Venom and Velvet

Conjuration

18. Conjuration

Draco sat alone for breakfast, having woken earlier than usual. He bit into a green apple, then smiled remembering what Hermione had said. He wondered if they were dating now. What a strange thought... Draco Malfoy in a relationship with Hermione Granger. The Prophet would have a field day with that.

Breaking him away from his thoughts, a large eagle owl landed on the table in front of him. It brandished a deep green envelope that Draco recognized as something from the Manor. So one of them was home now, released from Azkaban. He debated whether or not to open it, but eventually slid his finger through the slit in the paper and opened the envelope.

My Dear Draco,

I am sure you are hesitant to read this. I wish I had done better for you so you would not feel this way about your father and me. It has been months of regret and sleepless nights, I hope you know that. Fear is a powerful weapon, Draco. It exploits the weaknesses of all it touches. Fear was what put us on the path we took; fear and old traditions. I don't doubt that you are angry and resentful towards us. Please, know that I love you.

Your father is still imprisoned and likely will be for many years. I tried to use monetary means to lessen his sentence following my own release but the ministry would not be convinced. I have been home for weeks now, trying to determine what words could possibly convince you that I thought what we were doing was in your best interest. I came to the realization that you never will believe that. How could you, when I stood by for so many years knowing what he was doing to you? How could you ever be convinced that I love you?

I'm not sure if you will ever forgive me, but I hope you will someday. I don't deserve it, but I still want to be a part of your life. I'm so sorry. I am so sorry for everything you saw and experienced. I hate the life you had. I hope that now that the war is over you will be happy somehow. Certainly, I hope that you will do better than I ever did.

If it interests you at all to see me, you are welcome to come home for the Christmas holidays.

Yours,

Mother

Draco felt his throat constricting and stood to leave the Great Hall, his breakfast unfinished. With forty-five minutes left before he needed to be in class, he decided to take a walk on the grounds to calm himself.

No particular destination in mind, Draco strolled towards the forest, focusing on taking deep, slow breaths. This was a tactic that had been taught to him by the therapist he saw on a mandatory basis during his time at the new Azkaban. After Kingsley Shacklebolt took over as Minister, he'd imposed many changes. The first was to rid the island of dementors. As a result, Draco had spent his days in a stone cell drawing on small bits of parchment with something called a "pencil," which was like a quill but with a black rock inside that worked like ink. This was one of the few acceptable passtimes in the prison, but it was better than literally having the happiness sucked out of your body.

Lost in thought, Draco somehow failed to notice that he was about to walk into a massive tree until he hit it. Only, it was no tree. Instead, it was the figure of a massive man with beady black eyes and a bushy dark brown beard, now laced with grey.

"Hagrid!" Draco exclaimed in surprise. He wasn't sure what the half-giant would do. He had been the mastermind behind the scheme to murder Hagrid's hero, even if he had chickened out in the end.

"Malfoy, I see yer still bumpin' inter people like ya don' even see 'em."

Draco swallowed. "I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention."