Mr. Malfoy's second chance

The mask falls off

Chapter 6: The mask falls off

The next day, Hermione woke up hours before Mr. Malfoy arrived. She had breakfast and finished in time, because she didn't want to keep the man waiting. In the meantime, she was thinking about Harry and the others, who must be on their way now. They said goodbye last night, and Hermione could not forget the heartbreaking moment, Mrs. Weasley's tearful face, Ginny's gloomy gaze and the boys' determination.

At nine o'clock, however, there was no knocking on the door, but something else happened: the flame of the fireplace glowed green, but instead of Lucius Malfoy, a message flew out of it.

Searching of the mansion postponed. Kingsley wants us to go to my brother-in-law first. He'll get the visiting permit by the afternoon. You don't have to come over until then, I won't be home. I'll be there for you at 6:00. L.M.

Hermione grimaced. He's not very communicative... She sighed hard, and for the first time in her life, she had no idea what to do in the unexcpected free time. Her job was given to a deputy, Mr. Malfoy is doing his own business, and she's standing here waiting for nothing. She shook her head and went to the library. It was much smaller and less imposing than Lucius Malfoy's, but compared to her youth, it had a considerable number of books in it, in chronological and thematic order. First, she reached for the Hogwarts: A History, and then she took some less chunky volumes, if any of them contains something about the cup's pair or anything else that might bring them closer to the solution.

***

Lucius Malfoy sat cross-legged on the sofa as he gazed through the homely living room.

"I must admit, Draco, your wife has excellent taste," nodded to her son and Astoria. She smiled in disbelief.

"I know it's not your style, Lucius. But in Venice, I simply fell in love with these things," she pointed out in a saloon which was much smaller than Lucius Malfoy's drawing room.

"That's right, but I still like it. Well done, Astoria," he nodded at his daughter-in-law and smiled back.

He was perfectly satisfied with his son's life, as well as his chosen one. The pure-blood girl quickly settled into their family, and also Narcissa, who defended her son as a mother tiger, came to love her.

"So what brings you here, Father?" Draco asked.

"That's a longer story."

"So will you stay for lunch? Great, I'll tell the elves," Astoria's face shone, not waiting for her father-in-law's answer.

"No. Stay and sit down, please. What I would like to talk about is your business too."

"A business problem? The message you sent me the other day was kind of ominous. But then you said it wasn't urgent. What happened, Father?" Draco asked with his eyes drawn.

"I didn't want to scare you until the theory was proven, so I wrote in my second letter that it wasn't urgent. Now I can't put it off any longer. It's not business. The Lord... He didn't die," he said slowly.

The teacup fell out from Astoria's hand, and landed on the floor rattled. No one cared. The eyes of Draco and Astoria were round, looking at Lucius in horror and disbelief. The man decided to report on the events in details, starting with Granger's visit, all the way to the horcruxes. When he got to the end of what he had to say, the couple were still staring at him in shock.

"Are you sure he can come back?" Draco asked with a dry throat. He felt like he was back in the nightmare that still haunted him many times at night. With his right hand, he unwittingly squeezed his left forearm, where Lord Voldemort once burned the Dark Mark.