Chapter 5: A Spot of Tea
Draco headed out of the room and immediately went up a staircase. He paused noticing Michelle had yet to join him.
"Are you coming or not?"
"Oh! You really are going to show me around." Michelle picked up her backpack.
Malfoy looked over his shoulder as they ascended, "Does he know you're here?"
"Dumbledore? Of course he does."
"I meant your loser boyfriend..." he grumbled.
"I sent Harry an owl before I left this morning."
"I bet he didn't want you to come talk to me." Draco headed down the hallway at the top of the stairs.
"He wasn't too happy, but he understood."
"Somehow I doubt that..."
"Doubt it all you want, but you don't know...holy crap!" Michelle stopped abruptly.
"What?" Draco shot her an annoyed look. Then he noticed what had gotten her attention.
"This cannot possibly be you." Michelle had paused in front of one of the portraits that lined the hallway. She thought she heard him moan just a little before he joined her.
"It's me." he answered simply.
"You almost look...happy...that is so weird..." Michelle stole a glance at him and thought she saw some red in his cheeks.
"I was six. I didn't know better."
"You have a dog! Do you really have a dog or was it just painted in?"
"I had a dog."
Michelle wasn't sure, but she thought he sounded a bit sad. "Had a dog? When did he, uh, leave?"
Malfoy frowned. "He didn't leave...he died. It was a long time ago." Malfoy took off again down the hall.
Michelle wished she had brought a camera even though the picture of a genuinely happy Draco would be burned in her mind forever. As they walked, Malfoy pointed out the various rooms that they passed, but didn't enter. Like all big estates, the place had tons of bedrooms. Michelle could only glance into them as they moved forward. As they reached the end of the hall, Draco slowed. He stopped in front of the last door on the right.
"This is my room." His face broke out into a wicked grin.
Michelle just rolled her eyes at him as he opened the door with a grand gesture.
Draco leaned down as Michelle passed him and whispered to her.
"You should feel privileged. You're the first girl I've brought up here."
"Aren't I the lucky one." she responded flatly. Her eyes scanned her surroundings. For the most part it looked like a teenage boy's room. Correction, a teenage wizard boy's room. There was a desk on which sat what looked like a chemistry set. The bed was a tangle of sheets and blankets. There were clothes on the floor. Books lay open as if they'd been tossed aside. Draco's Quidditch uniform was draped over a chair in the corner. The only strange thing about the room was the fact the walls were bare minus what looked like a poster sized family tree. Michelle came closer to the wall and followed the names from the start of the Malfoy lineage to the name of the boy she was standing next to.
"The parents don't try to drive home the whole pureblood deal too much now do they?"
"It's important to know who you are and where you came from. I guess you wouldn't understand would you?" Malfoy's lips had curled up as he caught her eye.
"I don't think much about it. I know who I am."
Malfoy followed her as she walked about the room. He didn't really believe she had no interest in who her parents were. Michelle looked out of the window onto the grounds.
"Atleast you have a pretty view." Michelle hated to admit the grounds really were impressive.
Draco came up behind her to look out as well. Michelle could feel his breath on her hair. If he was trying to intimidate her, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. She stood still calmly.
Draco wondered why she didn't tell him to back off. He could smell lavender when he stood this close to her. She must be wearing perfume. Still she didn't move and Draco remained confused. Didn't she realize he could send her through the window if he really wanted to? He didn't want to, but it was possible all the same. He could throttle her where she stood. It would be easy to just wrap his arm around her neck. He lifted his hand slowly. Her hair looked soft. His fingers came closer to the back of her head.
Both Michelle and Draco jumped when the door opened.
"Tea is served, sir." Worth stared at them, his eyebrow raised.
Draco pulled his hand away and backed up quickly. "You may go now Worth." Malfoy virtually stomped towards the door. "C'mon, Mother will not like it if we make her wait."
"Can I leave my backpack in here? I'm getting tired of lugging it around."
Malfoy sounded annoyed. "Fine. Just get moving."
Michelle tossed the pack onto the bed before following Malfoy as they went back towards the staircase. They continued past the landing to the smaller hallway that went the opposite direction. Entering the first door, Michelle saw Narcissa waiting for them. Michelle's breath caught in her throat. "Overdone Ornate" should be the name for this room. Draco told her it was his mother's receiving room. Michelle could honestly say she had now seen every version of pink that was in exsistence. Narcissa motioned to them to join her at the table. The spread looked as though it could feed a family of eight.
Michelle went to sit down when Narcissa called out, stopping her movement.
"Draco! You are the gentleman in the room. Do your duty."
Michelle watched as Draco first pulled out the chair for his mother then came around the table to do the same for Michelle.
"If you tell anyone from school about this I swear..." he whispered harshly in her ear.
"They wouldn't believe me." She whispered back.
"What was that Miss Larson?" Narcissa had tossed on the fake smile again.
"I was just saying I can't believe how impressive the table looks."
"We Malfoy's strive for perfection in everything."
No wonder Draco is so messed up, Michelle thought as she watched Narcissa pour the tea.
The room was quiet as Draco's mother served the tea and filled their plates with small cakes and scones. Draco kept stealing glances at Michelle. He seemed to be waiting for her to make a smart ass comment about her surroundings. His mind raced with possible responses, but she kept still.
Michelle took a sip of her tea cautiously. She didn't really believe Narcissa would be so careless as to poison her in this situation, but she didn't really trust her either. Well, nothing was happening and the tea tasted like tea, which meant it didn't taste much like anything to Michelle. No wonder she couldn't make a decent cup of the stuff.
Narcissa's eyes seemed glued to Michelle's face.
"Draco mentioned you graduated this past semester..." Narcissa delicately took a bite of her cookie.
"Yes I did, Mrs. Malfoy."
"What are you planning to do now?"
"I'm going to continue my studies before becoming a teacher." That and hopefully save your son, she thought.
"A teacher? I suppose someone must do it. We have much bigger plans for our Draco."
Michelle snuck a peak at Draco's face. The hint of red had appeared again.
"Really? What is the big plan for Draco?"
Narcissa smiled in her son's direction, though she didn't appear to be actually looking at him.
"He will be running the Ministry of Magic one day."
Michelle stiffled a surprised laugh. Guess you couldn't admit he would be a Death Eater to just anyone. "Running the Ministry. I'm not sure I see Draco as a bureaucrat."
"Draco is already a leader in school. He was born to be a leader. He is a Malfoy after all."
Michelle turned in her chair. "And do you want to be head of the Ministry?"
Draco seemed startled by the question. Normally discussions of his future didn't involve his opinion.
"Maybe..." he looked to his mother and seeing her reaction changed his answer. "Yes, of course I do..." his voice dropped off just enough his mother didn't hear the rest, "...that is the plan after all..."
They continued talking for another 20 minutes. Narcissa seemed content to ramble her way through every bit of Malfoy achievement over the last 50 years. She talked about the house, the land, the family, the money, and on and on. Michelle kept up as best she could, but as Narcissa attempted to explain the complex family tree that seemed to keep coming back on itself, Michelle found herself focusing less and less on what she was saying. Instead, she paid more attention to just how little Narcissa even seemed to need Michelle and Draco to be there to hear what she was saying. Narcissa would be content just talking whether anyone was there or not.
Draco's eyes would roll with one comment, his head bowing to his chest in embarrassment with the next. He must have heard these stories a million times. All of them were reminders of how great they and the family were. He twitched suddenly, sitting up like a rabbit going on its hind legs to survey his surroundings.
Michelle felt it too. She couldn't explain it, but the hair on her arms went up. Then she heard the footsteps and the muffled thud of something hitting the floor in the same rhythm.
"Narcissa, my dear, Worth says we have a guest..." Lucius Malfoy had entered the room.
Michelle turned to look at him. "Mr. Malfoy..."
His eyebrow raised, "Here to take me up on my offer Miss Larson?"
Narcissa was perplexed. "What offer darling?"
"An offer of protection...she did tell you she was a Seer didn't she?"
Narcissa's expression went dark. "No dear, she did not." She shot Draco a withering look. "And neither did our son."
Draco shared a nervous glance with Michelle. "I didn't want to tell you Mother. I knew it would upset you."
Lucius bent down to speak to Michelle, "Narcissa had an upleasant encounter with a Seer once. As you can see, Narcissa survived...I cannot say the same for the Seer." Lucius righted himself and went to stand behind his wife. His hand fell onto her shoulder, casually brushing her blonde hair aside to brush his fingers on her neck.
Michelle was now very nervous and very creeped out. She looked at each member of the Malfoy family. Her only ally seemed to be Draco.
Draco.
Ally.
These two words did not go together well.
Michelle thought of two words that went together perfectly.
Bloody hell.
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A/N Don't worry, I do realize I am freakishly fond of ending with one or two word sentences. I will try and work on this.
