𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐏𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐒

XVII

Act XVII.

Esse quam videri

To be, rather than to seem.

Narcissa sighed softly as she watched her son fall into a restful sleep. She stepped quietly from the shadows she’d been hiding in and walked to her son’s bedside. She smiled gently at the picturesque sight Draco made, his body wrapped snugly in his old blanket, his usually pristine blonde hair in disarray and his normally tense face softened by pleasant dreams. Slowly, Narcissa bent down and kissed his temple tenderly.

“Goodnight, my son.”

Still smiling softly, Narcissa turned and quietly made her way out of her son’s bedroom and into the parlour. Once there, she quickly lit the fireplace, grabbed a handful of Floo Powder and called for home.

“Tippy! Tell my husband I won’t be able to make dinner tonight,” she ordered the House elf who answered her call.

“Yes, Mistress,” the elf squeaked obediently.

“And why, pray tell, not? Is there someplace you’d rather be?” a voice asked her suspiciously and Narcissa stiffened at the tone.

“Lucius, darling! There you are. I’m sorry. I can’t make dinner tonight but I am attending to a rather important errand,” she said carefully.

“I see, and what errand would that be?” Lucius asked her pointedly with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m afraid you instructed me not to discuss it with you,” Narcissa shot back tetchily. “Unless, of course you have recanted your earlier directions? Shall I tell you now of the-“

“No. No. That is quite enough. You might as well go about your business, Narcissa. I shall see you later on this evening.” Lucius waved a dismissive hand. Then as Narcissa moved to end the call, he begrudgingly forced himself to ask, “I suppose the brat has recovered and is now back on his own two feet?”

Narcissa smiled warmly for the first time in the conversation as she answered him firmly, “He will be.”

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Narcissa sighed unhappily as she gently shook her son’s arm in an effort to wake him. It had only been four hours since Draco had first fallen asleep and it was now time to head back to Order Headquarters. She had already taken more time than Dumbledore had granted them as it was. As much as she wanted to keep her son here in the Château, tucked away and hidden, she could not. Eventually the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters would find the hideaway and she dared not think of what would happen then.

“Draco? Come on, chéri. It is time to go back to Grimmauld Place. I have already packed our shopping bags. Wake up, chéri,” Narcissa called out softly.

“Huh? What? Mum? What are you doing here? Oh right. You came to see me yesterday.” Draco rubbed at his eyes sleepily.

“Yes, child and what a lovely day it was. Now I must take you back to Dumbledore. We’ve already stayed too long but I did not have the heart to send you back earlier while you were nearly dead on your feet. Now, hurry up and take whatever else you’d like with you. I’ll be waiting for you in the parlour, alright?”