So I've been away for months. If you want some info you can read my author's page…either way, I'm starting to get back into the swing of things, so to speak. Last we left this story I had introduced the sad state of the Malfoy family. Enjoy!
LCailan
5. The Insolent
Our sources have yet to identify the other perpetrators in this sad case and Gringotts Wizarding Bank officials state that they will continue their search until all those guilty are apprehended. The son of Madame S. Zabini is being questioned about the matter of the possible security breach at the bank as it was her vault which was nearly broken into. The goblins in question have apologized to those involved stating that they will now take higher security measures. Bank security has stated that Draco Malfoy was visiting his family vault at the same time of the attempted break-in and was found near Madame Zabini's vault. The other man involved escaped. Another goblin is suspected of foul play and this matter is already before the Goblin Liaison Office. We at the Prophet ensure continuing coverage on this issue-
Lucius Malfoy heaved the paper away, his face red.
"How did you break into that vault?"
Draco had joined his father in the study shortly after greeting his mother. He offered the elder Malfoy a cold look.
"I didn't break in. Didn't you just read that bleeding article? They said attempted break-in - which makes a load of difference, don't you think?"
Red faced, Lucius began to rage.
"Stop your sodding technicalities, Draco! You broke into someone else's vault!"
Draco gave his father a rotten stare.
"I didn't."
Lucius took two breaths, trying to calm himself.
"Who was with you?"
"No one."
All color faded from Lucius' face.
"HOW DID YOU BREAK INTO THAT VAULT?!"
Draco scowled as he wiped spittle from his chin.
"Why do you so quickly assume it was me?" the younger man inquired, his tone cool in the face of his father's burning rage. "Zabini's an old whore; how do those stupid goblins know it wasn't one of her numerous lovers? She's got plenty."
Lucius' shaking hand flew to his wand which he pointed in his son's direction.
"You insolent bastard!" he hissed.
Draco laughed.
"Hell, I'd bet you were one of them."
The cracking sound of Lucius' palm against Draco's face was loud in the suddenly silent room. The two men stared at one another, one indifferent and one filled with unbridled fury.
"You fool! You'll make me the laughing stock at the Ministry! Do you know how much I've invested in you? How much I've given you and your mother? How hard I work?"
Draco studied his fingernails for an infuriating moment before speaking.
"It's hardly work though, is it? Sitting in that posh office, doing nothing and ministering to a world you don't give a sodding piss about?"
Once more Lucius' wand came up though this time with much less control. Draco laughed, watching the wavering tip for a moment. He delighted in his father's slow unraveling with relish. He decided he would tell his father what had happened that day in Gringotts but it was much too entertaining not to string him along for a short bit.
Even though his cheek burned it was well worth the irritating pain.
Lucius looked as if he would faint.
"Why?"
The word was like a moan of pain.
"Why do you do this to me?"
Draco laughed once again, a cruel, cold sound.
"Oh, stop your bloody histrionics! Not everything is about you, Father! In fact if you cared to notice, life has gone on whether you were involved or not, you bloody, arrogant, cheating, manwhore bastard!"
Lucius looked stunned.
"You ungrateful, little piss ant! I should send you to Azkaban!"
Draco smirked.
"Why don't you?" He challenged, his molten silver eyes narrowing into tiny slits. "Go ahead, I dare you."
The silence was deafening.
"You won't," Draco egged on. "You won't because it will tarnish that false reputation you're trying to uphold! Can't have your own son causing problems, can you? So hide him away like some dirty little secret!"
Each word was sharp like a dagger, piercing whatever self-control Lucius was still maintaining. But in spite of his son's baiting, the older Malfoy refused to bite.
Silence followed until Draco spoke once more, softly this time.
"Fortius Quo Fidelius."
Lucius' eyes narrowed as Draco continued.
"That's Gringotts motto. Quite ironic since you accuse me of breaking into a vault there. Fortius Quo Fidelius. Look it up...strength through loyalty."
Draco's regarded his father coolly.
"I would never expect you to understand loyalty, father. But I am loyal to my friends."
Lucius' eyes shot open wide.
"Loyalty?!" he nearly screeched. "What's bloody loyalty have to do with this?! Shouldn't you have loyalty to your family name? To your own father for Merlin's bleeding sake?!"
Draco remained cool in the face of his father's rage.
"I am loyal to those who have offered it to me."
Lucius stared, speechless. Draco continued in a bored tone.
"There is an heirloom in Madame Whore-zini's vault that belongs to Blaise. I was simply attempting to return to him what is rightfully his."
"An heirloom?"
"Are you a simpleton, Father? Or are you just deaf?"
Lucius remained silent, glaring at Draco with contempt.
"It was given to Blaise by his father - his real father - and it is worth a pretty price in Galleons. He simply wants it back. It does not belong to husband number four or five. And it certainly doesn't belong to number six who is the one that refuses to allow Blaise access to his family heirlooms. Smug bastard thinks just because he happens to be the husband of the month he gets to rule the house."
Draco laughed.
"Just wait until she pitches him like she did the last five. Bloody whore."
Lucius' anger had seemingly dissipated, much to Draco's displeasure. The older Malfoy was pacing the room slowly.
"So you got involved simply because...?"
Draco sneered at his father.
"Simply because he needed help. You asked why I supposedly did it."
"Ah! So that means you were involved?"
"If I were, I would have been given very good reason."
Lucius stopped before his son, gray eyes narrowing.
"You do realize that this kind of security breach at Gringotts could be punishable by prison?"
"I have realized that," replied Draco as he stood to face his father, speaking with mock sincerity. "But I know that my good old father would never let that happen, would he?"
Lucius nearly shook with rage.
"You're a no-good, spoiled, selfish prat!"
"Well, you know what they say, Father. The fruit doesn't fall very far from the tree," Draco replied conversationally, giving his father a cold smile and a pat on the shoulder. "You should be proud."
Lucius flung his son's hand away, glaring with a hatred that made Draco laugh.
"Tell Mother I won't be here for the Christmas festivities. Not that there ever has been anything festive here. I'd tell her myself but I don't have time to listen to her pretending to care."
Lucius watched Draco move towards the door that led into the upstairs hall. He said nothing, his face a hard mask of nothingness. Draco turned at the head of the stairs.
"Happy Christmas, Father," he drawled with honeyed insincerity.
Then he was gone with a pop.
The Ministry and the Goblin Liaison Office are still leading ongoing investigations about this matter. The Minister of Magic has made an official statement about his own son's possible involvement. At this time it is not completely certain who was involved and if Draco Malfoy had anything to do with the attempted burglary of Madame S. Zabini's vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Lucius Malfoy, Minister for Magic, has stated that this event is 'tragic and in many ways unforgivable' and that those responsible will be 'reprimanded firmly and dealt with by the Wizengamot as deemed appropriate'. The Goblin Liaison is also investigating the goblin Dwenddi who is said to have helped the perpetrators get to Madame Zabini's vault. We will provide new information as it becomes available...
Hermione sat curled up on her sofa, a book on her lap. She was trying to enjoy her morning and was starting to regret inviting Ron to stay the night before. He had the wireless blaring with the latest news coming from the Ministry about the possible break-in at Gringotts.
Normally, Hermione would have been rather interested in the developing story but somehow this time she wasn't so.
She had wanted to awaken in the circle of her boyfriend's arms, kiss him awake and enjoy those few, precious moments when nothing but the two of them mattered. Sometimes when she first awoke her dreams had allowed her to forget the way life was now, the slowly growing division between her and the rest of her friends - all of it. Those moments did not happen often but Hermione had hoped for one of them that morning.
Unfortunately, Ron had arisen early; he had turned on the news while he made coffee. And so Hermione had awoken to the tinny sound of the announcer and drunk her coffee in silence while watching Ron, hoping he would take some time to pay attention to her. It seemed that on this morning she would have to take a backseat to the news coming from the Ministry.
After long moments of just listening, Ron finally broke the silence.
"How long has it been since someone attempted to break into a vault at the bank?"
Hermione had just finished her coffee and rose from the comfort of her sofa to get more.
"The last time was when you, Harry and I were there," she replied softly, her mind racing back to that time.
It had been more dangerous then but at the same time she had felt like she belonged. Back then she had been Harry Potter's best friend and Ron had...loved her in a way that she feared he no longer loved her. In the midst of all the fighting and running for her life, Hermione had held onto a hope that things would get better. Had they? Voldemort was dead but so was Harry. With Voldemort's death came the end of his horrifying grip on the British Ministry. Yet now, years later, she still felt oppressed. Hermione knew that it wasn't just about her, of course. Somehow, society had not evolved with the vision of a newly united wizarding world. There were still deep chasms between those of pure blood and those who were Muggle-borns.
Voldemort was dead but prejudice and hatred had not died with him.
Ron was scratching his head.
"That's what I thought. Last week we had a meeting about increasing security within the Ministry but nothing about the bank."
"Ron, don't you think the Ministry is handling this rather lightly?"
Hermione had added cream to her coffee and studied her boyfriend over the rim of her mug. He looked tousled and sleepy; this was the way she liked to see him - relaxed.
Ron ran his fingers through his already messy hair.
"We haven't talked about it much, honestly. Though I was out for training the last three or so days...if they talked about it, I missed it, I dunno."
Hermione worked hard to not roll her eyes. She knew herself well enough that if she had been in Ron's position...well, there would be no uncertainty about what was going on. She watched him put his mug into her small, slightly rusted sink.
"Anyway, it can't have anything to do with dark magic. I would know about that."
"Don't be bloody daft, Ron. It's the Malfoy family involved."
Ron frowned as if he had eaten something bad.
"Come off it, 'Mione. You know they aren't that bad."
"Really? Last time I remember, Lucius was nearly best mates with Voldemort."
This time Ron did not hide his annoyance.
"You know that's being a bit dramatic, don't you?"
Hermione tried to bit her tongue. In the back of her mind she knew that it wasn't Ron's fault; she knew that her friends weren't to blame for her own short patience fuse lately. But it couldn't be helped.
"I call it how it is, Ronald," she snapped. "That man is horrid and he has no business being the Minister for Magic! He's cold, hateful, prejudiced-"
Ron had turned pink.
"That's my boss you're talking about! That's my livelihood - OUR livelihood!"
Hermione had stormed back into her tiny sitting room and curled up into an angry ball on the sofa. She wasn't sure how to analyze her own emotions but she knew that her anger had stemmed from feeling useless and frustrated. No one could see how much she deserved to be doing what Ron was doing! No one understood that she was being wasted. No one.
"I'm so tired of this, Ron."
Her words were weak and emotionless. She tried to blink angry tears from her eyes.
Ron, pink-faced, had stormed after her and stood in front of the sofa, his blue eyes glaring.
"You're tired of this, Hermione? What about me? What about your friends? You know, the people you've been ignoring even though they love you so bloody much that they can't stand it?"
She glared at him.
"You mean friends like your sister who was embarrassed to see me during that surprise visit to Holyhead?"
The thundering of Hermione's fury could not silence the guilt in her conscience at Ron's bewildered yet still angry expression. His brown eyes blazed.
"Hey, now, that's not fair! Ginny's under loads of pressure just like everyone else is!"
Hermione's guilt was not enough to erase the frustration that had been growing within her for months and months.
"What do you want me to do?" she cried out, squeezing her eyes shut against the torrent of tears that threatened her. She didn't want to cry.
"You want me to be happy for Luna who isn't as smart as I am and yet she gets to go to University while I wait sodding tables and a run-down pub? You want me to applaud you on your new position with the Ministry when I've wanted nothing more than to have a chance to be where you are? You want me to be thrilled for Ginny and her new athletic career when soon enough I won't even be able to set foot on a Quidditch pitch?"
She stood up and gave Ron a hard shove.
"Sod off, Ron! You're one of the most frustrating, daft men I have ever met! You don't care a whit about anyone as long as you're happy! Who bloody cares that your girlfriend, who is supposedly the most important person in your life, rots away in her tiny flat so long as you're an Auror?"
Hermione knew she was being unreasonable and she hated herself for it. But somehow when she was this livid nothing made sense. She took personal pleasure in seeing Ron's crestfallen expression.
"H-hermione, you know that's not how it is!" he pleaded. "I...I only did this...I was..."
His face had gone pale and then suddenly color rushed back to his cheeks so that he looked nearly like a man after a night of hard drinking.
"I did it for you! You're brilliant and all I wanted to do was keep up with you! And if we get married I'll have a good job so you won't have to work if you want to..."
Hermione's face was as hard as stone and none of Ron's words seemed to reach her.
"Marriage? How can I think about sodding MARRIAGE when my life is such a fucking mess?!"
Her voice was tight to the breaking point and her chest heaved with her labored breathing.
"How can you think that I'd sit at home and play your little wife while you were out living your life?! Are you that brainless? Your precious Minister boss won't ever let you marry a filthy Mudblood like ME!"
Her voice had risen to a low roar and with a vehement swipe of her hand, she pointed towards her door.
"GET OUT."
Ron looked flabbergasted; his face had turned ashen.
"Look, we're both angry. We've both said things...things we don't mean. Can't we talk about this?"
Hermione ignored his pleas.
"Now. Get out now. I'm sick of you; I'm sick of my life."
Ron's eyes clouded over with unshed tears and Hermione's hardened heart twitched at the pain that lay in their depths. Could she stand to live with being the reason that the man she loved was hurting?
There was stark silence in that room and Hermione hung her head, her curls creating a chestnut curtain between her and the rest of her world.
"H-Hermione."
Hermione didn't move; she didn't speak. Her pointer finger had not moved, indicating where he should go.
A moment later she heard the front door of her apartment open. For a few seconds she sensed Ron's hesitation but finally the door shut and she let out a shuddering breath, knowing she was alone.
When she looked up there was only the empty flat and the scent of burning coffee. Her movements mechanic, Hermione worked to clean up the mess in the kitchen with a few waves of her wand. Then she threw herself onto her threadbare couch and began to sob.