Away Childish Things

Chapter 12

June 2012
Harry Potter: 31 years
Draco Malfoy: 19 years

By the next morning, Harry hadn't found anything useful in the Ward Record. Before going to Tailored Tinctures, Harry stopped by to see Andromeda. He had sent her that owl when he had left eleven-year-old Draco alone, so Harry could go to the warehouse. The note had explained the cure and what was happening with Draco, but Harry had been frazzled while writing it, and he wanted to update Andromeda to let her know what was happening with Ron and Hermione, the potions case, and Draco's cure.

"You did sound frantic, yes," Andromeda agreed, when Harry finished his explanation.

"I had to leave him alone," Harry said. "He was only eleven."

"Eleven-year-olds can stay home alone for a few hours without killing themselves," Andromeda said, sounding amused. "I should imagine you got left on your own more often than that."

"That's different."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't have anyone to love me," Harry said, stating the obvious.

"Ah," said Andromeda, sounding so much like adult-Draco in that moment that Harry shook his head. "How was young Draco, then?"

"Good," said Harry.

Andromeda just raised her brows slowly.

"He was," Harry insisted. "I mean, he wasn't. But he was-he wasn't what you'd expect."

"Let me tell you what I'd expect." Andromeda had eyes that always made him feel like she was looking at a part of him that he didn't know he had. "I didn't get to meet my nephew until after she was sentenced, but I knew Cissy." Harry realized she meant Narcissa. "She was the quiet one. Even when Bella and I were screaming at each other, Cissy was placid and lovely and polite. She did everything Mum and Dad ever told her to, except for when she married Lou. Every emotion she ever had she wound inside herself so tight she never looked like anything except the prettiest little picture you ever saw."

"Lou?" Harry said.

"Don't tell Draco I told you." Andromeda smirked. "Anyway, it had to come out somewhere, all of that emotion. Where do you think she put it? Certainly not her husband; she had to be perfect for him as well. Twenty-three years of love, passion, affection, loneliness and heartache. She put it all in him."

"Draco."

"He was the love of her life. That's why she went mad in Azkaban-she couldn't stand the thought of him being on his own. Without her."

"How do you know?"

"Harry." Andromeda suddenly looked so tired, the lines beside her mouth drawing her whole face down. "She told me so. When she was in Janus Thickey. Do you know what worried her the most?"

Harry had had no idea that Andromeda had visited Narcissa at St. Mungo's. Why did this family hide so much?

"She worried she had damaged him. Psychologically. That her obsession had made it so that he couldn't get on without her." Andromeda's voice was flat. "That was why she did it."

Harry didn't want to hear. He couldn't bear to hear.

"She wanted him to go on," Andromeda said, "and he has. He will."