Disclaimer: No money is being made or received for this work in her playground of characters.
Chapter 23 - Release from the Hospital Wing can make for strange bedfellows.
Five more days passed with Malfoy in the hospital. The Gryffindors that he had made life a living hell for stopped by every day, as did Mason and Madison. They were the closest thing to a house-mate that visited. The quartet stopped in every evening to give him his homework. Hermione even tutored him. Still no other Slytherin seemed to notice he was missing.
When he was released from the hospital, he was escorted by Madame Pomfrey to the Headmaster's office. There he was surprised to see Black joining the meeting. He tucked the letters deeper into his cloak. He shook hands with the headmaster and nodded at Professor Black before taking a cup of tea and sitting in a great arm chair. "I know it is odd for us to be meeting without your head of house, however, Professor Black has some information she wishes to give to you."
Rowan stood, looking down at her young student, and took a deep breath, as she did anytime she had to talk about something she wished would just go away. "Draco, what do you remember about the day you were found in your room?"
Draco sat a little straighter in his chair, thinking, "Just that the door creaked and Madison standing there. The world was kind of spinning at that point… I remember getting to the edge of the bed and feeling her near me. Then pretty much nothing until I woke in the hospital with Granger and Potter on duty to watch over me."
Rowan sighed. "Do you know the extent of your injuries?"
"Yes, multiple wounds, physical and spell, broken ribs, tendon damage in my feet, dislocated fingers, to name a few. "
"Would you tell me who did that to you?"
"No."
"I must insist. In order to know if the right things have been done or not, I must have the answer to that question."
"I...it doesn't matter now..."
"Draco, once more, please tell me who did this to you and why it was done for so long." He shook his head no.
With no other choice, Rowan reached to touch his forehead; flashes of pain shot from his memories: Screams, his screams, reverberated up her arm as she held the gentle touch; begging his mother not to let his father do this; begging his mother's forgiveness. Hearing her tell him the same thing over and over, 'you deserve this'.
He shuddered as Rowan removed her hand.
Draco met her eyes. 'The same brown as her son's eyes.' He thought momentarily. There was a trust, but he wasn't sure he could trust anyone that much. After a moment, he dropped his head with the decision that he could trust her. "My parents, but it was because I was not being a good son. I betrayed their trust in me. I only received my just punishment."
Rowan staggered under the words. He believed them. She was sure. "I must tell you, when I saw the extent of the damage which you had suffered, I made a visit to your parents' home." She locked gazes with him and told about the meeting with the older Malfoys. "Anyway, I need you to understand that I have a history with your parents, which was one of the reasons I felt the need to confront them. I took their memories as they did not deserve to have them. They can be restored. It was a trick my great grandmother used. It will be your decision when or if they are given their lives back."
Draco's mind was whirling. He was trying to understand what this woman had told him. The main thing was that she was angry because he was hurt. And that she had incapacitated two pure-blood wizards. He refocused his eyes on her when she began to speak again. He heard her talking again about the visit of Voldemort, noticing that she didn't flinch when she said his name. "Your parents are in St. Mungo's. They will stay there until you make a decision. I will abide by your choices."
With those six words, she sat waiting for him to understand that she could not allow him to be beaten that way. Once he was a man and could defend himself, he could return to that life if he chose. Until then, someone needed to protect him. It was unconceivable that he had to live like that. His parents were pillars of society in the Wizarding world. How long would it be before they killed him if she allowed it to continue? These questions were only answered by not allowing them to continue.
Dumbledore had not said anything; wanting only to know what she had done. Knowing she was powerful before seemed to be an understatement just because of the people she had subdued. And she faced Lord Voldemort and walked away with a casual conversation. Yes, Rowan needed to harness that strength if she would be helping her children. Rising to his weary feet, he looked at his student. "Mr. Malfoy, would you like to resume class in the morning or Monday?"
Malfoy mumbled "Monday, sir"
Rowan, please escort Mr. Malfoy to the Head's Common Room. Nodding she agreed. No words were spoken as he followed her to his common room. Stopping by the door, she looked at the young man. "Draco, listen, I know there's a thousand things going on in that blonde head of yours right now. If you want to talk, you know where I am. Harry and the others really do understand, and would help if you gave them half a chance." He nodded and whispered the password, leaving her in the hall by herself.
She returned to her quarters to find changes. Her quarters had something of a Room of Requirement feel about it as she entered. The warm colors were now greens and reds with gold and silvers. She stopped in the door and heard footsteps behind her. Turning, she saw Draco walking with a small bag over his shoulder. " Snape suggested that I stay in the spare bedroom tonight so he can speak to the Slytherin's about everything. He didn't want me where they could find me in the Head's rooms." She nodded, suddenly understanding the change of décor.
He entered behind her, looked around and nodded his approval. She showed him to his room which had four-four poster beds. His bed had his trunk and possessions at the foot of it. All the bed hangings had changed to a tasteful scarlet and hunter colors intertwined with Golds and silvers. He went to his bed, closed the hangings as she left. She wasn't quite sure why he would rather be here than in his own room, but didn't care enough to find out at that moment.
She re-entered the common room, went to the drawer and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. Not the Firewhiskey of the magical, just a bottle of Black Label Jack Daniels. She slowly opened the bottle, put a very small amount in the bottom of a tea cup, replaced the lid and put the bottle away. She took her cup and sat on a chair by the fire. When she looked up to see her children and the quartet enter the room, her tears were slowing. 'People seem to cry a lot around here.' She thought to herself. "He's in the boys' room if you want to go seem him." They nodded and left Rowan to her thoughts.
Thirty minutes later, she heard the first of many arguments that would take place over the weekend. Some, she could hear her name involved, the words "MY FATHER", came out, filthy names hurled from both sides. It was ugly in ways that would have made her mother-in-law proud. For the first time in her life as a parent, she let the kids work it out. She now knew without a shadow of a doubt that Draco was the seventh child in the prophesy. He had to make his choices and six years of anger between these other kids had to be worked through. Hanging her head she silently thanked God it was Friday and they had the weekend. She still had not found a time to tell her children about their magic or their father. Leaning back against the chair, she wondered if she could sneak out and meet Remus for a bit of relaxation in his quarters.
The argument broke later. Nothing had been accomplished other than the initial anger and arguments. They were all hungry. Rowan surprised them by not letting them go to the Great Hall for dinner. They would all eat in her quarters. No arguments were allowed at the table. Because they were all so angry, no words were spoken either. Finally, Rowan announced that the doors were sealed and no one was leaving until they all found a way to get along. She also suggested that they stop yelling or they would not have a voice left for the next round of arguments.
Draco scowled at Rowan, not for the first time, and lit into her. "THEY WERE MY PARENTS - AND YOU DECIDED THAT THEY WEREN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME. WHAT KIND OF AN ADULT ARE YOU? WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO BE JUDGE, JURY, AND EXECUTIONER?"
The others watched silently as Draco berated Rowan. He had valid points and they needed to understand. Hermione did motion for them to move away from the table, however, and let Rowan defend herself. Madison kept her hand on Mason's arm to prevent him from killing the blonde who disrespected his mother. Rowan let Draco yell himself hoarse. When he could not yell anymore, or barely talk, she slid a small potion over to him that Snape had brought her days before; it was for sore throats. He drank it unquestioningly; his throat feeling immediately better and considered for a moment if he wanted to keep yelling.
Rowan watched him wondering the same thing. His eyes met hers and with no tears, no doubt of the decision she made, she removed the two charms from her bracelet and slid them to him. "You can have them back, right now. We can go to St. Mungo's and restore them to be exactly the people that they were. That is your choice. Not one I will make for you. I will, however, ask you to wait until the start of the Christmas holidays when you can join them at the Manor. You can choose to tell them what you will. It's only three weeks away and if you choose, I will do it for you. The memories are safe here in these charms. This bracelet cannot leave my arm."
Draco continued to watch her, but he did slide the charms back to her. "Hold on to them until I am clear headed, okay?" Rowan nodded and returned his parents memories to her bracelet. He watched, sighing deeply. "I never said 'thank you' to any of you - did I?" She shook her head. "I am not ready to now either. Maybe tomorrow after I get some rest, I will feel like it. Is that okay?"
Rowan nodded again, adding, "Go to bed and we can talk again tomorrow." Turning, she stopped as he stood, she moved to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and gave a quick squeeze. Whispering as she leaned in, "I'm sorry you have to go through this. Give Harry a chance; he's been through it too." With those words, she released him and made her way to her own room.
