When Narcissa is Away

Written for the Death Eaters Have Gone Astray Challenge.

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, Snape would have owned a poodle.

"Now, Draco," Lucius began, as soon as he heard the door to the manor close behind his wife. "I am sure you know why I have summoned you to my bedroom?"

Draco looked around the room. He saw the large bed his mother and father shared at night, the oversized mirror to the side that he had caught his mother staring into for hours at a time, and what he strongly hoped was not a pair of his father's underwear under the bed. He had no idea why Lucius had asked him to come here when any other room would do.

"Of course." This wasn't exactly true, but Lucius just seemed so excited about all of this. Draco was fully aware of what happened when someone didn't understand his father's excitement.

Satisfied with his son's answer, Lucius opened the closet-not his own closet, but Narcissa's closet-and took out a dress. "Isn't it beautiful?" he asked Draco.

The two Malfoy men had entirely different ideas of "beautiful." The dress Lucius was holding was a shade of pink that made Draco think of a ham. The garment itself looked like something a five-year-old girl might wear, with a large bow in the back. Draco wasn't sure he wanted to know why his mother owned something like that.

"What are we doing with that?"

Draco hoped his father would say something along the lines of, "Burn it," Instead, he pulled down the zipper of the dress and hastily began removing his clothes.

He could only stare in shock as his father shimmied into the dress like he did it every day. When he was finished, Lucius turned to his son. "Draco, would you mind?"

"Mind what?"

Lucius gave Draco an annoyed look. "The zipper, Draco."

Draco pulled the zipper.

"Much better," said Lucius, admiring his reflection. "I've always liked this dress. It reminds me of what your mother wore when I met her."

When Draco was younger, conversations about his parents meeting usually led to one of them saying, "And then we had you," and giving him ice cream. Now, however, it led to Lucius saying, "Your turn," and giving him another of Narcissa's dresses.

This one was green. Good. A color Draco could stomach.

"What are you waiting for?" Lucius demanded. "Put it on!"

Draco reluctantly obeyed. The dress he had donned wasn't as ugly as his father's, but this one itched. "Father, this isn't exactly comfortable," he said.

"It's not meant to be comfortable, Draco," replied Lucius. "Part of being a woman is learning how to deal with uncomfortable clothes."

Draco could handle his father's strange hobby. He could even join in if his father wanted him to that badly (and there weren't many people that could make him put on an itchy dress). What threw him off a bit was Lucius saying, "part of being a woman."

So he questioned this.

"Well, Draco, I find the clothing, lifestyle, and social habits of the woman to be more appealing than those traditionally offered to men," said Lucius. "Of course, society frowns upon that, so I have to sneak in here when your mother goes out and put on her dresses."

"Why does this involve me?" asked Draco.

Lucius looked slightly taken aback, but quickly recomposed himself as all Malfoy men are taught to do. "As a boy your age..."

"I'm seventeen."

"As a young man your age, I was never given the opportunity to experiment with such things. I simply wanted you to know what appeals more to you."

"Thank you...Father," Draco stammered. "That was very...educational."

As Draco collected his clothes and left the room, Lucius could tell he didn't believe a word he had said. That was okay. As long as no one ever found out that Lucius did it because it made him feel pretty.

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