Half-Dimension

Calming Effect

"Absolutely not," Lucius said his voice low and settling down, clearly displeased in the mere suggestion, his dark eyes staring straight at the person before him, boring holes into the other as his blue eyes settled upon the other, watching his reaction. The tension in the air seemed to lift by several degrees as both Malfoy's stared each other down, trying to see what would happen. In the end, it was Draco who conceded the stare down first. The teen bit his lower lip and tilted his head away, closing his eyes and gathering his breath. He inhaled sharply, but softly, and carefully controlled his demeanor, trying to keep himself from freaking out. Severus, having seemingly noticed the inner turmoil which he young malfoy boy was facing, stepped up besides Lucius, placing a gentle hand on Lucius's shoulder, waiting for the elder Malfoy to calm his own self. Lucius, for his part, took everything in stride, but refused to rescind his lack of permission. "I cannot allow you to do that, Draco," Lucius said, his voice less harsh, but still stern. His eyes alone had the same effect however, and Draco could not seem to bear to even look up at him, something which Severus watched with keen eyes. 

"It is but a simple request, I do not understand why..." Lucius did not even say anything, but the light click of his tongue was enough to drive the boy into silence. Severus watched the twos' interactions with intrigued eyes. 

"I said no," Lucius spoke softly, his fingers twitching against his leg gently. Barely noticeable, and Severus would not have caught it if he had not been so attuned to the both of the people before him. He desperately hoped that Lucius would not do something drastic. After all, though the Dark Lord had ordered them to keep Draco safe, he hesitated to think that Tom would be all that pleased if it interfered with his schooling or education. Draco simply closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his hands stiff at his sides, not daring to look up at the other. 

"Lucius," Severus said softly, his hand gripping Lucius's shoulder just a little tighter to grab the other's attention. Lucius paused, glancing to his side, and tilted his head just slightly, to show Severus he was listening. Severus sighed heavily. "It is just a dueling club. It is monitored by the teachers, and we have both participated in it when we were  younger. There is nothing to really worry about." 

Draco watched the two talk back and forth, just a little surprised. While in the dimension he was from it was common to see Severus calming Lucius, or even interrupting the other, he had not really been able to see it so closely, at least not in this dimension. He had not really expected the two to have any similarities to the relations that they had in the dimension that they were from. The two were so different, though certain things definitely remained the same. Furthermore, he was not really sure what his father's relationship with his godfather was given that he had not really seen all that many interactions between the two other then brief ones when Severus came to tutor him at the manor, but it had to be at least a decent one. Truthfully, both of his parents confided in Severus, though for different reasons. His father usually talked to Severus about things that he was not...Well Draco could not say that his father was nervous about, but had second thoughts about, needing another opinion. His mother went to his Godfather when she was scared of something. Or she needed help and she could not or would not go to Lucius. 

He had known that Severus was partially a buffer between his parents as well helping the two reconnect and control themselves. Severus was quite vital, and the main reason that it had not deteriorated as badly as it could have. Severus was one of the very few people who had enough influence with his father to be allowed to interrupt him and not get mauled...but he had not expected that to hold true here. Severus was not only able to calm his father...his brother...down, but managed to remain his calm and cool. Draco had to admit that he was quite impressed with that. 

He could even see that Lucius was actively thinking on what Severus had stated. He supposed given the similarities and, truly, the differences he should not have suspected that anything would be different in this time line then in his old one, but he could not help but wonder. If even something as simple as this held true...what else could hold true.

It was certainly something that he pondered later that night, after being finally granted permission to go to the Dueling contest by his fat...brother. Thanks in large by Severus. Something so simple...and yet it remained the same. Granted, there were some clear differences in this time line then in his own. Lucius being his brother rather then father only one of them. He did wonder though, personality wise, many of the people that he knew, such as Severus for example, remained mainly the same. The biggest difference he would say was he Dark Lord, but how much of that was just Tom Riddle having just exited school and still being in his teens and (theoretically at least) having not created six horcruxes, and how much of that was just differences in personality. 

It was definitely hard to tell. Would Tom Riddle become Lord Voldermort. Draco knew that he definitely had the potential to. He had many of the same beliefs and while they were certainly toned down, Draco could not help but wonder on it. He would like to think that such a thing would not take place. After all, if Draco could stop the Dark Lord from descending too far into madness, perhaps nothing would change. Perhaps nothing would change anyways. One thing was certain however, and that was that the Dark Lord and Draco were destined to have interactions in any realm they faced.