It started as a joke DracoxReader

Time.

"What?" you felt your breathing shudder.

But why? Why should you care? Did you?

"He was killed helping my father escape Azkaban..." he knelt before you as your face fell to your hands "I am so sorry my sweet, I know you had your issues... but I can't imagine"

"So that's it.... I'm an orphan" you couldn't help the burning that took over your nose, or the tears that welled in your eyes.

Who were you crying for?

If not for him, then maybe yourself...

"My parents want you to know we will take care of you," he seemed as at a loss as you were. Comforting people, though he had gotten better, was not his strong suit, even if it was you.

"Did your mother ever find out if all my things are gone?" you asked. Anything to keep your mind from running down stream.

"No, she..." he thought for a second "She didn't mention it. Please don't worry, my mother wants me to tell you she has sent away for things for you. Along with our cases and things from school. They would like to speak to you..." joined your gaze as you played with the ring you wore. "Whenever you're ready"

"I don't have anything to wear" you chewed on a loose piece of skin on your lip.

"I brought you something" he stood, leaving the place where his hand had been on your knee cold and exposed. He pulled a soft deep green sweater from his dresser and a simple black skirt. "The sweater is mine, the skirt was my mothers. She said you can keep it" he handed you the clothing.

"Okay" you knew the tears continued to fall from your face, but you felt numb. Like someone had taken your heart out of your chest completely. Or maybe it had just turned to dust... how many times can someone experience heart break before the pieces never come back together?

He held them, the pieces. Draco's warm hands helped you pull away at the shirt of his you wore. Not in the same rushing way you had come to know, but gentle and more patient.

He ran his finger tips over the fine chain you wore, letting them every now and again graze your skin.

"Take your time" he insisted as you pulled the sweater over your body. "There is no rush"

"If they call for me. Then I will go. I owe them that much" you bunched the long sleeves at your wrist. Adoring the softness as it, much like him, held your fragile self together.

The skirt fit nearly too perfectly, its hemline falling just above your knee and it was tight to your skin, worthy of the Malfoys. Draco had taken it upon himself to run a brush through your damp hair, even casting a spell to aid its drying.

"You never cease to amaze me Draco Malfoy" you tried to push a smile to your face as he worked. "If having a broken heart was all I needed to make you so sweet I may have been more broken all these years"

He scoffed slightly, "even the villain can have a savior complex"

You felt a little odd walking through the manor without shoes on, Draco insisted it was okay since you had to wait for your cases anyway. Didn't make it seem any less off though.

"Ahhh, Miss. YLN," Lucius Malfoy always seemed to catch you off guard, but he was even more ghostly now that you remember. His face was thinner, his skin seemed nearly clear as it clung to every sickly feature of his face. His eyes seemed darker with the bags they held below them, his hair was pressed and cleaned and his clothes perfect but now a little big on him. He looked like a shell of the man you met the first time you'd come here. Less intimidating, but still somehow just as ethereal.

"Mr. Malfoy" you bowed your head, "Mrs. Malfoy" you made the same gesture to Narcissa who stood close behind him. Reassuming her place as second of  the house now that her husband had returned.

"It's nice to see you again" Lucius spoke, they had always seemed to be fond of you. Like Draco had said, his mother had taken a liking to you since day one. "I have been told you have been quite a service to our family."

"I try Sir" you nodded, because though you in all technicality belonged to the Dark Lord, Draco and his family were now all you had.

"And for that we are thankful" Narcissa added.

"So you were prepared to do for my son what he was not strong enough to do, I hear" Lucius' words reminded you yet again of the issue at hand.

"I would do anything" was all you could manage.

"So it seems" he looked between you and Draco, your head held high now and Draco's hanging down. A semblance of shame in the mission he could not complete.

"We are sorry about your father dear" Narcissa spoke again, filling the gapped silence. You nodded, needing to seem as strong as you could manage here. In his place, this house, this moment.

"He did what was necessary" you pushed the words like hot ash from your body.

"So he did" Lucius seemed all too  pleased with your answer. Another test you needed to pass perhaps?

"Come sit with us, the elves are making lunch" Narcissa gestured toward the long dining room table.

"Yes mother" Draco rested his hand on the small of your back, moving you to a seat next to him. Pulling away the chair so you could sit, then moving to his. You wondered if you could even manage to eat what the elves would bring. You felt like your stomach was filled with water.

This was not the first time you had sat with everyone at this table, this was one of many dinners you had spent with the Malfoy's seeing as you and Draco had been with one another for years, and even before that with the friendship you had formed. But this felt different, everyone at the table was far more scared than they had ever been. You all shared a common enemy.

Time.