Who: Draco and Bellatrix What: Aunt and Nephew have a chat Where: The Malfoy House When: Friday Status: Complete Rating: PG for sexuality and innuendo(?)
Draco had finished early at school and since Pansy had classes until later he had headed home to take advantage of the house being empty. He had hung his coat up and instead of dumping his bag in the hall he had taken it up to his room.
School hadn’t been nearly as bad as he had thought it would be after the Halloween party, Mike had actually been really understanding about Draco running off on him to speak to his sister and agreed to let Draco make it up to him. Mike had even agreed that his place would be better to hang out at than Draco’s, though Draco figured it would be easier once his mom was on tour. They’d have the house to themselves a lot more then as his dad wasn’t home much.
Now he sat on his bed strumming his guitar and working on the song he had started to create in his composition class that morning. Stopping every now and then to write down some new notes and chords. He was enjoying the peace of just being able to focus on the music without any interruptions.
Bellatrix's mood had been swinging from elation to depression and everything in between. Her discussion (argument really) with Caprica, the odd friendship she'd developed with Lulu, and her continued desire to abandon the ministry all contributed to a general sense of malaise. Bored, she browsed the internet.
She'd had an alert set up if the family was mentioned anywhere, and one in particular caught her eye. It appeared as if dear Cissy's children were experimenting! Bellatrix let out a delighted laugh. She'd suspected something in her dreams, when training him in Occulmancy, but hadn't thought much of it at the time. It hadn't mattered.
Her sister, of course, would pay Skeeter off, but that didn't stop the internet troll-mill from churning out rumors. She glanced over at a candle she'd been working on. That could wait. Right now, she really ought to pay her nephew a visit. So she did, barging her way up the stairs like she owned the place.
Draco heard the noise of someone on the stairs immediately but didn’t think much of it. It was either his sister or one of the parents. He expected whoever it was to pass by his room without stopping. Maybe a knock on his door to be quieter if it was his dad. His mom was still pissed that he wasn’t going on the tour with her so he figured she’d avoid him and Pansy might stick her head in to say Hi but would more likely head straight to her room to work on whatever assignment she had going at the moment.
The last thing he expected was his Aunt.
Lock or no lock, Bellatrix burst into the room. She folded her arms over her ample chest and stared him down, with a curious look. As though he were an object of fascination and study, and not a member of the family. She closed the door behind her, a smirk forming on her lips. "So, nephew. Did you have a good halloween?"
Draco looked up in alarm as she burst into his room, luckily he hadn’t locked it so she hadn’t broken anything when she barged in. “Aunt Bella” he replied, eyebrow raised, “Please come in” he smirked. “Halloween was fine, I didn’t turn into my costume like some anyway” he shrugged.
"No, but rumor has it you did something else," she replied, raising her eyebrow and leaning against the door as if she were barring it from hounds biting at her heels. Her voice softened, somewhat. "Am I wrong?"
He froze, she couldn’t know, could she? How? He was sure nobody had seen anything, except Pansy and there was no way she would have said anything to their Aunt. Pansy was convinced she was as mad as a box of frogs. “No idea what you mean” he said, his tone icy as he put his guitar down.
"There's some talk on some forums somewhere," Bellatrix replied, buffing her nails on her corset and them inspecting them. "I can tell you from personal experience that when you think no one is watching, someone usually is."
“There’s always talk about our family” Draco replied shrugging and going for, what he hoped, was casual. “It usually goes away as fast as it appears.” She should know that, after all stories about her hadn’t appeared since Skeeter’s first article.
"That's because your mum is really good at paying people off." Bellatrix didn't seem that rattled. In fact, she seemed annoyed. "Even if you don't want her to."
Shrugging a shoulder, she added, "No matter. I just came over to ask if you wanted to talk, since I might understand what you're going through. That's all. "
Draco had suspected as much but hadn't known for sure until now. Of course it should have been obvious, she would never let her family be ruined by idle gossip especially when it came from someone like Skeeter.
He looked at his Aunt, naturally suspicious, it wasn't in the family nature to help people out, at least not with something like this. Though maybe she did have a point, she had experienced it after all.
He opened his mouth to deny all knowledge once again but instead found himself asking, "Will it get back to mom?"
"I don't know. If it stays where it's at, probably not. I'll bet it depends on if it comes out at your school." Pushing off of the wall, she approached him, and sat on the bed. "It's not fair. It never is, lovey. Are you just playing around or is it serious?"
Draco nodded, he guess he just had to hope it wouldn't reach the school. Or if it did that it fizzled out to nothing, he was pretty popular so hopefully nobody would pay attention to any gossip.
"I'm not playing around" he told her truthfully, "It's not even like I care about people knowing" he added frustratedly, "its mom. She'd never accept it, never accept me. Nothing would ever be the same again"
There was always gossip. If Draco played his cards right and ignored it - or turned it against the people spreading them - he'd be fine. Bellatrix was quiet for a long moment. She hugged her stomach lightly as she thought, then she finally said, "She'll still love you but she'll be in denial. It'll be a phase to her. Something to hide and be ashamed of. I think she thinks with me it's just a matter of rebellion and trying to piss her off!"
Which was true to an extent, but only to an extent. "I've wanted to be open for years. But between your mother and...my ex..I couldn't. And then there's the church to think about. Bring shame to the family and ruin our reputation!"
She let off a frustrated laugh. "Oh Draco. I wish I had better news for you. I love Cissy but she pisses me off about this."
Maybe she could give him cover. Do something crazy, or dramatic, like kiss a woman live on national tv.
Draco wouldn’t hide or be ashamed of who he was, in that respect he was too much like his mother. “Bit of an extreme way to piss her off” he commented, “If it comes out I’m not hiding, I don’t care about our reputation”
He sighed, “It’s okay Aunt Bella, I didn’t expect better news. I know what mom’s like” he looked at her, “Are you okay?” he asked, realising she’d said her ex and wondering if it had anything to do with what had come out in Skeeter’s article. Maybe it wasn’t just his mom who hadn’t liked things being plastered across the newspapers.
"I knew there was a reason you're my favorite nephew! You've got balls, more than your father anyway!" Bellatrix cackled. She never did get along all that well with Lucius. Her laughter trailed off and she sighed, shrugging. "I've been better, lovey. Don't shack up with someone who doesn't want the same things you do."
Draco had to laugh at that, although he did feel sorry for his dad after all living with Narcissa he never really got much of a chance to voice his own opinion but then you found ways to do it. You never just gave up.
He hooked his arm through hers, figuring she wouldn’t be too pleased if he hugged her even though it would have been more out of sadness for her than pity. But she may not see it that way. “You’ll be okay” he told her, “You’re pretty awesome you know? I can’t be the only one who knows that”
Bellatrix didn't feel sorry for Lucius at all. She thought her sister could do better than that sniveling coward. She glanced down at the boy, and patted his arm with her hand. He had potential, if her family didn't squander it. "Of course I'm awesome." She tilted her head up, nose in the air, then winked at him.
"I suppose you're not the only one. I've made a friend recently. She gave me quite the kick in the arse." And probably kept her from losing it for another month or so.
Draco grinned at her comment, they were more alike than he’d realised possibly because he hadn’t seen her all that much in the last few months. But she was the least uptight of their family members and had managed to keep her sense of humor despite everything.
“Yeah? Pansy tends to do that to me. Mostly if I get too ‘emo’ for her liking” he smirked.
Bellatrix gave too many fucks, but yet not enough fucks. It really depended on the person - and Draco was approaching the level of 'I'm giving fucks about.'
She frowned at the thought, then mentally shrugged it off. "Oh emo is fun lovey. I like black." She gestured at her corset and leather skirt, and grinned. "Custom made by my friend. I could refer you to her, I'd bet she'd make you look delectable."
Draco properly laughed at that, “As tempting as that is” his tone telling her it really wasn’t, “I think I’ll pass. Well, until I wanna freak out the folks anyway” he added wickedly. Maybe his mom would agree to leave him alone about his sexuality if he didn’t dress like his Aunt.
"She can do trousers! Hell, were you expecting me to dress you in a skirt?" She tilted her head, rubbing her chin and looking at him as thought that was in fact a really wonderful idea. Dressing Draco in a skirt would piss the ever living crap out of her sister. It was delightful!
“Aunt Bella” Draco said barely repressing a laugh, “You tell me your friend made your corset and skirt and that she could make me look ‘delectable’, what the hell did you expect me to think?” he asked not able to keep the grin from his face.
“I know that look” he added, “do not even think about it. She really would send me to one of those ‘make your brain straight’ group things”
"I didn't go to one of those. The cult was close enough." She snickered, then waved a hand. "Okay, no skirt, but trousers at least. She has very talented fingers. We get along well."
“Well it’s not something I’m planning on going to either” he told her, “Okay trousers are a deal” The look Draco shot his Aunt was unsure, she was either winding him up or very much oversharing so he decided to leave that comment alone. He had a feeling it was more likely to be that she was winding him up anyway.
Probably a bit of both. Winding him up and oversharing were part and parcel of the same, as far as she was concerned. Bellatrix gave him a wink. "Good, she'll appreciate it. Maybe you can impress your boyfriend."
“I don’t need trousers for that” Draco replied before flushing slightly as he realised exactly how that sounded. He cleared his throat and just said, “Text me her details so I can make an appointment or whatever”
Bellatrix hopped to her feet, snickering. "I'll send you her details, and she'll get you extra sexy for him." She bowed with a flourish, then laughed again, a little maniacally.
Draco rolled his eyes but grinned anyway, “Thanks Aunt Bella” he said a somewhat softer smile on his face, “You always were my favorite Aunt”