Chapter 28: Parkinson Manor
After Ron announced his son's birth the family left the hospital and returned to their homes happy to know that the newest member of the family was healthy. Draco spent the rest of the weekend at Ginny's because she had a television that worked, although she had not been too happy about the amount of time he spent in front of it. On Saturday they returned to the hospital to see The Baby who along with Hermione were being kept for observation on Ron's orders although Hermione told them the Midwife had declared both of them healthy and ready to return home. All in all it was the best weekend of Draco's life.
It was for this reason that when Draco arrived at his office on Monday morning more than a little late he was surprised to see Carwin sitting there waiting for him to return. The last two days had been so normal that Draco had completely forgotten that he had any troubles at all, so straightening his robes and slipping into his chair he attempted a smile for Carwin already knowing that whatever he would discover would not be good.
"Mr. Malfoy, I have finished my investigation of Ms. Alden," Carwin said eschewing any and all pleasantries.
Draco stopped himself from saying anything about Carwin's rudeness; after all according to Cassandra he had been waiting almost an hour for Draco to arrive. "And what have you discovered?"
"She was an Obliviator before the war. Her lover, a married man, died in the battle and she changed all her records to state that she died in the battle as well. She even went so far as to erase everyone's memories and convince them that she had died in the final battle. Her real name is Sam Aldred."
"The war hero, the one that was killed while defending a group of small children in front of Fortescues? The man?!" Draco stood and started pacing.
"The one and only."
"Ginny told me she was having an affair with her last employer," Draco said sinking into his chair.
"She is," Carwin said enjoying the show.
"Do you know how many times she, he, she threw herself at me and I was tempted and all along she's been a man!" Draco exclaimed leaning forward.
"What about Mentis he's actually been sleeping with her," Carwin said with a laugh and Draco couldn't help himself and started to laugh hysterically thinking that even if all of his troubles had been orchestrated by Mentis then knowing that he'd been sleeping with a man for the past four years was retribution enough.
"It is my suspicion that she may have Obliviated whoever it is that did the Ministry report." Carwin said.
"But why not just Obliviate the House-Elves to tell him that I am evil and beat them with baseball bats or something?" Draco asked.
"Baseball bats?"
"American thing, it's not important," Draco said then taking a deep breath, yelled, "Wheezy!"
Wheezy immediately appeared bowing down low, "Yes, Master Draco?"
"Has Samantha Alden ever come to you and tried to cast a spell on you?"
"Yes, Master, when she start working here she point her wand at Wheezy and say, 'Obliviate', but nothing happen and she left angrily. Wheezy has not spoken to her much since then," his voice shook.
"Why haven't you told me of this before?" Draco demanded.
The House-Elf shuddered, "House-Elves here to serve humans, she commanded me not to tell anyone. I thought it was a test of loyalty."
"So why are you telling me this now?" Draco asked curiously.
Wheezy was now shaking a lot and he stuttered, "You- you ask me and you are my Master and her Master, too."
Draco drew up a little straighter at this but did not miss Carwin's eye-roll. "That's all Wheezy, thanks" here the House-Elf stop shaking choosing instead to stare at Draco in surprise, "go drink some of that Shourry Tea." The House-Elf bowed low again and disappeared immediately.
"What's that?"
"Some blueberry tea they drink, disgusting really, way too sweet." Draco took a deep breath, "recently I have become… acquainted with the Head of the Magical Creatures Department, so I will be discussing the possibility of one of her employees being Obliviated directly with her."
"By acquainted you mean you are dating her sister-in-law and so have decided to put aside your childhood feud." Carwin said with a smirk.
"How did- investigator, right." Draco said annoyed, if he's so good why hasn't he figured everything out all ready?
Carwin left soon afterward with a promise to keep him updated and Draco began to catch up with work that seemed to duplicate every time he turned around. At lunch he was sitting in the lounge area trying to read a report from one of the stores while eating the last of his favorite dessert, Rosmerta's Pumpkin Cheesecake, when the fireplace glowed green and Ginny's head appeared in his grate.
"Hey there handsome," she said with a too bright smile.
"What do you want?" He asked suspiciously.
"Why must I want something, can't I just want to say hi?" She asked.
"No."
"Alright, how's dinner with my family on Wednesday sound?" She asked with a guilty smile.
"What does the word family entail?" Draco sat up cautiously.
"Family means everyone we've ever met and dinner means all afternoon and night," she confessed with a shrug at his look of fear, she quickly added "you can bring people too, Dan and Theus!"
Draco raised his eyebrow, "what about Theus' family? They're my family too."
"Of course," she said quickly, "the more the merrier."
"Then yes!" Draco said with a smile.
As realization dawned on her Ginny's mouth went slack, "no! Not Parkinson!"
"Pansy, and it's too late," He grinned, "see you Wednesday."
Although being surrounded by Weasleys was a terrifying thought, Draco was glad he'd be able to have his own family close by. Unfortunately that was the highlight of his day. As in most Mondays Draco worked late and stayed in his room in the House-Elf floor. Tuesday went by much better, thanks to the fact that the sale reports for The Electrifier came in and they were amazing, although he was upset that he was unable to go out with Ginny that night as he had his weekly dinner with the Parkinsons. He cringed at the thought of convincing Pansy to go with him; he knew that Dan and Theus would jump at the chance.
Draco was still grimacing as he stood in front of the manor and knocked on the door. The butler opened it and led Draco to the family room where he was soon assaulted by his "niece" and "nephew".
"Uncle Draco!" Bea exclaimed hugging him, Benji was hugging his knee and exclaiming "Unku Dwaco!"
"Don't have any candy this week," Draco said apologetically.
"Aaaaaw," Bea said pulling away from him and dragging herself to a corner where a small desk sat and she proceeded to draw a very interesting picture that looked like a monkey walking a horse. Draco bent down and picked up Benji who was still hugging him and kissed him in the cheek to which the skinny boy replied by kissing Draco on the chin. Draco sat down on the chair nearest to Bea and glanced at her picture trying to figure out exactly what was going on in it.
"Where are your parents?" Draco asked tickling Benji, who was now squealing loudly.
"Daddy's walking James," Bea said drawing Octopuses on sticks, "and Mummy's upstairs 'plaining to Uncle Theus about the stupid radio."
Processing this new information Draco realized that the "monkey" was Terry, "good picture of your Dad and you might want to put some leaves on those trees and don't say stupid, it's not nice."
"Mum's the one that said it," Bea said "and Aunt Dan said it wasn't always good to be nice."
"Your Aunt Dan is just an old meanie and where is she-ooooooooow!" He pulled Benji's hands away from his hair where the boy had decided was the best spot to get his 'Unku's' attention back to himself, the boy laughed as Draco yelled in pain. "You like that huh?"
Benji nodded excitedly.
"She's in the kitchen 'plaining about the damm coffee."
"Beatrice!" Draco growled as he pretended to eat Benji to the boy's delight.
"She said it!"
"Stop repeating grown-up words!" Benji scratched at his ear.
"Stupid grown-ups," she muttered, "don't let no one say nothin'."
Draco glared at the girl who stuck her tongue out at him just in time to be caught by Dan who walked into the room carrying a tray of cups of hot coffee and two sippy cups with hot chocolate, "Beatrice Boot! What have you been told about that tongue? It is to stay inside your mouth!"
"Not fair, there's rules for everything!" Then noticing the tray, "why do I have to have a baby cup? I'm a big girl, I'm five! I can drink out of big people cups!"
"So you can scald yourself like last week?" Dan asked sarcastically, "No! Now stop acting up for Uncle Draco and behave yourself or you will eat in your room by yourself."
"Uncle Draco's right, you are an old meanie!" The girl said sticking just the tip of her tongue out at her drawing. Dan ignored it and pulled Benji away from Draco's hair as he'd been to busy spying to be of much use against the two year old's tight grip.
"If that weren't true I'd be very upset," she said placing Benji in his crib, "you've gotta watch him now, he's learned how to climb out of it." She gave the boy the sippy cup watched as he yawned. "Ignore Bea, she's just upset because we are testing the anti-magic ward in her room and she wasn't able to throw one successful fit with her tutor today."
"The jumpy fellow, yeah," Draco said remembering meeting the man, who seemed unwilling to ever turn his back on a child, "did you know I did a little investigating right after I met him, and I meant to tell you guys, early in his tutoring career this man taught a boy who in order to protest his incarceration turned the man halfway into a goat."
Dan laughed "no wonder he's so paranoid about accidental magic!"
"Guess who the child was?" He asked with a meaningful look.
"No!" Then through her laugher, "well, that explains why he ran out of here so quickly after being introduced to you!"
"Doesn't everyone run away quickly after meeting Draco though?" a tall thin man with brown hair walked into the room.
"I thought Pansy didn't allow wild animals in the house," Draco retorted.
"You used that one two weeks ago," he said sitting down on a couch and putting his feet up on the edge of Benji's playpen. "Actually I think it was better that time, so you're losing your touch."
The small boy stood up and pulled at his father's pant leg. "Terry, what's up with the radio?"
"Oh, Theus got to experimenting again," Terry said picking the boy out of the playpen and cradling him against his chest.
"So, that's what he does when he should be working on my products."
"I'm right here," Dan said from the tiny chair across from Bea where she was charming Bea's pictures to move, "and you know we're working hard, I gave you the report myself."
"Relax, I was joking and I read your very detailed, very confusing report, so yes, I believe that your working hard; that or it means nothing and you know I don't know the difference," Draco ignored her glare and turned to Terry, "So? What's wrong with the radio?"
"He tried to make the muggle radio pick up the wireless signal and now it won't play the CDs." Terry said softly as Benji had fallen asleep.
"By the way, he came up with that while working on your products." Dan said.
"I don't care how you do it just fix it. You're the expert electrician," Pansy's voice carried into the room.
"As far as wizards go," Theus answered making the three adults in the sitting room exchange smirks.
"You always say that when you don't know what you're talking about," Pansy whined as she walked into the room, "Dan! Do something to him."
"Hey, I wasn't the one who let him mess with a brand new radio." Dan said.
"Mummy! Look all the drawings I made!" Bea exclaimed.
"Beatrice, softly, your brother's sleeping." Terry said getting up from the couch gently. "I'll go put him upstairs." He said standing and giving Pansy a kiss on the cheek as he walked past her. After five years of watching them Draco still couldn't believe them. They were so often touching, kissing, and they did it as naturally as of neither realized that they were doing it. Theus was just now standing behind Dan looking down at Bea's drawings and playing with her hair, even Dan and Theus when they were only friends they were always putting their arms around one another holding on to each other.
To him it was still sort of a foreign idea, if one that he longed for, that two people could be so in love that they didn't care what anyone thought. When he was younger his parents had always been very loving and caring with him, but never with each other at least not in public. He'd discovered at a very young age that when his parents thought he'd gone up to bed they would sit in the family parlor and hug and kiss and cuddle, so he'd sneak down every night and spy on them through the key hole in the door, they never knew he was there because he was very good at sneaking around. He still remembered the very last time they'd ever had their nightly ritual.
His mother had been away for her annual trip to Paris and had come straight to King's Cross from France to pick him up after school let out. She'd been carrying her suitcase and she'd kissed in on the cheek and hugged him just a little longer when he'd offered to carry her bag. She'd laughed and levitated both of them over to a secluded corner when she clinging to Draco and the trunk and bag Disapparated them both to Malfoy Manor. When they arrived at the manor everything looked a little off and they stood there puzzled until they realized that everything was just a little cleaner and shinier alerting Narcissa and Draco to the fact that Lucius was in a foul mood and that the House-Elves were doing their best to keep him happy.
He wasn't home at the time, but Draco ignored his mother's worry and focused on bossing the House-Elves around to unpack his things. They were always extra attentive when his father was angry and he knew how to take advantage, they were going to make all his favorite foods for dinner. One thing he did notice however was that Dobby, one of the lower House-Elves, an extremely weird one that was always getting into trouble was missing, but figured his father had finally gotten tired of its mistakes and had set it free and that was why the House-Elves were all worried. He smiled at his brilliant reasoning and forgot about it. He father did not show up at dinner or before Draco was to go to bed, late that night a loud noise woke him up and he snuck down to see what was happening. He knew if his father had arrived he'd be in the family parlor and he went to spy through the keyhole.
His mother had obviously been reading on the couch as beside her lay an open book, but currently she was sweeping his father's hair out of his face as he lay across the couch his muddy shoes staining the delicate silk, his head in her lap his while his hugged her waist tightly. For a moment Draco felt like throwing a tantrum and demanding an explanation since he was never even allowed to lay on the couch much less with his shoes on, but a lone tear escaped his father's eye as he talked quietly to Narcissa and she gently swept it away. Draco turned around and went back to his room. The next night he watched his mother read for hours by herself and the night after that he watched her cry for what seemed like hours. By the next week she'd moved into a suite of bedrooms in the other side of the manor. His family had never been the same after that. Later as he'd sat in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom he'd wish he had walked in maybe things would have ended differently. It was why now that he knew what it mean to be in love he was determined to make sure things worked out he didn't want to be like his parents hiding their love behind closed doors.
"Draco, you're awfully quiet tonight, everything okay?" Pansy asked from the small table where she and Dan were drawing with Bea.
He shook his head to clear it of old memories and smiled, "yeah, fine." He looked around, "where's Theus?"
"Loo," Pansy answered.
"I have a request to make when he and Terry get back." He said nervously.
"Request?" Dan asked teasingly, "I thought Malfoy's demanded. This is a first, we must alert The Prophet." She chuckled even as Terry entered the room wondering what the joke was.
"Draco's got a request," Pansy giggled at Draco's look of annoyance.
"His royal Highness must really want this to be so nice about it," Terry laughed sitting back in his earlier position.
Draco started to respond when the butler entered the room indicating that dinner was ready and Draco realized that after all these years he still didn't know the butler's name.
He followed everyone into the dinning room and as they were sitting Theus returned.
"So, what was your request?" Pansy asked turning to Draco expectantly.
Draco saw Theus raise an eyebrow and he frowned, I always ask for things nicely, mostly, then remembering his purpose his smiled widely, if a little falsely and ignored their wary looks, "I wondered if you all would want to have dinner with my girlfriend's family tommorow?"
"What girlfriend?" Terry and Pansy asked as Dan and Theus asked, "You're back together?"
Draco ignored the Boots and answered Dan and Theus, "Yeah, Will you?"
"Of course!" Theus exclaimed.
Draco turned to Pansy, "So?" Unfortunately she narrowed he eyes and asked, "Who is she?"
"An old friend of Terry's actually," Draco said.
"Mine? From Hogwarts?" At Draco's nod Terry's wheels started turning, he'd only really kept in touch with Anthony Goldstein and Michael Corner, but they hadn't mentioned anything to him about this, "A Ravenclaw?"
"Actually, no." Draco said reddening slightly he whispered, "a Gryffindor."
Pansy gasped.
"A Gryffindor, but I didn't really hang out with any Gryffindors except for – NO!" Terry exclaimed. Pansy looked desperate to find out who they were discussing, but Terry sat back in shock. He finally gathered himself together enough to ask "You are dating Ginny Weasley?"
Pansy turned her head abruptly to see Draco nod his head sheepishly, she yelled "But!" She took a deep breath then as if she were explaining to Bea why she couldn't turn the sky green she said, "She's one of those Weasleys, you can't date her, they have no class."
"Pansy!" Terry said reprovingly. "The Weasleys are good people."
"They're not up to our level," she insisted. "Draco, what will your mother think? She'll be furious when she returns to find her son handing around with trash, specially that Weasley girl, she's got a reputation. She goes through men like," she paused lost for a metaphor, "like Narcissa goes through dresses."
Draco calmly replied having already been prepared for Pansy's reaction, "I don't care what she thinks."
"You're father-"
"Already knows, and is pissed and I don't care." Draco replied reaching for the bowl of salad which had appeared at the table several minutes ago.
"We'll go." Terry said eyeing his wife.
"But," Pansy started, but stopped upon noticing the look Terry was giving her and grabbing her fork she stabbed at a piece of tomato on her plate.
"Where are we going Daddy?" Bea asked looking up from the lettuce she was munching on.
"Tomorrow, we're going to eat dinner at Uncle Draco's girlfriend's house."
"Are there going to be kids?" She asked Draco.
"Yes." Draco said looking down at her.
"Yheeeeey!" She said grabbing another piece of lettuce with her hands.
Pansy pouted at her daughter thinking her a traitor and petulantly said, "you must eat all your vegetables, not just the lettuce and do use a fork." Bea made a face at her mother and picking up the salad fork stabbed the lettuce in her hand through it then continued to munch on it.
"How about those Caerphilly Catapults?" Theus asked awkwardly, but Terry had a lot to say on the topic and soon the men were involved in a heated Quiddtich discussion, while Dan played a food game with Bea which involved throwing pieces of vegetables in the air and catching them with their mouths. Everyone chose to ignore the pouting Pansy.
A/N: Mon. May 22, 2004 and Tues. May 23, 2004. Someone asked about this date so here goes: This date is the date in the story. Originally the chapters were in a different sequence and I would write the date in the bottom so that you guys would know what happened when, but it got too complicated so I put the chapters in chronological order, but I still put the date out of habit and for my own benefit. I tend to confuse myself very easily.