Love, Potions and Legacies: Alternative Perspectives

Narcissa: Draco's Fifth Birthday

Finally, the weeks of planning were coming to fruition. Draco's fifth birthday party was this afternoon and I had been up since six this morning. Although most of the event was being handled by a planner and the elves, I liked to oversee everything. I also had made sure that the dining room was perfect for his birthday breakfast, decorated with balloons and other fun things that Lucius loathed. 

He'd rolled his eyes when he'd entered earlier, passing some comment about how it looked like a rainbow explosion in here. I ignored him, he was always a grouch but even more so before his morning coffee. He was going to need it today. A whole day of hosting, a party and lots of loud children. In fact, he might need more than one cup today.

"Good morning darling, happy birthday!" I say as Draco charges into the room, barely managing to catch a hug off of him as he heads straight for the pile of presents on the table, Matthew hot on his heels and just as excited.

Draco lets me hug him quickly and I manage to calm them both just long enough for us to do cards first before presents. Draco opens ours in a second, barely reading the sweet message i'd penned inside. Oh well, I kept every single one, so hopefully he'd read it again when he was older and know just how loved he was. 

I watch Matthew hand Draco his birthday card which he rips open and almost drops it as the magical confetti explodes in his face and Matthew roars with laughter. I'd let him pick the card from the brothers this year and clearly he'd been waiting for this moment for days.

Thomas hands his youngest brother the present he'd chosen on our trip to Diagon Alley; an interactive book series about a quidditch player which Draco nods at and smiles before (rather unceremoniously) dumping it on the table and climbing across the table to get at the bigger presents. He liked books but he could clear spot better looking presents on the table.

"So many presents!" Draco squeals out in excitement once I let him loose, making me smile at his wide eyes and the way he jumps around from foot to foot, clapping his hands and trying to figure out what presents to start with. He finally dives forward, going for the most obvious looking present. "A new broom! Wow!"

"What?! He got a broom at Christmas!" Matthew frowns indignantly, swinging his head from me to Lucius and back. I sip my tea quietly and look straight across at Lucius, silently telling him this was his issue to deal with. He was the one who insisted on buying them the damn brooms.

"Yes he did, but it was only a beginner's broom. This one is a little faster and he can fly higher now. We need to get you boys prepared for your quidditch camp, don't we?" Lucius replies to Matthew trying the old tactic of steering the conversation to something good and distracting.

I smirk into my tea. The quidditch camp had been a genius idea of my husbands'. A desperate attempt to have some alone time just us two during the slightly quieter months at the company and the Ministry. Having our three boys on a break from their tutors for a few weeks was already starting to wear on my husbands' very short patience. He'd decided that they were all going away for a couple of weeks and was counting down the days until it was just him and I here.

Draco and Matthew were going to join their friends at a quidditch and outdoor summer camp and Thomas was going to stay with the Rosier's. I'd tried my hardest to convince him a couple of weeks with other children playing quidditch and doing outdoors activities would be fun but he had just scowled. Little Evan Rosier had then asked if he could come with him and his family to their home in Scotland so he wouldn't be alone. I'd not been so keen on it but it had been the only thing that had lit Thomas up since not having his days filled with lessons, so I'd given in.

I look up as Lucius pushes Draco back to the pile on the table to finish unwrapping his presents, whilst giving Matthew Draco's new all-black quaffle to throw around to distract him. Sometimes his slightly more commanding hand came in useful with dealing with the boys when they got rowdy. Draco rips off the paper off of his first pair of proper quidditch boots and he almost squeals in glee when he sees the bright green leather of them; his favourite colour.