This contains scenes of child abuse, not very bad but it's there. "Touch Of
Darkness" lyrics belong to Robert Hunter. I don't know who came up with The
Malfoy Family Code Of Conduct, but I first read of it in The Draco Trilogy
so I'll credit Cassandra Claire with it.
How good of you to know me
When to touch me was to shame
Yourself in front of everyone
In some obscure way ***
Draco remembered.
He remembered being punished when he was younger. Being locked in a closet, being threatened with being fed to the giant attack spiders roaming the grounds and, worst of all, being forced to stand in the corner for hours on end reciting verbatim from memory all the rules of The Malfoy Family Code Of Conduct - from number one (Malfoys shall never consort with Mudbloods), all the way to number five hundred and nintey-seven (Malfoys shall never wear pink).
Aside from the occasional whack with his fathers' walking stick, which he had learned to dodge at an early age, Draco was almost never hit. Lucius had much more, shall we say, effective ways of reprimanding his son.
When his father did reach the breaking point and resorted to physical violence, the result was so spectacular that Draco, had he not been so distracted with fearing for his life, would have been massively impressed.
Draco remembered the first time his father had snapped.
He had been nearly five and attending the local nursery school at his mother's request.
He had needed playmates his own age, his mother had pleaded. Finally his father had relented, if only, Draco now suspected, to shut his mother up. Two days later Narcissa had packed Draco off to school.
Draco had entered the school happily. The only people he ever got to play with were Greg and Vinnie, children of his father's business associates. They were okay, but not much fun as they were quite stupid and had no imagination whatsoever.
Draco was looking forward to meeting some other children. Maybe one of them would want to play at being animals. Draco always wanted to be a dragon. That's what his name meant after all. Greg and Vinnie never understood playing pretend and Draco would eventually lose patience with them and somebody would end up bleeding, invariably not him.
The first child Draco laid eyes on was a friendly looking boy with brown hair. Draco hesitated, suddenly afraid that nobody would like him, but Narcissa gave him a gentle shove and he ran across the room to where the boy was sitting.
"Hallo." the boy smiled cheekily. "I like your hair."
Draco smiled, and the sudden realization came to him that he and this boy were destined to be best friends forever and ever. "Hullo." he glanced back at his mother and suddenly remembered his manners. "Thank you. My name is Draco Malfoy." he said, just as he had been coached, holding out his little hand.
The boy just looked at his hand.
Draco's heart fell and tears pricked behind his eyes.
"Draco?" the boy said.
Draco nodded, sniffling. "It means dragon."
"It does?" the boy's eyes shone. "I love dragons."
Draco's tears were instantly forgotten. "Me too!" he leaned forward. "My dad might get me a dragon for Christmas."
"A real dragon?"
Draco nodded and felt a hand on his head. He looked up and saw his mother standing above him.
"Draco." she knelt down beside him. "Who's your friend?"
Draco looked at the boy. "Um..."
"My name is Tony." he supplied.
"Tony." Draco smiled brilliantly up at his mother.
"Hello Tony. I'm Draco's mother."
Tony smiled politely. "Pleased to meet you."
Narcissa smiled back at Tony, then turned to Draco. "Draco darling, I have to go shopping for a bit. I'll be back though. Will you be alright with Tony?"
Leaving? His mummy was leaving him? His father's threats were finally coming true. Oh why, hadn't he been stronger, smarter, better? His lower lip trembled and Narcissa hugged him suddenly. Draco froze. Was his mummy crying? Why was she crying?
"Memere?" he asked her, in a trembly voice, calling her by his pet name for her. "Comment ca va?" He spoke in his careful, pronounced French, asking her if she were alright.
"Il n'y a pas un probleme, ma cherie, bebe. Memere est bien."
Draco smiled, hearing her speak French to him. Only she and Draco spoke French. It was like their secret language. When they spoke, his father couldn't understand them and Draco got inexplicable dark secret shivers at irking his father in this way.
Tony, having gotten bored, had wandered across the room and was now playing with a little blonde girl.
Narcissa smoothed her hand over Draco's blonde curls. "Will you be alright, darling? I don't have to leave. We can play together if you like." she reached for the blocks that Tony had abandoned on the table and Draco frowned suddenly.
He wanted to play with Tony. He could play with his mother any old day. He pushed out of her embrace with a pout. "I want to play with Tony."
Draco started towards Tony, but his mother reached out and caught his hand. "I'll be back soon, darling." she said, but he was pulling, tugging, trying to get away and missed the tears shimmering in her eyes.
"'Bye, mummy." he said, looking at Tony, hoping with all his heart that the boy didn't think he was a baby. Once, when he had been playing with Vinnie and Greg a boy had called him a baby and Greg had had to break his nose.
"Au revoir, ma bebe." Narcissa spoke softly and released her hold on Draco, who promptly fled across the room towards Tony and knocked the little blonde girl away. Narcissa smiled slowly and, with a last look at her son, left the day care centre.
Draco and Tony played together all day. Tony taught Draco all sorts of interesting games that he had never heard of, like hide-and-go-seek and kick the can and tag. And Draco tagged along after Tony, looking for all the world like a little puppy.
Draco was having the time of his life and when Narcissa came back to claim her son, he threw a tantrum.
Draco was an unusually quiet child, which most likely came from the severe, and often unwarrented, scoldings Lucius had given him for "carrying on", and as a result didn't throw many tantrums, but when he did they were like nothing most people had ever seen before. Draco had been given the dubious "gift" of both Lucius and Narcissa's considerable tempers, and when he lost control of himself, there tended to be an interesting poltergeist type of effect. Things, invariably the most heavy things, few across the room with shocking speed.
Draco and Tony were taking turns chasing each other around the play yard when Narcissa came back from her shopping, bags in hand. She stood, watching the two boys run, smiling, glad she had insisted that Draco be exposed to other children. Then, Draco caught sight of her and rushed over, face flushed, a huge smile plastered across his face.
"Ah, ma bebe." she said, reaching into a bag and pulling out a green scarf. "I bought you something."
Draco's eyes lit up, he loved getting new things. "What is it?"
Narcissa draped the scarf around Draco's neck and knotted it securely. "It's a scarf. And isn't it a beautiful colour?"
Draco nearly went crossed eyed in his attempt to look at his neck. "I love green. It's my favourite colour." he affirmed.
"Say goodbye to Tony, cher. It's time to go home." she reached out for his hand.
"Home?" he echoed. "But I don't want to go home."
"But we must. Daddy is coming home tonight and he'll want to hear all about your day." Narcissa seriously doubted that Lucius would care one bit what Draco had done at day care, but she wasn't about to express this to her son.
Draco pouted then brightened as an idea struck him. "Can Tony come to dinner?"
Narcissa eyed the boy in question. Whereas Tony's parents were both magical folk, there was an undoubtable Muggle... sheen to him, a perception enhanced by the clothes he wore, some sort of dungaree pant and shirtsleeves with a logo on the front. Narcissa had no problem with Muggle- borns, in small doses, but Lucius wouldn't stand for it. "I'm sorry, ma cherie. Tonight is for the family only. Perhaps another time."
"No." Draco grumped, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
"Draco," she warned. "Maintenant." *Now.*
"Non!" he repeated. "Je n'alle pas a la maison!"
Narcissa knelt gracefully before him. "You will go home now, Draco Malfoy. Or your father will hear of this."
Draco paused, then switched tactics. "Mais, memere...." he whinged. "Tony is my FRIEND."
"Draco!" she hissed, pulling out the last reserve. "He's a Mudblood."
Draco looked suspiciously at her. "No he's not."
Narcissa nodded.
Draco narrowed his eyes. "No you're lying."
Narcissa closed her eyes breifly. "Draco I will count to three and then you will have forfeited whatever I have bought you today."
Draco looked horrified, glancing from Narcissa's bags to Tony, across the yard.
"Un..."
"Memere....!"
Narcissa shook her head. "Deux..."
"Non! Non!" Draco shouted.
"Troi - "
Draco threw himself to the floor kicking and screaming. All the children in the yard froze and stared at Draco. Narcissa flushed, suddenly feeling like a horrible parent. "Draco!" she spoke sharply, but he ignored her and, across the yard she saw the swing set start to pull loose from the ground. She reached down and yanked Draco up by his arm. "If you don't stop this instant you will never see Tony again." she forced each word through clenched teeth.
Draco froze. "Never again?" he hiccoughed, his face red.
Narcissa shook her head firmly. "Never again."
"Memere..."
"No. Never."
Draco let out one final scream, then crumpled to the ground, determined to make it as difficult as possible for Narcissa to get him home.
~*~*~*~
By the time Lucius came home that night Draco was fed, in his pyjamas and wriggling with excitement at the prospect of sharing his day with his father. Narcissa sat on the bed, watching a chattering Draco trail Lucius about the bedroom.
"...and then we had snack. It was pumpkin juice and cauldren cakes, but Mummy's cakes are much better..."
Lucius snorted, only half listening to his son's ramblings. The stupid child still hadn't grasped the concept of house elves.
"...and then Tony taught me this game and I was it and I tagged him and then he tagged Kira and she almost got me but I was too fast. I'm faster than Tony, I know cos we had a race and I won and I got a prize..."
"Who is this Tony?" the question was directed at Narcissa, who shrugged, but Draco answered.
"He's my best friend. He's fun and nice and knows all sorts of games that I never heard of." Draco looked wistful. "His name is Tony Davi and he could spell it. It wasn't hard to spell like my name."
Lucius suddenly grabbed Draco's arm, tightly. "Davi? That's not a wizard name." he shook Draco hard. "Where you playing with a Mudblood?"
"No!" Draco glanced at Narcissa quickly but it wasn't quick enough that Lucius didn't see and decipher it.
"You were!" he roared and the blow was so sudden that Draco was on the floor, his ears ringing, bleeding from his lip before he even realized his father had raised a hand to him.
"No..." Whimpering, Draco put a hand up to ward Lucius off, but Lucius just grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the room.
"You broke rule number one of the Code!" he fumed, dragging Draco behind him. "Don't you know anything, you stupid boy? I work all day to keep the wizarding world pure and I come home to find my son CONSORTING WITH MUDBLOODS!"
"But, he was nice!" Draco simpered, pathetically, angering Lucius even more. "He wasn't dirty or nasty or theiving like you said."
Lucius paused, suddenly, next to a bookshelf and shoved a heavy book into Draco's arms. Draco had bearly grasped it when Lucius grabbed his arm and continued down the hall. When Lucius came to a stop again, and released Draco's arm, the boy stumbled and fell, dropping the book onto the floor.
Lucius reached down and pulled Draco to his feet by his hair. "You will read this book and not leave this room until you have memorized it." he shook Draco by the hair. "Do you understand?"
"I can't... I can't read..." Draco wailed and Lucius delivered a sharp backhand, leaving a livid hand mark on the boy's pale face.
"You will read this book and not leave the room until you have memorized it." Lucius repeated, clenching his teeth.
"But, Father.... - "
Lucius shook Draco again, jarring his teeth. "You. Will. Read. This. Book. And. Not. Leave. The. Room. Until. You. Have. Memorized. It."
Draco lifted his tear stained face up and finally realized that no matter what he said, it was fruitless. "Yes, Father." he sighed.
Lucius kicked open the heavy door and tossed Draco in as if he were no more substantial than a cloth doll. Draco rolled over and over, landing in a crumpled heap near the middle of the room and curled to his side, narrowly being missed by the book which his father threw in after him.
"Lumos." his father whispered and suddenly there was a faint light in the room, then the door slammed shut and Draco heard the bolt being slid home and he was alone with the book and the strange light.
Draco didn't know how long he sat in the room, but the light never changed and no matter how hard he squinted at the heavy book he could not make the squiggles on the pages form into words.
As he stared at the book the one thought passing through his mind was that this was all Tony's fault. If Tony had truely been his friend, he wouldn't have been a Mudblood. Draco hated Mudbloods.
There was a silver glimmer at Draco's elbow and he looked up and saw one of the family ghosts, Great-Uncle Dorien, who smiled down at him. "What seems to be the problem, young Draco?"
Draco stabbed at the book with a finger. "I can't read. And I can't go to my room until I rememor... mem...."
"Memorize?"
Draco nodded emphatically. "Yeah."
Great-Uncle Dorien's eyes seemed to twinkle as the looked over the book in Draco's lap. "Can you repeat after me?"
Draco grinned suddenly. He was good at that. Imitating Dorien's drawl, he said. "Can you repeat after me?"
"Good boy." Dorien's hand passed over Draco's head. "Here we go. The Malfoy Family Code Of Conduct. Rule number one... Malfoys must never consort with Mudbloods."
"The Malfoy Family Code Of Conduct. Rule number one..." Draco repeated. "Malfoys must never consort with Mudbloods."
And so it went, Draco repeating after Dorien, sometimes stumbling over some of the harder words, until two weeks later with all five hundred nine seven of the rules and a firm hatred of Mudbloods packed into his head, he was released from the room.
Draco never forgot that.
But tonight, as the clod of dirt left his hand and *fwumped* satisfyingly onto the lid of his father's casket, Draco remembered.
How good of you to know me
When to touch me was to shame
Yourself in front of everyone
In some obscure way ***
Draco remembered.
He remembered being punished when he was younger. Being locked in a closet, being threatened with being fed to the giant attack spiders roaming the grounds and, worst of all, being forced to stand in the corner for hours on end reciting verbatim from memory all the rules of The Malfoy Family Code Of Conduct - from number one (Malfoys shall never consort with Mudbloods), all the way to number five hundred and nintey-seven (Malfoys shall never wear pink).
Aside from the occasional whack with his fathers' walking stick, which he had learned to dodge at an early age, Draco was almost never hit. Lucius had much more, shall we say, effective ways of reprimanding his son.
When his father did reach the breaking point and resorted to physical violence, the result was so spectacular that Draco, had he not been so distracted with fearing for his life, would have been massively impressed.
Draco remembered the first time his father had snapped.
He had been nearly five and attending the local nursery school at his mother's request.
He had needed playmates his own age, his mother had pleaded. Finally his father had relented, if only, Draco now suspected, to shut his mother up. Two days later Narcissa had packed Draco off to school.
Draco had entered the school happily. The only people he ever got to play with were Greg and Vinnie, children of his father's business associates. They were okay, but not much fun as they were quite stupid and had no imagination whatsoever.
Draco was looking forward to meeting some other children. Maybe one of them would want to play at being animals. Draco always wanted to be a dragon. That's what his name meant after all. Greg and Vinnie never understood playing pretend and Draco would eventually lose patience with them and somebody would end up bleeding, invariably not him.
The first child Draco laid eyes on was a friendly looking boy with brown hair. Draco hesitated, suddenly afraid that nobody would like him, but Narcissa gave him a gentle shove and he ran across the room to where the boy was sitting.
"Hallo." the boy smiled cheekily. "I like your hair."
Draco smiled, and the sudden realization came to him that he and this boy were destined to be best friends forever and ever. "Hullo." he glanced back at his mother and suddenly remembered his manners. "Thank you. My name is Draco Malfoy." he said, just as he had been coached, holding out his little hand.
The boy just looked at his hand.
Draco's heart fell and tears pricked behind his eyes.
"Draco?" the boy said.
Draco nodded, sniffling. "It means dragon."
"It does?" the boy's eyes shone. "I love dragons."
Draco's tears were instantly forgotten. "Me too!" he leaned forward. "My dad might get me a dragon for Christmas."
"A real dragon?"
Draco nodded and felt a hand on his head. He looked up and saw his mother standing above him.
"Draco." she knelt down beside him. "Who's your friend?"
Draco looked at the boy. "Um..."
"My name is Tony." he supplied.
"Tony." Draco smiled brilliantly up at his mother.
"Hello Tony. I'm Draco's mother."
Tony smiled politely. "Pleased to meet you."
Narcissa smiled back at Tony, then turned to Draco. "Draco darling, I have to go shopping for a bit. I'll be back though. Will you be alright with Tony?"
Leaving? His mummy was leaving him? His father's threats were finally coming true. Oh why, hadn't he been stronger, smarter, better? His lower lip trembled and Narcissa hugged him suddenly. Draco froze. Was his mummy crying? Why was she crying?
"Memere?" he asked her, in a trembly voice, calling her by his pet name for her. "Comment ca va?" He spoke in his careful, pronounced French, asking her if she were alright.
"Il n'y a pas un probleme, ma cherie, bebe. Memere est bien."
Draco smiled, hearing her speak French to him. Only she and Draco spoke French. It was like their secret language. When they spoke, his father couldn't understand them and Draco got inexplicable dark secret shivers at irking his father in this way.
Tony, having gotten bored, had wandered across the room and was now playing with a little blonde girl.
Narcissa smoothed her hand over Draco's blonde curls. "Will you be alright, darling? I don't have to leave. We can play together if you like." she reached for the blocks that Tony had abandoned on the table and Draco frowned suddenly.
He wanted to play with Tony. He could play with his mother any old day. He pushed out of her embrace with a pout. "I want to play with Tony."
Draco started towards Tony, but his mother reached out and caught his hand. "I'll be back soon, darling." she said, but he was pulling, tugging, trying to get away and missed the tears shimmering in her eyes.
"'Bye, mummy." he said, looking at Tony, hoping with all his heart that the boy didn't think he was a baby. Once, when he had been playing with Vinnie and Greg a boy had called him a baby and Greg had had to break his nose.
"Au revoir, ma bebe." Narcissa spoke softly and released her hold on Draco, who promptly fled across the room towards Tony and knocked the little blonde girl away. Narcissa smiled slowly and, with a last look at her son, left the day care centre.
Draco and Tony played together all day. Tony taught Draco all sorts of interesting games that he had never heard of, like hide-and-go-seek and kick the can and tag. And Draco tagged along after Tony, looking for all the world like a little puppy.
Draco was having the time of his life and when Narcissa came back to claim her son, he threw a tantrum.
Draco was an unusually quiet child, which most likely came from the severe, and often unwarrented, scoldings Lucius had given him for "carrying on", and as a result didn't throw many tantrums, but when he did they were like nothing most people had ever seen before. Draco had been given the dubious "gift" of both Lucius and Narcissa's considerable tempers, and when he lost control of himself, there tended to be an interesting poltergeist type of effect. Things, invariably the most heavy things, few across the room with shocking speed.
Draco and Tony were taking turns chasing each other around the play yard when Narcissa came back from her shopping, bags in hand. She stood, watching the two boys run, smiling, glad she had insisted that Draco be exposed to other children. Then, Draco caught sight of her and rushed over, face flushed, a huge smile plastered across his face.
"Ah, ma bebe." she said, reaching into a bag and pulling out a green scarf. "I bought you something."
Draco's eyes lit up, he loved getting new things. "What is it?"
Narcissa draped the scarf around Draco's neck and knotted it securely. "It's a scarf. And isn't it a beautiful colour?"
Draco nearly went crossed eyed in his attempt to look at his neck. "I love green. It's my favourite colour." he affirmed.
"Say goodbye to Tony, cher. It's time to go home." she reached out for his hand.
"Home?" he echoed. "But I don't want to go home."
"But we must. Daddy is coming home tonight and he'll want to hear all about your day." Narcissa seriously doubted that Lucius would care one bit what Draco had done at day care, but she wasn't about to express this to her son.
Draco pouted then brightened as an idea struck him. "Can Tony come to dinner?"
Narcissa eyed the boy in question. Whereas Tony's parents were both magical folk, there was an undoubtable Muggle... sheen to him, a perception enhanced by the clothes he wore, some sort of dungaree pant and shirtsleeves with a logo on the front. Narcissa had no problem with Muggle- borns, in small doses, but Lucius wouldn't stand for it. "I'm sorry, ma cherie. Tonight is for the family only. Perhaps another time."
"No." Draco grumped, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
"Draco," she warned. "Maintenant." *Now.*
"Non!" he repeated. "Je n'alle pas a la maison!"
Narcissa knelt gracefully before him. "You will go home now, Draco Malfoy. Or your father will hear of this."
Draco paused, then switched tactics. "Mais, memere...." he whinged. "Tony is my FRIEND."
"Draco!" she hissed, pulling out the last reserve. "He's a Mudblood."
Draco looked suspiciously at her. "No he's not."
Narcissa nodded.
Draco narrowed his eyes. "No you're lying."
Narcissa closed her eyes breifly. "Draco I will count to three and then you will have forfeited whatever I have bought you today."
Draco looked horrified, glancing from Narcissa's bags to Tony, across the yard.
"Un..."
"Memere....!"
Narcissa shook her head. "Deux..."
"Non! Non!" Draco shouted.
"Troi - "
Draco threw himself to the floor kicking and screaming. All the children in the yard froze and stared at Draco. Narcissa flushed, suddenly feeling like a horrible parent. "Draco!" she spoke sharply, but he ignored her and, across the yard she saw the swing set start to pull loose from the ground. She reached down and yanked Draco up by his arm. "If you don't stop this instant you will never see Tony again." she forced each word through clenched teeth.
Draco froze. "Never again?" he hiccoughed, his face red.
Narcissa shook her head firmly. "Never again."
"Memere..."
"No. Never."
Draco let out one final scream, then crumpled to the ground, determined to make it as difficult as possible for Narcissa to get him home.
~*~*~*~
By the time Lucius came home that night Draco was fed, in his pyjamas and wriggling with excitement at the prospect of sharing his day with his father. Narcissa sat on the bed, watching a chattering Draco trail Lucius about the bedroom.
"...and then we had snack. It was pumpkin juice and cauldren cakes, but Mummy's cakes are much better..."
Lucius snorted, only half listening to his son's ramblings. The stupid child still hadn't grasped the concept of house elves.
"...and then Tony taught me this game and I was it and I tagged him and then he tagged Kira and she almost got me but I was too fast. I'm faster than Tony, I know cos we had a race and I won and I got a prize..."
"Who is this Tony?" the question was directed at Narcissa, who shrugged, but Draco answered.
"He's my best friend. He's fun and nice and knows all sorts of games that I never heard of." Draco looked wistful. "His name is Tony Davi and he could spell it. It wasn't hard to spell like my name."
Lucius suddenly grabbed Draco's arm, tightly. "Davi? That's not a wizard name." he shook Draco hard. "Where you playing with a Mudblood?"
"No!" Draco glanced at Narcissa quickly but it wasn't quick enough that Lucius didn't see and decipher it.
"You were!" he roared and the blow was so sudden that Draco was on the floor, his ears ringing, bleeding from his lip before he even realized his father had raised a hand to him.
"No..." Whimpering, Draco put a hand up to ward Lucius off, but Lucius just grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the room.
"You broke rule number one of the Code!" he fumed, dragging Draco behind him. "Don't you know anything, you stupid boy? I work all day to keep the wizarding world pure and I come home to find my son CONSORTING WITH MUDBLOODS!"
"But, he was nice!" Draco simpered, pathetically, angering Lucius even more. "He wasn't dirty or nasty or theiving like you said."
Lucius paused, suddenly, next to a bookshelf and shoved a heavy book into Draco's arms. Draco had bearly grasped it when Lucius grabbed his arm and continued down the hall. When Lucius came to a stop again, and released Draco's arm, the boy stumbled and fell, dropping the book onto the floor.
Lucius reached down and pulled Draco to his feet by his hair. "You will read this book and not leave this room until you have memorized it." he shook Draco by the hair. "Do you understand?"
"I can't... I can't read..." Draco wailed and Lucius delivered a sharp backhand, leaving a livid hand mark on the boy's pale face.
"You will read this book and not leave the room until you have memorized it." Lucius repeated, clenching his teeth.
"But, Father.... - "
Lucius shook Draco again, jarring his teeth. "You. Will. Read. This. Book. And. Not. Leave. The. Room. Until. You. Have. Memorized. It."
Draco lifted his tear stained face up and finally realized that no matter what he said, it was fruitless. "Yes, Father." he sighed.
Lucius kicked open the heavy door and tossed Draco in as if he were no more substantial than a cloth doll. Draco rolled over and over, landing in a crumpled heap near the middle of the room and curled to his side, narrowly being missed by the book which his father threw in after him.
"Lumos." his father whispered and suddenly there was a faint light in the room, then the door slammed shut and Draco heard the bolt being slid home and he was alone with the book and the strange light.
Draco didn't know how long he sat in the room, but the light never changed and no matter how hard he squinted at the heavy book he could not make the squiggles on the pages form into words.
As he stared at the book the one thought passing through his mind was that this was all Tony's fault. If Tony had truely been his friend, he wouldn't have been a Mudblood. Draco hated Mudbloods.
There was a silver glimmer at Draco's elbow and he looked up and saw one of the family ghosts, Great-Uncle Dorien, who smiled down at him. "What seems to be the problem, young Draco?"
Draco stabbed at the book with a finger. "I can't read. And I can't go to my room until I rememor... mem...."
"Memorize?"
Draco nodded emphatically. "Yeah."
Great-Uncle Dorien's eyes seemed to twinkle as the looked over the book in Draco's lap. "Can you repeat after me?"
Draco grinned suddenly. He was good at that. Imitating Dorien's drawl, he said. "Can you repeat after me?"
"Good boy." Dorien's hand passed over Draco's head. "Here we go. The Malfoy Family Code Of Conduct. Rule number one... Malfoys must never consort with Mudbloods."
"The Malfoy Family Code Of Conduct. Rule number one..." Draco repeated. "Malfoys must never consort with Mudbloods."
And so it went, Draco repeating after Dorien, sometimes stumbling over some of the harder words, until two weeks later with all five hundred nine seven of the rules and a firm hatred of Mudbloods packed into his head, he was released from the room.
Draco never forgot that.
But tonight, as the clod of dirt left his hand and *fwumped* satisfyingly onto the lid of his father's casket, Draco remembered.