To Dance With Jean
Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. I Majasty do not own the characters of this fanfiction except perhaps a few OC's that may make an appearance. Otherwise, all characters belong to JK Rowling. Additionally, this fanfiction gets inspiration from a combination of different movies, books, and real life events. A full reference list will be uploaded at the end of the story. Mischief managed.
This story disregards the Deathly Hallows except for some key dates and times. It also disregards the epilogue. This story is set primarily in the year of 2040 and has some parts of 1997-1998. Hope you enjoy.
Recap
Draco sighed before capping his ink and rolling up his parchment. He looked up from before replying in a defeated tone, "Yes, I want to dance with her. I want to dance with Jean."
Chapter 2
Xavier Orion Malfoy
London, England. November 7th, 2040
Draco sighed before looking at the grave before him. "I just wanted to find you to tell you how sorry I am. I never came to find you after the war, and I never did ever get to dance with you like I promised...but I just wanted you to know that I didn't look for you because of my love for her. I loved her, and I guess in my heart, and mind it had always been her. I did love you, but not the same way that I loved her..." Draco began to talk again, carefully kneeling in front of the grave so he would not hurt his back. "You know, she was your friend too eventually,... maybe wherever you are now you can help me find her? Give me the will to find the woman who was my one true love? I don't have much time left – I've already spent 3 months trying to find you, now I have about three months, give or take a few to find her. I really need to find her before I leave, because she was my one true love."
Draco sighed before standing up, it was beginning to get late, and Maureen had just told him at their last check-up that it was not good for him to apparate anymore. His determination and deliberation may be affected by his illness and therefore he could splinch himself. It was a highly dangerous method of transport in his condition, so Draco had opted for the muggle way, walking. It was also a good way to clear his head and think about the matters at hand such as searching for Jean. She was the key to everything really. She was the key to being truly happy before he passes away and the key to possibly mend his relationship with his son. Maybe Jean can explain to Xavier why his mother left much better than he ever could.
The only problem was how to find her?
Ottery St Catchpole, Devon, England. November 9th, 2040.
Xavier awoke to the sound of his alarm clock at approximately six o'clock in the early morning. It was his daily routine. Wake up at six on the right side of the bed, and then run his hand down the left side of the bed. In the process, he would smooth out any ripples he had made whilst he slept. Despite it being a daily routine, the activity didn't become any easier. Every time that he would run his hand down the left side of the bed, and every time that he found it empty, he was always reminded that he was alone. No longer was there a warm body beside him to warm him during the winter nights and frosty mornings, and no longer was there an Emerald Noble-Malfoy to kiss him awake.
Sometimes in the mornings like these, Xavier would turn off his alarm clock, and stay a little longer in bed rather than get up and start his day like he was supposed to. He would turn to his left that was long vacated by his wife, and clutch the white pillow to his chest, looking over at the photo of him, Emerald and their son William that sat on what used to be her side table.
Emerald was long gone, and her scent had faded from the linen sheets, but when Xavier closed his eyes, sometimes he could still imagine that she was still there with him. He would close his eyes, and then he could see her in the bed with her curly, golden hair spread across the pillows, and her captivating, sleepy eyes that were a deep shade of sapphire blue.
Through closing his eyes, Xavier could remember the way her laugh sounded like bells every time he teased her by saying that she seemed more like a "Sapphire" than an "Emerald," and sometimes if Xavier was extremely lucky, he could hear her voice, begging him to stay a little longer, and just not go to work that day. How Xavier used to be tempted by her pleas only to get out of bed anyways in fear of getting fired. If only he had stayed in bed a little longer, he would have ultimately have had more time spent with his wife.
The mornings were always cold for Xavier no matter what time of the year it was. On this day, however, there was still some frost glazing his windows when he awoke, and the morning dew was still apparent upon the flower's petals. Xavier wanted nothing more than to just curl himself back into bed and wallow in the fact that he was alone. However, with a sigh and a groan, Xavier got up and stretched out the knots in his back and joints which he had cumulated in his sleep. With another sigh, he got up and entered his adjoining bathroom.
His routine was the same every day. After he woke up, he would go to the bathroom to take a shower; he would shave, brush his teeth, comb his hair as well as do any other hygienic tasks that were necessary to do in the morning. He would then make his way to his walk-in closet to choose a suit to wear for the day. Today he had chosen a charcoal suit, with a white button-down shirt with green stripes and a deep green tie that Emerald had given to him on their second-year anniversary. He thought that it would be fitting to wear considering that today would have been their anniversary if she was still with him.
Xavier sighed as he attempted to do his tie perfectly. However it was no use – he was always dreadful at tying ties. Emerald used to tie all his ties for him. The knot would always be in a perfect full Windsor knot when she did it, whilst his somehow ended up resembling a lopsided trapezium. With one final sigh, Xavier looked over once more at the mirror to ensure his appearance was presentable before exiting his bedroom and making his way down the steps into the lounge room.
Once Xavier had entered the lounge room he took a pinch of his green floo powder, and with a clear voice stated his workplace as his destination.
Ministry Of Magic. London, England. November 9th, 2040.
Xavier worked at the Ministry of Magic located in Whitehall, Central London. It was deep underground, so it was invisible to the eyes of muggles. The floo brought him to the eighth level of the Ministry of Magic which held the Atrium. The Atrium is an area in the Ministry of Magic that serves as a lobby and a reception area to welcome visitors and employees. It was also Xavier's favorite place in the entire Ministry of Magic. Something about the Atrium being a place that saw so many people in one day, that had all different destinations just seemed to always intrigue him.
The Atrium is a very long hall with a highly polished dark wooden floor. The ceiling was a peacock blue and was filled with golden symbols that kept moving like a notice board. Each side of the hall was covered with gilded fireplaces: the fireplaces on the left side served for arrivals whilst the ones on the right were for departures.
Xavier floo'd in on the left side and immediately made his way over to the set of double golden gates that led to at least twenty access lifts. He boarded one lift to make his way to his department which was located on the seventh level; the Department of Magical Games and Sports.
The Department of Magical Games and Sports dealt with organizing sports events such as the Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament, as well as enforcing game-related laws and regulations. The department had a relaxed ambiance that looked quite untidy whilst quidditch posters were lopsidedly tacked to the walls.
Xavier exited the lift and made his way to his cubicle located to the far East side of the department. His cubicle was located in front of an office that had been vacant for about four years, and the back of his cubicle had a window that looked into it, however, was covered with numerous boxes to block the view.
Xavier sighed as he put his suitcase down and made to sit in his black office chair. He hated his cubicle, it was in the darkest end of the department, and the light above him constantly flickered. Xavier had attempted to continue with his work. However, the flickering light served as an irritation to his concentration.
Annoyed, Xavier stood up and stared at the light. The fluorescent light had been victim to Xavier's wand quite a bit throughout the years, it had endured quite a bit of "repairos" in its time, and still, the light seemed to continue to flicker. Xavier sighed before walking to the back of his cubicle and looked through the window into the vacant office.
Xavier secretly yearned to finally be allowed into that office. After all, did he not deserve it? He had worked in the Ministry for twenty-five years of his life and had been an accounting supervisor for the Department of Magical Games and Sports for most of it. For all of those twenty-five years he always had a cubicle; wouldn't it be fair for him to finally be allowed in an office with a space to himself, his name on the door, a comfortable seat and a functioning light? Was that so much to ask for?
"Get back to work old man, unless you want me to cover that window with even more boxes," came the arrogant voice of Reginald Carlton. "I need my expense report A.S.A.P." He continued in a tone that said 'you are stupid, so I am going to talk slowly, so you understand me.'
"I will have the expense report by 5pm today Reggie," Xavier replied clearly annoyed at the narcissistic man.
"You better…I wouldn't want you to be… fired." Reginald replied with a smirk as he strutted away from Xavier's desk.
Reginald Carlton was the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. He was twenty-seven years old and did not make it on a quidditch team, so he worked as a department head instead. He was only seven years older than Xavier's son William and was a seventh year when William was in his first. He was a muggle-born though, and Xavier heard from William that he used to get in trouble because he was so arrogant. Apparently, he tried to prove to the muggles back home that he was better than them by doing 'magic tricks.' He was the most arrogant and conceited person Xavier had ever met, and it was a great bruise to his ego that Reginald got the job of Department head before him. It was a great embarrassment to know that he had to work under someone who was at least half his age and his junior.
Of course, Xavier could have easily been a department head as well. He attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at the age of 11 in the year of 2009, he was sorted into Slytherin like his father, and his favorite subjects included arithmancy, potions, and herbology.
Xavier could still remember his first day and year at Hogwarts it was the first time that anyone had ever talked to him about his mother.
Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry. September 1, 2009
Xavier had just gotten off the Hogwarts Express, it was a long journey, and he did not expect it to be that long, it caught him by surprise. His father had never told him anything about Hogwarts, so he felt as though he was one of the muggle-borns who also knew nothing of Hogwarts. On the bright side, at least his father Draco had helped him get onto Platform nine, and three quarters, the muggle-borns just stared at the ticket trying to decipher if it was all a sick joke – they had to either be brought to the platform by one of the professors or see another wizard run through the barrier.
Xavier walked along with the other students before hearing an old and deep voice call out. "Firs' years over 'ere." The voice had announced, and Xavier searched for the voice amongst the large crowd. It was quite a hard task considering there were probably more than a thousand students, and it was quite dark with the moon as the only source of light.
Xavier finally found the culprit behind the voice at the front of the crowd, standing in front of a gravel path. Xavier stood before a large old man who easily was the biggest man he had ever seen. His hair was thick, bushy and greying and his attire was one of the peculiar sorts.
"Right, well I'm 'Agrid, and I'll be leadin' ya to Hogwarts, we'll walk to Hogwarts, and then I be wan'in' you all to board the boats there so we can sail across the Black Lake to the fron' of the castle. There's a maximum of six people per boat and do not try and trick yer friends by scaring them and actin' all like you gon' push 'em into the lake. It's dark and dangerous an' I don' think the Giant Squid would be to 'appy about 'is sleep being interrupted." Hagrid instructed as he began to walk down the path, followed by the first-years. Hagrid then got on one of the boats watching as every first-year student made their way to board a boat. Some were nervous at the idea of rowing over a lake that was home to a Giant Squid.
Xavier boarded a boat with a girl that he knew quite well. Her name was Emerald, and she was the niece of the lady that lived next door to Xavier. She often visited her aunty on holidays, and she would play with Xavier. When Draco had work, he often left Xavier with Emerald's aunty so he could be sure that he would be thoroughly looked after.
"Hello Xavier, I didn't see you on the train," Emerald said with a smile as she sat down next to him blabbing on about her summer and events that happened since the last time she visited her aunt. "I went to France; you have got to go there sometime! Ask your dad, you two always go on holidays, why not go to France? You have the money for it."
"I have already asked my dad to go to France, and he said no. He said that he would take me anywhere I want just not to France. Do not ask me why my father seems to have had a horrible past there or something where he doesn't want to re-live the memories." Xavier said with a frown as he sighed. "It's like my mother, whenever I bring up France, he changes the subject."
"Well, maybe your mother is French?" Emerald inquired with a shrug as they neared the shore closest to the castle. They all got off from the boats one by one and made their way up the steps towards the Hogwarts castle.
Once they had reached the castle, Professor Flitwick awaited them in the Entrance Hall standing by the base of the stairs. He silently tapped his foot before the large double doors of the Hogwarts castle opened to reveal the first years. Professor Flitwick then led the students into the great hall in rows as they walked up to the front, to begin with the sorting.
After the sorting was completed where Xavier made it into Slytherin and Emerald made it into Gryffindor, the great Feast began.
Xavier was surprised about everything in Hogwarts. Draco had never told him anything except that he was in Slytherin during his time. After the Welcome Feast ended the prefects called out for their respective houses to lead the way to the common room. However, Xavier –being the curious boy that he was—decided to explore Hogwarts a little more and snuck away to give himself a self-tour, it never crossed his mind that he would become lost and not know how to go to a common room he had never once gone to.
Xavier walked along the seventh floor unsure of what to do, there were no people around, and he did not know what direction the Slytherin Common Room was. He silently cursed his father for never telling him about Hogwarts, but, in the back of his mind he blamed himself –how could he be so stupid to run away from the prefect.
"What are you doing out of bed? Do you not know that it is past curfew?" Asked a professor from behind him with a meek and tired tone to his voice.
"Oh! I'm sorry sir, but I am actually lost, you see I am a first year, and I have never been to my common room, so I do not know where it is. Please don't give me detention sir, it's not my fault – I lost the prefect in the crowd of people, and I don't know which direction he went." Xavier explained sugar coating his story with half-truths.
"What's your name and what house are you in so I can take you to your Head of House who can then take you to your common room." The professor said before he began to walk.
"My name is Xavier Malfoy sir, and I am in Slytherin," Xavier replied following behind the professor.
"Ah you must be Draco Malfoy's son, my you look just like him I can't believe I didn't see it earlier, silly me. Your eyes though, no they definitely are not Malfoy's. Malfoy's eyes were never that warm nor were they ever that color, you inherited them from your mother. Obviously, she was always the warm and happy one between you and your father. Malfoy was always an egotistical prick." The professor said with a nervous laugh as they walked down the stairs.
"You knew my mother?" Xavier asked his ears immediately perking up when he heard the professor bring her up. Did he really have her eyes?"
The professor began to chuckle, "Oh I did, I did quite well actually. I am Professor Longbottom by the way – Neville Longbottom and I will be your Herbology teacher. Now about your mother, she was such a great witch, and one of the people who helped bring down Voldemort. You have heard of him, haven't you?" Neville paused to await Xavier's answer before continuing when he received a nod from him.
"Anyways, your mother was a member of the Order of the Phoenix along with Harry Potter, our very own Headmistress McGonagall and I. Your father eventually became a member of the Order of the Phoenix. However, he took a while to be on board, after all, …he was a Slytherin.
Your mother though was beautiful, she had eyes that resembled melted chocolate mixed with honey and her laugh, oh her laugh sounded like bells. She was also very smart, she had the intelligence and wisdom of a Ravenclaw." Neville explained with a smile as they reached the ground floor and were about to enter a corridor that led to the dungeons. "And then after the war, she just left, and no one heard from her ever again.
"What was her name?" Xavier asked absentmindedly. His eyes were glazed in awe with hearing about his mother for the very first time. His father Draco had never talked to Xavier about his mother, she was taboo, and his father seemed to always change the subject whenever Xavier asked. Draco would get a dazed look about him before he would ask Xavier a completely irrelevant question or told him to run along and play with one of the house elves.
"Well … wait, you don't know your own mother's name?" Neville asked as he realized what Xavier had asked him. How could he not know about her? She was one of the greatest people to live. He should be proud to have her as his mother.
"My father never spoke of her," Xavier explained with a frown as he looked up at Neville filled with hope.
"Then, I do not believe it is my place to tell you of her," Neville said with regret as they reached the door leading to the chambers that belonged to the Head of House of Slytherin. Neville knocked on the door thrice before waiting for the person on the other side to open the door. He looked at Xavier who looked upset, he could not blame him, he had heard so much of his mother in one night only to be short of her name. Neville looked down at him apologetically before the door to the chamber opened to reveal an irritated Pansy Parkinson complete with her black silk nightgown, robe, and her messy dark hair.
"What is it, Longbottom? If you are going to harass me about how I was a death-eater, must I remind you for the one-hundredth time that I never took the mark! All my sins have been accounted for, I served my time in Azkaban, and have been pardoned! Honestly, if McGonagall could forgive my past why can't y-" Pansy began before noticing the boy standing next to Neville. "Xavier? Shouldn't you be in bed? It is way past curfew."
"That was why I'm here Pansy if you had allowed me to speak before you started rambling on you would know that." Neville started as he rolled his eyes at her. "I found him on the seventh floor. He lost the prefect he was following in the mass of people that exited the Great Hall and didn't know which way his common room was, so I brought him here." Neville explained before stretching. "Now I shall leave him with you, and I am now going to bed good night."
Pansy sighed before telling Xavier to stay outside while she got a proper robe. She then locked her chamber before telling Xavier to follow her.
"I beg your pardon ma'am, but how do you know my name?" Xavier asked when he began following Pansy to the Slytherin Common Room.
"You were sorted into my house, I try to remember everyone's name in my house, Slytherins have got to stick together after all. Besides, it is not that hard to tell you apart, you look just like Draco. Except there are some aspects that are obviously from your mother, only people like me who have been with Draco for that long know that some traits could not have come from him." Pansy explained with a shrug as she continued to walk. "I dated your father for about two years of my time here at Hogwarts. Between my fourth and the end of sixth year, I dated him."
"Did you know my mother as well?" Xavier asked, maybe this Pansy lady would tell him her name.
"Well…I didn't know who your mother is actually. I wasn't part of the Order of The Phoenix you see, so I didn't really know what happened on that side of the war. I mean, there were rumors after the war about who your mother was, but like every new story, those rumors died down. But I did know the person that was rumored to be your mother. Not well, but I did know her." Pansy smiled as she started to walk Xavier back to their Common Room.
"You see, I this person that was said to be your mother… well, I hated her during my time here at Hogwarts, so I did not know much about her. I'm a Slytherin, so I always liked being the center of attention. That never was the case when she was around. I do know what you inherited from her though because I know what you didn't inherit from Draco." Pansy continued, smiling sadly. Wondering what would have happened if she had joined the Order of the Phoenix with all her friends. Would she have continued to date Draco during and after the war? Would Xavier not have been born and in place a child that she carried be the next Malfoy instead? Pansy smiled at the thought but knew that would have never happened. Despite Draco and Pansy being friends, there was never really any love.
"Your smile for instance," Pansy began, taking herself away from her own thoughts. "Draco never smiled it was always a smirk, whilst you…well you do smile. It's a bright and carefree smile that I know couldn't have come from Draco, I'm quite sure your mother used to smile the exact same way. Your eyes, they're warm and friendly, they sparkle like you have so much hope, they're this chocolate honey color that seems to swirl. Draco's eyes were never warm or friendly, and they never sparkle, his eyes were a cold metallic grey color almost like mercury. Your hair, it's curlier and a shade darker than Draco's. Draco's hair is platinum blonde whilst yours is like a beach blonde. His hair was always dead straight, whilst your hair is curly just like hers." Pansy provided with a smile. "Don't worry Xavier, I know Draco, he'll tell you about your mother one day, at the moment…he just isn't ready."
They finally reached the Slytherin Common Room that was disguised by a stone wall. "Half-blood prince," Pansy said with a smile before the wall slid away. "Boys dorms are to the left, your name should be on one of the doors, go find it and get some sleep. I know I want to."
After Xavier was led by Pansy to his common room and was told where his dorm would be, Xavier had gone to bed.
Ministry of Magic, London, England. November 9th, 2040
Xavier could have easily been a department head. He was head boy of his batch and received O's in his NEWTs, but at the age of twenty-two when he was halfway through his training to become a department head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Emerald had become pregnant with William. Xavier and Emerald had just gotten married, they weren't rich, but they were economically stable for two people, but Emerald was pregnant, and the expenses rose. Due to Xavier's pride and refusal to ask help from his father, Xavier had to stop his training and get a job immediately as an assistant in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. He was never able to return to his training and instead just became promoted as an accounts supervisor who oversaw all the expenses of the department.
Reginald Carter became Head of the Department four years ago, and the man seemed to find joy in bruising Xavier's ego. He constantly reminded Xavier that he was in charge and was, therefore, better than him. He bossed Xavier around as though he was the Minister of Magic himself. Xavier almost wanted to answer back one time to say, "you are not the best otherwise you would have become a quidditch player like you wanted to be rather than sitting in an office." But Xavier quite valued his job too much to take on such a risk of humiliating and offending his boss.
Xavier sighed before he continued to scribble down on his parchment to continue his job. He didn't want Reginald retuning to tell him to go back to work, or worse perhaps even fire him.
"Hi, Xavier," Xavier's co-worker greeted with a smile as she sat on one of the seats in front of Xavier's desk. "Where's that?" She asked looking at one of the photos that were stuck to Xavier's desk.
"Ah, that? That was in Italy, my wife and I went after graduation. It's a really beautiful place, you should go." Xavier replied as he continued to scribble on his parchment, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose every now and then.
"Looks like it, but then again anywhere is better than here, right?" His co-worker said with a laugh before she looked up at the ceiling and stared at the flickering light with a grimace. "Xavier, do you want me to talk to our office manager or a man in charge of maintenance so that could be fixed? I do not understand why Reginald hasn't moved you to that office yet. After all, it has been vacated for a while, and you have the most senior and responsible role."
"I asked him, but he said that offices were only for supervisors," Xavier said with a sigh before he once again continued scribbling on his parchment.
"So? You are a supervisor, you're the accounting supervisor." Xavier's co-worker pointed out before standing up. "Okay Xavier, I have to go to work, maybe we can have lunch later."
Xavier nodded before punching in numbers into his calculator and then writing a final number and circling it in red. "This is not enough," Xavier muttered to himself before punching in more numbers and looking at the numbers on the expense response. "We are missing about, more than three hundred thousand galleons," Xavier muttered before looking at the report in confusion.
Author's note: Okay so for those who are confused well… I'm sorry I am trying to make it as understandable as possible :/ The fanfiction shows you snippets of the forty-three years after the war and do not show the whole story. The pieces will obviously come together like a puzzle as more scenes play out, but for now, all the tedious, boring parts have to be written first.
I hope you all still enjoy the story. :)
Please review.
Majasty
Trivia #1: Ottery St. Catchpole is home to many wizarding families including: the Weasleys, Diggorys, and lovegoods.
Trivia #2: "Reginald" is a Latin name that means "ruler."
