Disclaimer: I just own the plot.
I Built My Life Around You
**Narcissa's Thoughts**
Chapter Two
Draco had not been home two days before Narcissa decided she could not stand to hear one more word about Potter Jr.
"Darling," she said for what felt like the thousandth time, "don't beat yourself up over him, you shouldn't always be comparing yourself to other people like this it'll just make you feel bad and I'm sure you're a better quidditch player than him anyway, I told you Dumbledore had always favoured the Gryffindors."
"But it's not fair! The school even bought him a bloody broomstick!"
"Don't swear dear, if you have to insult someone use wit not profanity."
"Yes mum. But it really isn't fair, why should Dumbledore always favour them!?"
"That's just the way things are dear."
"Well it isn't the way they should be."
"No dear, but it's Christmas and I have no desire to discuss the politics of Hogwarts headmasters and their insane rabble of a teaching staff."
Draco laughed and Narcissa couldn't help laughing with him. "It's lovely to have you home you know."
"It's nice to be home."
"Well stop talking about school then and get into the Christmas spirit for a change."
*******
Christmas Eve came quickly, the time in between spent on shopping and decorating for the holidays. Narcissa came down stairs early that morning to find Lucius looking for her.
"Narcissa, we will be attending a function at the ministry tonight."
**First I've heard of it.** "I can't go, Draco and I were going to wrap presents tonight."
"I'm sure the house elf's more than capable of doing that."
"Well, I'd rather do it myself, I haven't seen my son for months and I'd like to spend some time with him."
"You can do that tomorrow. I've already accepted the invitation for tonight and we will be there."
"Lucius..."
"Don't argue with me right now, I am not in the mood. Go and buy yourself something pretty to wear." With that he swept from the room leaving Narcissa cursing the day she'd ever met him, as she did after most of their encounters these days.
*******
Draco was not happy at being left with the house elf when he'd thought he'd get to spend the evening with his mother for a change. "Damn her and her stupid parties," he muttered, "Dad said he didn't even want to go but she insisted. Why can't she stay with me?!"
He wandered down the corridor towards his mother's room and nearly fell over Dobby as he entered it, "Stupid elf!" he snapped, kicking the poor creature out of the door and out of his way.
Narcissa watched in horror, Draco certainly had grown to dislike the elf as he'd grown up but she had never seen this kind of blatant cruelty from him before. "Draco! What on earth do you think you're doing?!"
"Well, I was coming to ask you why you felt it necessary to go out when you said you'd spend the night with me!"
"We've already been through that and I meant to Dobby!"
"What?"
"You just kicked the creature out of the room!"
"So? Dad does it." He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.
**Lucius, I swear I will cause you pain one day!** "You don't have to imitate everything he does you know!" she snapped back, not in the mood to reason with her son, while distractedly fixing her hair.
Draco sneered at her.
**Did he just sneer at me?! Heaven help us, I think I'm going to go mad in this house sooner or later! Thank you Sev for your marvellous influence, I see Hogwarts has left him much improved!** "Don't sneer at your mother! And don't attack the house elf!"
"What is wrong with you? Having a bad hair day?"
**Ouch! That hurt. He sounds like his father.** "Thank you, my hair is perfect as ever. Now I have to get going, do me a favour and while I'm out don't kill Dobby and in future don't back chat me."
She tried to kiss his head but he shrugged her off, shying away from her. She shook her head and turned to leave, determined not to get upset as she was sure Lucius would not find the sight of her with her mascara running too amusing.
"Mum," said a small voice from behind her.
She turned; he smiled apologetically, "You look lovely."
**Oh dear, there goes the mascara!** She felt a tear escape and she knelt down heedless of her new robes and put her arms around him. "Thank you sweetheart, I promise we won't be back late. Besides," she added with a mischievous smile, "Your father turns back into a pumpkin at midnight."
He snorted with laughter and handed her a mirror from her dressing table, "You might want to fix your make up before you go."
"Damn!" Narcissa muttered a quick spell and dashed out to the hall where Lucius was waiting. Draco followed her to say goodbye and this time he didn't object when she kissed his head.
*******
Christmas day was over much too quickly for Narcissa's liking, she was awoken at six o'clock with Draco wanting to open his stocking and demanding attention, "How old are you again?" she muttered before heading for her bathroom for a hangover cure, **Gotta stop drinking because I'm bored at Ministry functions.** Draco was unamused at the wait and was practically bouncing on the bed by the time she got back in the room all of thirty seconds later.
"Alright dear, come on then."
She yawned but sat there indulgently as he opened his stocking, grateful that it had been Dobby who'd put it up as she'd drunk a little too much to have remembered about it.
The rest of the day passed peacefully enough, Lucius put a bit of a dampener on things in her opinion due to his not having died in the night, **but we can't ask for too much even at Christmas!**
Draco had wrapped his own presents and presented her with a silver box tied up with a green ribbon, inside which was a beautiful emerald green winter scarf. It was simple but stylish and much more her than the awfully showy necklace she had received from Lucius. There was also a single white rose clearly enchanted so as not to die in the wrapping.
"I remembered you liked roses and I learnt this charm that preserves things while they're in packing, do you like it?" Draco asked seeing his mother lift it gently from the box.
"It's beautiful, what a lovely idea!" She hugged her son and put the scarf on, despite Lucius' protest that it looked daft in the house.
She placed the rose on her bedside table that night in a small crystal vase that had been a gift from some colleague of Lucius', and his wife who she knew through various dinner parties and functions.
She looked out of the window at the snow, which was falling again, seeing the snowman she'd built with her son that afternoon and smiling, **maybe he isn't so much like Lucius after all.**
*******
Draco went back to school a week after Christmas and Narcissa was mortified at the loss of her son again. She put him on the train, making him promise to write often and slipping him a box of his favourite sugar quills, which she had a sneaking suspicion he was eating in lessons but as she remembered doing similar things at school herself she felt disinclined to discourage him.
She watched as the small, **(Well relatively speaking)**, versions of Crabbe and Goyle came up to Draco to ask about his Christmas. They all got into a carriage together, much to her disappointment, and began to chatter happily enough, so she kissed her son one last time and left before the train, unable to watch it pull away.
The manor seemed so much emptier than it had before. She never noticed how much life he brought to the place and she longed to have him with her again as she wandered listlessly from room to room searching for something to remind her of him. She eventually curled up with a book by the fire, with the scarf he'd bought her wrapped tightly around her.
It wasn't until that night when she saw the, now wilting, white flower by her bed that she began to cry, feeling how fully she had lost him and much more fully she could end up losing him if she wasn't successful in keeping him from under Lucius' influence.
*******
Please review! I'll love you forever! I'll update again soon!
I Built My Life Around You
**Narcissa's Thoughts**
Chapter Two
Draco had not been home two days before Narcissa decided she could not stand to hear one more word about Potter Jr.
"Darling," she said for what felt like the thousandth time, "don't beat yourself up over him, you shouldn't always be comparing yourself to other people like this it'll just make you feel bad and I'm sure you're a better quidditch player than him anyway, I told you Dumbledore had always favoured the Gryffindors."
"But it's not fair! The school even bought him a bloody broomstick!"
"Don't swear dear, if you have to insult someone use wit not profanity."
"Yes mum. But it really isn't fair, why should Dumbledore always favour them!?"
"That's just the way things are dear."
"Well it isn't the way they should be."
"No dear, but it's Christmas and I have no desire to discuss the politics of Hogwarts headmasters and their insane rabble of a teaching staff."
Draco laughed and Narcissa couldn't help laughing with him. "It's lovely to have you home you know."
"It's nice to be home."
"Well stop talking about school then and get into the Christmas spirit for a change."
*******
Christmas Eve came quickly, the time in between spent on shopping and decorating for the holidays. Narcissa came down stairs early that morning to find Lucius looking for her.
"Narcissa, we will be attending a function at the ministry tonight."
**First I've heard of it.** "I can't go, Draco and I were going to wrap presents tonight."
"I'm sure the house elf's more than capable of doing that."
"Well, I'd rather do it myself, I haven't seen my son for months and I'd like to spend some time with him."
"You can do that tomorrow. I've already accepted the invitation for tonight and we will be there."
"Lucius..."
"Don't argue with me right now, I am not in the mood. Go and buy yourself something pretty to wear." With that he swept from the room leaving Narcissa cursing the day she'd ever met him, as she did after most of their encounters these days.
*******
Draco was not happy at being left with the house elf when he'd thought he'd get to spend the evening with his mother for a change. "Damn her and her stupid parties," he muttered, "Dad said he didn't even want to go but she insisted. Why can't she stay with me?!"
He wandered down the corridor towards his mother's room and nearly fell over Dobby as he entered it, "Stupid elf!" he snapped, kicking the poor creature out of the door and out of his way.
Narcissa watched in horror, Draco certainly had grown to dislike the elf as he'd grown up but she had never seen this kind of blatant cruelty from him before. "Draco! What on earth do you think you're doing?!"
"Well, I was coming to ask you why you felt it necessary to go out when you said you'd spend the night with me!"
"We've already been through that and I meant to Dobby!"
"What?"
"You just kicked the creature out of the room!"
"So? Dad does it." He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.
**Lucius, I swear I will cause you pain one day!** "You don't have to imitate everything he does you know!" she snapped back, not in the mood to reason with her son, while distractedly fixing her hair.
Draco sneered at her.
**Did he just sneer at me?! Heaven help us, I think I'm going to go mad in this house sooner or later! Thank you Sev for your marvellous influence, I see Hogwarts has left him much improved!** "Don't sneer at your mother! And don't attack the house elf!"
"What is wrong with you? Having a bad hair day?"
**Ouch! That hurt. He sounds like his father.** "Thank you, my hair is perfect as ever. Now I have to get going, do me a favour and while I'm out don't kill Dobby and in future don't back chat me."
She tried to kiss his head but he shrugged her off, shying away from her. She shook her head and turned to leave, determined not to get upset as she was sure Lucius would not find the sight of her with her mascara running too amusing.
"Mum," said a small voice from behind her.
She turned; he smiled apologetically, "You look lovely."
**Oh dear, there goes the mascara!** She felt a tear escape and she knelt down heedless of her new robes and put her arms around him. "Thank you sweetheart, I promise we won't be back late. Besides," she added with a mischievous smile, "Your father turns back into a pumpkin at midnight."
He snorted with laughter and handed her a mirror from her dressing table, "You might want to fix your make up before you go."
"Damn!" Narcissa muttered a quick spell and dashed out to the hall where Lucius was waiting. Draco followed her to say goodbye and this time he didn't object when she kissed his head.
*******
Christmas day was over much too quickly for Narcissa's liking, she was awoken at six o'clock with Draco wanting to open his stocking and demanding attention, "How old are you again?" she muttered before heading for her bathroom for a hangover cure, **Gotta stop drinking because I'm bored at Ministry functions.** Draco was unamused at the wait and was practically bouncing on the bed by the time she got back in the room all of thirty seconds later.
"Alright dear, come on then."
She yawned but sat there indulgently as he opened his stocking, grateful that it had been Dobby who'd put it up as she'd drunk a little too much to have remembered about it.
The rest of the day passed peacefully enough, Lucius put a bit of a dampener on things in her opinion due to his not having died in the night, **but we can't ask for too much even at Christmas!**
Draco had wrapped his own presents and presented her with a silver box tied up with a green ribbon, inside which was a beautiful emerald green winter scarf. It was simple but stylish and much more her than the awfully showy necklace she had received from Lucius. There was also a single white rose clearly enchanted so as not to die in the wrapping.
"I remembered you liked roses and I learnt this charm that preserves things while they're in packing, do you like it?" Draco asked seeing his mother lift it gently from the box.
"It's beautiful, what a lovely idea!" She hugged her son and put the scarf on, despite Lucius' protest that it looked daft in the house.
She placed the rose on her bedside table that night in a small crystal vase that had been a gift from some colleague of Lucius', and his wife who she knew through various dinner parties and functions.
She looked out of the window at the snow, which was falling again, seeing the snowman she'd built with her son that afternoon and smiling, **maybe he isn't so much like Lucius after all.**
*******
Draco went back to school a week after Christmas and Narcissa was mortified at the loss of her son again. She put him on the train, making him promise to write often and slipping him a box of his favourite sugar quills, which she had a sneaking suspicion he was eating in lessons but as she remembered doing similar things at school herself she felt disinclined to discourage him.
She watched as the small, **(Well relatively speaking)**, versions of Crabbe and Goyle came up to Draco to ask about his Christmas. They all got into a carriage together, much to her disappointment, and began to chatter happily enough, so she kissed her son one last time and left before the train, unable to watch it pull away.
The manor seemed so much emptier than it had before. She never noticed how much life he brought to the place and she longed to have him with her again as she wandered listlessly from room to room searching for something to remind her of him. She eventually curled up with a book by the fire, with the scarf he'd bought her wrapped tightly around her.
It wasn't until that night when she saw the, now wilting, white flower by her bed that she began to cry, feeling how fully she had lost him and much more fully she could end up losing him if she wasn't successful in keeping him from under Lucius' influence.
*******
Please review! I'll love you forever! I'll update again soon!
