When Love Hurts | Dramione - COMPLETED

Amity

Lily Potter giggled softly as she watched her six year old son run around the house. The doorbell rang, and Harry shrieked in delight.

"Mama! Daddy's home!" Harry warbled, excitedly.

Lily laughed and ran over to the door to let her husband in.

"Ja - " Lily started to exclaim, then stopped in shock as she saw who it was.

"Narcissa." Lily said, curtly.

Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy were on the other side of the war, but no one had evidence against Narcissa, so she was allowed to roam free and combined with the fact that Lucius Malfoy was very rich, no one dared to question her. But Lucius was a known Death Eater, so he was in Azkaban. Lily did feel a little sorry for Narcissa. It had to hard being judged everywhere she went, but maybe she deserved it. 

"Po - Lily." Narcissa replied, looking inside, seemingly searching for something.

"Uh - not be rude, but what are you doing here?" Lily asked. She had never shown interest in the Potters before.

"Could we talk inside? Draco seems cold," Narcissa stepped aside to show another six year old, with pale hair, and looking very scared. Seeing Lily, he gave a shy smile.

Lily had to hold back tears. Draco. Like Draco Johnson. Even after all of these years Draco and Hermione's loss gnawed at her, always reminding her of their sweet faces and all that she had lost. 

Draco looked to his mother for permission, and when she nodded, he put out his hand. "My name's Draco Malfoy! I like your hair, it's like a cherry!" he sang, looking nothing like his aloof mother.

"Thank you!" Lily said, trying to grin at the little boy. It was just a coincidence that his name was Draco. But she found it strange that Narcissa would name her son after one of the people that caused her husband to go to  Azkaban. 

The trio went inside to the cozy living rooms, with its red and gold decorations. Lily saw Narcissa grimace with the Gryffindor decor, but she didn't comment.

What was she here for? The war was over, sure, but the rivalries still existed.

Harry peeked out of  the curtains, and broke into a smile when he saw Draco.

"Hello! My name's Harry, what's yours?" he asked, coming right up to Draco.

"Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy," he said in a monotone, like it was something he was forced to memorize. Lily raised an eyebrow at Narcissa, but she seemed distracted. 

"Cool! Wanna see my broom? I got it from my godfather - he's allsome!" Harry tried to pronounce awesome but like the adorable toddler he was, he messed the word up.

Draco looked at his mother, who made a vague shooing motion. All at once, his entire demeanor changed. He grinned widely. "I love brooms!" Draco exclaimed, and ran off with Harry.

"Be careful!" both Narcissa and Lily called, then looked at each other warily.

"Narcissa, would you like some tea?" Lily asked, trying to act cordial.

"No thank you, this meeting will be short and straight to the point. As you know, Lucius and I aren't the most respected people in the world," Narcissa said.

Lily tried to hide her snigger with a cough, but Narcissa seemed to detect it, and frowned.

"But we don't want Draco going through the same looks we go through. We want him to have friends, and fun at Hogwarts. But no one's going to be like that... unless he has a friend from early on," Narcissa continued.

"You want Harry to be his friend," Lily said, then looked at the two boys giggling around a toy broom. 

Narcissa lowered her eyes to the ground. "It's not common for a Malfoy to ask for help, and I am asking for your help because I love my son. We live close together, and despite our differences, you are one of the only people who would - " she stopped, seeming to struggle for words " - who would tolerate a Death Eater's child."

Lily closed her eyes. "Narcissa... I - I - of course. Of course they can be friends. But I want to be clear that it is only because I believe all children should have a good childhood. What your family did to mine... " she swallowed, then forged on. 

"We can arrange playdates at my place, Malfoy Manor doesn't seem to be the nicest place for playdates," Lily told her, offering her house, but they both knew it was because she didn't want Harry going to Malfoy Manor.

"Thank you, Lily. And... for what it is worth, I'm sorry," Narcissa said, curtly.

Lily blinked, surprised. Had she actually apologized? 

"Draco, we're going!" Narcissa called, suddenly brisk. 

"Mother, can I please stay a bit longer? Harry got his broom signed by the captain of Holyhead Harpies!" Draco said, looking at the broom in awe.

"You'll come see Harry later, but now we're going to go," Narcissa made no room for argument.

"Bye Harry! Come see my brooms later!" Draco called, holding Narcissa's hand.

"Bye Draco!" Harry waved, then ran to Lily.

"Do you like Draco?" Lily asked, wondering how toddlers only saw good in others. Of course, Harry knew nothing about the war, being as young as he was, but still. 

"Yeah! He's my best friend!" Harry said, bouncing up and down. Lily smiled at Harry, but she was privately worrying about her decision to let Draco and Harry be friends. 

"Lily? Harry?" a voice called.

"James!" Lily called, then picked Harry up. "Let's go to Daddy, Harry!"

"Was that... Narcissa Malfoy leaving out of our house?" James asked, his eyes wide, and his hand resting where his wand was kept.

"Yeah, but - " Lily was cut off as James started to rant in horror.

"If she did anything to any of you, I swear, I will kill her! Merlin, why did you let her in?" James' eyes widened as a realization came upon him. "Did she break the door down? I'm calling the Ministry right now, I will not have anyone hurting my - " He was cut off my Lily kissing him.

"Nothing like that, James. She just... She has a son, and she's worried, like she should be that he won't have any friends at Hogwarts. She wants him to have an early friend, and I think she thought that everyone else would turn away from her, so she came to us," Lily explained, all in one breath. 

James shook his head. "Lily, you know just as well as I do that we can't trust her. She was on the other side of the war with Voldemort, for Merlin's sake!" He whisper-yelled, looking cautiously at Harry. 

"Harry, why don't you go upstairs and lie down for a nap? I'll bring you milk and a story," Lily told the frightened toddler. 

Harry started to climb the stairs, and James turned back to Lily, with increasing urgency. 

"I know you love little kids, and you probably want him to have a chance, but not when his father is Lucius Malfoy. I feel as bad for the kid as you do, but we can't endanger Harry like that!" 

Lily looked sadly into James eyes. "I know. But..." she started to tear up. "His name, her son's name is Draco," she whispered.

James looked like he had taken a punch to his gut. They hadn't talked about the horrible fate that had met their two close friends for seven years. For a year after the war, Hermione and Draco's names were on the newspaper a lot, the Wizarding World finally believing who it was that saved them. But Sirius, James, Remus, and Lily never talked about them again. It hurt too much. 

"Even after all these years?" James asked, closing his eyes in pain.

"Always."