Chapter 3 Dreaming of A White Christmas
Part 3
Malfoy Manor
It was common knowledge that one should keep the conversation at dinner time to a minimum, well, at least common to the Malfoys. Dinner at the Manor was usually a quiet affair; after all, a meal was for the consumption of food and it was bad etiquette to talk while one's mouth was full.
Tonight the pattern was broken; Draco was silently cutting into a plate of Foie gras with mustard seeds and green onions in duck jus while his parents took turns to watch him with conflicting expressions written over their faces. Undoubtedly they wanted to say something but restrained themselves so far since they didn't talk while eating. As the dishes disappeared after the main course, he sensed that there would be a spoken exchange of thoughts before the desert.
It was Lucius, who first made an effort after clearing his throat, 'My source informed me that there would be a Christmas party at the Ministry. I trust you will be attending?'
So it was about the party. 'Yes, father,' answered Draco, wondering what seemed to be the problem.
'And you will be bringing a witch along?'
'Yes, everyone is bringing a guest.' Draco was getting more and more confused by the minute. This wasn't his first ball; his parents never bothered to query who he took to the Yule Ball at the fourth year. Why the sudden interest now?
'Do we know the young witch you are bringing?' Lucius made another attempt after a minute or two.
'Oh, her name is Alya Wethersfield. She kindly agreed to accompany me.' There was an unmistakable stiffness in the air. His parents exchanged searching gazes, looking for recognition of the name.
'Wethersfield, you say? Any relation to that shop 'Wethersfield presents' in Diagon Alley? Cecilia and I stopped by there the other day. Very interesting establishment, uniquely styled, I must say.' Narcissa spoke for the first time, eyeing her son with rather too much curiosity.
Draco wanted to rub his nose again; he wasn't sure if he liked where the conversation was leading to but Alya seemed the only suitable candidate at the time. 'It's my understanding that she owns the facility.'
Narcissa looked baffled, 'Oh, how things have changed. At my time young witches didn't go around owning shops...'
Lucius, on the other side of the dining table, raised an eyebrow and Draco instantly knew what his father was thinking. The Malfoy heir didn't associate with people in trade. He was a Malfoy and a Slytherin. He knew how to word a situation to present it in favour of his parents.
'Actually she is a fellow member of this Potion group I've told you before. I believe the shop is only a diversion from her research.'
The older Malfoy, however, wasn't fooled by his son's obvious tactic to alleviate. He continued to question Draco indifferently, 'Wethersfield is an unfamiliar surname. Did this young lady in question attend Hogwarts?'
'Yes. Three years my senior.'
'I assume she wasn't a Slytherin?'
'Ravenclaw. In fact, I heard she was very intellectually advanced. Professor Snape spoke highly of her on several occasions when I was at school.' Draco said firmly, starring into the other pair of grey eyes.
Narcissa squirmed at the mentioning of Snape, her face paled. If his father was anyhow affected, Lucius didn't share the sentiment with his family. His face remained expressionless.
'Is she a pureblood?' demanded Lucius in an icy tone, now holding a crystal glass up to take a sip of Elderflower Wine. The dining room was so quiet; he could almost hear the sound of wine slipping down his father's throat.
'A half-blood. Though I don't know who her parents were.' Draco definitely didn't like where the conversation was headed. It was awkward enough having to discuss the choice of a 'date' with one's parents, not to mention his father was displaying indisputable disapproval of the choice.
Lucius, as expected, didn't appear pleased at all with the knowledge he just acquired. But Narcissa shot her husband a warning look.
'Well, I guess that is better than a Hufflepuff or a Gryffindor, so to speak,' said his father finally.
With a 'pop', three plates appeared in front of them, each contained a slice of Bûche de Noël. The conversation was adjourned; Draco felt that he hadn't been this happy to see French chocolate cake since he was a young boy.
Shortly afterwards he was having tea with Narcissa in Salon while his father retired to the study. The flame was dancing joyfully in the fireplace and the room was cosily warm. His mother smiled lovingly before speaking, 'My dear boy, I hope you don't think your father is being too hard on you. He didn't mean to affright you. We were just so worried ever since the Parkinsons fled the country after the war…'
Draco boomed; there was never promise made between him and Pansy. Her attention was flattering, which he enjoyed a great deal at some point in the past. Nevertheless, he wasn't particularly upset when the family took off before the summer ended. There was a lot on his mind back then, very few concerned Pansy.
'I had no idea you were concerned. I mean, Pansy and I were not seriously involved…'
'Still, no girl denies my son! How dare them, left for continent without bidding farewell…' Narcissa was quickly working herself up towards an exploding wrath.
'Mum', Draco called Narcissa 'Mum' rarely, only at times when he was trying to comfort her.
He took her hand, 'It really is Okay. It was just childish folly. I can't ask Pansy to hold her life back because of me.'
After taking a deep breath, Narcissa regained her usual poise. She briefly squeezed his hand, 'You can do so much better than that ghastly Parkinson girl anyway. So tell me about Miss Wethersfield. Is she good looking?'
Glad his mother had calmed down. Draco smiled and replied, 'Very. But I am mostly impressed with her sentient.'
'Do you think there is possibility for a romantic inclination?' asked Narcissa hopefully.
'Mother, I am only eighteen.' Draco cried out, couldn't conceal the annoyance in his voice. The concept of marriage and settling down seemed unthinkably far away from where he was standing. Surely his mother understood that wasn't on his agenda in the foreseeable future.
'I met your father when I was eleven. I knew he was what I wanted ever since I laid eyes on him. Although it took me years to get him to notice me…'
Draco felt dizzy. He preferred not to learn his parents' courtship in details. Desperately determined to end the current catastrophe as his mother' voice tailed away, he said hurriedly, 'We're friends. I enjoy her company but nothing more, at least for now. We will see.'
His mother stroked his face with the back of her hand, said gently, 'I just want you to be happy. You and your father mean the whole world to me.' Outright demonstration of affection wasn't one of Malfoy's traits. He wanted to respond to his mother, but was at a loss of words. Instead he mumbled, 'I know. I know.'
Ministry of Magic
23rd, December, 1998
Draco was pacing impatiently at the Ministry's Apparition Point. It was a narrow yard, normally very poorly lit on countless occasions when he left work late. Tonight even the Staff Apparition Point was transformed; bright light everywhere, the lone tree covered in stripes of golden fabric. It is delightful to know the Ministry likes to keep up the appearance too, he hissed under his breath.
The dinner was starting at seven o'clock and it was ten to now. Alya was nowhere to be found. He quickly contemplated how bad it would seem if he just turned up alone. All he needed to do was to get through tonight, however tiresome it might be, then he would have five days off straight. After casting a last glance in the surrounding, Draco turned on his heels, heading to the main building.
With a little crack, Alya called out behind him, 'Draco, I'm so sorry I'm late. I hope you haven't been waiting for too long. It took me a long time to wrap up today and I didn't know what to wear…'
About bloody time, Draco cursed silently, feeling relived. Once he turned around, all the glitters in the yard suddenly was fading away. A few feet away, there was Alya, wearing a long ivory dress, with a sparking belt made from tiny stones; its diamond shape at the front emphasised how small her waist was. Grey eyes lingered along the petite waist to the long puff sleeve and the frills around her neck, not without admiration. On top of the dress, she wore a little fur shawls with black and brown guard hair interlaced, which revealed an exquisite, fragilely fair neck. Her once straight hair now was arranged into lavish curls, bouncing and shiny, falling on her back.
'It's okay, you're here now,' said Draco hastily, extending his arm.
Glimmering tear drop diamonds swung freely below her ears as Alya walked up to him, clutching onto his arm. He could smell the feminine, delicate scent again. She smiled at him. Draco felt a surge of masculine pride fastening his heart beats.
'You look … amazing.' He heard himself muttering.
She laughed, with a shrug of her long dark locks, shifting the silver leather handbag on her shoulder to the other hand, 'You don't look so bad yourself, handsome.'
He might've blushed. After a second or two, he grinned, 'Shall we?'
The Staff Hall was packed with Ministry employees and their guests, all milling around greeting each other. Harry looked at the grandiose embellishment; clearly immense amount of attention to details had been put into organising the party. Long, wooden benches exhibited normally had been replaced with round, large tables, which were covered under red table clothes. Plain, bare walls now shone with an overlay of gold and silver sheen. Hundreds of garlands of mistletoe covered across the ceiling. Numerous massive chandeliers holding long white candles lit up the entire Hall.
At the top of the Hall, there were several large, empty tables on a red carpet, probably reserved for the high ranking officials. Even the windows were bewitched to resemble the dark night sky with stars; during the day they just appeared bright white, to mirror daylights.
Harry checked his watch. It was almost five to seven. People had started making their way back to their seats. Beside him, Ginny looked very pretty in a mint dress, with her thick red hair tided back into a curled bun. She fidgeted a little, looking uncomfortable as she stared at her exposed, creamy shoulder, which in Harry's opinion she looked marvellous. Then she lifted her head to give him a happy smile.
Hermione was looking as pretty as Ginny in a lilac dress. Ron was wearing black dress robes like most men at the party. Harry, on the other hand, was wearing dress robes in a shade of dark green. He wasn't sure about the colour but Ginny assured him that he looked positively dashing in dark green. To his surprise, Neville brought Luna, still had all that straggly, dirty blonde hair, was now staring at all the decorations in a dreamy expression. Harry almost felt like laughing; you can take the girl out of Hogwarts, but she still looks equally distracted.
Everyone from Auror office was there already, except Malfoy, who wasn't at present. They all finished early today to get ready for the party. He ran into the blonde at the Apparition Point when he was there to finch Hermione and Ginny. There were so many people in the yard at the time thus he didn't notice if Malfoy had found his date. The party was just about to start and Malfoy was still no show. He turned around to give Ron a troubled look. The redhead was thinking along a similar line because he smirked and said smugly, 'It looks like Malfoy has decided not to show up after all…'
Harry frowned; luckily others were caught up in their conversation and didn't seem to hear what Ron had said. Hermione rolled her eyes, scouting sharply, 'Stop it, Ron, seriously!'
There was the sound of a door opening from far away. At the beginning Harry didn't pay attention but the chatter around them was dying down quickly. He turned in confusion, surprised to find that many heads were turning towards the same direction. Fast approaching their table, there was Malfoy, dressed in a woollen cloak of dark grey, with a stunningly beautiful witch attached to his arm.
Notes: Just in case you're wondering, the party scenes will end in the next chapter and the focus will be on Draco and Harry more and more. Whatever might be going on between Alya and Draco isn't exactly love interest. Hopefully it will all become clear in the next chapter. Feedback will be appreciated as always!
