Disclaimer: I do not own any original Harry Potter characters. Sniff sniff.
Claimer: I own Jack Harry Arthur Potter, Maxmillian Xavier Black, and the entire 'de Varci' family.
This story is being used for entertainment purposes only, no money is being made and no violation of copyright intended.
Read, enjoy, and review!!! *****************************************************************
This chapter is dedicated Sophie. Thanks for being a cool friend!!! *****************************************************************
Hermione was stunned.
"She what?" she asked incredulously, sure she'd heard wrong. After all Cendrillon had done to Draco, she was trying to take away his son too? The only thing he had left? Draco nodded sadly.
"She wants him back. Says she's got a boyfriend and a steady job, which changes everything. It was different when we were younger, and she'd just left. But now she has a stable background in which to bring up the son she left behind. Which do you think the jury will choose- me, no job, no partner, or her, with everything?" he said, running a hand through his hair. It wasn't a question and Hermione knew it.
"Oh god. That's a really hard case." She sighed.
"I know. But I can't let her take him- I just can't. No one knows how much he means to me, no one could ever imagine. If she gets him..." Draco trailed off and shook his head, looking down at his feet.
"Are you doing this the muggle way or the wizarding way?" Hermione asked.
"Muggle. Cendrillon's boyfriend, apparently, is a Muggle and has no idea about the wizarding world let alone the fact that Cendrillon's a witch. Or that Max and I are wizards."
"So.... if Max were to be put in Cendrillon's custody, he would be raised as a muggle?" Hermione asked. Draco nodded slowly.
"Well, think about it. If it's a Muggle trial, they can't use your father against you. And who's your lawyer?" she asked.
"Name's Adrian Sylvester. He's not much help, actually. More interested in how much I'm paying him than the actual case."
"And when's the trial?"
"Next week. That's why I'm so frantic. I've been thinking all summer about what I can say to convince the jury that Max is better off than me. The only thing I can think of is that I love him and Cendrillon doesn't- but no one can prove that." He replied.
"And have you- or Max- seen Cendrillon since she left?"
"No. All the correspondence we've had was second-hand owls through our lawyers." He replied.
"Look, Draco, I know this seems like a hopeless case to you but I can help you. I'm not an expert at this but I'll try my best. Please, try and look on the bright side?" she said.
"I can't help it. Have you ever had just one person who's the centre of your entire existence? Having him taken away would just ruin me. Completely. I keep thinking, you know? What if Cendrillon gets full custody? And all I get is a restraining order and one lousy letter a year? He'll be two soon. He might spend that birthday with his mother, and every other birthday after that-"
"Don't do this to yourself. You'll just work yourself into a state." Hermione said, like a nanny looking after a little boy. How ironic.
"I know I will. And I don't care. If he gets taken from me I'll have nothing else to live for."
*********************************************************************
They walked to Draco's place in silence. Hermione had looked back at Lavender, who was still fast asleep, and decided not to leave her considering how peaceful she was in the sun. Anyway, hopefully she'd be back in time to do something with her friend that night.
They walked for about ten minutes before Draco turned right into a semicircular driveway. At the edge of the driveway was a white house- medium bordering on large. He stopped at the front door and opened it with a flick of the wand he pulled from his back pocket and led the way into an open, airy hallway.
"This is a great house. Do I get a tour?" Hermione asked, hoping to cheer him up at least a little bit.
"Sure. If you want. This is the hallway." Draco gestured around the space. There were a few photos on the wall, arranged tastefully, of Draco and Max. There were also a few pictures of Draco with the other Slytherins from Hogwarts, ranging from first year to the beginning of seventh.
"These are good, there Hogwarts ones. Where did you get them?" Hermione asked, looking at a photo of Draco laughing with Millicent Bulstrode and Isaac Macnair.
"Amy Nott always had a camera with her. Sort of like the Colin Creevey of Slytherin."
"This is a really good one." Hermione said, looking at it. It depicted Draco and Blaise Zabini playing poker in the Slytherin common room, others watching from their seats. Hermione guessed they were about fifteen years old in the photo.
"They were all good people. Everyone hated us, but we were all the same as everyone else- only we had the parents who were death eaters. After a while we got used to being treated like death eaters and just stuck to our own." Draco explained, some of the light in his eyes going out even more than it already had.
"What happened to them?" Hermione asked.
"It depends, really. They all fought. Pansy died- Weasley killed her by accident. Millie went back to France- she came to see me last month, actually. She's married. Has a baby. Isaac went to America. Haven't heard from him since. Blaise went clinically insane. He's in St. Mungo's. Amy died too; she inhaled a lot of smoke in the fire. I offered to buy these off her parents but they gave them to me. There are lots more of them around the house. Crabbe went to university in Italy. He was never as stupid as everyone thought; he's close to getting a Masters in Italian, so I've heard. He's still there, I think; no one's seen him in a few months. No one knows where Goyle is; he disappeared after the Battle." Draco finished.
"I. we. oh. Blaise- wasn't he your best friend?" she asked. He nodded.
"Yeah Blaise and Millie. Pansy was my girlfriend for a while- she wasn't actually as bad as everyone thinks. She was fun to be around."
"Hmm." Hermione said, remembering all the times Draco and Pansy had been so terrible towards her.
"I know what you're thinking. And we did it because Slytherin Purebloods aren't allowed to show weakness. Once Millie's father whipped her because she just said 'hello' to someone in Ravenclaw and he somehow found out. It's not as though we secretly longed to be best friends with Potter and everyone, but we didn't really hate any of you either. It's so much easier to be horrible and accepter in your own society than to be neutral, accepted by the other houses, and risk being beaten senseless at home." Draco said. Hermione blushed.
"Beaten? Whipped?" she asked. "All of you?"
"Except Amy. Her parents ignored her completely because her older brother was already a Death Eater and they were too proud of him to notice her." He replied matter-of-factly. "Let me show you the rest of the house then we can brainstorm the case." He said, walking through a door to the left. Hermione followed.
On of the walls in the kitchen was all windows and doors, letting the light through. There was a cooking area surrounded by a light wood counter, and a table in the centre of the room. There were cookbooks on a shelf above the stove, photos of Max neatly spellotaped to the fridge.
The next room was Max's bedroom. It was painted a medium blue. A bed shaped like a race car took up a lot of space against the wall. A bookshelf lined with picture books took up another wall. A small chest at the end of the bed held toys. Hermione was surprised at this- she had expected Max to have every single toy ever made, him being a Malfoy and all.
"I try not to spoil him." Draco said. It was creeping her out how he seemed to read her mind.
There were a couple of simple guestrooms- "I don't know why, no one ever stays here." Draco said- and matching bathrooms for them. The garage/broom shed held two cars- a Citroën Picasso and a Porsche Boxer, and a bunch of racing brooms.
Draco's room wasn't very big- just a bed pushed into a corner and a bedside table with a lamp. There were more photos in this room, too.
Then Draco stopped in front of a large set of wooden double doors.
"I think you'll like this room." He said, opening them and gesturing for Hermione to go in before him. She did, and gasped at the sight.
The ceiling was really high, and the walls were lined with. books. Six foot high bookshelves covered the walls, with glass windows where the bookshelves ended to let the light in. There were two black leather couches facing each other in the middle of the room, with a coffee table in between them.
"Oh my god." Hermione breathed. "How many books are in here?" she asked.
"I don't know, actually. Thousands. I moved them all over here from the Manor in Hertfordshire before I sold it." Hermione snapped to attention.
"You sold Malfoy Manor?" she asked.
"Yes. It reminded me of everything bad about my childhood, so it had to go. And it was too big- you could never find anyone there. But I had to keep the books." He said. Hermione wanted nothing more than to grab the nearest book and sit down with it on one of the black couches, but she knew she couldn't. She had to help Draco with his case. Draco had walked over to a shelf and tapped a big gold book three times with his wand. Hermione watched as the bookshelf swung around to reveal a doorway. Draco went in, and she followed.
Inside was an office, with a big black desk. There was a laptop on the desk, and a phone. Three or four filing cabinets stood on either side of the desk.
"What's in there?" Hermione asked, pointing to a green door at the back of the room, opposite the entrance to the library.
"My Potions room. I don't want Max going in there and spilling something all over himself, or walking into a filing cabinet, which is why I made it so he can't get in here." He explained, taking a sheaf of paper out of one of the cabinets.
"Clever." Hermione said.
"These are all the letter sent to me from Cendrillon via the lawyer." Draco said.
"They'll help." Hermione said, taking them. They went back into the library and sat on one of the couches, and began thinking of things to say that would keep Draco's son in his custody.
************************************************************************
I'm sooo glad about the reviews I got for the last chapter! Since my internet is broken again, I'm having to write on my laptop and them upload on my sister's computer. However she wont let me do anything more than upload and check my email, so I can't see who reviewed about what or mention you by name. I might remember your name though. Tiger_tiger2, that sucks about your niece. I really want a niece/nephew/goddaughter/godson but since no adult trusts me with their kids ( I wonder why. it wasn't my fault the kid got sick! It ate ALL the goddam yoghurt!) and my sister is only 11, I somehow don't think that'll happen anytime soon. Whoever it was who understood the German, sorry if I've made any mistakes- I only learn it at school and since I'm only in 8th grade I think I deserve to still be allowed to make mistakes in it. FanFiction didn't understand the symbol that looks sorta like a big B with a tail ( I forgot the real name for it) and stands for the 'ss' sound, which is why it says 'ich mu?' a lot. Sorry everyone. Just so you guys all know there'll be a lot of different languages in the fic along the way, including some Italian. Everyone has to tell me if I make mistakes in anything, ok? I'd write another chapter but I have a Math Challenge tomorrow and I gotta study. *swears violently*. DAMN SCHOOL! WHY THE HELL CAN'T WE ALL JUST HAVE TUTORS, EH?
Claimer: I own Jack Harry Arthur Potter, Maxmillian Xavier Black, and the entire 'de Varci' family.
This story is being used for entertainment purposes only, no money is being made and no violation of copyright intended.
Read, enjoy, and review!!! *****************************************************************
This chapter is dedicated Sophie. Thanks for being a cool friend!!! *****************************************************************
Hermione was stunned.
"She what?" she asked incredulously, sure she'd heard wrong. After all Cendrillon had done to Draco, she was trying to take away his son too? The only thing he had left? Draco nodded sadly.
"She wants him back. Says she's got a boyfriend and a steady job, which changes everything. It was different when we were younger, and she'd just left. But now she has a stable background in which to bring up the son she left behind. Which do you think the jury will choose- me, no job, no partner, or her, with everything?" he said, running a hand through his hair. It wasn't a question and Hermione knew it.
"Oh god. That's a really hard case." She sighed.
"I know. But I can't let her take him- I just can't. No one knows how much he means to me, no one could ever imagine. If she gets him..." Draco trailed off and shook his head, looking down at his feet.
"Are you doing this the muggle way or the wizarding way?" Hermione asked.
"Muggle. Cendrillon's boyfriend, apparently, is a Muggle and has no idea about the wizarding world let alone the fact that Cendrillon's a witch. Or that Max and I are wizards."
"So.... if Max were to be put in Cendrillon's custody, he would be raised as a muggle?" Hermione asked. Draco nodded slowly.
"Well, think about it. If it's a Muggle trial, they can't use your father against you. And who's your lawyer?" she asked.
"Name's Adrian Sylvester. He's not much help, actually. More interested in how much I'm paying him than the actual case."
"And when's the trial?"
"Next week. That's why I'm so frantic. I've been thinking all summer about what I can say to convince the jury that Max is better off than me. The only thing I can think of is that I love him and Cendrillon doesn't- but no one can prove that." He replied.
"And have you- or Max- seen Cendrillon since she left?"
"No. All the correspondence we've had was second-hand owls through our lawyers." He replied.
"Look, Draco, I know this seems like a hopeless case to you but I can help you. I'm not an expert at this but I'll try my best. Please, try and look on the bright side?" she said.
"I can't help it. Have you ever had just one person who's the centre of your entire existence? Having him taken away would just ruin me. Completely. I keep thinking, you know? What if Cendrillon gets full custody? And all I get is a restraining order and one lousy letter a year? He'll be two soon. He might spend that birthday with his mother, and every other birthday after that-"
"Don't do this to yourself. You'll just work yourself into a state." Hermione said, like a nanny looking after a little boy. How ironic.
"I know I will. And I don't care. If he gets taken from me I'll have nothing else to live for."
*********************************************************************
They walked to Draco's place in silence. Hermione had looked back at Lavender, who was still fast asleep, and decided not to leave her considering how peaceful she was in the sun. Anyway, hopefully she'd be back in time to do something with her friend that night.
They walked for about ten minutes before Draco turned right into a semicircular driveway. At the edge of the driveway was a white house- medium bordering on large. He stopped at the front door and opened it with a flick of the wand he pulled from his back pocket and led the way into an open, airy hallway.
"This is a great house. Do I get a tour?" Hermione asked, hoping to cheer him up at least a little bit.
"Sure. If you want. This is the hallway." Draco gestured around the space. There were a few photos on the wall, arranged tastefully, of Draco and Max. There were also a few pictures of Draco with the other Slytherins from Hogwarts, ranging from first year to the beginning of seventh.
"These are good, there Hogwarts ones. Where did you get them?" Hermione asked, looking at a photo of Draco laughing with Millicent Bulstrode and Isaac Macnair.
"Amy Nott always had a camera with her. Sort of like the Colin Creevey of Slytherin."
"This is a really good one." Hermione said, looking at it. It depicted Draco and Blaise Zabini playing poker in the Slytherin common room, others watching from their seats. Hermione guessed they were about fifteen years old in the photo.
"They were all good people. Everyone hated us, but we were all the same as everyone else- only we had the parents who were death eaters. After a while we got used to being treated like death eaters and just stuck to our own." Draco explained, some of the light in his eyes going out even more than it already had.
"What happened to them?" Hermione asked.
"It depends, really. They all fought. Pansy died- Weasley killed her by accident. Millie went back to France- she came to see me last month, actually. She's married. Has a baby. Isaac went to America. Haven't heard from him since. Blaise went clinically insane. He's in St. Mungo's. Amy died too; she inhaled a lot of smoke in the fire. I offered to buy these off her parents but they gave them to me. There are lots more of them around the house. Crabbe went to university in Italy. He was never as stupid as everyone thought; he's close to getting a Masters in Italian, so I've heard. He's still there, I think; no one's seen him in a few months. No one knows where Goyle is; he disappeared after the Battle." Draco finished.
"I. we. oh. Blaise- wasn't he your best friend?" she asked. He nodded.
"Yeah Blaise and Millie. Pansy was my girlfriend for a while- she wasn't actually as bad as everyone thinks. She was fun to be around."
"Hmm." Hermione said, remembering all the times Draco and Pansy had been so terrible towards her.
"I know what you're thinking. And we did it because Slytherin Purebloods aren't allowed to show weakness. Once Millie's father whipped her because she just said 'hello' to someone in Ravenclaw and he somehow found out. It's not as though we secretly longed to be best friends with Potter and everyone, but we didn't really hate any of you either. It's so much easier to be horrible and accepter in your own society than to be neutral, accepted by the other houses, and risk being beaten senseless at home." Draco said. Hermione blushed.
"Beaten? Whipped?" she asked. "All of you?"
"Except Amy. Her parents ignored her completely because her older brother was already a Death Eater and they were too proud of him to notice her." He replied matter-of-factly. "Let me show you the rest of the house then we can brainstorm the case." He said, walking through a door to the left. Hermione followed.
On of the walls in the kitchen was all windows and doors, letting the light through. There was a cooking area surrounded by a light wood counter, and a table in the centre of the room. There were cookbooks on a shelf above the stove, photos of Max neatly spellotaped to the fridge.
The next room was Max's bedroom. It was painted a medium blue. A bed shaped like a race car took up a lot of space against the wall. A bookshelf lined with picture books took up another wall. A small chest at the end of the bed held toys. Hermione was surprised at this- she had expected Max to have every single toy ever made, him being a Malfoy and all.
"I try not to spoil him." Draco said. It was creeping her out how he seemed to read her mind.
There were a couple of simple guestrooms- "I don't know why, no one ever stays here." Draco said- and matching bathrooms for them. The garage/broom shed held two cars- a Citroën Picasso and a Porsche Boxer, and a bunch of racing brooms.
Draco's room wasn't very big- just a bed pushed into a corner and a bedside table with a lamp. There were more photos in this room, too.
Then Draco stopped in front of a large set of wooden double doors.
"I think you'll like this room." He said, opening them and gesturing for Hermione to go in before him. She did, and gasped at the sight.
The ceiling was really high, and the walls were lined with. books. Six foot high bookshelves covered the walls, with glass windows where the bookshelves ended to let the light in. There were two black leather couches facing each other in the middle of the room, with a coffee table in between them.
"Oh my god." Hermione breathed. "How many books are in here?" she asked.
"I don't know, actually. Thousands. I moved them all over here from the Manor in Hertfordshire before I sold it." Hermione snapped to attention.
"You sold Malfoy Manor?" she asked.
"Yes. It reminded me of everything bad about my childhood, so it had to go. And it was too big- you could never find anyone there. But I had to keep the books." He said. Hermione wanted nothing more than to grab the nearest book and sit down with it on one of the black couches, but she knew she couldn't. She had to help Draco with his case. Draco had walked over to a shelf and tapped a big gold book three times with his wand. Hermione watched as the bookshelf swung around to reveal a doorway. Draco went in, and she followed.
Inside was an office, with a big black desk. There was a laptop on the desk, and a phone. Three or four filing cabinets stood on either side of the desk.
"What's in there?" Hermione asked, pointing to a green door at the back of the room, opposite the entrance to the library.
"My Potions room. I don't want Max going in there and spilling something all over himself, or walking into a filing cabinet, which is why I made it so he can't get in here." He explained, taking a sheaf of paper out of one of the cabinets.
"Clever." Hermione said.
"These are all the letter sent to me from Cendrillon via the lawyer." Draco said.
"They'll help." Hermione said, taking them. They went back into the library and sat on one of the couches, and began thinking of things to say that would keep Draco's son in his custody.
************************************************************************
I'm sooo glad about the reviews I got for the last chapter! Since my internet is broken again, I'm having to write on my laptop and them upload on my sister's computer. However she wont let me do anything more than upload and check my email, so I can't see who reviewed about what or mention you by name. I might remember your name though. Tiger_tiger2, that sucks about your niece. I really want a niece/nephew/goddaughter/godson but since no adult trusts me with their kids ( I wonder why. it wasn't my fault the kid got sick! It ate ALL the goddam yoghurt!) and my sister is only 11, I somehow don't think that'll happen anytime soon. Whoever it was who understood the German, sorry if I've made any mistakes- I only learn it at school and since I'm only in 8th grade I think I deserve to still be allowed to make mistakes in it. FanFiction didn't understand the symbol that looks sorta like a big B with a tail ( I forgot the real name for it) and stands for the 'ss' sound, which is why it says 'ich mu?' a lot. Sorry everyone. Just so you guys all know there'll be a lot of different languages in the fic along the way, including some Italian. Everyone has to tell me if I make mistakes in anything, ok? I'd write another chapter but I have a Math Challenge tomorrow and I gotta study. *swears violently*. DAMN SCHOOL! WHY THE HELL CAN'T WE ALL JUST HAVE TUTORS, EH?