A/N: Turns out working is more time-consuming than I thought! Hope you like the new chapter :) Please review! I love hearing from you guys.
Chapter 40: The Birthday
The sun set over the San Francisco Bay. Rays of light filtered through the fog that shrouded the city from the eyes of the wizarding community, creating a kaleidoscope of colors that hovered over the shimmering water. The owner of the small apartment that overlooked the bay unlocked the large, chestnut colored door. The gold knob turned and the door was flung open. The tall, blond, resident stepped into his home with a relieved sigh, dropping his bag onto the black table by the door, keys tinkling as they hit the glass bowl they were dropped into. Draco strode across the room and sunk into the velvet green armchair that stood near the window. He watched the sun disappear over the water, a steaming cup of tea in hand, until the first stars came out, twinkling in the gray blue sky. The moon, waning, replaced the sun in the sky.
Draco twirled his new wand in his hand, admiring it from every angle. The black chestnut wood glistened in the light of the oil lamps that lined the walls. Draco had bought a Wolfe wand for 50 Dragots. Back chestnut, Thunderbird feather, thirteen inches. It had proven to be a good wand, though, unsurprisingly, Draco missed the wand he had bought when he was eleven. Nevertheless, David Matthew's wand would be untraceable to the Ministry of Magic back in the UK.
The clock on the mantle above the roaring fire struck nine. Draco's teacup, now cold, was cleaned and put back in the cupboard above the sink in Draco's tiny kitchen. His studio apartment, with a wave of the black chestnut wand, began to transform. The couches that had filled up the space slid into the cabinet that was hidden behind the wall hangings, and a large, wrought-iron bed flew out of the same cabinet and into the center of the room, pushed up against the wall that stood across from the fireplace. Draco made a quick trip to the restroom, then slid under the covers, a book open across his lap. By ten, Draco was fast asleep.
At twelve, Draco was shaken awake. Bleary eyed and disgruntled, he turned over, Dominique standing over his bed.
"Happy Birthday!" She whispered with a smile. She held out a box that was wrapped in silver ribbon.
Draco slowly pushed himself up. "You know, it's still my birthday at seven in the morning, right?"
"Oh, hush!" Dominique said, flopping onto the bed. She rolled onto her stomach and faced Draco with a huge smile on her face, her hands in fists under her chin. "Open it!"
Draco rubbed his eyes and slowly unwrapped the ribbon, yawning. "Hurry up!" Dominique insisted.
A minute later, Draco had gotten the box open. A shiny new camera lay nestled in the red velvet folds of the box. "Thank you," he said, genuinely, as he leaned over to give Dominique a peck on the cheek.
"You like it?" Dominique asked, a little unsurely.
"Yes, I love it," Draco assured her, pulling her in for a hug. They leaned together against the headboard.
"Good, because I have two more presents!" Dominique practically squealed. "First: I got you the day off tomorrow!" Draco smiled, rolling his eyes playfully. "And second..." Dominique reached for her bag that she had dropped by the bed and pulled out a copy of the Daily Prophet. "This one was a surprise for me, too, if I'm being honest."
"Er, Dominique... I work at the paper. I get these everyday."
"Yes..." Dominique sighed. "But, Draco, the paper changes everyday, you see, and sometimes, there is no reason to wait until tomorrow morning to find out the news."
Draco rolled his eyes and grinned as he took the paper. His heart beat wildly in his chest. Seeing the Prophet always made him so nervous.
"Look at page 5. See, there. I marked it for you." Dominique pointed at the dog eared page like an excited four-year-old."
"I see," replied Draco with the tone of a patient parent. He ran his hand through Dominique' hair as he flipped to page five. He read the headline, and relief and joy flooded his whole body as he did.
NARCISSA MALFOY FOUND INNOCENT, NO TIME IN AZKABAN REQUIRED
"See!" Dominique exclaimed, wrapping her arms around Draco's chest. "I told you you shouldn't wait!"
"You were right," Draco responded hoarsely. He struggled to unscramble his thoughts and emotions. His voice dropped to a whisper. "Thank you," he said softly to Dominique, pressing his forehead to her temple.
"You're welcome," she replied, giving him a kiss. They sat there for a while, Dominique's head on Draco's shoulder, his arm wrapped around her waist, content and relieved. Narcissa Malfoy was safe.
Draco and Dominique stayed up for a couple more hours, downing bottles of firewhiskey in celebration. They danced to the swing music that radiated out from the stereo that stood beside the fireplace, each with a bottle in hand, Draco's arm around Dominique's waist and her hand wrapped around his neck, her head flung back. His birthday was just beginning.
The celebrations continued after a short, three-hour break for sleep. At eight, they headed out to Fisherman's Wharf for breakfast among a flurry of pigeons. They took a ferry around Alcatraz, enjoying a rare sunny day and an illegal bottle of champagne. (They had both had fake IDs made, courtesy of the funny little wizard that had a stall near the paper's office.) Once back in the wizarding part of town, Draco took his camera out for a spin. Unbeknownst to Dominique, he was actually working on his assignment for the paper. He had to cover the preparations for the summer festival, and, under the guise of trying out his camera, he had convinced Dominque to let him hang around the venue for a while.
Draco absolutely loved his job. He loved getting to travel all around the wizarding underground, which he had soon found out was called Aldea Pier. As a photographer, he was allowed to go almost anywhere, and he discovered many things about his new home. The end of the Pier gave way to the most beautiful kelp forest, which shimmered all colors of the rainbow at sunset. The creatures that lived there were both magic and non-magic; Draco had made friends with a particularly unusual family of sea lions that Draco suspected was part magic. The roof of the tallest building on the Pier was only accessible if you entered the elevator and stopped at floor 3, then 4, then 17, all while humming Madonna's "Material Girl." (Which Draco only learned the name of when he visited a Muggle- er, No-Maj- nightclub the other day.
But the best part of the job, for Draco, was the fact that nobody knew who he was. He wasn't compared to anybody. There were no expectations for him to be a certain way. He was completely free to do as he pleased, so long as his work was on time and wasn't complete rubbish-that is, garbage.
After an hour at the festival venue, Dominique began getting suspicious, so Draco begrudgingly followed her to the ice cream shop. He ordered a vanilla- "So boring!" Dominique exclaimed- and Dominique ordered a neapolitan. They both laughed under the yellow umbrella that floated above their table as Dominique accidentally got ice cream all over her face. That was, until, Dominique smashed Draco's ice cream in his face as well. It only took him a moment to recover, and then he was back to laughing until it hurt.
It hadn't been since he was a child that Draco had felt so free with his emotions. He no longer had to deal with having to live up to the Malfoy name. And with Dominique, he didn't have to worry about anything at all, just like when they were kids. Draco had never been happier.
At six, Draco went out for drinks with a few of his coworkers. Dominique had rushed off to owl her parents. Draco found himself quite at ease with his new friends, who constantly teased him about his accent.
"'Blimey?!' What the hell does that mean?!" They chortled as they bought Draco another drink. "Man, you guys are crazy over there in Europe!" Draco joined in as their laughter filled the bar.
When he got home at eight, Draco found a full dinner laid out on his tiny dining table. Dominique, with flour in her hair and sauce on her cheek, rushed over to greet him. Draco cocked an eyebrow at her. "Are you sure this is edible?" He asked, half-joking, half-not. The first time Dominique had cooked, Draco had almost died. She had forgotten to cook the chicken, and it had gone bad in the four hours it had taken her to make the rice and vegetables.
"Yes," Dominique said, sounding defeated. "I ordered it. I just heated it up."
"And the flour got in your hair how...?"
"I tried to make cookies," Dominique sighed, pulling a tray of what appeared to be charcoal out of the oven.
"Ah," said Draco, pulling her in for a kiss. "Well, then, I'm starving."
All through dinner, Dominique was fidgeting. She was so excited for dinner to be over that she finished her food in ten minutes, then waited eagerly for Draco to finish.
"Got somewhere to go?" Draco asked calmly, slowing down his chewing.
"No..." Dominique said. "Hurry up!"
Draco picked up his spoon and lifted it up to his mouth at an excruciatingly slow rate.
"Ok fine!" Dominique exclaimed, slamming her hand on the table. She sat up straighter and began taking.
"So... you know how I'm done with school now, right?" Draco nodded almost mockingly. "Well, I've been looking for a job, and I got one!"
"That's great!" Draco exclaimed. "Where?"
"Wolfe's wand shop!" She practically squealed, bringing her hands to her face. "As an apprentice wandmaker. Ooh, I'm so excited!"
"Congratulations! I'm so happy for you," Draco said, reaching for her hand. A pregnant pause filled the room. Draco looked into Dominique's pleading eyes. "So...I suppose that means you'll be moving in with me?"
"Is that alright?" Dominique asked tentatively.
Draco scooped her in for a hug, pressing his forehead to hers. "Of course," he said, giving her a kiss.
"Thank you," she whispered. "So, now you owe me..." she counted on her fingers, "...four presents on my birthday."
Draco laughed. "I suppose I do."