A/N: Thanks to everyone who has been reading my story with patience.
Thanks for all the reviews, favourites and follows. They were most rewarding. Thanks to Grovek26, aryaa, Nikki98 and happyhoper for their reviews.
Acknowledgements:
The dialogues and scenes were taken from PS and CoS.
Well I guess that's all and now please enjoy and don't forget to leave a review.
An album with the pictures of OC's of this story can be found in my profile. Based on it I have created another poll and would like to see everyone vote.
My fiction 'The Poisoned Apple' has been nominated for The Hogwarts award in the category Hermione Romance. It is posted on the site and I would like you to cast your vote on the site under 'vote' tab.
The website is hogwartsawards DOT weebly DOT com **replace DOT with a . The link can also be found in my profile.
Disclaimer: The copyright to Harry Potter characters belong to J. K. Rowling. Any other characters are purely work of fiction and any resemblance is co-incidental.
Chapter 42: Two sides of the Moon
"…Don't you think the dose was higher than usual..."
"…Can you please stop fussing Margaret?..."
"…But he's out cold for more than two hours?..."
"…His heart is beating well…he breathing is perfectly normal…"
"…What if any internal hemorrhages occurred and we didn't notice…"
"…Healer Richelieu has examined him… he says that the subject is perfectly fine…"
Draco slowly opened his eyes and several male and female faces swam into view.
"Monsieur Malfoy?" a woman squeaked loudly, noticing him open his eyes, "Are you alright? Can you hear me?" she asked him.
Draco simply stared at the faces, silent.
"Let me see." A male shoved aside the woman and leaned his forward head to Draco, "Monsieur Malfoy…Draco Malfoy…can you hear us?" he asked Draco, his voice urgent, "Can you hear us? If you can, please slowly blink twice." He instructed.
Slowly, Draco blinked twice.
"Thanks Nostradamus!" the man let out a breath of relief, "Now…Draco Malfoy…can you see us clearly? If so blinks twice, if not then don't blink." He said apprehensively.
The faces drifting in and out of his view, Draco tried hard not to blink.
"Damn…he can't see us clearly." The man assessed, "Gérard, go and fetch Richelieu." He said to someone urgently.
"Draco," The man with blurry outline returned his attention to him, "I want you to listen to me and do as I say. Okay?" he asked.
Draco blinked twice to convey that he would.
"Fine, now close your eyes and take two deep breathes." He instructed.
Draco closed his eyes and took two lungful of deep breathes.
"Excellent…he is able to follow commands…his sensory and motor functions are intact…" the man said but before Draco could follow his words anymore he drifted into a deep darkness.
He was standing with all the other first years in the Great Hall while the Sorting was going on.
'When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted.' McGonagall said, 'Abbott, Hannah.'
A girl with blonde pigtail stumbled upon the platform and put the Sorting Hat on her head.
'HUFFLEPUFF!' the hat announced.
'Boot, Terry'
'RAVENCLAW!'
'Brown, Lavender.'
'GRYFFINDOR!'
'Bulstrode, Millicent.'
'SLYTHERIN!'
Draco looked at the first person to be sorted to Slytherin. The large and square built girl had black hair with heavy jutting jaws.
'Nice figure.' He thought, 'She will be a good choice to beat the hell out of those skinny Gryffindors.'
'Granger, Hermione.'
'What a peculiar name!' an irritated Draco thought as he examined the girl with bushy brown hair who was now cramming the Hat on her head.
'Bulstrodes are related to Blacks. But Granger?' he tried to remember, 'Oh Merlin! That's probably a Mudblood…' he thought with extreme distaste, 'I hope that filth doesn't land on Slytherin.'
'GRYFFINDOR!'
Draco let out a breath of relief as soon as the Sorting Hat's announcement reached his ears.
'Shooo….go…go Mudblood go…go to the house of Mudbloods – the House of Gryffindor.' He sneered at the Granger girl.
'Longbottom, Neville.'
Draco's eyes were still fixed on Mudblood Granger when his name was called upon.
'Malfoy, Draco.'
He swaggered forward to sit on the stool and placed the Sorting Hat on his head.
'You better place me in Slytherin, stupid hat and not in Gryffindor with a pack of filthy Mudbloods.' He threatened the thinking cap.
'SLYTHERIN!'
Proud and satisfied Draco took off the patched and frayed hat before proceeding to join his sidekicks Crabbe and Goyle in Slytherin table.
Draco opened his eyes again.
The view was clear and he was lying on his bed at St. Lupus's Facility. The room was brightly lit though the artificial window to his left said it was dark outside.
"How do you feel Monsieur Malfoy?" he heard a voice asked him and turning his head sideways, he found Descartes sitting beside his bed on a chair.
"I…" Draco began, his voice rasping from prolonged disuse, "…am fine." He concluded.
"Can you please lift your right hand for me?" the chief researcher asked him.
Slowly Draco lifted his right hand.
"That's nice. Can you lift your arms and legs rotationally?" Descartes asked again.
Draco did as he was told and lifted all his four limbs one by one.
"I think you are fine now, though you did frighten us." Descartes commented checking Draco thoroughly, "I request that you take some rest and then go back to your home. I will send a nurse to help you get dressed." He said and patted Draco gently on his shoulder.
"Descartes," Draco called the man, his senses as well as his strength rapidly coming back, "When will I have to come again?" he asked.
"I think since you coped with the second dose so well," Descartes said evenly, "The effects will not take long to demonstrate themselves."
Not satisfied with the vague answer Draco gave an angry snort, "Tell me when." He demanded.
"We still can't tell, Monsieur." Descartes said patiently, "We are doing a research and the results are still inconclusive. But since you regained consciousness and all your limbs are working properly – which is a miracle in itself, I think the second dose will be as fruitful as the first one was. You had your attack on a full moon last time so this time I think it will be just the opposite, around a new moon. Since the phase of the Waning Gibbous has started which precedes the New Moon, it can be any of the following days before Tuesday which is the night of the new moon." He explained.
"Thank you." Draco said curtly and turning his body sideways, he sat up.
"Are you leaving already?" Descartes asked him incredulously, "But you need rest." He reminded.
Draco placed his feet on the floor and stood up, trying to regain the balance of his aching body.
"I will take rest with my wife and son." he said before taking his shirt and donning it over his naked upper body.
•••••
"But Mama, I want my blue T-shirt!" Adrian demanded to his mother, Hermione, who was having a tough time getting him dressed in an orange T-shirt.
Remembering Draco Malfoy's strange pattern of dressing up in blue lately, Hermione gave her head a resolute shake.
"No, Adrian." she denied her son's request to be dressed in blue, "I think you have had enough of wearing blue. I want you to wear different colours from now on and it starts with orange." She said firmly.
Her son gave his orange attire a dismayed look and sniffed audibly, "But grandpa says I look good in blue. He says blue is for boys." He informed his mother.
"You are not a boy." Hermione said prudently, "You are a man and men never repeat the same colour." She said wisely, "Have you ever seen uncle Alexis wearing the same colour every day?" she asked him.
"Uncle Alexis always wears white shirts." Her son supplied innocently.
Hermione bit her lips for falling in her own trap, "Well…" she stammered, "…that's because he goes to office and white shirt is for official purpose. But he never wears them at home, at home he wears different colours like…" she purposefully avoided 'blue', "…like green, beige, brown…"
"But I love blue." Adrian said stubbornly, "Mama, please I want my blue T-shirt." He pleaded.
Her patience now running thin Hermione decided to take a hard way, "No." she snapped at Adrian who startled and almost jumped, "You will not wear blue until I feel right about it. Understood?" she demanded angrily.
Her son nodded silently, his innocent grey eyes wide and almost tearful.
Reminding herself that she wouldn't fall for her son's innocent charms, Hermione combed Adrian's silvery-blonde curls and smoothed his orange T-shirt once more.
"Come, we are getting late for Healer Henriette." She said grabbing Adrian's little hand and they left their bedroom for the Floo fireplace downstairs.
Today being the day when Adrian's cast will be finally removed, Hermione hadn't been able to concentrate on anything except the moment when it would be declared that her son was perfectly alright. She being no Healer, numerous unpleasant thoughts regarding her son's left arm being less functioning or worse paralyzed for life had petrified her from the moment she had opened her eyes in the morning and the rest of the day had been no exception. She had lost track of her thoughts several times while curse-breaking some ruby earrings and only when Claudia warned her that she was being careless did Hermione decide to retire for the day and return to her son.
The journey through the Floo was uncharacteristically silent on both parts: Hermione being anxious and apprehensive while Adrian being somber. They reached Paedi-Healer Henriette's chamber where Hermione had placed an appointment for Adrian at three o' clock and when the said Healer came out and ushered them inside her office, Hermione – her heart beating painfully against her chest – grabbed her son's hand a little too tightly.
"Mama, it hurts." Her son said and she almost jumped out of her skin.
"Where? Where it hurts?" she asked him anxiously, crouching down and scrutinizing the little form carefully, "Where does it hurt, Adrian?"
Her son glanced at his right hand which was under Hermione's deadly grip, "It hurts when you hold me very tightly." He said morosely and realizing her mistake, Hermione removed her hand immediately.
"Mama is so sorry, little rabbit." She apologized gently, "Mama is very anxious for your hand." She explained kindly.
Making sure that she didn't hurt her son in any way anymore, she simply nudged Adrian to enter the Healer's chamber.
Paedi-Healer Henriette was very kind and supportive when she explained to Hermione that Adrian's hand was perfectly fine and that he might suffer from some initial weakness in his left upper limb from prolonged disuse. Hermione was a little worried but when she assured that it was perfectly normal and would happen in her case too, she let out a breath of relief.
She watched as Henriette carefully cut through the layers of gauze and cotton that overlay the hard cast below. Adrian, too, was silent throughout the procedure and when the cast was removed, which was followed by Henriette flexing and extending his little arm several times, he gave her a tiny but heart-touching smile.
"Can I play now?" he enquired from the elderly woman who nodded and stroked his silvery blonde curls fondly.
"Yes, you can play, draw, fly, write. You can do everything but you must be careful not to hurt yourself again." Henriette warned Adrian, who nodded and then she turned to Hermione.
"I think I can heal your arm and remove your cast now?" she asked her and Hermione, now feeling as if a big stone had been removed from over her chest, agreed.
It didn't take more than one wave of wand from an accomplished Healer like Henriette to mend Hermione's hand magically and after the tingling sensation subsided, she simply vanished Hermione's cast.
Hermione looked down at her now mended left arm.
"It feels a little stiff." She noted flexing and extending her arm to regain the senses.
"Just keep exercising your hand and it will go away in a day or two." Henriette said, smiling assuringly, "You and your son are perfectly alright now." she declared.
Elated and relieved, Hermione thanked Henriette and left the office with Adrian.
"Should we go to grandma Apolline's home? Show her that your hand is okay now?" she asked her silent son, who was avoiding looking at her.
Adrian simply shook his head and Hermione frowned, "What is it, Adrian?" she asked him, "You don't want to go to grandma Apolline's home?" she enquired curiously.
Her son was resolutely looking down at the floor when he replied, "I want to play with Peter."
Sensing that something was odd in Adrian's manner of talking, Hermione decided to take the boy back to their quarter at Château and together, they stepped into the Floo.
The moment they arrived at their quarter, Adrian let go of Hermione's hand and ran out of the Floo fireplace.
"Adrian…" Hermione called after him but the little boy didn't pay any heed to her and went upstairs straightaway.
"Strange." Hermione commented before she too followed her son while dusting soot off her dress.
"Adrian," she found her son in their bedroom, cuddling his rabbit in his both arms, "Come here, I'll change your T-shirt." She said evenly.
"I don't want to change. I want to play with Peter." was all Adrian said before he ran out of bedroom leaving behind a stunned Hermione.
"What's wrong with him?" she muttered, still staring at the spot where her son had been standing minutes ago.
The mystery regarding Adrian's odd silence and withdrawal accentuated in the afternoon that followed. He didn't take his afternoon snack and whenever Hermione offered him to change his orange T-shirt he outright denied it.
"I don't want to change. I want to draw now." he said for the eighth time as he settled down on Hermione's reading table with his drawing book and colouring pencils.
By that time Hermione was realizing the real reason behind her son's resentment.
Sensing that forcing Adrian to change his T-shirt would simply worsen the situation further, Hermione sat on a sofa that overlooked his son's table and rubbed her forehead wearily.
She didn't know how long she sat there lost in her thoughts for when Audré's voice came from beside her, Hermione was startled back to reality.
"You didn't tell me that you have removed your casts." Audré said to her, "I was waiting to see you two without those casts."
"…Aunt Audré." She stammered, "When did you come?" she asked, trying to recover from her lost state.
"The quarter felt like a graveyard when I entered it fifteen minutes ago." Audré said, giving Hermione a piercing look, "Adrian is so silent. He didn't even greet me properly." She indicated a silent Adrian, drawing at the table, "You are sitting here, lost in your thoughts. What's wrong?" she asked cautiously.
"My five and half year old son is angry with me." Hermione stated gravely.
"Why?" Audré asked, frowning deeply.
Hermione opened her mouth and closed it again.
"…I …I scolded him this afternoon." She said after some times, "…he was insisting that he wants to wear his blue T-shirt and I didn't want him to wear blue…so I forced him to wear his orange T-shirt and when he…he pleaded me for the blue one again…I rebuked him…" Hermione's heart filled with guilt as she remembered the moment she snapped at Adrian and the boy nodded with silent tearful eyes.
Audré arched an eyebrow, "Is there is any particular reason that you didn't want him to wear blue this afternoon?" she asked curiously, "Any colour of the day or lucky colour or something like that?" she enquired.
Hermione shook her head, feeling ashamed that she was admitting it before Audré, "No, aunt Audré, it's nothing like that. The thing is…" she paused, "…Malf…" she paused again, "Malfoy… he has been copying Adrian's dress code for a few days…he is constantly wearing blue shirts…he even wore Muggle Jeans yesterday…and he looks so much like Adrian in them that it irritated me to no end…so I thought I would dress my son in different colours and made Adrian wear his orange T-shirt today…like me his favourite colour is also blue…and he insisted…pleaded to me to wear blue but I rebuked him instead." She hid her face in her hands.
The silent that followed Hermione's confession was almost palpable.
"Let me tell you a story." She heard Audré said after sometime, "It's a true story from my own life." she said gently and Hermione looked up from her hands, "Like me, my mother was my grandfather's only daughter and she, too, was brought up to be an independent woman. Josée Laval Chombrun, my mother was one of the first renowned female potioneers in France. In her short life of thirty eight years, she invented many herbal concoctions and solutions that are still being used by Healers." She said and an interested Hermione listened, "She had a cousin by the name of Isabella. She used to call her Bella and I called her aunt Bella." She smiled when Hermione frowned deeply, "I know her name matches with a certain witch whom I guess anyone would hate." She remarked on similarity between Bella and Bellatrix, "Now, as I was saying, this aunt Bella of mine didn't like my mother very much. She was several years older than mother and she always used to tease her regarding her independent attitude. Sometimes she even admonished my father, telling him that he is letting her have far more freedom than it is allowed for women in pureblood Wizarding families. But my father truly loved my mother and would never stop her in her works in the field of potions. Now, when I was a mere child of five or six, I always used to give aunt Bella a wide berth whenever we met. Her dislike towards my mother wasn't only limited to her, she even teased me by telling me that I would be a boy instead of a girl when I grow up because my parents didn't take the conventional path for my upbringing." she paused and Hermione waited for more eagerly.
"You are a mother for almost six years now, Jean, while I was a mother ever since my mother died." Audré said soberly, "My relationship with my father was of deep love and care. We may be father and daughter but after my mother passed away, he became so depressed that I began to take care of him like my own son. I used to scold him if he didn't take his meal and medicines regularly, take out and arrange his morning clothes like – shirt, cufflinks, necktie etc., tell the elves to polish his shoes." Audré was smiling while reminiscing her childhood memories, "And my father used to say that I am even stern than his own mother ever was. So, basically I never had the chance to be a girl, I was a daughter who turned to a mother for her beloved father." she said fondly, "I still remember what my father used to say about children and their psychology. He was a criminal lawyer like me and psychology was his way of assessing his clients as well as criminals. Father used to say that a child's mind is like a blank paper." She said simultaneously conjuring a piece of paper and a charcoal, "In a blank paper, if you draw a line, Jean, it is visible from a long distance." She drew a dark line across the page and showed it to Hermione, "On the other hand, our minds – adult minds are like a paper where it is already full of different dark lines and strokes. If we draw another line in them, it won't be as prominent as it was in a child's case." She explained and an intrigued Hermione listened, "Adrian's mind is like a blank paper, Jean. A single black line across it is visible from distance. Like my aunt Bella, who used to abuse me, when my mind was young and blank like Adrian's is. I could never forgive her for being rude to me and my mother; even now that she is no more, Jean, I can't forget her ruthless taunts regarding me and my upbringings. That impression still remains deeply etched in my mind." She sighed, "That's the reason when Draco told me that he wants to bring Adrian, I tried my best to stop him. From my own experiences, I knew Adrian wouldn't take it lightly. He would take it as a separation from his Mama and it will be like a dark line in his white and blank innocent mind. I told Draco to leave that idea and be a man instead so that when time comes he can present himself to his son and maybe even to you. But he didn't listen to me and brought Adrian here by force which got enlisted as Claiming. That was the day when Draco destroyed all his chances to redeem himself before his son." she said shaking her head sadly, "A boy like Adrian should be curious about his father whereas he is fearful about that man; just like me and aunt Bella for whom I felt neither curiosity nor affection. Adrian is supposed to be bombarding you with questions about the man he has heard of but never met but thanks to Draco, he hardly speaks to or about him." She said thoughtfully, "You were not here when it happened, Jean, when Draco brought Adrian to this Château." She said and Hermione's chest constricted painfully, "Adrian was so scared that he ran non-stop for almost half an hour. No one could catch or console him – not even I. He wouldn't talk to anybody except for his Mama. He wouldn't even look at anybody. I have never slapped my grown up children but I slapped Draco that night – for scaring the poor child out of his skin. Now he reaps as he had sown – his only son feels neither compassion nor curiosity for him." She said and Hermione couldn't deny that she felt a balloon of happiness blooming inside her, "Now the question is why did I lecture you?" she asked and Hermione frowned, "I know that you are already an excellent mother and you are doing fine with Adrian. Thanks to you, he is a wonderful child. But you need to be patient with him when he behaves stubbornly." She said gently and Hermione too felt Audré was being right, "I was a working mother myself and I know it's hard to keep your patience with your child when you are tired or sad or depressed. But in the long run your child will be your best friend, so just try to explain it him why you said 'no'. If he still argues than tell him to trust your judgment as a mother and that you will talk to him about it later when you are not tired." She advised kindly, "Besides, Adrian hardly ever argues with you. We, sometime's think that children don't understand us like we do but that's a wrong conception. Since they are innocent and tender they understand more than we do in some cases. Remember the day you returned home and told me that Draco was stalking you? Do you know what happened when you fell asleep?" she asked and Hermione shook her head slightly, "Adrian went and kissed you on your cheek. When he came out he told me that your cheeks were wet and you must me crying for your parents." Audré said and Hermione stared, a stranger surge of affection filling her heart, "It's no secret that he loves his Mama very much and will accept her decision regarding anything. But don't let that acceptance be out of resentment than out of love and respect. Don't let your harsh words be like those lines that Draco has drawn in Adrian's mind." Audré said and Hermione felt how she needed those words to be spoken to her by someone.
"I am sorry aunt Audré." She said, her voice shaking, "I am sorry that I hurt my child."
Audré placed a comforting hand on Hermione's hands and squeezed them, "Don't be my dear child, don't be." She said gently, "You yourself were a child when you became a mother. But you have taken very good care of Adrian and I swear in the name of my own mother, he could never have had a better mother than you. When Lillian told me that you have told Adrian where you are going when you went to meet the Delacroix's, I was so proud that I can't express it here. I am glad that you never lied to your son and are always being honest with him regarding everything. It's so easy to lie to your own child but a mother who lies to her child when truth can easily be told, can never be a good mother in the long run. Motherhood is a divine relationship, you grow a child inside you; you are bonded to each other physically, mentally and spiritually. And if you lie to your child, it's like you lie to your own self, to your own soul." She said and Hermione felt her spirit lift up considerably.
"Jean!" she heard Audré called her so loudly that she almost jumped, "You said you have no man to escort you out?" she asked her and Hermione looked up at her, puzzled.
"What.." she started but was cut short when Audré winked at her and gave a sideways glance at Adrian.
"What? You mean you have no 'man' to take you out?" Audré was asking more to Adrian than to Hermione, "That's so bad!" she exclaimed loudly, "I mean a 'lady' like you have no 'man' to take her out for a walk?" she said and Hermione understanding her motives, fought hard not to giggle.
"No, aunt Audré." She replied loudly so that Adrian could hear too, "I am a poor 'lady' who has no one. Not a 'man' is here to take me out for a walk." She said feigning disappointment.
Audré shook her head in sympathy and Hermione would swear she could receive a Muggle Oscars for her outstanding performance, "I am so sorry, Jean, I am so sorry." She even sniffed audibly and Hermione looked away to prevent herself from bursting into a laugh, "I think I should call 'Monsieur' to take you out for a walk." She offered.
Whatever resolution Adrian had been holding before that was broken the moment the word 'Monsieur' reached his ears; for Hermione saw how he jumped down from the table and ran at Hermione before jumping on her and taking her in a tight embrace.
"NO!" he shouted at Audré, "MAMA WON'T GO OUT WITH MONSIUER. I AM MAMA'S MAN. I LOVE MAMA. MONSIUER HATES MAMA." He said breathing like a steam engine.
"But you were drawing." Audré supplied innocently, "Besides, I thought you are angry with Mama." She said comically.
Adrian sniffed and looked down at his mother who was waiting breathlessly, "I am." He pouted his pink lips, "Mama rebuked me for my blue T-shirt. I wanted my blue T-shirt. But Mama…" he paused and grasped Hermione even more tightly, "…but Mama will not go with Monsieur. I will take Mama outside. I am her man." he said firmly.
Her both hands healed and free now, Hermione embraced her son like she used to do before: with love, care, protection, affection and pride, and kissed Adrian's cheeks while bursting into tears suddenly.
"…Mama is so sorry…" she rasped, "Mama is so sorry…she hurt her little man…her little rabbit…her rabbity boo…"she said between her sobs.
Her son too was crying against her chest, "…I am sorry Mama…I hurt you…you wanted to take me to grandma…you told me to have snacks…but I didn't do it…I hurt you…you are crying…" he said feverishly.
Hermione closed her eyes and embraced her son more tightly, like they were when she was pregnant with him, "Mama loves her Adrian." she said softly.
"Adrian loves his Mama." Her son's voice resonated against her chest.
Oh how Hermione wanted the time to stop there so that she and her son be together like that for eternity!
How being with Adrian fulfilled her!
How he completed her!
How he complimented her!
How extremely beautiful and tender this relationship was!
When she opened her eyes to thank Audré, the elderly woman wasn't there anymore. In her reunion with her son, she hadn't even noticed her leave.
With her son snuggling against her, Hermione gave the seat, where Audré had been sitting, an affectionate glance.
"Beware of Audré Chombrun Malfoy, dear, she is like a Black Hole." Was all that came in her mind.
•••••
As soon as Draco apparated back to his uncle's Château, he spotted a female figure sitting on one of the garden benches.
"Aunt Audré." He whispered softly recognizing the slender figure and proceeded across the garden for the elderly woman.
"Draco, you are home." Audré noted as he sat beside her, his body weak and feverish, "Don't worry Narcissa doesn't know anything about it." she assured to Draco's questioning look, "But I must say I was getting pretty worried for you." She said earnestly.
Draco sighed and looked up at the thin strip of moon that was barely visible through the clouds, "I got the second dose." He said plainly.
"Where? In your left shoulder?" Audré asked him, placing a hand on his, "Did it hurt a lot?"
"I guess it didn't hurt me more that I hurt Granger." Draco replied truthfully, "I did hurt her badly, aunt, I did hurt her badly."
He heard Audré sighed deeply beside him, "It's so strange that human nature is so much like a moon, Draco." She commented.
"Moon?" Draco asked her aunt, frowning slightly.
"Yes, moon, dear Draco." Audré affirmed, "Like moon we have two sides – a dark side and a light side." She too looked up at the sky, "At full moon we see the light side and at new moon we see the dark side. No one likes the dark side for it engulfs the world in darkness; everyone romanticizes on the light side of moon. But do they realize that without the dark side the good and light side has no value? Had moon always been as bright it is when in full moon, would we humans have noticed it?" she looked down at Draco, "We notice and appreciate it only because we see the darkness that precedes the full moon." She said and Draco considered her words, "Come." She heard her saying, "Let's have dinner together and then should you go and take rest." She offered him gently.
Pondering over Audré's words Draco stood up and followed her.
"Draco." He heard her calling him after a while, "Can I ask you a personal question?"
Frowning slightly, Draco nodded.
Even in semi-darkness of the garden Draco felt her aunt's eyes rove up and down his form, "Why have you suddenly taken to wearing blue?" she asked him evenly.
Draco smirked in response, "Granger… I mean, Jean likes blue." He replied plainly.
"How do you know?" Audré asked him, "I guess you two were never intimate enough to discuss each other's favourite colours." She commented wisely.
Draco still could remember what Hermione Granger had worn in Yule Ball in their fourth year and even he couldn't deny that she looked very good in it.
"She wore blue dress robes in Yule Ball in our fourth year." he replied to his aunt, "Besides, she wears blue for any special occasion, like she did when you invited the Delacours in her birthday party." He explained.
Audré coughed audibly and Draco arched an eyebrow, "Interesting!" she commented, "So you were wearing blue to catch her attention?" she asked skeptically.
"Is it wrong to try to catch one's wife's attention?" Draco asked back, annoyed by his aunt's silent jibe.
Audré shook her head, "Of course it isn't." she said evenly, "But you must remember that your wife was victimized by you." She said solemnly and Draco fisted his hands, "So, if you try to impress her by wearing her favourite colour, it might cause the opposite effect – she might think that you are copying or worse mimicking her which may cause irritation on her part." She explained.
Draco stopped on his track and bit his lip, "Did she tell you anything about it?" he asked his aunt sharply.
Audré shook her head, "What made you think so?" she asked back, "Do you think I have nothing else to do than to talk to Jean about how you dress yourself? And you think she would be eager to discuss with me about your sudden liking for her favourite colour?" she raised an astonished eyebrow, "No, I don't think so." She replied, "But if, I as your aunt, have noticed it then Jean is bound to notice and take it negatively considering what you did to her. So, my advice to you will be not to wear blue as often as you wear now."
Draco considered his aunt's words.
"You are hiding something from me." He said, his mind still suspicious over his aunt's sudden advice, "Jean did tell you something about it." he pressed.
"No," Audré affirmed, "She. Did. Not." She emphasized, "Don't take me as a naïve woman who doesn't know anything about male-female relationships, Draco." She gave him a reproachful look, "I, too was young once and fell deeply in love with your uncle. What I appreciated most about Morpheus is he never tried to impress me in any way that I liked it to be." Audré said smiling pleasantly, "He was just as he was with me and that attracted me. True that, our circumstances were very different from yours but if you really try to change it, Draco, maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel." She said earnestly.
"But how?" Draco asked desperately, "She spat on me yesterday and told me that I belong on her feet." He reminded Audré, feeling anger bubbling inside him again, "And what for? Because I told her that as her husband I don't want to let my wife be alone in the streets after dark when there is one hundred percent chance that those godforsaken Knights may be lurking in a corner."
"And what did you do in return?" Audré asked back, "You went and let the St. Lupus facility to administer the second dose of Lupus venom on you so that you can get those memories that concerns her and Adrian." she replied solemnly, "I am not telling you that you are sporting a heart of gold underneath your cold demeanor, Draco. No." she shook her head, "What I am telling is that you are not going for the traditional Slytherin path of 'tit for tat'." She explained, "So just be yourself before her, don't display yourself, Draco. Be polite as much as possible but not too much that it raises her suspicions. And if your heart is true in your path, Draco, she might notice your efforts." She said gently, "Now, come, enough talking for today." She said patting his right shoulder, "You need a good meal and a good night's rest."
Deep in his thoughts, Draco followed her aunt to their dining room.
The moment he entered, he found a surprise waiting for him there.
Both Adrian and Hermione were sitting in their usual seats, taking their dinner and their left arms were free of casts.
In his hurry to retrieve the second batch of memories, Draco hadn't paid notice that the required three weeks to heal Adrian's arm would be over on Thursday and mother and son would finally be taking their casts off.
His eyes steadily fixed on their healed arms, Draco walked to his chair beside Julian and sat.
"Did you follow the owls in my broom again?" Julian asked him casually and an absent-minded Draco simply shook his head as his aunt ladled him some soup.
"What's wrong with your left hand?" Julian asked him, noticing Draco wincing slightly as he reached for the goblet of apple juice, "Did the owls bite you there, cousin?" he asked amused.
Draco shifted his grey eyes to his cousin and gave him a smirk, "With you here to bite me like a mandrake bites his prey, I don't think any owl needs to do the honours." He jibed back.
"That's more like Draco." Julian winked and went back to his dinner.
But that left Draco in a new dilemma.
He examined his left hand and then looked at Hermione's left hand that had been covered up until now by her plaster.
None of them had their wedding rings.
He had taken his previous ring off when he decided to stop mourning for Astoria and concentrate on his new relationship with Hermione Granger. But none of them ever cared for a wedding ring when they got married by the rites of Sacred Marriage and Handfasting.
He kept glancing at Hermione's bare left ring finger and discovered that her hands were quite elegant.
For a woman who was the Chief Curse Breaker in Gringotts, Hermione's hands were fine and delicate with thin and average length fingers. Her nails looked clean and well-filed while her wrist was slender, something that Draco secretly liked in womankind.
"Draco, would you like some stew?" his aunt asked him and Draco returned his mind to his aunt to find her giving him a piercing look.
Slightly ashamed that he was staring at a woman like a teenager boy would do, he regained his impassive composure and nodded, "Yes, aunt, thank you." he said.
When the dinner ended Draco purposefully lagged behind to talk to his aunt.
"Aunt Audré," he called her when his mother too left the table, "Can you do me a favour?" he asked her calmly.
Audré arched a questioning eyebrow.
"You once said Uncle Morpheus bought you a silver brooch from his stipend money and you still wear it?" he enquired.
Audré nodded, "It may be silver Draco, but it's priceless for me." She said proudly, "It's from his honest money."
Draco considered his words before it left his mouth.
"Aunt, can you…" he paused, "…can you buy Jean a wedding ring on my behalf?" he asked fisting his hands and bracing himself for a fresh round of advices and taunts.
But neither taunt nor advice came.
"Anytime." Audré replied and patted Draco before leaving the dining room.
His body weak but his heart strong with new resolution Draco too left the dining room to retire in his suite for the day.
Once in his bedroom he changed into his nightclothes and glanced between his uncle's Pensieve and his old radio-cum-listening device.
'Memories or current events?' he asked himself.
In the end Draco decided for the radio and lying comfortably on his bed, he placed the device on his chest before turning the knob.
Loud delighted screams of his son intermingled with Hermione's laughing sound reached his ears.
"…Mama…" his son was breathless, "…Mama… stop tickling me…" he pleaded to his mother.
Draco closed his eyes and tried to imagine a Hermione tickling their son while the said boy rolled over and tried to wriggle free.
"….no way little rabbit…" Hermione's voice denied, "...you splashed me with soap water when I tried to give you a bath…" she described Adrian's chief offence, "…now Mama will tickle you until she is satisfied…" she said firmly.
Unbeknownst to him Draco was laughing loudly, imagining Hermione getting drenched in soap water.
"…okay Mama…" Adrian choked while laughing and Hermione let out an audible gasp.
"Are you hurt?" she enquired urgently, "Did Mama hurt her little rabbit?"
In his mind Draco imagined an anxious looking Hermione checking Adrian for any sign of injury.
"No…Mama…I am a man…" Adrian said between his bouts of laughs, "I am not hurt." He assured her.
Hermione let out an audible sigh of relief, "Enough tickling." She said, "But remember, if you splash water on Mama again, she won't be so forgiving." She warned him, "Now let me dry your hair." She said, "Wait till I bring the towel." She bid.
With his eyes closed Draco imagined Hermione bringing out a towel and starting to dry Adrian's silvery-blonde curls.
Oh how his hands ached to touch those soft curls!
How he longed to breathe in his son's exotic smell of peach and honeysuckle!
How he too wanted to give him a bath and get splashed in soap water in return!
And how he wanted to save his son when Hermione wanted to tickle him!
"Tell me a story, Mama." Draco heard Adrian requested Hermione, "I love stories." He said sweetly.
Realizing that he was about to learn some new information regarding Hermione's pregnancy and motherhood Draco held his breath in anticipation.
"Ummmm…." Hermione's voice sound lost, "There is a funny story that still makes me laugh." She said and Adrian squeaked loudly, "Now get dressed in you red pajamas and I will tell it when we get in the bed." She offered.
There was sound of a closet door opening and after some time, when Draco guessed they were safely on bed with Adrian snuggling against Hermione like he used to do in Delacour residence; Hermione's clear voice came from the radio.
"When you were born little rabbit, you were very small." She said fondly, "I still remember when they gave you to me - a small child in a bundle of white towel; you were so small." Her small laugh reached Draco's ear, "Your head was small, eyes were small, ears were small, your pink lips were small and your nose…" she paused and Adrian squealed loudly, "Mama, leave my nose…" he said and Draco smiled imaging Hermione pulling Adrian's perfect nose, "…as I was saying before I pulled you nose…" Hermione started again, "…your nose was small too and I loved it so much that I used to kiss you on your nose." There was a kissing sound and Draco was certain Hermione had kissed Adrian's nose this time also, "One day after I returned home from hospital with my small and sweet little rabbit, I went for a shower. Aunt Eva and uncle Edmound had come to visit and see the new little rabbit in the town; so I told them to watch over you so that I can go and take a bath. I was just finishing my bath when I heard uncle Edmound scream loudly from outside. I was so shocked that I almost tripped on my way out of bathtub and only half-dried myself before coming out of bathroom." She paused.
Draco waited breathlessly for the rest of the story.
"When I came out, I thought I would see something horrible…I don't know what I expected but I thought I would see something horrible, but instead I saw my little rabbit lying innocently on a towel while uncle Edmound was jumping up and down. Aunt Eva however was wrinkling her nose. I was dumbstruck and saw Edmound running past me to enter the bathroom and throwing up like he had a horrible flu. I was shocked at his behaviour; he has never behaved like that so I asked Eva but she simply shook her head and didn't reply. As I checked on you and waited for Edmound to come out and explain to me what had happened, he came out of bathroom with a Bubble Head Charm. He said he had never seen anything like that."
"Like what?" both Draco and Adrian asked sin unison.
"It was my little rabbit's first poop after the muconium." Hermione announced.
Draco never knew he was capable of laughing like that. He laughed and laughed and laughed until his insides started hurting.
The sound from the radio said his son was having a hard time laughing his lungs out.
"After that Mama changed her little rabbit's diaper but uncle Edmound refused to let go off his Bubble Head at all costs." Hermione finished her story.
The loud sounds of yawning that followed the story only announced that his wife and son were sleepy and after some time, it was only silence with regular breathing sounds of two sleeping people.
Draco lay awake, his mind alert as if he was looking for the Golden Snitch during a Quidditch match.
The dream he has had that afternoon when he fainted in St. Lupus came into his mind and eager to watch it closely again, Draco pushed aside his blanket and sat up.
His uncle's Pensieve was placed on his reading table and standing up, Draco walked over to the table.
Carefully he lifted the Pensieve and brought it over to his bed where he balanced it on a book.
He took out his wand from under his pillow and placed the tip on his temple before closing his eyes.
When he removed it, a thick silvery strand curled and uncurled on the tip before he dropped it in the fathomless depths of the shallow basin where they swirled neither gas nor liquid.
Draco took a deep breath before leaning forward and plunging into the Pensieve.
He was falling…falling…falling…
And then he was standing in the Great Hall while the Sorting Ceremony was going on.
His old school with its old grandeur came into view.
As always the Hall was lit with thousands of floating candles with four tables entitled to four Hogwarts houses. His house table – Slytherin was full of students clad in green and silver while in a corner stood Bloody Baron – their resident ghost.
Draco, never having examined his own memory before, looked around the place carefully and curiously this time and noted numerous things that he had missed his first time.
Like Longbottom's frog was struggling against his fat palm to come out; Potter was nervously trying to flat his hair; Pansy was dusting her robes and giving everyone a filthy look; Weasley was rubbing his hands in impatience and glancing at his brothers and he…
He was sporting such pride as if not Dumbledore but he was the Headmaster of Hogwarts.
His eyes next moved to the person he had been searching for: Hermione Granger.
With immense surprise Draco noted that she was quite small with a head full of bushy brown hair and brilliant pair of brown pairs and she was talking in an undertone about something she had read about Hogwarts in a book called Hogwarts: A History.
Draco moved closer to Hermione, narrowing his eyes in the process.
She looked quite good in her new Hogwarts robes. Her cheek was still full of baby fat and her eyes full of similar innocence that he had always seen in Adrian's eyes.
Her hands were daintily just as they are when she grew up.
Draco stood before Hermione and faced her directly before leaning down to reach her height.
She was a little shorter than he was when eleven.
Her face was soft and glowing in pride.
Her eyes were searching up the place with innocent curiosity.
Her nose was almost like Adrian, except Adrian's one was just a bit longer, like his father's is.
And her pink lips always busy either in talking or smiling.
"Granger, Hermione." Draco heard Professor McGonagall called her.
The girl standing before her ran right through him and sat on the wooden stool on the platform before cramming the Sorting Hat on her head.
Draco's eyes never left Hermione until she was sorted to Gryffindor.
He watched as she walked past the group of waiting students and made herself comfortable in Gryffindor table.
Next his eyes moved to his own eleven year old form where he was standing between Pansy and Zabini.
"Malfoy, Draco." McGonagall announced his name and Draco watched with slight frown how he almost swaggered forward to sit on the wooden stool.
"That's me?" he arched an eyebrow to himself.
"Slytherin!' the Sorting Hat announced and he saw the eleven year Draco leaving the platform to join his sidekicks – Crabbe and Goyle in Slytherin table.
The scene shifted and then he was standing in Hogwarts Quidditch pitch.
"Flint!" the Gryffindor captain Oliver Wood was bellowing at his Slytherin captain Marcus Flint, "This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"
Draco wasn't interested in the brawl that followed over who booked the pitch between Gryffindor and Slytherin as well as when Flint showed twelve year old Draco Malfoy as the new Slytherin seeker and the new brooms – Nimbus 2001.
"Very latest model. Only came out last month." Flint was bragging about the brooms Lucius Malfoy had donated to the Slytherin team, "I believe it outstrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for old Cleansweaps, sweaps the board with them." He guffawed.
Draco saw himself smirking so broadly that his eyes were reduced to slits.
"Oh, look!" said Flint suddenly, "A pitch invasion."
This was the moment Draco had been waiting for. He looked closely to the approaching group of a boy and a girl.
Hermione Granger and that insufferable Weasel bee.
"What's happening?" Weasel bee asked his friend Potty, "Why aren't you playing? What is he doing here?" he indicated at twelve year old Draco.
Draco, who knew what followed next looked away, until the feminine voice that he had been waiting to hear reached his ears.
"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in." said Hermione sharply, "They got in on pure talent."
Draco waited breathlessly as the twelve year old Draco's face contorted in rage.
"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood." The memory Draco spat at her.
Draco cringed his face as soon as the word reached his ears and he opened his eyes an inch to see Hermione's reaction.
Her soft and glowing face was white and her brilliant brown eyes were dark with even darker emotions: hatred and hurt.
Draco bit his lips and swore loudly before taking his head out of Pensieve.
His brightly lit room came in to view but his insides were churning painfully.
"What have you done Draco, what have you done?" he asked himself helplessly, "Oh, Merlin!" he hid his face in his hands.
It wasn't that he had humiliated her just by violating her.
He had humiliated her in every step…every time they had met…every living moment that they shared together.
And how is it possible that anyone can forgive so many episodes of insults?
How is it possible that Draco can make her exchange two civil words with him when he himself had never been civil with her in the first place?
Will Apolline's persuasion be enough for Hermione to forgive him?
Is there any other way he can persuade her to forgive him?
Draco removed his hands and stood up to go before the mirror on the wall.
The man who looked back at him wasn't the man whom he had seen in the Pensieve.
But will Hermione believe it – that this Draco and that Draco isn't the same anymore?
Will she not see her violator every time she looked at him?
What can be done? What can he do to stop that?
He had no answer.
Draco watched his reflection in the mirror for long time before returning to his bed and after carefully removing the memories from Pensieve, he lied down.
Somewhere in this Château his son was snuggling and sleeping against the woman he had called Mudblood.
The woman who had given birth to his child against all odds.
He wanted to thank her but after yesterday when she had spat on his feet and told him that it was where he belonged there was no virtual chance to do so.
'I wanna thank you, lady.' Draco whispered in darkness, 'But how?' he asked himself.
The answer came to him as fast as the question left his mouth.
Draco sat bolt upright and hurriedly went to retrieve the contract form he signed when he had agreed to participate as a volunteer in St. Lupus Facility.
There…it was written clearly…that he would receive compensation for his participation.
"Malfoys have never lived on compensation money, they have given compensation." He muttered checking the clause, "But for the sake of honest money…for the sake of money that will not pollute her purity…this Malfoy will take the money that is soaked in his pain and sweat…and that money will be used to buy my wife's wedding ring…a ring to thank her from this Malfoy." He said determinedly before rolling the parchment and thrusting it back into the iron safe.