Draco Malfoy (muddied) wrote in afic, @ 2011-05-02 18:05:00 |
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Entry tags: | !completed, !solo, character: draco malfoy, player: deb |
Who: Draco and the children (Alyssa, Alex, Aidan)
When: Monday afternoon, 2 May
Where: the graveyard
What: visiting an old friend
Rating: PG at most
Status: solo, complete
The children hadn't been quite sure what Draco intended when he brought them to a graveyard, but they quickly found the game he showed them. They spotted the different engravings on the tombstones, and the high angels, and the smaller marks. When he showed them that if they took paper and a crayon, they could rub and take the image for themselves, it was a wonderful concept. He promised they could take the crusts of bread to feed the birds when they were done, and sent them off with a stack of paper and bag of crayons.
"I'll be sitting right there." He pointed to spot on the ground, by a simple gravestone. It seemed unremarkable to anyone from the outside, but he knew whose grave it was. The children nodded that they would behave, then ran off in a small group, tugging each other this way and that, shrill voices announcing what they had found.
Draco turned his attention to the stone in front of him. "She's my daughter, Vincent," he said quietly. "The youngest one, that is. The other two are twins, belonging to my lover. Life has changed so far beyond what I expected it to be." He shifted to sit with his knees bent, arms over his knees. The ground was hard and cold under his backside, and likely damp, but spells would clean his trousers later. "I told you about her before, I know. She's two now, and refusing to speak English even though she understands it perfectly well. Her mother was stubborn as well."
He watched the children for a moment, as Alex directed both Aidan and Alys to a particular stone, assigning them each a portion of the large design to capture. A small smile tilted. "The other two -- Alex and Aidan. Terry Boot's children, but he's gone now. Martyred in our fight against the Ministry." He gave a sharp look to the gravestone then, a small smirk. "Don't give me that bewildered look, Vincent. You know I wouldn't. His wife, Mandy. He was gay, they had an open marriage. We've been lovers more than a month now." His gaze returned to the children. "She carries my child. Yes, again. As Blaise has said, perhaps it is for the best that I do not take lovers often." That small smile grew. "I do not expect that I shall take another. There is something comfortable about her and the twins in my life. Something entirely unexpected, as if I've found something I did not know I desired."
Alys came running over, tears in her grey eyes, the two halves of a broken crayon clutched in her hands. Draco held out his arms, giving his daughter comfort before he cast the reparo on the crayon and smiled at her delighted laugh. "Go on then," he said, and she ran back to join the twins. "If they all took after us, Hogwarts would be full of Slytherins someday. Blaise's daughter, Pansy's four, my two. Daphne's pregnant, and I don't think you'll be telling anyone so it's likely safe to mention, oui?" One eyebrow quirked, amused.
"Britain becomes less tolerable as time passes. The Minister is mad, easily as mad as Voldemort, and worse perhaps because he holds public opinion in his hands. He has killed for his cause, and whether he uses unforgiveables or not, it is still death by his word. It has created strange bedfellows, although there are those who are unwilling to look beyond the old divides." His lips thinned, pressing together. He caught sight of Alex out of the corner of his eye, somehow climbing one of the larger monoliths, and he simply coughed, loudly. Alyssa grabbed her foot, and after a moment, Alex climbed back down. "I am a member of what used to be the DA. Ah, and Blaise dates a Weasley. Times are not what they were."
He gave the stone a grave look. "I have befriended Granger and Potter. I owe her my life, and I know she regrets that you died. I regret it as well, but what's done is done, Vincent. We were caught up in things beyond our control, beyond our ken. At least we knew, at the end, that we had crossed a line that none of us wished to cross."
There were shouts, then, crying out after the geese that landed, coming to investigate the children, who wanted to investigate the geese in turn. Draco stood quickly, laying a hand upon the stone. "Rest well. In another year, I hope to tell you we have the freedom they fought for when you died. If we do not, I may well be lying in a grave of my own, and I shan't tolerate that. This is my home."
"Papa!" Alyssa called, standing, feet planted, pointing determinedly at a goose.
Draco held up the small bag he carried. "I believe you are looking for these, oui?" He laughed as the children ran towards him, and he raised one eyebrow, holding the bag just out of reach as they clamored for it. He said a silent goodbye as he handed out the crusts, and followed the children, enjoying the laughter they brought.