AN: Well I was a bit unhappy about the lack of reviews I received for last chapter, especially as I was quite pleased with it.

Thank you to Gurlzfor her constant supply of amazing reviews for my stories.

Chapter seventeen - Made It

Draco had very much enjoyed the aeroplane ride, it was all one exciting new adventure for him, to Narcissa it was a complete nightmare. The take off and landing was both sickening and strangely frightening, the feeling of being entirely surrounded by muggles made her feel extremely venerable and the stress of finding her way around the airport and keep her son close by without running off wore her out. And the day was still unfinished.

Narcissa was shovelling into her handbag trying to reach her train tickets, which would take her to Sorrento, all the time keeping an eye on her suitcase. Draco was tugging at her silk skirt.

"Mummy I'm hungry can I have a cauldron cake?" he pined

"I don't have one Dragon" she said while giving her ticket to the guard. He punched them and smiled at Narcissa and Draco, in an admiring way

"Bella" he said.

"Bella?" Narcissa repeated hopelessly "Oh bella! Grazie" Narcissa smiled back and took her tickets, well being called beautiful just on arriving in Italy was not a bad start

"The train eeza' just…coming" he said in a strong accent

"Grazie" she said again "You speak beautiful English" she said

The guard smiled and waved at Draco who grinned.

Narcissa threw her bag onto her shoulder, grabbed her suitcases and Draco's hand and pulled him to the platform.

"MUMMY I'M HUNGRY AND I WANT A CAULDRON CAKE!" he yelled. Draco did not usually scream like a spoilt brat when he wanted something. Narcissa guessed this was because she never usually let him get to that stage. As soon as he wanted something he got it.

The people on the platform looked over at the screaming child. Narcissa blushed

"Draco, don't yell, I'll get you something later"

"NO I WANT IT NOW!" he bawled tears welling up in his big grey eyes

"No Draco" Narcissa said firmly. It was far to hot for all this shouting

"NOW!" he stamped his foot.

Narcissa did something she never thought she would do. She slapped her son quickly and sharply around the face. He shrieked. Narcissa placed both hands over her mouth and gasped. What had she done?

"Draco, I'm sorry" she gushed. Her son was on the verge of tears when she grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug, lifting him off his feet into her arms. He whimpered into her shoulder and she felt his tears staining her blouse. "Shh sweetheart, my dragon…I'll get you something to eat later I promise…Mummy's just a little tired at the moment" Narcissa saw a train speeding up along the tracks. As their train was due Narcissa gathered that this was indeed that. "Look sweetie, here's our train…there might be some food on there." Narcissa heard him sniff as she lowered him to the ground. His cheek was slightly pink from her slap and his eyes were watery. His expression was sulky and miserable but he reluctantly took his mother's hand as she headed towards the train.

It turned out that Draco had no interest in eating anything. Narcissa had a pumpkin pasty in her bag it turned out. None of the muggles were interested in what he was eating. He seemed pleased at first but after about two or three bites he had fallen asleep. Narcissa smiled, it must have been the hot weather. She lay her son down on the seat so that his head lay on her lap. She softly stroked his hair and looked out of the window, the rich sunlight shining in on her face.

Narcissa watched the landscapes fly by her, soft fields, suburban areas, and poor slums then back to the soft fields. Narcissa smile faltered. Each landscape that went by was taking her further away from Lucius. She realised that she had not been so far away from him in a long time. Even when they went to Paris now and then he was with her, standing over her like a shadow dangling the key to her cage over her head…just out of reach.

"Mummy" came a small voice. Narcissa looked down at her son. His eyes were open but he was still half asleep

"Yes dragon?"

"Where's Daddy?"

Narcissa heart sunk.

"At home" she answered softly

"When are we going home?" he asked

Narcissa swallowed and continued to slowly stroke his silky blond hair.

"I don't know" she answered.

"Now where are we going?" Draco whined. They had been on an extremely long train journey, and then switched onto a smaller, hotter, more cramped train. Draco was probably having the worst day of his entire life. He had stated that he wished to go home over half a dozen times on the journey. He was hungry, but too tired to eat but far too hot to sleep.

"Draco, I promise we're almost there now" Narcissa put down her suitcase and began to rummage through her hand bag again, she pulled out a small sheet of paper "See, I have a map…the place we are staying is just around the corner." Narcissa looked at the map and traced her index finger over the roads to where Andromeda had circled the building they were going to stay. "C'mon Drake…not much farther"

Draco made a moaning sound but walked closer to his mother, his head lolling slightly to one side.

Narcissa knocked on the door of the old building. This was the bed and breakfast run by the two Italian women then. There was a slight pause when suddenly the door was opened with a great force to reveal a rather large woman who was in her late fifties; she had dyed chestnut hair and a smiley grin on her olive skinned face

"Buon giorno, you masta be Mrs Malfoy?

"Yes" said Narcissa, pleased to find that the woman spoke English quite well "and this is my son Draco"

Draco was standing slightly behind his mother but appeared to her side when he saw the friendly face of the woman. The Italian woman swooped down and picked up Draco into a hug

"Bella Bambino!" she trilled hugging Draco tightly "You masta come in, you masta be tired" she continued to coo over Draco.

Narcissa smiled, picked up her suitcase and headed into the building. It was quite old, but kept in good condition. There was a pleasant scent of lemon blossom in the air.

"Scusi" the woman turned to Narcissa, and holding Draco in one hand she grabbed one of Narcissa's suitcases from her and headed up the staircase.

"Here, this is your room" the woman said unlocking the door and entering the room. She put Draco drown and allowed him to walk. "This was my room when I was a little girl" she said to Narcissa

The room was bright and airy. A large fan was on the ceiling, there were also large windows looking out on an amazing view of Sorrento, it appeared that they were on a hill. Narcissa could see the sea in the near distance. There was one large double bed with white soft covers and many pillows. There was also a sofa bed next to it. There were wooden chests of drawers and wardrobes. A full length mirror was in the corner.

"The bathroom is through here" the woman said opening the door to reveal a spacious bathroom. It had both a shower and a bath. A large window was above the white sink but as they were so high up, they were not at the mercy of prying eyes.

"It's beautiful" said Narcissa softly

"Grazie" said the woman "Er…what did you say your name was…apart from Mrs Malfoy"

"Oh…Narcissa" she said

"Ah, like Greek myth?"

"Yes" said Narcissa smiling

"And your son is called Draco…Latin for Dragon…sie?"

"Yes, I sometimes call him Dragon actually…What is your name?"

"Oh scusi scusi, my name is Maria!"

"Ah…didn't you have a sister?"

"Sie, Clara is on the telephone"

Narcissa had no idea what the 'telephone' was so decided to change the subject quickly.

"Where's Draco" she said looking around. Narcissa stepped out of the bath room and back into the bedroom. Draco had climbed onto the large bed curled up into a ball and had fallen sound asleep with his thumb in his mouth

"He is so sweet" said Maria "I remember when my son was that age"

"You have a son?" asked Narcissa

"Yes, he is a little older than you are; perhaps you will meet him while you are staying. Oh, would you like some tea before you get ready for bed?"

"No thank you I'm to tired to even think about drinking tea" said Narcissa chuckling

"Then I will leave you…breakfast should be ready around eight forty-five, is okay?"

"Yes that will be lovely thank you"

"Then you will meet Clara, if she isn't on the telephone going yap yap yap."

Narcissa laughed uneasily making a mental note to find out what exactly a telephone was.

Maria bade goodnight to Narcissa and left the room.

Narcissa went back into the bathroom, she took her hair out of its elegant bun and took off her sweat driven clothes. She took a shower, washing off all the sweat and stress from the day. Feeling the cool luke warm water spread down over her thin body and through her hair. How wonderful it felt. Reaching out for one of the fluffy towels Maria had left out she wrapped it around her naked body. She stepped towards the large mirror and examined herself. Her hair, which was usually white blonde with soft waves had gone a golden colour, darkened by the water; it had also gone as curly as Andromeda's. It always did that when it was wet. She liked it that way.

She changed into a soft thin cotton night dress. It had a high waist and ended on her mid thighs. She only wore it on the hottest of days. Narcissa took out her wand and cast a quick drying spell on her hair. Cool wafts of air flew through her curls loosening into the familiar white blonde waves again.

Narcissa managed to change Draco from his day clothes into his pyjamas without waking him up. She then lifted him up and laid him under the covers. He stirred slightly but went immediately back to sleep. Narcissa smiled. She kissed his cheek and folded the covers down over his tiny body and tucked him in.

Narcissa then got into the bed next to him and lay her head down on the cool pillow.

She had done it

She had escaped.

Then listening to the slow steady breathing of her son…she fell to sleep herself.

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