𝔖𝔫𝔞𝔭𝔢'𝔰 ℜ𝔢𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔫 (ℭ𝔬𝔪𝔭𝔩𝔢𝔱𝔢, 18+)

๑۞ 𝔗𝔥𝔢 ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔤𝔢𝔰 𝔄𝔤𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔰𝔱 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔄𝔯𝔢 - ℌ𝔢𝔯𝔬𝔦𝔠𝔰 ۞๑

     Like a man possessed, I spent the day pouring over any newspaper, both old and new, that I could get my hands on, trying to discover the particulars of how things played with the end of the Second Wizarding War, all while avoiding the unwanted attention of obnoxiously optimistic healers, who buzzed in and out of my room unannounced every few hours.

     Newspaper headlines said things like, "Shacklebolt Appointed Minister of Magic", "Death Eaters Still at Large - 6 DEAD." and my least favorite, "Snape Lives - Granger's Sanity Questioned."

     The only good part of that unpleasant article was, "When Granger had been asked why she would bother to save Albus Dumbledore's murderer and known Death Eater, her comment had been, 'Severus Snape is a hero. A hero that had hard choices to make in order to ensure everyone's safety, to protect the Wizarding world and help Harry Potter defeat Voldemort.'"

     I'd read over that one several times because even though I was very much alive, I still couldn't believe that she'd saved my life. And that she's actually going to attempt to keep me from being hauled off to spend my remaining days in Azkaban Prison.

     There'd been dozens of similar articles and I'd grown bored of reading the same thing over and over again, so when Narcissa Malfoy breezed into my room, carrying a few shopping bags, I was ready for the distraction.

     "Oh my goodness! You look dreadful in that awful cotton thing!" the fashion conscious woman exclaimed in horror and pulled something black from one of her many bags and thrust it at me. "Put this on and you'll not only look like new, but feel that," her blue eyes sparkled happily as she pet the intricately embroidered cloth lovingly. "Silk makes your body feel new too, or just really good."

     "Narcissa," I greeted in my usual fashion, a slight smile tugged at my lips at her excitement. I held the luxurious black cloth in my hand and tried not to enjoy the feel of it in front of her too much. Last time I let her know I liked a piece of clothing, she and Draco insisted on making Lucius and I go shopping in Paris for the better part of a week. No way I planned on ever allowing that to happen again. I detest shopping.

     "Thank you." I moved into the adjacent bathroom and quickly slid the new robes on, resisting the urge to act like a female by petting it as well.

     By the time I'd come back she'd already magicked my room and I had new dark grey sheets, extra pillows and a blanket that were just settling themselves onto my bed. It was looking more like one of the less used guest rooms at Malfoy Manor - very nice.

     Sliding back into the now luxurious bed, I did my best not to wiggle my feet or run my palms over the high-quality cloth. I'd wait until the observant blonde left before I did.

     I inhaled deeply when catching the light notes of my favored blend of tea from Malfoy Apothecary. There was a cup and saucer with a newly steeping pot on the bed table and sitting next to it was a large stack of books with embossed wording that I ran light fingertips over.

     "I figured you'd need something to keep from going insane here with all the..." she looked me dead in the eye and straight-faced said, "punch-drunk employees running about."

     Unable to help myself, I burst out laughing at her astute observations, "I'd concluded there's something tainting the water here."

     We laughed for a few moments before she did the unexpected, and hugged me. I don't know if I was more surprised by her doing it or me wrapping my arms around her and finding that I was comfortable holding my long-time friend's wife so closely.