He looked terrified, she noted. He was pale, paler than usual (if that was even possible) and there was a slight shake to his hands that she pretended she hadn't noticed when he'd pulled her close, holding her tight for long minutes.
"I take it," she said into his neck, deciding to broach the subject sooner rather than later, "that it didn't go well."
"That's an understatement, Granger," he mumbled against her hair, tightening his grip, but the increase in his tremors didn't go unnoticed.
"What happened?" she asked, pulling away to survey him, searching for more differences between the Malfoy that had left five hours previously and the significantly shaken one in front of her.
"Lucius," he scoffed, "was not best pleased with his son shacking up with a Muggleborn."
She tried to smile sympathetically, trying to hide her surprise that 'father' had become 'Lucius', "you expected anything less?"
"I expected Mother to have my back," his reply was curt and she realised then the true problem.
The relationship he had with his father had been rocky, at best, since the end of the war but his mother had always stood by his side without faltering. Narcissa's disapproval would be a far more significant blow to Draco.
"I thought she liked me though, she was fine at the anniversary party..." Hermione was taken aback to say the least, Narcissa had been nothing but polite at the celebration of the war's end the month before, almost endearing even. She'd even looked at the couple fondly, something she'd noted had lightened Draco's discomfort in the hall, surrounded by ex-Order members who'd fought tooth and nail to have him suffer an awful lot more Azkaban time than he did.
"She does like you," he said with a sigh and a squeeze to her hand before wandering to the kitchen. Hermione followed not wanting to let the conversation go, but he carried on anyway, knowing she'd follow. "Lucius doesn't though, and she feels 'obligated' to follow her husband," he rolled his eyes at her before pulling the bottle of firewhiskey out from under the sink.
"After everything?" she asks, disbelieving, after everything that had happened between Draco and Narcissa, Hermione couldn't comprehend how she would walk away.
He throws the firewhiskey back, looking at her grimly over the rim of the glass, "Lucius can't abide a 'Mudblood' in the family, so neither will she."
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402 words
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13th June 2018
Wednesday
Shizz😘
