Chapter 14: Past, Present, and Future

Narcissa sat at the long dining hall table, waiting for the boys to make their way down the stairs. She had a lot on her mind and a lot to digest since Harry Potter made his way into their household. She poured another un-numbered glass of wine for herself as the boys made their way to the table.

Harry looked confused by the massive amounts of chairs and he wasn't sure where to sit.

Draco laughed as he pulled out a chair for Harry. "Sit here, we'll all be close together." Draco sat down next to Harry, right across from Narcissa.

Narcissa took notice that Draco flinched as he sat down in his own chair, but stowed away her own thoughts.

"So what are we eating tonight mother?"

"Pheasant, snow peas, chestnut pudding, and the wine of your choice."

"It seems like you've already gone through a bottle." Draco said with a smirk, examining her wine glass.

Narcissa shot Draco a warning glance as the elves brought out their dinner. The clank of utensils on plates echoed through the large room.

Harry was certainly not used to the complete silence at the dinner table and he stared down at his plate the entire time.

Draco was the first to excuse himself from the table. "I need to do some research in the library, Harry. Feel free to make yourself at home." Draco said, walking briskly down the hall.

With that, Harry was left alone face to face with Narcissa Malfoy, mother of his new love and wife of a devout death eater.

She finished her meal and wiped her mouth daintily. "Excuse my son, sometimes he forgets his manners. He didn't even bother to show you the grounds." Narcissa stood up from her chair. "Come Mr. Potter, I'll show you the gardens."

Harry had the sneaking suspicion that Narcissa was going to lure him into the garden to hex him, but she carried the same disarming smile that her son had, so he went along with her.

After making their way through many corridors and back entrances, Narcissa pushed her way past a small white door.

Harry was amazed by what he saw. He was barraged by different colors and smells instantly. The entire area was filled with so many flowers that it would have made Aunt Petunia jealous. In the middle was a small pond in which the water crystal clear. A peacock made its way past them, barely giving them a glance. "This is amazing." Harry said, craning his neck to look around.

"Thank you. I have to say it is my pride and joy, well besides Draco. I turned a sour dirt patch into what you see today." Narcissa said, lightly touching one of her flowers.

"Did you use magic?"
"The only magic here is the pond. It waters all the plants because I would never have enough time to, but all the plants you see have been planted and hand raised by me." Narcissa slid off her shoes and headed towards the pond. "Let's dip in the water for a little while."

Harry slid off his shoes and stuck his feet in the cool water. He never thought he would be sitting next to Narcissa Malfoy wiggling his toes in water. The silence was unbearable as Harry stared in the distance.

"How is Hogwarts treating you?" Narcissa asked, trying to make small talk.

"The classes aren't so bad. I've managed to obtain pretty good grades but I just have no idea what I want to do with my life after I'm finished with school."

"So you don't want to become an Auror?"

Harry shook his head. "Not at all. I'm done with trying to save the world. I just want to be normal for a change."

"Understandable." Narcissa said, nodding her head. "I just want to be honest with you, it was so easy to hate you before I knew you as a person, but I've realized that you're very much like Draco."

Harry's mouth dropped at her words. "I really don't know how to reply to that at all. I guess people don't realize that I'm just a normal person and I never asked for any of this to happen to me. You have no idea what I would give just to be like everyone else."

Narcissa stared off into the darkness. "I never did thank you for saving my son's life." She looked at Harry with her crystal blue eyes. "You must understand that Voldemort was a very charismatic person in the beginning. He made you seem like a pompous teen who everyone worshipped. I had no idea you were the boy that is sitting next to me now. Towards the end, Voldemort become power hungry and we all feared him instead of admiring him. Sometimes I think Draco doesn't realize that his father did a lot of things just to keep us alive."

Harry pressed his lips together. "So I was the one who put your husband in jail. Do you hate me?"

Narcissa turned her head to touch a tiger lily. "How can I hate the one who makes my Draco so happy? I've never seen him like this before and hating the person who made him this way would just be absurd. As far as Lucius goes, it was bound to happen, whether he came upon you or some other order member. His loyalty to Voldemort was going to get him into trouble eventually."

Harry sank his feet deeper into the water. "Do you miss him?"

Narcissa sighed. "It's a hard question. I do miss my husband, but there is something that you are not aware of. Our marriage was one out of convenience, not love. Lucius fell in love with my sister Bellatrix, but due to my family's arrangements, he was forced to marry me. He is my husband so I have duties to him as a wife, but I have never loved the man."

Harry's mouth dropped open. "Does he love you?"

"I never ask, because I might be in the position where I have to love him back."

Harry lay back on the cool grass, letting all the information sink in. "And you want Draco to enter the same kind of marriage?"

"I know it seems horrible, but heirs are very important in this family. Marriage is not for love, it is strictly for procreation. I support Draco's homosexuality but I will not let it interfere with his duties to this family. He must produce an heir."

"Marriage for strictly procreation? Pardon me, but that's one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard of. You should marry for love. My parents married for love and I came of it."
"Well you see where your parents are now. I don't want my Draco in the same predicament."

Harry's eyes flashed with anger. "I'd rather be where my parents are now than to be in a loveless marriage like you. You're miserable, you submit to your husband, and you try to live through your son. I feel sorry for you, Mrs. Malfoy."

Harry's words stung Narcissa like she had been slapped in the face. She never thought that the boy would have the courage to say those things to her. "Please Harry." She said, patting his hand. "I don't want animosity between the two of us. I apologize about what I said about your parents. They were good people."

The Gryffindor managed a smile. "I'm sorry for raising my voice."

"You really love him don't you?"

"Who?"

"Draco."

"I do love him. He feels like a part of me."

"Oh to be young and in love again. It seems like you can conquer the world."

Harry smiled. "I don't want to conquer the world, I just want to be happy."

"Hmm. Happiness is something valued. Well, I do believe its getting late and I shall retire." Narcissa said. Harry helped her up and they both walked out of the garden.
~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry was sprawled out on Draco's bed reading a muggle magazine when the Slytherin finally returned.

"I thought you'd be asleep by now." Draco said, sitting down on the bed next to him.

"Nah, just up reading this old copy of Cosmo I found in your bag."

Draco rolled his eyes and slapped Harry on the bum. "Gee thanks for going through my things."

Harry smirked. "Your mother and I had a long talk."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"I'm not dead, so I'm happy."

Draco tickled Harry. "She wouldn't hurt you, silly. She knows my wrath. What did you guys talk about?"

"She took me out to her garden-"

"-Wait. She took you out to her garden?" Draco interrupted.

"Yeah."

"You must have impressed her. She never takes anyone to her garden."

"I feel honored." Harry said sarcastically. "What did you find in the library?"

Draco let out an annoyed growl. "My father's wards on the library are stronger than I last remember. It's going to take a couple of days to get through them."

Harry tossed the magazine aside, stood up, and stretched. "You need to get some sleep."

Draco smiled. "Only if you join me."

"I wouldn't think of doing anything else."

That night, Harry lay awake on Draco's chest. Sleep came hard for him, so he stared at the giant Slytherin emblem on Draco's wall. Harry had always thought that Slytherin was pure evil, but was incorrect. Snape himself had been a Slytherin but good in the end. Draco carried Slytherin characteristics, some that drove Harry completely insane, but he was a far cry from evil.

"What are you doing awake?" A Malfoy drawl cut the silence.

"You know me, I don't sleep very well."

Draco stroked Harry's thick locks. "Well since you're up, I might as well go back to the library and try to figure this out."

Harry clung to Draco tightly. "Don't go just yet, sit here and talk to me."

Draco sighed. "As you wish. What do you want me to do, tell you a story?"

Snuggling closer to Draco, Harry whispered. "Tell me about your life."

The blonde rolled his eyes and ruffled Harry's hair. "That could take twenty years. You'll have to be specific."

Harry propped himself up on his elbow. "More specifically, why do you hate your father so much? It seemed like you adored him during the majority of school, and now I see this seething anger every time you discuss him."

Draco's eyebrows furrowed as he wrapped his finger around one of Harry's locks. "That's a question that I knew would eventually come up. You see it begins like the majority of stories do. Adoration leads to fear and fear leads to hate."
"You adored your father, that I remember, but how did it turn into such hatred?"

A small smile played on Draco's face. "It's quite easy. As a child, I adored my father. I remember prancing around the manor, pretending to be him. What I didn't realize is that he was taking away my childhood. One day I was playing with a muggle girl that I had met in town. He caught me, brought me back to the manor, and gave me fifty lashes. Keep in mind that I was only seven years old. I remember him shouting in my ear that I was not to mingle with muggles, half-breeds, or mudbloods. It was not 'the Malfoy way' as he told me"

Harry shuddered. "He sounds about as bad as the muggles I lived with."

Draco nodded his head. "That wasn't the only opportunity he took to torture me. He used the Avada Kedavra curse on my owl when I was nine. He said that showing compassion made me weak and that I would have to be stronger. He slowly turned me into the Draco Malfoy you met in the robe shop that day."

"That explains why you need to compartmentalize your thoughts."

Draco laughed half-heartedly. "Yes, thanks to daddy dearest, I was haunted by nightmares. When my father became more deeply involved with Voldemort, his control over me tightened. I was watched all the time, not only by my father but also by other death eaters. I had to be careful who I was seen with, what I said. Crab and Goyle weren't really my friends, they were just watchdogs. I spent the majority of my time at Hogwarts in fear."

Harry's grip on Draco tightened. "And to think, I just thought you were a jackass that enjoyed making my life miserable."

"It was horrible. I was trapped, pretending to be someone that I wasn't. After Dumbledore died and I was taken away by Snape, that's when I hated my father. He had let Voldemort rule his life. He was a coward, a pawn to be moved around by a fool who called himself the Dark Lord. That's how I still feel about him now."

Harry kissed Draco softly on the lips. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through all of that. But he's gone now, and you can live your own life as you please."

Draco smoothed Harry's wild hair down. "That's exactly what I intend to do."
~*~*~*~*~*~*

Draco awoke to a steady knocking on the door. He looked down at Harry to find him fast asleep, his glasses askew on his nose. The Slytherin smiled as he removed Harry's glasses and carefully dislodged himself from Harry's arms. He lumbered over to the door and swung it open.

"Oh, Good Morning mother. Thanks for the wake up call at seven AM." Draco said, with a false smile.

Narcissa peered in at Harry. "Nonsense. I wanted to catch you before Harry woke up. Quickly, put on your boots and coat and come and take a walk with me."

After putting on appropriate attire, the two walked around the estate. Fresh snow had fallen the night before, giving the manor the appearance of a giant ginger bread house. The silence between mother and son was finally broken when Draco spoke up.

"I'm not going to leave him."

"What?"

Draco turned to face her. "I don't care what you say, mother. I don't care about creating an heir. Harry makes me happy and you should be damn well pleased about it."

"Draco," Narcissa placed a gloved hand on his shoulder. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Creating an heir is no longer a priority of mine nor should it be yours."

Draco stopped in his tracks. "What do you mean?"

Narcissa smiled. "I mean that you can be with whomever you choose. All these years I've gone by the Malfoy rules, but now we can both be free. It's time for me to be your mother and not your instructor. You live your life. All I want is for you to be happy."

Draco grabbed his mother and spun her around once. "You have no idea how happy this makes me. Thank you mother!

Tears welled up in Narcissa's eyes as she hugged her son tightly. She silently thanked Harry Potter for setting them both free.