People Can Change (Discounted)

New Beginnings

A lot had happened to the Malfoy family after the Battle of Hogwarts. Lucius had been thrown into Azkaban, which was a complete relief, Narcissa and Lucius were no longer married and they had lost their manor. 

So, now Narcissa and Draco Malfoy stood outside of the Burrow, the place they would soon be living for the time being. Narcissa stuck a deep breath in. "Here we go." She then proceeded to knock on the door in front of her. The mother and son could hear shouts coming from inside. The pair stood there for a minute before the door was opened by Molly Weasley. "Come in, come in," the redhead woman told them with a welcoming smile plastered on her face. Narcissa stepped in first and Draco entered afterwards. 

"EVERYONE, come here, right NOW!" Molly shouted, showing a more commanding side. The rest of the Weasleys (including Fleur), Harry Potter and Hermione Granger appeared in front of them immediately. Molly looked impressed that they had all arrived so quickly. "As you should know by now, this is Narcissa and Draco Malfoy and they will be staying here for a while. So, introduce yourselves - yes, even if you know them already." 

Narcissa and Draco listened to everyone introducing themselves, hoping to possibly remember everyone's names. Molly looked satisfied. "Harry, would you be a dear and show them to their room" 

"Of course, Mrs Weasley," Harry Potter replied and then turned and the two Malfoys followed him.

Harry opened the door to where Fred (rest in peace) and George used to sleep. Harry looked at his feet awkwardly as Narcissa and Malfoy entered the room and placed down their (suprisingly) very small amount of lugage.  "I'll just be going now," Harry said, beginning to shuffle out of the room but he was stopped by a voice - Narcissa Malfoy's voice. "Thank you, for saving my son." 

Harry stood still for a moment  - he wasn't sure what exactly to say. "Um...it was really no problem." He saw a small smile appear on Narcissa's lips, but he couldn't see what Malfoy looked like as he was facing away from Harry. He heard Narcissa whisper to be son, "Draco, say thank you." 

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Thank you, Potter." It didn't sound all that genuine but Harry would take. "You're welcome, Malfoy." 

Harry then walked out of the room. He proceeded to walk downstairs and sit down next to Hermione in the living-room. Ron asked Harry, "Is the ferret still a pain in the arse?" Hermione whacked her boyfriend on the arm.  "Ow, what was that for?" Ron complained. 

Hermione sighed. "Even if Harry does claim that Malfoy is still "a pain in the arse" as you say, I would assume that he would be on his best behaviour since the Ministry would be keeping a close eye on him and his mother."

"Well, to answer your question, Ron, yes, Malfoy is still a pain in the arse," Harry said. Ron didn't look surprised.

"We should go buy our school supplies tomorrow," advised Hermione. Ron and Harry were not at all shocked to hear Hermione talking about school. The Golden Trio continued to talk about random things. Ron and Harry tried to avoid the subject of school. Was Harry ready to be going back to Hogwarts? He wasn't sure.

Draco Malfoy had just finished unpacking all of his stuff. His mother had finished ten minutes before him and was now reading Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Draco's mother had become more gentle and kind to people she didn't know that well. 

"Mother, how far are you with writing the letter to Aunt Andromeda?" Draco asked. He saw his mother start to fiddle anxiously with her fingers.

Draco's mother inhaled and exhaled. "Um...well, you see, I-here just take a look." She then shoved a piece of parchment into his hands. Draco looked down at it and read:

Dear Andromeda,

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Okay, okay, I know it's bad, but I'm just nervous that she might never forgive me." His mother's voice became quieter towards the end of her sentence. Why do I have to be so careless with my words? Draco scolded himself. He stood and hugged her mother and she hugged him back. After a minute or so, they pulled away from each other. Draco's mother gave him a warm smile. "Draco, I'm so lucky to have you as my son." Suddenly, her  smile turned into a smirk. "So, are you going to try and get closer to Harry?"

Draco turned a deep scarlet. "M-mother! I would not talk of this, plus he probably doesn't like boys anyway."

His mother told him, "Yes, he likes girls but he could like boys as well. Take me for example. Also, Draco, sometimes you need to have hope, even if you feel there's no reason to have it." Hope was something Draco had never had, but he would maybe try to have it. 

Out of nowhere, Harry entered the room. "Food's ready." Draco and his mother nodded in acknowledgement. Harry then exited the room. He, Draco, linked arms with his mother and they proceeded to walk downstairs.

Narcissa Malfoy sat down at the table with her son (who was sitting across from Harry Potter) next to her. Narcissa began to eat as everyone did. She found the food surprisingly pleasant. Of course, Narcissa couldn't help but notice her son staring at Harry - who was busy chatting with his friends - with love. Narcissa thought, oh, young love and crushes.

"Narcissa," she looked up from her plate to see Molly talking to her,"can we talk in private?" Narcissa hoped that she hadn't done anything wrong. She didn't feel like talking so she just nodded and followed Molly into the kitchen.

Molly told her, "I just couldn't help but notice you seem kind of distant and worried." Now, Narcissa understood why she talking to Molly.

"I know that you probably want me tell you all my worries, but I do not feel comfortable doing that since I don't know you that well," Narcissa replied, avoiding Molly's eyes.

Molly gave her look of understanding. "That's perfectly okay, but remember you can always come to me." They both then walked back out and sat in their original seats. The rest of the evening went fine. Later on, Bill, Fleur, George and Percy all left. 

Now, Narcissa sat in her bed reading. She looked up at the clock and over to her son who was trying to sleep. Narcissa turned her lamp off and fell into a deep sleep. Today had truly not been that bad.