Title: The Well 9/?
Author: eidheann
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~900
Summary: Where there is a wish...
Warnings: angst.
A/N: Many thanks for the comments and support.
He arrived at the Manor with a crack, an elf seemingly waiting for him at the entry. "Master Draco be coming with Tassy. Tassy be taking Master Draco to Mistress. Master Draco be coming with Tassy." The creature backed up, bowing and gesturing him to follow, and did not take her eyes off him until he reached the door of the Blue Parlor. He grimaced in the moment before the door opened, his mother must be in a right strop if she had the elves watching him so overtly.
"Ah, Draco." His mother was seated in a comfortable wingback, tea service at the ready beside her. She smiled, just a shade to the side of warm. "Just in time for tea. You are always so prompt." He followed her gestured direction to the significantly less-comfortable chair beside her. Pleasantries and uncomfortable chairs meant she was annoyed, but he had hope of talking himself back into her good graces. This was the most normal she had been since they received that first bloody owl, and he found himself watching the familiar sight of her preparing tea, clinging to the familiarity.
"Draco!" He blinked and realized he'd been staring at the cup that was now being offered to him. The expression on his mother's face now showed exasperation bleeding to worry. He sat up and cleared his throat, accepting the cup with a nod.
"I apologize, Mother. My attention wandered."
"Unsurprising. Such is often the case when one becomes engaged to marry. Especially so suddenly! I was certain I had just seen you and not a mention." Her tone was bland, and her expression the same. He stifled his grimace, the chances of talking himself out of this were looking more remote. The fact his mother was finally behaving normally was countered by the misery she would be able to inflict on him.
He sat the tea, untouched, on the table and inched forward to the edge of his chair. His mother simply watched. It occurred to him that he had no idea what to say. She knew nothing of the real situation with Pansy, but more importantly she knew nothing of the situation with his father, Granger, and the Ministry. He wanted to pace, to fidget, to climb the walls, to not have to say any of the things that had changed in the previous two days.
"Mother..." he didn't know where to go from there. He clasped his hands tightly before him, inhaled, then released them, rubbing them against his trousers. His mother's expression softened faintly.
"Draco, what has happened?" Her voice was gentle, and he wanted to cry into her lap as he hadn't since he was a child.
"I... Father is alive. He escaped Azkaban. And Pansy is pregnant and told me Theo didn't want it but she didn't tell him."
"What?" She stood and hurried to kneel in front of his chair. "Lucius...?"
Draco nodded. "I just found out. Granger is leading the Inquest. The Ministry thinks I helped him escape. They're saying he died, telling the Aurors I had something to do with it, so no one finds out."
"Oh." Her hand fluttered to cover her mouth, then her eyes. "Oh... Lucius." He reached out gathering her close and letting her cry into his robes. "I thought he was dead..."
"I know, Mother. I know."
~~~
They sat like that for what must have been nearly an hour before both were finished with tears and collected once again. His mother reclaimed her chair, called for fresh tea, and turned to Draco with a serious expression. "None of this explains your situation with Pansy. You cannot come between a father and his child, Draco."
"I know, Mother. She... After the memorial. She told me she was pregnant and Theo didn't care. I wasn't thinking clearly and she took advantage of that." His smile was fond. "I assumed she meant he knew. I didn't know she'd go immediately to the Prophet. She apologizes, by the way."
His mother gave a snort at that. "What are you going to do?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. The announcement is made, Theo didn't even now she was leaving him... He sent an owl. That's how I knew she hadn't told him."
"That was very badly done and unnecessarily cruel." His mother frowned at Draco. "You may need to take matters into your own hands."
"I'm certain I'm the last person Theo wants to see right now."
"Be that as it may. You are neither in love with Pansy, nor she with you. You are not the father of her child. You tried to help a friend, but have made a situation more complicated than you were prepared for. Resolving it, at least seeing that the truth comes out, may fall to you."
"I'm just so tired, Mother. I'm so tired..."
She approached his chair again, but this time gathered him into her arms. "I know. But don't fret. Love will conquer all."
He looked up at her in surprise as the last words echoed in his mind with the words he spoke over the Well. She smiled down at him and ran her fingers lightly over his hair. "Love always conquers all."