Left Behind 2: Illusions (A Dramione Romance)

The Realization

As promised here is one of my biggest chapters yet. It is almost double the length of my usual updates and I put a lot of work in so I hope you like it. It's big in another way too....and I hope you like that...

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"Draco."

Draco's head shot up at the sound of his name.

He was stricken by how unaware he had been. If someone else had been standing there...if he had said something aloud about everything he was thinking...

Pay attention, he ordered himself, and met the eyes of the woman who had intruded upon his thoughts.

Narcissa stood at the bottom of the stairs, one hand still on the railing.

She looked much better than she had this morning. Her elegant façade was in place; not a hair out of place, not even the smallest glimmer of the red that he had seen ringed around her eyes this morning when she had refused to even let him speak to her in the kitchen.

 Her makeup was meticulously applied, yet the lines by her eyes and the corners of her mouth were more pronounced. There was a stray piece of lint on the left shoulder of her perfect black blouse and despite the amount of concealer that had been so expertly applied, there was still a shadow faintly visible beneath her eyes-this was his mother in distress, he could see through what most people would not.

Her outfits she had often referred to as battle armor, yet here she stood in front of him, slightly less than utterly perfect. 

"Yes?" Draco managed. Her hand, held up to stop him this morning had cut deep. He wondered why she was here, why she had come down to speak with him.

Draco wanted to comfort her. He wanted to confide in her, but for the first time in Draco's life he couldn't trust his mother. Her views on Hermione and the differences between them stood in the way of what had always been a strong bond between mother and son.

Narcissa walked around the room looking at several items before running a finger across the shelf and looking at her fingertip in disgust.

"This room needs to be cleaned," she said and brushed her hands off.

Draco felt the hope inside him deflate. He had not known until that second just how much he had wanted her to be there checking up on him, seeing if he was okay.

"I'll attend to that later," he answered flatly.

"We need a new elf," she said with a sigh. "I really wish Dobby hadn't gone and-"

"Gotten himself killed by our aunt?" Draco found himself replying snarkly.

Narcissa paused mid-stride and Draco immediately regretted the minor cruelty.

"CCo-erced Potter into tricking your father to set him free," Narcissa said, looking away.

"That elf was ill used," said Draco. 

The lens which he was now looking though at his world told him that he had been horrible to follow his father's footsteps regarding the elf. He regretted ever swatting at the creature. 

It was a strange thing to have your view shifted so drastically so that something you had done without thought you come to realize was cruel and wrong.

New definitions of right and wrong had been forming in Draco's head.

It might have been a good thing, if he wasn't looking at all his actions leading up knowing that he himself was responsible for very little good, and many things that were...wrong?

"You can't blame him for wanting freedom," added Draco a little more quietly.

I want freedom, for myself and for Granger, he thought quietly.

"House Elves don't know what to do with freedom," answered Narcissa. "Just look at what happened with that little female Elf at your school. Gave her freedom and she does what with it? Drinks herself into a stupor."

"I don't want to have this conversation mother." He knew it would not go anywhere good and not wanting to fight with her any more than absolutely necessary. Above everything else she was his mother and he loved her.

"Fine," Narcissa said tightly and turned to him. "It wasn't why I came down here anyways."

Immediately Draco was on high alert. Cognizant of this fact he purposefully feigned boredom.