I must apologize for the past two months of vacuum, but work kept me tied to the desk for other reasons, blah blah. Anyways, thank you so much for reviewing! It's really nice to know that somebody is reading this, despite the unusual pairing.
Oh, and by the way, don't you worry!
The story will be finished, 21 chapters are planned in total, so there's five more tasty bits of chocolate to go! I work as a writer and I've learned the hard way to finish my stories!
And Wyte Chocolate: A thousand hugs to you for your faithful reviewing! I take a little leap of joy when i see it! I was afraid thatthe old readers had dropped off.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: TEA WITH MRS MALFOY
Mother's gonna check out all your
Girlfriends for you
Mother's gonna make all of your
Nightmares come true
-Pink Floyd-
Narcissa had hardly seated herself in the couch beside the fireplace before she heard a careful knock on the door. She sighed and sincerely hoped it wasn't her husband. He had truly disintegrated the little patience she had left for him and if he appeared in the doorway right now, she was quite sure she would start throwing porcelain at him. It was probably one of the house elves who had recently served her tea, forgetting something as usual. The elves at Hogwarts were truly below all criticism.
"Enter!" she commanded, turning to the doorway with an impatient sneer.
But instead of a servant, stood a red-haired boy, looking so innocent and wrecked all at the same time, she could have believed him to be a martyr stepping right out of muggle-religious fiction.
And she recognised him almost immediately as Neville Longbottom.
He looked startled at first at the sight of her, and she instantly realised that he did not recognise her. This was exactly the golden moment she was looking for. At once, she turned her displeased sneer into a friendly smile.
"Please, come in. Can I help you?"
Neville, who obviously did not know who she was, looked only confused.
"Uh, I was looking for my potion's master, professor Snape." He said, unable to take his eyes from her.
Narcissa rose from the couch without letting the smile fade the tiniest bit.
"I'm sure he will be here in a little while. Why don't you sit down and have tea with me?" She allowed her eyes to make a special friendly twinkle.
If Neville had looked confused before, he looked completely lost now.
"Tea…in here?" His surprise could be read like an open book.
Narcissa made a little tingling laughter.
"Don't worry about your professor." She said. "I know what he can be like, but I'll take it on my responsibility and he surely cannot deny us a cup of tea?"
When Neville stood hesitating, still staring at her in a mix of wonder and something very akin to admiration, Narcissa became serious and frowned with perfectly faked worry and sympathy.
"Oh dear child, you look absolutely devastated. Has something happened?"
She moved up to Neville and lay her hand on his shoulder, as if she was a staff member and had done this professionally many times.
"Well…" Neville began and his lower lip trembled a little as new tears started to cloud his eyes.
"There, there, it's all right." Narcissa comforted. "Come with me to the couch."
He followed her as she led him by the hand to sit down, but he also dried his tears on the sleeve very quickly, as if he were ashamed of them. She gave him a handkerchief while pouring up tea to them both.
"Thank you." He murmured, looking more grateful than he should, as if he was totally unaccustomed to kindness.
He was handing her useful weapons by the second. It was already clear that she had him in a little box and the chances for him to spill his beans out on the table before Snape arrived were very good indeed.
"May I askfor your name?" she said innocently.
"Neville…Longbottom." He said with a shy look on his face.
The boy was indeed beautiful to behold, in a youthful sort of way, reminding Narcissa vaguely about a cherub she had once seen on a painting from Italy. Her son had good tastes at least when it came to looks.
"Well, Neville." She said, while leaning back against the worn-out couch with her tea firmly held. "What seems to be the problem?"
Neville carefully lifted his cup as well, looking down at it as if all the answers were written in the steamy beverage.
"I don't know if I should tell, really." He seemed in vain for a moment.
Narcissa tried not to roll her eyes. Did all teenagers start their long monologues that way? But towards Neville, she gave him an encouraging smile and patted his hand carefully.
"I'm sure you can. I have great experience dealing with problems from boys your age. It will not leave this room." She promised.
"Well, okay. It's this…person I'm dating, right? And we have really big problems."
"Oh?" Narcissa heightened an eyebrow. "Is it a boy or a girl? Don't worry, I don't mind either way."
Neville looked up at her with relief. This would certainly loosen his tounge.
"Well, it's a boy, now that you ask." He said, a bit apologetically, even blushing a little.
This was just too good to be true.
"Please continue." She said in her friendliest voice.
"We…my boyfriend and I, don't talk very much anymore. Or, we can't solve our problems because something happened and…" He seemed close to his tears again.
Realising that she had hit the right spot, Narcissa quickly put her teacup down. Then she lifted Neville's from his hands and embraced him tenderly, while making a dark note in the back of her head that she would need to send her black velvet dress to laundry if he was going to cry at it.
And he did cry, while she stroked his curls soothingly, working out her next tactics. So far, there was nothing but a line of triumphs.
Of course, little nearly orphan Neville was in great need of a parental guidance and she did the part so perfectly well, judging from Neville's needy eyes.
When Neville had calmed down a little, she gave him the handkerchief again and allowed him to lean his head against her shoulder while she held her arm safely around his shoulders.
"Now, why don't we start from the beginning?" she suggested.
Neville nodded and blew his nose before easing the heavy load.
"It started with…me and this boy, we're from different houses. And his parents didn't like us to be together so we tried to keep it a secret. But then, they found out anyway, because of a letter I sent him that he forgot to burn and…he blamed himself a lot for that…but you should be able to keep letters at home without being afraid of your own parents, right?"
"Right." Narcissa frowned indignantly, but Neville was not looking at her.
"Yes, well, so his father came to school and tricked me into being alone with him in the astronomy tower. He sent me this letter and I thought it was Draco's handwriting…oups!"
Neville clenched his hand to his mouth, looking up at Narcissa with his eyes wide open.
"It's all right." She smiled. "As I said, nothing will leave the room." She took his hand very confidently, a trick that always made her victims fall. And Neville was no exception. "Now you must tell me: what happened in the astronomy tower?"
Neville squirmed uneasily.
"He beat me up real bad. The father, that is. He had this knife… and then I lay in the hospital for weeks. And Draco was there with me as much as he could and he was really sweet but his father showed up to bring him home and I was so afraid… so afraid he'd die!" Neville gave a little sob.
Narcissa lifted an eyebrow
"Why would you think that, Neville? His parents wouldn't want to hurt him after all?" Her voice was an inch colder, but Neville didn't notice.
"Oh, the father would for sure! He had beat his back bloody once and I think it has happened lots before, only, his dad holds it a secret to the school."
"How?" Narcissa's voice struck a very dangerous, subtle cord.
"I don't know. By leaving him to Snape I think, while recovering."
Narcissa felt her face turn to stone.
"Please, go on."
"So Draco returned to school, like, twelve hours later and he had to stay in bed for three weeks! His mother was there though, to watch over him, so I couldn't see him at all! Only once, when his mother was away to get her stuff from home I think. And he looked terrible! But I'm afraid that…"
"What?"
"Never mind, the point is we tried to meet after it all happened and it was kind of really creepy. We kissed and…Draco is a really good kisser and he's really good at lots of stuff, so I thought, why not, at first."
Neville's ears went red as he spoke.
Narcissa frowned again. It was a little too much information there, but on the other hand, it was not a big surprise. Draco was her son, after all. Of course he had to be outstanding in bed.
"Then", Neville continued, "everything went nightmarish. He forced me to show what had happen in the astronomy tower and, and…then he wanted to comfort me for it and I gave in to it, thinking everything would be put to right. And Draco seemed like he really needed to as well. But he seemed so disgusted about me, that he couldn't… touch me, you know, like…" Neville's tears started to flow again.
"Why wouldn't he want to touch you?" Narcissa spoke very silently, making a little effort to keep her voice mild. The small suspicion growing in her was not kind to her self-restraint. Her husband was not allowed to touch anybody in an intimate way, not even as an act of hostility, without her consent.
"I'm not sure I can say!" Neville sobbed, but Narcissa put her arms around him so gently and made him feel so safe with her reassuring of her professionalism, that Neville finally gave in to her, his eyes closed as he spoke.
"You see, Draco's father is a really, really sick man. When I was alone with him, he…he used his knife to stick it up my…ow!"
Narcissa realised that she had bore her nails into Neville's arm a little too hard.
"I'm so sorry, dear." She forced herself to say without hissing. "Please, do continue."'
"So Draco must've been really disgusted about it! We tried to have sex, but he wouldn't touch me like he used to, despite all the nice things he had said. And you know what else was strange?" Neville paused slightly as if he just realised something.
Narcissa held her breath.
"He was crying, and I mean, really crying and you know…Draco is the kind of person who never cries or even shows his feelings a lot. And…there was this other thing."
Narcissa was dead silent, wishing she could have cast a spell to make the information flow quicker.
"He threw up once, just as we…well. And moments later he was crying, denying that he was! Then everything just ended by him rushing out of the room. And, I'm really, really scared that his father might have…done something. You know, maybe it's just me, at first I thought it was a spell, but…now that you look at it…you're hurting my arm."
Narcissa removed her hand immediately, a bit mechanically. Both she and Neville had gone white as sheets. Narcissa were already writing a speech to her husband's funeral in her mind, making it sound like she was really sorry he was gone.
The creaking of the door startled them both, but only Neville jumped a little as Snape entered. Neville rose as if to excuse himself.
Snape stood frozen in the doorway for a moment, before moving in to close the door behind him. He was clearly on his guard, letting his eyes dart from one to the other and across the room, as if trying to comprehend what was happening in there.
Narcissa's eyes shot icy spikes at him.
"Longbottom. I didn't realise you were relieved from your lessons today." Snape said, still meeting Narcissa's cold glare.
Neville looked at his feet.
"I came to see you about something, professor." He whispered.
"I thought you had a class to attend to." Narcissa said, her voice so venomous, that Snape involuntarily caught chills.
"I came back for extra parchments?" Snape said, hating to hear the defensive tone in his voice. It was his office, damn it!
Besides, he could tell by the odd scenario that something really sinister took place. And Neville stood way too close to Narcissa.
"Mrs Malfoy, may I ask what is going on?"
As expected, Neville made a frightened cry and jumped away from Narcissa, the panick building up as he was trapped between Snape in the doorway and Narcissa by the fireside. Narcissa glared unforgiving at Snape.
Snape sighed. As he suspected.
Then Narcissa simply rose from the couch and walked up to Snape. When they stood eye to eye, she made a swift move and slapped Snape hard on the cheek, nearly making him loose his footing.
Draco sat beside the toilet for the longest time, unable to make a decision on whether he needed to throw up again or not. It seemed that misery was waiting in line to strike at him.
He had run out on Neville.
The one person that he really cared about in the whole world and he had run out on him when they needed each other at most. But he couldn't think about it. If he did, the thoughts started to spin in vicious circles, telling him why he couldn't face Neville and what sort of disaster he might have caused now, invading Neville's thoughts and then leaving him alone with it, unable to help.
He wanted to run back and try to put everything right, but he had no idea how to do it and above all, he didn't dare. If Neville turned him down now, rightly refusing to put up with anything more, he would die for sure.
No way out.
He would have to be more like his father than ever before, but how could he when the mere thought of it repulsed him so much?
Draco rose and walked over to the taps, facing his own reflection.
He really looked like a younger version of his father, only now his eyes were red and he bore a miserable expression on his face. But his movements, his outfit, his choice of words, his behaviour and points of view…it all had Lucius' design written over it.
Draco tried desperately to come up with even one evaluation not originating from his father, but he failed and stared back at himself in the mirror.
Who the fuck am I?
Even when he was with Neville, it was this gnawing feeling deep inside that told him he was doing something wrong, something forbidden and shameful.
But at least, with Neville, he had heard this small inner voice speaking for the first time, telling him differently.
Then he realised he wasn't alone in the toilet.
Straightening up on reflex, Draco turned to the door with the coldest face he could manage.
His eyes had to register the sight twice before it sunk in.
The mudblood Granger stood leaning herself against the entrance, much in the same fashion Draco had done to Neville once, only Granger didn't wear that evil smirk.
Draco was so upset and shocked, he could hardly speak.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing in here, Granger?"
She gave him an honest, serious gaze.
"I wanted to speak to you."
"Oh, really? May I remind you, this is not the lavoratory for girls and secondly, this is a Slytherin lavoratry reserved for people with pure blood!"
But Hermione only heightened an eyebrow at the assault.
"I thought you would not mind, since you're not into girls anyway." She said with her know-it-all voice. "And secondly, this is about Neville."
"How could you even think I would want to discuss any of this with you, you filthy, disgusting mudblood!" Draco spat in fury.
He took several steps towards her, hoping she would run for it.
"Don't be childish.", Hermione frowned, refusing to move an inch. "At least, hear me out when I speak of Neville's security."
Draco stopped one step away from her and heightened his fist.
"Speak then." He said, letting a mean gaze pierce her.
"Neville is not going to have visits from your father again, is he?" Hermione looked defiantly back at him. "Because, judging by what was just unleashed on you both, you should really be more careful than you were today."
Draco almost lost his breath in anger.
"I fail to see how you are involved at all, Granger!" he snarled. "And if you don't beat it…" He flinched all of a sudden, as a spot on his left arm seemed to have caught fire.
The mark. This was completely unlike any pain he had felt in it. This stinging was alive, urging and without doubt calling him to join the Dark lord.
This was all I needed.
Hermione continued in her calm voice, but held her gaze fixed at Draco's arm, as if she suspected something from Draco's tense expression.
"I wanted to tell you that you have powerful allies and you would only need to talk to Dumbledore…"
Draco had a start as she mentioned the principle. Oh, Merlin if he found out about the mark! If there were any grains of hope left at all, then they would be swept away by a forceful wind the moment his loyalties were exposed!
She continued her sentence, but Draco threw himself out the door without listening to the rest.
There was more than one reason to panic now.
He walked away from the Slytherin dormitories, not even sure about where he was heading. He really should get on his broomstick not to be late to the Death eater meeting. But too many thoughts to sort out had him under a nearly paralysing anguish.
He didn't want to go. His father would probably be there and he really, really should try to find Neville. But some recently spoken words caught him.
"Neville is not going to have visits from your father again, is he?"
No. He certainly wasn't. With a great force of will Draco hurried to fetch his broomstick
The smack on Snape's face left Neville gaping in shock. Snape quickly gathered himself together and glared loathingly back at the furious Malfoy woman in front of him.
"I wouldn't do that again, if I were you." He hissed at her with his most dangerous voice.
There were some things being unforgivable and one of them was embarrassing him in front of his students.
Mrs Malfoy simply cocked an eyebrow.
"Oh, you deserve a lot more." She said casually, keeping her cold. "How many times has my husband left Draco to you in any wounded state?"
To Snape's great annoyance, Neville crossed his arms and stared accusingly at him, morally brought up.
Snape gave him a warning glance.
"Get out." He commanded and Neville started to head for the door.
"Stay!" Narcissa ordered, with an earth-shattering voice.
Neville froze with his fingers on the handle, his panic rising.
"It's not my concern or to my knowledge, what you and your husband has agreed upon or not. I took for granted that you were well informed about the matter, observant as you are." Snape answered Narcissa calmly, realising that he could stand there shouting about whether Neville would stay or leave the entire day if he didn't finish the conversation fast.
Narcissa bit her lip in frustration. He shot at a weak spot, suggesting that she had missed an important issue of her family.
"You have some nerve" Narcissa said, "accusing me of being a part of this treatment of my son!"
Now it was Snape's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"Can you blame me?" he asked. "The capacity of the Malfoy family is well known, as are the methods they prefer to use on any obstacle threathening their empire."
"Even so" Narcissa said deceptively silky, "it must have occured to you that something was strange when Lucius left him over to you all the time."
"Not all the time, Mrs Malfoy. Two times would be more accurate. And why shouldn't I take your involvement for granted? We both know that it would have looked more suspicious keeping Draco out of school for the time it would take for him to heal. And until now, the damage was so minimal, it could easily be covered up."
"That's true." Neville suddenly piped from the door. "Professor Snape even accepted help from Hermione when…"
"SILENCE!" Snape shouted.
"GO ON!" Narcissa bellowed. "This is about my son and NOBODY leaves the room until this is sorted out!"
"That is not for you to decide!" Snape argued.
At this, Narcissa drew out her wand and Neville made a terrified whimper. Snape's eyes flashed dangerously and his wand was whipped out as well.
Then they both looked at each other in sudden understanding, as the Dark Mark started to burn on their arms.
Now both of them looked at Neville.
"Go!" they said in unison and Neville fled out as fast as he could.
Snape felt a rising concern for the orders about Draco that he had recieved from the order of the Phoenix as they hurried to join their fellow Death eaters. He knew that this meeting would mean initiation for Draco and that meant cutting the string that held him to their side.
He sighed and held his head.
Dumbledore would expect him to perform miracles over there that he couldn't do.
And frankly, he felt like tossing himself out of the highest tower at Hogwarts rather than have another involvement in this enervating matter about Draco and Neville.
