Guiding Light || OC x Draco Malfoy

Chapter 7:

A few days passed before I saw Draco again. The door would open, and I would hold my breath, hoping for him to be there, but he never was. The nurses that did come to me weren't nearly as personable as Draco was, though I suppose that's to be expected. In all honesty, I was surprised that they talked to me at all. Draco was the only person that I had talked to since getting here, bar Hermione Granger, of course.

Speaking of that foul witch, the things she had told me in our meeting last week were still making me question basically everything. I had killed Draco's wife, yet he stayed here to care for me. He has a son that I would assume he loves, but he still stayed with me. I left him alone to take care of his son all by himself, but he never told me, never broke, and stayed with me. He didn't deserve any of this. He's a good man with what I think is a good heart. He did nothing to get the treatment he did, and I'm the only reason for all of it. I ruined his life.

Of course, after I have all of this information, he disappears for days. I suppose I can't blame him, though. While my life may be confined to this 10 x 10 room, he has a job, has a life, and had a family. He needs some time to get things in order, just like I do. I felt bad for causing all this turmoil for him, but I felt no real need to apologize. I felt guilty and sympathetic, but I wasn't sorry. I knew that I probably should, but I just didn't. In fact, I didn't feel much of anything at all.

My thoughts stayed on that actively derailing train of guilt and power, and confliction and plain worry. According to my clock, it was October 22; five days since I had last seen him, and five days that I had to fester up questions for him. Even though I knew that I had absolutely no right to feel the way I did, I was a little hurt that he had hidden that much from me for this long. Though when I thought about from his angle, why should he tell me things like that; I'm a threat to people, and I know it too. I guess he made the smart decision with all the secrecy.

It was only a few hours later when my door opened for my daily attendance. Giving up hope after yesterday, I hadn't expected him to come at all. Needless to say, I was a little more than shocked when he came in with the nurse today. Looking up at me, but not saying anything, he took his usual spot in his chair, looking at me from the foot of my bed. There was so much I wanted to say to him, but no words left my lips.

The awkwardness in the air was as thick as syrup and felt like it was pressing down on my chest, keeping me from breathing right. The nurse left a few minutes later and now we were alone. He toyed with his hands for a little while, all but refusing to meet my eyes as he stared down. While his eyes never truly met me, I felt the burning of them as if they were. We each offered a few sighs or heavy releases of breath, but still never looked at each other. It was torturously tense. I deserved it on some level, I knew.

"Thank you."

Thank me? Had he gone crazy or something?

"What are you talking about?"

" I was talking about giving you my thanks. I thought that was the obvious part about all of this."

"I got that, but why? I take it you know about..."

"You and Astoria. Yeah, I've figured it for a little while. They only told me a few days ago, the same day as you, actually. That's what I'm thanking you for--."

"For murdering your wife?" Maybe he had gone crazy after all.

"Ex-wife, actually, and yes, I am. We divorced rather turbulently a few years back. Affairs, and scandals, and lord knows what else she wasn't telling me. Needless to say, the prophet was all over it. Quite the madhouse, honestly."

"Draco, I'm..."

" Don't say you're sorry if you don't mean it. I don't care if you mean it and say it or not, but I don't want lies from you, Adeline. I've had my suspicions about the whole thing for weeks, but I took care of you all the same. Now's no different, so don't make this awkward, please."

I was at a loss for words, honestly. How could the man that I'd grown to make a friend of thank me for killing his wife. I mean, I get turbulent relationships, but I don't think he should be thanking me for anything. Like Hermione said, I ruined his whole life by just existing.

"What about your son? Surly that would have tipped you off sooner."

"Astoria and her new fiance got custody of him. I haven't seen him since his birthday last February, and that's the only time I get to see him. That's why I was thanking you." Was he seriously saying what I think he was? "Because Astoria is...gone, and she never fully remarried, I have custody of him now. I took a few days off to spend some time with him, so I'm sorry for leaving you alone like that"

He was apologizing to me for spending time with his son after I killed his ex-wife. Still betting on his insanity.

"Draco, please don't. This whole thing is on me, so please don't try to apologize to me." Even though I still didn't mean it, I almost told him I was sorry. Almost. " I-I'm sure you are a wonderful father. Your son is lucky to have you."

"Well I'm a better father than I am a husband, but even then I lost my son for nearly 2 years, so how good can I really be?" He said it like he was joking, but the sad tint to his grey eyes told me otherwise.

"Rather good, I'd imagine. You aren't that bad of a person. Mind you, I may not have the best idea of what's wrong and right in this world, but you are a good person, Draco Malfoy."

This must have offered him a little consolation, because his eyes illuminated ever so slightly, and his smile turn just a little happier. My moral compass, if it exists at all, is very flawed. I kill and maim and torture because it brings me joy, not because I'm insane or delusional, but simply because I want to. I was corrupt and I knew here was nothing I could do about it, because I didn't want that to change. Draco was a good person. Yes, he may have done bad things in the past, but he was good because he wanted to be. That was the difference between us.

" If you are comfortable with telling me, what's your son' s name?" A small little smile tugged at his lips, trying hard to counteract the frown pulling them to the floor. Even though I had never seen him in action, and I had only known about it for a few days, I knew that Draco was an amazing father, cheating wives aside.

" Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy. His middle name was supposed to be Draco, but I couldn't stand that name."

I couldn't help the little warm feelings in my chest, hearing him sound so gentle when he spoke of his son like that.

"Why not? It's your name after all?"

"Most of the 28 sacred pureblood families, Malfoys included, have had a tradition for centuries. All male children are supposed to have the name of their father as a middle name. Scorpius, as my son, was supposed to have the name Draco, but I couldn't stand it. I'm the third person in my family bloodline to have 'Draco' in their name. My father is the same way; 4 Lucius'. The repetition gets old after a while, and who cares so much about appeasing centuries-gone ancestors as to ruin the name of their first-born child. Did any of that make sense?"

" A lot, actually. Names have a lot of power, so it's important you choose good ones for those you love. And I can't help but notice something about your family names; Draco, Lucius, Scorpius, Narcissa. They're all stars, aren't they--or constellation, galaxies, and astrological figures, more accurately." He contemplated my words for a little while, perhaps running them through is head.

"Yeah, actually, they are. What, do you like astronomy or something? I only know the stupid little trivial things that they taught at Hogwarts; moon phases, the retro and anterograde forms of stars, planetary alignment, star identification. You know, the little stuff." He smiled at his form of a joke and I found myself unable to stop myself from doing the same.

"I suppose you could say that, yeah"