DISCLAIMER: The usual applies; anything familiar is not mine. And, apologies in advance for any spelling/grammar errors – I'm sleepy but just wanted to get this chapter up!
ten. future.
As he wandered down the corridor towards the office, Draco wasn't entirely sure what had come over him during that conversation. He was attempting to make conversation with the witch, but somehow it came out incredibly flirty the entire time. Then she had to go and bite her lip. It was utterly distracting. Draco was barely able to focus on the conversation after that. To top it all off, a stray lock of hair had escaped from her ponytail and fell near her cheek. He wanted desperately to carefully put it back in its place and caress her cheek. Then it had made him recall their kiss once again, and then all hell broke loose in his mind.
From there he consciously decided to tell her she looked fantastic at the Cotillion. Draco had finally resigned to the fact that he had some sort of feelings for her. What they were, he wasn't sure, but he decided he would explore this opportunity. She clearly hadn't slapped him or hexed him since that evening, so that was a good sign.
Bet be damned, he decided. He turned the knob to the study and walked in. Draco Malfoy was going to see where this path would lead him, for himself, and not for the bet. He wanted to go about this in the proper manner, whatever this was. He still wasn't sure exactly, but he was excited to find out, which hadn't happened in so long. Draco smiled at the thought as he sat down in the empty chair in front of the large desk.
The study had once been his father's, now commandeered by his mother as she oversaw some of the projects under the Malfoy umbrella. It was a lot like his own in his wing, although on a larger scale. There were books in multiple languages sitting on the shelf. Some languages he never even knew existed until he started to explore the rare treasures catching dust. The desk stood in front of a floor to ceiling window panes that overlooked the front of the Manor.
The chair behind the desk swiveled around, and he saw his mother sitting there, looking quite irritated. Though she looked regal as ever in her finest navy robes, her shiny hair immaculately pulled back, he could easily sense her exasperation. She plucked the reading glasses off of her face and set them down, rubbing her strained eyes.
Draco was confused. "Wait, wasn't Kendra supposed to speak with me?" He voiced his thoughts out loud, frowning. "I thought you weren't supposed to show favoritism."
"I needed a break," Narcissa explained tiredly. "The last student I had a session was getting on my last nerve. Besides, it's not like the rest of the students will know you're meeting with me."
"Who got on your nerves?" Draco asked, easily plucking a biscuit from the plate in front of him as he slid into the empty chair across from his mother.
"Oh, no one..." Narcissa trailed off, trying to dismiss the matter. However, after several moments, she was unable to keep it to herself. "It was that tart Cornwall. If her mother didn't donate thousands of Galleons every year to our charity events, I would half a mind to turn her away."
Draco snorted inelegantly. His mother was right, she was a complete tart. Cornwall was actually a former Ravenclaw, but rather than use her intelligence for good, she cast it aside and attempted to work off of her looks and connections.
"You know this doesn't leave the room nor can you use it for leverage in anyway, dear?" Narcissa gave a stern look at her son.
"Yes, Madam," Draco replied with a smirk. Oh, he couldn't wait to tell Blaise that all of their suspicions about Cornwall were true.
"Not even to Blaise," she added expectantly.
His face remained unchanged, though internally he wondered how she knew that. How was it that mothers were always one step ahead of their children? Draco knew she didn't need to use Legilimency to know what he was thinking.
"So… What exactly are we supposed to talk about?" Draco asked in a bored tone, now generously lathering jam onto a scone.
"This meeting is primarily about your future endeavors and where you plan to see yourself in the next five years," Narcissa explained. "But, of course, I generally know your future plans, what with keeping the Estate in order."
Narcissa paused to glance at several sheets of parchment on her desk, diverting her attention away from her son. Draco let out a sigh he hadn't known he was holding. While it was true that that was his primary vocation as of late, he never planned that to be his sole occupation. He never really got the opportunity to explore different career paths during his school days. Spending your later, formative years being terrified that the Dark Lord was going to take the lives of the ones you loved didn't exactly help. By the time he had the chance to try to gather his bearings and attempt to navigate the strange, cold world of adulthood, his father had passed away unexpectedly. Once again forcing Draco into a position he hadn't gotten the chance to choose for himself.
Eventually casting the documents aside, Mrs. Malfoy looked back up at her son with a smile. "Well, since I already know of your future endeavors, how are things going with Miss Weasley?" Narcissa asked, pouring herself her fourth cup of tea that day.
"It's not bad," Draco replied, feebly attempting to mask the glee in his voice. "She's quite alright when she's not trying to kill me."
"I take it you're getting along then?" Narcissa asked with an eyebrow raised as she brought the cup to her lips. She gave him a knowing smirk. Many would assume that the smirk was a Malfoy trait, but little did they know that Draco had inherited it from Narcissa.
"Yes, I believe so," Draco said carefully, trying not to give his mother any idea as to what exactly was emerging behind her back. Although, he couldn't help that his lips slightly twitched upwards.
"Well, that's good to hear," Narcissa said, pausing to jot down some notes. Draco did his best to casually lean over and see what she was writing, but much to his frustration, everything she wrote was being scrambled into code as soon as the ink was etched onto the parchment. Damn my father and his paranoid Malfoy ways, Draco cursed mentally. It appeared that the paranoia had rubbed off on his mother.
"It's no use trying to read, dear," Narcissa said, still not looking up from her notebook. Draco huffed like a petulant child but said nothing. She really did take this thing so damn seriously. It was a bloody etiquette school!
She set down her quill and looked up at him, her clear blue eyes matching her expressionless face, "Has she discussed her life plans with you?"
Draco nearly choked on the tea he was consuming at that very moment. Instead, he ended up snorting unsophisticatedly and instead the liquid went down the wrong tube. Or rather up as he could feel the liquid reaching his head as the sting became stronger as the seconds went by. Trying to ignore the clawing sensation, he stuttered, "W-What?"
Simply ignoring the distress her son was in Narcissa replied, "What are her plans for the future?"
"Well, she just completed St. Mungo's Healer Program," Draco responded, crossing his arms as the strange sensation tickling his brain slowly began to dissipate. "Which she feels to remind me day in and day out."
"That's a very prestigious program," Narcissa said solemnly. "And a very noble profession. But I wouldn't expect anything less from a Weasley."
"She's actually not bad, either," Draco added, though quickly clamped his mouth shut. He still hadn't told his mother about the peacock fiasco, knowing that she would be angry at him and somehow spin it by implying that he mistreated the peacocks. Never mind the fact that her own flesh and blood was almost mortally wounded by the beast!
"You wouldn't mind if she continued with her career?" Narcissa asked, clasping both of her hands in front of her.
"No? Why would I? She can do what she wants," Draco said, his brows furrowing in confusion. He had no idea what he had to do with any of Ginny's plans. At least Ginny had other interests outside of herself, he reasoned, unlike others he knew.
Quickly scribbling down a few more notes, Narcissa gently closed her notebook and set her peacock feathered quill atop it. Momentarily rearranging everything neatly on her nearly spotless desk, she said, "I'm glad the partnership is prospering, Draco. Miss Weasley can surely use someone who has as much experience as you do with our society to teach her our ways."
Draco couldn't help but notice a mysterious glint in his mother's azure eyes. It was similar to those strange twinkles Albus Dumbledore used to get. It terrified him. If oh so noble Dumbledore had such grand plans tucked in his sleeve, just what could his loving but manipulative mother get up to? He shuddered at the thought of it.
He was about to ask just what the big idea was, but was interrupted once again by Kendra. Damn that witch, Draco thought, always turning up at the least opportune moments.
"I'm sorry to interrupt Mrs. Malfoy, but time is up," Kendra said, standing at the door, her hand still on the knob.
"Ah, yes," Narcissa said with a twinge of disappointment. Draco could tell she was at her wit's end after interacting with some of the more moronic students of the class. Mrs. Malfoy turned back to her son with a slightly sad smile. "I'm afraid I must let you go. I must soldier on and deal with the rest of the class."
"You mean dimwits?" Draco supplied, rising from the chair.
"Draco! You'll say no such thing!" Narcissa chastised, though she was unable to hide her smile.
"Whatever you say, Mother," Draco said in farewell, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before he headed out the door. "Whatever you say."
That Wednesday afternoon, Ginny slouched into her now usual seat across Draco. He saw the grim expression she gave him and figured it was probably due to this morning's Quidditch results. He knew she was into the sport, but Merlin, she was nearly maniacal about it. Draco had never met someone that into Quidditch, even trumping his own obsession. It slightly unnerved him. Ginny knew nearly every stat about every player and the full histories about each team; she was like a walking Quidditch Through the Ages.
As he took a bite out of his own sandwich, Draco couldn't help but be entranced by the way she dug into her own meal with gusto. Many of the women he knew would take small, careful bites so as not to drop anything or get food on their face. Not Ginny. She completely went for it and began to chomp away at the sandwich. Parts of the vegetables and meat slipped out from the pieces of bread, plopping onto her plate. He couldn't help but smirk at her when he noticed a mustard stain that ended up on her right cheek. Ginny looked up at him with a dark expression that threatened to wipe the very smirk off of his face. This only caused his smirk to turn into a smile and he bit his cheek to as not laugh out loud. It was difficult to look threatening when she had food on her face.
"You put that smirk away, Draco Malfoy," Ginny grumbled, absently wiping her face with a napkin. Draco had assumed right that she had already looked through that morning's Daily Prophet Sports section. The Cannons were doing dismal in the league, and Draco knew all too well that was the primary team she cheered for, aside from the Harpies.
"Oh, what has happened, dear Ginerva?" he asked, his voice as thick as syrup, rubbing salt in her wound.
"The Cannons have lost yet again, taking them out of the running for this year's finals," she moaned, unable to bring her forkful of salad to her mouth. "My bracket is going to be ruined!"
"What bracket?" Draco asked as he took another bite of his own sandwich. He hadn't realized there was some sort of method to her madness, rather than a seemingly unbridled passion for the sport.
"Every year, my brothers create a bracket for all of the U.K. Quidditch teams. They predict who will make it to the finals." she explained as she reached for a second sandwich. He marveled at how much she could eat and the fact that it seemingly vanished into thin air. "Whosever bracket is the most accurate wins the pot."
Stopping to take a bite into her sandwich, she continued. "And this year, they've FINALLY let me into the game. So, naturally, I'm determined to beat my brothers."
"Why didn't you ask for my help? I'm skilled at these things you know," Draco bragged as subtly as he could, which wasn't much for a Malfoy.
"Oh, I had help. I consulted with Oliver Wood. Did you know he's on Puddlemere United? Finally got the primary Keeper position," Ginny told him. "He's actually a friend of my brothers', but I managed to convince him to help me out instead," she grinned mischievously. "He's a bit of a looker too."
At that last comment, Draco's cloudy eyes grew murky while his jaw tightened. Was he jealous? Hell yes, he was. While it wouldn't have bothered him if she was talking to a bloke, he didn't take kindly to the fact that she thought said bloke was attractive. She evidently didn't notice the shift in his demeanor as she munched away at her sandwich. "Between his help and my own instincts, I cross-referenced nearly every Quidditch article and their predictions."
"Besides, we were not on speaking terms at that time," she added airily, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice. How strange it sounded that there was life before Ginny had entered his. He felt like he could scarcely remember a moment before Ginny had become a new constant in his life. Whether it was nagging her, teasing her, helping her, or just engaging her in conversation. It was so odd to think of a time before that.
"Well, is your bracket completely ruined?" he asked with a tone of concern, much to Ginny's surprise as her auburn eyes looked up from her plate in surprise. Draco realized long ago that she was very competitive and throwing in sibling rivalry only intensified the situation.
"Oh, no," she said with an impish grin. "What my brothers haven't been tracking as carefully as I have is the astronomical success of the Harpies. I've placed them close to the end of my bracket, as I'm pretty sure they're going to make it close, if not take the final slot. I spent days pouring over all of the sporting analytics. By the time they realize what I've done, it'll be too late." She was quite proud of herself, as she explained how she had gone through all of the calculations between all of the various Quidditch commentators. She had even taken it upon herself to read newspapers in other languages with the aid of a translating spell, something her brothers either had little time for or little interest, depending on the Weasley.
"Wow, Ginny," he observed, doing his best not to sound too affected. "That's downright Slytherin of you." Though Draco truly was impressed; it took a lot of dedication to do that.
"Thank you?" she replied with uncertainty. "I guess I'll take that as a compliment."
"Oh you should," butted in Blaise, joining their conversation. "You are quite the conniver and one we all aspire to be."
They laughed and continued conversing, everyone placing bets on which team would win next. Draco carefully placed his money on the Falmouth Falcons, though he was slightly hesitant upon shaking on the deal. There was a good chance that Ginny would collect some Galleons by the end of the week between the boys and Lena. They finished their lunch and headed to their afternoon lesson at the sound of the gong. As they made their way to outside to the sun room that went out towards the garden, he wondered what they were doing today out here.
"Draco, you've any idea we're doing today?" Ginny asked voicing his own thoughts while he had gentlemanly opened the door her.
"We better not be gardening," Draco complained. He hated when his mother would force him to come out here and do such menial labor, and by hand no less! She may seek enlightenment by being one with the earth, but all he got out of it were stained trousers. It was such a dirty, undignified job.
"Afraid of getting dirt on your fancy jumpers, Draco?" Ginny teased with a knowing smile.
"No!" Draco lied through his teeth. "But honestly, I have no idea about today. Mother wouldn't give me any indication. I'm not sure why," Draco remarked with a puzzled look on his face, his brows furrowing.
And now he knew why when he trailed in behind her. As Draco's eyes soaked in the scene before him, it seemed like there were hundreds of kids everywhere! Okay, probably dozens, but it felt like they were multiplying in front of his eyes. Some kids were crying while others were whinging. Others looked nervous while a few of them looked as if they didn't have a care in the world. The oldest didn't look a day over seven. Everyone had convened into the sunroom by now, which was furnished with dark wicker furniture paired with comfy looking pillows and cushions. Pots with both rare and common plants were sprinkled about, only adding to the feeling like one was sitting outside though they were protected from the elements by the glass.
"I see we've become the Babysitter's Club of MVO again," Draco muttered.
"Oh, come on, Draco. They're not even that bad! They're pretty adorable!" Ginny cried, eyeing the children.
Draco glanced around and saw a dark haired boy snatch a building block from a girl, who proceeded to start bawling. "Oh, yeah, adorable," he said sarcastically.
"Well, not every child is a saint," Ginny countered. "It's not like you were."
"Neither were you," Draco pointed out childishly, evidently remembering her horrid Bat Bogey Hex.
Ginny was ready to reply by saying that it was his fault that she wasn't a saintly child, but Narcissa had decided to enter the room and tried to capture everyone's attention. Between the buzzing students and the carefree children, it was difficult to get everyone to quiet down. She sighed in frustration, ultimately waving her wand at the crowd, shouting, "Silencio!" Immediately, a blanket of silence fell over the room. Some of the students attempted to groan, only to settle for a roll of their eyes. The children, on the other hand, blankly looked at each other, moving their mouths, still expecting words to come out but to little avail.
Narcissa's face lit up with a satisfied smile as she made her way to the center of the room, navigating her way through the children occupying the floor. Placing her wand back into her dusty pink robes for the time being, she began her introduction. "Good afternoon, class. Since this week we have been focusing on companionship and the future, the natural progression is usually marriage, which generally includes children."
She paced up and down, watching her students squirm under her stern gaze. "As such, another test of your partnership will be seeing how you deal with these children. This afternoon, each couple will be assigned two children, and will be in their charge for the duration of the exercise. The results from this assignment will not only be up to me, but also the children." Narcissa seemed to get joy from the students' horrified stares, Ginny noticed.
"Since when has my mother become so sadistic in her older age?" Draco muttered to her, under his breath. Ginny failed miserably in an attempt to stifle her snort at Draco's comment.
"And remember, children are very honest. There is no fooling them, so be sure to make your best effort," Mrs. Malfoy concluded. She flicked her wand, ending the silencing spell.
Draco warily eyed the children while Ginny was eager to interact others outside of her peer group with which she had been holed up with for several weeks. She doubted that Malfoy had much experience in these manners, and it was one of the few things she had some experience since she occasionally babysat Teddy Lupin.
As the groups began to disperse, Narcissa walked over to Draco and Ginny flanked by a child on both sides of her. The kids were gripping her hands nervously, unsure of what to expect as they were being handed off to the much older children. Ginny noticed out of the corner of her eye that Draco nervously ran a hand through his hair as they came closer.
"Mister Malfoy, Miss Weasley, here are your charges for the day," said Narcissa, letting go of the children's hands. "This here is Archibald Travers," she gestured to the young boy. Atop his chubby head were curly tufts of red hair. His chubby arms were folded in a superior manner, and his blue eyes was giving the two of them a stare down, as if he was judging Draco and Ginny. His expression mirrored Draco's own expression: that he wanted to be anywhere but here. "…and this is Viola Abott," Narcissa motioned to the girl. Her big, dark brown eyes eyed the two of them curiously while she maintained an innocent expression. She absent-mindedly twirled one of her long pigtails as she stared up at the twosome. Ginny could sense that there was much more to the little girl than her seemingly innocent demeanor.
"Now, I trust you two to be careful with the two of them," said Narcissa, giving a stronger look to Draco than Ginny. Ginny bit her lip in an attempt to restrain the smirk that was threatening to appear on her face. Did his own mother not trust him?! "You can go outside into the gardens but try not to stray too far out."
With that, Narcissa went off to deliver more children to couples. The foursome stood awkwardly for several moments, Draco looking dumbfounded in the direction Narcissa had walked away to while Ginny still looked like she was trying not to laugh.
She decided it was time to take manners into her own hands as Draco didn't look like he was about to make the first move. Besides, she reasoned, he had helped immensely in the past couple of lessons, so it was her turn to take up the lead in their partnership. "So…" Ginny began, breaking the ice as she rubbed the palms of her hands against each other. Draco shot her a grateful glance, looking pleased that he hadn't had to begin the lesson. "How about we go outside so we can play? My name is Ginny, by the way, and this is Draco."
Both of the children nodded and Ginny took Archibald's hands into hers. Before he could take another step forward, Viola quickly began pulling at Draco's hand, leading him outside. Draco awkwardly clasped his hand around the girl's smaller hand while Voila aggressively lead him outside.
"This girl really is pushy," Draco murmured out of the corner of his mouth to Ginny, narrowing his eyes at the back of her small head.
They eventually reached a relatively empty patch of grass and sat down, crossing their legs. Ginny looked at both of the children and asked, "So, Archibald…"
"It's Archie, not Archibald," the child wrinkled his nose. Ginny tried to her best not to laugh. She could relate to having such a grown-up name at such a young age. "My apologies, Archie," she recanted solemnly. "How old are you?"
"I'm five," he replied proudly, displaying five pudgy fingers in front of her face.
"Oh, yeah? I'm five and a half," Viola interrupted with an air of superiority. Archie pulled a face and stuck his tongue out at her. Not phased at all by her counterpart's reaction, she asked, "How old are you, Ginny?"
"Oh, me? I'm twenty and three quarters," she replied with a smile.
Draco couldn't resist butting in a similar manner as Viola had just done. "And I'm twenty-two." At first Ginny gave him a look rivaling Archie's and stuck her tongue out, but was unable to hold it seriously for too long.
As if imbued with a sense of confidence by the previous moment, Draco asked the children, "So, what would you two like to do today?"
They glanced around at what the other groups were doing. Some children were playing easy games like tag or hide-and-seek. Others were creating up a storm with the variety of paints that had been supplied. Several of the kids were swinging to their hearts' content as well as going down the slippery and coiling slides on a play set that had been assembled for this occasion. However, Archie looked around the field and noticed a couple of children wobbling in the air on mini broomsticks. He extended his arm out and pointed in their direction, "That."
Draco's eyes widened but quickly plastered a nonchalant expression on his face. He looked like he wanted nothing more than to sit quietly with the children during the duration of the class, lest they get a scratch on them. Ginny resisted the urge to bring her hand to her forehead. It was always a dangerous idea to give the kids that much free reign. However, she saw just how much Draco was squirming and knew she was going to enjoy today's activity.
"That sounds fantastic!" Ginny exclaimed, flashing them a smile. Draco grumbled something about child safety and liability, but Ginny ignored him as she Summoned one of the mini broomsticks.
"All right, you two are in luck today! Not only was I one of the best Quidditch players of my year at Hogwarts-" Draco snorted inelegantly. Ginny shot him a withering glare but continued. "-but so was Draco." She paused to give him a saccharine smile, indicating that he had snorted too soon. She hated to admit it, but he was pretty good at the sport back in their Hogwarts days. "I usually played as a Chaser and he was a Seeker." Both of the children looked up at them wide-eyed in amazement.
She examined the toy broom in her hands, which was about half the size of a standard broomstick. Ginny abruptly handed off the broom to Draco, who took it with bewildered expression. It felt almost comical in his hands since it was so small. "I'm not wearing the proper clothes for this," Ginny said, indicating at her skirt fell well past her knees. Had she been forewarned of the situation, she would have happily trotted out in a pair of jeans. "But Draco would be more than happy to teach you."
"Oh, no, no, no," Draco said, speaking up. "You Summoned the broom, you teach the lesson."
"Do you really want me to hike up my skirt and hop onto this broom?" Ginny asked in a clipped manner.
His eyes easily raked in her exposed legs, going up and down her body. A wolfish grin came over his face as he considered it for a moment seriously. "Well…"
"DRACO!" Ginny exclaimed, smacking his shoulder. They were truly setting a bad example for the children, between their arguing and violence.
"Pleaseeeee?" broke in Viola pleadingly, looking up at Draco with her ostensibly unhuman large eyes that seemed to have grown exponentially. He looked at her and back at Ginny who was giving him the same puppy dog look. He sighed warily and gave in.
"You're a bad influence, Gin," Draco grumbled. He motioned for Archie to come over and proceeded to demonstrate how to properly mount the broom. The boy kept trying to climb it, only it was difficult with his short stature. Draco watched idly, and after a couple of failed attempts, he gingerly hoisted the child onto the broom. Archie clumsily mounted it, maintaining a death grip with his hands and legs around the broom. "Now, Archie, you needn't hold it that tight," he explained. "The broom will be one with you. It will respond to your motions and commands."
He proceeded to go through the rest of the explanations, to which Archie fully paid attention, enchanted by Draco's careful instructions and advice. After about half an hour, Archie successfully managed to maneuver himself in the air, even managing a wobbly loop de loop. Draco couldn't help but grin, cheering the kid on. Ginny was pleasantly surprised to see that Draco was not a monster with children. If anyone told her that over a month ago, she would have laughed in their face.
Just as Draco was about to take a break, satisfied with his hard work, when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked down to see Viola impatiently looking up at him. "I want to play too!"
"Er, do you want a doll?" Draco asked awkwardly. Ginny rolled her eyes. Okay, so maybe he wasn't completely experienced with children. It seemed that he understood little boys but not little girls, which really were not that much different from boys. Ginny knew; she was one of them once surrounded by too many boys.
"Do you have an action figure of Gwenog Jones?" Viola inquired, as if she was testing him, folding her arms in front of her.
"Uh… No?" Draco answered, unsure, uncomfortably rubbing the back of his neck.
"Well, then, I don't want to play with a dumb doll," Viola snapped, her eyes narrowing at him. "I want to ride on the broom too!"
"Aren't little girls supposed to play with dolls?" He voiced his antiquated idea out loud.
Viola gave him an icy glare, a universal sign from a woman warning a man not to mess with her. Ginny was impressed with how quickly Viola had mastered such a stare; she hadn't gotten the hang of it until she was at least nine. "No! Flying! Now!" Viola demanded, stomping her foot.
Draco looked pleadingly again to Ginny, who was erupting in laughter a few steps to the side of him.
"You're not getting any help from me," Ginny gasped, as her giggles began to subside.
He ushered Archie to gently land to the ground and grabbed the broom, on the way giving Ginny a dirty look, while she gave him an innocent grin. She threw her hands up in surrender, indicating that she had not, in fact, put the child up to this. Viola was a lot like Ginny with her stubborn and spunky personality, but surprisingly kept quiet and listened to Draco carefully throughout his explanations. Viola picked up his instructions faster than Archie, launching herself into the air a full seven minutes before him.
Draco retreated to the area of grass where Ginny was sitting, brushing back his hair that had landed in his eyes. They both supervised while the two kids took turns riding on the broom, all thanks to him. She couldn't help but notice that he looked especially satisfied that the headstrong Abott had heeded his directions well and was merrily flitting about.
"May Merlin, Godric, and Salazar have mercy on your soul the day you have a daughter," Ginny commented with a snicker after examining this never before seen expression of pride emitting from her partner.
"What on earth are you talking about?" Draco said irritably, turning to look at her. He looked relaxed as he leaned back, propping himself up with his elbows.
"All she had to do was look at you with her big eyes, and you easily gave in," Ginny said with a smirk.
"She did not," Draco retorted a bit too defensively.
"Oh, please," chided Ginny with a laugh. "I know that look Viola gave you. Hell, I nearly invented that look."
"I knew you were a bad influence," Draco grumbled. They fell once again into a content silence, enjoying the pleasant warmth of the sun and the light breeze that brushed upon them every so often.
"You know," Ginny began, breaking the silence, turning sideways to look at him. "Even though I definitely want to have children, I don't think I want as many as my parents."
"Really? I figured you'd want a whole gaggle of gingers everywhere," Draco replied with a smirk, his mercurial eyes merry.
"Do YOU want to give birth to seven children?" Ginny blurted. While she enjoyed the endless amount of love, entertainment, and adventure a large family provided, there was no way she was willing to give birth to that many children. She was always proud yet simultaneously confused by her mother's decision to endure the process of having that many kids.
A comical look of disgust and horror settled on Draco's face as her words sunk in. Rearranging his expression to one that of pensiveness, he confessed, "I'd want a couple myself, I suppose."
"Really?" Ginny said, flabbergasted. "I'd have thought you wouldn't like children." But then, she had misjudged him earlier; he seemed to do better with children than with people his own age.
"Well, they're not exactly my favorite type of people," Draco said, gazing back out at the field dotted with children and adults.
"What type people are your favorite?" Ginny snorted.
"I guess… no one really... But, it's not all that cracked up to be an only child. Especially in a house as large as this," Draco commented rather wistfully. She felt a pang of sadness for him. While it was clear he was well loved by his parents, as she could see Narcissa did her best not to dote on him in front of the rest of the class, it still must have been lonely at times.
The children continued to take a few more turns on the broom, until it began to take a turn for the worse, as Archie began hogging the broom, while Viola's face was getting redder and redder out of anger. Sensing that it was time to bring it all in, Kendra ushered the class back to the sunroom. Draco picked up the equipment and threw the broom over his shoulder as they headed back. The kids were animatedly talking with Ginny, detailing their harrowing accounts being aboard the broom. As they were about to bid farewell to the children, Viola motioned for him to come down to his level. He kneeled down on one knee, now level with her.
The girl's defiant look was now replaced with a happy expression, making her look her full six and a half years of age. She suddenly threw her arms around his neck and said, "Thank you, Mr. Draco!" Draco stiffened, startled by the little girl's reaction. He eventually recovered, awkwardly patting her on the back.
"You're, uh, welcome," Draco muttered as she let go of him, his cheeks flushing. The children wandered off back to Narcissa, ready to be delivered back to their parents. Once Narcissa dismissed the class for the day, the pair began to make their way back into the manor.
"You weren't half bad with them, you know," Ginny commented, smiling as she turned her head to look at him.
Draco merely grunted in response, unsure of what to say, as they walked into the cool Manor.
"You would make a good teacher," Ginny spoke up again with a knowing smile.
Draco turned to look down at her with a surprised expression. "Really?"
"Yeah, I mean, look at how you helped me through the past couple of lessons, especially the table manners one," she explained. "And look, you just taught two six year olds how to fly! With no hiccups!"
"I suppose," Draco said, thoughtfully. She knew that he had a lot of work managing the various enterprises of the Malfoy Estate, but this could also be a viable career option as well.
"Have you ever thought about it?" Ginny blurted out, her curious coffee eyes looking into his steely orbs.
"About what?" Draco asked, although it seemed like he knew what she was talking about.
"About teaching," Ginny replied with a roll of her eyes.
"I've never really thought about," he admitted. They passed the foyer and the now familiar fountain that was brimming water, heading further back into the house towards the staircases.
"Besides, who's going to listen to me, anyway?" Draco broke the silence, sounding slightly defeated. She had expected Draco to be arrogant about his talents, much like he always was, but he didn't even bother to put on the façade.
"Those two kids just did," Ginny reminding him.
"I guess," Draco said simply. Bidding her farewell as they both separated to wash up for dinner, Ginny felt saddened by the fact that for once he lacked confidence in an area that he should very well take pride in.
A/N: Hope this was a fun chapter! Excited that I got to write a little more Narcissa this time. Also, can I just say I'm cracking up about the Sacred Twenty-Eight coming up in Draco's biography posted by JKR?! (lots of feelings about his whole background). Anyway, I hope to have a New Year's fic whenever I do make the next update, so hopefully that'll be fun. Happy Holidays! Please leave a review on your way out – they seriously make my day when I get that little notification on my phone. :)