* DISCLAIMER: I don't own what you recognize, J.K. Rowling does. What you
don't recognize is mine.
Chapter 4.
He stormed into the house, frustrated with the day's happenings. He slammed the door behind him, cursing his father under his breath. His wife rushed to him, Leila in arms, followed by Ephram.
"Baby what happened?" she asked, giving him a kiss on the cheek. He explained the lack of luck he had that day with finding work. Elizabeth tried to comfort him reassuringly, but when Draco's temper emerged, there was no stopping it. Elizabeth brought Leila to her room and placed her in the basinet. "Ephram, go play with your toys sweetums. I need to talk to daddy," Elizabeth said. She shooed him into his room. She returned to the kitchen, where Draco sat, eating a late dinner that Elizabeth prepared for him.
"Draco," she whispered. He looked up at her, with cold eyes. Even she was afraid of his temper. "Draco everything will be ok. You said it yourself- before Leila was born. A few sacrifices here and there never hurt anyone. Remember?"
"Yes I remember. But that was before Leila. I didn't realize how much money it would be taking care of two children. Liz, we can't handle this. I thought we could but now I know we can't. And if I don't get this job at the Ministry who knows what will happen. They could take Leila and Ephram away and send them to a.a.an orphanage so that they could be better taken care of. Liz I can't let my children be taken away from me. I just won't let it happen."
Those words scared Elizabeth. She had often thought about that too, but had always tried to dismiss the thought of her children be taken away from an orphanage. She didn't want to let it happen, but she knew that there was a possibility that it could if the Malfoys didn't come up with money soon.
"Draco, Ron and Hermione offered help when we need it. I'm sure we can come up with something if you don't get the job. But please, Draco, think positively. You don't know that you didn't get the job. We'll just have to wait and see," Elizabeth said, gently placing her hand on his shoulder. Draco stood up and looked her straight in the eyes, whispered "I love you," and kissed her. They were in this together and would never let anything tear them apart.
Weeks had passed and there had been no word from the Ministry as to whether Draco had received a job or not. Draco had awoken that morning, confident that this was the day he would get the letter. He went downstairs and breakfast was on the table waiting for him. "That must be Darwin with the post," Elizabeth said after hearing a loud bang on the window. She went over to the window and opened it slightly. She unattached the post from Darwin and rummaged through it.
"Is there anything from the Ministry? I doubt there is, the receptionist said it could take awhile," Draco inquired, with a little bit of hope in that the Ministry had responded promptly in his voice. Elizabeth pulled out an envelope and handed it to Draco, smiling. He checked the return address, verifying that it was indeed from the Ministry. Ripping the envelope open, he frantically read the first few lines.
Dear Mr. Malfoy:
I, Cornelius Fudge, am pleased to announce that you, Mr. Draco Malfoy, have received the position of the Assistant Chief Promoter of Quidditch under the Department of Magical Games and Sports at the Ministry of Magic.
Elizabeth watched Draco read the letter, waiting for his reaction. A smile crept across his face as he handed the letter to her when he was through.
"Oh Draco!" she shouted with joy. He ran over to her and picked her up, her auburn hair flowing through the air as he swung her around. They kissed, knowing that this would be the start of a new life for the Malfoy family.
Two days later, Draco woke up at 5:30 in the morning, knowing that this was his first day at work. He showered and got dressed into his nicest cloak. He slicked back his blonde hair and looked at himself confidently in the mirror. His wife was still asleep, so he gently planted a kiss on her forehead, trying his best not to wake up. He peeked into his daughter's room, blew her a kiss, and went on to pay Ephram an early-morning visit. He grabbed a quick breakfast and was off.
He found the telephone booth in the dark alleyway. A black cat jumped out at him, as he dialed 6-2-4-4-2. Millicent answered. Draco gave the required information, received his badge, and went to Level 7, in which his department was located. This level wasn't too fancy or clean, but Draco knew that it was the best that he could do, and he was satisfied with it. He entered a room that had the words "D. Malfoy" scratched into the door. The walls of his office were cracked and shabby. Papers flooded the floor. There were posters of every team imaginable tacked onto each wall. There was even a section of the right wall dedicated to Hogwarts Quidditch matches. He found a photo of a familiar game he played in Year 2. There he was on his broom, racing Harry for the snitch. He chuckled as he stared at the picture. "Those were the days," he thought to himself.
Millicent sent a goblin up to Malfoy with a list of tasks to be taken care of by the day.
1. Make Quidditch schedule for next month. 2. Send schedule to captain of each team 3. Review Hogwarts Quidditch scores for reference 4. Research and record all scores of each game for each team from the previous month 5. Have five copies of the scores ready by the end of the day 6. Send one copy to The Daily Prophet for publishing
"Merlin that's a lot to do in three hours, they've got to be joking," Draco said to himself, thinking about how many games and teams there are in a month. "But with a little magic this will be done in a snap," he said, reaching into a pocket in his robe so that he could pull out his wand and begin to work. "Damn," he said, at the realization that he had forgotten his wand at the house. He let out a long sigh of frustrations, than a string of cusses, and proceeded to find an old quill in the disorganized desk. He sat at the desk in an ancient oak chair and found a blank piece of parchment.
"Kenmare Kestrels vs. Chudley Cannons," he said to himself as he wrote.
Though it was a long three hours, perhaps the longest and most drawn out three hours of his life, seeing Millicent walk through the door signified that his work day was over.
"Mr. Malfoy, do you have your assignment complete?" she asked sweetly, as to not to endure his temper again. He was in the middle of writing the eighth team's scores.
He gulped, looked at Millicent and shook his head. "I'm nowhere near done, Millicent. Could you do I a favor and send an owl to my wife telling her that I won't be home for another several hours?"
Laughing, Millicent nodded and said, "Mr. Malfoy, this job isn't as easy as you suspected, is it?" Draco smiled and shook his head.
"Not even close to what I thought it would be, but I have to accept it. This is my job and this is the only way I'll get money. I have to do it. Even if I'll be getting home at midnight tonight," he kidded.
"Well I'm here to collect the schedules. They need to be sent out straight away. I'd assume you've gotten them done, Mr. Malfoy?" Millicent said with attitude. Draco stood up and handed her the schedules and sat back down and continued working. He knew that he would hate his job if it would be like this every day. Then he looked on the corner of his desk. He had placed a picture of his wife, daughter, and son in a frame. He watched his wife move about and he laughed. He then realized that he would go through hell for his family, and that was exactly what he was doing.
Millicent, who had left only minutes ago, came running back into Draco's office shouting things so quickly they were inaudible to Draco. All he could hear was, "Why do I have to tell him?"
"Millicent, please, sit down what's wrong?" he asked, pulling out a chair for her.
She sat down and said, "Mr. Malfoy, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but I have to. Your wife was sent to St. Mungo's today. I wasn't told the reason, I was just ordered to tell you. Mr. Fudge said to dismiss you from your work and you can return to it when you feel capable to do so. With the blink of an eye Malfoy had gathered his things and gone out the door. He yelled, "Goodbye Millicent!" and ran off. He ran to the right side of the Atrium and waited until it was his turn to go.
Chapter 4.
He stormed into the house, frustrated with the day's happenings. He slammed the door behind him, cursing his father under his breath. His wife rushed to him, Leila in arms, followed by Ephram.
"Baby what happened?" she asked, giving him a kiss on the cheek. He explained the lack of luck he had that day with finding work. Elizabeth tried to comfort him reassuringly, but when Draco's temper emerged, there was no stopping it. Elizabeth brought Leila to her room and placed her in the basinet. "Ephram, go play with your toys sweetums. I need to talk to daddy," Elizabeth said. She shooed him into his room. She returned to the kitchen, where Draco sat, eating a late dinner that Elizabeth prepared for him.
"Draco," she whispered. He looked up at her, with cold eyes. Even she was afraid of his temper. "Draco everything will be ok. You said it yourself- before Leila was born. A few sacrifices here and there never hurt anyone. Remember?"
"Yes I remember. But that was before Leila. I didn't realize how much money it would be taking care of two children. Liz, we can't handle this. I thought we could but now I know we can't. And if I don't get this job at the Ministry who knows what will happen. They could take Leila and Ephram away and send them to a.a.an orphanage so that they could be better taken care of. Liz I can't let my children be taken away from me. I just won't let it happen."
Those words scared Elizabeth. She had often thought about that too, but had always tried to dismiss the thought of her children be taken away from an orphanage. She didn't want to let it happen, but she knew that there was a possibility that it could if the Malfoys didn't come up with money soon.
"Draco, Ron and Hermione offered help when we need it. I'm sure we can come up with something if you don't get the job. But please, Draco, think positively. You don't know that you didn't get the job. We'll just have to wait and see," Elizabeth said, gently placing her hand on his shoulder. Draco stood up and looked her straight in the eyes, whispered "I love you," and kissed her. They were in this together and would never let anything tear them apart.
Weeks had passed and there had been no word from the Ministry as to whether Draco had received a job or not. Draco had awoken that morning, confident that this was the day he would get the letter. He went downstairs and breakfast was on the table waiting for him. "That must be Darwin with the post," Elizabeth said after hearing a loud bang on the window. She went over to the window and opened it slightly. She unattached the post from Darwin and rummaged through it.
"Is there anything from the Ministry? I doubt there is, the receptionist said it could take awhile," Draco inquired, with a little bit of hope in that the Ministry had responded promptly in his voice. Elizabeth pulled out an envelope and handed it to Draco, smiling. He checked the return address, verifying that it was indeed from the Ministry. Ripping the envelope open, he frantically read the first few lines.
Dear Mr. Malfoy:
I, Cornelius Fudge, am pleased to announce that you, Mr. Draco Malfoy, have received the position of the Assistant Chief Promoter of Quidditch under the Department of Magical Games and Sports at the Ministry of Magic.
Elizabeth watched Draco read the letter, waiting for his reaction. A smile crept across his face as he handed the letter to her when he was through.
"Oh Draco!" she shouted with joy. He ran over to her and picked her up, her auburn hair flowing through the air as he swung her around. They kissed, knowing that this would be the start of a new life for the Malfoy family.
Two days later, Draco woke up at 5:30 in the morning, knowing that this was his first day at work. He showered and got dressed into his nicest cloak. He slicked back his blonde hair and looked at himself confidently in the mirror. His wife was still asleep, so he gently planted a kiss on her forehead, trying his best not to wake up. He peeked into his daughter's room, blew her a kiss, and went on to pay Ephram an early-morning visit. He grabbed a quick breakfast and was off.
He found the telephone booth in the dark alleyway. A black cat jumped out at him, as he dialed 6-2-4-4-2. Millicent answered. Draco gave the required information, received his badge, and went to Level 7, in which his department was located. This level wasn't too fancy or clean, but Draco knew that it was the best that he could do, and he was satisfied with it. He entered a room that had the words "D. Malfoy" scratched into the door. The walls of his office were cracked and shabby. Papers flooded the floor. There were posters of every team imaginable tacked onto each wall. There was even a section of the right wall dedicated to Hogwarts Quidditch matches. He found a photo of a familiar game he played in Year 2. There he was on his broom, racing Harry for the snitch. He chuckled as he stared at the picture. "Those were the days," he thought to himself.
Millicent sent a goblin up to Malfoy with a list of tasks to be taken care of by the day.
1. Make Quidditch schedule for next month. 2. Send schedule to captain of each team 3. Review Hogwarts Quidditch scores for reference 4. Research and record all scores of each game for each team from the previous month 5. Have five copies of the scores ready by the end of the day 6. Send one copy to The Daily Prophet for publishing
"Merlin that's a lot to do in three hours, they've got to be joking," Draco said to himself, thinking about how many games and teams there are in a month. "But with a little magic this will be done in a snap," he said, reaching into a pocket in his robe so that he could pull out his wand and begin to work. "Damn," he said, at the realization that he had forgotten his wand at the house. He let out a long sigh of frustrations, than a string of cusses, and proceeded to find an old quill in the disorganized desk. He sat at the desk in an ancient oak chair and found a blank piece of parchment.
"Kenmare Kestrels vs. Chudley Cannons," he said to himself as he wrote.
Though it was a long three hours, perhaps the longest and most drawn out three hours of his life, seeing Millicent walk through the door signified that his work day was over.
"Mr. Malfoy, do you have your assignment complete?" she asked sweetly, as to not to endure his temper again. He was in the middle of writing the eighth team's scores.
He gulped, looked at Millicent and shook his head. "I'm nowhere near done, Millicent. Could you do I a favor and send an owl to my wife telling her that I won't be home for another several hours?"
Laughing, Millicent nodded and said, "Mr. Malfoy, this job isn't as easy as you suspected, is it?" Draco smiled and shook his head.
"Not even close to what I thought it would be, but I have to accept it. This is my job and this is the only way I'll get money. I have to do it. Even if I'll be getting home at midnight tonight," he kidded.
"Well I'm here to collect the schedules. They need to be sent out straight away. I'd assume you've gotten them done, Mr. Malfoy?" Millicent said with attitude. Draco stood up and handed her the schedules and sat back down and continued working. He knew that he would hate his job if it would be like this every day. Then he looked on the corner of his desk. He had placed a picture of his wife, daughter, and son in a frame. He watched his wife move about and he laughed. He then realized that he would go through hell for his family, and that was exactly what he was doing.
Millicent, who had left only minutes ago, came running back into Draco's office shouting things so quickly they were inaudible to Draco. All he could hear was, "Why do I have to tell him?"
"Millicent, please, sit down what's wrong?" he asked, pulling out a chair for her.
She sat down and said, "Mr. Malfoy, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but I have to. Your wife was sent to St. Mungo's today. I wasn't told the reason, I was just ordered to tell you. Mr. Fudge said to dismiss you from your work and you can return to it when you feel capable to do so. With the blink of an eye Malfoy had gathered his things and gone out the door. He yelled, "Goodbye Millicent!" and ran off. He ran to the right side of the Atrium and waited until it was his turn to go.