The Model Son

~ Chapter One: The Ball ~

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters in this fiction are the property of J.K. Rowling. I make no profit from this fiction.

Last time…

Draco had just found out that he is to meet someone at the ball tonight, and he must persuade her to marry him...

Draco stood in front of the gilded full-length mirror situated near his closet in his bedroom. He adjusted his tie, and had to stop from choking himself with it. He was a 'bundle of nervous', to quote Mattie. Currently, his beloved house elf nanny (though he would never admit it to anyone) was bustling about his room, putting away all of the clothes he had considered wearing. Unlike most female house elves, she wore pants fashioned from baby pants along with a shirt that used to be a pillowcase.

Looking back at the mirror, Draco assessed his appearance with a critical eye. He was wearing a gray dress shirt to accentuate his eyes, and a black suit over it. His legs were encased in black trousers matching his suit. The tie he wore was black, and his shoes were polished to shine. Mattie had convinced him to leave his hair natural, and Draco had to admit that it looked better this way. His platinum locks had grown long, and they hung over his eyes in a very casual way. His eyes, though sharp as ever, looked rather tired, belying a restless night.

Without being too vain about it, Draco knew that he was good looking. He had had many Slytherin admirers in Hogwarts, girls and boys. Back then, he had to uphold his image of uncaring, arrogant arse, and therefore, he never had the opportunity to see anyone on a personal level. Not to mention his involvement with the Dark Lord had left him too busy.

If Draco was honest with himself, he would have to admit that most of the Slytherin girls weren't his type. Actually, he didn't know what his type was. Frustrated with his incompetence, Draco slumped down on his bed and put his head in hands, much like last night, only tonight, his hair felt nice to touch. What am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to woo this girl if I have no experience?

"What is the matter with Young Master sir?" Mattie walked over to Draco and tilted her head to get a better look at his concealed face. Draco smiled at her and winked.

"Nothing, Mattie," Draco lied. But he was too easily found out. What he didn't know was that every time he lied, he had a tendency to scratch his left arm, where his dark mark used to be. The dark mark had evaporated with the demise of the Dark Lord, but the fear was still there. Mattie watched as his right hand compulsively went to his left and he scratched at the suit. She frowned.

"Young Master, are you not happy with Master's father's decision for an arranged marriage?" Mattie asked daringly. Normally, a house elf asking such a thing would be punished. It wasn't in their place to speak to their master like an equal. But Mattie had been Draco's confidante when he had needed support that could not be found from family. When he was sick, she was the one who made his favourite chicken noodle soup to make him feel better. When the Dark Lord had been extremely cruel, Draco would come to her for comfort.

No body but they two knew of this mother-son relationship. It wouldn't do to broadcast that the heir of the Malfoys treated a lowly house elf as a mentor. Mattie wasn't offended, because she too knew of the consequences. To the others in Malfoy Manor, Draco 'preferred' Mattie because she was more competent than other elves.

Draco now gave Mattie a look, telling her everything she needed to know. "Young Master needn't sacrifice himself. No, no. It wouldn't do, Young Master sir. Young Master would be unhappy with Young Master's new mate," Mattie murmured. "Young Master should tell Master Malfoy that he cannot do it. He mustn't," Mattie's eyes looked determined to stop her master from wasting his life away.

Draco smiled at the tiny elf. She was always there for him at times like this, and normally, he would have followed her advice, but not today. "Yes, Mattie. I am not happy about this marriage proposal. But I'm not going to 'knock it before I try it'. Who's to say that this… Astoria… would be all that bad? I haven't even met her!"

Mattie bowed her head, deep in thought. A slow minute ticked by, and finally, she looked up. "All right, Young Master sir. But if Young Master sir is needing to talk with Mattie, he should call Mattie," Mattie compromised. Draco nodded and patted the elf's head, making sure not to hurt her bat-like ears. He stood from the bed, and fixed his hair once more. As he ran his hand through the locks, he thought of something. He turned around to face Mattie, who was currently making his bed.

"Mattie, I want you to promise me that you won't tell father, mother or anyone else for that matter, about what I told you," Draco gave Mattie a hard look, "you aren't to write to them, you aren't to hand signal them and you aren't to communicate at all with them, about this discussion. Okay?" Mattie gave Draco a long look and nodded.

"Yes sir," she conceded. Draco immediately felt bad for mistrusting her, but it had to be done. He knew that Mattie wouldn't have said anything anyways, because Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy wouldn't dare believe the elf by he couldn't deal with his father talking his ear off about responsibilities. To make up for it, Draco crouched to Mattie's level and gave her a hug. The pair stood that way for a long while, until Draco had found the courage to get on with it.

He stood and strode to the door, donning his travelling cloak on the way. He wouldn't need it tonight, but it was typical of high class wizards to wear it wherever they go. Giving Mattie a final wave, he made his way to his father's study. He found Lucius waiting for him on one of the chairs facing the fireplace. On Draco's entrance, Lucius stood. He waited for Draco to approach him, and he looked over his son in a praising manner. No matter what, Lucius was proud of his son, and even though he didn't always acknowledge this, Draco knew it to be true by the small things Lucius would do for his son.

"Hello, my son. You look nice tonight. I see that you're wearing the tie I gave you," Lucius nodded approvingly. He turned away from Draco to walk over to his desk. He picked up a small velvet box and handed it to Draco.

"What is this, father?" Draco opened the box to find a beautiful platinum ring. It's band was thick, as was popular for male rings, and it was simple. In the middle, a large, round moonstone perched on a circular indentation in the band. The moonstone was beautiful. It was gray and had a silvery sheen, and the colour was perfectly matched to Draco's eyes.

"It's a ring, Draco. It's been in our family for years, and now that you've started shouldering your responsibilities, I thought it was about time you started wearing it," Lucius explained.

"Thank you, father! It's beautiful… I'll wear it to the party," Draco wanted to please his father so he slid the ring onto his finger. It was a perfect fit, and the stone shone beautifully in the light from the fireplace.

"Your welcome, Draco. Now, you best get going. Remember, you must treat everyone at the party respectfully. The guests will all be important personals, and if you make some connections there, you'll have a good start. Most importantly, be nice to Ms. Greengrass. According to her father, she can be a bit of a handful," his father cautioned.

"Alright father. I'll do as you say." What does he mean by a handful? Is she snobby? Is she loud? Oh no… is she disabled? Draco shook his head to get rid of his wayward thoughts and bent down to grab a handful of floo powder from a pot near the fireplace. He threw it into the fire, and clearly stated "Greengrass Manor". He stepped into the fire, turned around and gave Lucius a wave. He didn't notice the tears that poured down Lucius' face, and the way his shoulders shook slightly.

oOoOoOo

Draco arrived at the manor's receiving room, consisting of many fireplaces, and attendants to help the newly arrived guests. An attendant immediately came to his assistance and Draco stepped out of the fire. He brushed down his clothes, but it was unnecessary. Years of practice had taught him how to floo without getting soot all over him. The attendant took his travelling cloak and headed to the coat room to put it away. Not a second later, an usher approached Draco to lead him to the large parlor.

Draco stood for a while and admired the site before him. The room was well lit by a multitude of crystal chandeliers and it was cluttered with large, comfortable sofas lined up along the wall to give the guests places to rest. There was a large balcony situated high on one wall, where the string quartet played a lively waltz. Everything in the room sparkled and shone in the light from the chandeliers. Waiters wearing uniforms of blue and red wandered about the room holding up platters of chutes filled with champagne.

Most glamorous of all were the guests. The women had taken this opportunity to show off. The primary colours were pastels, it seemed, and the ball gowns they donned all had voluminous skirts that to Draco, looked very inconvenient. They all donned many accessories ranging from heavy necklaces to tiaras. The men all had attires similar to Draco's, a dark contrast to the colourful gowns of the women. Draco had the feeling that the men were a sort of 'background' for the parading women.

The guests themselves all looked very important. Many were purebloods that Draco recognized; some were important people from the Ministry and others were rich wizards with old money. There were no former Death Eaters that Draco could see.

Not wanting to impose his presence onto people he didn't know, Draco grabbed a flute of champagne from a passing waiter and went to examine some of the many painting hanging along the walls. A few minutes passed, and an elderly, rather large man came up to Draco.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't a Malfoy. How are you, my boy?" the man smiled at Draco, but it didn't reach his eyes. Draco was immediately weary.

"I'm fine sir," he tried to be as cold as possible. He didn't want to talk to this fat old man.

"I haven't seen any of your lot in a while. Bet you had to go into hiding after all that you-know-who business," the man winked. He had said that last part rather loudly, and heads nearby turned to see what the commotion was.

Draco was sorely tempted to resort to his old ways, sneer, and tell the old man to go to hell. But his father had told him to behave, and that's what he was going to do. That didn't mean he couldn't have fun though, did it?

"Yes, sir, we did go into hiding. We had to do a lot of running to get away from the officials. You might want to try the same thing. You know, lose a little bit of that weight. It'll do you a world of good," Draco said all this with the politest tone he could muster under the circumstances. Nervous titters followed his little speech, and the old man's face was turning an unsightly shade of purple. Not wanting to get more involved, Draco gave the man a shallow, mocking bow, and turned on his heel, a smirk on his face.

Fortunately, he spotted a familiar place and he walked over to his old school friend. He was greatful to have someone to talk to… someone who wouldn'tjudge him. At least he hoped he wouldn't.

"Hello Blaise. Nice to see you. What brings you to this party?" Draco shook Zabini's hand and gave him a small smile. It seemed that Zabini was still a friend, for he smiled back.

"Mr. Greengrass is a close friend of mother's ninth husband. It was only appropriate that we should be invited along," Blaise said in a monotone. It was clear what he thought of his mother and her numerous husbands. "There's a rumor that the younger Greengrass daughter is set to be married, and that the bloke's supposed to be here at the party. You have any idea who it could be?" Blaise gave Draco a look, telling him that he knew.

"Don't play with me Zabini. You know full well that it's me. Father's arranged for me to meet her, and we'll see what comes of it. Frankly, I have no clue of what to expect. I've only ever met her sister, and even her, I don't know that well. Have you met her?" Draco inquired.

"No. She went to Beauxbatons, didn't she?" at Draco's nod, he continued, "All I know about Beauxbatons students is that they're all beautiful. You're one lucky guy, Draco," Zabini looked wistfully at Draco, who gave him a wry smile.

Someone called Draco's name. It was a vaguely familiar voice… girly, high-pitched and all-together annoying. Draco craned his head to find the person and he went pale. It was Pansy. Oh no, oh no… no, no, no! "Hey, sorry Blaise, but I have to go. Ummm… I really need to… get a refill," and with that, Draco fled.

Pansy was not Draco's favourite person in the world. At school, she had followed him around, and he could do nothing to stop her. She had been an insufferable flirt, and it was all he could do to hold her at bay. She had scared all his other female companions off… she wanted him all for herself. If she caught up to him, she'd make sure that everyone in the room knew that he was hers. He couldn't have that… not on the night he'd meet Astoria!

Draco found a hallway leading away from the parlor. He turned around quickly to make sure that Pansy hadn't seen him. Once he was sure, he ran, and ran, until he came across a storage room. He opened it cautiously, and seeing that no one was in there, he barricaded himself in it. He slammed the door shut, turned around and examined the room, which was small enough to be considered a closet.

There was nothing much in the closet besides a broom and some bent up pails. There were some spider webs and Draco could make out at least three different spiders. He took his wand out and muttered a spell to get rid of the stale smell lingering in the closet. He didn't do anything to the spiders. They didn't bug him, so he wouldn't bug them.

This is no good. I can't hide here the whole night. I need to go meet Astoria. I wish Pansy would just go away. And suddenly, Draco knew what to do. He took a deep breath, and called out, "Mattie. I need you."

To be continued…

oOoOoOo

A/N: So… this is chapter one of The Model Son, hereby known as TMS. I hope it was good! It's actually really hard to write in house-elf-speech. I had trouble using bad grammar ;-)

Anyways, I would like your help to continue this story. I have a vague idea of what the next four or five chapters will be like. But I would like some more ideas. They will all be taken seriously, and I will give full credit to whoever's ideas are most helpful.

I would like to thank Aspieturtle for being the first reviewer! It was the first review I have ever, ever gotten, and it made my day! I'd also like to thank emLILYEVANS for reviewing. (I did read your profile, Emily. You should add more to it! ;-D)

By the way, I'm still looking for a Beta!

Currently, statistics stand at:

Writing time: 3 hours

Feedback: 137 Hits to 2 Reviews (This doesn't count, because Fan Fiction was down for a couple of days. So you're all off the hook, but just this once. :-P)

(I will keep you all updated on these stats to tell you how many people actually bother to review.)

Written 2009 – 2 – 22

Published 2009 - 2 - 25