It was the middle of July when Evangeline had invited Hermione and Ginny to the Black manor in Italy. She thought that the presence of his friends would help Draco. She did think about asking Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott Jr., too, but their parents were renowned Death Eaters, and Evangeline could not risk the safety of her family, as much as she would have wanted to see her godson.
'Do you think it is a good idea to invite the girls?' Regulus asked his wife, who was sitting on the bench in the manor's backyard. Regulus was pacing around in front of Evangeline, worry visible in his eyes.
'It will do both the boys good,' Evangeline answered. 'Draco and Harry need their friends right now,' she added. 'I also thought about inviting Remus,' she added, waiting for her husband's reaction.
'Have you corresponded with him lately?' Regulus asked.
'I sent him letters, but he did not answer them,' sighed the blonde woman. 'It must be hard for him, too. After all, he has lost every one of his friends,' she reasoned.
'He truly has no one now,' Regulus pointed out.
'He has us,' Eva corrected him. 'Believe it or not, during my stay at 12 Grimmauld Place, Remus, Sirius, and I became a little trio, much like how you, Theo and Barty used to be during your Hogwarts years,' Evangeline explained.
'Then you should invite him over,' Regulus pointed out.
'I do not know if he will accept our invitation,' said Eva. 'Bloody hell, I do not even know if he will open my letter,' she added.
Regulus stopped his pacing, kneeling in front of his wife and taking her hands into his. 'Why do we not focus on one thing at once,' Regulus told his wife. 'Firstly, let us ready rooms for the girls, and then you will write to Remus. How does that sound?' he asked, caressing Eva's cheek.
Evangeline instantly calmed down, smiling at her husband. 'How did I survive without you this long?' she asked.
'You are a strong woman. You do not need me to survive. You can manage quite well by yourself,' Regulus answered, then kissed the back of her hand, which he still was holding.
'You have no idea how much I love you and how much I have missed you,' Evangeline sighed.
'Oh, but I do,' Regulus answered, a smirk appearing on his lips. 'You have shown it to me this morning, the other night, and the night before that one,' he added, chuckling. 'I can perfectly recall those perfect whines and screams of yours,' he said, letting go of Eva's hand and moving it up on her thigh.
'Reg,' Eva let out a breath she did not know she was holding. 'Not in here,' she added, smirking.
'Then where?' Regulus asked innocently.
'We have a bedroom for a reason,' Evangeline replied.
'I like the way you think,' Regulus chuckled.
Back in his room, Draco Black lay in his bed. He hated getting out of bed and facing the world. He hated what happened. He did not hate his father, but he hated his cousin.
A knock on his door made Draco raise his head from his pillow. Without waiting for an answer, Harry entered the room with a tray on which was Draco's breakfast.
'I come baring gifts,' Harry joked, closing the door with his foot. He walked up to the desk and set the tray down on it. He then walked to the window and opened the curtains.
Draco grabbed one of his pillows, putting it on his head.
'Why did you do that?' Draco groaned.
'You stay here as if you were a vampire,' Harry pointed out.
'Did it ever cross your mind that I might want to be alone?' Draco asked.
Harry sat down on the empty side of the bed. 'It has,' he admitted, 'but if I had learnt anything from losing all those I cared about, you never need to be alone.'
Draco did not move. He feared saying anything.
'Eva and Regulus are worried about you. I am worried about you,' said Harry.
'I am fine,' Draco murmured.
'And those nightmares of yours?' asked Harry. 'I had them, too,' Harry explained. 'I dreamt every night for months of how Wormtail hit Cedric with the Killing Curse. His body, dropping down on the ground, pale and not moving.'
Draco moved the pillow off his head, looking at Harry. Harry looked distressed, the memory still hunting him.
'How did you get through it?' Draco asked.
'I tried to isolate myself, but it did not help,' Harry admitted. 'It helped to have my friends around me. It took my mind off the painful image,' he added.
Draco sat up on the bed, his eyes watery, looking at the boy who lived and who now had become his brother.
'I need you to know that I am here for you,' Harry told Draco.
Draco hugged Harry, breaking down into tears. He held it in himself for so long that he did not know how to express what he felt. Harry wrapped his arms around his new brother, a smile painted on his face.
'Thank you,' Draco whispered through the sobs.
'There is no need for you to thank me,' replied Harry. The boys pulled away from their embrace, and Harry smiled reassuringly at Draco. 'Now, come on. Let us go outside. We are in Italy, and neither of us has done a bit of exploring,' he said.
'To be honest, I have always wanted to visit the village,' Draco admitted.
'Well then, eat, shower, get dressed, and we will meet in the backyard,' Harry told Draco.
After Harry left his room, Draco pulled the duvet from his body and got out of bed for the first time in days. He sat at the desk, eating the food Harry had brought for him and looked out the window. The weather was lovely. The sun was shining brightly, and the sky was clear. The backyard of the manor was full of life, with bloomed flowers and fruits hanging from the trees.
Once Draco walked into his closet, he could not bring himself to get dressed. Most of his muggle clothing once belonged to his recently deceased uncle. Draco sat on the floor of his closet, looking around at the clothing that Kreacher had packed for him. A knock pulled Draco out of his train of thoughts.
'Hey,' Regulus said. 'What are you doing?' he asked his son.
'Hey, dad,' Draco replied.
Regulus sat down next to his son on the floor, waiting for his answer to the question.
'Harry proposed that we go out to explore the village,' Draco said.
'And why are you sitting on the floor of your closet?' Regulus wondered.
'I am just looking at my clothes, uncle Sirius's actually,' the son replied.
Regulus looked at his son, heartbroken at the sight of his son being depressed. He did not have the whole father thing figured out yet, but he knew enough to know that when his son was hurting, he was hurting, too.
'Listen, I know the past few days have been rough for you. They have been rough for every single one of us. You are not going through this alone,' Regulus reminded his son. 'And I think that you should wear those clothes proudly because they remind you of someone you love, and he would be proud of you for expressing who you are.'
'Have mum or Harry ever told you how I used to dress before I started living with mum?' Draco asked his father, and Regulus shook his head. 'I used to dress formally, always in dress robes, always dressed to impress the upper society. I used to gel my hair down in my first and second year. But then, when I moved into 12 Grimmauld Place, Sirius gave me full access to his closet from when he was a teenager. I started wearing band tees, jeans and leather jackets. For once, I did not feel pressured to look a certain way or behave accordingly. I was no longer Draco Malfoy, but Draco Black, a simple teenager,' Draco explained.
'Your uncle had that talent, bringing out a side of someone they did not even know about,' Regulus pointed out.
'Did he do the same with you?' Draco asked his father.
'Your uncle brought a whole different Regulus out that only one other person in my whole life did,' Regulus told his son. 'What I did, I did it because of your uncle, because from him I learnt to fight for what I believed in, not for our family's beliefs. I learnt from him that it is all right to be different from the rest of the Blacks. I learnt to stand up for myself, and for others,' the older male told his son.
'He loved you a lot, dad,' Draco said.
'I know, and I do, too. No matter what bad blood has been between us, Sirius was my brother who sacrificed himself for me. I do not think I will ever be able to live up to that,' admitted Regulus.
He stood up from the floor, getting ready to leave the room.
'Dad,' Draco's voice stopped him.
Regulus turned around and looked at his son.
'I am glad you are here. I needed you,' Draco said.
Regulus smiled at his son, bending down and kissing his head. 'I will go downstairs and find Harry and tell him you will take a little bit longer.'
Draco himself stood up and started looking through the clothes. He picked a pair of washed-out denim jeans, a black shirt and a black leather jacket. When he looked at himself in the mirror, he saw a younger version of his uncle, only with blonde hair. He smiled, and ran out of his room, down the stairs and into the backyard, where Harry was waiting for him.
'Ready to take over this village?' Harry joked.
'I was born ready,' Draco replied, and both the boys laughed.