Draco bid farewell to Theo as he lay reclining on his bed, nose deep in the pages of the latest issue of a quidditch magazine. The only response was a noncommittal wave as he kept his eyes trained on an interesting article about his favourite team, leaving Draco to roll his eyes and part through the door without another word. He took the stairs down to the common room, noting a large presence of his housemates with a loud cacophony of voices attacking his ears, then took the steps up and out to the cold stone corridor outside. The week had passed rather quickly, an amalgamation of class, assignments and excessive chess practice. Theo had convinced Draco to participate in the inter-house wizard's chess competition and the Malfoy heir had relished the opportunity to showcase his skills.
He pulled his robes a little tighter and swivelled left down an adjoining hallway. He suspected it would be a mostly silent journey to the library to meet Granger, with only the echoes of his footsteps for company. That notion was soon disproved as Professor McGonagall suddenly appeared from around the corner ahead and hurriedly shuffled toward his direction.
Draco politely inclined his head as they drew closer. "Headmistress." However, after two further steps, she halted in front of him causing his own jarring stop.
"Mr Malfoy, I'm glad I caught you. I've had an urgent letter from Patricia Wells at St. Mungo's."
Draco froze, his mouth already drying up but he managed to get out a few words clearly enough. "That's the healer assigned to my mother."
She looked at him sadly, fidgeting with parchment in her hands, he hadn't noticed before. "I know. She says Narcissa is quite unwell and she asks that you see your mother as soon as possible." McGonagall handed him two letters, one of which he presumed was from the healer. "I've authorised your stay at home for the entire weekend. Arrangements can be made for longer if…" The strangled noise that filled the space between them, he realised had come from him and he abruptly clammed his mouth shut.
Her expression softened and expressed her sympathy as she watched him shrunken and shaking slightly. "Pack a bag and come up to my office. You can floo home from there. Password is silver quills."
He didn't know what to say. He wanted to thank her for her generosity. He also wanted to beg her to tell him his mother was fine. He simply nodded. The headmistress straightened, patted him lightly on the shoulder and headed back the way she'd come.
Draco immediately spun around returning to the dungeons at a lightning fast pace. He ignored Pansy's curious stare as he all but bolted through the common room. Flinging the door open to the dorm, he startled Theo so violently that he leapt up off the bed, his magazine skittering across the hardwood floor.
"Merlin's beard! You almost killed me mate, what's going on?"
"I'm going home." He answered, the only thing he could manage to say as he hurriedly stuffed necessary items into a bag, dumping his school bag onto his bed. He missed Theo's concerned and puzzled gaze but felt him approach his side.
"Draco, you're worrying me a bit here."
Malfoy paused, looking up at his friend and he finally took a breath. "Mother's sick. The healer needs me to go back to the Manor." Theo nodded silently, Draco immediately resuming his task.
"Can I do anything?"
"Keep this between us?"
"Of course." He nodded again more firmly and it was times like these Draco was honestly so grateful for Theo's friendship. His mind was a mess; he was running on automatic as all he could think about was getting back to the manor as fast as possible. How bad could things be?
Hauling the newly filled bag over his shoulder, he headed for the door but stopped just short. "Granger." He muttered under his breath.
"What was that?"
Draco turned back to his friend, who raised an eyebrow at him questioningly. "There's one more thing you could do for me."
"Name it."
"Granger's in the library, waiting for me. Tell her what happened. Apologise for me."
"But you just said…?"
"She'll understand." There was an air of finality about the statement. He wasn't sure why he was happy for her to know or why he felt the need to explain himself to her but he thanked Theo when he promised to do as asked and Draco exited the dungeons as swiftly as he'd entered them.
The dash up to McGonagall's office was a blur, although there was little to catch his eye regardless. Draco uttered the password to the phoenix as soon as he was near and hopped up on to the top step as it wound its way upwards. His heart was racing, he was desperate to get through fireplace and back into the Manor. He hadn't bothered to read the healer's letter; he needed to see her for himself. Reaching the door, he composed himself and knocked, entering upon acknowledgment. McGonagall was seated behind the large oak desk and he smartly approached, avoiding the concerned gaze of Dumbledore's portrait hung on the wall to his left.
"Ready?"
He nodded mutely.
Stepping into the fireplace, she offered him the pot of Floo powder, which he carefully grasped a handful of. She didn't speak again, only nodded with a comforting smile. Focussing on his destination, he called out for the manor and disappeared in a blaze of green.
The eerie silence that greeted him sent shivers up his spine.
Hermione had been in the library for nearly an hour when she glanced down at her watch and realised it was approaching time for her study session with Malfoy. She'd successfully finished up an assignment for charms and tucked away her roll of parchment safely in her bag. Already at the desk they shared during meetings, she pulled out her potions textbook and her extensive pile of notes on the project they'd planned out together. He'd genuinely provided her with valuable insight and she was confident in moving forward and beginning the actual potion making portion as she'd finished the research on her own time. In passing Draco had offered his assistance with the experiment itself and seeing as he had a natural talent for the subject, Hermione had happily accepted. She couldn't help taking a moment to consider how things had progressed over the few sessions they'd shared. While it was very much a give and take arrangement, she found he wasn't scrimping on his end of the bargain and seemed most appreciative of her efforts. Additionally, she was pleased with how civil and almost friendly they'd behaved during the time they spent together. He never once used the word Mudblood or similarly demeaning or hateful language and neither had brought up painful memories in order to upset the other. His honesty concerning his godfather had gnawed away at her fixed perception of him and when she began to analyse his behaviour in general, he seemed considerably different to the boy she was so accustomed to despising.
Checking the time, it was now their decided meeting time and she waited patiently for him to round the corner and join her. She twirled her quill between her fingers as the seconds ticked by and turned to minutes. Tapping the face of her watch, she contemplated that it was actually fast and she hadn't noticed before then but as ten minutes came and went with still no sign of him she became rather antsy.
Finally after another five minutes had passed, Hermione was incredibly frustrated and began stuffing her study supplies back into her satchel. She hadn't expected something like this from him. Standing from the desk, she swung her bag onto her shoulder, pushed in her chair and swiftly headed for the library exit. She wasn't sure what hurt more, the fact that she'd been stood up or the fact that it had been Malfoy who hadn't shown up. She had certainly hoped that he wouldn't do such a thing. As she passed the last few shelves, her path was blocked by the somewhat imposing form of Theodore Nott and she immediately came to a halt. She wasn't afraid of the Slytherin by any means but he was tall, much more than her and even had a fair few inches on Draco, and he'd filled out considerably over the years in a way akin to Goyle.
"Granger, I'm glad I caught you. Sorry I'm a bit late. I came because of Draco."
Although still highly irritated, Hermione couldn't help showing her concern. "Is he alright?"
"Debatable." He ran a hand over his face before leaning on a nearby table. His voice was calm but she could detect the undertone of worry. "It's his mother. She's very ill. McGonagall gave him permission to go home for the weekend to be with her. He's left already."
"Oh, that's terrible. What's wrong with her?" Her cold demeanour immediately dissipated.
"I don't know all the details but it's really not for me to say anyway. Draco's a really private person; he wouldn't appreciate me telling you something like that."
Hermione smiled lightly, nodding understandably. "I hope she gets better soon. Let me know if I can do anything."
He seemed to debate his answer for a few moments but he eventually resolved to speak his mind. "Just don't be too hard on him. She's all he's got left." Clearing his throat, Theo straightened from where he'd been leaning. "Well, he just wanted me to inform you and apologise."
"He asked you to tell me?" She asked, rather surprised that with what was happening he'd think it important to keep her in the loop.
"Yeah, insisted I come right down and let you know. He figured you'd be waiting."
"That was…thoughtful of him. I'm grateful, thank you." Theo nodded in response with a light smile and turned on his heel, leaving the library.
Hermione took the familiar route back to Gryffindor tower, her mind lost in thought as she navigated the chilled stone hallways. She was partly amazed by this turn of events. She was indeed aware that his mother meant a good deal to him, especially after how they'd defended each other throughout Voldemort's inhabitancy of the Manor and during the final battle. Still, the idea that he would drop everything to go to her aid was somewhat foreign to Hermione, with her being unaccustomed to this level of concern from him toward anyone else. Throughout their years at Hogwarts, Hermione couldn't recall him showing much more that civility to even his own housemates although it had recently occurred to her that he had a somewhat close relationship with Theo, seeing as Draco had told him what had happened with his mother and how the two of them had been studying together. Unlike the other Slytherins, Hermione had very little contact with Nott in the past and so she had no real opinion of him, however he had always seemed to be polite to those of his own house and even others.
Hermione smiled warmly as she stepped through the portrait hole and spotted Ginny and Neville sitting cross legged on the floor playing wizard's chess next to the fire. Crookshanks had taken up residence on Neville's lap and he absently petted the orange fur ball while contemplating the board in front of him. Hermione took up a space on the couch, dropping her book bag on the floor at her feet and shrugging at her friend's shocked expressions.
"Weren't you…?" Ginny trailed off, gesturing to the way Hermione had just entered.
Despite not owing him anything, Hermione felt an odd desire to protect Malfoy's privacy and opted to not reveal the truth for her early return.
"Something came up, we're going to reschedule." When she could see her friend was going to press the issue, Hermione swiftly switched topics. "So, who's winning?"
Neville looked up at her disappointedly, "Who do you think?"
Ginny beamed across the board at her friend, "Don't take it too personally; I've had six brothers to teach me."
Hermione laughed at Neville's deflated expression and leaned forward closer to Ginny. "Come on then. Who's the best in the family at it? Ron's been claiming it's him for years."
"He's a contender for sure but Bill taught him everything he knows and frankly, my money is still on the original champion."
Hermione grinned triumphantly, sure to tease Ron with that the next time she saw him. Leaning back onto the comfortable couch, Hermione spent the rest of her evening with her two friends, joining in their conversation on occasion but mainly enjoying the sound of the fire crackling in the background or the torrent of rain against the window. It was warm and safe and her mind kept drifting to thoughts of Malfoy, hoping things weren't going too terribly for him. She genuinely wanted Narcissa to recover from whatever the unspecified illness was because Theo's words kept reverberating around her skull. If she was all Draco had left and he loved her as much as he appeared to, Hermione really didn't want him to lose everything. She wasn't sure when she'd become so concerned for his wellbeing, especially when he'd never felt similarly. She wasn't even sure what she was going to say to him when he came back. Still, he'd been honest with her and she was more than grateful for that limited amount of trust.
