hiding
December 26th, 1995
12:45am.
Lucius closed the door behind Pansy and Theo, turning around to walk to the couch. Draco rubbed at his neck and took a swig of his fire whiskey, bracing himself, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible. He remembered Severus’s words:
Focus, He’d said.
You are your own worst enemy.
Draco’s thoughts came flooding in, heat creeping up his neck, images of a swishing skirt, a red tie, cold water against his bare skin, wind whipping through his ears, a failed Arithmancy test, a fist connecting with his face, a line of powdery white on a glass table, flashing green lights, pulsing music-
No. Put it all away.
Draco breathed in deeper, reminding himself that this was not the Dark Lord, this was his father. Lucius Malfoy was a powerful wizard, but he was no Legilimens. He only needed to keep his face blank, calm. He only needed to control his emotions, and he would be fine. He sucked it all back in, tucking it away to the farthest corners of his mind, pushing forth the white noise, pushing forth the clarity.
That’s it.
He packed up his thoughts and memories, anything that made him feel too much, closing the lid of the iron coffin, wrapping it with a bow.
"There are great things ahead of us, my son."
Draco looked up at his father, who was leaning back in the lounge chair across from him, a glass of fire whiskey in hand. He nodded a bit.
“Yes, Father.” Lucius looked to him, eyes bright.
“The Dark Lord is returning soon. You heard his message, of course. And I am to be his right hand man.” Draco kept his eyes trained on the fire. “And you, as my heir, will be my successor. The Malfoy fortune will go to you entirely one day; that comes with great responsibility, Draco.”
“I’m sure, Father.”
“Look at me,” Lucius said in a hard voice. Draco willed his eyes to remain blank, praying that Lucius would be too tired from the dark magic that flowed through him tonight to scrutinise Draco. If not, surely he would see it; The fear. Lucius leaned back. “I know you think you can play around at Hogwarts and then graduate and receive your fortune, no doubt so you can continue to party and run around the world with your friends. But you’ve had time, Draco. That time is over.”
Draco suddenly focused his eyes on Lucius, taking in the glee in his eyes, the cold expression, the smile on his face. Oh no. “You’ve had your fun, Draco. You will be sixteen in the coming new year; Almost of age. It is time you learn our business, our ways. It’s time you stop playing and get to work.”
Draco said slowly, “What exactly does that mean, Father? I’ve been learning our business my entire life-”
“You’ve been playing games, Draco. You’ve been going to Hogwarts so you can snipe at Harry Potter and get lesser marks than a mudblood. You’ve been chasing girls around and making a sort of reputation-”
“Father, I-”
“Enough!” Lucius yelled, slamming his drink on the table. Draco barely hid his flinch. “You will listen to me, Draco.”
Draco lowered his head. “Yes, Father.” It’s never enough for you.
“On your sixteenth birthday, your mother and I will announce your betrothal to Astoria Greengrass-”
Draco looked up, about to open his mouth to protest, but his Father upheld a hand. He held his gaze. “You will be engaged to Astoria Greengrass, and when you become of age, you will take the Dark Mark and join the ranks of the Death Eaters.”
Draco’s heart dropped.
Oh.
He willed himself to calm, to breathe, not to react. He willed his face into a blank mask.
“You will take the year before your seventeenth birthday to learn the ancient Pureblood ways, and to prove yourself good enough to serve the Dark Lord. This is a great honour, my son. You will not disappoint me, Draco,” Lucius said coldly.
“Yes, Father.”
“Speak like a man, Draco. Malfoys don’t mumble.”
Merlin shut the fuck up. “Yes, Father,” Draco said in a louder, clearer voice.
Lucius smiled proudly. “Our time has come, my boy.” He grasped Draco’s shoulder, pulling him in for a tight hug that Draco did not reciprocate. As he stood, Draco sat frozen in shock. “Don’t be too late, Draco. And don’t let your mother catch you drinking, she’ll have my head.”
Draco nodded numbly, crumpling back into the sofa as his father closed the parlour doors behind him.
Shit. He was in deep, deep shit.
He took the bottle of fire whiskey with him and snuck through the kitchens to his room, saying goodnight to the house elves Vookey and Kenna on the way up. He sat on his bed for an hour, trying to think about what he was going to do.
“I can’t stay here,” he whispered into the darkness. “I can’t stay here.”
He got up and paced in circles around his room, hands ripping at the roots of his hair. “Fuck,” he muttered. “FUCK!” He threw the fire whiskey bottle against his wall, the alcohol splattering on his wall. He opened the doors to his Balcony, walking outside and facing the gardens, gazing at the waxing moon. He had to do something- there was no way he could take the Mark. No possible way.
If he ran, would his mother be punished?
Draco knew what happened to members of Pureblood families that had run away from their responsibilities. Sirius Black, his mother’s sister, Andromeda…
No. No, he couldn’t abandon his mother like that. Could he?
He would be blasted off the family tree. His father, no doubt, would rip his name from the Malfoy family’s existence. Any record that Draco existed would never be found again in the Malfoy residence.
He smacked his own head, praying the pain would allow sense to flow through him. It was a great honour. The highest of any, his father had always said, to be a Death Eater. To be marked as one of the enlightened.
He should be honoured.
He should be proud.
Why aren’t I proud? Draco wondered.
The only thing I feel is dread.
Could he ever really leave?
No. Where could he go? All his friends were in Slytherin, all their families connected.
There was always…
No, that couldn’t possibly be an option, either. Not one he was ready to consider, anyway.
But could he really stay? He knew what had happened to the last Death Eater sworn in early, held close to Voldemort as his right hand; Regulus Black had died at barely 18.
It appeared that wasn’t an option either.
He was getting nowhere. Draco knew he needed to have a solid head on his shoulders; so he grabbed his broom and soared out of his window, heading straight for the thick forest beyond the gardens.
2:30am.
The Chateau, named affectionately by Pansy at age 6, was a small shack seemingly in the centre of the wood behind Malfoy Manor. Somehow, the place had chosen them; all of them. Despite the distance between each of their homes, they could always find the Chateau in a clearing of evergreens, usually just a few miles from wherever they had been when they decided to head for it; Nobody else had ever found it or been inside; it was only for them. It consisted of one room with rickety stairs and a small loft that was pressed close enough to the ceiling that if Draco got up on his knees, his head brushed the rooftop. Its existence was only known by Blaise, Theo, Pansy, and Draco.
When they were 12 and Pansy had returned from taking “Charms” classes in Paris, one of the subjects including interior design, she had given the place a much-needed makeover. Although Theo and Draco would never admit it, it was quite nice, what she had done; surprising what a paint job, some fairy lights, as Pansy had called them, and a few blankets, cushions, and bean bags could do.
In fourth year, Pansy and Blaise had made portkeys to each of their houses, and a sort of alarm system that could alert each one of them in case of emergencies. Draco landed in front of the shabby door, which had the words “KEEP OUT: VAMPIRES!!!” painted in messy red letters on the front. Courtesy of himself, age five.
There was also a rather large penis painted below it; that was courtesy of Theo, age 13.
He opened the door and stepped inside, immediately walking to the centre of the small room and picking up the tray Pansy had placed on top of the coals in the fireplace that was embedded into the floor. Inside were four Portkeys: Blaise’s, a galleon, Theo’s, a green bean encased in a glass box, his, a small peacock made of seaglass (a present he had bought his mother from Hogsmeade), and Pansy’s, a silver chain necklace with a flower pendent.
Draco held his broom close to him and touched his fingers to the flower pendant, feeling his intestine’s float to his brain as he swirled through the air and landed in the back of Pansy’s house, right under her balcony; perfect. He flew up on his broom and landed quietly, knocking on the white french doors.
He could see Pansy lying on her stomach, head turned away from him; it was strange… her sheets were crumpled around her, most on the floor, her clothes strewn about the room, hair a chaotic spill of black ink around her head. Draco had been sleeping over Pansy’s house since birth, and had slept in the same bed as her long enough to know a few things: Pansy was very particular about her hair, and always wrapped it in silk before bed. She also never threw her clothes on the floor, and she always slept with a million different blankets cocooned around her in a ball. He knocked on the door a bit harder.
“Pansy,” He whisper-screeched. Pansy turned her head, groaning, and threw her arm over her head, sitting up. Draco almost screamed in horror, and his hand flew to his eyes quickly as he gagged. “WHAT THE FUCK,” he mouthed. She was as stark as the day she was born.
Pansy rushed to the door, wrapping a pink fluffy robe around her body and pulled Draco in by the wrists. Draco bent over, whispering Merlin kill me now, and Pansy folded her arms.
“You can talk, I’ve got permanent silencing charms on my room,” She said. “And I’m covered.”
Draco immediately shot up. “WHAT THE FUCK, PANSY?! SINCE WHEN DO YOU SLEEP NAKED?”
“SINCE WHEN DO YOU GO KNOCKING AT GIRLS BEDROOMS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT YOU BASTARD! AND I CAN SLEEP BLOODY NAKED IF I WANT TO!”
Draco turned, rubbing his eyelids. “Merlin, help me I want to claw my eyes out-”
“Oh shut up, Draco. As if you haven’t seen a million girls’ tits before,” Pansy rolled her eyes.
“Not my bloody sister!”
“Merlin’s tits Draco, what are you doing here?”
“Ugh-“ He said, holding up a finger, leaning over on his knees. “Give me a moment I think I’m going to vomit-”
“Drake, quit with the dramatics! You can’t be here, you’ve gotta go home!” Draco straightened, looking at her inquisitively. Pansy had never turned him away before. And she was calling him that foul nickname she did back when they were kids and she couldn’t say his full name yet. She was looking at him with wide eyes now, obviously trying not to glance worriedly behind her.
Behind her… Her bathroom door. Draco looked around her room, the rumpled sheets on the floor, noticing a broken mirror and trinkets that had fallen off the dresser, her shoes and dress- underwear, too, shucked about… and then over her flushed cheeks and smudged makeup, messy, wet hair and bare feet. There, in the corner beside her bed- a pair of black boxers, with a green lining.
The bathroom light was on. And it clicked. Draco looked back to Pansy, an eyebrow raised, smirking. “Draco, I’m serious, you have to go-” She pushed at his chest, but he held fast.
“Who’s in the bathroom, Pans?” Pansy froze, looking up at him innocently.
“What?” She asked. His smile widened and he made his way to the bathroom door, pushing past Pansy who tried to hold him back.
“Obviously I must see the man defiling your honour, sneaking about as if you’re some-”
“Draco you’re not doing this for my bloody honour you’re doing it to embarrass me and I won’t have it! Stop, Please, Draco-”
“Oh, c’mon Pans, surely he can’t be-”
“Draco Lucius Malfoy if you don’t stop this instant I will drop my robe!” Draco immediately threw his hands up, laughing.
And then the Bathroom door opened, and Theo stepped out, hair wet, brushing his teeth, completely and utterly naked. “Hey, love, what’s all the noise-“
Draco screamed aloud, covering his eyes and falling to the floor.
“OH MY GOD!” Theo yelled, holding his knob with both hands. He immediately ran back into the bathroom, closing the door. Draco rolled on the floor, whimpering.
“I have never in my life wanted to see that much of any man’s body.” He whispered.
Pansy huffed. “I fucking told you, bastard.”
“I knew you two were fucking,” He said.
Pansy opened the door to her closet and emerged a moment later, wearing black silk pyjama shorts and an oversized Montrose Magpies quidditch shirt that was definitely not hers. She stepped in front of her vanity mirror and began brushing her hair, slipping her feet into slippers.
Theo stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, and then walked past Draco into Pansy’s closet, not looking at him once. Draco got up and threw himself onto Pansy’s bed, and then realised her and Theo had just been doing it on that, and seemingly in the entire room, so he got up again and sat on the soft pink loveseat beside the closet door.
“I’m traumatised,” He said. “I fully expect the both of you to be paying the healers that will be obliviating this memory from my head.”
Pansy turned around to face him, pushing out an exasperated sigh. “I told you to go,” She sing-songed. “This is utterly your fault.”
Draco groaned, drawing the black fleece blanket on the ottoman over his head.
Theo stepped out of the closet shirtless, wearing green plaid pyjama pants. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Hey, mate.”
Draco threw the blanket off of him, staring at Theo hard. “Don’t speak to me,” He said. Theo laughed and plopped down on Pansy’s bed, hands behind his head. “How long?” Draco asked. They both looked at each other, and then at Draco.
“August 25th,” His friends said at the same time.
“Bloody Hell,” Draco said. “And neither of you ever told me?!”
Pansy sighed, and looked at him. “We love you, Draco, but your ability to keep a secret that isn’t yours is completely non-existent.”
Draco glared daggers at her. “Is not,” He huffed.
“Is too,” Theo and Pansy both said together. Draco glared at them, and Pansy laughed. “It’s okay, darling, you’re a Gemini.”
“Salazar, I can’t believe this. You lost your virginity and you didn’t tell me!” He said, looking at Theo.
Theo’s eyes widened, and Pansy’s mouth popped open. She leaned forward in her chair. “You were a virgin?”
Theo blushed scarlet, “Um, well, technically yes.”
Draco burst out laughing. “How the bloody hell didn’t you know?!”
“I- with his reputation I just assumed-”
Theo’s face hardened. Shit. “My reputation, huh?”
“No, Theo, I didn’t mean-”
“No, no, it’s fine,” He said. “I’m sorry to disappoint you with the knowledge that my reputation doesn’t precede me.”
Pansy gave him a pleading look, and turned to Draco. “Why are you here, anyway?”
Draco’s laughing mood faded as he remembered what he had come here for in the first place. Right. He took a deep breath, tugging his hands through his hair, and looked to the ceiling. “Maybe we should call Blaise, first. Since we’re all already here.”
Pansy nodded, and reached for a heart shaped mirror on her vanity. “Sapere Aude,” She whispered. Blaise’s groggy face appeared in the mirror, shirtless and in a dim-lit room.
“Pans? It’s almost three in the bloody morning, what is it?”
“Emergency at my house, now. Hurry.” Blaise nodded and the mirror returned to normal, and a moment later he appeared on her balcony, wearing a large blue sweatshirt and pyjama pants.
“Bloody hell, if I’d known we were having a party I would’ve brought fire whiskey,” He said. Theo and Draco looked to Blaise and smiled weakly.
“Hey mate,” Draco said. Blaise clasped his shoulder and plopped down on the bed next to Theo. “I wouldn’t sit there if I were you!” Pansy and Theo looked at each other, then looked to Draco, shaking their heads and making no signals with their hands.
Blaise looked at all of them inquisitively. “Why not?”
“Because Pansy and Theo were just fucking right there,” Draco smirked, and Pansy and Theo both groaned, Theo falling back and covering his face. Blaise got up immediately, brushing off his pants, and Pansy threw her slipper at Draco’s head, scowling.
“This just proves my bloody point! You’ve known for a grand total of 30 minutes and you’ve already told the first person you saw!”
Draco laughed, throwing a pillow at her. “Like you said, it’s not my fault, I’m a Gemini.” He stuck his tongue out at her.
“You owe me 50 galleons, Draco,” Blaise said.
“Aw, Fuck.”
“What. You were betting on this?” Theo had sat up, glancing between the two of them.
“Blaise and I just had a little wager going. I bet that eventually Pansy would get drunk or become in emotional distress and spill the beans, and Blaise bet that one of us would catch you two in the act.”
“And how long has this been going on,” Pansy seethed. Draco smirked at her.
“Since third year.”
Pansy rubbed at her face, sighing, and Theo punched Blaise’s shoulder. “Can we remember why we are here, please? Draco, if you could enlighten us?” Blaise walked over to sit beside Draco on the settee.
“Right, ok then,” Draco said, tugging at the roots of his hair again. “My father is preparing me to take the Dark Mark.”
All three of them gasped, cursing under their breaths. Draco nodded. “But you’re too young! Your mother would never allow it, Draco-” Pansy said.
“Lucius told me tonight,” He interrupted. “He said he was ‘preparing me for my responsibilities’. On my sixteenth birthday, they’ll announce my engagement to Astoria, and I’ll spend the year serving the Dark Lord, proving myself to him. And then, once I turn seventeen… I’m taking the Mark.” He looked to Pansy, who was now pacing the room, chewing on her knuckle.
“Astoria?” Theo asked. “She’s barely fourteen-”
“Thirteen, her birthday is in July,” Pansy said.
“That’s just fucking gross-”
“I suppose Daphne was already taken,” Blaise scoffed. Draco laughed drily, and looked up at the ceiling.
“I can’t… I can’t do it. I can’t serve him.” He looked to his friends, standing. “You saw me tonight. I fucking panicked just from feeling his prescence, and it wasn’t even really him. I- I should want this.” His voice broke as he spoke, and he hung his head low. “I should want this for myself, for my future. I should feel proud, and I just- I-” he took a heaving breath, scrubbing the tears out of his eyes as Pansy rubbed his back.
“What are you saying, mate?” Draco could see the gears in Theo’s head turning.
“I’m saying I can’t do this. I won’t survive it. I know I won’t.”
Pansy stood up, pulling him into her embrace. He inhaled her comforting scent of Jasmine, forcing himself to breathe. “Shhh. It’s alright. We’ll figure something out, yeah? All of us, together.” She pulled pillows and blankets onto the fluffy rug on the floor, and motioned for all of them to sit. “Alright. Let’s make a plan.”
They all paused for a moment, looking at each other. “Any takers?” Blaise asked.
They continued to watch each other. Theo sighed, getting up and pacing impatiently. “This isn’t going to work, given the fact that we all collectively share 1 ½ brain cells.”
“Hey!” Pansy pouted, and Theo gave her a charming smile.
“Don’t worry love, you’re the whole one, us three share the half.”
Blaise shrugged. “That’s fair.”
Draco scrubbed at his face. “Can we focus, please?”
“Right,” Theo said, sitting down. “Okay, we need more time. The break is extended this year, so we have until the 15th to figure this out. But until then, I’m assuming you don’t want to go home, yes?” Draco nodded. “Okay, so we’ve gotta do something, take a vacation or throw some kind of party… Ideas?”
Pansy held Blaise’s knee, shaking him a bit. “Oh, Blaise, remember that log cabin Tomas left your mother in Switzerland? Why don’t we go there, tell our parents we’re doing a sort of holiday trip and that we’re having our own little New Years Eve party? That way we can spend the rest of the break away from them, and we’ll be safe. We won’t have to sneak around. It gives us the privacy we need and time to figure out the plan for summer, right?
“Who’s Tomas?” Blaise asked.
“Husband 4.”
“Oh, right.”
“Brilliant, Pans! Okay, so we all go back home tonight, tell our parents in the morning, and we’ll be on our way by the afternoon. It’s perfect!” Theo kissed Pansy’s cheeks, and she blushed deeply. Blaise gagged off to the side.
“Wait, wait wait- Go home? I don’t- I don’t think I can-” Pansy took Draco’s hand, looking deep into his eyes in that reassuring way she had that could calm a ravenous lion.
“I know, love, but you’re gonna have to stick it out for just one night. One night, and we’ll be gone, and then back to Hogwarts. You don’t want to arouse any suspicion.”
“She’s right, mate. If your parents suspect anything, this could get very bad, very fast.”
Draco looked at Blaise. “Translation, we all fucking die.”
“Yea,” the three of them said in unison. Draco sat down, sighing. Fuck. Tears welled in his eyes, and he blinked them away.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m being so fucking emotional-” Blaise rubbed his shoulder.
“Sorry to break it to you mate, but you’ve always been emotional. I remember one time when we were eight you dropped your ice cream on the floor and burst into tears. You started rolling on the floor and refused to get up. I gave you mine.” Theo and Pansy laughed, and Draco pushed Blaise.
“Shut up, that never happened!”
“Um, yes, it absolutely did.” He laughed with his friends for a moment, looking around at all of them. They were more than just that, really- they were his family. He would do anything to protect them. And Draco knew- he knew that these calm moments, this time of bliss and carefree laughter was running short.
“I can’t hurt anyone,” He whispered. They all stared at him. “He’ll make me kill people. The cruciatus- my father made me cast it, once. On a rat. I was sick for hours. How will I be able to stomach torturing real people, killing people and looking happy doing it? In front of the Dark Lord? If I can’t even handle a fucking rat-”
“You won’t, Draco,” Pansy said with a determined look in her eyes. “We’ll figure out a way- all of us. The only way we’ll get through this is together.”
“I know, Pans. But… I can never escape, not really. I’ve got nowhere to go. I can’t really leave, I mean leave school and go somewhere else, and abandon all of you. What if he makes any of you take the Mark? I can’t. And I can’t leave my mother alone with them. What if they try to punish my parents because of me? I won’t do it. If I have to die early, I’ll…” He sighed, inhaling deeply. “I can’t leave my family.” He looked pointedly at all of them as he said this.
“Enough with the dramatics, mate,” Theo said. “We know, you’ll protect us, we’re your family, blah blah blah, you’re not some bloody martyr and you better stop acting like it. That will get you killed.”
“Theo-”
“No,” Theo said stiffly. “We will stick together, and we will figure out a way to survive this. That’s all there is to it, yeah?” Pansy put her hand on Theo’s cheek, and turned to Draco, then all of them.
“Let’s just focus on the task at hand, alright? For now, we’ve still got Hogwarts to escape to. For now, let’s focus on the present and we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
“Pansy, we have to-”
“No, Draco,” She said with a hard look. “You will put that wall up and you won’t take it down until summer, do you understand?” He raised a brow. She… she knew about his occlumency? “We don’t have time to sulk about thinking of what will happen in six months, or a year from now. We’ll focus on getting to Switzerland, and then back to Hogwarts, and when summer comes, we’ll deal with it. Right, everyone? Can we agree on that?”
The boys all looked at each other. “Yea, alright,” They mumbled.
At that point, it was already four in the morning, but they took their time. Draco sat with his friends, laughing and talking on Pansy’s bedroom floor as they had done many times before, and tried his best to put the walls up; to focus on the present. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Tried, and failed, of course.
But he pushed it to the back of his mind nonetheless. Tonight, he would worry about getting out.
Once Pansy’s clock began to inch closer to five, they all gathered themselves and left. Apparently, Theo usually left around this time, anyway. The boys each used the Portkey back to the Chateau, then went back to their respective houses; the plan was for Pansy and Theo to breeze in bright and early, make sure that Draco’s parents let him go without a fuss.
At breakfast, Draco slumped over his coffee and toast; he detested coffee, actually, but he was bloody tired and didn’t usually do well on little sleep. His mother watched him curiously, but asked no questions as she listened to her husband complain about the Daily Prophet’s inaccuracies and “letting mudbloods influence the news.”
At 8:30, Pansy and Theo arrived, bundled in thick jackets and winter clothes. Pansy, as always, was dressed immaculately in a sage green coat that wrapped tightly around her waist and belled out just at her mid thigh. Her hair was half up, half down, a cream knitted hat and matching mittens on her hands. She carried one duffle bag that was brown with a sort of tan “VL” symbol printed on it, and Theo carried two other ones. It seemed Pansy had dressed the two of them to match, although Theo’s coat was black, but his scarf and gloves matched Pansy’s jacket.
“Goodmorning, all!” Pansy said cheerfully, walking to the end of the table to kiss his mother’s cheek. “Draco, are you quite ready?”
“Goodmorning, Mrs. Malfoy,” Theo said quietly.
“Hello, Theodore, Pansy.” His mother smiled at the two of them.
Draco nodded, setting his coffee down and standing up. “Yea, I’m ready.”
Pansy clapped her hands together, a large smile on her face. “Wonderful! I-” She frowned. “Draco, what are you wearing?”
He looked down at the black jumper, black jeans and black boots Pansy had gotten him for Christmas. “Erm… clothes?”
“Are you daft? We’re going to be in the snow, Draco! It’ll be less than 0 degrees out there!”
"I know," he said. "I'm wearing the boots you got me, the Doctor ones."
Pansy rolled her eyes. “Doc Martens, you idjit. Honestly-” Theo laughed, slinging an arm around her shoulders.
“It’s fine, love, if he wants to freeze his arse off let him.”
"Yea, if I want to freeze my arse off let me!" Pansy threw her hands up in the air in frustration, and Narcissa appeared behind the two boys, smacking the backs of their heads.
“Language, boys,” She said, handing Draco a long black cloak. “Alright, now tell me the plan again?” Narcissa held a hand up as Draco opened his mouth. “Pansy, tell me the plan. I don’t trust you,” She said, flicking his nose.
“Right, we’ll floo to Blaise’s house, and then take his portkey to the Switzerland lodge, and we’ll make ourselves comfortable and stay there for the rest of the break. Then we’ll be back to King’s cross on January 15th, and Blaise’s mum will be there. She said she’ll make sure we all get on the train, and owl all of you when we get there.”
“Florian and Arabella are okay with this?” His mother asked.
“Oh, yes, my parents haven’t had a holiday to themselves since I was born. You wouldn’t believe how fast they said yes.”
“And your father, Theo?”
“Yea, you know him, he’s too busy to worry about my whereabouts,” Theo grinned. Narcissa pursed her lips, adjusting Theo’s hair out of his face and holding his chin.
“Well I worry about your whereabouts. I’m not sure if I feel alright leaving all this responsibility on Imaan-”
“Don’t worry Mum, Blaise said his mother is more than happy to put the lodge into use,” Draco said hurriedly.
“I’m not sure if I feel alright leaving my 15 year old son and his friends alone in a log cabin for two weeks-”
Lucius came around, putting his hands on Narcissa’s shoulders. “Let them go, Cissa. Let the kids have their fun. You remember the winter trip we took when you were sixteen?”
Narcissa rolled her eyes. “Yes, I remember exactly what happened on that trip, that’s why I am not inclined to let my son go-”
“Shhh. Let them go. Have one last hurrah,” he said, making eye contact with Draco, and then leaning back into his mother. “Then, you and I can-”
“Okay!” Draco yelled as his father’s eyes darkened and his mother’s twinkled, Lucius leaning close to whisper in his mother’s ear. “Now that we’ve established that, let’s go, please.”
Lucius laughed, and Draco picked up the bags Theo had set down, the five of them making their way to the drawing room, where the fireplace was. Pansy and Theo stepped through, yelling out “Zabini Residence.”
Vookey appeared with Draco’s bag, placing it in his hand. Draco stood in the fireplace, holding out the floo powder. His father made eye contact with him from where he was standing behind Narcissa.
“Remember our conversation, Draco.”
“Yes, Father,” He nodded, and then yelled out, “Zabini Residence!”
And he was gone.