We Open at the Close (Drarry)

Trust

"I accept that I bear some responsibility for my family's current hardships," she admitted. "I still don't want Draco getting dragged into the circus performance that is that boy's life."

"Well that's not up to you, is it? Draco is a grown man. He's free to be with and love whomever he chooses, regardless of what you think."

"Love," scoffed Narcissa. "This is little more than a passing infatuation for them both. One of them will end up getting hurt, no second guesses who."

Andromeda laughed. "You're one to talk!"

"What do you mean?" blanched Narcissa.

"You were the one who married a Death Eater at the height of the war. You talk about trouble following Harry? You marched right into a world of trouble head first."

"You have no right to speak about my husband—" began Narcissa, but Andromeda raised her voice.

"I have every right! We fought on opposite sides in both wars and what good did it do? We're both widowed, my grandson's an orphan, Bella's dead, and you lost everything. And for what? What was the point of it all?" Narcissa lowered her eyes and said nothing. When Andromeda spoke again it was more softly. "Tell me, why did you marry Lucius? Despite the politics and the danger and all the other nonsense, why did you still marry him?"

"Because I loved him," she replied simply.

"Exactly," said Andromeda. "Despite everything, you loved each other. So why should it be any different with Draco and Harry?"

"Because he's my son!" cried Narcissa, her voice strained. " My son. I don't care what anyone else does, he's my boy. I can't bear the thought of losing him."

Narcissa's eyes brimmed with tears. She quickly got to her feet and turned away from Andromeda, shielding her face and her moment of weakness from her sister. "I've already lost Lucius. If I lost Draco, too..."

"I had the same argument with Dora the night she died," Andromeda confided quietly. "I'd already lost Ted, I told her that if I lost her too, I wouldn't be able to go on. But she insisted that she go and fight to be alongside Remus. There's a part of myself that I will never forgive for being unable to convince her to stay away, but I knew there was no changing her mind when it was already set. When you're in love, you do brave and often stupid things. I know you're frightened, Cissy, but there is nothing to be done. Even if you're right and this all ends in tears, Draco needs to make these choices on his own."

"He'll always have my support," said Narcissa. "I just wish he knew when to avoid trouble."

"Unfortunately, he seems to have taken after his mother, in that respect."

Narcissa paced the room and her eyes fell on a book sitting on top of the counter. She picked up the book, opened it to the front page, and found an inscription inside:

To D, Saw this and thought of you. H xx

Narcissa felt her stomach twist as she read the message again, the scrawled handwriting which Harry had taken extra effort to make legible, Saw this and thought of you . She snapped the book shut.

"They really think they love each other," she said shaking her head in disbelief. "They're too young to know what they want."

"You were already married by their age, Cissy," Andromeda pointed out. "So was I. Maybe they think they love each other because they really do."

Narcissa's eyes widened like she was hearing these words and only really understanding their meaning for the first time. "They do?"

"They do," nodded Andromeda with a small smile. She sighed and topped up her sister's tumbler with more firewhisky. "Yes, I know. It's hard to hear— your child is in love. It's rather frightening, isn't it?"