Chapter One – The Plan
Draco Malfoy sat at the table with his mother, eating in a comfortable silence. He hated to do what he was about to; he knew it would be hard on his mother, and they had been getting along so well recently, without his father in the way, but…he had to know.
"Mother, why did he do it to us? Didn't he love us? At all?"
Narcissa sighed. She should have known it was coming, yet she had hoped she would have a little longer to prepare.
"Your father stopped loving me the day he met Voldemort. I do not know if he ever loved you. As much as it grieves me to say it, I doubt he did. He had no capacity for love once he started serving Voldemort. He put all of his energy into torture, and as you know he forced you to pretend to be like him. What you don't know, though I hope you've guessed is that he forced me to pretend to be indifferent to you. It hurt me so much to have to hear you cry at night, knowing that if I entered your room to comfort you, your father would kill you when I was asleep and unable to defend you. Not that I would have been much help. I hope you know, Draco, that I love you very much and I will do anything I can to protect you. I hope that we can get to know each other even more before the end of the holidays, but from what I know of you so far, I am prouder than you'll ever know. You have not been affected by him, and I could not be happier right now." She reached across the table and squeezed his hand tightly.
"Mother-" he began.
"Call me 'mum'" she interrupted.
"Mum," he tasted the new word, liking it, "I've been thinking. I think we should move house and change our name to 'Black.' That is your maiden name after all.
"Draco, my love, we will most certainly change our name to 'Black' – I've been thinking that myself. At least I managed to relieve your father of all the money in our vault as soon as he was arrested, before he managed to give it to Voldemort's supporters. I believe we may need to stay with friends for a while. Just until I find a new house for us to live in."
"But… who will we stay with?"
"We can stay with Professor Snape."
"Uggh! I don't like him at all! I mean I know I had to pretend to, but…" He trailed off, disgusted, hoping to rinse the nasty taste that formed in his mouth at the mention of Snape's name by having a sip of pumpkin juice.
"He and I have been in a secret relationship for over ten years." At this, the juice came flying out of his mouth, spraying his mother's delicate porcelain face.
"I'm sorry, it's just…"
"I know. It's hard. I think you should go up to bed. We'll sort things out in the morning." She said, wiping her face, while the ghost of a smile flitted across her face.
"I have a plan too," he said quietly before leaving the table. His mother smiled at his back.
"I'm glad," she whispered.