who: @nxrcissam where: Draco’s bedroom, Malfoy Manor when: 7:30 p.m. on November 12th, 1982
Work hummed in the back of his mind as he walked down the dark hall. Lucius had come home from work late and missed dinner. He usually did his best to be home in time, but it seemed in recent weeks his already packed days were being scheduled with even more meetings and events. Spending the evening at his office used to be a rare occasion, a blip that he would apologize to Narcissa for. Now it seemed like he was there half his nights.
The Malfoys didn’t have any social or personal items in their calendar that evening, so most of the house had gone dark already. The sun had set hours ago, and most of the lights had gone out since, for all their glory, half the grand rooms in their home barely got any use. There was no one in the large manor except the three of them and his father.
As Lucius came upon Draco’s room, he stopped in the doorway. There, in front of him, were the two people he cared about more than anything else in the world. Narcissa sat on the edge of Draco’s new bed that they’d gotten for him a couple of months ago. Even though it was only a double, Draco looked so small as he lay there, tucked in neatly underneath the sheets and plush duvet. From what he could hear of the story and from the way Draco could barely keep his eyelids open, Lucius guessed they were almost near the end of his bedtime story.
Part of him wanted to walk over, sit with his wife, and finish reading the story to his son. However, Lucius held back. Draco and Narcissa had their own routines that had nothing to do with him. While he was off at work, in the office or abroad, they were together, learning, playing, and growing. He didn’t think it would be right to interrupt when he wouldn’t be able to join them most evenings. He didn’t want his son to get used to him being there, only to be disappointed when he wasn’t. In moments like this, Lucius did his best to believe that they’d find more things to do together as Draco got older. Work would get less stressful, the more senior he became the more he could delegate, and then he’d have more time to spend at home. That’s what Lucius kept telling himself.
Narcissa’s melodic voice faded and she gently closed the book. Draco lost the valiant fight he’d put up, soundly sleeping in the middle of his bed as Lucius stepped out of the doorway and into the hall. He waited for Narcissa to join him, momentarily getting lost in his own thoughts as he did.
It was too easy to slip back into the day’s troubles. Lucius almost wished he could charm the grounds to make it impossible for his mind to slip away when he was at home. They deserved his full attention one hundred percent of the time, but unfortunately both of his jobs were too important to ever entirely be out of mind.
He didn’t even see Narcissa step out and close the door. Though he was sure no magic was involved, it was as if she was on the bed with Draco and then immediately there, standing in front of him. Lucius leaned forward and gave Narcissa a soft kiss on the lips, both out of love and as an unspoken apology.
“How was he today?” Lucius whispered, still leaning in towards her. Even though the door was closed, he kept his voice soft out of fear of waking Draco. “Everything fine with the pediatric healer?” It had been a regular scheduled check up, but Lucius asked nonetheless.
