Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters.
Chapter 12: Misunderstood
Lucius woke up from his sleep. His new memories were still vivid in mind; he could almost hear Hermione's voice ringing inside his head again.
'Because it will help you later in your life. Just think about what I asked you today when you have a son in the future.'
'That little Mudblood should learn to stop poking her nose into to other people's business,' thought Lucius.
The argument he had with Draco yesterday was still bothering him deeply. The accusing grey eyes of his son was the last thing he wanted to see, yet it has already happened; Draco made it clear how he thought of his father. Lucius closed his eyes tightly to forget the haunting image, but he was soon interrupted.
"Lucius, you are awake!"
It was his wife Narcissa Malfoy standing by the door. She walked toward him and sat beside him on the bed.
"You looked ill last night. Do you feel better now?" she said as she felt his forehead to check the temperature.
"Yes, I'm good. It's just…dreams. Bad dreams…"
"Should I order some Dreamless Potions?" asked Narcissa with worried look on her face, but Lucius shook his head.
"No, no. It's okay. Don't bother."
Narcissa did not seem convinced, but she smiled at her husband nonetheless and said,
"Then I'll just tell Tonka to bring your breakfast."
She prepared herself to get up, and it was then Lucius suddenly pulled her into his arms. He buried his face in her hair and remained still, until Narcissa softly asked,
"Lucius, what's wrong?"
"…How was Draco while I was…away?"
Silence occupied the room but it did not last very long.
"Struggled…to cope with everything. He could not take it very well. It was the first time for him, you know. You being…away…and not able to protect him."
"Is that why he received the mark?"
Narcissa felt his body tightened; she patted his back lightly to relax him.
"He wanted to prove his worth— your worth, Lucius. He was just too young and naïve. Don't blame yourself."
"But that's what I always taught him. Be a man worthy enough to carry the name Malfoy. It's… my fault…."
Narcissa did not say anything but just hugged him tighter. She felt his deep sigh behind her neck.
"What happened to him at Hogwarts? Why did he want to see you?"
"Nothing you should be worried about. It's just a little…mishap."
"Did you argue with him?"
Lucius just nodded without saying anything, but it was enough for Narcissa to figure out what was going on in her husband's mind.
"You want to apologise him for your behaviour, don't you?" she said as she looked up to him.
Lucius twitched slightly; his wife always knew him too well. He kissed softly on her hair and whispered into her ear,
"You always know me too well."
"Because I'm your wife," said Narcissa smiling. "Send a letter to Draco. I am sure he will forgive you."
Meanwhile, young Lucius Malfoy was sitting in Slughorn's classroom. Slughorn was sitting in front of his desk reading, occasionally checking on the students; some students seemed to be already working on whatever potions they chose. Lucius was seating opposite Hermione. Lying between them was the damp, ancient copy of Moste Potente Potions. Lucius began speaking in his usual arrogant tone.
"I read the instructions and most of the ingredients are available in the student store-cupboard. Even the rare ingredients are in Professor Slughorn's store, so it shouldn't be a problem, except…"
"Except the fluxweed, which should be picked at the full moon." Hermione finished the sentence for Lucius. He glanced at her sharply for her interruption but continued as if nothing has happened.
"Correct. The next full moon is only a week away, so I thought we could go into the forest together to search…"
However, he could not finish his sentence again because Sirius, who was sitting behind him, interrupted.
"Planning on a hot date in the forest with Hermione, Malfoy?" said Sirius with sly grin on his face.
Lucius, who looked palpably annoyed, turned his face to Sirius and said coldly,
"No, Black. Unlike you, not everyone regard everything as a chance to lay a girl." Despite his coldness, Sirius' grin was still not gone, and it seemed to make Lucius more irritated. "And you should keep your nose away from other people's business."
"But Hermione's my friend, and you're soon going to be my brother-in-law, so it's not really other people's business, isn't it?"
"Your brother-in-law, Sirius?" asked Hermione.
"He's going to marry one of my cousins one day," replied Sirius. "Either Narcissa or Bellatrix. They're in younger years than us, fourth and fifth."
"Oh, right…" Hermione nodded with knowing look on her face and said to Lucius mockingly. "Aww…how lucky you are, Malfoy. You are not even out of the school yet and there are already two girls willing to marry you."
Lucius glared at her and said bluntly,
"It's not really a choice. It's arranged by our parents."
"Aww…our poor little Cissy will wet her pillow with tears when she hears that. She's already half in love with you." Sirius laughed and Hermione also broke into giggles. Lucius felt his cheeks getting hotter but kept his cold manner.
"Shut up and go back to your work, Black. And you, Grandel, don't laugh at things you know nothing of."
Sirius, still laughing, turned his body and went back to his own work; Hermione grinned widely at Lucius, obviously displaying her amusement from teasing him. Anger and humiliation boiled inside him but he tried to look as unaffected as possible.
"As I said before I was interrupted by the stupid friend of yours"—Lucius quickly shot a glare at the back of Sirius' head—" the full moon is next week, and we will go into the forest together to pick the fluxweed, understood?"
"Whatever you want, whatever you want," replied Hermione with her grin still remaining on her face.
Lucius barely managed to keep his impulse to slap Hermione's grinning face. He was the Head Boy who was supposed to set an example to the students, and more importantly, he was a Malfoy; he couldn't not lose his temper over a mere Mudblood's impertinent behaviour. And—
'I need to carry a conversation with her if I want to know more about her,' he thought to himself, still repressing his urge.
"Have you been into the forest before?" asked Lucius calmly. Hermione, who was not expecting such attitude from him, was surprised a little bit but shook her head.
"No, never. I didn't have a time to go in there yet. And it looks eerie, isn't it?"
Of course, it was a lie, since she stepped into the forest—the Forbidden forest, specifically— in her very first year; however, she was about to do everything that could resolve Lucius' suspicion. Lucius smirked at her, feeling triumphant for having knowledge of something she did not know.
"Well, it's not that eerie if you get used to it. There are actually some very beautiful magical creatures in the forest. However, the deepest part of the forest is forbidden to students—all students, even including the Heads— because it's too dangerous."
"Oh, really?" remarked Hermione dryly. She could see that Lucius was acting all pompously because he knew something she did not, but she decided to play along with him; it amused her quite a lot.
"But don't be scared," continued Lucius. "The book says that fluxweed grows where the moonlight can penetrate, so we wouldn't need to go that deep."
"That's good," smiled Hermione as innocently as possible; inside her mind, she was finding it all entertaining. She looked at Lucius and said,
"Why don't we first start with the ingredients we have? Fluxweed is not needed until the seventh step, isn't it?"
"Good idea," replied Lucius.
And they began working on their assignment.
At Hogwarts in 1998, Draco Malfoy was having his breakfast at the Great Hall as usual, sitting beside Blaise Zabini and some other Slytherin friends. Hundreds of owls soon came in, fluttering their wings to deliever posts. Draco was not expecting any post at all, until his family owl Apolo dropped a package right into his dish; the eggs and bacons spattered all over on his robe. Ignoring the laughs from his friends, he cleaned his robe with a flick of his wand and unwrapped the package.
"Wow, that is really nice!" exclaimed Blaise.
It was a pair of brand-new Quidditch gloves made out of leather and decorated with silver and green threads forming a shape of a serpent. Draco opened the letter that came along with the gloves. It was from his father. It read:
'Dear Draco,
I apologise for my imprudent behaviour yesterday. It was quite hard not to lose temper over such shocking news. However, I admit I was careless. I enclose a new pair of Quidditch gloves I thought you might like. I hope it is enough compensation for my behaviour yesterday.
Love,
Father'
Draco stared at the letter for a moment, and he crumpled it and tossed it away.
"Something wrong, Draco?" asked Blaise.
"No, nothing." He replied curtly and said to his friends who were having a good look at the gloves,
"You guys can have it if you want"—they turned their heads to Draco immediately—"My father forgot that he had already bought me a pair in the beginning of the semester."
Then Draco got up and left the table, paying no attention to his friends who were now excitingly discussing who was going to have the gloves.
When Hermione stepped into the Gryffindor common room after the Ancient Runes class, she saw the Marauders whispering among themselves in the corner. Thinking they were planning another prank, she silently slid behind them; however, some of the words exchanged among them caught her ears and made her stop.
"On the full moon? What if she sees us—"
"Should we tell her about Remus?"
"Are you crazy? We don't even know much about her!"
"But—"
"Just tell her to keep out of the Whomping Willows. We can't tell her everything…"
Hermione cleared her throat; the Marauders jumped on their feet and turned to her.
"Hi, Hermione…when did you come?" asked James with an awkward smile on his face.
"Just now. What are you guys discussing about?" said Hermione, pretending as if she heard nothing.
"Nothing, nothing. Just planning on some jokes…hey, Sirius told me that you are going on a date with Malfoy next week?"
Hermione shot a sharp glance at Sirius and shook her head.
"It's not a date. It's for the Potions project."
"Oh, yeah? Anyway, um…just keep out of the Whomping Willows when you are in the field. It's…quite dangerous."
"Why would anyone want to go near it? We are forbidden to do so anyway, aren't we?" said Hermione casually.
"Right…but just to warn you, you know." James gave another awkward smile.
Hermione looked at her watch and said in a hurried voice,
"Oh Merlin, I nearly forgot. I have two essays to write for tomorrow. I should start now. I'll see you guys later at dinner. Bye."
With that, she quickly turned away and ran into her room.
As she closed the door, she felt hot tears streaming down her face. She shook her head and said to herself,
"No, Hermione, don't take it that way. They are right. They don't know you much about you. They cannot tell such a big secret to a person they met only a while ago. It's a wise decision for them, safer for Remus…"
However, she could not help feeling betrayed by the Marauders.
'You are a stupid, Hermione. I am a friend to Harry, not his father. Sirius and Remus do not know me yet. You can't blame them…'
She slid down along the wall and sat down on the floor. She felt so lost and excluded from everything in this world. She wiped her tears from her face and sighed. On her left wrist, she felt the coldness of gold chain; she grasped it and called for Draco, the only person she could feel connected at this time—in this time.
"Malfoy...Malfoy..."
A/N: What do you think of this chapter? It ended differently from what I first envisioned, but I'm getting there soon! Review please:)
