Disclaimer: I got nothin'.
Warnings: err more silent slytherin angst, hey they are very angsty people ok, gah idk I rather like this chapter. Comments are welcome!
When Greg returned with the others, Blaise had convinced Draco to calm down enough to turn back into a person. No one but him and Greg knew that particular secret. No one wanted to say anything, but their mothers usually tended to have tea, and the fact that it was mostly people whose mothers had tried to shelter their kids that had ended up hurt, well, it mean that it probably wasn't an accident. Blaise maneuvered Draco onto his bed and parked him there, and then returned to look at the wrapping. It had been sent in a shabby cardboard box, and all that was in there was the Prophet clipping. The late edition wasn't due to come out until the early evening, so someone had gotten ahold of it early.
Greg let in Pansy, Theodore, and Vince. Pansy saw Draco and went over to him, but Draco held out his hands, shaking his head. "Show her," he said softly, his eyes looking desperately at Blaise. Blaise looked down at his hands, holding the folded clipping shut. How could he… how could he just show her? He had to tell her, she couldn't find out like this… But Pansy was already moving towards him, hand held out demandingly. He hesitantly handed her the slightly crumpled paper.
She unfolded it and Blaise could see the reactions run across her face, clear as day. First, sorrow to see Draco's house burning to the ground, then she noticed the title. Then she froze, and dropped the paper like it was on fire. Her eyes flashed angrily, and she grabbed the nearest solid object (Vince's beaters bat) and threw it as hard as she could against the wall. Then she turned to Draco, and collapsed on his bed, suddenly drained, pressing her forehead against his arm, sobs racking through her body. Draco looked numb, and hurt, and just touched her arm lightly. Blaise snatched up the clipping, and herded the four other boys towards the door.
"Come on, we have to find Daphne, Astoria, Liam, and Malcolm. We can't let them find out from the prophet."
Theo reached out, and grabbed Blaise's arm. "Can't let them find out what?" His voice was gentle, hushed, and his eyes were wide. Pansy and Draco weren't exactly the ice beings their parents were but they rarely just lost it like that.
"Let me. Stay with Pansy."
Draco's voice was hoarse, but it didn't waver. He rose, gently dethatching Pansy, and he walked forwards, plucking the paper from Blaise's hands.
"Draco-"
"Don't Blaise. I have to. It has to come from me, from one of us."
Blaise hesitated, but moved to the side, and went back to Draco's bed. He sat on one side of her, Theo on the other. Vince and Greg followed Draco without hesitating. Draco didn't wave them off, actually he didn't seem to notice anything, he just took a deep breath and then went slowly up towards the common room.
"Malfoy Manor burnt down. There were people inside." Blaise said softly, hoping Pansy wouldn't hear, to Theo, since he looked mutinous about being kept out of the loop. Before either boy could respond, Pansy added, her voice thick from sobs, "My mum is- she's- she's gone."
Theo's eyes were wide and he was quiet. Pansy buried her head in Draco's pillow, still crying. Blaise gently stroked her back. She didn't relax like she had when Draco had awkwardly patted her, but she did lean into him slightly, sniffling.
"Don't cry, Pans, I'm sure Flitwick won't mind if we skip class, he's just a little man with a stick, no need to be afraid," said Theo gently, smiling, though it didn't reach his eyes.
Pansy hiccupped and kicked him lightly with her foot. She didn't laugh, but she did try to offer him a weak smile before she curled up like a dejected cat around Draco's pillow.
They sat there in silence, Blaise stroking Pansy's back, Theo fidgeting with the edge of the drapes on Draco's bed, for what seemed like an eternity.
Blaise looked up, at Theo, lost. What was happening to them. Two years ago, it was only Blaise and Theo that didn't have two parents together demanding the world of them snottily, and Blaise's mum was doubly demanding so that was ok. Two years ago, Blaise's main concern was trying to date his way through school, Greg's main concern had been passing DADA, Vince's main concern was trying to fix Draco's coffee addiction, Theo's main concern had been trying to get into Mandy Brocklehursts blouse, and Draco's main concern was trying to seduce one of his many wistful crushes (that he got every week, on a new girl at that).
This year, Blaise's main concern was keeping everyone from seeing his dark mark, keeping Draco alive and in control, keeping all the secrets, staying alive, and trying to help Draco with whatever his Super Top Secret Mission from the man without the nose was. Greg's main concern was how his father would be disappointed in him if he didn't keep Blaise and Draco in line, how to keep Vince out of all this, and he still needed to pass DADA. Vince's main concern was trying to keep the guilt about not having to be branded getting to him, trying to get Draco to eat, and stop drinking coffee, and trying not to have constant panic attacks about his friends getting killed. Theo's main concern at this point, was probably somewhere along the lines of having panic attacks over his friends imminent deaths, his father strong arming him into being a Death Eater, his father disowning him, and the nightmares of his mothers murder that haunted him at night.
And Draco… Draco had all these weird hang ups and odd moral rules, and he was so decisive about it. Draco felt responsible for every Slytherin in the dungeon, and he constantly did things like become enraged when someone in another house was rude to them, but then he was a rude little demon. He bossed around and bullied the first years, but if the same first years were picked on by anyone outside the dungeons, Draco would work himself into a territorial snit. This year, the angrier and more wild he got, the more Blaise worried that Draco was taking it upon himself to protect each and every Slytherin from their own parents. Draco's hatred of the Dark Lord was far stronger than his fear, something that wasn't true for almost anyone else Blaise had ever met. Draco's main concern was keeping the fact that he was a werewolf and an unregistered animagus a secret, accomplishing his super secret ultimate mission, worrying about everything, and now… mourning his mother.