Blue Eyed Dragon

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Draco slowly made his way over to Harry. When he finally reached him, the blond tugged on his husband’s sleeve gently. “I think I’m going to go talk to my mum now. Do you think Ron’ll mind if we took over his room for a bit?”

“Of course not, Love.” Harry hugged Draco. “Yell if you need me, okay?” The blond nodded, kissed his husband’s cheek and went to find his mother.

***

Five minutes later, Draco’s grandmother, Narcissa and Draco were sitting in Ron’s room in a very uncomfortable and awkward silence. Finally, Narcissa spoke. “Talk to me, Draco.” Her voice was soft, but demanding.

“I don’t know where to begin.”

“From the beginning always works best for me.” Draco took a deep breath.

“I just don’t understand, I guess. I don’t understand how you could have loved him so much that you turned a blind eye to the harshness, the killings, the rapes, the torture...the everything. I was never able to understand why you loved him more than you loved me or why he didn’t love me even as a child. I always did my best to please him, to make him proud of me but I was never good enough. And you were never there to tell me otherwise, either. I just always felt like you both would have been happier if you’d never had me, that I set his plans to be Voldemort’s right-hand man back by years. Is that why he was so cold towards me? Because he had those plans and I screwed them all up?” Draco was trembling as he finished speaking. Narcissa had tears falling down her cheeks, as did her mother.

“Oh, Draco! Your father and I both loved you very much! He was never good at showing his feelings for anything but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t love you! He was cold towards everyone-not just you, Baby. And he was always very proud of you-never think anything different of him. And I only loved him differently than you-definitely not more than you! I know what he did at those meetings but he had an agreement: he wouldn’t tell me about any of it and I wouldn’t ask. I turned a blind eye to it all because if I tried to leave, he’d take you from me and no matter what anyone has ever told you, Draco, you were my reason for living. I did love him very deeply, Draco, but never doubt that I loved you, too.”

“Why did Grandmother bring you to St. Mungo’s?” he asked quietly looking at the ground.

“I’d lost both of you in one day. My husband was ordered dead by the thing that he worshipped and I was so distraught by that that I made my only son think that I blamed him. I was a wreck trying to grieve with both losses and the guilt of treating you the way I did. I secluded myself completely-I disconnected the Floo from every room, I sent owls away...I just couldn’t handle it. Mother got worried after a few weeks so she had the Ministry connect the Floo for an emergency. When she found me, I was in a guest bedroom with the curtains drawn. I hadn’t eaten in close to a week, I hadn’t left that room since the day I sent you away...I was delusional. I didn’t know what day it was or who Mother was-I was, essentially, a babbling idiot.”

“How did you get better?”

“Mother. When she got your wedding invitation, she came to the hospital. She told me that I needed to snap out of it because my son was getting married. She kept that up for about a week before she lost her patience. She came into my room and said, ‘Narcissa, wake up! Your son is getting married and I will not be a happy camper if you don’t walk him down the aisle!’.” Draco chuckled. “She told me to stop my pity party because it wasn’t going to get you back into my life. I still didn’t respond, I suppose, so she told me, ‘Fine ‘Cissa. If you never want to see or speak to Draco again, that’s your loss!’ I snapped out of it when I heard your name.” Draco smiled for a second, then frowned again.

“She didn’t mention me before that?”

“I did, Angel, but not your name. I thought I’d be doing more damage so I’d say, ‘Angel is doing well’ or ‘I haven’t talked to him in a long time.’ That last day I was just so mad that I wasn’t thinking and for the first time in my life, I don’t regret speaking before thinking.” Draco smiled again.

“So why didn’t you owl me?”

“Would you have listened?” Narcissa countered.

“No,” he admitted.

“Besides. I wanted to surprise you.”

“More like give me a bloody heart attack!” he accused his mother. Narcissa laughed.

“I thought I had when you fainted!”

“I really am sorry, Mum,” Draco said out of no where. “Something just snapped when they pushed you. And I knew they’d be back. Deep down, I still know it but it’s hard to listen to logic about it most of the time. Sometimes I wish I was strong, like Harry, and just fought them. Maybe then we’d still be a family.” Narcissa hugged her son tightly.

“We still are a family, Baby. You and me and Grandmother and Harry are the perfect family because it works for us.” Draco looked up at his mother.

“Would Father be happy for me? Or would he disown me for loving Harry Potter?” Draco’s tone was cool and even but his eyes spoke volumes-he was scared of Narcissa’s answer.

“Oh, Honey, he’d have been so happy that you found happiness with someone.”

“Even Harry?”

“Well, he may have needed some time to adjust to that part but in the end, I’m sure he’d have been very happy for you.”

“Would he have supported my decision?”

“Without question.”

“I hate that I don’t know these things about him for myself.”

“I know, Draco. I can’t even imagine how you must feel. But maybe mine and your grandmother’s present will help you deal with those feelings a bit.” Draco looked up in confusion as Narcissa presented him with a large, extravagantly wrapped present. Carefully pulling the paper away, Draco gasped.

“It...it’s his portrait...but you should have-“

“I have one. This one is yours.”

“Thank you,” he said softly, still awe-struck by the gift.

As he turned to set it aside, Narcissa asked, “So tell me about Harry.” She sat down on the edge of the bed and patted the seat next to her. Draco sat down and began to talk.

“He’s wonderful. At first I was really scared to trust him-but I wanted to so much. He never took ‘no’ for an answer, though. I think, deep down, he understood that I needed to build a trust towards him in my own way and time. He sat with me for an entire night and let me talk about you and Father-he never said a word, he just let me get it all out. He always does that when I need it and, somehow, he always knows when I need it without me having to tell him. He’s got a huge heart, Mum. He loves everybody unconditionally and he goes out of his way to help absolutely anyone, whether they asked for his help or not. He’s the typical brave Gryffindor-we’d only had our first date when he agreed to go into hiding with me-but if he hadn’t been Harry Potter, he’d have fit right into Slytherin. And Hufflepuff,” the blond admitted as he looked up at his mother. “And, most importantly, he’s filthy rich and insists on spoiling me!” Narcissa threw her head back and laughed at her son while playfully swatting him on the arm.

“Would you like to hear about my date? Or are you going to interrogate him on your own?” Draco’s head shot up.

“Date? You came with Grandmother.”

“Only so I didn’t shock you even more than I already had. Your grandmother wasn’t my only visitor for all those years.” Draco looked at her, puzzled.

“Who else?”

“An old school mate. He, too, is very brave and loyal. He’d stick out like a lion in a pack of snakes in Slytherin but he’s smart enough to have made Ravenclaw proud. He’s a very quiet, private man but loving and attentive-he may not always say how he feels but he never allows you to doubt that he cares.”

“Were you...I mean when Father was...erm...” Draco looked up at Narcissa, his eyes wide, innocent and full of questions.

“No,” she answered firmly. “Just friends, even now. I still haven’t dealt with the loss of your father enough to start a relationship with anyone else.” Draco nodded slowly in understanding.

“Do I know him?”

“Not very well, but yes, you’ve met him before.”

“Did he support Voldemort?”

“Never. He’s been a member of the Order since day one.”

“Did Father know you were friends with him?”

“Yes and no. He knew we’d occasionally meet for lunch but Lucius didn’t know I confided in him and owled him at least once a day.” Draco looked shocked.

“Really? How did you keep that from him?”

“Oh it was simple as soon as I knew what he looked for. Sometimes I’d have a house elf mail it for me. Other times, I’d charm the letter so only the intended reader could see it was even a letter. When I was in Diagon Alley, I’d just go to the post office and use one of their owls.”

“Okay, I give up. Who is he?”

A soft knock at the door prevented Narcissa from answering her son but by her reaction, Draco knew he had his answer. The younger blonde woman smiled at the man warmly.

“I think Harry is getting antsy for his husband and I wouldn’t mind a dance with my lovely date, as well.” Narcissa smiled.

“We’ll be right down, Love.” The man nodded and closed the door softly as he turned to go back downstairs.

Author\'s Note: Mwa-hahahaha! Can you guess who it is?? *evil smirk* If you can guess who it is before I post the next chapter, I will tell you who Severus\' date is before it is announced (\'Cissa\'s date will be announced next chapter...Sev\'s will be the chapter after that!) Enjoy!