“Oh, I know that all too well. Sometimes you just have to grin and take it, hm?” he agreed with a little smile. Fighting was useless in the household he grew up in, but Severus was stubborn and had done it constantly anyway. He could’ve saved himself a lot of pain and sleepless nights if he’d just kept his mouth shut, but he could never keep himself from speaking his mind. As an adult, he’d taken great care to learn when to bite his tongue.
Severus sat up in his seat when the house elves came with the tea. He always thought their servants were strange, but he’d spent so much time with the Malfoys by now that he’d grown used to them. He reached across the table and took a cup for himself. “Thank you, Cissa. I appreciate that,” he told her politely, nodding. He thought himself to be more cunning than Lucius, and likely could handle any ridiculous request of his, but having another person on his side was always a good thing.
He frowned. Lucius had asked him to try to talk some ‘sense’ into his wife about their son’s schooling, and he felt obligated to give it a go. “Ah, well, Lucius and I were talking and… I mean, Hogwarts is a great choice, I would love to have Draco in my House, of course… But we both were thinking that Draco might fit in quite well at Durmstrang. Would he not? As a teacher myself, I have to say that their Dark Arts program is quite impressive.” Severus took a sip of his tea, raising his eyebrows.
“Or always have to grin and take it.” She muttered, remembering how Andy had always seemed so happy but was rather quick to leave the family. Then again, she also admired her sister at the fact that she’d had the guts to say no to their mother, and maybe if Cissy had been able to do that, she wouldn’t be here.
Narcissa took a sip of her tea and smiled as Draco attempted to do the same, before making a face. She quickly waved a house elf over and requested they get him some milk instead. “Of course, Sev.” She said softly, looking up from her son who was now happily drinking milk.
“Of course. He asked you to what, talk me into it.” She asked, her tone angry. She quickly covered her sons ears with her hands. “My son will not be going to that fucking place- he is all I have that is good here, and I will not lose him to that school, if Hogwarts was good enough for me, then it is good enough for Draco.”