LANDSLIDE, james potter [2]

Chapter Twenty-Six

It was a great relief for Lyra as she watched the Dark Lord leave Malfoy Manor, knowing he wouldn't return for a long time. He couldn't stay in one place for too long, not even at their home. She wasn't sure where he was going. Part of her didn't want to know, but another needed to know in hope to give the Order of the Phoenix important information. 

She tried to ask Lucius, though not outright. He looked a bit suspicious as to why she wanted to know, but only told her the truth. He had no idea, and it was not their place to ask. They were measly servants of the Dark Lord, after all. 

Lyra hated the fact that Lucius had taken up his old mantle as a Death Eater. Not only because she hated being the wife of a Death Eater, but because he was obviously terrified and miserable, which meant he made everyone else miserable around him. 

She hated to admit that she cared about him. She didn't really want him to get hurt, even if she has spent a long time daydreaming about punching him in the face or hexing or cursing him. It always brought a smile to her face on a gloomy day. 

But she was 35 years old, closing in on 36. She was only 18 when she became engaged to Lucius, so she had spent almost half her life with him. Day in, day out, getting to know the person he was even if it wasn't someone she liked very much. 

That much time together meant that one would grow to despise parts of the other, but will also care about one another despite it all. She loathed caring about a man who had ruined so many parts of her life. That didn't mean she could stop it. 

The Malfoys ate their first dinner together in ages, even if Lyra told them to make it early because she was going out. She had a feast dinner at Twelve Grimmauld Place, which Molly had quickly invited her to. She didn't know what they were celebrating but she just hoped there'd be firewhiskey. 

The dinner was quiet for a little while, none of them knowing what to say. The Dark Lord had only left a little while before and they still weren't used to the feeling of being just them and the house elves. 

"I got a letter today," Draco then spoke up quietly, barely having touched his food. "My Hogwarts letter. I would have shown you earlier but... there were things going on here, you know."

Lyra exchanged a quick glance with Lucius, both of them silently agreeing it was sad that he didn't feel like he could tell them things because of Voldemort. "It's alright, darling. Any good news?"

Draco had a feeling about what she was asking. It was the entry into his fifth year, after all. Any student who had been even close to exemplary throughout the last years was waiting to find out if their efforts had been good enough. "I got prefect."

Lyra grinned widely, suddenly fist-pumping the air in great joy. If she wasn't sitting in a chair, she would have been jumping up and down in pure excitement. "Yes! Yes, I knew it! This is so great, I am so proud of you."

"Thanks, mother," the blond boy said softly, a small smile on his face. But he had always known Lyra would be happy and proud of him, also that she would show it. The last person at the table was a mystery for him.

"Very well done, Draco," said Lucius, though quite stoically. There was little emotion visible on his face, except for a small smirk. "I'm quite proud of what you've done. I knew you had it in you."

"They were bound to make you one, I knew it all along," the woman wouldn't stop saying, filled with the greatest happiness she had had in a while (excluding Remus, Sirius and Harry, of course). "Both your parents were Slytherin prefects, of course. We're building a damn dynasty."

Draco wasn't usually the type to show he was happy (or any emotion at all that wasn't anger, which again meant he was too much like his father), but he couldn't help but snicker a bit at how happy his mother was. "I wouldn't go that far."