The Brave at Heart

Chapter 5: Tales of a Flying Car

Draco would have liked to hear that his father was proud of him. Here, he had helped Harry rid the world of You-Know-Who, but there was no pride in the way that Lucius looked at his son. All he wanted was his father's love. And he wasn't sure how he could earn it.

Needless to say, his father was less than happy about Draco's friends and the fact that he had put his life in danger once again. As a result, Lucius began inviting the Zabinis, the Parkinsons, the Notts, and the Goyles over more often than he had done. Draco was forced to sit through numerous uncomfortable dinners to satiate his father's hopes. But Draco had burned the chances of ever being friends with the Slytherins again. Draco was content with the friends he had and no amount of pushing on his father's part was going to change that.

Draco also had the strong inclination that his father had an alternative motive for the invitations he was sending out. Especially when Yaxley and Dolohov arrived. His father spoke with them behind closed doors. His father, when the door finally opened again, looked pale and scared. He was holding a black leather bound journal in his hands.

And Draco distinctly noticed the subtle removal of Dark items from Malfoy Manor. His father was preparing for something, but Draco did not know what.

There was a supreme loneliness to the summer, causing Draco to actually miss school. He liked the adventures and times they had at Hogwarts. With his father's disapproval, Draco found himself confiding in none other than his house-elf, Dobby. Dobby had an independent spirit, but he was always willing to hear stories about the Harry Potter and Draco's time at Hogwarts. "Don't know why he won't write, though," Draco murmured. Harry had made it seem like his aunt and uncle didn't care much for him, neglected him even. Draco hoped everything was okay.

Unlike Harry, Ron and Hermione did write. Ron even invited him to stay with the Weasleys for a few days, if Draco wanted to go. Draco had asked his parents, explicating that he wanted to go, but this only angered his father. Lucius fell into a rather long lecture about how his son shouldn't be spending time with blood traitors like the Weasleys. Draco wrote back to Ron summarizing what his father had said. He made sure to explicate that he didn't hold the same opinions as his father. He hoped that made it better.

Hermione's letters were always filled with interesting facts she had been learning about the Wizarding World. Draco was nearly positive that she and her family went to Diagon Alley every other week so that she could visit Flourish and Blotts. Mentally, Draco began compiling a list of books he was sure she would enjoy that he could bring her from the Malfoy library. He never understood why they had so many books when his father nearly refused to read them.

Harry hasn't been writing me either, her letter had told him. Nor Ron. I do hope everything is going well. I would have liked to have called him, but he never gave me his number. (Muggle device) I hope he's alright. What are you getting him for his birthday? I was thinking about getting him a book....

Of course she would get Harry a book for his birthday. Draco seriously doubted Harry would read it, but it was worth a try.

The strangest part of the summer, Draco decided, was a conversation he overheard his parents having. Lucius was furious about the letters Draco had been sending to his Gryffindor friends. "He is not what we had wanted him to be, Narcissa."

"What you wanted him to be," Narcissa corrected him.

"He's going to be a blood traitor, spending time with Weasleys." Draco didn't need to see his father to know that he was pacing back and forth, like he did when he was agitated. "Do you want him to be like Andromeda? Marrying a Mudblood."

"We agreed never to speak of her," Narcissa voice was cold and stern. Draco had been told the story of his aunt, but as a cautionary tale. He knew that true purebloods never wavered, never married Muggle-borns.