Draco peered down to see Alcaeus re surface and let out a loud cackle. Alcaeus looked up and frowned to see only his father on the edge of the waterfall and Jade, nowhere to be seen. "Where's Jade?" Alcaeus asked.
Draco asked himself the same question, wondering why she wasn't surfacing. Alcaeus always dove from the small cliff of the waterfall so Draco never worried about him drowning. When he saw Jade diving after him, he figured that she knew how to swim as well but a horrible fear came across him. She hadn't resurface yet so there was something very wrong. Draco immediately jumped down to the waters to look for Jade.
Alcaeus saw his father jump into the waters and wondered where Jade went. "Jade?" Alcaeus called out. A few minutes later, he saw his father shoot out of the water with an unconscious Jade in his arms. Alcaeus then realized that Jade had been in the water all this time without the knowledge of how to swim. Father would definitely scream and yell at her once she regained her senses, but Alcaeus didn't want that. He didn't want his father to yell at Jade or even hurt her. What surprised him was that his father began kissing her and pressing her chest as she laid there.
Jade didn't know how it happened or when it happened, the last thing she remembered was blacking out in the water. She coughed violently, seeing Malfoy hovering over her, wiping her face. It was an odd thing for the moment for Jade to see. The evening sun hit the back of Draco's head, illuminating his head and shoulders. His intense grey eyes, sparkling as he observed her. The beads of water on his broad sculpted shoulders and strong arms glittered like diamonds under the sun. It felt incredibly strange to stare at Draco Malfoy this way, especially after Jade had a near death experience. Jade wasn't worried about how she was, she was just worried by the fact that she enjoyed lying under Draco Malfoy with the sun hitting his back, highlighting every beautiful thing about his body.
"Can you hear me?" Draco asked. Jade croaked a yes but started to cough again. She cleared her throat of the water and started to breathe steadily. "Come on." Draco said trying to get her up. Jade grabbed on tightly to his arm and stood up, trying to shake off her nerves. Draco crouched down and swiftly picked her up into his arms. Jade let out a small gasp and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. "Alcaeus, carefully take my wand and things on that rock." Draco said. Alcaeus nodded and hurried to the large boulder to take his father's wand, shirt and the contents in his pants. Alcaeus followed his father back to the Manor where Jade could rest.
Jade shamelessly stared at Draco Malfoy as he carried her back to the Manor. His blonde hair was slicked back, still wet from the water. His skin looked so dewy and fresh and he didn't look tired at all. Dean partied until early in the morning so from all the exhausting dancing and the alcoholic drinks, Dean had started to look tired and much older. Draco's face filled out during all these years, before graduating Hogwarts, before getting married to Pansy Parkinson and having a child, Draco was committed to nothing, tied to nothing, and definitely not worried about anything.
Jade's eye caught Alcaeus, who trotted behind his father, carrying a wand and a shirt. Jade peered down, trying not to be obvious that she was checking him out. They entered the Manor and Draco called for Francis the butler and the maids. Draco walked up the stairs, with Jade.
"Master Malfoy?" Francis asked. Draco turned around to see his butler and maids standing at the bottom of the stairs.
"Bring Miss Harper something warm to drink and a few blankets." Draco said. Francis gave a nod and directed the maids to bring hot chocolate and some warm blankets. Draco glanced down to Jade who blinked away from staring at him and blushed. "Do you like hot chocolate?" Draco asked.
"Yes, hot chocolate is fine." Jade squeaked. Draco gave a nod and Jade realized how tired his arms would be by holding her for so long. "You know, I can walk on my own. You don't have to carry me anymore." Jade said.
"You tell me this now? We're almost there, I might as well finish." Draco said.
Jade had no objections. She was being carried and felt extremely comfortable, even if her heart pounded when she realized that it was Draco Malfoy, a very attractive man that carried her there. A grim and embarrassing feeling came over her. She was enjoying everything Draco Malfoy did for her and the way he looked. Could she have developed a small crush on Draco Malfoy?
Draco realized that he was standing there, on the same spot, zoning off as he openly stared at Harper. He had his knee supporting her as if he set this up just to gawk at her. He slipped his knee out and his eye caught his son's confused expression to the both of them.
Alcaeus was staring at the two as if they were the world's biggest puzzle. Draco's cheeks reddened as he thought what his son would think of him. Draco went to walk up the stairs but someone called his name from behind him.
"Draco! Dra-oh." Blaise said walking in the entrance of the Malfoy Manor. He stopped to see Draco with a woman on his arms and Alcaeus standing next to them.
"Uncle Blaise!" Alcaeus shouted.
"Alc!" Blaise said receiving the running child.
"Blaise I'll be right with you, just give me a moment." Draco said as Blaise walked up the stairs.
"Sure, at least let me introduce myself to your lady love. Hi I'm Blaise Zambini." Blaise said sticking his hand out for Jade to shake.
"I'm Jade Harper. Alcaeus's tutor." Jade said turning bright red and shaking Blaise's hand while still being carried by Draco.
"Oh, Alcaeus's tutor?" Blaise asked as Jade nodded.
"Nothing else." Jade added.
Blaise turned to look at Draco who gave a nod and Blaise turned back to Jade with a smile. "So that means you're not taken, interested in a tall, dark and handsome man like me?" Blaise asked charmingly.
"Blaise sod off, I have to get her to a room." Draco said wondering why Blaise had to flirt with anything that breathed.
"Will you at least let me hear her answer?" Blaise asked.
"Blaise." Draco warned.
"All right…owl me." Blaise said. Jade tried very hard to suppress a giggle but couldn't, seeing how comical Blaise was and how serious Draco had become. Draco entered a room and set Jade on a bed.
"I'm really sorry for making you go through all this." Jade apologized seeing him shake his head.
"You nearly died, there's nothing to be sorry about." Draco said twisting his forearms. Jade looked away as a half naked Draco Malfoy wrung his tired arms out. Francis and a few maids walked in with Jade's hot chocolate and blankets to comfort her. Jade drank up the hot chocolate in front of Draco and thanked him for saving her life and everything else. She left quickly and Draco finally left to his study to find Blaise and Alcaeus, sitting together, reading a book.
"Alcaeus, go to your room, father needs to talk to Uncle Blaise." Draco said as Alcaeus nodded. Alcaeus left and Draco sat down with a sigh. He saw the leering look on Blaise's face and rolled his eyes at him. "Why are you looking at me like that for?" Draco asked.
Blaise smirked and sat back in his seat. "Just wondering…carrying a woman without a shirt, getting flustered when we talk about her…doing nice and hospitable deeds, not yelling at Alcaeus for once-"
"Where are you getting with this?" Draco asked irritably.
"You know where I'm getting at. She seems decent, she's pretty, she's Alcaeus's tutor…Alcaeus likes her doesn't he?" Blaise asked.
"Alcaeus likes her but I don't like her. We've talked about this a thousand times Blaise, I don't want to get married. Alcaeus does not need a mother; I'm there for him aren't I?" Draco asked as Blaise clicked his teeth.
"See that's where you don't understand Draco. You're saying Alcaeus doesn't need a mother but is that what Alcaeus wants? He's a child Draco and a child needs a mother-"
"You didn't need one. Your mother was hardly ever there through most of your childhood." Draco said seeing Blaise nod.
"And that's why I'm fucked up in the head. I terribly am and I don't want that to happen to Alcaeus. I told you mate, if not yourself, do it for your kid. You don't have to focus on his tutor; you can actually loosen up for a change and just meet some women." Blaise said seeing Draco shake his head.
"I honestly don't want to look for women. I loved only one woman and I don't have another one to give it to. You live once, you die once and you love only once." Draco said.
"That's just…bullshit right there! Oh Salazar Slytherin Draco, you have to get out of that mindset…" Blaise trailed off.
Alcaeus stood near the doorways in the study, listening to everything his Father and Uncle Blaise were talking about. Uncle Blaise was right! Father definitely needed someone that could keep him happy and himself happy! Jade was the perfect person to be his mother! She cared about him more than anyone else did in his life and actually gave him a chance. She never screamed and yelled at him, anything she said, anything she did expressed how loving and caring she was. Alcaeus saw the way his father and Jade looked at each earlier on the stairs. They were in love, but they just didn't know it and Alcaeus needed to do anything he could to get them to realize it.