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All is Fair in Love and Flour
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It grew slowly, changing and evolving day by day. One afternoon in the shop turned into a full Saturday market, a month later, and it spiralled from there. She would pop in during her lunch breaks or straight after work, flawlessly carrying out any instructions that were given to her. Sandrine had watched as the bond between mother and son was strengthened and nurtured.
Narcissa was a regular addition to the shop now, and she fit in almost seamlessly, following the directions from her son without a fuss and before long, she was working there at least five hours a day. Never once had she accepted any payment as it was clear that working within close proximity of her son was payment enough for her troubles, so when the time for big choices to be made, Sandrine had no issues with how to decide.
She had been expecting the news for a long time. Her life was almost over. Six months was half a year, but for her it was nothing. She began setting her affairs in order, writing and re-writing her will so that there was no question as to whom her belongings were going to. She had no family and only one close friend so there was very little to arrange.
Her apprentice and his family would inherit almost everything. The shop, the flat above and most of the furniture would go to the young Draconis. Some things would have to be thrown away and no doubt, there were things that could be sold nevertheless, he would have everything. It had been almost a year since he had come to her, begging for a job to feed his family, ready to tackle whatever she could throw at him and offering longer working hours than even she could manage. She had accepted after some thought and it was soon visible to her that help was what she had needed for a very long time.
"Je meurs." She suddenly said one day, no point in beating around the bush she thought. The look that she received from her apprentice was quite amusing. His jaw was almost touching the floor and his eyes had gone wide. The expression was soon replaced with sorrow and she rolled her eyes and tutted at him. "Ne me regarde pas comme ça." She said sternly. "Je suis presque quatre-vingt-dix, je mérite un repos." She watched the young dragon mask his emotions and she nodded, satisfied.
"Combien de temps?" Draco asked quietly.
"Trois mois." She replied evenly. "Et je suis tout à toi et ta mère en laissant." The comical look was back. "Tout ce que vous avez à faire est de signer les documents dans les trois prochaines semaines avec moi-même en tant que témoin. Sinon, tout va à la banque." And that was the end of the conversation. She went back to rolling out her flan bases in silence and nothing more was said.
Two weeks later the paperwork was signed and everything was set to go to Draco and Narcissa. The Lady Malfoy took over the general running of the shop, having learned much from the last nine months of working closely with them both, and Sandrine taught Draco as much as she could about accounts, suppliers and costing. It turned out that the young man had inherited his father's business savvy and picked up everything seamlessly.
Two months after the paperwork was signed she slipped away soundly in her sleep. The funeral was a small affair with only Draco, Narcissa and her closest acquaintances in attendance. Draco watched the coffin get lowered into the ground and stayed well past the service, long enough even, to lay the wreath of fresh, yellow tea roses on her freshly covered grave.
The blonde man took one more look at the headstone before turning and walking back to the bakery. His bakery. He entered the shop, took off his jacket, hanging it up on the old coat stand before rolling his sleeves up, donning a skull cap and apron and starting the bread order for the next day. Sandrine had been adamant that he open the bakery, lest he have a day off and miss the custom, and when he shut out the lights and locked up it was well gone nine. He trudged upstairs and entered the guest room. (He was staying in that until the master bedroom had been re-furnished.) He had a quick shower and laid down in-between the duvet, falling asleep almost instantly.
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Translations
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Je meurs. - I'm dying.
Ne me regarde pas comme ça. - Don't look at me like that.
Je suis presque quatre-vingt-dix, je mérite un repos. - I'm almost ninety, I deserve a rest.
Combien de temps? - How long?
Trois mois. - Three months.
Et je suis tout à toi et ta mère en laissant. - And I'm leaving everything to you and your mother.
Tout ce que vous avez à faire est de signer les documents dans les trois prochaines semaines avec moi-même en tant que témoin. Sinon, tout va à la banque. - All you have to do is sign the paperwork in the next three weeks with myself as a witness. Otherwise, it all goes to the bank.
