TW: Child Abuse
A/N: Between the people commenting on here and on my Ao3 account, I was motivated to write this chapter differently, which is why it is now a three-parter instead of two. I was overwhelmed with the cliffhanger feed back and wanted to thank you all for pushing through the slow beginning of the story. Thank you and have a Happy New Year!
I'm not sure if has been made obvious or not but I am taking scenes and dialog from the books and putting them into the fic. I figured I should just let that be known in case no one was aware (although page 394 is an iconic quote so I think y'all already knew.)
Shortly after the Mahelona family finished their drinks, they left with smiles on all of their faces. Lucius, Narcissa, Theo and Blaise had seen them off before the boys returned to their suites, tired from being up so late.
As soon as Lucius and Narcissa were alone, Lucius started to vent about what had him so uptight . "So he thinks he has the right to just disappear in the middle of dinner? Did we raise an ape?"
Narcissa was working on her last glass of wine and drank from it before answering. She was watching her husband pace back and forth in the dining room they had eaten dinner in earlier with an amused look. "It was not the middle of dinner, Lucius." She cast a reparo on the chair Hermione had sat in earlier and frowned. "How much do you think the value of the set has dropped? It's an antique, you know."
Lucius paused his pacing for a moment, placing a hand on his hip, before giving a generic answer. "Several thousand Galleons I would think. I'll just buy you another and sell this one to a muggle at full price. Not like they would be able to tell anything happened to it." Narcissa smiled at her husband and drank the rest of the wine. At the same time she looked at her watch, as a grandfather clock somewhere struck midnight. "Midnight! I should go into his bedroom chamber and wake him-"
"You will do no such thing." Narcissa gave him a stern look that he challenged with his anger. She softened her face when she spoke again, wondering if she had the time to start a conversation she's been meaning to with Lucius. "I've been starting to think that... maybe we've been-" but the chime of someone flooing in interrupted her. "About time." Narcissa huffed as she strode past Lucius, handing him her empty wine glass. He vanished it immediately and closely followed, wondering who had the permission to floo in past the wards at this time of night.
"Who in-" When he saw who it was, he paused. "Dr. Augsen."
Dr. Augsen walked up to Narcissa and gave her a hug. "Happy Christmas- Come, let's talk in the drawing room." Narcissa grabbed the healer's hand and followed Narcissa into the drawing room. Lucius narrowed his eyes as he stared at them both, not understanding why his wife acted as if the doctor was a close friend.
When Lucius closed the door behind him, Dr. Augsen spoke. "I am so sorry I'm late, Ted held me up and I nearly had to hex him so he would fall asleep so I could sneak over." Narcissa laughed loudly as if Dr. Augsen told the funniest joke in the world. If Lucius knew who Ted was, maybe he would have laughed, too.
"Doctor, why are you here?" Lucius crossed his arms in front of him, standing tall. While he was angry with his son, he also felt terribly tired and every guest that remained in his home meant that he needed to continue to wait for sleep.
"Please, sit." Narcissa waved a hand to the couch, acting as if Lucus did not speak.
"I can't," Dr. Augsen sighed. "I have to be up early tomorrow. Did you not tell him why I was coming tonight?" Dr. Augsen waved a hand in Lucius' direction.
"I'm right here." His narrowed eyes turned into a full on glower as they spoke like he was not there but both women gave him a look that was so a like, it was uncanny, yet oddly familiar. Lucius studied Dr. Augsen's face, wondering for the first time if he had ever seen her before. Him and his wife did not affiliate with too many people outside of their pure blood circle but he made it his business to study everyone he ever had business with. Not once did the surname 'Augsen' come up between him or his wife- he was sure of it.
"I did not, I thought it would be better for you to tell him." Narcissa smiled mischievously as she looked back at the woman before her.
Dr. Augsen pinched the bridge of her nose beneath her glasses and sighed. "Always needing some form of entertainment in your life, Cissy?" Cissy? Dr. Augsen turned to Lucius with a tired look. "I'm here to help you get Fudge out of office."
Lucius stood frozen for a second before looking at his wife, his face twisting in anger as he was offended by her lack of trust. "Why did you tell her? Since when did you start trusting people outside of our circle? Or anyone other than me?" Lucius turned to Dr. Augsen. "And why would I need your help? Why do you even want to help?"
Narcissa looked at Dr. Augsen instead of replying. The healer had a knowing smile. "Is family outside of your circle?" Suddenly, Dr. Augsen's face started to morph. He pulled out his wand but by the time it was level with the other woman's chest, Andromeda Black was standing in front of him. "Hello, Lucius."
"Put your wand away, Lucius." Narcissa said softly as she put a hand on her husband's chest, taking a step closer.
Lucius narrowed his eyes again. He did not look away as he spoke or lower his wand. "I thought your family cut her off."
"We did." Narcissa's voice was soft but it was confident. She refused to show any emotional weakness, even to her husband whom she hoped would listen. "But a few years after the Da- Voldemort's disappearance, and Draco's birth, we reconnected."
Lucius glanced at his wife then. He had wondered if she ever missed Bellatrix as he always thought she considered Bellatrix to be her only sister after Andromeda was disowned by the Black's. He never brought up Bellatrix to Narcissa as he did not want to make her sad- not that he did not want to be there for her, but she was a bit unstable and hard to handle when she was deeply saddened.
Not knowing what to say, he said the only thing he could think appropriate at that moment. "She's a Blood Traitor, Narcissa."
The two women seemed to unfreeze from their tension at that moment. Andromeda scoffed while Narcissa sighed, and he thought he saw a flash of disappointment in her eyes. Thinking that, his shock was replaced by shame fueled anger as the only person who looked at him like that was his father. Lucius put his wand away and returned to stare at Andromeda who had a look of disgust on her face. "I don't know what I expected from you. I don't care how highly Narcissa talks about you saying you've changed. You're still the same ego-centrist, Voldemort worshiping assh-"
"Andromeda, please. He did not hex you on sight, did he?" Neither Andromeda nor Lucius spoke but they glared at each other. "Lucius, I told Andromeda about your plan to get Fudge out of office because I thought you might want the inside help."
"I thought you were leaving Fudge to me?"
"She's left Fudge to you for seven months and look at what has happened to Fudge so far: Nothing." Andromeda was sneering at Lucius and he took a step towards her when Andromeda turned her attention to his wife. "Narcissa, I asked you to tell him ahead of time so we would not have to go through this. I'll come back once you have caught him up on our plan." Andromeda turned her glare back to Lucius, unfazed that he was standing closer to her. "A plan that would actually be done in a reasonable amount of time." Andromeda started to walk towards the foyer, and already her hair was going from the deep Mahogany into a pale bottle blonde. Her figure even became more slight in the smallest ways as she walked into the foyer, her exit being announced by the 'whoosh' of flames.
Lucius looked at Narcissa, his mask completely gone for her. "What is going on? Why didn't you tell me you and Andromeda started talking again?" He could only ever put his anger aside for her and she knew it, placing her hand on his cheek. She knew that having him and her sister meet was risky but she had faith in Lucius. Since Voldemort's demise he had come a long way- whether he realized it or not- despite his cruel exterior and firm discipline he used with Draco.
"I knew you would not have reacted well at the time. The rest I'll explain to you upstairs." Narcissa and Lucius walked out of the drawing room. While they were walking up the stairs, he started to tap into the wards of the manor as he always did before he went to his bed chambers. He felt two presences in the kitchen and two in the library. He stopped on the middle of the stairs with a deep sigh, his anger bubbling up from annoyance and lack of sleep. Narcissa turned around hearing her husband's displeasure but he answered her question before she could ask it.
"Theo and Blaise are in the kitchen while Draco and Granger are in the Library."
Narcissa frowned at his use of Hermione's surname but decided not to comment on it as she would have a long night explaining Andromeda's involvement with the Ministry later. "I'll go to the library then-"
"You do that, Narcissa. My pitiful son can't handle his own offspring and a mudblood, so he'll let his wife do it!" A portrait of Abraxas Malfoy that was poised above the staircase called out. "Never did have a spine. Should've been in Hufflepuff if you asked me." Lucius rubbed his temples as he marched down the stairs, regretting not having Crewe take down that portrait like he had for most of the other Abraxas portraits. He had thought the portrait would be fine as this Abraxas slept during the day and had not bothered anyone at night.
Narcissa quietly followed and did not speak until Lucius walked past the the corridor leading to the closest kitchen. "Aren't you going to the kitchen?"
He waved a hand over his shoulder for her to go while he kept walking towards the library. "I can handle two children." Narcissa thought about stopping him but knew Abraxas was more than a tender spot with Lucius, even at his age he still felt like there was still something to prove. Narcissa walked to the kitchen, hoping that by the time she got Theo and Blaise back into their suites, Lucius would have had Draco and Hermione in their rooms.
Lucius strode to the library at a quick pace, each step heavier and more purposed. When he got to the doors of the library, he stopped outside of them. He could hear faint talking and footsteps coming towards the door.
"... this library like there is on the other one."
There was a pause, then he heard Hermione's girlish voice filled with sarcasm next. "Of course there's another Library. Tell me, is there-"
Draco opened one door of the Library revealing a very angry Lucius who was peering down at both of the teens. Hermione saw him first though as Draco was turned away, listening to what ever she was going to say next. When Draco whipped his head around to see Lucius standing at the entrance to the library, he involuntarily took a step back. "Father." Lucius took a step forward so he was past the entrance of the Library.
Lucius spoke in a low tone, completely ignoring Hermione as he addressed his son. "Draco, would you mind telling me why you never came back down from bringing Miss Granger her drink?" Lucius took another step towards his son and Draco took another step back. Draco had his hands balled into fists to try to stop his trembling but it just barely worked. Hermione watched, not knowing what to do other than put herself in front of Draco, again, creating that physical barrier between Draco and Lucius. Lucius took a deep breath, creating a soft emotional reset before speaking. He wanted to make a point with Draco- one that was quick- but Hermione always added fuel to his fire as she was a constant reminder of Minister Fudge. I can't hit her. I can't call her any names. Do not hit her."Yes, Miss Granger?" His voice was still low but they all could hear how tense it is.
"It was my-" She started but Lucius did not let her finish.
"I have no intention of listening to any more of your excuses." Lucius stepped to the side but Hermione stepped with him. "If you decided to have another one of your breakdowns, wonderful, but I do need to talk to Draco."
Hermione's face flushed red at his accusatory comment. "You can't just hit him because you feel like it."
Lucius looked at her, a shocked expression on his face. Then, he let out a barking laughter that made him double over. It made Hermione jump with how loud and how sudden it was. She dared a look at Draco, who in the very least, looked completely uncomfortable and unsure what to do. When Lucius was able to stop laughing long enough to speak and the echo of his laughter quieted, he spoke. "Of course I can, but if it makes you feel any better- I don't. I only discipline him when he needs to be. Now," Lucius put his hands on his knees in a condescending manor as he looked her in the eyes. "Get out of my way so I can teach him how to be a proper gentleman," He growled.
Hermione, much to his displeasure, only straightened up further and even stuck her chin out a bit. "No." She locked eyes with him and she only looked away to glance at the portrait when she saw movement in it- alerting her it was now empty.
Lucius snapped at that second, his stress from the day finally getting to him. "Little girl," Lucius grabbed her neck- not hard or in a way to actually strangle her, but in a way she felt so uncomfortable she stood on her toes, allowing him to guide her to the side. "The more you fight me on this, the worse you make it for him." When she was out of his way, he advanced on Draco and in one swift movement, punched Draco so hard in the stomach he immediately crumpled and started dry heaving. Lucius' lips pulled back in a snarl, ready to tell Draco to get up but Narcissa walked into the Library, her heels clacking furiously on the Library's marble floors.
She looked at Draco who was gripping his stomach and making retching sounds on his knees. Her voice was dripping venom as she spoke. "LUCIUS ABRAXAS MALFOY, ARE YOU MAD? Completely Barmy? Shall I call a healer for you? Creating a mess, on what is technically Christmas?" With each question she took a step forward. The woman in the gold dress had returned to her portrait but was fighting off several other Malfoy ancestors with her fan as they were trying to follow her into her portrait. Narcissa looked over at Hermione who was gripping her neck, more out of shock that Lucius actually touched her as she felt no pain. "DID HE HURT YOU?" Hermione shook her head vigorously. She was so scared and shaken up by the two older Malfoys that she felt her head pound with a headache. Hermione felt the need to explain what exactly had happened but she wanted the violence to stop more than anything else.
Hermione walked over to Draco who was now crying silently on the floor. She tried to put an arm around him but Draco pushed her and she fell on her rear. Her face immediately flushed again but she did not dare to do anything else until Lucius had left the library as she was afraid the argument continuing. Narcissa had watched the interaction between the two pr-teens and anger flashed once more in her eyes. She leaned into Lucius and spoke quietly. "When they go back to Hogwarts, Lucius, I swear-" She cut herself off as she shook her head. "Sleep in the guest wing. Do not join us for Christmas dinner or the rest of the dinners for their holiday." Lucius opened his mouth to speak but she continued talking. "Don't bother talking to me, either." Lucius had been married to his wife for over twenty years and knew she meant what she said. It was not the first time she had said this to him before, but it had been a while. He threw a glare over his shoulder at Hermione, a glare that did not go unnoticed by Narcissa. "And do not blame a child for your actions."
Lucius made to walk out of the Library but not before Abraxas was able to get his head into the woman's portrait. "Only made him cry did you? When I punched you, you were vomiting the whole week! AHA-" The woman shoved Abraxas out of the portrait and posed with her fan as if it was a bat, waiting for him to try and intrude again. Lucius did not stop or turn around when Abraxas taunted him, or when Hermione gasped at the insight she heard into Lucius' childhood.
Narcissa crouched next to Draco's other side and removed her wand from her dress, pointing it at his stomach. "Eliminata." Hermione watched Draco's shoulders and back relax as his stomach pain was numbed. "I imagine there will be some bruising, I'll summon the healing balm before I get you into bed." Hermione moved closer to Draco when Narcissa moved to help him stand but he moved away so he was leaning into his mother instead.
"Don't touch me." Draco sounded more like himself and it made Hermione both happy and sad to hear. Happy because he was no longer in a lot of pain, sad because he sounded disgusted by her again. "I don't need help from a mudblood like you, you only make things worse for me, anyway." Draco's walls were back up and he was pushing her away again by echoing Lucius' words. His father hated her and the way his mother was seemed more concerned about Hermione over him when she had come into the library had hurt him deeper than Lucius' insults or beatings ever had. In that moment, he felt the same hate felt for her and Harry when they were on the quidditch field last year.
"Draco!" Narcissa was completely surprised to hear her son speak that way in front of her. A part of her was confused why she was so surprised as she knew how pure bloods are and what ideals her son was raised with. She had even taught him those ideals at one point but to hear her son speak words with so much hate hurt her. She knew she was wrong for encouraging the behavior when he was younger which is why she had tried to make the best out of Hermione's adoption. She learned slowly over the years that she never wanted to hear him sound like his parents had when they were his age.
"It's fine." Hermione's voice was small and her eyes watered. She had not lied to him on the staircase at Hogwarts when she said the word did not hurt her but in the past hour she had forgotten they were not actually friends and the slur hurt almost as if Ron or Harry had said it themselves. Without another word she got up and walked out of the library and up the stairs to her suite.
When she got to her bedroom, she immediately got into bed without changing out of her dress. She tried not to think about how lonely she felt as she cried and fell asleep, forgetting to take her dreamless draught.
Hermione found herself walking down a cobblestone street in France. While she recognized the place, she couldn't remember why she did not want to be there, but she had the feeling she needed to leave. Hermione stopped in her tracks and was immediately bumped into by someone behind her. When she looked behind her, she saw that Lucius Malfoy was looking down on her, his hair was neat and perfect as it always was. His clothes were dark and his face had a look of disgust on his face.
"Why are you always in my way?" He brushed past her but grabbed her arm to drag her with him. "You little ingrate-"
"Let me go! I have to get out of here!" Hermione kicked and screamed but his grip would not loosen. She could not stop thinking about how she could not allow them to get to the end of the street. She had looked back trying to see if she could grab on to something to hold them back, but saw nothing. When she turned back around, Lucius was no longer dragging her, but Draco. "Malfoy?" He glanced at her, a guilty expression on his face but he kept walking forward. She used her other hand to grab his shoulder in an attempt to spin him around. "We have to get out..."
Hermione's voice trailed off as she looked at the end of the street where a man was standing. She couldn't see the man's face but knew there would be a young face under the black bowler hat. When the wind blew his trench coat open, she remembered why she felt the need to run and planted both feet into the ground. While the man was not the one who killed her father, she knew that he planned to kill her too. "Draco, please!" She planted both feet into the ground and he stopped, looking back at her with wide eyes.
Draco glanced down at her chest, and pointed at it as he took a step back from her. When she looked down, her chest had blood blooming from the center of it. She lifted her hands to stop it bleeding more and saw that her hands were already covered in blood. Hermione felt herself hyperventilating and loosing consciousness, the sound of laughter was in her ears except it was not the insane laugh of her parent's killer, but Lucius Malfoy's laugh. Before Hermione's vision went black, she saw Lucius Malfoy, still laughing as he stood behind a horrified Draco Malfoy.
Knock, knock, knock.
"Hermione?" Narcissa poked her head into the bedroom, looking at the bundle of covers and unopened presents at the end of the bed. Narcissa frowned. Narcissa had come upstairs earlier to ask Hermione to join her and the boys for breakfast, but saw she was still sleeping. Now that it was nearly one in the afternoon, she came to check on her again only to find her missing from her room.
Narcissa closed the door and focused on the wards of the manor. She was not as good as Lucius in reading the energies she felt and could not tell who was who on the wards alone, but by process of elimination, she was able to identify who was where. Narcissa saw three balls of light sitting together in their music room, there was one where the piano was in the room and knew that it was Draco with Theo and Blaise. There was a single ball of light in the Malfoy Annex, that had to be Lucius as he was the only one who spent time there. Narcissa was unsure whether to smile or frown that the last ball of light- the one that had to be Hermione- was in the library.
Narcissa started her walk to the Library, wondering what Hermione was doing there by herself. Usually she would be ecstatic to have another child as studious as her son in the manor but after last nights events, she was unsure if it was wise for Hermione to go back to a place that she had ran out of, nearly crying. When Narcissa found herself in front of the library doors, she quietly let herself in and closed the door behind her. Narcissa walked through the large shelves of the library, looking around for the desk Hermione would be sitting at.
When she got to the middle of the library, she found Hermione in front of their library card catalog. Narcissa smiled, resisting the urge to laugh as she watched Hermione's intense expression. Hermione was listening to one of the portraits of Danita Malfoy, the woman in the gold dress whose portraits were nearly everywhere in the Library so she could assist people in finding what they need. Since Danita had such a huge hand in the manor's design, she also had several portraits around the manor -mostly on the guest's wing to guide them -which was how she had alerted Narcissa of Lucius in the library.
"... and if you need to help finding a particular book, just come to this portrait and tell me what you need. I'll direct you through the card catalog then to the book- Oh! Hello Narcissa. Happy Christmas"
Hermione turned to see Narcissa standing by her. Hermione looked like she had a bit of a guilty face that caused Narcissa to wonder if Hermione had been awake earlier when she knocked on her door.
"Happy Christmas, Danita, and Happy Christmas to you, Hermione." Narcissa looked Hermione over and saw she was wearing the sweater molly gave her with jeans. Narcissa hated the look but imagined it must have been comfortable for Hermione to wear the outfit often. She noted that Hermione's hair was now in a ponytail but was still primarily under control as the product she used weighed down the hair, not allowing it to frizz up as much. Narcissa let herself have a small smile as she watched the earrings she bought Hermione blink in the natural lighting from the windows, earrings that she more often than the sweater as it was easier to keep them in all the time than take them off everyday.
"Happy Christmas, Narcissa." Hermione stood there, unsure what to do next.
"I hope you slept well and would not mind joining me for lunch?" Narcissa phrased it as a question but Hermione knew better. As comfortable as Narcissa made the manor, she still had expectations that were to be met.
Hermione resisted the urge to let her disappointment show as she planned to start working on the hippogriff case and she nodded once before speaking. "That would be nice. I left before eating." Hermione took a step but then turned to wave at Danita. "Thank you for telling me about the library, Miss Danita." Danita smiled as she waved back, watching Hermione and Narcissa walk off.
"She's nice." Hermione tried to make small talk so she would not think about the last time she saw Narcissa in the library.
"Yes, she's definitely one of the nicer wizards who has a portrait." Narcissa guided Hermione from the Library, into the foyer where there were the only Christmas decorations were.
Hermione looked around once, forcing herself to look at the decorations, and noticed for the first time that there were fairies flittering about in the air. They were small like the once's in Professor Flitwick's classrooms but much more elegant looking. "I didn't notice the fairies before."
"You must invite the fairies in for winter when it gets too cold. It's common courtesy for all that they do for nature throughout the year." Narcissa sat down on a pillow in front of the fire place. There was another one for Hermione, and she sat as she looked over the food between them as it looked like a tiny feast for two. There was a small roast turkey, jellied consomme with Red Caviar, buttered peas with mushrooms and a moderate sized baked potato. Everything but the caviar and the Turkey had been arranged on their plates. "Caviar is an acquired taste. I was unsure how you would feel about it."
Hermione felt grateful once again for Narcissa as she hated caviar. "You're one of the more considerate people I've met, ma'am." Hermione ate a forkful of the peas and mushrooms, savoring the taste, while she watched Narcissa serve them both Turkey. Hogwarts always had a unique feast to offer but the manor had a more flavorful plate to offer.
They ate in silence for a few minutes before Narcissa looked at her watch. "Your next Christmas gift should be coming up soon." Narcissa took out her wand and summoned two glasses and a bottle of Espresso Eggnog before giving Hermione a smile. "The other one is in your room, still wrapped."
Hermione had a guilty look on her face as she drank the eggnog, both for not looking at her gifts and for not getting any of the Malfoys a gift. "I didn't get you anything. Or Lucius." Her voice got lower as she continued speaking, not meeting Narcissa's eyes. She almost added 'or Draco' but last night she played her Cello, something she had not done for Harry or Ron. It was personal to her and whether he considered it a gift or not, she gave him a part of her that was very personal. No matter how many times she either played with someone or in front of someone who was not her parents, she always felt that way.
"Lucius and I expected for you to have other things on your mind. Plus, there isn't many things we can't buy for ourselves."
"It's only polite." Suddenly, she felt a wave of anger directed towards herself and her face flushed. "I was raised better." Hermione gripped her forked tightly as she stabbed at her food, forcing herself to continue eating even though she was too depressed about the day to have a real appetite.
Narcissa watched the girl with her cool blue eyes, thinking back to what she was going to tell Lucius last night before Andromeda came in: I've been starting to think that maybe we've been too hard on him.Narcissa grabbed the espresso eggnog, wishing she had thought to add a bit of fire whiskey in her glass. "I know you were." Narcissa had grown fond of Hermione through her letters. Narcissa taught herself how to look past people's faults over the years, especially when it was something that they could not control, like lineage.
Hermione looked at her then but her attention was averted when she heard her name being yelled through the flames. "Hermione!" She did not move at first until Ron poked his head through the fire place. "Hey!"
"Ooh!" She jumped when Harry put his head though the flames next to him.
"Hullo, Hermione- Merry Christmas by the way! You too, Mrs. Malfoy!"
Narcissa had a polite expression on her face, none of the small warmth she had moments ago were present in her regal features. "Happy Christmas to you, Mr. Potter." She raised an eyebrow to Ron and her voice became monotone. "And to you, Mr. Weasley." Ron looked away out of embarrassment from his lack of manners.
Hermione started talking at that moment to avoid the conversation taking a turn for the worse. "What are you guys doing? Does Dumbledore know that you're using the floo network?" She tried not to sound lecturing as she was ecstatic to see them but she worried constantly about them getting into trouble, or worse. "You better not get expelled while I'm gone on holiday!"
Harry grinned and Ron rolled his eyes before smiling. "Reckon you shouldn't have left us to fend for ourselves, then?"
"That's not funny." Hermione smiled despite her heart clenching for a second. She was fourteen and knew that she should not be worrying about her friends being alive. "How did you like your gifts?"
Both of the boys faces lit up and they both spoke at once; "You'll never guess what I got!", "Did you get it for Harry?", "I thought you hated quidditch!"...
Hermione grew more and more confused as they spoke until eventually she interrupted. "What are you talking about?"
Harry and Ron briefly shared a look. "Harry got a Firebolt, Hermione. We, er, assumed you got it for him since you were the only one we could think of who could afford it." Ron's face was red as he glanced from Narcissa to Hermione then the floor and back up to Hermione.
"No, you assumed Ron. I said that she wouldn't of had gotten me something like that without getting you something of equal value." Harry was slightly exasperated as he shook his head.
"Was there no note or card?" Hermione shifted so she was no longer sitting on her rear, but was on her knees, starting to grow anxious.
Narcissa stood, holding her plate and cup. "I'm going to take these to the kitchen."
Hermione looked at her, she knew Narcissa could vanish the dishware to the kitchen but she decided to give Hermione privacy. "I appreciate that." Hermione turned back to her best friend's once Narcissa was almost out of the foyer. "It's a bit odd, isn't it?"
Ron sighed, heavily, already knowing where Hermione was going with it. "It's the best broom there is, Hermione." He almost sounded condescending and Hermione straightened up her posture as she stared him down. "It probably cost more than all the Slytherins' brooms put together." Ron shifted his tone so he now sounded smug and not so direct.
"Who'd send Harry something as expensive as that, and not even tell him they'd sent it?" Hermione tried to take a reasonable approach, as she often did, and even stared to give Harry a pleading look. He looked away, knowing she was making sense but not wanting to admit it.
"Who cares?" Ron had Hermione's attention again as he stared at her, eyes wide. "Listen, once Harry and I have a go on it, we'll owl-"
"I don't think anyone should ride that broom yet!" Hermione knew she sounded shrilly but her nerves got the best of her. Regret filled her, telling her she should not have left Harry again, anxiety told her that Sirius Black sent the broom and depression weighed her down, letting her know that if anything were to happen to Harry or Ron, it would be her fault. Hermione put both hands down on the floor, trying to focus on how to breath.
"What d'you think Harry's going to do with it- sweep the floor?" Hermione looked up at Ron then. After she took a few deep, controlled breaths and tried for reason again.
"What if it's jinxed or cursed? We don't know who sent it, Ron! And then the break-in-"
"It's not cursed!" Harry and Ron said in sync.
"You don't know that!" Hermione was scared of how this was going to affect their relationship after they just barely started talking after their last fight. Hermione did her best to keep her cool and not let her emotions get the best of her. "Harry please, just have it looked over by someone! Professor Flitwick or Madam Hooch-"
"It's a broom, Hermione." Harry tried to take a more muggle approach which would have normally insulted her if she was not so panicked.
"An expensive, magical, flying broom that may have been bought by a malicious wizard! If it was tampered with, they may be able to trace the magic back to who did it! I read in-"
"Who do you think did it then?" Ron had his eyes narrowed at her. "The Malfoys?"
Hermione gasped and would have hit him if she wasn't so shocked at his bold accusation. "Th-They wouldn't! I was thinking Siriu-"
"They gave Ginny a book cursed by You-Know-Who! Why wouldn't they?!" Ron pulled his head out of the fire and Hermione crawled forward so she was in front of Harry's head.
"He has a point, 'Mione." She studied Harry's face, seeing a mix of emotions on it. Hermione hated that she could feel her old fears for her safety with the Malfoys being uprooted again. She wanted to believe that Ron was just speaking out of his arse but she knew that Lucius, if not Narcissa, was more than capable to send something like that.
"They would have killed me before they would have tried to harm you." She spoke softly, looking at the flames by Harry's head rather than at his head.
"We don't know that." Harry sighed. "I'll try talking to him. I'll owl you later."
Harry pulled his head out of the flames but Hermione was not done talking to him. "Wait, Harry-" She stuck her head in the flames before the connection was fully closed. The odd sensation of only having her head through the floo threw her off for a second as ash went up her nose. She coughed when her head was fully through, and she looked up to see McGonagall's office with Professor McGonagall standing by the door that had just closed.
"Miss Granger!" McGonagall was surprised to see Hermione. "Happy Christmas."
"Happy Christmas, Professor." Hermione opened her mouth to ask if Harry would come back but another idea that immediately filled her with guilt came through as she looked at her professor with sad eyes.
"Is something the matter? Shall I get Mr. Potter?" Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Or was this Mr. Potter's doing?"
"No ma'am... I actually needed to talk to you about something."
Professor McGonagall walked to the fire place, and crouched down. A concerned expression was on her face. "I'm listening."
Hermione took a deep breath through her mouth that she immediately coughed back out as the heat dried out her mouth. After clearing her throat she looked up at her Transfiguration Professor. She knew Harry and Ron were going to hate her but she would rather them be mad at her and possibly losing Harry as a friend than seeing him lose his life. She didn't help in the dementor attack on the quidditch field last month for nothing.
"Harry was given the new Firebolt as a Christmas gift. There was no card or note with it... And I think it was sent by someone with ill intent." Hermione watched her professors face before adding on quietly, "like Sirius Black."
Professor McGonagall pressed her lips into a line and stood up. "Thank you, Miss Granger, I will handle it. I have to head to dinner soon then I will collect the broom for it to be stripped."
"Stripped?" Hermione's stomach stopped it's flipping and sank as if it were cement.
"Yes, to check for jinxes. It shouldn't take more than a few weeks. It will be returned as soon as we are sure it is jinx-free." Professor McGonagall gave her a pitying look. "You're brave for doing this. I won't tell them it was you-"
"They'll already know." Hermione was staring at the ground now, sounding completely somber. "They're not idiots."
McGonagall knew Hermione did not mean anything by what she said and gave a quick nod even though Hermione was not looking at her. "I imagine you need to get going now."
"Yes." Hermione looked up at Professor McGonagall. "Thank you."
When Hermione pulled her head out of the fire, Narcissa was already sitting back down at the table. "I hope all went well? I was unsure if Dumbledore would have made an exception for you to floo your friends but was happy in receiving his response saying he would allow it once." Narcissa smiled as Hermione took a sip out of her now nearly room temperature eggnog.
Hermione gave a tight smile at the mix of emotions she was feeling. She was happy she saw her friends but was anxious and dreading when she would hear from them again. She knew they would be livid when they found out what she had done. "I'm running out of ideas to show you my gratitude with all of the nice things you are doing for me." Ron's angry face in the flames flashed at her again and she wondered if Narcissa would allow Lucius to send Harry a jinxed broomstick if she knew, but dismissed the idea. They had no reason to harm Harry and the diary was a dark artifact that Lucius wanted to dispose of. It was far from an excuse from what he did to the Weasley's but Hermione could not see what could be gained from harming Harry.
Narcissa returned the smile and wanted to tell Hermione that she did not need to repay her, but she didn't. Narcissa was actually doing all of these things to thank her, but did not tell Hermione this. Through their letters, Narcissa had her eyes opened a bit more as to what needed to change between her, Lucius, and Draco. Hermione had what Narcissa would call a muchsofter upbringing and while she wore her heart on her sleeve, Hermione still turned out to be a bright, strong girl. A girl Narcissa was happy to have around as she could have ended up adopting someone like Milicent Billstrode who seemed to be a female version of Goyle.
As Hermione ate her food, Narcissa chatted about the plans for the orphanage and the Gala they would be having in the summer. Neither them brought up about the stressors that were really on their mind as they sat together, bonding over Hermione's half-eaten meal.
Narcissa had not heard from Lucius for nearly a week, five days to be exact. On December thirtieth, when she was getting ready for dinner, she had walked into their room to find him waiting for her on their bed.
She had not seen him until she had already closed the door behind her. When she did, she locked eyes with him for a second then walked past him to her closet, choosing to ignore him rather than chastise him. Lucius knew that Narcissa did not want to see him and she was not going to guess why he decided to not listen to her about wanting space till the end of the children's holiday. She picked out a red evening dress and closed her walk-in closet door behind her before he could follow.
"Narcissa, this is ridiculous." His voice was muffled through the thick wooden door.
She slipped out of her mint colored afternoon dress, letting her face fall into a scowl. "Your behavior is ridiculous." She put her legs through the red dress and pulled it up, feeling the soft fabric glide up her thighs.
"I thought you didn't want Draco to grow up weak."
She opened the door and Lucius was leaning against the door frame, one arm above his head, deciding now was the time to have the conversation she tried to start on Christmas Eve. "Once upon a time, the idea of raising him how our parents had raised us sounded like the right thing to do."
Lucius' eyes darkened. "We're not as bad-"
"We are. It would not have been the first time we were wrong about our choices, though." Narcissa swallowed and tried to pull up the zipper on the back of her dress but could not get it all the way up. She turned to retrieve her wand from the other dress but Lucius grabbed her waist to stop her from walking away. He pulled the zipper up the rest of the way, fixing other parts of her dress so it laid properly on her body.
"Following a sadistic, powerful, mad man is hardly on the same spectrum as being a strict parent." When he was done smoothing out her dress he stepped away, not wanting to overstep her boundaries as he knew she was still mad at him.
When he released her she spun around, weighing what she would say next. "But it's on the same spectrum as being a good parent and a bad parent. And I think we're beyond strict. I know Draco and he is not me nor you, continuing with how we have been raising him is only going to back fire." She turned to fully face him, her arms folded in front of her. "I've seen it happening already." Narcissa had a troubled look on her face and when she looked at her husband, he could feel her eyes boring into him. "We're definitely too old to pretend we're not doing something wrong."
Lucius was frowning deeply and had his hands crossed over his chest, subconsciously mimicking her as he thought about what she said. He stared at Narcissa, not knowing how to feel or what to say. It sounded like she was calling them bad parents although she never uttered those exact words. He wanted to be defensive with her, like he would anyone else but when Narcissa said something, he listened before acting. He considered them to be a team, one who kept each other in check as they always corrected each other- like he had with her dress. "I'll need to think about this more."
Narcissa looked up at him, the mint dress in one hand and her wand in the other, slipping into the pocket of her red dress. She had a pleased look on her face and turned away to hide it, but not before he saw it. "I suppose that's fine." He stepped forward and kissed her temple. She looked up at him and while her face was back to being serious, her eyes had a slight twinkle. "I know we didn't turn out terribly- after Voldemort disappeared- but I want him to be better than us. I don't want him to look back at his childhood and feel about you how you feel about Abraxas."
Lucius' jaw flexed at the mention of his father but he did not say anything. Lucius planned on dissecting her words later but for now, he wanted to get off of the subject as soon as possible. "May I join you at dinner later? I know you told me to stay away but I did miss you and Draco on Christmas."
Narcissa gave him a sharp look but the twinkle remained in her eyes. "Hmph, I wonder why." Her voice was dry but she continued so he did not get the chance to speak. "That should be fine, too, IF you stop using Hermione's surname."
Lucius sighed. "Will that get you to forgive me?" Lucius had come to accept tolerating her while she was here, but that did not mean he wanted to interact with her if he could avoid it- especially after the library scene. When she made a scene defending Narcissa at dinner, he found it to be somewhat charming, although if it had been a business prospect that had a high risk of collapsing without merging, he would have been livid.
"That and apologizing to her." Lucius straightened up at that and looked at Narcissa as if she had lost her mind. "I'm not asking you to move mountains but.. she was too shaken up in the library. She's seen you attack Draco before so I wonder what happened that had her so shaken up." Narcissa eyed him menacingly and her voice held an edge she didn't use often. "And don't give me that Malfoy's don't apologizerubbish."
"They don't." Lucius was starting to feel like she was purposefully trying to make him feel like a child at this point as he stared at her, watching her face.
"And yet, you apologize to me. You request my forgiveness. Just because she refused the 'Malfoy' name on paper does not mean she isn't in out care. Isn't eating our food." Narcissa's voice started to raise a little bit then and Lucius wondered again what Narcissa's intentions were. "And it would be easy to apologize to her. She would accept a verbal thanks." Narcissa made a face when she said the last word. Usually she would have demanded Lucius to apologize to Hermione as if he needed to apologize to her or Draco, but she knew that in his mind, she was asking him to move mountains so she would take what she could to have the house hold become less hostile towards each other.
"It would still be humiliating." His voice was void of all emotion, entirely displeased with what was being asked of him. "Are you sure you don't have a soft spot for Hermione?"
Narcissa gave him a hard look. "All of the wizarding world knows we adopted her, we're opening up a muggle orphanage to please a man who thinks a lime green bowler hat is fashion and you want to give me a hard time on easing the tension in our home? Even if I decided to look after Hermione as if she was ours, would that be so bad? It's not like we can hide her in a broom closet so our neighbors don't find out about her- because if we had any neighbors, they would already know from The Daily Prophet!"
"Do we have a broom closet?" Lucius was both curious and wanted the conversation to end or be diverted as her points were truths he was not ready to accept- at least not more than he was already willing to accept them. She was pointing out things he had realized- the same things that had caused him to tolerate Hermione until Fudge was out of the picture and she would be sent to St. Mungo's.
"Lucius, come now." Narcissa shook her head and took one of Lucius' hands. "I'm not asking you to do it tonight. Just do it before the holiday is over." She smoothed her hair back before continuing. "Now, if you would like to come to dinner, would you mind escorting me down?"
"Of course." He did not let go of her hand as he guided her to the closet door and held it open with one hand. She appeared calm enough and he decided to bring up the other reason he had come to their bedroom to talk. "After dinner, do you think you could tell me what is going on with you and Andromeda?"
Narcissa gave a small smile as she looked at him and for a fleeting second, he wondered how was he was so lucky to have a beautiful wife. "I'd be more than happy to."
A couple days after Christmas, Narcissa started Hermione on the yellow potions to increase her appetite again. Narcissa noticed Hermione was not eating as well as she should after Christmas and did not want to risk her getting sick from the lack of sustenance. Due to the potion, Hermione had ate almost everything that appeared on her plate, despite the constant clenching and unclenching her stomach did from her nerves, which worsened when Draco looked at her as he had not spoken to her since Christmas Eve. Five days later and neither Harry nor Ron had sent her an owl. She knew they were angry with her but she would have at least expected a letter from Harry angrily demanding her to explain herself.
She was half listening to the conversation Theo and Lucius, who she also had not heard from since Christmas Eve, were having when Hedwig found her way into the dining room and plopped a bright, red howler in front of her. Hermione did not need to flip it over to know it was from Ron who must have either had Molly send him a howler or had Fred, George, or Harry sneak into Hogsmeade to buy one. The room was completely quiet and when the envelope started to smoke, Hedwig flew off. For once Hermione wished she was a bird, despite her fear of heights, so she could fly away, too.
"Cazzo," Blaise picked it up and handed it to her, the movement pulling her from her shock long enough to grab it. "Open it! It will only get worse the longer you delay opening it."
Hermione stood up and opened her mouth to be excused but it was too late. The envelope burst open and she shrieked from surprise.
"Why did you run off telling Professor McGonagall for? Now, Harry's Firebolt will be stripped and who knowswhat shape it will be in once he gets it back! McGonagall said this would take weeks meaning it may not be ready in time for the game with Ravenclaw! I know we call you the brightest-witch-of-the-age but what makes you think Sirius Black could walk into Quality Quidditch Supplies and buy an International Standard broom? There is nothing wrong with that broom, and if there was- the Malfoy's would have done it. I have a hard time believing you did not think of that before jumping to their defenses after what-" There was a faint hissing sound that drowned out the howler, but Hermione did not know what it was, as somewhere in the middle of Ron's howler yelling at her, she covered her face with her hands. From the heat on her hands alone, she knew she was a vibrant scarlet just like Narcissa's dress. She did not cry from her embarrassment but she wished desperately that she had Harry's invisibility cloak so she could just disappear.
"Hermione, please sit down." Narcissa's voice was calm but cold and Hermione refused to take her hands off her face let alone meet her gaze. Hermione opened her eyes beneath her fingers and noticed that Lucius was putting his wand away and the howler laid on the floor, it's message unfinished, completely soaked as if a bucket of water had been dumped on it.
Hermione knew she wanted an explanation, so before Narcissa could ask for one, Hermione let it all out in a rush while still covering her face: "Harry's old broom had been crushed by the Whomping Willow in the last quidditch game so he did not have one to play with until Christmas when he received the new Firebolt Broom from someone anonymously. There was no note nor letter indicating who it was from and when we flooed on Christmas, they asked if it was me, which I denied because I did not get him the broom but when I brought up the idea that Sirius Black may have sent it in, they automatically denied it, saying I was over reacting despite the break-in we just had where the F- Gryffindor's portrait was attacked. When they had exited the fire place, I went to try and talk to them further so they could see my reasoning but instead McGonagall was there so I told her about the idea of it being from Sirius- which she agreed with me on." Hermione took a deep breath before finishing as she was not just speaking fast at this point but her voice was getting higher. "So Professor McGonagall confiscated the broom and now they hate me." Hermione's breathing was shallow from talking so fast and Blaise reached over to rub sympathetic circles on her back.
"And when he says you defended us?" Lucius asked this and she looked at him through her fingers. After a moment of holding his gaze she slowly removed her hands from her face so she would not have to repeat what she said in the event she muffled herself.
"When I mentioned it may have been Sirius Black who sent it, Ron turned it around saying if it was anyone it would be-" Hermione cleared her throat and looked down at her plate. Her voice was low when she spoke again. "It would be one of you. Because of the diary." Hermione was unsure what Theo and Blaise knew about the Basilisk or the diary last year so she kept her explanation at that. She was greatly embarrassed by Ron and the scene he caused. A big part of her blamed herself as she felt this was all her fault by saying something to McGonagall but she reminded herself that, as the muggle saying goes, she'd rather be safe than sorry. Hermione hoped Lucius would not ask her why she defended the Malfoys, as she thought she would surely cry having to explain part of the reason why was afraid to leave her room in the summer was due to her being scared one of them would harm her.
Everyone was silent for a while, not knowing what to say until Theo broke the silence. "And you call that prick a friend?"
"Theodore Anthony Knott, do not ever use that language in front of me again." Hermione looked up as Blaise bit his fist trying to stifle his laughter. She hesitantly looked at Draco who had mixed feelings written on his face. She recognized one as disbelief but anther seemed to be gratitude? Or maybe respect? "I'll be sending a letter out to Mrs. Weasley."
Hermione looked at Narcissa, her eyes wide. "Ron is upset with me enough as is-"
"If you think it's acceptable for your friend's to treat you like this, you may want to find new ones." Narcissa's pupils had shrunk so more of her icy blue irises were showing. "And as for the strong accusations that were made, I wonder what his parents are teaching him at home. I would personally like to find out." Narcissa turned away at that moment as she went back to eating her food, intending to close the conversation completely but Lucius spoke up then.
"How do you think Sirius Black would have bought a Firebolt being the most wanted person in all of Great Britain?" For once, Lucius' tone was not patronizing or condescending when talking to her but mildy curious. Lucius sipped on his cup of wine and Hermione became aware the only one not touching their food or drink was her, although Draco was merely pushing his food around his plate.
Hermione frowned as the most obvious answer came to her. "Well, I had ordered Harry's birthday gift during the summer through the owl post so he could have just done that. No human or goblin contact as the shop can withdraw the money from a Gringott's account directly- assuming he still has access to an account or his galleons." Hermione had read that the Blacks were a rich family and assuming that Sirius' parents were rich and there were no other survivors to his immediate family who were unwilling to help him, it was completely possible. "However, if there was a complication to that plan, I imagined he would have stolen a wand by now and used the imperius curse or something similar to have someone buy it. After jinxing it, all he had to do was have it delivered by an owl or two." By the time she stopped speaking everyone was staring at her with shocked faces, except from Lucius who was looking at her even more curiously. She did not like having his full attention at all and she knew she should have been scared of him after he had grabbed her neck but instead it made her even more determined not to collapse under his gaze.
"Hmmm, an unforgivable curse," Another sip of his wine. "You've thought about this before?"
Hermione looked down at her plate as Narcissa rang the bell for the last course, presenting their desert for the evening. "For the past five days. I don't see how someone who has a record like his would mind using an unforgivable curse." Hermione looked at Narcissa with a pleading look. "I haven't talked to Ron about my reasoning yet, I hate asking but please do not bring this up to Mrs. Weasley."
Lucius saw Narcissa about to argue but decided he would reply instead. "I think that's fair. We did not send him the broom so there is no reason to get involved now." Narcissa glared at him but he continued anyway. "If it does happen to be a real Firebolt and it's not jinxed, Draco is going to need one too." Lucius kept his wife's gaze as he said his last sentence. She wanted him to exchange his ways so he decided to feel it out by talking to Hermione and offerig a gift to Draco. It was the best he could do at the moment without making himself sick.
Draco's eyes widened when he looked up at Lucius and he grinned like he had when his father gifted the Slytherin team with the Nimbus 2001 last year. "You're serious?"
Lucius nodded once. "If Potter is going to keep his." Narcissa's jaw would have dropped if she had thought herself to be anything less than a lady. Hermione did not speak as she was afraid Narcissa would over rule Lucius and write to Mrs. Weasley anyway.
Theo groaned. "He's never going to stop now."
Blaise sighed. "We weren't even acquainted last year and I still got a rant from him on the specifications of the Nimbus the team got."
Draco ignored them and decided that while everyone was in a better mood, he would make a bold move of his own. "Just me or everyone on the team?"
Lucius' eyebrows went up. "Just you as you hold the most important position on the team. The seeker decides the game, Draco."
"Not true, every position is important. The seekers just decides when the game ends..." Draco then went into a rant about the importance of every position and different plays along with how a broom affects all factors of the game.
Narcissa wanted to bring the conversation back to the previous topic and talk about how wrong Ronald Weasley was but watching Lucius make an effort with Draco stopped her in her tracks. She was having difficulty remembering when the last time Draco looked excited to speak with his father. Narcissa looked at Blaise and Theo, both looked absolutely bored but when she looked at Hermione, she saw that even she was accepting the talk of brooms as a distraction. Her food was untouched but her brown eyes darted back and forth between the two blonde men, trying to keep up.
Narcissa sat back, wine in hand and did not contribute to the conversation, knowing that it was best to leave things be for now.
CharmedMistletoe: Thank you! And he sorta does haha.
Alice Helena: STOP YOU MADE ME CRY OMG! Thank you so much for your kind words as they did help motivate me. When they are older, I plan on making this take a dark turn so I'm anxious too if my plans don't change. I hate when that happens too tbh which is why I was determined to make this an (almost agnoizing) slow burn. There wil be a bit more alluding to the Persephone and Hades trope as I am a sucker for them too ;) Happy New Year to you too!
MotekElm: Thank you! I appreciate your commitment to my story and your constant feedback.
FridgeContent: Thank you, thank you, I appreciate it.
Bloodred 321: Thank you :D