***Present
Jade woke up to see that Draco sitting up and thinking. She scooted closer to him and placed her head on his lap, feeling him run his hand through her hair and down her arm.
"When do you have to leave?" Jade asked looking up at him.
"Soon." He replied without looking at her.
Jade wanted to know what he was thinking. She couldn't even figure him out anymore. He wasn't as expressive as he was before. He sat coldly, like a stone, as if his soul was taken out and all there was left was a functional being. He wasn't passionate anymore and Jade knew he wasn't passionate about her anymore either. Sleeping with him wasn't the same as it was 5 years ago. He wasn't the same anymore.
"Is there something wrong? You know you can always talk to me if you want. I'm always here if you need someone to talk to." Jade told him.
'You'd be the last person in this world I'd talk to about my problems.' Draco thought.
"No, I'm fine." He said.
When Draco decided it was time to leave, Jade went to get up to make him breakfast. He ate and bid Jade a goodbye to spend a week with Gwenda. He apparated to Gwenda's flat and rang the doorbell. The door opened and Gwenda smiled at him flirtatiously.
"Come in…I'm almost done packing." She said. With that, she closed the door shut.
Jade decorated the Christmas tree and sat watching it. It was a beautifully decorated Christmas tree with a couple of presents sitting next to it. There were presents from Draco, her co-workers and neighbors. Jade felt so much more alone than ever now that Draco was gone. All her life, she grew up to spend Christmas with such a big family.
In her Hogwart's years when she added Harry and Hermione into her family, she loved to spend Christmas with a big family. It was ironic to see that in just 5 years; she'd be completely alone, spending Christmas with herself. On Christmas day, she didn't plan on doing anything special but her neighbors; the Bailey's who consisted of two middle aged parents, their sons and daughters, son-in-laws and daughter-in-laws and grandchildren.
Jade couldn't help but wonder about her own family back at the Burrow. It must be so fun over there. Hermione and Ron probably had a couple of children by now. How would they look like? Jade could imagine her father sitting in front of the fire with a little Ron or little Hermione on his lap while he read. Did he also talk to his grandchildren about his muggle artifacts? Were they interested?
She sat in the living room with a cup of hot chocolate in her hands, listening to everyone speaking to each other, the love they had for each other shown clearly in their faces, their voices, and their silence. Jade saw a little toddler wobble by her, holding on to her legs for support.
"Hello sweetie, what's your name?" Jade asked touching the child's chubby cheek. The little boy stared at Jade with wide glittering blue eyes.
"That's my nephew, Charlie." A man said sitting next to Jade. "Right Charlie?" his uncle asked holding out his hand.
Charlie looked down at his uncle's hand and opened his mouth as if he were being fed.
"Aw." Jade said picking Charlie up.
"My brother's name is Charlie." Jade said bouncing Charlie on her lap. She turned to Charlie's uncle who smiled back at her with sandy brown hair and dark chocolate eyes.
"Where does he live?" Charlie's uncle asked.
"Romania. He's a dra-he studies." Jade said realizing that she was speaking to a muggle. She couldn't tell him that her brother Charlie studied dragons; he'd think she was absolutely mental.
"Oh that's nice. I'm Cole Bailey by the way." He said stretching his hand out to shake her hand.
"Jade Malfoy. Nice to meet you Mr. Bailey." Jade said seeing him shake his head.
"Please call me Cole." He said.
"My parents said you live around here?" he asked and Jade nodded.
"Just the house up the street. What about you?" Jade asked.
"Well my current address is here for now. I've just graduated from Yale University, so I'm getting settled here." He said.
Jade raised her eyebrows. She heard Hermione mention about one of the best muggle universities in the world. She even heard that Dumbledore often went around, giving lectures on his leisure time. She definitely heard about Harvard, Yale, Columbia and most definitely Oxford and Cambridge back here, just to name a few.
"Congratulations! That's a great achievement, you must be very proud." Jade said seeing him nod.
"I am. 4 years of intense studying and sacrifice paid off well." He said grinning at Jade who chuckled.
"Yes I know what you mean." She said as he nodded.
"And you? Where did you study from?" he asked.
"Oh well-"
"Cole, could you come over here and help me with this television. Seems to be having a technical glitch." His father, Mr. Bailey told him.
"Excuse me." Cole said and Jade nodded.
Jade got up with Charlie in her arms and started talking to the women in the kitchen. When it was finally time for Jade to leave, she thanked everyone for a great dinner and wished them a good night.
"Can I walk you home?" Cole asked politely.
"Yeah, you should, it's unsafe for a lady to walk home alone at this time of night." Mr. Bailey said.
"Yes he's right." Mrs. Bailey said nodding. Cole turned to Jade who nodded. They shut the door behind them and Cole's brother grinned, high-fiving his brother-in-law.
"We actually fixed Cole a girlfriend!" he said. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey turned sharply towards their eldest son.
"She's a married woman and she loves her prat of a husband more than anyone else in the world. Otherwise who would leave their loved one behind for a business trip?" Mrs. Bailey asked walking away.
"I hope I'm not keeping you from anything." Jade said as they walked down the steps.
"No absolutely not." he said nervously stretching out his jacket with his pockets.
They walked on further and Cole told Jade about how it was great to have come home and wished that he'd have someone to look around London again. Jade listened on politely and stopped in front of her house.
"Wow, this is a really nice house. Bigger than any of the houses here." He said looking at the beautiful two story house.
"I fell in love the first time I had seen it." Jade said looking at her 5 year old house admiringly.
"Are your parents home? They're all probably sleeping." He said quietly, standing on her porch, feeling like a teenager again, walking a girl back to her home, anxious for the goodbye kiss before her parents opened the door.
"I don't live with my parents." Jade said reaching into her pocket for keys.
"Oh…do you live with your older brothers and sisters then?" he asked as she opened the door.
"No, would you like to come in and have a drink?" she asked politely. She saw him blush and nod.
"Yes, sure. Thank you." he said stepping in. Well maybe times have changed. She must really like him for inviting him into her home for a drink.
"What would you like to have?" Jade asked walking into the bar.
Before they had gotten married, Draco was extremely enthusiastic about having a bar. When they had first bought the house, the first thing Draco established was this bar. He usually invited his business partners over for a drink, discreetly showing off his stylish and expensive bar, even more staggering, their drinks.
"I don't know much about drinks but this is amazing. Do you get drunk often?" he asked seeing her laugh and shake her head.
"I don't drink much but I know how to make some really mean drinks." Jade said seeing him grin.
"Then give me your best and I'll tip you if I like it…which I probably will." He flirted.
"I don't know anyone who hasn't liked it and you don't have to tip me. Friends don't tip friends, not unless they need it of course." Jade said mixing drinks, crushing ice, shaking drinks and pouring it into martini glasses.
There was something very desirable about the way she worked smoothly behind the bar. She was so innocent and sweet; it was rather devilish of her to charm him that way. She garnished his drink with mint and handed him the drink.
"Enjoy it." She said. She watched him take a sip and his eyebrows shot up.
"This is good! You know, I've tasted martinis before and I've never had something like this. It's exotic and so different." He said seeing her smile.
"That's the same thing my husband told me when I made him that drink. It's basically…" he couldn't listen to anything she was saying. She had a husband? But she was so young! He looked around the house and saw pictures on the mantle of the fireplace of her and of other people but he didn't care about that.
"You're married?" he asked her.
Jade blinked at him and nodded slowly. "Yes I am. Right here. His name is Draco Malfoy." Jade said handing Cole a muggle picture of Draco and Jade smiling brightly on their wedding day.
"How long have you been married to him?" he asked still looking at the picture.
"5 years. 6 in a few days." Jade said feeling a surge of hope pass through her when she thought of Draco's arrival not too far away. She saw Cole already slipping on his jacket, his drink halfway through.
"I'm sorry; I forgot I had something to do back at home. It was really nice meeting you Mrs. Malfoy." He said standing there.
"Oh that's too bad. Come over with your brothers and sisters. I always have your parents over. My husband and I love entertaining them whenever they come to see us. Draco will be here in a few days time from his business trip so after then, I'll have a small party in my house." Jade said seeing him nod.
"Definitely can't wait. Take care Mrs. Malfoy." He said awkwardly.
"Jade." She corrected. "Goodnight Cole." Jade said seeing him nod and leave. She closed the door and sighed deeply. What a strange world.
