Lunar Cost - Dramione

(•_•)...17...(•_•)

Tension in the house didn't dissolve. Dinner continued on like that for another week. Tami Lynn got tired. She got tired of the silence. She got tired of sitting in the big empty house, the paintings and frames haunting her and taunting her; she had to leave.

Narcissa was alright with her leaving. She was fond of the girl, but she could tell she was not enjoying herself in the slightest. Tami Lynn spoke to Taviyis. She didn't speak to Hermione. And she left, went back to the school.

The situation at dinner didn't improve. Draco refused to remove the disguise, even after Tami Lynn left, much to his mother's dismay. It led to a very heated argument the day before he and Hermione were to return to Hogwarts.

The three of them sat a very uncomfortable distance apart from each other. Draco ate, unbothered by the tension, which sent heat through his mother's veins as she watched him, her fingers clenched around her silverware, her knuckles turned almost blue.

"Take it off!" she screamed, stabbing the prongs of her fork into the black finished wood table. Her breathing became erratic and heavy as she stared at the stranger her beloved son hid behind. She calmed her breathing but her glare remained murderous. "Take it off or get out of my home."

Draco remained unbothered and got up to bring his dinnerware to the kitchen.

"Draco Malfoy, you will not ignore me!" She bolted out of her seat to step closer to his, daring him to defy her.

"Don't call me that!" He turned around and got in her face and yelled at the top of his lungs. She stumbled backwards, frightened. "My name is Taviyis."

"Don't be foolish. Your name is Drac—"

"DRACO IS GONE!" At this point his mother fell to the floor. He paid no attention to her and made his way towards the door. Narcissa gripped her wand and slammed the door before he could walk through.

"DO NOT USE THE MOUTH OF A STRANGER TO TELL ME MY SON IS GONE! DO NOT BE COWARDLY! DO NOT TAKE MY SON AWAY AND DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM ME!"

"MOTHER, STOP! THIS IS HOW IT HAS TO BE! NO ONE WANTS ME! NO ONE WANTS DRACO MALFOY! TAVIYIS IS HAPPY! TAVIYIS HAS FRIENDS! TAVIYIS HAS STABILITY! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DOES BEING 'DRACO MALFOY' DO FOR ME?"

He tugged the door open and slammed it behind him. Hermione sat speechless, terrified that her words might betray her, had she found them. 

Narcissa lifted herself up from the floor and sat in her chair. She had her elbow on the table, something she'd been trained never to do since she was a girl. Her hand cradled her forehead. Tears pooled in her palm and streamed down her pale, skinny forearm. Hermione moved to sit next to her and, quite awkwardly, placed a hand on her shoulder. Narcissa began to choke back a sob. 

Hermione offered her embrace, in which Narcissa rested her head on Hermione's shoulder in a hug. The sobs quieted and mellowed into a weep. Hermione could feel Narcissa's irregular breathing. Experiencing this, seeing a motherly figure weep and barely able to breathe, caused Hermione to cry.

She didn't make noise. She didn't hide her face, or wipe the tears. She just sat there, comforting the older woman, letting the tears gush down her emotionless face.

"I just want my son back." There was barely any sound. It was a whisper of the lightest tone and the softest breath. This was enough to make Hermione squeeze her eyes shut in pain.

"I know," she said, "I want him back, too."

***

It was 1:27 A.M. Hermione found herself outside Draco's room.