Disclaimer- I don't own HP.

Glad You Came

"Lucius, I will not let you take advantage of my son to save your reputation!" Narcissa Malfoy shouted, looking less put-together than usual. She looked ready to commit murder when she glared at her husband.

"Cissy, this is our only chance to get back into the Ministry's good graces!" Lucius Malfoy yelled back, just as irate. "Since the Dark Lord did not win as we expected him to, we have to use both you and Draco!" His words echoed around the barely furnished room, and if anything, Narcissa's anger levels tripled, leaving her eyes alight with rage.

Draco Malfoy turned away from the gilded door he was listening at, and walked down the hall to where the entrance to Malfoy Manor was, ignoring the row.
He needed to go somewhere, do something; he needed to get away from this stifling place. Always, always, his parents were fighting. Whenever he entered the manor, all he could think of was when Potter, Weasley and Granger were caught and imprisoned in the cellar.
All he could think of was his Aunt Bellatrix's cackles and Granger's screams as she was tortured for information.
His mother and father's racket did nothing to assist him.
It was a place filled with bad memories, and as soon as he could, he was going to be moving out, regardless of what his mother said. She was adamantly fighting him on it, as she worried far too much about what would happen to him, what with all the stray Death Eaters running around. Draco would be the ideal bounty, especially since his mother saved Harry Potter's life.

"I'm going out," Draco called softly, barely making a dent in the constant silence that surrounded his house. He didn't want to speak too loudly, just in case he was actually heard. Now, if he was heard, his mother would panic and his father would tell him to speak to as many of Potter's friends as possible to try and get into their good graces, and he just didn't feel like dealing with that right now.

Thankfully, neither of his parents heard him, too busy screaming at each other to listen. That seemed to be happening quite often, lately, and he judged that the divorce would be coming soon. Sure, his parents had tolerated, hell, even liked each other once, but now, what they had had previously was long gone.

Draco opened the door, trying to be as quiet as possible, and squeezed through the small gap he left himself. He prayed that the house elf, Manny, wouldn't notice him, as Manny tended to scold Draco if he tried to slip out without farewelling his family. He though that the little house elf was in the kitchen though, preparing for lunch, which was sure to be delicious. Draco didn't have much of an appetite.

As soon as the door had swung shut, Draco had apparated away. Where, he didn't know. He just knew that it would have to be far away. Maybe Paris. He had heard that it was nice this time of year.

In the end, he didn't land in Paris. In fact, he didn't land anywhere exotic. He was in Muggle London.

Muggle London, he thought with disgust. Of all places. He looked around, already a bit confused. He couldn't disapparate in such a crowded place, because he didn't need the Ministry on him yet again for using magic in front of the Muggles.

He wandered down a street that was flowing with people. They rushed around him like a river, some chatting and others laughing. A few were swearing. More looked anxious to get away from the rowdy throng.

He ended up being swept somewhere with rows of shops lining the sidewalk. His nose crinkled at all of the heels and handbags and make-up.

"You're looking a bit confused there, mate, you alright?"

He didn't realise that he had walked in to one of those shops until a shop assistant came over to him. He was surprised that the odour hadn't assaulted him first. It was the scent of fresh paint, which was something he hadn't smelled for quite a while.

"I suppose so," Draco said reluctantly, looking this Muggle over with sharp grey eyes. Her blonde curls were pulled into a simple ponytail, accentuating her rounded face and upturned nose. Her lavender shirt was un-tucked from her black skirt, first button undone. Her blue eyes were wide with amusement as she returned his glance with interest. She wasn't the prettiest thing going around, but her eyes were nice and her grin was contagious. She also had a smudge of green paint dabbed on her temple, and yellow on her chin, which he found oddly endearing.

"Looking for a gift for your girlfriend?" she asked teasingly and a little to innocently. Fishing for information, he thought with a smirk.

He quickly looked around to see what kind of store he was actually in, so that he wouldn't look like an idiot. He discovered that he had walked into a shop that was filled with canvases and paint. How he hadn't realised that when he first considered the smell was beyond him.

"Er… Yeah. Yes I am." My non-existent one, he added mentally. He didn't know why he said it, why he didn't just high-tail out of there.

Her huge smile dimmed a bit from disappointment, but she was obviously forcing herself to stay professional in the light of this news.

"Brilliant. Well, I'm Gen, I'm just a store assistant, but I'm sure that I could help you find a painting for your girlfriend. Is it a present for her birthday or something?" Gen asked brightly. The funny thing was that the brightness wasn't even forced. Well, she bounced back quickly.

"Or something," he said vaguely. She led him over to a wall plastered with canvases that were each splattered with paint.

"What kind of colours does she like? Or, even better, what colour scheme does she have in her house?" she said eagerly, already over the fact that Draco had a 'girlfriend'.

He raked his mind for that time when Narcissa was redecorating and had what seemed like hundreds of colour palettes out. He blurted out the first colour he could think of, a colour that Narcissa had turned down immediately when suggested.

"Yellow." Yellow? Why am I such an idiot? I could've picked green or blue, and I chose yellow?

Gen's smile widened. "Yellow, huh?" She bit her lip, obviously trying to hold in her laughter. He glanced at the yellow splash of paint on her chin, and swore inwardly.

"No- I meant green!" he said as his eyes skipped to the paint on her temple. That was green.

Why? Draco felt like banging his head against a wall until he couldn't see straight.

She put her hands on her hips, obviously trying to make herself look bigger, but her eyes glittered with amusement. "Listen, mate, how about you come back some other time, when you actually have a girlfriend, and pick out a gift then. Because, no offense, but you're kind of wasting my time."

"Would you count?" he said, cheeks tinging a soft pink. Did I drink something funny at breakfast this morning? Because this is ridiculous. He would have to have a chat with Manny when he got back to the Manor.

"How about you take me for lunch first. We'll see how it goes then."

…Or not.

As Draco watched Gen lock up the store, he couldn't help thinking that he was pretty glad he came to Muggle London. He wondered what his parents would think. Narcissa would be a bit reserved, but otherwise ecstatic, but Lucius would be furious.

Oh, he couldn't wait for that argument.

"You ready to go, handsome?" Gen called out, giving the door one last slam to close it.

"Born ready," he replied, grinning for the first time in a while.

Yes, he was very glad he came.

Hello everyone, written for the Title Swap Competition II on the HPFC forum. I was given the character Draco Malfoy, as you might have guessed. I have never written Draco before, so please, tell me what you think? Also, what'd you think of Gen? Was she a Mary-Sue or anything?

R&R!

Love,

Silvs