Chapter 27

Draco woke up to the sound of something shattering. Blearily, he opened one eye and looked around. His father was lying a few feet from him, on his back. He shifted a little, but didn't awaken.

Hermione wasn't with them, but a quick Tempus showed it was about the time she normally had breakfast. Even getting fired hadn't changed her routine very much.

It was strange, looking at Lucius when the man didn't know it. It was rather like seeing the future. Over the years, Draco's appearance had become more and more like his father's, though he did doubt he'd ever achieve the same breadth that made Lucius so imposing. But he'd been glad of the day he'd surpassed Lucius' height. The thought shouldn't make him feel so gleeful, but it did.

Draco was grateful for the fact that there was no jealousy or competitiveness between him and his father regarding Hermione, but that didn't mean there wasn't any at all. Draco did enjoy a little one-upmanship now and again.

Forcing himself to roll out of bed in a way so sloth-like his father would surely disapprove, Draco went to investigate the noise he'd heard. House-elves didn't tend to drop anything, and Hermione wasn't exactly the clumsy sort.

"Draco, be a good son and go to my room to fetch me some clothes," Lucius said quietly, throwing an arm over his eyes. Draco chuckled. The world saw Lucius Malfoy as such an intimidating and frightening figure; what would they say if they knew what a horrible morning person he was?

Draco cruelly Disapparated without muffling the crack and gathered clothing for his father. Once back, grinning at the glare his sire bestowed upon him, Draco quickly dressed. They walked down to the dining room together.

Hermione was on her hands and knees, cleaning what looked to be tea with a kitchen rag.

Lucius frowned and pulled his wand to spell away the mess, but Draco beat him to it was a wandless Scourgify.

"What happened?" Lucius asked, stepping in to help Hermione to her feet. She was wringing her hands together and not meeting either of their inquisitive gazes.

"Oh, nothing, I just spilt my tea," she said slowly.

"Why didn't you use magic?" Draco asked. He had the feeling something was going on, but his curiosity overrode the questions he probably should be asking instead.

"Oh, I tried, but... but it didn't really work."

"What do you mean?" Lucius asked, Banishing the broken teacup. It was too far gone for a Reparo, but Draco couldn't help but wonder how his mother would feel about Lucius' casual dismissal of the priceless china.

Hermione shrugged slowly, but it was obviously affected. "It just moved the tea around. Nothing really happened."

And then Draco's eyes fell upon the morning edition of the Daily Prophet. He couldn't read the headline from where he was standing, but he saw the moving photograph of his father. They only really used one of two stock photos of him: his Azkaban mug shot and a photo from a Ministry ball during Draco's school days. This photo was the latter, but he had the feeling the content of the article would be better suited to the former.

Hermione met his eyes, and he couldn't tell from her expression what she was trying to convey. She looked scared, hurt, and desperate all at once, but of what, and about what, he couldn't ascertain.

Draco moved to pick up the paper, and he could actually hear Hermione swallow.

His father moved to his side and read over his shoulder, cursing as soon as he saw the headline.

Draco had known Lucius must have said some crazy things to get him and Hermione fired, but what the article was quoting... it was pretty horrible. No wonder Hermione looked so lost.

"I didn't mean it," Lucius whispered, unable to continue reading.

Hermione only nodded, and Draco read on.

The quotes were long-winded and varied. Lucius had an extensive vocabulary and had obviously made the best of it. Slurs on Hermione's heritage, her sexual history, even her intentions with Draco (Amortentia was mentioned at least twice) were scattered over the page.

Rita Skeeter took great pleasure in comparing them to the positive things Lucius had said at the press release.

When Draco finally let the paper fall to the ground, his hands were shaking.

The three of them stood silent and motionless. Lucius was looking away, a hard, impassive look on his face. Draco knew his father must be ashamed and horrified at the things he'd said, but at the same time, Draco wasn't convinced that every single word he'd spoken had needed to be said. Especially not... whore. That wasn't a word Draco could bear being attributed to Hermione. He couldn't even imagine how she was feeling.

"But did you say them?" Hermione asked quietly.

A flare of hope surged in Draco's chest; maybe this was just more embellishment and conjecture of Skeeter's part.

But his hopes were cruelly dashed.

"I said them. I had... I had good intentions. But seeing the words like this, all together and so... ugly. It wasn't what I meant. I wanted it to seem real, and it appears I did too thorough a job. I'll understand if..."

"No," Hermione said firmly. "No. We aren't doing this. You did what you thought you had to do, and now we'll deal with it together, just like we always will." Hermione threw her hand toward the paper and shouted, "Incendio!"

But the corners barely curled in flame before extinguishing with streaks of sooty smoke.

Draco did it for her, and the three watched in catharsis as the daily burst into satisfying flames.

"Another interview might be needed," Draco said, ridding the floor of the mess.

Hermione nodded slowly.

Lucius left the room.

Harry Potter was three minutes under the predicted time of his arrival at the Manor. Draco immediately opened the Floo to him and tried not to cringe at the rage he could veritably feel pouring off the man.

"Where is she?" he demanded, green eyes practically glowing.

Draco silently led Harry to the sitting room where Hermione was curled quietly. After Lucius had left, she hadn't wanted to talk much, though she did say she wanted to see Harry and Ron to make sure they knew it had been a ruse.

But the way she looked so forlorn made Draco think it was likely she didn't even believe as much herself.

Harry immediately ran to Hermione's side and took her in his arms. Draco tamped down the jealousy at seeing her fall so easily into his embrace. She hadn't wanted to take comfort from Draco, and he hadn't been able to admit he needed it nearly as much.

It hurt to think his father could be so very cruel. Even if he hadn't meant it.

"Come on, Hermione," Harry was saying. "I'm taking you back to the Burrow. Ron's there, and Ginny, and Mrs. and Mr. Weasley. They want to see you, make sure you're okay."

"No, Harry," Hermione said. "I'm okay, really. Lucius said those things on purpose..."

"Of course he did! Malfoy doesn't say things like that on accident!"

Draco started a little to hear Harry say Malfoy with such obvious disgust. He knew the man wasn't speaking about him, but it reminded him of times he'd thought they'd gotten past.

"That's not what I mean. Lucius had to say those things so the Ministry would fire us instead of forcing us to quit. Draco and I were caught snogging on surveillance. And if they'd forced our resignations..."

"Oh. You'd never be able to find another decent job," Harry finished quietly. "But why did he have to say those things, Hermione? Mudblood? Whore? It... it looks like he hates you! And this right after you three came out..."

Draco stepped closer, but allowed the friends their space. "My father did what he thought best in the timeframe in which he had to think. Hermione already knew what he'd done. This isn't exactly a surprise, though it is a bit of a nasty shock."

"He's right. Lucius told us straight away what he'd said. And I know you don't agree with the way he went about it, and neither do I. In fact, I don't think Draco does either." She didn't look to him for confirmation, but she didn't need it. "But we're still a triad, nothing has really changed. We just need to weather the storm. Together."

Harry was rubbing Hermione's arm. Draco tried not to hate him for it.

"Where is Lucius now? I'd feel better hearing him recant his own words," Harry said softly. Hermione looked entreatingly at Draco. He knew she wanted him to fetch his father and make him face what he'd done. And Draco hated the cowardly way Lucius had left, but he wanted to think that it had been done for reasons other than the fact that Lucius just didn't want to face them.

"He needs to deal with some things. But he is genuinely sorry," Hermione said, and Draco felt a surge of love for her. She meant her words, he could tell. He wished Lucius could hear her put her trust in him so implicitly.

"I still think you should come to the Burrow. I don't think me telling them that everything's fine will be enough, and I'm sure you don't want them here."

Hermione sighed. "What are they saying? Did you and Ron tell them about our conversation?"

Harry laughed. "Oh, I told them. Ginny thinks it's brilliant, though she had a few choice words once the novelty wore off. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley... well, you know how they can be. Or rather, how she can be. Mr. Weasley seems really concerned for you. You know, he and Lucius have a very... colourful history. But Mrs. Weasley... well, she seems a little... well, she's furious. And remember how she acted after Rita Skeeter wrote those things about you and Viktor Krum and me? How you broke my heart and all that? It's sort of like that. She just doesn't know what to think. I don't think she wants to believe either article. And I know she'd feel better if you came over and explained it yourself."

Hermione was obviously considering her words. As much as Draco wanted her here with him while he was figuring things out, it was obvious that she needed to talk with her friends, smooth things over, and hopefully work out her fears about the things Lucius had said. He hoped she would talk to him as well, but he understood if she felt her friends were better suited to deal with this sort of thing. They'd been through a lot, obviously.

Closing the distance between them, Hermione wrapped her arms around Draco's neck, pressing her body against his for a hug. He folded her in his arms, embracing her snugly. She gave amazing hugs, really threw her entire being into them. Being part of a triad was extraordinary for any number of reasons, but having Hermione to himself in moments like this made him feel pretty damn good.

"I'm going to go," she said quietly. "They need to understand."

"I know," he said, reassuring her. "I'll talk to Father and make sure everything's okay for when you come back."

"I shouldn't be more than a few hours, but it's likely that Molly will insist on my staying for dinner. In that case, don't wait up, okay? And tell Lucius that I'm not angry."

Draco nodded. He didn't let her go.

She continued, "And I'm not, not really. I wish things had gone differently, but the main thing is that we stick together. We'll figure this out, Draco. And the more he guilts himself and pushes us away, the worse things are going to be. We're a triad. We have to work this out. Please tell him that."

"Promise," he said, tilting her head up for a kiss. It felt different than their usual kisses and they both knew it. Draco could almost feel Hermione's anxiety, and he was certain she could feel his disappointment in Lucius.

Still, his lips moved slowly and sweetly, and he made sure that her knees were trembling a little when he broke the kiss. A glance up showed that Harry was determinedly looking out the window.

He nodded at her, and she followed Harry through the Floo. He didn't envy her the coming confrontation.

Not until a few hours later, anyway.

"We have to talk about this," Draco informed his father, as though he didn't already know. He'd found Lucius in the library. He'd felt quite stupid wandering from room to room looking for his own parent, and he thought Hermione might be on to something with that map idea she'd be pondering.

But of course Lucius was in the library. It was Hermione's favourite spot, after all.

"Feel free to speak," Lucius drawled. Or it would have been a drawl if he didn't seem so... affected.

"You said what you had to say! I don't know why you're letting it get to you like this."

"Oh, no? Why would it possibly get to me that I've insulted my lover in nearly every way possible, hmm? Or that I deliberately told my superiors lies to get you both out of punishment? Or that the entire wizarding world now has reason to believe that I'm either verbally abusive to Hermione, or that I was lying about being in a triad with her? The implications of this are so far reaching... I'm sure you just haven't come to same conclusions, Draco, but when you do, you won't fault my reticence."

Well. That certainly explained things a little better.

"Hermione isn't upset with you," he said quietly. Lucius didn't school his features quickly enough for Draco to miss the fleeting hope there.

"She also must not have grasped the realities of the situation."

Draco laughed. "Don't let hear you question her intelligence like that!"

"Her intelligence was the one thing I did not insult."

Sighing, Draco went to sit beside his father on the loveseat. It was the same seat they'd sat on the day before, making love. Draco's cock twitched a little at the memory... ordering Hermione... ordering Lucius... Draco shivered.

"If you keep this up, you'll give her reason to really become upset. And right now, she's only upset because you are."

"I heard the Floo," Lucius said, changing the subject so abruptly that Draco actually shook his head to follow.

"Harry was here. And then he took Hermione to the Weasleys' house to explain things."

"And Potter... he probably thinks we're abusing her in the worst ways."

"Actually, Father, he doesn't. See, he believes Hermione when she tells him something. You could learn from that."

But alas, snark was not the way to make Lucius see what a prat he was being.

"It's very likely that I will lose my job over this, you realise."

Draco wondered if that was the real reason behind his obvious distress, but he wanted to believe his father wasn't more concerned about his position than he was about their relationship.

"And what if you do? Then three of us will be unemployed together. It'll be great fun. We can go visit the little lake every day. I can hardly think of anything better."

But Lucius didn't appreciate the goading. "I know you know how hard I worked to get our name back to what it once was. All for naught, as my own attempts to make things better for both of you ended up making them worse for all of us."

Draco squeezed his father's shoulder, trying not to think about how strange it was to be in the position of comforting him rather than the other way around. "Everything's going to work out, you'll see. Hermione isn't upset, she doesn't hate you, and there's no reason for this distance. Fuck the public. Fuck the Ministry."

Lucius chuckled lowly and placed his hand over Draco's, fingers tightening in what Draco hoped was gratitude.

"Well, well," came a cool, familiar, and entirely unwelcome voice. "Isn't this cosy?"