A/N: Same warnings and notes as before.

Any comments would be gladly appreciated, as I have been working on this fic almost as long as Finding Harry, and had I not been publishing FH, it might have been done much sooner. If you would like to email me, my address is elfflame at hotmail dot com.

Thank you to so many people who helped me with this story. The first is Foodie, who read large chunks of this story for character purposes, and is always a doll when it comes to encouraging me to write. The second is to Dark Angel, who was particularly a major influence on the Lucius in this story. Without her, this Lucius would have been much wimpier. And the final thank you goes to my lovely Turtle Avenger, who tells me that she'd read the phone book if I wrote it. :D Love you, hon.

To my reviewers:

ATadObsessive46: Thank you. I'm glad it worked. :)

Fifespice: Well, he'll quickly find that she still thinks of him as her son, so he hasn't lost her. :)

AloraBraken: Yep. And I'm one of them. Though obviously this story came before book 6. :) Reg has become one of my favorite minor characters recently. Narcissa and Draco will be just fine.

Angelkitty77: Snape didn't do anything. In fact, he's been trying to help Draco from the beginning. Even if he doesn't like Harry. :)

Faded Glitter: Just came to me, really. It's rather scary how well it works. Though it's not a happy story, theirs…

Taikai no za Kokoro: Thank you very much. I'm glad you like it so much. I update daily, so it won't be long at all. Hope you like the rest.

Fudgebaby: Thank you. Here's the next one.

Darkangelgep: He is. Narcissa does know, yes. She'd be hard-pressed to miss Lucius giving birth. Though I suppose he could have pulled something like in Finding Harry, couldn't he? ;)

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. They belong to a lovely lady who seems to enjoy making us suffer. Hopefully the ending will turn out this nice… ;)

I hope you all enjoy.

What's Done Is Done

By Elf Flame

6 Coming to Terms

Things didn't improve over the next few days. Draco avoided Lucius entirely, and he and Harry took most of their meals in his room. Narcissa was another matter entirely. After his third day of sulking, she finally appeared at his door along with their lunch tray.

"I refuse to allow any of this ridiculous hiding any longer, Draco. You and Harry will attend supper tonight. I insist. You are still a part of this family, and even if you are angry with your father, that is no excuse to avoid me."

"Yes, mother," Draco said miserably.

"Draco, I know all this is difficult for you, but some good can come of it."

Draco looked up to meet her eyes. "What do you mean?"

She smiled. "I was quite fond of Regulus when we were young. He and I got on quite well. I thought maybe…You might want to hear about him?"

Draco swallowed. "Really? You want to tell me about him?"

She smiled. It was a smile he remembered from his childhood, when he'd done something particularly clever, or charmed one of her friends. "Draco, whatever else, I raised you. That made you my son. And I hope I have done Regulus justice. I think he would be proud of you."

He looked at her, worried. "Do you? Even though I've disappointed father?"

"Your father…" She sighed. "He's a difficult man, Draco. I think Magnus pushed too hard after Regulus died. Your father was never quite the same after you were born."

Draco scowled. "But…"

"He was never kind or sweet, Draco, but when he was with Regulus, he was a different person." She sighed. "And that person went away after Regulus died. You became his reason for doing anything, Draco. He's not perfect, but he does want the world for you. It's not his fault that you don't want what he thinks you need."

Draco glanced at Harry, who was curled up on the bed, reading, purposefully giving mother and son time together. "He loved Regulus. Why can't he understand how I feel?"

"Draco, he never admitted to himself what he was feeling until it was too late, and Regulus was gone."

"Serves him right," Draco scowled. "He could have had everything."

"Draco." Draco sighed and turned to her. "Nothing is ever that simple. You and Harry never exactly got along in school, did you? Everyone has to come to their own understanding in their own way. Lucius knew he was fond of Regulus, but it took his death for him to realize what it meant. That is his tragedy." She reached out a hand and smoothed down Draco's hair. "That you never knew Regulus is yours." She smiled sadly. "I'd like to show him to you if I might. Would you like that?"

"Show him to me?" Draco asked, surprised. "How?"

"A Pensieve, of course. I thought you and Harry might like to see Regulus and Sirius before…"

Draco looked over at Harry, who was watching them warily. "I'd like that." He smiled at Harry, who smiled back.

"Me, too."

Narcissa seemed pleased. "It might take me a few days. I need to think of the best memories to show both of you. I'll let you know when I'm done."

Draco moved to her side, and kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you, mother."

"I only wish I could have raised you with more tales of him. But it hurt Lucius so much to hear of him, I didn't have the heart to do so."

"Yes, well… Thank you for what you did tell me when I was young. I was always fond of the times you spent telling me about him."

"I'm glad. Those times meant a lot to me, too. He would have adored you," she said, smiling. They were both quiet for a moment, then Narcissa stood, and straightened herself. "I should begin thinking about this now, if I'm going to. I still expect you both for supper tonight, and I expect you, Draco, to be civil to your father while we eat at the very least. I know you are angry at him, but there is no need to bring such disagreements to the table. I'll see you both then."

Draco sighed. "Yes, mother." He walked her to the door, gave her a hug, and watched as she walked down the hall to her room. It wouldn't be easy, but for her he would do it.

Dinner conversation was stilted and only barely civil. Draco did his best not to speak to Lucius at all, though he could hardly ignore his questions entirely. He simply made sure his answers were as short as possible, and changed the subject of conversation as soon as he could. Lucius was less than pleased at this, but Narcissa seemed to have talked to him as well, and he was doing his best to control his temper. After the final course had been cleared away, Draco and Harry made their apologies and returned to Draco's rooms.

An owl was waiting there for them. It was the tiniest owl Draco'd ever seen, and it looked as though someone had been feeding it nothing but sugar, as it was zooming about the room and twittering its head off in a high voice.

"It's Pigwidgeon," Harry said.

"Pig what?"

"Ron's owl. Hold on." He grabbed the owl out of the air, and managed to get the note it had been carrying, then set it loose once more. He read the note, scowling, and Draco resisted the urge to read it over his shoulder.

"What is it?"

"He wants to know when I'm going to come get the rest of my stuff…"

Draco raised an eyebrow. That seemed rather civil of Weasley, given that he and Draco had hated each other from the moment they'd met. "Is that all?"

Harry looked worriedly up at Draco. "Well, not entirely…"

Draco smiled blandly. "Let me guess. He wants to know if you've come to your senses yet."

"Something like that." He sighed. "But he's right. I haven't needed much more than what was in my overnight bag since I got here, but I should get my stuff… I mean, the Burrow barely has enough room as it is. The Weasleys shouldn't have to store my stuff, too."

"Your stuff is at the Weasleys? Good lord, we do need to go rescue it. Shall we go tomorrow?"

Harry swallowed. "Actually, Draco, I don't know that it's a good idea for you to go with me. I mean, it's not really your kind of place."

Draco sneered. "You mean, you don't trust me not to be cruel about it."

"Draco, please…"

Draco turned away. "Fine. Go on. I'll just be here waiting until you get back."

Harry's arms wrapped around his waist. "Don't be like this, Draco. I do want you all to get along, I just think it's better for me to go alone to do this. Besides, you'd probably hate it there."

Draco sniffed, but said nothing.

"Draco…" He pulled Draco around and tried to kiss him, but Draco turned his face just at the last moment.

"If you want to go see your friends, I certainly can't stop you. But I won't pretend it doesn't upset me that you don't trust me."

"Maybe it's not you I'm worried about being able to trust, Draco. Did you ever think of that?"

Draco looked at him. "Oh?"

"I may be best friends with Ron, but I'm not blind to his less-than-stellar qualities, you know. He has problems letting go of certain things. But once he's accepted you, Draco, it's like he never had doubts to begin with. He's just…extreme in his responses to people. I hope, given time, and the realization of what you mean to me, that he'll…lighten up a bit."

"And pigs will fly I suppose?" Draco sighed, and leaned into Harry. "I do love you, but I just wish…"

"I know, Draco. It's just going to take time, that's all."

"If you say so."

"Hermione will help."

Draco snorted. "Granger? She has every right to hate me as much as the w…Weasley does." They were silent for a bit, just holding each other. "How long do you think you'll be gone?" Draco finally asked.

"A couple of hours. I'd like to at least spend some time with them. They are my best friends, after all."

"Just promise me you'll be back before dinner. If I have to deal with a night like tonight alone, I may have to strangle the man, even if he did carry me."

"I promise not to leave you alone with him." He took Draco's hand, and they moved to the bed. "Now, you get comfortable while I write a response to Ron, and then we can spend the rest of the evening forgetting about all of them, okay?"

Draco smirked. "Promise?"

"Absolutely," Harry grinned.

Draco spent the next day in the library, further examining the family journals. Lucius had found out somehow that Harry was out of the Manor, and seemed to think it would make Draco more open to him since his "bad influence" was gone. After the third such visit, Draco felt it was prudent to escape his rooms, lest he do something more than simply hex his father.

It was there that Narcissa found him, gazing at a picture of Lucius and Regulus together.

"Draco?"

"Hello, mother. He was happy with father, wasn't he?" he asked plaintively.

"He adored Lucius. I have something for you. Something I'd forgotten about. His mother gave it to me after he died. She said that since we were so close, he would have liked me to have it." She handed him a small box.

"What is it?"

She smiled. "Open it and find out."

Inside the box was a long silver chain with a pale green crystal dangling from it. "A necklace?" he asked.

"It's a special necklace, Draco. I knew what it was, but I never touched it myself. I figured it was too private. But I thought you might like to see them when they were happy together."

"A memory crystal?" Memory crystals were much like Pensieves, though because of their small size, they could hold only one memory. They were also extravagantly expensive. It must have been a gift from Lucius, he thought.

She nodded.

He took a breath, uncertain if he wanted to see the memory that Regulus had saved and treasured so. But he wanted to see him. And the pictures couldn't talk… He touched the tip of his finger to it, and a bright spring day sprang up around him. Regulus was clutching Lucius's hand as they walked slowly down a garden path that Draco recognized as one of the Manor's outlying gardens. One he'd gotten into particular trouble for going into on his own once.

They were talking in quiet voices, and Regulus was smiling up at Lucius. He certainly didn't look older than eighteen. Then a serious look came over his face, they stopped walking, and he turned to Lucius. "Luc, tell me things won't change after I take it. That you'll be there after? Sirius keeps telling me that you're just using me, that you're just trying to get me to take the Mark for Him, and that you care nothing for me. Tell me it's not true."

Lucius smiled lightly. "You really ought to stop listening to that brother of yours. He tells you the most terrific horror stories." He caressed Regulus's face, then pulled his chin up so that his face was tilted up to Lucius's. "My feelings for you will never alter, Regulus. No one could possibly mean more to me than you. And your brother is a fool for even suggesting such a thing." With that, he leaned down and claimed Regulus's lips, and Draco felt he had to turn away. He pulled his fingers from the pendant, and looked at Narcissa where she sat.

"Not a bad memory, I hope?" she asked.

Draco shook his head. "No. Just the two of them. Father was still father. Nothing different there." He looked at the pendant for a moment before looking back at her. "You say he was different with Regulus. What do you mean? He seemed the same to me."

Narcissa's smile faded slightly. "It's difficult to explain, really. He wasn't more open, nor more forgiving. But there was a lightness about him that disappeared the day Regulus died. He was more willing to put himself on the line, I suppose. More accepting of others, perhaps. And when he was with Regulus, you could see that he was happy. Regulus as well." She looked troubled. "It would be better if you waited until tonight to ask these questions. I should have the memories ready by then. They'll probably answer more of your questions than I can. If you and Harry are willing to come to my suite tonight, I could show you both."

Draco nodded. "Of course." He reached out to hold her hand. "You don't know how much your understanding has meant to me, mother. I don't know what I would have done if it had just been Lucius and myself."

Narcissa smiled sadly. "You would have managed. Malfoys always do."

Draco scowled. "What Malfoys do is manage to alienate everyone in our lives. It's amazing we reproduce at all."

"Well, that's got to be why you need the veela blood, then," a familiar voice said in his ear.

He turned to see Harry standing behind him, grinning. "Are you saying that you wouldn't have been attracted to me without my Veela heritage?" Draco smirked.

"Something like that." He leaned forward and they kissed. "Missed you," he said quietly as he pulled away.

"Well, what do you expect, deserting me like that in my moment of need? Serves you right," Draco pouted, trying to repress the grin that having Harry near invariably invoked.

"Hm. Well, maybe it is my fault. Perhaps I should be punished?" Narcissa coughed at this, and both men looked up, horrified. "Um, I…"

"Sorry, mother. We have a bit of a tendency to forget there are others in the room," Draco said apologetically.

To their relief, Narcissa looked more amused than anything else. "Yes, I do recall that little foible. The times Regulus forgot himself when Lucius entered the room…" She sighed. "It's quite all right. Everyone makes a bit of a fool of themselves when they're first in love. It quite pleases me to see it."

"Really?" Harry asked. "Even though I'm only a half-blood, as both your husband and Snape keep pointing out to us?"

Narcissa stood and moved closer, placing her hand on Harry's. "All I see is a young man who treats my son the way he deserves to be treated. How can I not approve of that? You are Draco's choice, and that is all that matters to me."

Draco couldn't quite contain his pride at this. "What did I do to deserve you, mother?" he said, rising to his feet and pulling her into a hug.

She patted awkwardly at his shoulder once he released her. "You have always been a wonderful boy. And I would have been no prouder of you for your choices these past few days had I carried you myself. Remember that."

"Thank you."

"No need. I'm your mother, remember?" She straightened her dress, then looked at the two young men in front of her once more. "Now, don't forget. After supper, I expect to see you in my sitting room. I'm not sure how long you'll want to look, but that should give us enough time. I'll see you both then?"

Draco nodded, and she smiled, then turned and left the room. Once she was gone, Draco moved to clean up the table where he'd been reading, and asked, "So, how were your friends? Did you have a good time?"

Harry took the journals from his hands and placed them back on the table. "You're not really going to sulk on me, are you?" he asked.

"You have no idea what it was like for me here. Lucius kept trying to ambush me. I finally had to hex him and come here to avoid him."

Harry looked around. "Why? Doesn't he like your library?"

Draco shrugged. "No, it was more that I think he hadn't expected I would come here, so he hasn't looked here yet." He was silent a moment, examining Harry's face. "It's hard to believe I felt your absence so keenly when you were only gone for a couple of hours." He sighed. "I'm not entirely comfortable with it, to be quite honest. I'm used to being quite self-sufficient, actually. And it rather annoys me to be feeling so maudlin about something so silly."

Harry smiled softly. "As soon as we sat down to eat, Hermione started quoting me chapter and verse about Veela. She says in the early days of the bond, it's hard for Veela and their mates to be separated. She was chastising me for not bringing you. Said it was cruel of me."

Draco snorted. "Trust Granger to stick up for me because of something she read in a book. Dear god." He rolled his eyes.

"She's really very sweet."

"Yes, well…"

Harry sighed, looking at Lucius's book, which still lay open to a picture of Regulus. "Draco?"

"Hm?" Draco answered absently as he shelved the books he was holding.

"If…if your father was mated to Regulus, why didn't he die when he…did that to Regulus?"

Draco turned, looking a bit shaken, and Harry moved to his side, pulling him into his arms. Draco took a deep breath and shook him off. "I'm all right, Harry. I…hadn't really thought about it, to be honest. But knowing father, he ignored the idea of bonding with anyone. He probably refused. Who knows. Anyway, without the bond, he wasn't in danger of dying. Just like I could become pregnant before we bonded, so could he. But if you had died in the war…"

Harry moved to the book on the table, shutting it and handing it to Draco. "I see. So it's the bond that does that?"

Draco nodded. "It's why I wanted you to be sure."

He turned back to the shelf to finish replacing the books, and as he was doing so, Harry turned to the table, where the memory crystal now lay alone, no books to hide it.

"What's this?" he asked, picking it up.

"Hm?" Draco turned to see what he was talking about. "Oh. Mother found that for me. It's a memory crystal. I think father gave it to Regulus. She thought I should have it."

"What is a memory crystal?"

Draco smiled. "It's made up of the same materials as Pensieves. But it's not big enough to hold more than one memory. Couples use them to remember romantic incidents."

Harry nodded. "So there's a memory of your father and Regulus in it?"

"Yes. I didn't let myself watch past the kiss, though. It was a bit much."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Kiss, huh? I can see how that would be a bit uncomfortable for you."

"Yes. Given as how I've never seen my father act human in his life until this past week…"

"Never, Draco?" Lucius's drawling voice came from behind them.

"Father." He turned to look at him. "I believe I told you I had nothing to say to you at this moment. I do wish you'd stop stalking me."

Lucius glanced at Harry for a moment, then turned entirely towards his son. "I am aware of that. However, I feel that there are things we still need to discuss. Alone."

Draco raised his chin, sneering. "Well, I don't particularly wish to be alone with you. So I'm afraid it will have to wait."

"Don't be stupid, boy…" Lucius snarled, grabbing his arm.

Harry's wand was out in a flash. "Mister Malfoy, I would suggest you let go of my mate right now. I'm sure you recall how well I can use this thing…"

Lucius dropped Draco's arm, and turned to Harry. "You are interfering in family business, and I would prefer it if you left us alone for just a moment, Potter."

"How about we both leave you alone, father. I don't feel the need to talk with you right now." He picked up the box with the amulet up off the table, and pulled Harry from the room, feeling his father's burning gaze on him the entire length of the library, grateful when they made their way past the doors and turned down the hallway so the man could no longer see them.

TBC