27. …Madrid doesn't care about Draco's Social Skills
"So, I should have known that the enemy would use my own son against me." Lucius
was standing by the window in his study, looking out. He now paused to glance at his
son, curling his lip in disgust. "You never were strong enough to really stand up to
anyone, were you Draco? Well, let's just be glad that Snape was there to untangle your
mind for you. I've had my doubts about that one but as far as Slytherin headmasters go,
there have been worse."
Draco was slumped in a chair across from his father's desk, his eyes cast subserviently to
the floor. But where Lucius couldn't see it, Draco allowed an angry sneer of his own to
twist his lips. "Will that be all, father?" Sometimes Draco truly hated his father and right
now he was determined to say as little as possible in the hopes that he could keep his
anger under control.
"Yes, I suppose you can go. But just so you're warned, I'll be tightening security around
here. I'll be sure that no malignant spell (not of my own devising, obviously) comes
within a mile of these premises. Oh, and Draco." Draco had stood to leave and now
paused in the doorway. "I hope you don't mind but I borrowed your girlfriend for a few
days. Speaking of which, I should probably be off again soon." Lucius smiled a smile
that clearly said, "I can take whatever I want and there's nothing you can do about it.
Don't you just hate me for it?"
"Oh, that's ok, Dad," Draco was feeling rather pissy and not about to let his father have
the last word. "I've finished with her anyway. Just go easy on the chocolate sauce this
time. Last time it took ages to get it all off her. You really shouldn't be so sloppy." And
with that he turned, flourishing his emerald cape, and disappeared through the door.
Lucius chuckled quietly as he watched his son go. "Always so hostile," he murmured.
"You really should learn a little more respect." He tut-tutted to himself as he watched
Draco stalk across the lawn.
Ron was thinking about his evil side. It had gotten very little exercise over the course of
his life and most of it had involved some plot or other of Fred and George's. Lately it
had gotten a bit more air than usual and Ron was fondly thinking of the fun it was to let it
run lose once in a while. Right now it was cooking up a lovely plot for a nice bit of some
Harry Potter revenge, just because Harry had been acting so self-righteous lately and Ron
thought he could do with a reality check. But he needed a co-conspirator. Revenge plots
were always better with a co-conspirator. Hermione was sitting in a corner of the
Gryffindor common room, her nose buried pointedly in a book. Ron sauntered
innocently over.
Draco was in an extremely foul mood. He hated Harry Potter. That was true and would
never change. But there were times when he hated his father far more. The man lived to
be idly cruel and now he'd gone and done it again. So Draco was off to the one place he
knew he could calm down and relax. He was off to visit his water dragon.
Most people laughed behind their hands when they heard that Draco kept a dragon. After
all, it was considered rather tacky to associate so blatantly with symbols of one's own
name. What they would never know was that in the dragon, whom he called Madrid but
who insisted it had a much more secret name that it was unwilling to divulge, Draco had
found one of his very few friends. Madrid didn't care that Draco had unstable social
skills or that he would never measure up to his father's expectations. With his water
dragon Draco could just be himself, whoever that was on a particular day.
Draco hurried down to the swamp just adjacent to the lawn surrounding Malfoy Manor.
He followed a path well trodden by his own footsteps through a copse of trees, where he
knew he was out of sight of the house. He walked out onto a log that lay fallen in the
mire and sat down on a branch that stuck up conveniently to wait for Madrid to come.
The swamp air was already starting to make him feel better, and when the dragon showed
up he greeted it happily, tossing down a hunk of raw meat he had snagged before coming
down. No, Draco didn't know whether the dragon was male or female. It had never
come up and didn't seem of much importance, dragons being something else entirely.
Madrid caught the meat in it's sturdy, if small, jaws and rolled happily around in the
water with it a few times, like a crocodile drowning it's prey, before downing it in one
large gulp. Draco smiled as it crawled up onto the log beside him, twining its long, scaly
body around the dead branches. From a distance it could easily be mistaken for a large
snake but if one were to look more closely one would see that there was nothing
snakelike about its head, and the scales covering its hide were far too fine for so low a
beast. They winked, like faded jewels, black and smoky grey and several shades of
green.
"How are you today, my friend?" Draco asked, for now content to forget about his
worries with the rest of the world. Madrid had climbed up nearly level with him and now
Draco stared deeply into its eyes. "You're absolutely right. Today would be an excellent
day for a swim." And with that Draco began methodically stripping off his clothes,
fastening them in a neat bundle that he left wedged securely in a crook of some branches.
Completely disregarding the fact that it was the middle of winter, he waded out into the
bog and sank down into muddy, ice-cold water. Madrid swam over and twined himself
happily around his friend before swimming away, a call to play. Draco lay back in the
water and closed his eyes, sinking into the feeling of the winter swamp.
When he opened them, the pupils had gone to slits and his form had shrunk to that of a
small water dragon. He was smaller by about half than Madrid, though he was still quite
young so this didn't really bother him, and his scales were an oily blue black. He flicked
his tongue in a dragon smirk. Not only the cronies of famous wizard's father's could be
secret animagi. With a flick of his tail he was off to sport with Madrid through the
swamp.
"So, I should have known that the enemy would use my own son against me." Lucius
was standing by the window in his study, looking out. He now paused to glance at his
son, curling his lip in disgust. "You never were strong enough to really stand up to
anyone, were you Draco? Well, let's just be glad that Snape was there to untangle your
mind for you. I've had my doubts about that one but as far as Slytherin headmasters go,
there have been worse."
Draco was slumped in a chair across from his father's desk, his eyes cast subserviently to
the floor. But where Lucius couldn't see it, Draco allowed an angry sneer of his own to
twist his lips. "Will that be all, father?" Sometimes Draco truly hated his father and right
now he was determined to say as little as possible in the hopes that he could keep his
anger under control.
"Yes, I suppose you can go. But just so you're warned, I'll be tightening security around
here. I'll be sure that no malignant spell (not of my own devising, obviously) comes
within a mile of these premises. Oh, and Draco." Draco had stood to leave and now
paused in the doorway. "I hope you don't mind but I borrowed your girlfriend for a few
days. Speaking of which, I should probably be off again soon." Lucius smiled a smile
that clearly said, "I can take whatever I want and there's nothing you can do about it.
Don't you just hate me for it?"
"Oh, that's ok, Dad," Draco was feeling rather pissy and not about to let his father have
the last word. "I've finished with her anyway. Just go easy on the chocolate sauce this
time. Last time it took ages to get it all off her. You really shouldn't be so sloppy." And
with that he turned, flourishing his emerald cape, and disappeared through the door.
Lucius chuckled quietly as he watched his son go. "Always so hostile," he murmured.
"You really should learn a little more respect." He tut-tutted to himself as he watched
Draco stalk across the lawn.
Ron was thinking about his evil side. It had gotten very little exercise over the course of
his life and most of it had involved some plot or other of Fred and George's. Lately it
had gotten a bit more air than usual and Ron was fondly thinking of the fun it was to let it
run lose once in a while. Right now it was cooking up a lovely plot for a nice bit of some
Harry Potter revenge, just because Harry had been acting so self-righteous lately and Ron
thought he could do with a reality check. But he needed a co-conspirator. Revenge plots
were always better with a co-conspirator. Hermione was sitting in a corner of the
Gryffindor common room, her nose buried pointedly in a book. Ron sauntered
innocently over.
Draco was in an extremely foul mood. He hated Harry Potter. That was true and would
never change. But there were times when he hated his father far more. The man lived to
be idly cruel and now he'd gone and done it again. So Draco was off to the one place he
knew he could calm down and relax. He was off to visit his water dragon.
Most people laughed behind their hands when they heard that Draco kept a dragon. After
all, it was considered rather tacky to associate so blatantly with symbols of one's own
name. What they would never know was that in the dragon, whom he called Madrid but
who insisted it had a much more secret name that it was unwilling to divulge, Draco had
found one of his very few friends. Madrid didn't care that Draco had unstable social
skills or that he would never measure up to his father's expectations. With his water
dragon Draco could just be himself, whoever that was on a particular day.
Draco hurried down to the swamp just adjacent to the lawn surrounding Malfoy Manor.
He followed a path well trodden by his own footsteps through a copse of trees, where he
knew he was out of sight of the house. He walked out onto a log that lay fallen in the
mire and sat down on a branch that stuck up conveniently to wait for Madrid to come.
The swamp air was already starting to make him feel better, and when the dragon showed
up he greeted it happily, tossing down a hunk of raw meat he had snagged before coming
down. No, Draco didn't know whether the dragon was male or female. It had never
come up and didn't seem of much importance, dragons being something else entirely.
Madrid caught the meat in it's sturdy, if small, jaws and rolled happily around in the
water with it a few times, like a crocodile drowning it's prey, before downing it in one
large gulp. Draco smiled as it crawled up onto the log beside him, twining its long, scaly
body around the dead branches. From a distance it could easily be mistaken for a large
snake but if one were to look more closely one would see that there was nothing
snakelike about its head, and the scales covering its hide were far too fine for so low a
beast. They winked, like faded jewels, black and smoky grey and several shades of
green.
"How are you today, my friend?" Draco asked, for now content to forget about his
worries with the rest of the world. Madrid had climbed up nearly level with him and now
Draco stared deeply into its eyes. "You're absolutely right. Today would be an excellent
day for a swim." And with that Draco began methodically stripping off his clothes,
fastening them in a neat bundle that he left wedged securely in a crook of some branches.
Completely disregarding the fact that it was the middle of winter, he waded out into the
bog and sank down into muddy, ice-cold water. Madrid swam over and twined himself
happily around his friend before swimming away, a call to play. Draco lay back in the
water and closed his eyes, sinking into the feeling of the winter swamp.
When he opened them, the pupils had gone to slits and his form had shrunk to that of a
small water dragon. He was smaller by about half than Madrid, though he was still quite
young so this didn't really bother him, and his scales were an oily blue black. He flicked
his tongue in a dragon smirk. Not only the cronies of famous wizard's father's could be
secret animagi. With a flick of his tail he was off to sport with Madrid through the
swamp.