I'M BAAAAACCCKKK! At least for this chapter which I realized was basically complete! YAY! Enjoy!
Narcissa Malfoy had never been one to read the Quibbler, not before, during, or after the war. The stories were too outrageous.
But she found herself in Diagon Alley picking up a copy the day after the Prophet came out with their story.
To say she nearly had a heart attack when she saw her blueberry headed son plastered on the front cover next to Ms. Hermione Granger was an understatement.
Narcissa had screamed so loudly that all her house elves popped into existence to check on her. She had scared them that bad.
After the initial shock of seeing her son dressed like a muggle blueberry had worn off, relief flooded her body.
He was alive.
And that was all that had mattered.
She collected her thoughts and decided to wait for him to come to her.
That didn't mean she wouldn't read his tell all to the Looney Lovegood girl.
It was a really well written article, especially for the Quibbler. But Lovegood had been Granger's friend, so it made sense that she would give a good report.
It was because of that article that Narcissa decided to wait for Draco to come to her.
And a day later, there was a loud pop outside the front doors of the manor.
A house elf, Dottie, came sprinting into the parlour to let Narcissa that her son and Ms. Granger were on the doorstep, asking to visit.
Narcissa bit back her criticism of first warning a person before arriving. Again, she was just thankful that Draco wasn't dead somewhere in a shallow grave or holed up god knows where high off muggle drugs with prostitutes surrounding him.
A few minutes later, Dottie led them into the parlour where tea had been set by another elf, Lola.
Narcissa was sitting in her favorite velvet red chair with a cuppa in her hand. She peered over the rim at her blueberry of a son and his bushy haired witch.
"Sit." she commanded.
The bizarre duo complied.
There was an awkward silence in the room for a few moments as Narcissa appraised her son.
She then let out a loud sigh.
"I'm just glad you're alive." She breathed.
Draco cracked a smile, "Hello, mum. Sorry for not writing."
"If you EVER do that again, disappear and not tell me where you have gone, I swear, I will hunt you down! You took at least a decade off my life!" Narcissa began to lecture.
She was a mother after all.
Hermione giggled. She had missed this sort of relationship with her own mother, having someone worry. It brought a pang of sadness, but she was happy to see that Draco was secretly enjoying the major chiding.
Narcissa got rolling, going off for a few minutes about his inconsiderate and irresponsible actions, and by god, what is that on his arms? Why is he dressed so poorly? Has he lost all his class? A sleeveless shirt? Seriously?
But eventually, she lost steam and calmed down once it was all out.
"Did you really get a daffodil tattoo to cover the mark?" Was her last question.
Draco held out his forearm, "For you, mum."
Narcissa gave a small smile. "Thank you. It's a weird ode to me, but I appreciate the sentiment."
Narcissa turned her attention to Hermione.
"Well Ms. Granger, we meet again. This time under better circumstances, kinda. My apologies, first and foremost, for what happened the last time you are here. If you don't mind, I'd love to see my son's handiwork that covers up my sister's handiwork."
Hermione didn't mind as she turned over her arm and showed Narcissa Draco's coverup tattoo.
Narcissa smiled, "Draco has always been a good artist. I'm glad he found a career in it, not the path I wanted for him; far from it actually. But he's happy."
"I am mum. Especially with Hermione by my side."
"That's all I want."
Narcissa turned to Hermione and asked her questions about her career.
"Well, I translate ancient ruins. I'm actually going on site to a dig in the Netherlands in a few weeks. I'm really looking forward to being in the field for the first time in a while." Hermione gushed.
"Really? I always thought you would work for the Ministry." Narcissa said.
"I thought so too, and I attempted, but it was awful. I found it to be incredibly dull and boring and just plain awful. I'd rather work on changing history in the sense of learning about it and expanding our knowledge of the past. Merlin knows I've already changed the future."
Narcissa smiled, "I'm glad you did. I wasn't big on the Dark Lord, but I figured it was what was expected of me. A regret for sure."
Hermione nodded, "Of course."
The trio made idle conversation for about another hour before Draco finally escaped his mother's polite conversation that could last for even longer, and he took Hermione back to his flat.
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