Chapter 2
It was just dawn when Draco was startled awake by the cold sniveling nose of topples the rabbit, all at once every one of his senses revolted against him as he was assaulted by the chirp of the grandfather clock across from the sofa on which he had fallen asleep signaled the hour and a bitter ray of sunshine peered over the windowsill just beside it to spear him in the eye. He groaned openly as the pain was compounded by the wave of painful reality that crashed into him. Mercifully, Pan had left him a hefty dose of a hangover potion and a calming drought. Draco swiftly downed the hangover potion while pocketing the calming drought and made his way to the bathroom to splash water on his face while sorting through the sudden wreckage of his life. His hangover was gone but he still felt a ringing in his ears as if in the aftermath of an explosion. He snatched his robes and headed for the door but not before leaving a short note for Pan and Luna and fishing a treat out of the crisper for topples. Pan and Luna had gotten topples around the time he and Astoria had gotten Tipsy as a kitten, it had been a cheery inside joke to name them tipsy and topples. Alluding to the way that Luna and Astoria had a tendency to get tipsy and then topple over when bumbling about Diagon Alley during the countless weekends that all blended together now in Draco’s mind. Grief slammed into his stomach as he rounded the corner to their home- correction his home. It wasn’t until he saw Daphne Greengrass holding a stack of Artorias books that he realized he’d wandered back home a quick Ice crept through his veins and he ducked back around the corner and uncapped the calming drought. A quick peek back around the corner revealed Astoria emerging from the townhouse with the extravagant miniature cat sofa they’d gotten to spoil Tipsy with two years ago. It was too soon to go home, too soon to face Daphne much less Astoria. Draco turned and strode away as swiftly as he could, trying to put as much distance as possible between himself and the sisters who were carrying half of his life away.
He doubled back toward Pan and Luna’s stopping for pastries as a thank you for their hospitality. It was not lost on Draco how valuable it was to have someone who would drag him into their home in the middle of the night. Pansy had been his first crush, probably even his first love. They had slowly seeped into each other's lives during fourth year, a date to the Yule Ball and casual flirtation during potions class had turned into sneaking out in the middle of the night for extended snogging sessions. He had clung to her during fifth and sixth year, he truly didn’t think he would have survived without her. He’d dragged his way to her dormitory on countless occasions and fallen asleep with his head in her lap while she ran her fingers through his hair and mumbled sweet charms that made a sweet breeze brush his cheeks. She'd been home when his own had morphed into his own version of hell. Then one day shortly before the end of seventh year it was “I love you but not like that” with “That” presumably referring to the fact that Draco wanted to shag her and she wanted to shag Ginny Weasley. Despite the swift and painful breakup, Pansy Parkinson was true to her word, she did love him and she’d been there for him ever since… just not like “That”. It was for all of her valuable friendship, and the fact that he would rather splinch himself than run into Astoria and Daphne Greengrass effectively pillaging his townhouse at the very moment, that he ailed back down the walkway to the home she shared with her wife with the box of pastries and rapped on the front door, letting himself in before he heard an answer.
Pansy and Luna were stationed in the sunroom just off the entryway with arms crossed and matching expressions of disapproval. There was an irony in the scene as it called to mind the vision of his mother meeting him with arm crossed in disapproval after the first time he was caught snogging Pansy herself in the halls of Hogwarts late at night.
“Draco” Luna started slowly. “Would you like to explain to my wife why you showed up in the middle of the night sloshed out of your mind? And then explain why you were gone when she woke up and ran to check on you like a child running to check for Father Christmas?” Draco opened his mouth but Pansy stretched one arm out shoving the daily prophet into his face while keeping her expression pinched into a scowl. Luna went on “ And lastly, can you explain why on this fine Spring morning we are sitting here reading about your fiance dumping you in the middle of a tea shop instead of portkeying to your wedding ceremony?
Draco flipped open the box of pastries and tried to muster his most charming smile before flopping between them on the sofa in lieu of a reply. Pansy snatched the box and rummaged through the treats before huffing in approval at a chocolate croissant. Luna said in her cool tone “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really”
“What happened?”
“I don’t want to talk about it”
She rested a soft hand lightly on his knee. “You don’t have to but we are here for you if you do.”
“You sure in the hell do you have to.” Pansy cut her off “You really do Malfoy, you had us worried sick about you all night then you up and leave without a word of explanation.”
“I left a note”
“I left a note” Her mocking tone said she was on her last shred of patience.
“Pan said Tori left you” Luna coaxed ignoring the frustrations of her wife. Draco lifted his head and found a point on the ceiling to fix his attention on and sighed.
“We were getting tea before the rehearsal and then we were broken up.” In his mind he was gently sifting through the occluded memories, allowing himself to glance at them while he shared the events with his dear friends before placing them back in their cabinet and slipping it closed. “She said I was almost the love of her life, and then she was moving her things out of the house.” He felt a gentle squeeze on his knee where Luna had placed her hand and he dropped his head down to look at her. Her gaze was sinking into his and it made him a bit uneasy. It was very Luna of her the way she slipped past ones defenses She could glide right into the mind and poke around without notice. Draco had played third wheel to she and Pansy for enough years that he had learned the cues that Luna was performing legilimency. The sudden stop in conversation and concentration on her face was obvious to him now. “You’re not supposed to do that.” Draco huffed, fighting the irritation building in his voice he turned to Pansy “She’s doing it Pan”. Pansy reached behind Draco to Shove Luna on the shoulder, breaking her focus in Draco’s mind.
“We said no legilimency unless in an emergency”
“This is an emergency.”
“This isn’t an emergency” Draco and Pansy said in unison.
Lunas eyebrows furrowed defensively “I’m just worried about him I wanted to see if he’s telling us everything” Draco hated to admit to himself that her legilimency had calmed him. Her gentle presence had somehow smoothed over the painfully ragged edges of his encounter in the tea shop and he felt his breathing steady for the first time in the last 24 hours.
The trio sat and while the ladies chirped their opinions on his current crisis Draco poured over the last four years ruminating over what had possibly gone wrong. What had he possibly missed? He had thought they were happy, after the war he’d stumbled through the first years of his twenties just doing what had come next. He’d been pardoned for his meager assistance in aiding the order. It had been a last minute rebellion against his upbringing and led to a public, and his opinion ill deserved, redemption of the Malfoy name. It would take more than a few misdirecting remarks for Draco to repay the amount of grief he had caused up to that point in his short life. He had tried to be a healer after that, hoping that one day he could help as much as he had hurt. Perhaps he’d be able to balance the scales or even tip them in favor of true redemption. But despite his efforts and his marks in school, his place in the program had been given to a witch from a family of much lower status than his as part of an equity initiative. He couldn’t be angry about it but still that rejection had been a deep cut in his heart that still ached a bit every day when he passed St. Mungoes on his way to his specialty potions shop just down the road from the hospital. The dream faded slowly and for a time he had grown accustomed to the hopeless feeling that he’d live the rest of his life chipping away at a mountain of guilt that loomed over him when he was alone. Then Astoria Greengrass had sailed into his shop one day, with an eye swollen shut needing a potion to counteract a bee sting. He had made a joke about how it must have bee-n painful and she asked if the side effect of the potion included feeling buzzed. She was a soothing spring shower waking him from an achingly lonely existence. Everything had felt so easy. Suddenly gliding through life with her sailing away from his guilty conscience and leaving the past behind him he could see a future with her.
“What did your mother say?” Pansy’s voice interrupted his musings and Draco blinked suddenly, aware that he was back on the couch with his dear friends. “Mother” Draco repeated “ I haven’t spoken to her” he rubbed his hands over his face before pushing up to stand and run his hands through his hair. He made his way to the door as the girls chastised him for neglecting to check in with Narcissa. Surely she’d be outraged not to have heard from him in all this time. Luna caught his arm in the doorway before he had a chance to disapparate. “We are always here for you honey.” He paused for a moment letting her calm sink into his skin where her hand was and slid it down to give a squeeze around her fingers then conjured a reassuring smile said “I know” then he was gone.