Draco's Saving Grace from his Devastating Past

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Summary: The Greengrasses reflect...

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Chapter 22: The Greengrasses

When the war was finally over, they were happy. Happy to no longer have to worry for their daughters' safety, to no longer have to worry about an insane Dark Lord hell bent on destroying their world.

After Hogwarts was open again, they were happy to watch their daughters graduate after such a horrific year with Death Eaters running rampant. And then Astoria married the Malfoy heir, and the two of them were so happy and so obviously in love, that it warmed their hearts as they watched them.

And then there was the news of their first grandchild, Daphne deciding to pursue a mastery in healing before getting married. The moment they learned of the child, they could see a change in Draco. He was smitten, and so very proud and excited to become a father, Astoria just giving him a knowing, indulging, look as he pampered and spoiled her.

Then Fate decided to take it all away from them the moment the little boy was born. Something inside Astoria snapped, and no one really understood what had happened. Draco broke, the loss of his wife and son throwing him into painful grief.

When Draco had called them that fateful night, his eyes wild with such horror and grief, they weren't sure what to make of it, that is until they saw his memory. To see their youngest child, mad and performing an unknown ritual consisting of black magic, it broke their heart, and they knew that whatever Draco wanted to do, they would support him.

Once the contract had been dissolved, and Draco had disowned the child, they did everything they could to convince Astoria to go to St. Mongo's and see a Mind Healer, but she refused, time and time again. Eventually they told her that if she didn't go, her father would disown them both.

It was a sad day when Lord Greengrass disowned his daughter and grandson, but they knew it had to be done. Her refusal to receive help had broken Daphne's heart. The two of them had always been so close and when Astoria found out that she was expecting, Daphne dragged her to Diagon to do some baby shopping.

To have lost bother her beloved sister and her nephew at once, broke something in her, but caused her to work that much harder. Instead of becoming a Healer, Daphne changed her healing classes to that of a Mind Healer, determined to help those that needed it most, seeing that she wouldn't be able to help her sister.

It has been five years since that horrible day, and still Lady Greengrass missed the girl that had once been her youngest daughter. Whenever she went to Diagon Alley to do some shopping, there had been more times than not when she would see Astoria and Scorpius walking along the street, moving from shop to shop.

Despite the lack of money, Astoria continued to be well dressed, the same for her son. Lady Greengrass would feel a shiver of foreboding every time she laid eyes on the unnaturally intelligent and quiet child. His eyes were the red that she remembered Draco telling her about. The eyes of the Dark Lord.

Occasionally, Lady Greengrass would approach the girl and beg her to reconsider, to go to Mongo's and see a Mind Healer, and every time Astoria would laugh a mad laugh and smile a cruel smile and say, "Whatever for? I'm doing what no one else would ever do, and I have no need for a nosey Mind Healer to traipse around my memories," and she would turn to the boy and give him a gentle, loving smile, "Come my sweet boy, we have much to do if we're to return home in time."

Lady Greengrass would watch the two walk away, and almost always enter an apothecary. She remembered asking Daphne when she graduated from her Mind Healer's program, what she thought had happened. She would never forget the downtrodden look that her baby gave her.

"Malfoy Manor. It is the only thing I can think of," she replied.

"How so?" Lord Greengrass asked.

"We all know that Voldemort lived there for years before his demise. The dark magic and the rituals performed there, they would have lingered in a way. It didn't affect Draco so much because he was so used to his father performing those magics, and with the Death Eaters and the Dark Lord living and coming and going from the Manor, it became normal for him.

"When Astoria moved in, we should have asked, should have thought to ask if the house had been cleansed. If it hadn't been, I would have insisted that it be done before she moved in. Astoria and I, we grew up in a neutral house. Dark magic and Light magic performed equally. That much of a malevolent magical presence would have affected anyone that was neutral or light, or anyone unused to so much darkness already." Daphne sighed and hugged herself.

"It's the only thing that could have made her do what she did, and now with all the black magic she has performed, there is no saving her. Not anymore."

For days, Lady Greengrass locked herself in her room and cried, cried for the daughter and grandson she had lost. When she was finished, she had turned to Draco and told him of Daphne's thoughts as to what had happened. To see the young man, break once more, the blame and the grief etched on his face, it only served to break her heart all the more.

They couldn't blame the boy, he blamed himself more than enough. No one had thought to do a cleansing ritual through Gringotts, and that only made it worse for them all. The knowledge of what his home had done to his wife and child, they were mildly surprised that he hadn't burned it to the ground. Instead, Draco Malfoy moved himself and his godfather to an unknown location and refused to step foot in Magical Britain, not that they could blame him of course.

Now, they could feel change coming, and they hoped it was for the better. Potter had been gone for the same five years after the scandal caused by Molly and Ginevra, and they prayed to Merlin that he would come back, that he would be there for Draco and bring him back to society.

Shaking their heads of such thoughts, they prepared as best as they could for the change they could feel in the air, and perhaps more lives could be saved before Death would claim them all with the resurrection of the Dark Lord.

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