Happy New Year everyone!

I will apologise. I meant to get these up last week, but we've had some bad news about my grandmother and things are about to get rough. I am planning to do regular updates again and I'm finally starting to get organised and hopefully will swiftly get back into writing as well. I'm determined to get back on track with writing in general so let's see how that goes.

Hope 2023 is your best year yet!

Lots of love,

LSH xx

Breaking Traditions-Part 57:

As soon as she'd closed the door, Priscilla began to lead Druella through the Manor towards where the rest of the family were gathered in the sunroom. It was nice and warm in there so there was no point in moving anyone as they could have stayed there all day and not needed to move.

The group looked up, except Draco who was sat on the floor and playing with his sister, as they heard Priscilla and Druella arriving. The latter froze as she caught sight of her granddaughter laughing away at her brother pulling a funny face at her.

Druella looked at everyone, waiting for someone to scoop the baby up and hide her away.

"Mother," Narcissa nodded at her mother in greeting as she watched her.

"Daughter and family," Druella nodded in reply as she looked around at everyone, "I am still not happy about this adoption but I thank you for not hiding her from me as well."

"There isn't much point now that she has been announced to the world in the Daily Prophet. You will have, no doubt, read the interview already," Lucius replied as he looked at Druella, "so you will have also seen her face now as well. Only quick thinking from my wife and mother prevented you from seeing her face too soon."

Druella was shown to a seat and sat down in it before finding a cup of her favourite tea was placed in her hands and she drank it slowly. Her eyes watched her grandson 'and the baby' as she saw Rosalie currently. She could see that Draco was thriving in the big brother role but she couldn't see him as that.

"I hope that you will come to accept Rosalie as your granddaughter in the end," Lucius spoke after a while, "she is your granddaughter and that is what should matter to you. You have also longed for a granddaughter just like my parents have. Doesn't Narcissa's happiness mean anything to you?" he asked his mother-in-law as he watched her.

"Of course my daughter's happiness matters to me. Any parent wants their child to be happy," Druella responded as she looked at her son-in-law, "but so do appearances… especially in our society and status. There should never have been the need to adopt a girl in the first place. Narcissa should have be able to give birth to a daughter naturally."

"Do not begin to see our daughter as a failure Druella," Cygnus said, having been sat silently, observing everything as well, "you put so much pressure on her to be the golden child and the one who could not disappoint us. She hasn't disappointed me Druella. She has a family, a husband and, thanks to some clever work from our in-laws, still has her place in society and may have made a difference in or society as well," he said as he looked at his wife.

"Narcissa was never able to produce a daughter naturally… that is the only thing that she has failed to do," Druella said as she looked at her husband, "don't try and pin that on me husband," she said as she looked at Cygnus.

"Say what you want but nobody will call my wife a failure, especially in my own home," Lucius said as he rounded on his mother-in-law, "do that again and you will no longer be welcome here. You are lucky to have even been accepted into the Manor," he pointed out as a reminder.

Druella just scoffed as she heard Lucius' words. She did not appreciate being spoken to like that in public. She was also not going to admit that she deserved to be spoken to like that… she didn't feel that she did for standing up to the Pureblood beliefs her mother had instilled in her and, in turn, her to her daughters. One had been disowned, the other Druella wondered if she'd failed in a way and then there was Narcissa. Druella would always admit that Narcissa had been the daughter that had never failed her like she'd failed Cygnus by not producing a male heir for him.

Silence fell on the sunroom and the only sounds that could be heard were Draco's voice and Rosalie's giggles as he was entertaining her, almost distracting her from the obvious tension that was hovering in the sunroom, especially since Druella's arrival at the Manor.

Draco could sense the tension but he was choosing to ignore it, rather wanting to focus on his baby sister before he would head back to Hogwarts having been given permission to go home for a few hours. He glanced around the room and saw everyone drinking in silence. He had to admit that his maternal grandmother was making things rather difficult around the Manor whenever she would be allowed to visit.

It was in that moment, when Draco was distracted, that Rosalie was starting to pick up on things. He turned to look at his sister as she began to grizzle before she launched into a full on cry.

Narcissa was soon on her feet and scooped up her daughter into her arms, shrugging off Draco's apology before she excused herself as she swept out of the room to calm down Rosalie and get her away from the tension.

Nobody said anything for a while after that. Most of the people in the room thinking the same thing.

"Babies pick up on tension," Priscilla said casually as she refreshed her cup of tea, "it was only a matter of time before she picked up on the tension," she said.

"Well we all know who brought that into the Manor," Lucius said as he turned to look at Druella, "the tension wasn't here before you came. Everyone has accepted Rosalie and is happy to have her in our lives. You are not and that will need to change if you are going to see her as I will not have you upsetting my daughter in her own home. She is here to be loved and cherished and given a life that she would not have otherwise have had. Cissa and I were always going to adopt a child… no matter you viewpoint Druella. Every child deserves a loving home and that is what she will have now," he said firmly, almost giving his mother-in-law a warning. "You start to accept Rosalie or she will only believe she has one grandmother. I have had enough of your attitude and resistance to this. I know you are not happy about this Druella but it is what it is. Accept and move on or face a permanent ban from Malfoy Manor. You have been warned."