...

Please read and review!

...

The young wizard rose as he always did, quickly and silently; slipping out of the door into the pre-dawn darkness and across the square before even the birds had risen from their slumber. With a busy day ahead of him, Draco got to work quickly, keeping his silence as his Maîtresse busied herself with pre-market jobs. Saturdays were always their most stressful time of the week and the young man always made sure that he was in the bakery two hours earlier than normal to help with preparations.

A knock at the door made the pair of them glance up in surprise and Draco quickly moved to answer it, seeing that his boss had a box of fruit cakes in her hands. His curiosity turned to shock when he discovered his mother on the doorstep and he felt a clench of fear at the prospect of bad news. Seeing her son's raging emotions Narcissa smiled and held up her hand.

"Everything is fine dragon." She said softly. "I know that Saturdays are manic for you both and I just wondered if you would like some assistance. I am not due into work today."

"Pouvez-vous réaliser?" Maîtresse Dupont asked; calling from the back of the shop.

"Je suis plus fort que je regarde." Narcissa replied with a smile. The old woman nodded to her and Draco allowed her access to the shop without a word, handing her an apron, hairnet and skull cap before pouring her a coffee.

Sandrine Dupont was not blind. She could see the longing gazes that the woman sent her son. She knew little about her apprentice, only that he was too thin and some mornings he looked as if he hadn't slept. She gave the tall, elegant woman a smile and nodded towards Draco.

"Vous pouvez travailler avec votre dragon." She said, unsurprised when the woman answered affirmatively in the French tongue. Narcissa quickly busied herself with work alongside her son; remembering what he had shown her a month ago. She grew worried when he worked in silence and realised that he had not spoken at all that morning.

"Is Draco bene omnia?" She asked quietly, slipping into Latin as not to be overheard by her son's boss.

"Valeo matrem, sicut deficiens." Her son replied with a small smile.

"Numquid non dormiamus cum pace?" She asked with a small frown. She had recalled several nights in the first weeks after their move, where she had found her dragon sat downstairs in a cold sweat, sat at the kitchen table, clutching a mug of coffee like a lifeline. There had been fewer incidents as of late but, this could have been down to Draco casting silencing charms around his bedroom.

"I never do." Draco replied honestly; switching back to English and looking up at her with his large grey eyes. "The last time I did was at home on the first day of the yule holidays in my fifth year of school." He cast his eyes back down to his work. "That was before everything changed." He whispered, turning his pastry around and continuing to roll it out. Narcissa felt her gut clench at that small revelation and realised that for him to have opened up to her in such a way showed how tired he really was and she could only be thankful that it was a Saturday, meaning the pair of them were off work the following day.

"I'm sorry dragon." She whispered and watched him nod in response.

"So am I mom." He replied quietly. The two of them continued to work in silence until the sun rose, rolling dough, kneading bread and when it came to half six there were boxes of pastries, flans, buns and loaves, packed in boxes and ready to go. The mismatched trio loaded the wares onto carts and pushed them easily out of the front door of the shop and straight to a stall in the town square.

The rest of the day past n a somewhat blur for both Draco and Narcissa and when they arrived through the front door of the cottage they both headed upstairs and fell into their respective baths, feeling the stress ebb away and the weariness set in.

Draco slept more peacefully that night than he had done in a very long time.

...

Translations

French Latin

...

Pouvez-vous réaliser? - Can you carry?

Je suis plus fort que je regarde. - I am stronger than I look.

Vous pouvez travailler avec votre dragon. - You can work with your dragon.

Is Draco bene omnia? - Is everything okay Draco?

Valeo matrem, sicut deficiens. - I'm okay mother, just tired.

Numquid non dormiamus cum pace? - Did you not sleep peacefully?