Chapter 52

*BANG*

Narcissa frowned and glanced over at the fireplace as none other than Harry Potter stumbled out from it into her sitting room. Coughing, the boy steadied himself against the marble mantle, and brushed off the worst of the soot.

"... Harry?"

He froze like a deer caught in headlights before slowly, ever so slowly, turning to face her, "... Hey Mrs Malfoy".

She stared at him, "... Why do you look like you just saw a boggart?"

He blinked, "... I... ah... I may have... Tom, he... We were... And then it snowed, and... and... and-"

"Harry!" Narcissa snapped, and he actually jumped, looking up sharply, eyes wide and somewhat confused.

She sighed and stood up, walking towards him, "Are you alright?"

"... Yes?"

"You don't sound too sure of that".

"I... No" Harry finally replied, "I guess I... I guess I'm not..."

"Is Tom alright?" She asked again, and he abruptly stilled.

"Harry, pet?" She prompted, bending low to catch his eye, "Is Tom okay?"

"He's... Yea! Yea, Tom's fine, he... he..." He trailed off before suddenly blinking and turning back to her, "At least I think he's okay... He should be... I mean, he was when I... when I... when I last saw him, so... I guess he's still alright... Hopefully..."

Narcissa frowned at the black-haired boy, confused and vaguely worried.


It was well past Hogwarts curfew after all, and though that technically no longer applied to students during the holidays, it was still highly recommended. So for him to come stumbling in here at this hour... Something had to have happened.


"Does Draco know you're here?" She asked gently, getting an absentminded shake of the head in return, the Avada Kedarva green eyes glazed over and unseeing.

She swallowed thickly, knowing that she was the last person the boy would open up to about what had happened.

"Alright then, well, how about we..." She paused, before placing a gentle arm around his shoulder, "How about I bring you to him, dear, hmm? And then you two can talk, okay?"

He slowly nodded, and she worriedly ushered him through the halls and up the stairs, down to her sleeping son whose grumbles and complaints about being woken quickly died down when a more-than-slightly-panicked Harry Potter latched onto him.

Closing the door behind her, Narcissa couldn't help but pause and listen in to what her son and his confused best friend were saying.


"Harry? Hey, Harry, what's wrong?"

"I... It's Tom, Dray, I... I think I... I messed everything up".

A rustling of sheets, probably Draco manoeuvring Harry under the blankets with him, she realised.

"What do you mean, you 'messed everything up'?" He asked gently, "I'm sure things weren't that bad. You've been with each other for over a week already, and school's about to start up again".

"No, no, I mean it Dray! I messed up big time!"

Narcissa frowned, thrown off by how lost and vulnerable the youngest wizard sounded.

"Harry, just... just tell me what happened, alright? I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong".

"I... He... He tried... I mean, we were both... and then... and then he... and I..."

A deep breath.

"... Tom tried to kiss me".

"Well it's about damn time".

"Draco!"

"What?! You two have been pining after each other for four months, and have technically been dating for two and a half! It's about bloody time you two made out!"

"... We didn't".

"What do you mean, you didn't?"

Narcissa rolled her eyes and her son's lack of subtly.

"I mean... We didn't!" Harry repeated, "We just... He leant in and... and I freaked out, okay?!"

"You pulled back?"

"I fucking leapt off the couch! Merlin, Draco... I've screwed up this entire thing, haven't I?"

"No, no, of course not... What happened after that?"

"Awkward apologising... Pretend nothing happened... Saying goodnight to one another... And then going our separate ways".

"... Okay, maybe this is bad".

"See! I told you I messed up! What the hell do I do now?!"

"We'll... We'll figure something out, okay? Just... Take a few days... Sort things out in your head... Decide what you want from this... Now come on, let's get some sleep. I presume you're staying the night?"

"I don't think I'd survive that common room right now... His common room..."

"Alright... Night Harry".

"Goodnight Draco".


Slowly wandering back down to her armchair by the fire, Narcissa picked back up her book and took a sip of her half empty glass of brandy, only to be disturbed once again not even a full minute later.


*WHOOSH*

Tom landed less-than-gracefully on her carpeted floor, and this was more than enough reason for concern because even as a teenager Narcissa had never seen the man do anything less than perfectly.

He blinked, as if in a daze, before slowly standing up and looking around, only now realising where he was.

His crimson orbs landed on her, "... Cissy?"

"Hello Tom" She replied softly, putting back down her book with an inaudible sigh, "Are you alright?"

He shook his head vaguely, "... I think... I think I fucked up, Cissy".

She frowned and stood up, smoothening down the front of her elegant dress, "In what sense, dear?"

"It's... It's Harry, I... I went and... and..." He abruptly stopped and turned to her, "Is Lucius home?"

"In his office" She replied, smiling gently, "Shall I lead you there?"

He slowly nodded and she began to lead yet another dazed young man up the stairs, "What happened with Harry, Tom?"

He frowned, "I... I just... I messed things up... I shouldn't have... But then I did and... and... Perhaps Luci can help?"

"I'm sure he can" She replied, not at all hurt by the fact he wanted to speak with her husband instead, "You two are best friends, so of course he'll try his best".

"Okay... Okay, good, yea, yea, I'll just... Yea" He finished lamely, stopping outside the office door, "... Thanks".

"No problem" Narcissa replied, still smiling as she turned to go back downstairs for the second time that evening, knowing full well that both her adopted boys were perfectly safe in the hands of her family.