You'll be the Death of Me

Chapter 106

So sorry it's been a while guys. Husband has been on nights for two months and the two year old is potty training. BUT he is off nights now for a while! Thank you to everyone for the wonderful reviews, they are so encouraging :D And of course a big thank you to Denarri for editing.

Chapter 106

Thomas walked slowly through the halls of the house Graces had taken him to. Not because he was taking extra time to inspect the home he was to send what remained of his family to, but because he was slowly gathering his thoughts regarding the girl presenting it to him. She was now in so many ways a stranger to him. Draco had said so, but for a long time he didn't want to believe that Graces had drifted away from them. How could it be that this person who had been the beating heart of their makeshift family didn't belong to it anymore.

"I know it isn't grand," Graces continued apologetically. "But it's safe. The world can think your family is at the manor and they will in reality be tucked away here."

Here. He didn't even know where here was. They were port keyed directly outside the house. He didn't even know if he was in the same country. When he asked about the portkeys, Graces had only said they were not registered and perfectly safe. Another oddity, he doubted Graces would have bribed a Ministry official, too much risk. Any favors would have been from dark wizards or witches, families that, if they thought the Malfoys were getting portkeys, would have instantly believed them to be betraying He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. And if they weren't Dark, if they were neutral, then coin could easily make for a betrayal.

He wrinkled his nose at an obnoxiously purple room at the end of the hall. He turned to find a small, embarrassed smile ghosting over Graces face, before she met his eyes and turned the smile tight and nervous.

"Good thing there are other rooms," she said with a small, brittle laugh, nervously twisting her hands.

He truly didn't know this creature before him. He used to see Graces as so regal. In many ways she was so far above the rest of them in bearing that at times she didn't feel real. When he was younger he used to feel so special that he was one of the very few she would smile down at. He could never have imagined her like this: unsure, scared, nervous and insecure. Graces Malfoy didn't twist her hands nervously, she stood serenely, her eyes cool and calculating. He thought of how she stood before being tortured, but she twists her hands now?

He swallowed and closed his eyes. Formulating his next words in his head before he dared say them. He moved his lips and breathed the first word before actually beginning.

"Wh-whose house is th-this?"

Graces eyes turned downward.

"You couldn't use a M-m-mmmalfoy property, cause Draco would b-be tuned in to the wards, and Draco d-d-doesn't know of any of this. G-Graham would never have agreed. You couldn't have b-b-bought the property without d-drawing attention. So, wh-whose home am I in?"

"A friend's," Graces said delicately.

"This is m-my family. I will not r-risk their lives. I have to kn-know who I am trusting with what is l-left of my family, Graces."

"I swear, Thomas, this person would never betray you, would never betray me. You are safer here than anywhere else."

Thomas shook his head and turned away. He surveyed the walls, the floors, the furniture in the home. Everything was old, ordinary, nothing of taste or value, mostly functional. They weren't rich. They weren't rich, Dark, Neutral. Light... they had to be Light. Allowing a muggle to live in their home was something only a light family would agree to. He looked back at Graces and swallowed the tightness in his throat.