It's Simpler Than Tea
Title: It's Simpler Than Tea
Rating: G
Main character(s): Draco Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson
Warning(s): none
Summary: Though it is Lucius that wants control over Draco's education, it seems to be Narcissa who has the most influence over their son.

-

Draco remembered mornings at the Manor. His father would sit at the head of the table, reading the Prophet. Sometimes he would comment on "what those mudbloods and muggle-lovers were doing to ruin society". Draco remembered how much his father liked using the word "society". Perhaps it was only his imagination, but Draco swore that the way Lucius said the word sometimes was enough to make any real pureblood cringe. Lucius made it sound as though the word had once meant something and it was imperative that the Wizarding Community remember exactly what. There were other things that Lucius felt that the Wizarding Community should keep in mind, but what he really cared most about was class and social distinction. As long as what he called "society's waste" was kept in check, he did not feel there would be too much of a problem. Lucius especially liked to voice his distaste for "society's waste" when he knew his son was listening. It was almost as if he wanted to be completely sure that Draco share his feelings about the rest of the world.

Perhaps Lucius may have succeeded in taking over Draco's mind had it not been for Narcissa. The boy may have feared his father, but he certainly loved his mother. He also did not trust Lucius to take care of her properly, so he decided to take the matter into his own hands. If anyone knew as much about his mother as Draco did, he would have been particularly surprised.

She was a fragile woman who kept mostly to herself unless it was absolutely necessary to do otherwise. For these reasons, The Dark Lord had never asked her to formally join his ranks of Death Eaters. It was simply taken for granted that Narcissa would follow her husband to the ends of the earth. Draco was thankful that they did not ask anything of her, but he wished that they could be wrong about her quiet obedience to Lucius. He knew, of course, that they were not wrong at all, but he did not like his father and was sure that he could not be doing his mother any good.

Narcissa may have loved Lucius, but Draco could never fathom why. The heavy burdens Lucius carelessly gave her – whether consciously or not – she took up without question nor complaint. He did not demand or even ask her to do so, but she did it all the same. Draco was sure at one point that Lucius had her spelled, but his careful watchfulness proved to him that what Narcissa did, she did of her own volition. It was not a satisfactory answer for Draco, but he did not pry. She did not like when he asked her questions concerning Lucius.

The only signs of bitterness or weariness that Narcissa could not hide lay in her tea cabinet. The soothing drink seemed to be the one joy she had that was not tainted with pain. Draco knew that even he sometimes disappointed her, though he hated to do it. The thought of her disappointment, however, still wasn't enough to make him look at his father the way she did, with that incomprehensible love. The only thing Draco saw when he looked at Lucius was all the people he'd killed and all the innocents he'd tortured. Sometimes, the memory of that sad look on his mother's face when Draco told his tales of Hogwarts and how Harry Potter had beaten him again was still not enough to keep him from goading the famous boy. There was something far too attractive about upsetting that Harry Potter.

Maybe Lucius was right. Maybe Draco had let too much of Dumbledore's muggle-loving ideals into his head. That didn't matter to him anymore though. To Draco, it was only Narcissa that was important now.

- - -

"Mother, where are you going?"

"To the kitchens, Draco." She paused and smiled at her son and he could have sworn that in that moment, she really was young and innocent. It did not matter that she had seen terrible things or that she had suffered so much, because in that moment, Draco could have sworn that it had done nothing to her innocence – that she had managed to keep it almost completely intact.

They walked in comfortable silence to the kitchens. It was their routine whenever Lucius was out on business and it was the only time Draco could spend comfortably with his mother. The Manor's house elves knew to disappear to other parts of the house on these mornings when it was only the Missus and the Young Master at home. In case Lucius asked, they did not have to lie. They had seen and heard nothing.

If Lucius had known of the comfortable time his son and his wife spent together when he was kept from home, whether it be by The Dark Lord, the Ministry, or any of his other businesses or endeavors, he would surely have demanded that it be put to an end. It was his private sentiment that everything should remain at a complete standstill when he was not around. He may not have been called a jealous man, but he surely did not want Narcissa to have any say in Draco's moral, social, or textbook education. He was very aware that she did not agree with some of the things he did and he did not want Draco to be burdened with what he privately considered 'Narcissa's ignorance'.

"Today I think it will be jasmine." Narcissa smiled to herself as she moved the jars around on shelves. She called the small room her "tea cabinet" and in it she kept all different kinds of tealeaves that she had collected over the years. It was something like a sanctuary to her, for in it she could lose herself in the scent of the leaves and the sweet memories they brought back to her.

Today, however, Draco sensed a bitterness behind her mother's words and smile that was far more acute than was usual.

"Mother, is something the matter?"

"Oh?" She sounded distracted. " No, it's nothing, dear." She then smiled warmly at Draco and he immediately felt his worries evaporate. Perhaps he was only being paranoid.

- - -

The next morning they went through the same routine, for Lucius had not yet returned. The only real difference was that Narcissa had chosen peppermint rather than jasmine.

- - -

Lucius returned three days later with no kind words for Draco and nothing more than a sneer in response to Narcissa's caring queries of his journey and his business. When he did not answer, Narcissa simply withdrew into the kitchen where Draco knew she would be brewing herself a cup of tea. He longed to join her, to keep her company, but he knew Lucius would not have allowed it. Instead, Draco was forced to listen to his father lecture on the proper methods of torturing muggles, all the while promising himself that he would never let himself get into the sort of situation where he would need to implement his father's suggestions. He would never sink so low.

- - -

A gentle hand rested itself on Draco's shoulder and gave it a small squeeze.

"Draco? Is something the matter?"

"Hmm?" Draco had been shaken from a reverie and it took me a moment to remember where he was. "It's nothing, Pansy." He have her a warm smile as she sat down across from him at their small dining room table. "I was just remembering my mother." Pansy gave him a brief look of understanding.

"We can go visit her grave today if you like." Draco nodded, his eyes staring unseeingly into his empty coffee mug. Pansy stood up again and planted a sweet kiss on Draco's temple before she refilled his mug for him. He gave her a murmur of thanks before disappearing behind it, ignoring the milk and sugar that Pansy had set out for him.

"Draco," Pansy voice exuded loving exasperation, "can't you at least put something in that? It's so bitter without." It was a question Pansy asked daily, but Draco's answer never varied.

"It's simpler than tea." And that was that. It may not have been an answer to Pansy's question, but it was enough explanation for Draco.

-FIN-