MMM: Hey there, my fellow HP fanfic lovers! I've been typing like a mad woman for the last few days and I figured that it would be the perfect time to do a little updating for my stories. I really hope that you guys like this one.
Ch. 9 Dinner Disaster
November 20th, 1999
It was absolutely impossible to have missed the tension at the dinner table. Anya gave Draco a reassuring smile then turned to glare at her parents. Rick and Nicole Collins had been very protective over their only child when she was younger, not that she blamed them by any means. Constantly getting into trouble and very dangerous situations had been something that Anya had been famous for. After the biggest battle of both magical and non-magical worlds, Anya had spent the entire summer looking for her parents and when she returned their memories and explained everything that had happened, their protective behavior spiked to a whole new level. As if convincing them to allow her to go back to Hogwarts for her final year wasn't hard enough, telling them that she was moving to England to live with her boyfriend nearly gave them a heart attack.
And now, here she was, subjecting her boyfriend to a night with her folks for fondue at a local restaurant in New York. Her mother was giving Draco a critical eye while her father was outright glaring at him with that "I'm planning to kill you and make it look like an accident" look, and Draco looked like he was ready to make a mad dash out of there. And Anya was ready to follow.
Anya reached under the table and gave Draco's hand a comforting squeeze and gave her parents another look for them to behave. The waiter arrived with their drinks and Anya was sure that he could sense the tension. After a quick run-through of the pro-cautions, he placed the bread and cheese pot down and nearly scurried off.
"So Draco... tell us what you've been up to as of late," Nicole began with some light conversation.
Draco took a calming breath. "Well... I'm currently taking a program on law and politics. I'm hoping that I can give the Malfoy family name a better reputation than it once had," he explained.
"And what reputation did it have before?" Rick questioned sternly, ignoring the way his daughter glared at her from over the rim of her glass.
Draco paled under the glare of his girlfriend's father. "One which I am far from proud of," he replied. Out of the corner of her eye, Anya saw him self-consciously rub at the faded Dark Mark that still marked his forearm. She gave his hand another reassuring squeeze.
They sat in uncomfortable silence while they munched on cheese and bread. No one said a word when the waiter came back with the next course: various meats and vegetables, dipping sauces and sides, and the hot cooking oil. Anya almost wished that she hadn't accepted her parents' 'invitation' to dinner, despite having not seen them since the summer. It was like she had brought Draco to his own firing squad. She realized that they just didn't want her to be hurt again, but they were going to have to accept that she was a big girl now and she had to face her own battles, not have her mommy and daddy hold her hand.
Anya did her best to keep the attention off Draco as best as she could, talking about her healer studies or asking how the bakery business was doing. Her mother seemed to not notice or she was a very good actor, but her father took every opportunity to bring the topic back to Draco, poking and prodding about every bad thing in his life, and Draco could do nothing but sit there and take it. She was ecstatic when dessert was finished and the check came.
"That was a nightmare and a half," Anya groaned when they dropped her parents off at their place before continuing on to the hotel. "I'm so sorry that I convinced you to come with us," she apologized, taking Draco's free hand in both of hers and kissing his knuckles.
Draco gave her a smile and affectionately squeezed her hand before turning his attention back to the road. "Actually, I think that it went rather well," he added.
Anya's brow practically shot through the roof of the car. "'Well'? You're joking, right? My dad practically tried to murder you with his eyes and I couldn't even tell what my mom was thinking but when she's as quiet as she was tonight, it is not a good thing. Hell, the waiter nearly ran off like a dog with its tail between its legs! And you're trying to tell me that with all that, you think the night went 'well'?"
"No one was severely injured or killed, were they?" Draco questioned as if to make his point, to which Anya merely rolled her eyes. "Honestly, it could have been worse," he said as they pulled in to the hotel's parking lot.
"Worse than my parents giving us the third degree and scaring off practically very living person within a five foot radius?" she asked as they climbed out of the car, Draco handing off the keys to the valet. "I doubt that."
Draco chuckled as he hurried around the car and wrapped his arm over her shoulders. "Like I said- could have been worse."
After they got back to their room, Anya grabbed a fresh set of pjs and took a quick shower before bed. Stepping out of the steamy bathroom, she found Draco already changed into black bottoms, laying on the bed with a book in hand. Jumping up on the bed, she snuggled into his side. "Can I help you?" Draco asked teasingly, his eyes never leaving the page.
"What'cha reading?" she asked with a grin.
"Count of Monte Cristo," Draco replied with a smirk of his own, holding the book up slightly to show the cover. "Up to the part where Edmond Dantes escapes the Château d'If."
Snagging the book from Draco's hands, Anya laughed as he tried to take it back, her chuckles turning into squeals of laughter when he jumped on top of her and began to squirm his fingers against her ribs. "Ok! Ok! Take it!" She held the book for him to take, but he merely tossed it onto the end of the bed and continued his little attack. She tried to hit him with his pillow to keep him at bay, but it seemed to only fuel his assault. When he finally did stop, she have him a playful glare and muttered, "jackass."
"I do what I can," Draco grinned cheekily as he rolled onto his side, grabbed the covers, and pulled them over him, Anya following soon after. "What? No cuddling?" he asked when she turned her back to him. Anya could practically hear the pout in his voice. With a smile, she turned around and snuggled into his warm embrace.
"Goodnight," she yawned, the familiar pull of sleep taking hold of her.
She felt Draco smile into her hair. "Goodnight... I love you."
"I love you too."
MMM: And that's it for today! Hope you all liked your little snippet of Draco/Anya fluff! Nancy (aka megamatchmaker)
