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"Why do you ask, Minerva?" he asked, cautiously. |
Still focused on polishing, she said, "He cheated on my mum. For years. I know he did something to her. She...she doesn't remember stuff...or she thinks things happened differently." |
Yeah, Draco thought, Weasley was a bad guy. The things he'd done to Hermione and Minerva were unforgivable in his book. He couldn't say that to Minerva though. He'd promised Hermione not to talk bad about Weasley in front of the girls and he wasn't going to go back on that promise. |
Draco kept his own eyes on the broom he was polishing as he talked to her, "I'm not sure, Minerva. You're dad did some stuff to your mum that I don't think was the best way to handle the situation, but we often don't make the best decisions when something happens that makes us feel out of control of the situation." |
"Do you think he has a good reason for doing what he did?" she asked, finally looking up at him. |
No way in Hell, he thought. "Only your dad can answer that," Draco said looking at her. He set his cloth down, pushed up the sleeve of his sweater, and unbuttoned his cuff on his left arm. He showed Minerva the faded scar of the Dark Mark on his arm. "Do you know what this is?" |
He wasn't quite sure what possessed him to show her the brand. Their conversation about her father resonated with him as similar to his situation when he was a teenager. He didn't think Weasley had a good excuse for doing what he did and Draco was willing to bet money that he'd screw it up, but he wasn't going to make it more difficult for the girls to accept Weasley or feel like they had to choose between the two of them. |
Minerva looked at it and nodded, "It's the Dark Mark. We learned about it in history class and Scorpius told us about you on the train ride." |
He felt odd showing her the mark. She was one of the few that didn't look at his mark with any sort of negative emotion. He was used to those looks. Regret from his mother. Pity from his friends. Revulsion from those who thought he should be in prison. She just accepted it as a part of his past, which was good. He didn't hide the mark at home and didn't want her to be uncomfortable seeing it. |
They both sat there looking at the fading brand as he spoke, "I got this when I was sixteen. My dad was in Azkaban and Voldemort was living in our house. I volunteered for it to protect my mum and I was told to do something horrible. I hurt people because I was scared. There were better options I could have taken, but I didn't see them at the time. People would say that I'm a bad person, but your mum and your Uncle Harry saw that I was just a scared kid in an impossible situation and they spoke up for me. They gave me a second chance to be a better person. Your dad...I don't know what was going through his head. I don't know why he did what he did, but your mum...she thinks he deserves a chance to be a good dad to you and your sister. She wasn't wrong about me, so I have to believe that she's right about your dad too." |
Minerva sat there and took in his words. Draco rolled his sleeve back down, buttoned it up, and pushed his sweater down. They continued to polish the brooms in silence. |
"So I should give him a chance," she said finally still focused on the broom, "What if we're miserable? What if he tries to hurt us?" she asked, looking wretched at the thought. |
Draco gripped both her shoulders and made her look at him. He stared down into her bright blue eyes. "Your mum would never make you stay anywhere that made you miserable. She would never send you into a situation that she thought would be dangerous. You can call Tansy if you or your sister want to leave. Your mum won't make you stay there." |
"Okay," she said quietly. |
He let go of her shoulders and went back to polishing his broom. "How are you getting on in Slytherin?" he asked, changing the subject. |
He was curious what Minerva thought about her chosen house and how she was fitting in. |
She smiled and shrugged, "Fine. It's odd, the way they are with each other. Mum told me about her time at school in Gryffindor house. They didn't seem as tight as the Slytherins are. Fred tried bullying Scorpius and me after school started and the older Slytherins put a stop to it when they saw," she answered, still polishing the broom handle. |
"The Slytherins are better than they used to be when I was in school," Draco said pensively, "The traditions are still the same but they've all worked hard to change the image of Slytherins. Slytherins didn't have any easy time after the war, so they had to band together and take care of one another and now it's been fifteen years and it's just kind of stuck." |
"So was it the same when you were at school?" she asked, "The mealtime rituals and carrying books and stuff." |
"Yeah. I was always stuck carrying Pansy Parkinson's books and she always sat beside me during meals, so I had to fill her plate for her as well," he said, thinking back to how annoying it had become to constantly have Pansy glued to his side, "Has Scorpius been helping you adjust?" |
Minerva nodded, "They've all been great. Drake has helped the most. He was a little annoyed at first, but it became easier for me to accept after a while. He explains things in a way that I can accept. Some of it is pretty awesome. I don't have to carry my book bag." |
She was grinning at that last statement. It made him feel a bit sorry for Drake, having to carry that bag all around the castle. |
"Yeah, about that," Draco said slowly, "Did you really need to bring the entire Hogwarts library home? That bag was atrociously heavy," Draco said with mock severity. |
Minerva blushed at that, "Sorry. I tend to over-pack." |
Draco laughed at her answer, "I think these brooms are polished enough. Are you ready to give flying a try?" he asked. |
She nodded and he stood up and locked his broom away. He picked up Minerva's broom and ushered her out the door, locking it behind him. |
Draco studied Minerva, looking for any impending anxiety. She looked a little nervous but otherwise fine. Satisfied that she wasn't already terrified, he told her, "Go get your jacket, gloves, and hat and we'll walk to the park." |
Minerva ran upstairs to get her winter gear. Draco went over to the closet and put on his black leather gloves, wool-lined black leather aviator jacket, and black knit beanie. Minerva was waiting for him in a soft gray puffy jacket with bright pink knit gloves and matching knit beanie when he finished getting ready. They walked out the door and over to the park. Draco took Minerva to the clearing in the park he often took Rose flying in. |
He cleared out a large patch of snow and put down cushioning charms on the ground, telling Minerva exactly what he was doing. He set the broom down on the cleared patch of ground and had Minerva stand beside it. |
He stood in front of her with his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "Do you remember how to get the broom off the ground?" Draco asked, looking down at Minerva. |
"Yes. I remember that part from flying class," Minerva said, shuffling her feet and looking terrified. |
"Are you scared?" he asked with concern. He didn't want her to be scared or have another panic attack. |
"No. Just nervous," Minerva said, looking at him with a determined tilt of her chin and squaring her shoulders. |
"Nervous is fine. You have to tell me if you're too scared to keep going. I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you," Draco reassured her, "Let's get this broom up in the air." |
"Up," Minerva said in a barely audible whisper, holding her palm out over the broom. The broom didn't move at all to her timid command. |
"Louder, more authority," Draco directed her. |
"Up," she said, a little louder with some confidence. The broom twitched in response. |
"That's better. One more time with feeling," Draco called encouragingly. |
"Up!" she shouted. The broom handle shot up, landed in her palm, and hovered in the air. |
"Very good. Now I want you to mount the broom and push off a little so that you hover in the air," Draco said, moving around to her side so that he could support her. |
Draco stood beside Minerva with one hand on the handle of the broom and one supporting her back so that she wouldn't fly away if she kicked too hard. Minerva pushed off the ground and hovered in the air two feet off the ground. Draco let go of the broom and let her hover on her own and get a feel for being on a broom. |
"You're doing great. How are you feeling?" he asked, noting how tense she was on the broom. |
Minerva gulped audibly, focused on her hands on the broom, "I'm good. Let's keep going." |
Now came the hard part. He was going to ask her to do something that was going to be difficult for her to do. |
"Good girl. Now you're going to learn the proper way to fall off a broom," Draco said calmly as if he asked terrified children to throw themselves from a broom every day. |
"Fall!" Minerva screeched, tipping on the broom. |
"Easy," Draco said as he steadied her on the broom, "You need to learn how to fall off so you don't hurt yourself in case it ever actually happens." |
"Okay," Minerva said, clearly not convinced that this was a good idea but willing to trust him. |
"Remember I put a cushioning charm on the ground, but I'm going to catch you," Draco said with a calm, reassuring voice, "What I want you to do is roll off the broom, bring your hands up to cup the back of your head using your arms to protect your face, and try to go limp as you fall," he explained as he showed her how he wanted her to position her hands on her head then pushed the broom up so that it hovered at chest level. |
"I've got you. Whenever you're ready," Draco said, trying to look as reassuring as possible. |
Minerva rolled off the broom, screamed like she was being murdered, and landed like a log in his arms. |
"Oof," he said, grunting at how hard she landed in his arms, "I've got you," he said, setting her down on the ground, "Okay good. Remember to cover your head and go limp." |
"I don't know about this," Minerva said with trepidation. |
"You did fine. No one gets it perfect on the first try. Up you go," he said encouragingly as he lowered the broom and had her remount before raising it back up again. |
"Try again," he said. |
She rolled off again, still stiff as a board and forgetting to protect her head, screaming, not as loudly as before, but still causing some ringing in his ears. He might actually go deaf if she kept screaming. |
"I've got you. You're safe," he reassured her, setting her on the ground. "Remember to protect your head like I showed you and let yourself go limp," he reminded, gently. |
"This is hopeless. I'm never going to get it," Minerva said, stomping her foot in frustration. |
"You're doing fine. Try again," Draco persisted. |
She remounted the broom and tried again, shrieking as she rolled off the broom. She remembered to bring her hands up this time. She was so like her mother. Determined. Courageous. She was afraid. He knew she was afraid. He knew he was pushing her by making her roll off that broom. He knew she was probably reliving that day, that fall off the broom. Every time she chose to get back on that broom, she was conquering that fear. She loosened up a little every time he caught her, every time he told her she was safe. |
"Good job. Again." |
"You're safe. Again." |
"I've got you. Again." |
Repeatedly, he had her roll off the hovering broom until she began to land in his arms like a limp noodle with her arms covering her head. Thankfully, she'd stopped screaming every time she rolled off the broom. His ears had started ringing from her high-pitched screeching. |
Once she started doing it perfectly without screaming, he stopped her from climbing back on and commended her, "Great job. I think you've got it. I want you to remember what to do if you fall off the broom. Are you ready to try flying around now?" |
"Yeah, let's do it," Minerva said cheerfully, bouncing on the balls of her feet. |
Fear. Conquered. Well, maybe not completely but she jumped on that broom easy enough now. He had her hover a few feet off the ground, just enough that her toes would touch if she set them down. He adjusted her hands and posture. He taught her how to lean into a turn and to use the foot braces to help with the turning. Lean up for slow and down low over the broom handle to go faster. He could feel her humming with excitement as she got more comfortable with being on the broom. |
"Let's fly back and forth for a while. You're going to fly in a straight line to the end of the clearing, make a complete left turn, fly to the other end of the clearing, and make a complete right turn," he instructed. |
Minerva nodded and flew forward. Draco had to walk quickly to keep up with her as she flew to the end of the clearing. |
"Let's make the left turn," Draco said, supporting her as she banked left. |
"I did it!" she squealed as she pulled out of the turn, leaning up and clapping her hands. |
"Of course you did, angel. You're doing great," Draco said encouragingly, looking over at her excited face. |
She launched herself off the broom at him. Draco caught her as her arms came around his neck. He smoothed her hair down. He laughed with her and twirled her around, so happy that she was happy. |
"Thank you," she said breathlessly, squeezing his neck. |
"You did the work, angel," Draco said, setting her down on the ground, "We are going to have to talk about launching yourself off a broom at people," with mock severity. |
"Sorry," Minerva said, looking down and kicking the ground. |
Draco ran a hand down Minerva's head, "You startled me, angel. You could've hurt yourself." |
"Sorry," she said, not looking sorry in the least, "I'll be more careful but I knew you'd catch me and you did." |
"Alright. Let's do another turn then head back for lunch. Your mum should be back with Scorp and Rose soon," he said, starting to get hungry and a little sore. |
Minerva lowered her hovering broom and climbed back on. Draco walked beside her as she flew to the end of the clearing and made a perfect right turn. |
"Very good. You did great today," he praised her. |
"Thanks. Thanks for teaching me," Minerva said, sitting up straight on her broom. |
"You're welcome. It takes a lot of courage to do what you did today. To stand up to your fear. I'm really proud of you," he said seriously. |
"Thanks. Can I ride back to the house?" Minerva asked, looking even more confident on her broom. |
That excited, hopeful look in her eye had Draco smiling. "Yeah, that's fine. Let's head back." |
Draco walked beside her as they made their way back home. Minerva chatted excitedly with him. He was proud of her. He was proud that she even wanted to try riding again. She did so much better than he thought she would. He expected her to balk or give up at being told she had to let herself fall off a broom. She pushed through her fear and kept trying even though she was scared. |
Draco helped her dismount the broom and carried it inside for her. He had her put her own broom away in the closet and watched as she locked the door behind her. As they were walking back into the foyer, the door to the drawing room opened and Hermione walked out with Scorpius and Rose. |
Hermione saw them and shot a worried glance at him. He smiled at her and she took a deep breath, letting go of her worry. |
"How did it go?" she asked, running her hand down Minerva's hair. |
"Mum, I can fly. Draco taught me and I was scared at first because he told me I had to fall off the broom but he always caught me. Then I flew around the clearing and I got to fly back home," Minerva said in an excited rush. |
"She did very well today," Draco said, "Why don't you all go put away your winter gear and wash up for lunch?" Draco suggested, looking down at the three children gathered around. |
He caught Hermione slip a red and gold bag with a large W printed on it out of her purse and hand it to Scorpius. Scorpius hugged her quick then ran up the stairs after Minerva and Rose. |
Draco pulled Hermione into his arms and she wrapped hers around his neck. She leaned up on her toes and brought his head down for a kiss that made him forget how exhausted he was. |
"Missed you," she said against his mouth. |
"Missed you too. Did you have fun shopping? Where did my mother go?" Draco asked, leaning back and looking down at her. |
Her smile was incandescent, "Yes. It was a good day. Your mum went back to the Manor. We went into George's store and George loaded Scorpius up with presents that I'm sure his friends" parents won't appreciate." |
"What about Scorpius" girl? Did he get her something?" Draco asked eagerly. Maybe he should have gone too and helped Scorpius pick out something. |
"We couldn't agree on what to get her. I thought chocolates would be appropriate but Scorpius thought it was too impersonal. I suggested that maybe this was something a father and son should do together," Hermione said. |
Draco kissed Hermione then. Relief and thankfulness washed over him. He didn't realize until just now how much he wanted to be the one to help Scorpius pick out the first piece of jewelry he got for his possible soul mate. |
The Malfoy Legacy, Part 2 |
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