A/N: Happy New Year!
Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, it's so so good to get feedback when the story is so young! There was a bit of a theme around your concerns that Draco and Arianwen's happy ending didn't last long - all I can say for now is don't worry, it won't be doom and gloom forever! I just imagined that after the War society would struggle to let people like Draco back into their every day lives. I think there would be quite a bit of hate out there for him, not to mention that he was locked up in Azkaban for a few months at the end of Changes in Circumstance, that's enough to scar someone I would say. So this story was basically born from the idea that he would've had some struggles with addiction, exacerbated by the pressure of being a young parent and not being accepted by his peers.
Don't forget to follow/favourite so you don't miss any updates! Thank you to all the lovely people who have done so already.
Chapter Two: An Olive Branch
"Hey Daddy, look!" A piece of parchment was shoved enthusiastically into Draco's hands. He unfurled it and squinted at the weird assortment of brown blobs.
"Oh wow, this is wonderful!" Draco lied, feigning utmost delight at the picture.
"Buggo!" The small blonde boy announced happily.
"Oh riiight," Draco groaned, "Buggo the bear! Well I think this might just be the best Buggo portrait I've ever seen, good job buddy."
Llewyn beamed, a little chuckle escaping his lips. "I'm going to give it to Mammy."
Narcissa, who'd just re-entered the Malfoy's play room with some drinks, gasped in faux-marvel at her grandson's latest creation. "Your mother is going to love that, Llewyn. Aren't you thoughtful!"
Llewyn didn't respond, too distracted by trying to climb onto Draco's lap. After a few failed attempts, he slumped down on the floor and huffed unhappily. "Come on then." Draco laughed, pulling Llewyn up and allowing him to wriggle into a comfortable position against his chest.
"Daddy," Llewyn said seriously, "do you think Papa Bear misses Buggo?"
Draco exchanged a glance with Narcissa; in Buggo's latest adventure book, Papa Bear had to travel far away to go fishing to feed his family. Hopefully he wasn't intending to make the connection.
"Of course he does," Draco soothed, kissing Llewyn on the head, "I bet he thinks about Buggo every day and can't wait to come back and play with him, but he's got to go and bring back a tasty big fish for them to gobble first."
"Buggo likes fish." Llewyn stated matter-of-factly, seemingly satisfied with his father's explanation. The sound of clock chimes came from the hallway, prompting Narcissa to clap her hands together in shock.
"Oh my, it's already five o'clock. You'd better go and put your shoes on Llewyn, dear, your mother won't be happy if you're late for tea!"
Draco sighed, his visits with Llewyn always went by so quickly, not helped by the fact that they had to be supervised by Narcissa. At least he got to see him though…if only for one afternoon per week.
A few months ago
Autumn had truly come. There were leaves absolutely everywhere, not helped by Llewyn picking up fistfuls from the piles the Ministry gardeners had made and throwing them up in the air to see where they'd land.
"Look Mammy, snowing!" The small boy clapped happily, then galloped over to another pile to wreak a smidge more damage.
They were at the Ministry's 316th Annual Gnome Bagging event, whereby families could come along and try to bag the gnomes running wild in the gardens - most gnomes bagged would win a prize, usually a holiday of some sort. Whilst the vast majority of guests didn't actually bother to join in, it was still a fun opportunity to gather together and eat caramelised treats.
Arianwen smiled as a pile of leaves exploded into the air, some happy squeals accompanying them. A smile that quickly faded when a cough from behind her made her jump slightly and spin around. Her heart leapt as her eyes landed on-
Him.
Nobody said anything for what felt like days until a small squeal of excitement jolted him into action.
"Is that-?"
"Llewyn." Arianwen interrupted. "Yeah."
Draco stared after the trail of leaves but couldn't make out his son. "How is he?" He asked instead.
Arianwen pawed at the ground with her shoe, unsure what to make of all the feelings that had rushed to the fore; it had been so long since she'd last seen him, almost six months. "He's fine. Doing well actually." She eventually managed.
"That's good." Draco paused awkwardly. Could she not even look him in the eye? "And how are you doing?"
She couldn't look at him; she'd cry, she'd say she'd missed him every single day, that time hadn't made it easier at all - if anything the longer it went without him the more she needed him. "I've been fine too."
Another pause. "Look, Ri-"
Arianwen's head flew up at the sound of his old nickname for her.
He seemed to pick up on her surprise. "Sorry, I meant 'Arianwen'. Look - I know I fucked up. I let everything after the War get on top of me, I partied too much, I drank too much, and I definitely took too many drugs - but what I didn't do was stop loving my little boy."
Tears started forming in Arianwen's eyes but even so she couldn't seem to break their gaze. "I want to see him, I have a right to see him." He continued.
"A right?" Arianwen questioned hotly. "You think you have a right - after everything?"
"Yes! I have a job now, a steady job; I completed rehab and I haven't touched any…of that…in months." He insisted.
"You got really bad Draco, really bad. I doubt you can even remember can you?"
Draco focused hard on not biting back. It was so easy for her to blame him but she was the one who'd left him high and dry and took Llewyn out of his life. Surely she wasn't so blind that she couldn't see how much that would damage him. They were the only thing keeping him going and then they were gone - and he stopped going.
"Can't we make this about how I am now? Please Arianwen, I'm doing everything I can to prove to you that I'm better. I just want to see my son."
Merlin, his eyes, did they have to be so- "Okay. But only if you're supervised by Narcissa."
"Yes, of course, fine!" He grinned, completely shocked that she actually agreed. "When can we start?"
Arianwen looked back to where Llewyn was now chasing a gnome around some bushes, then back to his father. "You can have him on Saturday at midday but I want Narcissa there to pick him up and drop him off. And I want him back by 5.30pm at the latest."
"5.30pm at the latest, got it." He moved forward instinctively, then realised she wouldn't want him to touch her. "Thank you," he said instead, and before she could take it back, he said his goodbyes and walked away.
As happy as he was about the prospect of seeing his boy again, it didn't mask the tangled feeling of disappointment that was plaguing him. He'd imagined how that conversation would go so many times, each one ending in some cringey admission of love and Arianwen jumping into his arms - every past mistake forgotten. But instead, she said she'd been fine without him and couldn't even bring herself to look at him for more than a second at a time.
Fine without him, like their relationship could be forgotten just like that. He'd just have to forget it too.
They arrived at Myddfai House not long after 5.30pm; they could've been earlier but Narcissa insisted it was rude to floo straight into the house and made them floo to the gate house on the edge of the grounds instead, where they could get a carriage up to the main house. Arianwen answered the door after a short delay. Her house elf, Betsy, had died a few years prior and she hadn't had the heart to replace her yet. She greeted them all with a smile.
"Hello sweetheart," Arianwen laughed as Llewyn leaped into her arms the second she opened the door, "have you had a nice day?"
"Yeah," Llewyn said simply, nuzzling his face into his mother's neck.
"What did you get up to?" She asked, half to Llewyn and half to his dad.
"We did some artwork." Draco said. His hands were firmly stuffed in his pockets, a common demonstration of his discomfort. They hadn't seen each other since their argument at St Mungo's and he wasn't entirely sure how to act around her; on the one hand, he was still annoyed about what she said to the patient's sister, but on the other he just wanted everything to be easy between them, for Llewyn's sake if not his own. "Why don't you show your mother what you made for her?" He prompted Llewyn.
The little boy almost ripped the parchment in his excitement to get it from his pocket and into his mother's hand. Arianwen squinted and tilted her head to one side, after a few silent moments Llewyn couldn't take this excitement anymore and blurted, "Do you like him?"
"Him?" Arianwen asked, bemused. She rotated the parchment, tilting her head to either side to try and figure out what the different sized blobs were supposed to resemble.
Draco couldn't help but laugh at her efforts, but covered it with a cough when she looked up. She gave him a look as if to say 'help!' And, with a laugh, he said: "it's Buggo the Bear!"
"Oh! A bear! Of course." She pointed to some lines on the picture. "Those must be his claws."
"No Mammy, silly!" Llewyn shook his head at her. "Those his whiskers."
Arianwen raised her eyebrows, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Ah yes, whiskers…the defining characteristic of a bear." Draco let out another laugh, his eyes sparkling. "Why don't you go and put it in the kitchen for me, and then you can get ready for dinner?"
"Is Daddy staying?" He asked hopefully.
"No, honey, not tonight." Arianwen said softly, not making eye contact with either of the Malfoy's. "But if you hurry and put your drawing in the kitchen for me you can come and give your Daddy and Mamgu a big hug before you go." Okay!" He exclaimed, and scurried off towards the kitchen.
Arianwen smiled at his retreating back, then turned back to Draco awkwardly.
"I want him overnight." He said firmly.
"Draco!" Narcissa scolded. "You can't just make demands like that! Arianwen, you don't have to agree, dear."
Draco glared at his mother and was just about to argue back when Arianwen jumped in.
"I think he would like that." She said, an unreadable expression on her face.
"Wait, what?" He'd been expecting to have to fight for it, he had a whole speech prepared.
"I think it would be good for you to see each other more, so yes, you can have him overnight. How about on Wednesdays? And then you can continue the day visits on Saturdays?"
Narcissa stepped forward and placed a hand on Arianwen's arm. She fixed her with a concerned expression. "Are you sure?" She asked quietly, as though Draco wasn't there.
"Mother, seriously?" He was so annoyed he didn't even know what to say. Why didn't she want him to see his own son?!
"I'm sure," Arianwen replied to Narcissa, both women too busy having some kind of silent conversation to listen to Draco's protests. "So," Arianwen said, looking back at Draco, "do Wednesdays suit?"
He breathed in deeply. Now was not the time to have words with his mother, at least Arianwen was offering him an olive branch, perhaps some of what he'd said the other day had got through to her.
"Wednesdays would be perfect."
Arianwen rapped loudly on the shiny red door in Godrick's Hollow for the second time. "Come on!" She muttered mutinously. "It's bloody freezing!"
Still no answer. She practically punched the door one last time, and finally saw her efforts rewarded.
"Sorry Arianwen, couldn't hear you over the noise in the kitchen!" Harry said sheepishly. "Come in."
She immediately forgot her momentary grump when she saw what Harry meant by 'noise in the kitchen'. Ginny had turned the volume of the stereo up to what she clearly thought was loud enough to drown out her singing, but unfortunately was still audible to the every human within a twenty mile radius.
"Oh not 'Bright Side of the Moon' again!" Arianwen whined. "She's obsessed!"
"Yeah you're telling me," Harry groaned, "her solo's coming up in a minute, brace yourself."
And as if on queue, Ginny's voice went up by another octave as she bawled "Oooooo-oooooh you're the brightest siiiiide of the moon!"
"GINNY!" Harry shouted over the music. "ARIANWEN'S HERE!" Ginny carried on dancing, oblivious.
Arianwen rolled her eyes. For the 'Chosen One', Harry could be pretty thick. "You're a wizard you know!" She yelled over the music.
"WHAT?" He yelled back.
"YOU'RE A WIZARD, HARRY!" She shouted.
"I'M A WHAT?" He cupped a hand over his ear to alert her to his current deafness.
"Never mind." Arianwen laughed. She pointed her wand at the stereo and thought 'Reducio', quelling the music enough for Ginny to jump and clasp a hand to her mouth in embarrassment.
"How long have you been standing there?" She asked, horror struck.
"Long enough to remember why I never invite you to karaoke night." Arianwen teased.
The red-head laughed and pulled her into a quick hug, placing a quick peck on her cheek. Whilst Ginny and Arianwen hadn't really seen eye-to-eye during the War, they had enough people in common that they ended up seeing each other quite frequently after it. Soon enough they were appreciating each other's dry humour and general disdain for men and decided to be friends.
"Hermione," Arianwen greeted, "how are you?"
"Oh not too bad thanks, think I may just about live to hear another day." She raised a judging eyebrow at Ginny, earning herself a few choice words in response. "We didn't think you'd be able to make it." Hermione said, turning back to the blonde.
"Yes well I don't have Llewyn tonight so I figured what better way to spend a Wednesday evening than getting pissed with the girls." Arianwen replied with a grin, holding up a bottle of vodka.
"Ooh me like!" Ginny grabbed the vodka from Arianwen and began rummaging about on her drinks trolley, supposedly looking for something to mix it with.
"So is Llewyn with Narcissa Malfoy?" Hermione asked.
"Uh yeah…well, mostly with Draco. Obviously Narcissa has to be there to supervise though. Also, you really don't need to call her by her full name every time you mention her." Arianwen said tiredly.
Hermione tensed her lips in disapproval. "Mmm I think she'll always be Narcissa Malfoy to me."
"She's really not like Lucius you know, she's her own person." Arianwen argued.
"She still doesn't like muggleborns though does-" Ginny slapped the glasses down on the table, interrupting Hermione.
"Um hello? Malfoy's allowed to have overnight stays now?" She questioned. "When did this happen? Are you going soft on him? Oh my god, do you still have feelings for him or something?!"
Arianwen blushed and held up her hands in an 'I'm not armed' move. "Woah slow down there cowboy. This is the first overnight stay he's having with Llewyn, don't worry I haven't been keeping you in the dark about some secret love affair." She put a hand over Ginny's mouth to cover the interruption she was about to make. "And no, I'm not going soft, I just think it's unfair for Llewyn to be kept from his father just because he and I no longer get along."
"Alright alright, jheeze!" Ginny whined, pressing a glass into Arianwen's hand. "Here, drink this, it's anti-defensive potion."
Arianwen threw her head back and laughed. "Sorry! I just get a bit…tense…about Draco-related topics."
"We've noticed!" Hermione laughed.
Arianwen took a big gulp of her drink; it tasted like an odd mix of berries, paint, and chocolate, but wasn't entirely unpleasant.
"Ooh she's thirsty!" Ginny giggled, her face glowing from the many drinks they'd clearly had before Arianwen arrived.
"Yeah, thirsty for Malfoy's loins!" Hermione joined in.
"His loins? What the hell?" Arianwen burst out laughing.
"Yeah you know," Ginny piped up, running around the kitchen counter, "his big old-"
"Oh my god, shut up!" Arianwen laughed, she grabbed a tea towel from the oven door and lobbed it at Ginny, smacking her directly in the face. "Bullseye!"
"Here," Hermione slid another drink down the table to her, "you're gonna need a few more of these."