Chapter 31

                                    

                                          
"I don't see you a lot, spending your time with Draco, aren't you?" Narcissa said as she fluffed Hermione's curly hair.
Hermione attempted to hide the blush that was spreading on her face and shrugged casually. "He likes showing me around, even if he basically showed me the music room ten times," Hermione paused when Narcissa gave a small chuckle then continued. "He loves spending his time there, playing the piano. He even attempted to teach me, but I keep failing." She didn't admit that to him, but Hermione was annoyed at the fact that she kept failing at playing the piano when it wasn't even that hard. It wasn't even because of Draco, no, Draco was an amazing teacher, and he was so patient with her. It was just her. And Hermione didn't like failing at anything, which was why she was going to spend some time alone in the music room before getting ready for the ball today. 
"Learning how to play the piano is very hard. It takes focusing, patience, and a little bit of talent. It took me years to finally learn how to play it skillfully, Draco merely took three months, even less! He was —still is— very fond of the piano. It was a gift from Lucius, he gave it to him in third year. Draco spent the entirety of summer playing the piano that year. Lucius and I couldn't keep him away from it; it was one of the rare items that Draco cherished." Narcissa said as she started to style Hermione's hair in a very close way to what Hermione did in fourth year. 
Hermione smiled at Narcissa's words. She didn't know much about Lucius, but everything that Narcissa said proved that he was a good husband, and perhaps even a good father. But every time she thought of him as a good father, Draco's words flew to the forefront of her mind, reminding her of that night on the Astronomy Tower. 
"I didn't exactly have a father-son bond with him growing up." 
She couldn't stop the words that tumbled out of her mouth. "Draco told me that Lucius and him were not exactly close, but...everything you have said so far proves that Lucius was a good father. Why is your view of him different from Draco's view?" 
Narcissa seemed to furrow her eyebrows in thought, seemingly thinking about Hermione's question. Hermione thought that she was not going to answer, but then again, Narcissa Malfoy was not predictable. After all, she did lie to Voldemort during the war, something that most people wouldn't dare do, in fact, Hermione doesn't know many people that would have done what Narcissa Malfoy did. She was one of the main factors that helped them win the war. Hermione remembers how Harry talked about her bravery, and how he admired her for what she did. Hermione couldn't help but feel the same. 
Narcissa broke Hermione's thought process, but Hermione didn't mind in the least. "Lucius was my husband, his treatment of both Draco and I was different because of many factors. Draco grew up with Lucius teaching him how to be the perfect heir. He didn't notice his treatment of me because he was so busy hating Lucius on the inside, even though he doesn't hate him. Love and hate have so very little differences that sometimes people mistake one for the other. That's Draco's case. He thought he despised Lucius so much that the love he once had for him became unclear to his heart. He couldn't differentiate between the two, so he chose the easiest feeling to follow. Hate. Hate is easier than love, so much easier. You can hate someone for absolutely no reason, but to love people, you have to find reasons for it. Draco couldn't find visible reasons, because he didn't pay attention to what wasn't visible, so he escaped all of this dilemma by hating on Lucius, focusing on the visible reasons that would encourage such an awful feeling. But Draco wasn't there when Lucius defied his family to marry me. He wasn't there when Lucius proposed to me when we were in school. He wasn't there when Lucius refused to marry in an arranged marriage. Lucius and I are more complicated than it seems." Narcissa stopped to take a breath before continuing.