35 - Pancakes
The scent of coffee hit me the moment I stepped into the kitchen, hand in hand with Jack.
Narcissa whirled round to greet me and it would have been such a heartfelt moment if it wasn't for the fact that the cutest Scottie dog in the world suddenly bounced excitedly across the floor towards us, causing Jack to immediately start wailing in utmost terror as he flung his arms around me and attempted to scrabble up my body.
"Hey Jack, it's okay," I soothed, bending down to pick him up, his little legs clinging high up around my waist, lifting his knees as far as they could go. "He's just saying hello."
But Jack wouldn't listen, instead sobbing uncontrollably against my neck as his body trembled in fright whilst the dog leapt up eagerly at my feet, yapping louder and louder.
"Orion, no!" Narcissa exclaimed at once, her face apologetic as she rushed over to scoop the dog up into her arms. "I'm so sorry, Jack, I should have thought - I'll go shut him in another room."
"No, don't do that," I implored, "Jack will be fine, he just needs to see that Orion means no harm."
I could feel Jack's heart pounding furiously beneath his chest. His terror was real and it broke my heart that he was experiencing such a feeling.
"Hey, little fox," I whispered gently in his ear, "you know Mr Dog? Well this is the real one, and just like your brother, he's so excited to see you. He doesn't want to hurt you, he just wants to say hello because Daddy has told him all about you."
Jack hesitantly lifted his tear stained face from my neck, craning his head to the side as he remained clinging onto me tightly.
"You're such a wonderfully brave boy, Jack," Narcissa said kindly as she firmly held a heavily panting Orion against her chest. "And it's understandable that you're wary of this overexcited furball-"
"Did somebody say coffee?" Draco asked, striding into the kitchen; freshly showered and suited up.
He drew up next to me, lightly touching a hand to the small of my back, looking from a trembling Jack in my arms to Orion in his mother's.
"It's okay," Draco said at once, cupping his hand to the back of Jack's head as he looked earnestly into his fearful eyes. "I promise you he's all bark and no bite. He's a softie, really - look."
Grabbing Orion off of his mother, Draco let him lick his face all over, which was, quite frankly, disgusting.
But it seemed to do something to Jack, who started giggling at the sight of his daddy practically snogging a dog.
And to my relief, he wriggled down to the ground and allowed Draco to introduce him to Orion properly.
"Is he my dog, now too?" Jack asked in wonderment as he sat on the kitchen floor and let Orion bounce excitedly in his lap.
"Of course," Draco murmured, his eyes glinting softly, "it's all yours, Jack. Everything I own belongs to you and Scorp."
"And Mummy, too?"
"Are you kidding? Mummy owns us all," he said, chuckling softly as he threw me a small discreet wink. "Especially me."
"Anyone for pancakes?" Narcissa asked, smiling at my flustered face.
*****
We were halfway through our breakfast when Crabbe and Pansy turned up with a scowling Ginny in tow.
"Oooo, my favourite!" Pansy trilled, skipping into the kitchen and immediately helping herself to the last pancake just as Draco was reaching out for it. "I simply can't resist pancakes, especially covered in whipped cream!"
"We know," Draco gritted, his eye twitching as she noisily squirted half a can of cream onto the pancake he'd been hoping to eat.
"Ginny, thank god," I breathed, leaping out of my chair to throw my arms around her, my relief at seeing she was okay making me forget that she didn't actually like me.
She remained stiff and unresponsive, refusing to unfold her arms from across her chest as her eyes roamed the room with a look of complete and utter disdain.
"So I'm now reduced to living in Malfoy's treehouse," she muttered bitterly. "Harry would have a fit if-"
"Well isn't that just nice," Pansy spat thickly through a mouthful of pancake and whipped cream, "it's not like my husband risked his life trying to save you from getting raped and ultimately killed or anything."
"Oh, please," Ginny scoffed, "it wasn't as though you didn't repay him. I was trying to sleep in the next room! Have you never heard of a fucking Silencing charm before?"
"Of course I have," Pansy beamed brightly and without a shred of shame, "but I don't see why I should hide what a good wife I am. Wouldn't you agree, Vince?"
"Yer the best, Pans," Crabbe grinned, his eyes lighting up gleefully.
"Can you all please watch what you're saying?" Draco snapped as he slammed his coffee down on the table. "My six year old son does not need to hear this."
We all glanced down at the end of the table where Jack was literally taking no notice of the grownups because he was too distracted by Orion, his fear long forgotten as he sneakily passed him bits of his pancake.
"You know what, Jack," Narcissa said, scraping her chair back and holding her hand out, "I think it's time you and me go say hello to Grandad. He's been dying to meet you."
"Can Orion come too?" Jack asked eagerly as he jumped down from the table, the Scottie dog bouncing delightedly at his feet, already exited about the prospect of an adventure.
"Of course," Narcissa smiled, "Besides, I don't think he's going to let you go anywhere without him anymore."
They exited the kitchen, leaving the five of us alone.
Draco got to his feet, striding across to join me as he instantly slipped an arm protectively around my waist.
"Blaire's been worried sick about you," he snarled, glaring at Ginny. "Merlin knows why. And my friends have been kind enough to risk their necks getting you to safety. So if you're going to be staying under my roof with my family then I expect you to show a little more gratitude and respect. Otherwise, turn around now and come back the way you came."
Ginny's eyes flashed defiantly back at Draco as her arms remained firmly folded.
"Fine," she sniffed, turning grudgingly towards Crabbe, "thank you. Now if you don't mind pointing me in the direction of my room, I'd like some alone time."
"Ungrateful bitch," Pansy muttered after Draco led Ginny from the kitchen.
"She's just worried about her family," I sighed, trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, "as am I. Have you managed to find anything out, Vincent?"
It sounded strange calling him by his first name, but after he'd rescued me from the Breeding Ground it seemed disrespectful to call him by anything else. I felt a whole new fondness for the guy whom I used to once think of as just a gormless idiot.
"As a ma'ter of fact, yer, I have," he grunted, uncrumpling a piece of parchment he'd removed from his back pocket. "Got names right 'ere of the ones which were sent straight ter Azkaban, and the ones being 'eld in the dungeons over at London."
He passed me the parchment and I was filled with a mixture of relief and horror as I surveyed the list of names; relief that they were alive, horror that they'd been imprisoned.
"Where's Hermione?" I asked, panic mounting as I failed to locate her name. "She's not on the list. She had a baby, a little girl. I need to know if they're both okay, she went into labour two months early and she'd lost a lot of blood."
"Mungo's," Crabbe said through a mouthful of whipped cream that he'd just squirted directly into his mouth, "handcuffed ter the 'ospital bed till she's well enuff ter go ter Azkaban."
"And the baby?"
"Forcing it up fer adoption." Crabbe said, shifting his feet uneasily.
A sickness swooped low through my stomach.
"Blaire?" Draco asked, his face pinched in concern as he returned to the kitchen.
"Rose," I whispered breathlessly, white dots obscuring my vision, "Hermione and Ron are going to lose their baby."
He strode across the room, pulling me instantly into his embrace. "Shit, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he murmured as he pressed his lips ardently against my temple.
"What if we petition to adopt her?" Pansy said, causing Crabbe to choke on his cream.
Draco and I pulled apart and both whirled round in shock at Pansy's unexpected suggestion.
"I mean," she said, rolling her eyes at our reactions, "just until we find a way of freeing the others. Obviously, we'd give the baby back once Granger gets out."
My heart thudded in my chest. That actually wasn't a bad idea.
Draco, however, scoffed. I glanced up at him, frowning.
"It's one thing breaking people out of the Breeding Ground," he muttered darkly, shaking his head, "but Azkaban? Impossible."
"Drac's right," Crabbe grunted, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "We'd be better off putting all our efforts into working out how ter overthrow You-Know-Who firs'."
"We can't just do nothing!" I said, running my hands through my hair in frustration. "We've got to help them!"
"Hey," Draco soothed, grabbing my arms and tugging me back towards him. "We're going to sort this, I promise. But we've got Jack and Scorp to think of now and they need to be our priority. They need us to be here with them, keeping them safe."
I nodded, feeling horrendously emotional. It had been an exhausting twenty four hours and on top of that I felt guilty for having been saved whilst the others had all been captured.
Draco wrapped his arms around me once again and I could feel the furious beating of his heart as his breathing became fierce and shallow. He was scared too, but I knew his fear was about losing me all over again.
"Well, I still think it won't hurt to enquire about the child," Pansy shrugged, licking her fingertips. "I mean, how difficult can looking after a baby whilst saving the world be?"
The sound of Scorpius' wails from upstairs answered that.
"I'll go," I said at once, before Draco could react.
"Are you sure?" He asked, his brow knitting into a frown.
"Of course," I assured him as I cupped my hand to his cheek, "Drac, I love him. I love him because he's a piece of you."
His face instantly softened, warmth swimming in his eyes as his lips twitched into a smile. If we didn't have an audience I would have kissed him.
"Ugh, you two," Pansy muttered, and I didn't have to turn around to see the dramatic roll of her eyes in her head. "If you don't get married when all of this is over then I swear I'm going to fucking hang myself."
******
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