Trillium

Chapter Five

By Mell8

Draco loves his father and Lucius loves Draco back. That's the crux of the matter. Many people believe that, as a Death Eater, Lucius must abuse his family; that poor Narcissa is married to a wife beater; that Draco suffers as the son. I have to say, all those rumors are simply not true.

Lucius cares for Narcissa and for Draco. Lucius cares.

The issue is that Lucius believes that he is perfect. The way he is and the way he acts around others is the perfect example of pureblooded perfection, and therefore Draco must act the same way.

And again, that is the crux of the matter. Lucius loves his son and wants Draco to be perfect. Since Lucius considers himself to be the epitome of perfection he has come to the conclusion that the only way to make Draco perfect is to make him into an exact copy of his father.

Lucius fails to see that he is not perfect, that he is, in fact, one of the most flawed people in the Wizarding World. But because he has not seen that, he has forced his son to become like him.

Spells, potions, brainwashing, I'm sure Lucius has used them all on his son. And Draco, a boy who was never like his father with far too much Black blood in his veins, was forced to conform.

Now I watch Draco fighting it, I see his struggle every time a letter appears in his hands. I can taste his fear on his skin and can feel his body tremble.

Then there's Ginny. She follows Draco around like a bloodhound on a scent and because of her, half of the letters never even reach Draco's hands. Because of her, he hasn't left us for the path his father wishes him to take in the name of his ideals of pureblooded perfection.

I'm beginning to agree with Ginny that the best way to free Draco and to make him his own person is to kill his misguided father.

But how to tell Draco that? To outright say it would crush him, because Draco loves his father despite Lucius' failings.

I have read many of the letters Ginny and I have confiscated and they worry me. Lucius is confused and worried because his son hasn't written. He is angry because he keeps getting letters from Parkinson telling him that Draco is ignoring her, that he disappears for hours on end and comes back smiling peacefully and smelling of sex and love. The fact that Crabbe and Goyle have been seen wandering about the castle without Draco nearby to tell (order) them what to do is a terrible disaster as far as Lucius Malfoy is concerned.

And the most worrying for Lucius Malfoy is the fact that Draco has not expressed any willingness to get himself branded by the Dark Lord and tortured into his evil service. Lucius wants Draco to become exactly like him, to walk in his very footsteps, and Lucius is a Death Eater so therefore his son must be too.

But I watch Draco as the weeks pass and he grows stronger. He hasn't felt the need to go find Pansy, or Crabbe and Goyle, or the need to harass Potter and friends. Instead he finds extra time to spend with Ginny and me. He takes long walks around the grounds or the Forest just to enjoy nature. He sits by the lake with his bare feet lightly paddling the water while the Squid watches. He breathes just to breathe, he smiles because he can, and, most importantly, he lives because he knows he can make his own choices.

If only Lucius thought the same way.

I have spoken with Snape about any Potions that he can think of that would make the drinker feel compelled to obey the maker's every wish. He went white for a second as if my simple question had brought up some terrible memories before nodding to me.

"Draco," he said by way of understanding and with another nod turned and swept out of the room. He would try to find an antidote now that he knows Draco wants his freedom but I have to doubt that it will come on time.

The letters are becoming more and more insistent, more and more…crazed is the best word I can apply to the sheer insanity Lucius is displaying in every new letter.

I doubt Lucius will be able to wait until Summer for Draco to return home to make sure that Draco has not deviated from his careful plans, especially since I'm bringing Draco to a place Lucius cannot enter, my house, as soon as the train drops us off at Kings Cross.

My best bet would be that Lucius is planning a way to get into Hogwarts to secure his son right now. I don't know if it will be in the form of an attack by the Death Eaters or if Lucius will simply infiltrate the castle himself. All I know is that Lucius will be here eventually.

I pray that we have months of freedom before hand.

III

Blaise dropped the journal on the table in Draco's private rooms as he walked in. Draco would find it and read it eventually but Blaise didn't want to hand it to him directly. They knew each other more intimately than just a melding of body and mind would allow but there were still some subjects that Blaise couldn't just toss out into the open. The journal was a perfect way to air those thoughts without the torment of a direct conversation.

Blaise walked into the bedroom and stopped short just inside the doorway. Draco stood in the middle of the room, pale and trembling, with an unopened letter in his hands.

Blaise cursed at himself. Ginny was in the Gryffindor Common room right now, making an appearance so Ron and Harry would be satisfied that she was safe and hale. Blaise should have been with Draco to protect him from his father.

But Blaise had been writing in the journal in the library and Draco had been alone when this newest letter had arrived. Blaise was just glad that Draco had grown enough backbone to resist the compulsion to open it.

With shaky hands Blaise took the letter from Draco and opened it. He only had to read the first line before he knew.

He was coming.