thattimeofthemonth | Open RP Post

"That's what I want...to be a person I'm happy with. I believe that this path is the right path for me. It'll let me help save my family and prove that we can do the right thing. Plus...I think it'll help heal me as well." Draco replied. He rarely talked about his own horrors around his family. Remus was really the first person he voiced them to. His father had been their main concern of late and he felt that what he had to deal with and saw paled to what his father dealt with.

"Only I've never been away from my parents for such a long time...or been far away from them." He frowned slightly, knowing that he was going to have to do this.

"It's not as if you would be out of contact completely with them. This is when I wish you were in tune more with Muggles. I don't particularly want to deal with them as friends, but their devices can be incredibly useful." She chuckled softly. "But there certainly are wizarding ways to make sure you can speak with them as often as you wish."

She turned her gaze out the window, doing some mental calculations. "In truth... the timing won't work for you to go to the college just yet, until the school year starts, so if you're interested, truly interested, you could go and spend time in America and get yourself used to it as well as being away from your parents for spaces at a time."

"I seriously doubt my parents would ever use those phones. They seem handy, but I also don't want to be tied to the phone. The Muggles seem too involved with them and don't appear to look beyond. The ones I'm getting to know were surprised I don't have one." His parents wouldn't use any technology that the Muggles used. Where he knew alot of other wizard families do rely on them.

Draco played with his ring a bit as he thought about what Melinda said. "If I'm able to stay in contact with them... Then it shouldn't be too hard. I will have to talk with my parents and Remus about it, but I'm willing to do what I have to."

[How was Thanksgiving?? Just got done putting up all my Christmas decorations and all the decorations for the HP Party. :3]

"It actually wasn't a phone I was thinking of. Muggles have this fascinating thing called the internet. Someone I know has managed to make it so they can link into it with a computer all magically.." She gestured, a little motion of her hand that it wasn't terribly important.

However.

"That is one thing you might find interesting. Maybe it's just how America came about, but they do have the difference that they can be a bit more involved with the Muggles and their technology than you might be used to. Every time I try to see a wizard from this side of the ocean try to dress as a Muggle, I end up laughing." Though she herself wore proper wizarding robes, and had since Draco had first seen her...

"I imagine that something could be set up to make sure you could be able to stay in contact. It wouldn't be fair otherwise. I know a few talismens that could work for you all."

[It went lovely :) I'm going to have to eventually start decorating the basement. ]

"The internet?" Draco couldn't help raise an eyebrow. He recalled hearing some students mention it from time to time...but he never inquired further about it. It was always students who were related to Muggles who referred to it.

"You're saving the American wizards are more involved with what the Muggles use and can blend in easier then we do here?" That caught him by surprise. It seemed that there was a lot he was going to have to get used to if he went to America. These wizards appeared to be more open minded to things then how things were done here. He seemed so outdated to the Muggles in general here...he was afraid to even think of how the wizards in American would view him.

[Wait until you see the house! ...actually have you even seen my house?!]

"Hmm Mmm. It's not a complete integration, but just... more so. For instance, there's no such thing as Muggle studies!" She smiled at that. "Children go to school along side of Muggle children until the natural break in grades which comes when they are twelve. Then they say they are going to a different school which is true, just a wizarding school. There are pure blooded families even in America who home school their children but that's more unusual."

A hint of that smile died. "Like me, actually. I was taught at home because of our curse."

[Noooo, not yet!]

Draco flinched a bit at the mention of Muggle studies. An unwanted image of their teacher hovering over their dinner table flashed before him. He closed his eyes trying to block out the image. It was a few moments before he allowed himself to speak.

He thought it was interesting that the wizard children went to the schools as regular children did till they were twelve... They left at eleven here. Unless there was a Muggle in the family...most children didn't go to the schools that Muggles went to.

"Isn't it lonely though to be taught at home? I hated being taught at home." Draco commented. "I didn't get to interact kids my age till I went to Hogwarts...or if one of my parent's friends stopped by with their kids. Remus's place is really the first place I know that had Muggle stuff mixed with ours."

Oh dear, that reaction wasn't what she was looking for. Why did he have such a reaction to that? "...Not a favorite subject?" she asked, prying gently to see if he would open up.

She thought about it for a time, cautious, before she nodded. "It was awfully lonely at times, but I actually had a brother that I could play with and learn with, which helped. As for the Lupin household, it isn't entirely strange in their mixing, though what is very strange is that there is no Muggle in the household. Usually that sort of mixing is when a wizard chooses to marry a Muggle."

Draco hesitated for a moment before speaking. "The Drak Lord had taken our Muggle Studies teacher and tortured her because she supported the Muggles and the belief of marrying them," Draco quietly replied. "He had her had suspended over our table where we sat. Eventually he killed her and fed her to his snake... She was just one of the many he tortured and had kept in our cellars."

He winced at the memories and pointedly looked at his feet as he tried to keep his own emotions in check. He found himself unable to really continue the rest of the conversation.

Melinda's expression grew more horrified as she listened until a hand came up to cover her mouth as she could hardly imagine such a thing happening, but the fact that Draco had been forced to watch... she had heard a few smaller bits from Lucius in their sessions, working towards the bigger stuff as he trusted her more, but this?

So she did the natural thing and stood up, walking over and scooping up the young man into a hug. Well, natural to her, because she gave a soft crooning as well, her instinct to calm and soothe. While she wouldn't have hugged Lucius, obviously, this was a young man who clearly needed a bit more physical affection in his life.

"I am so sorry you were forced to witness such a thing, Draco. It should never have been."

The hug caught Draco offguard, but at the same time it was welcomed. Such embraces were usually from his mother and father. Outside his family it was a rare thing. After a while, he let go and turned to look out the window. He finally allowed himself to speak.

"So much had happened in our home that we moved here. I'm not sure if we will be able to return to it because of everything." He would have liked to go back as it was closer to other towns and people he knew. This was in the middle of no where.

Melinda didn't linger in the hug, knew better than to, and reseated herself as she watched the young man who had been forced to grow up so very quickly. He had made some horrible choices, ones she had been learning more about from his parents, but in the face of things, she wasn't entirely surprised. It would take a very different kind of child to go against his parents, ones he wanted to protect more than anyone else. She hoped, but believed, that Remus saw him as more than most people saw him. His actions would not be easy to forgive for many, but... every child deserved a real chance as themselves, not the product of what they were forced into.

"I've been speaking with your father about that particular topic. There... has been a cautious suggestion that perhaps it might be better to relocate, or rebuild."

"Rebuild?" He had never thought of that as an option. "I just don't see my father being keen on that with how the house has been passed on from one generation to the next." He personally thought it was good. They could use the chance to update it since it was very old place.

He moved away from the window to the piano and whiped away some of the dust that had collected over the years. "Did my dad or mom ever mention anything about music? My mother had met my father at school, but got to know him through music. He used to play the piano all the time. He taught my mother and then me. My mother took lessons to get to know him. It was the one of the few times she would get to see him away from other students and his father." This was more of a happier topic to discuss.

"I... am not fully certain your father will ever be able to live there again." Her voice was quiet, knowing it was a bit more telling than perhaps she should, but this young man was going to, most likely, become head of the household sooner than he might feel comfortable with. Narcissa would always be truly in charge, but Draco would need to step up if he so chose to continue that route.

"No, neither of them has mentioned it." Actually, Draco's bit of information was giving her an idea that she tucked away in the back of her mind. "Do you still play, by chance?"

[Redoing the tag, wanting to put more into the response.]

He gave a nod in understanding. "I'm afraid to say that I would agree with that. However, just from what I've seen today was an improvement. How...were you able to reason with my mother? I realize that some of the issues were part of the way how she was handling things...even if it was meant well. And I know my father can be difficult on top of it."

He hesitated a bit at the other question if he still played. "I stopped playing when my father stopped playing. When the music stopped...I knew that something was up and it wasn't good. Later I learned...that He had returned in full form. I could see him changing like he was trying to brace himself for what was going to happen. He didn't want to seem weak or soft.

He became stricter, harsher in his words, and easily irritable. Nothing seemed to please him. My parents always fought. At one point I tried to keep playing wanting to remember the good things that came with it, but my father put a stop to it. He was so mad that day. Since then I didn't try again. I'm not sure what would happen if I tried to play again. I'm honestly surprised he never got rid of the pianos."

"Unfortunately, you would be right. Your mother was trying to help, but it could only lead to worse things in the end." Melinda gave a soft smile. "Though her heart was truly in the right place. I ended up sitting down with your mother and speaking to her honestly - asking for only two days worth of her trust and if she saw no improvement, I would leave. She sat in on those sessions and saw how I worked, and by the end of those days, your father's hands no longer shook. It was a great improvement."

Melinda listened in silence for some time, then, very softly, "...play. For me, now. Please." She had a hope, if Draco would do so, that perhaps Lucius was ready if he should hear it from across the house.

"Impressive. It takes a lot to earn my mother's trust." Draco replied. "Very few earn it." Draco believed though that the big key factor was letting her see how Melinda worked and that she wouldn't be a threat to the family.

Hesitantly, Draco gave a nod. With a wave of his wand he cleaned the piano so it was dust free. After giving the piano a test, he then proceeded to tune the piano as it had been some time since it was last played.

He settled down to play a piece from memory. He thought at first he would be rusty, but found that after a few bars in that his fingers easily moved across the keys with few mistakes. He only hoped that this would bring the results Melinda wanted and not the past results.

"I'm honored to have it. There are few women as strong as she, for all that perhaps she and I might not have seen eye to eye in our past. Now, though... we manage to work together, for your father's sake." So no, not always easy around here between the two of them, but they were making it work so Lucius could get better.

But she sat back, listening, as Draco began to play. Really, she could hear even past the mistakes that once he must have been very skilled. Practice would be the only cure to buff out what had become rough with age. Her eyes closed as she enjoyed the music, but also so she could listen more closely to the hall coming towards the room. Would either of the Malfoy's take a bit of bait?

Narcissa was the first to hear the music. At first, she thought she was imagining it. It had been a long time since anyone played-- Draco had been fourteen when the music stopped. The music brought a smile to her face and it grew more when Lucius placed the paper he was reading down to investigate.

It was hard to read his expression and Narcissa wasn't sure what to expect. The last time Draco had played he was furious. Quietly, she followed her husband. Lucius stopped by the music room, but didn't step in. He wore a confused expression as he seemed lost on what to do.

Draco looked to Melinda but still played. He wasn't sure what to do now that his parents came.

Melinda quickly mouthed 'keep playing' to Draco, leaning back and keeping an eye on the two older Malfoys as they stood in the doorway. Her fingers of one hand were hidden in the folds of her robes, clenched tightly together, hoping for a good outcome. It could end in tragedy, bringing up the anger and frustration from before thanks to poor memories, but it could also be healing - memories of a better past, a new future.

So silently she hoped, because it was all she could do. If her methods worked, she believed it would lean towards a better outcome, but that was the fear of working with the mind - it was such a tricky thing.

Purposely, Draco made a few mistakes. It seemed to catch his father's attention as the confusion left his face. This particular piece had been a difficult one when he first learned it. His father moved to sit next to Draco.

"This is how it's done. You're falling into the same issue you had before," Lucius comnented and proceeded to play the section Draco was purposely butchering.

Draco simply nodded and watched as his father played. He could see his mother smiling. Draco then tentively repeated what his father had shown. It was a start. His father then continued to instruct him on the piece.

Slowly, a smile came to Melinda's face as her hopes came true. She listened silently, keeping herself not a part of the family time but not disturbing it by leaving, either. If the whole family moved over to the piano, perhaps, she would slip out unseen. It was meant to be their time together.

It made her, badly, wish to go tell her beautiful daughter how much she loved her, though.

However, it was working as she had hoped. This showed that her methods had been working as she thought they would, bringing Lucius further out of the walls he had placed around himself and his heart to try and survive the war he had placed himself into.

Midway through his instructions, Lucius had he realized he fell for his son's ruse. Instead of being upset by it, he couldn't help but smile. Draco had been trying to reach out to him and he managed to with music. He then suggested they play a song together, which Draco happily agreed to matching his father's smile.

Quietly Narcissa moved to sit next to Melinda. She placed a hand her shoulder. "Thankyou," she said in a soft voice. To see them playing together as if nothing had ever happened gave her much hope.

Melinda couldn't help but smile to the other woman, listening to the two men play. The touch was not an insignificant one, and she was no fool to misunderstand the importance of it. "It was and remains my pleasure," she said just as softly, not wanting to disturb them. "That is why I work, to see this sort of outcome."

She looked to the men, then said even more softly, "perhaps we should leave them to it. I get the feeling they may be a while." Let father and son rebond, as badly as it was needed.

"Yes, in the past they would spend hours at the piano. Hearing them play again is breathing life back in this house." Narcissa replied with a nod of agreement. She followed Melinda out of the room after giving Lucius a reassuring smile that it was safe to keep playing. Lucius gave a nod and appeared to be comfortable with just spending the time with his son. He knew as well that they would be near by.

Draco in the mean time was enjoying every minute of it. He couldn't believe that this actually worked and had been quite surprised when his father joined him. He mouthed "Thank you," to Melinda as he saw her and his mother step out to let them spend time together.

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