Author: HermioneWeasley1972
Story: Cats in the Cradle
Rating: Teens
Setting: Pre-OotP
Status: Completed
Reviews: 6
Words: 4,528
I've long since retired, my son's moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind"
He said, "I'd love to, Dad, if I can find the time
You see my new job's a hassle and kids have the flu
But it's sure nice talking to you, Dad
It's been sure nice talking to you"
Draco stood before his mother's crypt in the Malfoy family cemetery, his eyes full of tears which he was too proud to allow to fall. It had been five years since he and Snape had finally come out of hiding, pardoned due to a letter which been found written in Albus Dumbledore's own handwriting.
To whom it may concern,
I have known for some time that my time in the wizarding world was coming to its natural end. I am well aware of Voldemort's request that Draco end my life. I want it to be known that should either Draco or Severus kill me, it has been prearranged. I am not afraid to die. To me, death is the next big adventure.
I leave this world, this lovely world, to those who come after me. My only regret is that I will not live to see the end of the war, but I have faith that Harry Potter, with the aid of Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, will rid this world of the terror which plagues it now.
I must leave you now, but I urge you to remember the standards I lived by:
Candy is important. Always keep a lot of it around.
Never discount the importance of a pair of woolly socks.
Sincerely yours,
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Draco sighed and looked at his mother's plaque.
Narcissa Malfoy
Wife, mother
Without darkness, there can be no light.
He hadn't got to say goodbye to her - Voldemort had killed her because he thought she knew where he was. But his mother never knew and it tore him up inside that he was the indirect cause of her death.
"Mother, I am sorry that I wasn't here for you," Draco said quietly. "You were always there for me, even to your dying day. You died to protect me."
He ran his hand over the marble face of the sepulcher, wishing for one last embrace from his mother, one last time to see the smile which she rarely shared with anyone but him. A lone tear cascaded down his right cheek.
Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Draco drew his wand as he spun around and came face to face with the man who he despised above all others, who he blamed for the man he had become, who he blamed for his mother's death - his father.
"Back again, Draco?" Lucius' eyes had regained some of the spark they had lost during his stay in Azkaban. Lucius had become a model prisoner and as such had been released.
Draco's steely eyes bored into his father's, his teeth gritted and his hands clenched by his sides. "Why couldn't you have died instead of her?"
"Draco-"
"No Father, not anymore. I don't even know why I call you Father. I was never your son. Yes, you are my biological father, but I was a commodity, I was someone to carry on the family name. I was someone to show off at parties. Severus Snape was more of a father to me than you ever were. Goodbye, Father." With that Draco Apparated away.
~*~
Draco looked up as an owl fluttered into his office at the Ministry. Accepting the parchment from the owl, he noted the St. Mungo's crest on it. Unrolling the parchment, he read:
Dear Mr. Malfoy,
Your father is ill and is requesting your presence. I would advise you to act in haste, as his condition is grave and we are not certain if he will live for much longer.
Healer Styler
Draco read and reread the parchment several times. It had been ten years since he left his father at his mother's graveside and he had not heard from him since.
Taking his quill, he penned a response and sent it with the owl back to St. Mungo's.
~*~
Healer Styler worriedly paced his office. Lucius Malfoy was on a downward spiral due to depression and none of the conventional treatments had worked. Specialists had been brought in from far and wide - no expense had been spared, but it was all for nought. He had written to Draco hoping that he might come; seeing his son again would be just the thing to help the elder Malfoy out of his depressed state.
He looked up to see the owl he had sent to Draco Malfoy was now perched on a nearby chair. Taking the letter from it, he noticed the message was addressed specifically to Lucius. Going into the man's room, he looked at the pale, gaunt figure lying in the bed. The eyes were sunken into his head and the blonde hair had lost all of its luster.
"Mr. Malfoy? I have a letter here for you from your son. Would you like for me to read it to you?"
A barely perceptible nod was his only response.
"Dear Father, I regret to inform you that I will be unable to visit. Things are very busy at the Ministry these days and with school beginning in just a month the Board of Governors is getting everything ready. I am quite sure that you understand, just as I understood when you told me that you had to work. I accepted it then, and I ask for you to accept it now. Kindest regards, Draco Malfoy."
Lucius muttered something which the Healer could not hear or understand but he was excited. It was the first time Lucius had spoken since his admittance two years before.
"What was that, Mr. Malfoy?"
"My son has grown up to be just like I was. He's just like me."
~*~
At the end of the day, Draco stood up, straightened his robes, and Apparated home. Pansy opened the door, a vision which washed away all the worries and cares of the day. They had several house-elfs, but when Draco returned home from work, she was the one who preferred to greet him. The house-elfs were instructed to only answer the door for guests.
Alexander came running to greet him. His hair was the colour of ravens, like his mother, but his eyes were definitely like his father's. He was just ten years old, one year away from Hogwarts.
"Father, will you go for a fly with me?
Smiling at his son, Draco nodded. "Just let me change out of my robes. I'll meet you out on the field."
"Okay, Father," Alexander said with a smile as he ran back out of the room.
Thinking of his father, Draco shook his head. He may have the name of Malfoy, but he refused to let his son think that he was unloved. Alexander would know his father, and know that he was no matter what he was important to him.
He had not grown up like his father, not when it came to Alexander. But he'd be damned if he would allow his father, who had never given him the time of day, to take precedence over his son.
And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me
He'd grown up just like me
My boy was just like me
And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then