Black In Bloom
The Narcissa Malfoy Foundation
Draco Malfoy was nervous. More nervous than he had been than the first time he'd kissed a bloke, more than nervous than he had been when he'd sucked someone off for the first time. Those were mischievous things, personal things. This was business.
Draco along with his business partner Pansy ran a company called 'Black in Bloom,' it was a not for profit organisation that planted flowers in homes of wizards and children that were undergoing life-threatening illnesses.
Draco's mother, Narcissa Malfoy, had been wrongly robbed of her life at the age of forty due to a curse that Bellatrix Lestrange had placed on her sisters. Bellatrix had pledged her allegiance to the Dark Lord and under his guardianship had placed a curse on the Black sisters stating that any betrayal will result in a mysterious illness that will terminate their life. It was her ultimate offering to the Dark Lord.
Andromeda Tonks had married a Muggle-born and had caused the ultimate betrayal, she died shortly after the demise of the Dark Lord. Narcissa Malfoy had betrayed the Dark Lord by pronouncing Harry Potter dead when he wasn't. She had survived the curse for a while, many had believed that perhaps Bellatrix had lied about placing the curse on Narcissa. However, after the trials, when Narcissa and Draco had been cleared of any wrong-doing, Narcissa fell quite ill.
There wasn't a Healer anywhere that could diagnose her with the cause of her proper illness and day by day, week by week, her health was unsteady and fading. The only peace she had in her life was when she tended to her garden. She would deliver her flowers to sick children in the hospital and they would brighten up their day. Therefore, a week after her funeral, Draco had decided to set up a foundation in her name to honour her and continue her cause of providing hope to people with emotional and psychological needs.
'Black In Bloom' provided healing gardens that proved to be therapeutic sanctuaries for many wizards. Funding was initially provided by the Parkinson Family and the Malfoy wealth, however, slowly, the cause had taken a life of its own and many wizards contributed to it on an annual basis.
The biggest donor to the 'Black In Bloom' foundation had been an anonymous wizard. He or she communicated to the foundation through a solicitor and never revealed his or her identity. It was said that at the tenth anniversary gala of 'Black In Bloom' this anonymous donor would attend but, Draco and Pansy still had no idea who he or she was.
This is why Draco was nervous. He wanted to make a good impression on all the attendees, even the ones that hated him for being a former Death Eater.
"What's he doing here?" Pansy asked pointing at an unexpected guest who'd just entered the venue through the main door.
"Oh, Potter?" Draco asked. "I invited Teddy and he's Teddy's legal guardian, so you know."
"You're becoming awfully close with Potter, Draco," Pansy said.
"You're mad, Pansy. Teddy is the guest of honour, he's a Black family heir, I had to invite Potter. Besides, he's a Healer at St Mungo's, " Draco retaliated. Pansy simply shook her head and walked away leaving Draco wondering why he felt the need to defend himself.
"Potter, you're looking well. You too, Teddy," Draco greeted his guests with sincerity. Teddy jumped and hugged Draco, which he still wasn't used to. Affection wasn't his forte. "So, ready for the big speech?" Draco asked Teddy.
"I have to give a speech?" a young Teddy asked, bright-eyed and nervous.
Draco laughed. "No, you don't have to give the speech, I do. You just have to cut the cake."
"Yes!" Teddy exclaimed. "Harry, can I go see the cake?" he turned towards his godfather and all but begged.
"Okay, but don't touch anything!" Potter answered and soon Teddy was off to the main stage to see the decorations and the cake.
"Thanks for bringing him," Draco said as he noticed that Potter did, in fact, look well. He wore formfitting robes that accentuated his muscles. Draco straightened himself when he realised he was staring at Potter.
"So, any other special guests tonight?" Potter asked as Draco noticed that Potter's smile hadn't diminished.
That flustered Draco. "Erm, just a mystery guest I suppose. An anonymous donor."
"An anonymous donor?" Potter asked.
"Yes, for the past five years our funding has doubled. It's hard to believe really, I honestly had thought that we were going to have to close our doors until we received the first donation. Do you remember that?" Draco asked Potter who nodded in reluctance as though he wasn't sure. "Remember when Pansy suggested that Teddy should be the face of our foundation, that wizards would donate more if they saw an orphaned child than a couple of wannabe Death Eaters? And I was so furious with her."
"I remember, you'd said, you'd rather let the cause die than use a child in a manipulative manner," Potter answered. "I thought it was quite noble – honourable – really."
Draco felt his face blushing. "Thanks, my mother wasn't much of a spiritual person until her last few days and she'd told me that she finally believed that everything happened for a reason. I wonder what's the reasoning behind an out of the blue mysterious benefactor."
Potter didn't respond.
"Draco, we're ready," Pansy announced. Draco nodded at Potter and headed towards the stage. Pansy lurked behind.
"You think you're so sneaky, Potter," Pansy remarked.
"What do you mean?" Potter asked.
"You can fool Draco, but don't think I don't know," Pansy uttered and Potter looked at her confounded. "A mysterious benefactor right when I had suggested to use that little brat for fundraising. The way the two of you were on and on about his innocence and blah blah blah. I know it's you, don't even try to deny it."
Potter remained quiet for a few moments. "Are you going to tell him?" he finally asked.
"I won't if you make me a promise," Pansy replied.
"What's that?" Potter raised an eyebrow.
"Tell him how you feel, ask him out for coffee," Pansy announced as she walked away to join Draco on stage.
The End
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