Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters you may recognize from the wonderful world of Harry Potter, they all belong to the revered JK Rowling; I just like to play with them a little.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
HOWLER
Draco walked over to the fireplace, dipped his hand into the Floo powder pot, and threw the silvery powder into the hearth before he clearly intoned, `Malfoy Manor'.
"Mother?" Draco's disembodied head called from the fireplace in the winter parlour.
"Draco, dear you startled me," Narcissa replied bringing her hand to her chest in shock.
"Sorry, Mother," Draco apologised. "I have some good news. Ginny has consented to visit the Manor, today."
"Oh, that's wonderful. Shall I contact your father, so he can be here?"
"Yes, Mother. That would be fine."
"All right. I'll floo Lucius and - Oh dear, I've yet to go shopping! I've no gifts-"
"Mother - Mother, calm down. They're coming to meet you and Father, not for gifts. Besides, you will still get your shopping spree - there's a birthday coming up in a few weeks," Draco told her trying to control his laughter.
"Very well. What time shall I expect you?" Narcissa responded happily, though she was disappointed that she had no gift to offer her grandson.
"I think we'll be at least an hour - they need to get ready."
"Good. I can floo your father and he can be home before you arrive. See you soon, darling." Narcissa was almost beside herself with joy.
"All right, Mother, we'll see you then."
With that Draco withdrew from the fire. He stood and faced Ginny, who had been waiting anxiously in one of the nearby chairs.
"It's all set. I can't believe how happy my mother is."
"That's good. I guess I'd better get ready and the twins will have to be changed," Ginny said quietly, trying her best to keep her voice even.
Molly re-emerged at that moment with both children, all ready for a walk outside.
"Mum, we've had a change of plans. I need Drake and Angel to change their clothes," Ginny said her voice clearly strained.
"Oh- And what are you up to now dear?" Molly asked with fake cheer. She knew something was not quite right with Ginny by the way she had spoken.
"We're going to visit Malfoy Manor." Ginny looked her mother straight in the eye, as if begging her to forbid the excursion.
"Well, that sounds lovely. Why don't we go up and see to a change of clothes for the twins?" Molly was smiling for all to see, however she had not missed the message sent to her by Ginny. It worried her, but she would have to wait until they were alone to discuss it. "All right, you two back upstairs," she added turning to the children.
"Again, what's wrong with what I've got on?" Drake protested loudly.
"Grandma, what's Malfoy Manor?" Angel asked curiously.
"Well, Malfoy Manor is what your dad's family call their home," Molly answered as they climbed the stairs.
"Like this is the Burrow?" Angel continued.
"Yes, like we call our home the Burrow," Molly replied. "Gin, can you give me a hand. I think Drake is going to give me some trouble," she called down the stairs.
"Coming, Mum," Ginny answered and turned to Draco. "I won't be long just make yourself at home."
Once safely upstairs, Molly sent the children to wash their faces and sat Ginny down on Angel's bed.
"What's going on?"
"Oh Mum, I couldn't say no. Draco said his mum was already upset just at the thought of not being able to see the children. I just kept remembering what you went through when Percy was being such a prat."
"Do you want to go?"
"No, not really. I mean, the thought of Lucius Malfoy in the same room as my babies- if it were just me, I wouldn't even think twice. I can look after myself but the twins-" Ginny told her in an exasperated tone. "They're just babies, Mum. What if-" She couldn't finish the thought; to put her fears into words would probably be her undoing.
"Calm down, dear. I'm sure he won't harm them. They are his grandchildren after all. The visit may not be very pleasant, but you've already agreed so you must go." Molly tried to put her fears to rest. "And Draco will be with you, won't he?"
"Yes. He's promised not to leave our sides and if I want to leave, for any reason, he's promised to get us home quickly."
"Well then, there's no reason why you should deny Narcissa Malfoy her grandchildren any longer." Molly sat on the bed next to Ginny and took one of her hands in hers. "We all knew this day would come, sooner or later. There's never been any denying that Drake is a Malfoy and even if Lucius Malfoy hadn't heard you call him, he could've easily recognised him as a member of his family."
"I know, Mum."
"I'll floo Ron the moment you leave and let him know where you've gone just in case."
"Not Ron, he'll go berserk. If you must tell someone, tell Harry," Ginny begged. She didn't need her brother turning up at Malfoy Manor, creating a scene.
"Right, Harry it is then. Well I'll get the children into their dress robes. You go and get yourself ready."
Molly Weasley understood why Ginny could not deny the request to visit the Malfoy's. She had been the one who sat with Molly, night after night, sometimes crying with her over her unseen granddaughter. To inflict that type of pain upon another woman was not in her daughter's nature. But, Molly was concerned about this visit, hence to urge to contact Ron or Harry, just to inform them of her plan, it wouldn't hurt to have an Auror on stand by. Not that she truly believed that any of them would come to harm on the Wiltshire property. She liked to think, she had enough insight into people's personalities to come to intelligent decisions about the type of people they were and Draco did not strike her as the type who would, intentionally, lead his young family into imminent danger. In short, she had decided to trust the young man.
"Thanks, Mum." Ginny offered her mother a weak smile as she left for her own room.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Meanwhile, at Malfoy Manor, Narcissa had summoned the house elves from the kitchens to inform them company was expected and she needed snacks suitable for a child to be prepared at once, in addition to the normal refreshments served to adult company. Next on her agenda was Lucius.
She withdrew her wand from her robes and intoned the summoning charm `Accio two-way mirror'. One of the mirrors Lucius had enchanted flew to her, from its usual position on the mantle piece in her parlor. Lucius held its double in his robes, at all times. He had enchanted the mirrors years ago, due to Narcissa's dislike of the Floo network. It was a much more civilized way to communicate with one another.
Narcissa held the small mirror in front her face. "Lucius."
She waited a few moments before speaking again. "Lucius. This is important!"
Lucius' face appeared in her mirror. He was not pleased at having been disturbed. "Narcissa, whatever it is, it will have to wait. I'm in an extremely important business meeting," he ground out through clenched teeth before disappearing.
"Lucius!" Narcissa raised her voice into her mirror but there was no response this time. Not that she had expected one, after what he had said.
Narcissa knew Lucius would want to be here and she wanted him to be here, but what to do when he wouldn't talk to her.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Molly had helped Angel and, a complaining, Drake into their dress robes, done their hair and ensured that their faces were clean before leading them downstairs to wait with Draco while Ginny finished getting ready.
"Daddy, we're ready! Aren't my robes beautiful?" Angel twirled in front of him.
"Yes, sweetie. You're the prettiest witch I've ever seen," Draco assured his daughter with a smile. His mother was going to love dressing her up. "Drake, what's wrong?"
Draco had noticed that Drake had come down stairs with the sulkiest expression on his face. He certainly was not happy with something.
"Don't see why I have to wear these poxy robes! No good to play in, not allowed to do anything in them, just got to sit still and not do nothing," Drake mumbled to his chest with his arms folded around him defiantly.
"Oh, I see." Draco understood completely, he was never too keen on dress robes as a child, himself. "Why don't you bring a change of clothes with you? If we get a chance, we can go outside for a while, maybe take a walk near the lake or go visit the horses." He tried to soothe the situation as best he could, it wouldn't do to have him sulking when they arrived at the Manor.
Drake was gone in a flash, back up the stairs to get his `normal clothes', before anyone could object.
"Do you have horses, Daddy?" Angel asked excitedly. "Can we ride them?"
"Yes, we have horses and yes, you will be able to ride them, just not today. It's too cold for them to be out but we can visit them." Draco hoped she wouldn't push the riding bit today. He didn't think his mother would be too pleased if she were to be passed over for a horse.
Angel was bouncing up and down with excitement. "Ooooh yes please! Can we take some sugar and carrots for them?"
"Sure we can." Draco smiled broadly at her enthusiasm.
"Angel, calm down! You're going to mess up your pretty robes," Molly fussed.
"Mrs. Weasley, do you have any old Portkeys around that I can re-charm?" With the children they wouldn't be able to Apparate and Draco detested the Floo network, as much as his mother did.
"Yes, I'm sure we've got one or two around here somewhere. Let me see if I can find them."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Lucius was more than a little irritated at Narcissa, for interrupting his meeting. He had informed her, at breakfast, that he had an extremely important meeting this morning with all the heads of department at Malfoy Holdings, yet she still saw fit to disturb him.
He sat at the head of the vast table, with his most trusted employees surrounding him. Many of the wizards had worked for his father and one or two for his grandfather. The head of his Public Relations Department was reading a rather boring report from an extremely long piece of parchment. His mind began to wander. What was it that Narcissa had deemed so important that she insisted upon interrupting him?
Lucius became so distracted, it took him a few moments to register that some of his employees were clearing their throats and making various other subtle noises to gain his attention.
"Well?" He growled at them in irritation.
"Sir, there appears to be an owl at the window," one of his minions replied hesitantly.
"Well, don't just sit there! Let the damnable creature in," Lucius demanded. When I discover which of them is responsible for this disturbance - I'll have their manhood boiled in shrinking solution, he seethed privately.
There was a great shuffling of chairs as everyone, except Lucius, leapt to their feet in an effort to be the first to the window and carry out his wishes thus ensuring a chance of being in his good graces for the rest of the day at least.
"Just how many of you does it take to open a window?" Lucius sneered around the table. All but one of the wizards sat down again.
As the bird flew in, Lucius immediately recognized it as Narcissa's eagle owl. That woman is exasperating today, he thought just before his mouth went dry with horror. Clutched tightly in the owl's beak was a distinctive red envelope - a howler. As the bird circled in front of Lucius, he was aware that many of his employees had taken note of the type of correspondence in the bird's possession and were now openly staring at him.
"OUT!" he barked at the wizards around the table as the envelope dropped in front of him.
Though there was an excessive amount of noise as everyone attempted to leave the room at once, it could not drown out Narcissa Malfoy's angry voice. It seemed that she had enchanted the howler to explode as soon as it had hit the table - giving Lucius no time to clear the room.
"LUCIUS MALFOY! IF YOU ARE NOT HOME WITHIN TEN MINUTES YOU WILL BE SLEEPING ON THE COUCH FOR A MONTH!" Narcissa's usual melodic tone had been replaced with a booming angry roar.
The contents of the howler caused a ripple of sniggers among the remaining employees in the room.
"OUT!" Lucius bellowed at the wizards still in the vicinity.
The men hurriedly exited the room in silence. Not one of them was willing to be left in a closed room with Lucius Malfoy, when he was in such a mood.
Lucius was seething. He didn't think Narcissa had ever done anything so blatantly vexing, in their entire marriage. He sat for a few moments with his head in his hands. I'd best get to the Manor and see what crisis she requires my immediately assistance with. Merlin help her, if all this fuss is over a broken nail.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Just after Drake reappeared in the front room, Ginny walked in with her traveling cloak across her arm. She frowned at the bundle of clothes Drake was trying not to drop.
"It's okay, Gin. I told him to bring a change of clothes," Draco assured her. "Drake, why don't you see if you can find a bag to put them in?"
"Grandma," Drake yelled as he walked into the kitchen. "I need a bag."
"Gin, I was wondering, if it's alright with you, could we have a chat to Drake about my father?" Draco asked cautiously. "I don't think he'd take too kindly to be called mean all the time."
"Yeah sure, that's probably a good idea," Ginny answered unevenly. She certainly didn't want him to go upsetting Lucius Malfoy; Merlin only knew what he would do.
"I'm ready," Drake stated as he walked back into the room with his clothes packed into a bag.
"Good." Draco smiled warmly at him. "But before we leave I want to have a talk to you."
Drake sighed heavily. "This is going to be one of those talks isn't it, Daddy?"
Draco smirked. "Yep, afraid so."
"I do know the rules. Number one: don't touch anything that doesn't belong to me. Number two: no running, jumping or anything else in anyone's house. Number three: don't ask for nothing, it's rude." Drake counted the rules off on his fingers.
"Yeah, that's pretty good but I'm going to add one more." Draco lowered his tall frame so he could look his small son in the eye. "Number four is don't call your grandfather mean or any other nasty names, it's disrespectful."
"But he is," Drake mumbled at his shoes.
"Regardless of what you think, you can't say things like that to him or you may run the risk of finding out just how mean he can be." Draco held onto his chin gently to ensure his full attention. "Do you understand?"
"Yes, Daddy," Drake sighed. "Don't call him mean or he'll be mean."
"Good. I glad we sorted that out." Draco allowed himself a small mental sigh of relief. "You know, I bet you're going to get along with my father very well and, if you let yourself, you might even end up liking him."
Drake screwed his nose up at Draco in response to his last suggestion causing Draco to laugh loudly as he rose to his full height again.
"Here's the portkey," Molly said cheerfully as she re-entered the room carrying an old fire iron.
"Wonderful! Is everyone ready to go?" Draco looked only at Ginny. She looked to be a bit shaky at the moment, as though she needed some reassurance. He would've liked to put his arm around her but with the children present it wasn't possible so he sufficed with a cheeky wink, in the hope it would lighten her mood.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Lucius Apparated into the foyer of Malfoy Manor. Without discarding his cloak he strode angrily towards Narcissa's parlor.
"Narcissa!" he growled as he entered the room. "What, in Merlin's name, do you mean by embarrassing this family in front of god knows how many incessant gossips?"
"Darling, how lovely to see you." Narcissa ignored his angry tone. Obviously the howler worked, she smiled inwardly.
"Narcissa," he hissed in warning.
She knew her husband was at the end of his patience and decided it wouldn't be wise to play games with him. "Draco Flooed a short while ago. He is bringing Drake to visit." She tried in vain to contain her excitement.
Lucius arched an eyebrow at her. "Today?"
"Yes! They will be arriving soon." Narcissa was ecstatic.
"Good," Lucius drawled. While his tone gave no hint of his mood, the smile that graced his handsome features indicated his feelings in relation to the anticipated meeting with his grandson.
Narcissa rose from the chair she had been seated in and made her way over to where Lucius was standing. She wrapped her arms around his middle and rested her head on his chest. "Oh Lucius, I can't wait to meet him," Narcissa sighed happily. "Promise me everything will work out so we can see him again?"
His arms wove tightly around his wife. He held her close and rested his chin lightly on her head, swearing to himself this would not be a one-time visit from his grandson - he would ensure Miss Weasley returned.
"I promise you, darling. Everything will be fine," Lucius whispered into her hair before placing a lingering kiss on her blonde locks.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
AUTHORS NOTES
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