small table in frustration. The small antique hit the wall hard and smashed into little pieces. He was thoroughly pissed off, annoyed, and confused at the same time. He didn't understand why his son was so upset by this. It didn't make sense. Hermione Granger shouldn't mean anything to him at all. What is it about her that his son was willing to lie to him, to deceive him. He just didn't understand.
He turned around and faced Narcissa. "Mother! This is entirely your fault!" he began. "Why didn't you check who his friend was?! This whole mess could have been avoided!"
"Well, I assumed you already had done that being as he was there once before. I guess I shouldn't have assumed my son would've done that." She replied her tone indifferent.
"Oh don't give me that crap." Draco started. He made his way to the seating room followed by his mother. "So, what if I didn't. It doesn't change the fact that you didn't either and you sent him off there." He walked over to the fire place and placed his right hand on the wall over it and looked down into the fire his mind lost in thought.
Narcissa sat down on the sofa and looked towards her son. She stayed silent for a moment and then spoke. "Draco why are you so upset by this? Who cares if he found a friend in an adult. At least he has one. He was such a lonely child before."
Draco turned around and faced his mother. "What do you mean lonely? He has me doesn't he?"
"Does he? You are barely here. There is a huge difference between being a loving, caring father and actually being there for him."
"What that's suppose to mean?" he said rather harshly not liking what he was hearing.
"Draco, son, you are a great father, but at the same time you are not. You are barely here for Aidan and a child Aidan's age needs a parent available at anytime not just during the weekends. You can't catch up with Aidan in just two days. You are already so far behind." Narcissa explained.
Draco turned away from his mother and looked back into the fire. "Mother you don't know what you are talking about. When we spend time together he tells me everything."
"Then why didn't he tell you about Ms. Granger?"
"Because he knew what he was doing was wrong."
Narcissa shook her head. "No it's not. It's not wrong to crave someone's attention that is actually willing to give it."
"Mother you are here to give him attention."
"But for how long Draco? I'm only here until you find a new babysitter. He can't confide in me to be here all the time. I live in whole other country."
"There is the babysitters then."
"Aidan is not going to confide in total strangers. They are babysitters not mothers or fathers."
"But that woman is not his mother! Eventually she will stop giving him attention. Eventually she'll stop caring. Eventually she'll drop him on his arse in front of my doorstep crying."
"Draco are we talking about Ms. Granger or Aidan's actual mother?"
"It doesn't matter!" Draco faced his mother.
"Ms. Granger definitely doesn't seem the type to do that sort of thing. What are you afraid of? That she'll take him from you?"
"Of course not! She's not even related to him in anyway, she can't take him from me." He looked at his mother oddly.
"I didn't mean in that sense Draco…" Narcissa trailed off.
"Then what do you mean mother?"
Narcissa rose from her seat. "You started off too young, but I know you'll eventually get there." Was how she answered. "I need to start dinner and don't you need to get back to work?"
Not another word was spoken. Draco had enough on his mind and was glad that his mother ended their discussion because he didn't understand what she was talking about and he needn't be anymore confuse then he already was with everything else.
As soon as Draco went back to work, Narcissa went upstairs to Aidan's room. She knocked on the door and heard a faint 'go away'.
"Your father is back at work. Can't I come in?" Narcissa asked gently.
She heard a chocked out 'okay'. She open the door and entered his room closing the door behind her. She found Aidan sitting on the edge of his bed with tear stained cheeks. Narcissa sat down next to him and pulled him into a hug. He started to cry again, so she rubbed his back soothingly. "Don't worry. Everything will work out. I promise." She whispered.
Aidan just continued to cry and cry until he finally fell asleep in his grandmother's arms.
So what did you think? Click the Review Button and let me know.
I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas/ Happy Hanukkah and a Happy new year! =D
I promise to start on a new chapter when I get home and post it ASAP!
Margaritama: I really liked your observations =D, and yes I will get to Aidan's mother eventually.
HarryPGinnyW4eva: WoW! My longest review ever!!! I really enjoyed reading it. I don't think I'll ever get bored of your reviews. Thank-you so much for your analysis. =D
