After over thirty years of married life, Narcissa knew exactly how to handle her husband. As eager as she was to just sit Lucius down and talk some sense into him, she knew that wouldn't work. There was no point trying to talk to Lucius until he was ready to at least listen to what she had to say. Narcissa just had to hope that it didn't take too long before her husband softened his stance and was prepared to listen to reason.
Fortunately, for Narcissa it was just over a week after they'd seen Scorpius in Diagon Alley, when she got her opportunity to speak to Lucius. Narcissa found her husband sitting in the room where the family tapestry was located, and noticing the wistful look on his face as he gazed at the portion of the tapestry that encompassed their son's family, she decided to take advantage of the situation.
"What do you think?" she asked softly, settling down on the arm of the chair Lucius was sitting in. "Will the new addition be a boy or a girl?"
"I don't know," Lucius answered quietly. "It's been a long time since a Malfoy had more than one child. We haven't had a witch born into the family in generations."
"A little girl in the family would be nice," Narcissa said with a wistful smile.
"It's not our family though, Narcissa," Lucius said, his voice regaining some of the sternness that it usually exhibited whenever Draco was mentioned. "Not any more."
"They could be," Narcissa said gently. "It's not too late, Lucius."
"We've been through this before, Cissa," Lucius remarked sternly as he abruptly got to his feet. "Draco made his choice, as did we. We're no longer family."
"Yet here you are, gazing at the tapestry," Narcissa retorted. "I know you wish things were different, Lucius. You want Draco in our lives as much as I do."
"What I want, doesn't matter," Lucius snapped. "I did the right thing for the family, and there's no going back."
"Years ago my parents did what they thought was right for the family, and you know what Lucius, they lived to regret it," Narcissa said, settling down in the chair her husband had vacated.
"It's not the same thing, Narcissa," Lucius tutted. Even though it had happened before he was with Narcissa, Lucius was well aware his wife was talking about the expulsion of her sister, Andromeda, from the Black family.
"From where I'm sitting, it's very similar," Narcissa remarked. "My parents disowned Andromeda for falling in love with a muggleborn, and you're refusing to make amends with Draco because he's also with a muggleborn."
"There's more to it than that, Narcissa," Lucius muttered.
"Even so, I can see the similarities, and I don't want us to end up the same way," Narcissa said. "My mother died never having made her peace with her daughter. Her last wish was to make things right with Andromeda, but she never got a chance. I don't want to end my days without making things right with Draco and meeting our grandchildren. And I know you don't want that to happen either."
"I don't want you be hurt, Narcissa," Lucius said softly, turning to his wife and taking hold of her hand. "I know it broke your heart when your sister was removed from the family, and I know that you've never been able to mend that broken bond. And it kills me that the situation with Draco is breaking your heart again, but I can't back down, Cissa. I wish I could, but I can't."
"You can," Narcissa pleaded, clutching Lucius's hand. "Be the bigger man, Lucius. Admit that you're wrong, and we can try and fix things with Draco. Please do this before it's too late and we've lost him for good."
"I already think it's too late," Lucius admitted in a whisper. "In his shoes, I wouldn't forgive us."
"And what if he's better than the pair of us?" Narcissa questioned. "What if he's mature enough to accept our apology? Don't we at least owe it to ourselves to try? At least if he rejects us, we'll have our answer. But I promise you Lucius, if we don't try, we'll live to regret it."
"And you'll live to resent me?" Lucius checked.
Even though Narcissa hadn't said as much, he could tell that if things carried on in the same vein, his wife would end up blaming him for the loss of their son. After all, he was well aware that even though she'd loved her parents, she'd never truly forgiven them for driving her sister out of the family.
"I don't resent you, Lucius," Narcissa said. "But I don't want to come to resent you," she added quietly. "Even if you can't bring yourself to try and make amends with Draco, could you at least bring yourself to allow me to try and do so?"
"We need to stand together, Narcissa," Lucius said sternly.
"Please," Narcissa whispered, running her thumb down her husband's cheek.
"Damn you, Narcissa," Lucius muttered as his eyes briefly closed. "How can I deny you, when you're so sad?"
"Is that a yes?" Narcissa asked, trying not to sound too smug.
"Do as you must, Narcissa," Lucius conceded with a sigh. "But don't get your hopes up. I can't see Draco forgiving us."
"And if he does?" Narcissa pressed. "Would you agree to see him?"
"Let's just see what happens," Lucius said, briefly pressing a kiss to his wife's forehead as he turned away from her. "But I'm not sure this will change anything. It certainly doesn't change the fact his wife isn't Malfoy material."
Since she didn't know Draco's wife, Narcissa didn't think about contradicting her husband. In truth, she knew that no matter what Hermione was like, her blood status was still a problem that wouldn't be easily overcome. But that was a problem for another day, for now she was just thrilled that her husband had backed down enough to give his blessing to her trying to make amends with Draco. Although she was well aware that the only reason Lucius was allowing her to make contact with Draco was because he felt their son would spurn her attempts to make amends and it would prove to her once and for all that Draco was lost to them.
"Thank you Lucius," Narcissa said softly.
"Just don't get your hopes up, Narcissa," Lucius warned, before he stalked out of the room.
"It's too late for that," Narcissa whispered, as a smile graced her lips. Of course Lucius could be proved right, and Draco might not want to know her, but at least she could try and fix things with her son, and what's more she could do so without having to go behind her husband's back.
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A couple of days after her conversation with Lucius, Narcissa dressed in one of her best outfits, with plans to go and visit her son. She'd debated going to see Draco at his place of work, but with so many businesses under his belt, she wasn't sure where to actually find him. Besides, she was also slightly worried that her son would downright refuse to see her if she just turned up at one of his businesses. So instead she was going to try paying him a visit at home. It hadn't been hard for Narcissa to find out where her son lived, and she'd discovered he lived in a picturesque wizarding village just outside of London which was popular with the younger generation of Wizarding Britain.
"You're doing it, are you?" Lucius remarked when he spotted his wife all dressed up.
"It's not too late for you to come with me," Narcissa urged her husband. "It might be better if we visit Draco together."
"I've agreed to you going to see him, but that's as far as it goes, Narcissa," Lucius returned. "Even if by some miracle he does forgive you, it doesn't change the issues we've still got. I'm still not sure I can forgive him, Narcissa. Don't forget, this works both ways. He might see himself as the victim, but he wasn't blameless. Don't forget, his stubbornness started all this, Cissa."
"I think all three of us were to blame," Narcissa countered. "We all let this get out of hand. And now we are going to fix it, and I do include you in that, Lucius. I know you think this will fail, but I won't let it. I will make amends with Draco, and when the time comes, I expect you to do the same."
"We'll see," Lucius said with a scowl. Deep down he knew Narcissa was doing the right thing by trying to fix things with Draco, but he couldn't help but have his doubts. After all, if Narcissa was proved right and Draco allowed her back into his life, he would either have to do something he rarely did, and back down, or remain estranged from his only son.
Giving Lucius a quick kiss, and yet again vowing that one day soon he would have to swallow his pride and speak to Draco, Narcissa left the manor and headed to the village where Draco lived with his wife and son. It didn't take her long to find the house her son lived in, however approaching and knocking on the door didn't come as easily. Now she was here, Narcissa couldn't help but wonder if she was doing the right thing. Maybe Lucius was right to think that her idea of reuniting with their son was a lost cause. Draco might well refuse to talk to her, and to be honest she wouldn't blame him if that was the option he took. She'd let him down badly, and her son had every right to be angry with her.
After debating with herself for several minutes, Narcissa finally made the trek up the garden path to the front door. Taking a deep breath she rang the doorbell and stood back to wait and see what would happen. A few seconds after ringing the doorbell, the door opened and for the first time in eight years Narcissa found herself face to face with her son.
"Draco," Narcissa whispered, unable to tear her eyes from her son. Although she noted that he didn't look overly happy to see her.
"Mother," Draco greeted stoically. "What are you doing here?"
"I want to talk," Narcissa said softly. "I understand if you don't want anything to do with me, but please just give me a chance."
Draco looked as though he was fighting an inner battle with himself, before he nodded once and held the door open for his mother to enter the house. Narcissa stepped into the large front hallway, but hardly had time to look at her son's house before Draco opened a nearby door and gestured for her to step inside.
"Wait here, I'll be right back," he said, before shutting the door behind his mother.
Narcissa was left standing in a room which she decided was for floo visitors. It was nice and welcoming enough, but she knew instantly that it wasn't the main living room on the house. Narcissa was alone for nearly ten minutes, and when she heard the front door open and shut she feared her son had walked out on her. However her fears were soon dismissed when the door opened and Draco was once again standing in front of her.
"I thought you'd left," Narcissa admitted.
"That was Hermione and Scorpius," Draco replied. "I asked Hermione to take Scorpius out for a few hours so we could talk."
"You didn't have to do that," Narcissa said quietly, her face falling at the realisation that she wasn't seeing her grandson that day. Although to be fair, she hadn't really been expecting it as she knew she would have to build bridges with her son before he would trust her around her grandson.
"I did," Draco replied. "I'm not having Scorpius meeting you at the moment. Before I even consider letting you see Scorp, we need to talk."
Narcissa's mood brightened somewhat as it became apparent that not only was Draco giving her the chance to make things right, but he wasn't totally opposed to letting her see Scorpius sometime in the future. Hopefully if their discussion went well, then a meeting with her grandson could be on the cards sooner than she could have hoped.
