I was shocked when I opened my mail and found twenty reviews about this fic and all of them were positive! I'm so lucky! I must thank my beta readers for fixing the grammar/spelling errors because haven't gotten one review complaining about such ever since I got them. Thank you two!
He, he… I have evil plans for Pansy… promise… he, he…
Betareader: Princesspepper
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Chapter Eleven: A Mother's Explanation
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Draco was pale. Alarmingly pale, Harry noted. The blonde's eyes never left his mother, and he was shaking slightly. He didn't move from his spot as he watched Narcissa move towards her son. He waited for Draco to call for help.
Narcissa stopped before her son and smiled. "Why are you so nervous, Draco? I'm your mother, there's nothing you have to fear from me," she said and tucked a loose lock of dark hair behind her ear.
Draco shook his head. "N-no, mother, I-I'm not afraid," he said and tried to calm down his racing heart. 'She knows, Harry! I can tell! I'm going to get so chewed out!' he sent to his love, his mind panicking.
Harry sighed. 'Calm down, Draco. There is no need to panic! If anything happens I'll stop it, promise,' he sent back, then smiled.
Draco dared to look at his lover. 'Just don't hurt her. She is my mother, after all.'
Narcissa smiled and ran a hand through her son's golden locks. "Why don't you two speak out loud? I'm curious what you two are talking about," she said, her voice carrying no hint of anger whatsoever.
Draco snapped his head back to his mother and lowered his gaze. "I'm sorry," he apologized, "I guess I'm surprised to see you here is all."
The dark haired woman placed her hands on her son's shoulders and smiled slightly. "I think you know why I'm here," she said, looking at Harry before returning her gaze at her son.
'Here it comes! This will be sweet! Now Potter will learn whom Drakie belongs to! ME and no one else!' Pansy though as she grinned. How she loved to play evil some times. 'I know it will hurt Drakie at the beginning, but soon he'll see that he was meant to be with me!'
Draco nodded. "I guess you heard about the curse from father and you're here to punish me?" he said. He didn't dare to look up, afraid to see anger on his mother's face.
Narcissa kneeled down on the floor before Draco and tilted his head up to meet her eyes. "Yes, it's true. Your father told me about the curse and the Dark Lord, but I'm not here to punish you," she said, then smiled at the shocked look on her son's face. "I'm here to tell you how happy I am to know that you have managed to get away from that horrible doom."
Harry gaped. Narcissa, wife of Lucius Malfoy, was not angry with Draco? He thought anger ran in the family! 'But then again, Narcissa was a Black before marrying Malfoy.'
Draco blinked. "You're not angry with me?" he asked. He had a hard time believing his mother. During his childhood, he had never seen his mother smile at him, or hug him, for that matter. Why had she changed all of a sudden?
The dark haired woman shook her head. "No, I'm not angry with you, Draco. I'm glad that you are now safe. When your father told me that the Dark Lord wanted to bind himself to you with the Nepthrun curse, I was devastated," she said, looking into Draco's duo colored eyes. "You are my only son and your father had, in but a few minutes, doomed you to a life filled with pain and darkness in order to save his own hide. He never spoke to me about it until two nights after you had gone back to Hogwarts. I knew I had to act quickly, so I used magic to contact Harry," she said, and then looked at the dark-haired youth.
Harry frowned. Contact him? How… "Wait a second. You were the voice I heard when I caught Draco, and you later told me that he was by the lake?" he asked, going over to Draco's side.
Narcissa nodded. "I had to act fast. I knew that Draco didn't have that much time. I thought that he would be better off bound to you then to the Dark Lord. I know that you have a big heart, Harry, just like your father. I know that you will do anything to help Draco, and for that I'm glad," she said, taking Harry's hand in hers.
Pansy was shocked. This wasn't turning out the way she had hoped.
Harry blushed as he heard Draco's mother say this. "Well…" he said but didn't know how to continue. He looked at Draco, who was now smiling slightly out of relief. "I guess I have a huge heart to fall for someone I've hated for so long," he said.
Narcissa took Draco's hand and placed it on top of Harry's. "I hope you aren't angry with me, Harry. I just wanted my son to be safe. Draco is the only happiness I have ever experienced in my cursed marriage to Lucius. I wanted to make it up to you, Draco, for not acting like a mother to you," she said, and then hugged the two boys close.
Draco wrapped his arms around his mother. He had never heard his mother admit to her actions before. "Why didn't you behave like the mother I needed so much when I was little? Why did you turn me down when I needed comfort after that blow father gave me?" Draco asked. He wanted—no—needed answers.
Harry blushed when the female Malfoy hugged him and her son. Draco's words a second later startled him. Ever since he first saw Draco he had though that he was a stuck up snob with lots of money and a snotty attitude. He couldn't believe that the blond actually had a rough childhood like himself. 'Draco…'
Narcissa pulled back and looked at her son. "You can't guess how many times I just wanted to sweep you into a hug and hold you tightly and never let go. How often I have wanted to kiss you on your cheek and comfort you whenever you were sad or needed love. The only thing that stopped me from doing that was your father," she said, wiping away a tear from Draco's eye. "My marriage to your father was forced, and he never let me have any kind of freedom. I didn't even get to choose if I wanted a child or not. I thought that any child that he could produce would be a miniature version of him, and in truth, you were," she said, and then placed a finger on Harry's lips without looking at the boy. She seemed to know that he wanted to say something.
Draco's eyes grew in size. Was his mother saying that he was exactly like his father? "Mother…" he began before she covered his lips as well.
"You were a mini-Lucius, by looks anyway. I didn't get to see you the first few days since your father wanted to examine you closely without me nearby. When I finally got to hold you I forgot everything that was happening around me. At that moment I wasn't married to a blond devil, but I was the mother of a sweet little angel," she said, slowly taking away her fingers from the boys' lips. "When I was well enough to get out of bed, your father forbade me to touch you. I wasn't even allowed to feed you or comfort you when you cried at night. He only allowed Death Eaters to touch you. When you grew up, I still wasn't allowed to touch you. Your father said that he would hurt us both if I approached you in a motherly way. Therefore, I couldn't be the mother you needed, Draco. I'm sorry," as she finished her story, she broke down into tears.
Draco was crying as well. All those years of loneliness… it was because of his father. "That bastard… stealing the most important thing a child needs," he whispered, hugging his mother again.
Harry watched the two Malfoys hug and cry, trying to forgive each other for all those years. Harry smiled and looked up. His smile dropped as they landed on the now angry looking Pansy. Walking over, careful not to disturb the two, he stopped before Pansy. "Thank you for reuniting them, but you can scat now. You're no longer needed here," he whispered hotly.
Pansy fumed. "And what if I don't want to leave? You know that I know about the curse, and I will tell everyone on this school about it! You just wait until…"
"Until what, Parkinson?" asked a familiar voice.
The small girl turned around and gaped when she discovered their Potion teacher hovering behind her.
Snape glared down at Pansy with loathing in his black eyes. Lifting his wand he muttered 'obliviate' and caught the girl as she fell to the ground. He looked up at the shocked Harry and gave him a glare that made the emerald-eyed boy face away from him. Looking past the Boy-Who-Lived, he spotted the equally shocked Malfoys. "Long time no see, Narcissa," he said politely as he stood with Pansy in his arms.
Narcissa stood and gave him a slight bow. "Hello, Severus," she greeted back before smiling. "Still doing forbidden spells and still getting away with it?" she asked the Potion master.
Snape snorted and arranged Pansy's still body in his arms to lie more comfortably. "That spell is not forbidden if used at the right time. I guess she called you about Potter and Draco?" he asked and looked at Draco who was holding his mother's hand in his.
She nodded. "Yes she did. I was glad that Lucius were gone that day otherwise Draco wouldn't be standing here. I see that you have managed to keep him safe as you promised, Severus. I hope you have told him all about the curse"
Snape nodded. "Of course. I told him the exact same thing I told you when you were placed under it," he said, deciding to dump Pansy on a table until they were done talking.
Draco and Harry gasped and turned to look at Narcissa Malfoy. "You were put under the same curse as Draco?" Harry asked before Draco could do it.
The dark-haired woman nodded. "Yes, that was years ago. Draco came to be only because of the curse, not that I regret it though" she said, stroking Draco's hair.
Draco became scared. "But if you are cursed, doesn't father know that you are here? Won't he come after you?" he asked. "And if you're under the curse, how come you don't have duo colored eyes like me?" One word could describe how Draco felt: confused.
Narcissa shook her head. "When your father joined the Death Eaters, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named decided that he couldn't be bound to anyone but his master. The Dark Lord broke the bond, and it hurt a lot for years, but I would go through the pain for all eternity just to be separated from Lucius," she said, now looking at Harry. "Don't worry about Lucius, Harry. He can't use my sight or my mind like he could yeas back," she said, and then looked at her watch. "I have only a half an hour before I have to return and until then I want to hear about what you have planned for the future. You know, with the baby and all," she said, smiling.
Draco and Harry blushed. "We haven't gotten that close just yet, Mrs. Malfoy" Harry said, bowing his head to hide his blushing face.
Even Snape turned a bit red before he picked up Pansy's body and left the Great Hall.
Narcissa shook her head and giggled. "Call me mom or Narcissa, Harry. Being called Malfoy makes me a little ill," she said, taking a seat by one of the tables. She patted the seats beside her, and when the two boys were seated, she took their hands. "I will tell you two about having a baby and what you'll need for it the best as I can. First, have you thought of a name?"
Harry and Draco learned that there were over twenty-two colours of red during that discussion.
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Wai! Another chappie! What time is it? Holy CxxP! 01:13am? I need sleep!
