“What do you mean you can’t make it tonight?” Narcissa let out a shrill shout, her voice booming from the master bedroom. Whilst the person at the other end of her frustrations is currently presiding within their shared bathroom. “I don’t know why you are so adamant on both of us going darling” Narcissa’s mixed-tone hair seemed to become frizzier every second as she sauntered towards the offending man she calls her husband
Watching him with a sneer as he fixed his long platinum hair for the fifth time that afternoon, for someone as vain and pompous as her husband she couldn’t expect less from him. But his looks weren’t going to save him from a rightful scolding later tonight.
“Lucius, this isn't just some meeting with private tutors, this is a gathering with the parents and teachers at Hogwarts” Her husband’s face contorts in a not-so-delightful way. “I'm serious darling, I love our son, but he isn’t exactly an angel”
“What are you implying Cissa” He was feigning ignorance, as usual. She looks at him with a stern eye, her back now leaning on the sink beside him as he was still trying to calm a loose strand of his hair. “You know what I mean Lucius, our son is turning into a spoiled brat! And frankly, you are mostly the blame!”
“He is a Malfoy darling, it is what’s expected” He rolled his eyes “Besides we’re not the Weaselys, it is our job to uphold a certain image” Narcissa hits him on the head while Lucius groans from frustration, having to redo his work once more “This is not something to joke about”
“Draco relies on us too much and I’m afraid you are not being a good role model for him”
Narcissa takes a hold of her husband's hand, they were cold but it was soothing, to her at least. “And as you’ve said, I want us to go together so that we can show Draco and the teachers we are nothing short of perfect”
“Without you, people would whisper and I already know they think badly of us”
“So let them” His groan of annoyance hurt her, she wanted to squeeze his hand, to look for even an ounce of support from him but as she expected she got nothing. Letting go of his cold fingers, she sighed in indignation. Refusing to let him see that he got to her she withdrew from the conversation and walked back to the large bedroom. It seemed bigger than it usually was.
“I promise I’ll go with you next semester”
She could feel his presence walk behind her, his breath was very close to her nape. “This meeting with the minister of magic is just too important to cancel” Those cold fingers once again intertwined with her own, turning her body to face him. “More important than your family?”
She could see the conflict in his eyes, almost seeing a glimpse of the man she married. “That’s not fair darling”.
“I know, but I feel like you focus more on work than you do being my husband” She looks past his shoulder, her eyes landing on the beautifully intricate portrait of their little family hung upon the fireplace. Its warm light reflected onto their faces. It was taken when Draco was 5 years old, his chubby cheeks seem to resemble a cherub’s as blonde curls frame his pale face, smiling from ear to ear.
Both of her boys were standing proudly at opposite ends of her chair as she sat in the middle holding Lucius’ hand and placing it onto her lap. He wanted to copy his father’s pose for the portrait, wanting to be so much like him. He was so happy with how the painting looked.
“Is the minister more important than being a father”
“What is this really about Cissa”
She couldn’t look him in the eye, but she stood strong “I know about the Potter boy”
He looked down, and honestly, he looked everywhere except at her. Once again avoiding the subject, he would always do this whenever he felt guilty about something. Always hiding, It was starting to get on her nerves.
“Lucius!”
She pushed him away slightly, her patience seemed to have snapped “Don’t you dare hide it from me, we both know you aren’t meeting with the minister for some bogus election scheme!” Her voice getting higher, she can see his eyes avoid hers once more. The shame crept up from his alabaster skin. “This is about how you think a child is some threat to you and your insane obsession with the dark lord!”
She couldn’t stop, all of the words seemed to crawl their way up to her throat and spilt out like a waterfall. She couldn’t allow her husband to walk down this path once more, he was too close to getting caught back then, too reckless. It took too much just to pardon him from his sentence the day Voldemort was defeated. She couldn’t take that risk anymore.
“He is the same age as Draco!”
“Cissa, darling you need to calm yourself”
“I will not be lectured by you Lucius Abraxas Malfoy!” She was heaving, she promised herself she wouldn’t show him the unsightly side of hers but she couldn’t help but be angry. She was infuriated. “And do not tell me to calm down, because we both know that I am the only sane person at the moment”
“You don’t understand”
It was her turn to look away in shame, this man wasn’t the Lucius she fell in love with all those years ago. But then again wasn’t he always like this?
“This is a way for our family to finally uphold their position and raise our rank. Don’t you want our son to have that opportunity?”
“So, you think that putting an 11-year-old boy in danger is for the betterment of all wizards and witches?”
“Cissa that is not fair-” That word, he keeps using that bloody word. She doesn’t even think he knows what fair truly means at this point.
“Fair! You talk about fairness, this is the life of a child we are talking about!”
She couldn’t hear him out anymore, everything seemed to become such a blur afterwards. “Go to your stupid meeting, I am done arguing with you” She felt exhaustion crawl up on her, her back slouched and drained of all energy.
“I’ll go to the school alone, you can do whatever you want”
Knowing he couldn’t say anything he walked out of the room.
She sighed from defeat, the last time they’d argued this much was when the war was still rampant. Her pregnancy and Lucius’ constant absence had taken a toll on her health and she couldn’t keep it bottled up anymore.
A Black must keep their composure, they are the image of perfection, not a seam out of place or a sign of dishonour. Unless you counted the few minor things like her rambunctious cousin Sirius and her Sister Andromeda. But other than that they were the perfect example of a Pureblood family worthy of the Black name.
So it came as a shock to her when she suddenly had outbursts like this, and they’ve always seemed to root in her husband’s negligence.
Looking back at the portrait once more, wishing for things to go back to the way they were. But alas, her husband had other plans. “Dobby”
With a single call from her, a small snap was heard at her side. “Yes, mistress” the elf replied, he seemed a bit scared of her as seen by his trembling hands. “I want you to fetch the gift I prepared for Draco, I’ll be going to Hogwarts”
Dobby bowed his head to her, “And could you be a dear and have Mippy package some of her fresh biscuits?” with an audible yes the elf excused himself and teleported out of the room.
It seems she would be doing this alone once more. But no bother, she’ll just have to stand prouder than ever before. Not letting those vultures get a glimpse of her vulnerability. The last thing she wanted was another rumour spreading around her family, they didn’t need to be the centre of attention, even more so when her husband seems to have this notion that the dark lord was going to rise from his grave at any moment now.
—---------------------------------------
Helen Granger wasn’t a judgemental person, but this new world her daughter was accepted in is starting to test that theory. She understood that this was a completely different society but it was still a lot to get used to. In her defence, she’d only found out that her sweet Hermione was a witch 3 months ago.
So pardon her if the idea of using an owl to send messages was a little extra. At first, it was fine, she understood that the wizarding world doesn’t take too kindly to, what does Hermione call them again? “modle technology”? or something along those lines. But the constant scratching and screeching of those blasted owls were starting to give her a migraine.
At first, it had its own charm to it, it also helped that those birds were the only way for her to contact her only daughter. But don’t they have some sort of communing device other than an old grouchy bird that kept biting her husband’s fingers off?
It was a perfect Sunday morning in Hampstead when that blasted bird started scratching on their porch window again, her husband Jack went as quickly as he could to prevent the bird from making any more noise. They were already getting piles of complaints from neighbours about their “pet owls” defecating on the windows and eating poor Tommy’s pet rat.
“What is it hon?” She shouted from the kitchen, it was a lazy morning for them both due to the clinic being closed for the day. “It's from the school” her husband replied.
“Well, what does it say?”
She heard some shuffling in the sitting room, “Says here there's going to be some kind of parent-teacher night a week from now” The tea suddenly spilt a bit on the counter from where she was having her breakfast. A bit surprised by the news. She never expected a witch school to have these types of coordinated events.
Hogwarts was still a school so it made sense that it would also function the same as any other, but instead of algebra and physics, they teach children transfiguration. “oh, darling I’m not too sure about going” Her dear husband shot her a surprised look. “Why not?” He steps closer to her, his hand gently placed on her back.
In all honesty, it wasn’t just the birds. It’s everything about the wizarding part of London. She spent one day there and all she could remember were the wandering eyes of the locals. She’s happy for her daughter, truly she was. But she could still feel the lingering judgments of every witch or wizard there that day on Diagon Alley, she was sure that these people were making a spectacle of their family. And she could not stand by it.
“You know how they feel about us Jack, we’re an oddity to those people” She ground silently into her tea. “Remember what that shop clerk said to us when we were browsing for Hermione’s textbooks?”
“Well darling, in his defence, you were inquiring non-stop about the safety of herbology as a subject”
“They have a bush that shoots spikes at people-”
“And we have chemicals in school laboratories that can cause 2nd-degree burns” Jack countered, she knew he had a point. But she worries for their daughter. Being sent to Scotland in a world where all these magical creatures exist along with new kinds of danger.
“If not for appearances then do it for Hermione”
He’s got her there, hook line and sinker.
The day her daughter got that letter from a weirdly dressed woman at her doorstep, made her realize she wasn’t going to be alone anymore. It broke her heart just thinking of sending her away but it broke even more when she realized that she would also be taking away this opportunity for Hermione. And from what she can see, her little girl has finally found friends at school.
Having such a clever daughter was a blessing to both of them and as she grew older they realized she was more than a blessing.
She was magic.
As a child Helen would hear stories from her nana about a wonderful world of dragons and magic beyond our capabilities, and how her own mother had shown her that world. Of course, we treated her as if she had gone senile. But when Hermione was born she had come to the conclusion that everything her nana taught her was true. Every story, every time she tucked her into bed with retellings of great nana Liz’s adventures in a magical place called Hogwarts, everything.
And her daughter was proof of it.
She knew she needed to support her in any way she can, so if it means having to suck up all of her anxiety and face the music, she would gladly do so. Letting out a defeated sigh, her husband was a very convincing person. Why else would she have married him?
“You know me too well, and that’s bad for me because now I can’t say no to you. The same thing applies to our daughter” Helen watched her husband grin from ear to ear as he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"Why on earth did I let you talk me into this?" Looking around the old castle grounds, dark hallways illuminated by flickering torches and floating candles. Her sweaty palms shivered from the night chill. She gave her husband a tight squeeze.
"We'll be fine darling, look maybe you'll meet other mum's here. Make some friends"
"I have friends" She looks at her husband taking offence to his statement. Well if you consider the patients her friends, though there was that book club hosted by Mrs Brumby every Saturday. But it just consisted of old judgemental ladies that talked behind her back whenever they could.
There was that one time Hermione turned Mrs Brumby's rose bushes into weeds, back then they denied it was the doing of a five-year-old. But ever since Hermione got her letter she was wondering which of those impossible things were actually the doing of her daughter, well it's all in the past now. And besides, that old hag deserved everything that was coming to her.
She couldn't help but feel like a nervous wreck as she walked down the halls along with the other parents, talking and conversing with each other.
She couldn't help but feel lonely, "your right, maybe I should try to get along with the other ladies"
Jack patted her arm, giving his warmest smile. Their walk to the great hall was uneventful, of course, with a few bump-ins with the Weasleys and a lot of hoity-toity pureblood witches sneering at their directions but nonetheless uneventful. The whole thing was compensated the moment they entered the hall, even with her reservations about magic the view of the great hall was simply magical.
She’d only heard about it from the letters Hermione sent her, but actually seeing it was breathtaking. The night sky was above them yet it was more beautiful than words could describe. Candles floated across the hall as shooting stars were cast right above her. “Wow” a silent breath escaped from her husband, she giggled a bit but she couldn’t peel her eyes away from the scenery.
If it weren’t for the familiar voice of their daughter calling out for them, they would’ve stayed in their position for far longer.
“Mom, Dad!” Their daughter’s big puffy hair was distinguishable from the masses as they watched her little feet run towards them.
“Darling! Oh Hermione it’s been so long” Helen embraced her daughter, and a big oof came from her as their bodies took impact from the hug. “What are you doing here? aren’t you supposed to be in bed?”
Hermione took a second to fully finish her embrace, reluctant to let her go. “I volunteered to help coordinate the event, besides the teachers said it would give me extra credit!”
“Atta girl, only three months here and you're already looking for more schoolwork” It was Jack’s turn to embrace her, “you truly are a busybody” he whispered in her ear “like your mother”. Hermione giggled from her dad’s shoulder.
“You do know I can hear you”
“I was just telling her how much she’s grown! Isn’t that right sweety” giving the small girl a wink which earned him a jab to his stomach. “Oof, ok ok” the triad laughed and embraced once more, three months wasn’t a lot but being so far from their daughter made it feel like forever.
“Ah, the Grangers” Minerva walked towards their little triad, “I am hoping that you are enjoying the festivities tonight.” Helen answered “Oh, why yes ma'am this place is very beautiful and we thank you for inviting us” Minerva gave a curt nod towards Helen.
“Good evening Professor McGonagall”
“Good evening to you too Miss Granger, now shouldn’t you be at the entrance with the other volunteers?”
“Oh yes, I do apologies” She gave her parents one last hug before scuttling back towards the large doors. The old woman’s attention then shifted to the couple in front of her, her crows feet stretching as she gave Heleb and Jack a small smile “That girl has great potential, and it helps that she is very dedicated to her studies”
McGonagall laughed to herself in a warm manner, much like a grandmother talking about her mischievous granddaughter.
“Thank you, we couldn’t be more proud of her” Jack gave short praise, he and Helen knew fully well that they won the child lottery with Hermione but words couldn’t really give justice to how much of a gift she truly is to the pair.
“I couldn’t agree more, sometimes I wonder if she truly needs to be at class at all” she gives another hearty laugh “But then again she truly enjoys learning so suggesting otherwise would probably make her think we’re punishing her”
“That’s our Hermione, quite the intelligent young lady” Jack puffed more with pride, she giggled at her husband quietly. Hermione has always been quite a daddy’s girl so it was no surprise that her husband would react so strongly to the professor’s praise.
“Now then, would you like me to show you to your seats? The opening remarks are about to start”
Helen gave the other woman a slight nod, “We would love to”.
—------------------
“Narcissa, I do have to ask but where is your husband?” Amaryllis Parkinson’s shrill voice broke into her eardrum, threatening to give her another migraine. These vultures have been trying to find an opportunity to ask that question the moment she stepped foot in the halls of her alma mater alone. But she has to give Parkinson credit, she was the only one brave enough to ask such a thing.
Narcissa has been trained to endure such pressure at a young age. Growing up in the environment set by her mother, she knows a thing or two about diverting the subject to her favour. “Well unfortunately Lucius was needed at work last minute but he did send his regards to all of you” The ton seemed pleased by that, though they know better than to question her.
The Malfoys and the Black families have been considered pureblood royalties for centuries, and she has both. The prestige that comes with her name was way beyond the claims of these housewives, she wouldn’t dare stoop to their level. Nor would they try to reach her’s.
“I heard from the boys that Harry Potter has caused quite a stir this school year” As if on cue these leeches have found something else to sink their teeth in. The poor boy has hardly made a dent in his time here yet they have already found something to gossip about. “I hear he made quite a ruckus at Severus’ class”
“My son has told me all about that-”
It took all of Narcissa’s energy to drown out their undistinguished chortles. It was starting to become tiresome. If only Lucius were here she wouldn’t have to talk to them for the remainder of the night, but alas her husband was becoming quite the disappointment these past few days.
Even her own son fails to give her the time of day. Most of the time he sends letters of complaint to Lucius for him to “fix”. And frankly, it was getting on her nerves.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the faculty kindly asks you to settle into your assigned seats as we start the opening statements”
Like a sign from the gods, she was given an opening to exit this tiresome conversation.”Now, ladies, it was nice to catch up with all of you but it seems we would have to continue this later” Giving them a courteous smile before sauntering away.
Trying not to seem too happy about leaving she made her way to the seat meant for her and Lucius, which just so happened to be beside an odd couple. Both muggle if their clothing was anything to take note by.
Just great, this night can’t get any worse can it? That old bat just had to assign her next to muggles in her attempt to creat “unity”. She was only so lucky that Lucius wasn’t here at the moment because he would’ve had a fit.
She tried ignoring the couple but the brown haired woman seemed to have other plans. “Hello! My name’s Helen Granger” she held out her hand in an awkward manner, an attempt to keep formalities. “And this is my husband Jack” her small hand gestured to the man sitting beside her. Dirty blond curls framing his angled face, they are a very handsome couple, but nothing too impressive.
“Pleasure” She gave the petite woman a formal smile, but she didn’t take her hand. Helen took the hint and slowly rubbed her knees in a tense manner. She almost felt sorry for the woman. “Well darling i’ll go get some drinks do you want anything?”
“No don’t worry im fine” she waved him off as he walked towards the feast and refreshments prepared by the elves.
Awkward silence befals the two women as they try to navigate this predicament they seem to be in. “heh, i’m sorry” Helen started as she watched the faculty give out their statements. “I’m not used to this” she gave her a polite hum in response.
“I’m actually new to this whole magic stuff” Narcissa slowly nodded in understanding. It was pretty obvious but she gave her no mind. “And making friends isn’t exactly my forte”
“I think your doing quite well” Narcissa’s sudden response actually surprised her, she was entertaining this woman. And not just anyone, a muggle. But before she could make a counter to her statement a sudden laughter broke through her thoughts. She’s gossiped with a lot of the other pureblood women in her circle and frankly she always thought she was surrounded by hyenas. But this laugh was genuine, it wasn’t offending but it surprised her nonetheless.
“You are too kind!” she kept giggling and that tempted Narcissa to do the same, but she had some self respect. If she were seen conversing with this muggle then consider her reputation ruined. But the temptation was really strong. Thankfully she stopped and wiped an invisible tear from her eye.
“I was just being polite”
Helen gave her a beaming smile, it was contagious. “Well thank you, that was better than what those flock of peacocks have been throwing our way” She pointed towards the group of socialites she was with earlier. Their noses up so high you would’ve thought they were actual birds. Narcissa gave out the most unlady like snort she could come up with and almost spit out her drink.
The two women laughed silently as to not gain attention from others. Narcissa has never laughed so hard ever since Andromeda left, but here she was, enjoying the company of one Helen Granger.