A/N: I know I know this is late - I'm sorry! I've been away on holiday and didn't think it would take me so long to get back to reality but, alas, I was struck with a gigantic case of writers block upon my return :(
I was so surprised by the number of responses on the last chapter, thank you all so much for sticking with this story and letting me know your thoughts. Your reviews always make me smile, especially when it's like 'eyeroll - Draco being an idiot again!'. Because of you guys I managed to work through my writers block, so thank you!
I'm going to have to be entirely honest and say I'm not going to be able to post on time (Tuesday) this week. I'm barely going to be at home so won't have time to write, but I'll try and get the next one posted on Saturday, then post again the following Tuesday to get us back on track. Fingers crossed I can make it work.
Have a great week everyone!
Chapter Seven: Turning the Page
"Arianwen? Where are you?" Arianwen heard Draco's voice calling her distantly from inside her house.
"Draco? I'm in the garden!"
His head emerged a few moments later from behind the kitchen door. Seeing that she'd splayed herself out on the grass, he decided to go out and join her.
She moved over on the tweed blanket covering a small patch of the grass and patted the vacant spot, encouraging him to sit. "Where's Llewyn?" She asked as he arranged himself, arms extended out behind his back to support his weight.
"Gone to put his stuff away I think." Draco responded, looking ahead into the hills.
"Ah," Arianwen mused with a smile, "he does love unpacking."
Draco snorted and shook his head. Turning to look at her properly, Arianwen saw his eyes move from hers to her hair, then down the long braid to her waist, up again to her chest, her lips, back to her eyes - he coughed and looked away. The air between them became suddenly awkward and Arianwen found herself at a loss for what to say.
"Look!" She said suddenly, grasping on the opportunity that the newspaper in her lap afforded her. "The Catapults are holding open try-outs, you could put your name down!"
Draco cast a lazy glance at the article Arianwen was excitedly holding inches away from his face. He put his hand on top of the paper, pushing it back to the ground. "Nah I don't think so."
"What?!" Arianwen exclaimed, swivelling herself round so that she was sitting opposite Draco, their thighs touching. "But you'd be so good! Won't you just give it a go? I can guarantee you'll enjoy it!" She pleaded.
He looked at her, his frosty expression melting slightly, and rolled his eyes. "Merlin, Ri, calm down! I'm not trying out because I've already been offered a place with the Falcons." He said nonchalantly.
"Wait, what? You have? But when did you-? And they've already-? Oh my god, Draco, that's amazing!" She gushed.
"Thanks," he chuckled, allowing himself a half smile. "Tryouts were last week, they let me know the same day."
Arianwen clapped her hands together joyfully. "Amazing!" She repeated. "So are you playing seeker?"
He shook his head. "No the spot's already taken, there was just one chaser and a keeper position open, so I went for the chaser spot."
"Wow," Arianwen breathed, "so when's your first game? Can I come?"
He raised an eyebrow at her somewhat disbelievingly, though she didn't catch on to his less than friendly aura - too distracted by his news. "The first match is next month; bit soon, but we'll be practicing like crazy so hopefully we'll be alright."
Arianwen nodded, biting her lip. "What?" Draco asked, confused by her disappointed expression.
"It's just- I was just thinking it's a shame you didn't go for the Catapults, we would've been so close, could've seen more of each other." She said tentatively, lifting her gaze to try and read his. The Catapults were based in Caerphilly, much closer to where Arianwen and Llewyn lived in Carmarthenshire than the Falmouth Falcons.
Draco's expression didn't give anything away. He looked at her, his eyes distant. "I should go. I've got practice later."
"Right," Arianwen sighed, "I'll see you out."
"No need." He got to his feet quickly. "See you in the week."
The blonde watched him retreat, confused. They'd been getting on so well before, so very well, in fact, that she'd allowed her guard to fall. But it'd seemed like he was interested too, had she read it all wrong?
Draco waited impatiently at a small bistro-style table in a busy London restaurant. He looked down at his watch: 7.51pm - she was twenty minutes late! A couple at the table opposite had been casting him smug glances, whispering to each other over the table, probably betting on whether he'd been stood up. He glared angrily into his wine glass, wondering why he'd done this to himself.
About a week ago, he'd woken up in Astoria's hotel room, their clothes tossed carelessly across the room in their bid to undress each other as quickly as possible. She'd already been awake when he came to and, much to his amusement, had applied some make up while he was asleep, the most obvious of which being her favourite sticky pink lipgloss. He'd stayed on for round two.
"Sorry I'm late!" Though Astoria looked perfectly calm as she sauntered up to their table, making it clear that her lateness hadn't been accidental.
"That's alright." Draco assured her politely, pulling out her chair for her. "You look…nice."
She smirked at his choice of words, knowing fine well that 'nice' went no way to describe her form-fitting mini dress. They ordered fairly quickly, Draco opting for scallops and Astoria for a simple dish of chicken and new potatoes. A little voice in his head sneered at her choice: simple, tasteless, a reflection on its orderer? No, he told himself, she's a Greengrass, taste was practically built into her DNA.
"So," Astoria said in a would-be casual voice as she rolled a potato around her plate with her fork, "what's the deal with your family situation?"
Draco looked up quickly from his food, surprised. He found her watching him closely. "Uh- well I don't live with my parents anymore, I've got a flat here in the city, but I still see them quite regularly."
She rolled her dark brown eyes in response. "I didn't mean that family."
"Ah." he let his cutlery rest on the edge of the plate and took a big swig of sauvignon before continuing. "Arianwen and I, we…" he struggled to think of something to say that wouldn't alienate the woman opposite.
"I was talking about your son," she hissed, looking to either side of their table in case anyone was listening in. Thankfully, they weren't
"He's not some kind of dirty secret," Draco said coolly, sitting back in his chair and fixing Astoria with a dangerous stare, "and the two go hand in hand, she's my family just as much as he is."
Astoria didn't like that answer. She wrinkled her nose in displeasure and continued on, "so what was the deal with that anyway, was she pregnant when we dated in school?"
Draco sighed internally, he supposed he couldn't realistically get angry with Astoria for trying to satisfy her curiosity, Draco and Arianwen's timeline was an area of interest for many. "No, she'd already had Llewyn before she came to Hogwarts. Her uncle disowned her because of it and banished her from her home, so she was forced to come to Hogwarts and keep the baby in the village."
"Right," Astoria said slowly, trying to process his version of events against her own lived experiences, "but when she first came to the school you didn't act like you knew her like that, and weren't you still sleeping with Pansy then?"
He raised his eyebrows. How the hell did she remember his sixth year in so much detail? "We didn't want people asking awkward questions so we decided it would be easier to pretend we didn't know each other, sleeping with Pansy was just an obvious way to keep up appearances."
"And Arianwen went along with that?" Astoria gaped, completely dumbfounded.
"Yes. She understood that too much was at stake." Was the snipped response.
The brunette's eyes narrowed. "So when we were dating you were…?"
"Broken up with Arianwen, yes." He finished for her, then continued in a gentler tone: "That bit was genuine, Astoria."
His new softer tone did nothing to calm her down. "Ucgh this is so complicated, I don't like it, I'm not interested in all that drama, Draco."
"My son is not drama!" He barked, causing the lady one table over to jump and knock her drink onto the floor. Whilst the waiters were rushing around trying to clear everything up, Draco turned back to Astoria and questioned, in hushed tones: "Why are you here then? You're not stupid, you know I have a son and that he comes with a certain amount of baggage, so why did you even approach me in that bar last week?"
Astoria, not liking the ferocity in his eyes, shrunk back in her chair before mumbling. "Well because I wanted to, we've always had a connection, you and me - at least I think so anyway." She looked at him hopefully, wanting him to reassure her that they did but his rigid posture showed he was only interested in hearing the answers to his questions. Hopefulness deflating, she admitted: "In all honesty, your father was trying to push a betrothal between our families, he's been throwing money at us left, right, and centre you know. My father thought it was pretty desperate at first, but I think he's come round to the idea since. And, as I said, I've always felt there's a kind of connection between us. Then I saw you in the bar last week, I'd had a few to drink obviously, but to be fair even if I was sober I think I would've still approached you."
Painfully, he didn't say anything so she pressed on to fill the silence. "So there you go, that's everything, full disclosure. The ball's in your court now, Malfoy!" She held a hand up in defeat. Quietly, the other one reached for her wine glass, downing the contents, and her dignity, in one swift gulp.
In considering her response his mind was cast back to his school days. Ever since he first met her, Arianwen's presence had been like this all-consuming explosion: beauty like he'd never recognised in anyone, intelligence to match his own, and always that fierce sense of love and protection - so much so that it had leaked into his own being; when he saw her now, playing with his son, he felt this overwhelming urge to wrap his arms around them, enclose them, protect them. But she didn't need him to love her or keep her safe, or do anything for her, actually; she'd proved she could go it alone. Besides, even on those lonely nights where the strongest and most independent of people are in need of a companion - she always had Gwyn.
His eyes came into focus, revealing the uneasy and yet hopeful expression of the objectively gorgeous Astoria Greengrass. She did need him. He'd been so blinded by Arianwen that he hadn't even seen it.
"You know," he said finally, hand snaking its way across the table and resting on top of hers, "I feel that connection between us too."
She smiled triumphantly and moved her other hand on top of his, savouring the moment, but it wasn't long before her dark eyes took on a very different emotion. "Perhaps we should go and feel our connection somewhere else." She purred.
He smirked, maybe his father had had the right idea all along. "Waiter!" He gestured to the nearest member of the restaurant staff. "We'd like our coats."
A month later, the early May air brought with it a warm breeze, allowing Arianwen to wear only her jersey and a pair of jeans to Draco's first Quidditch match with the Falmouth Falcons. Llewyn was wearing an identical, though much smaller, jersey and took every opportunity to show any passerby the letters emblazoned on the back, reading 'MALFOY' in an arc and the number '5' underneath it. Much to the amusement of Arianwen, Llewyn hadn't quite grasped the rules of Quidditch yet, and so settled for clapping and occasionally shouting: "Daddy!" when he spotted Draco in the air.
The Falcons' game was played exceptionally well and by the end they had won by 260 - 70 against the Appleby Arrows. The stadium in Falmouth was relatively small and emptied quickly, so Arianwen and Llewyn were able to make their way down to the players' dressing rooms before they left. She rolled her eyes at the small gaggle of fan girls that had gathered outside of the Arrows' dressing room and noted with some relief that there were no such fans on the Falcons' end, perhaps because they were generally always last in the league.
She pushed her way through the changing room doors, Llewyn following behind, and squeaked as she was met with a mass of undressed or at least partially undressed men. "Oooop!" She covered her hand with her mouth, then decided it would be better used in front of her eyes.
"Oi oi!" One of the men ogled.
"Well what have we got here?" Another began gleefully.
"Daddy!" Llewyn exclaimed from behind her legs. She heard the scuttling sound of him running past her and then a familiar deep voice greeting the small boy with delight.
"Ri? What are you doing in here?" The voice laughed in her ear, the rich sound causing the hairs on her body to stand on end in turn, like a Mexican wave.
She removed her hand from her eyes carefully and once satisfied that her vision was blocked by him and Llewyn, let it fall down by her side. Draco was holding Llewyn on his hip and was only dressed from the waist down: a combination of visuals that turned Arianwen into a flustering mess. She blushed deeply and stuttered in a high-pitched voice, "I thought you'd like to show Llewyn around a bit."
He looked amused but not all too unhappy with her reaction. Looking back at the doorway, glowing like the gates of heaven, she bounded towards her escape. "Okay so I'm gonna' go wait outside... Okay bye."
Draco found Arianwen sitting on a bench a short walk away from the changing rooms, her eyes fixed on the vibrant green pitch in front of her. She turned at the sound of his footsteps crunching on the gravel path and stood up, smiling, when she saw him.
Her smile faltered when she realised he was alone. "Where's Llewyn?"
"He's with the guys," Draco said calmly, "he wanted to see all of their brooms."
"Oh," Arianwen breathed, her smile returning. "Hi, by the way." She closed the gap he'd left between them and gave him a tight hug, her head resting on his newly clothed chest. Surprised as ever by her affection but still jubilant from his recent victory, he hugged her back. "You were amazing!" She said into his chest.
"I wouldn't go that far, I'm still pretty rusty. Thanks for coming though, you really didn't have to." he said warmly, giving her a little squeeze.
She pulled away slightly, and lifted her head so that she could see his face. With sparkling eyes, she said, "No really, Draco, you were incredible." A few tears started to leak from her eyes and Draco, completely, taken aback, began wiping them away gently.
"Hey, hey, what's this all about?" He questioned softly, wondering what on earth had changed in the ten minutes since she'd gone outside.
She sniffed; coupled with her puffy lips and big sad eyes, she had the look of a lost puppy. "I'm just so proud of you!" She whimpered, fresh tears spurting out.
"Awh, Ri," he laughed, pulling her in again for a warm hug, "you have got to be the most adorable person I've ever met."
She giggled into his chest, realising how ridiculous she was being. "What about Llewyn?"
He tilted his head to the side, a smile playing on his lips. "That's different."
She smiled back and for a few moments they just stood there, enjoying each other's warmth and basking in the glow of Draco's victory. As much as she wanted it to the moment didn't last forever and eventually they parted and began walking back to the changing rooms to find Llewyn.
"So Llewyn and I were wondering if you want to spend the rest of the day at home with us?" Arianwen invited. "We're planning to set up a den in the garden and thought we'd have a barbecue, and maybe watch the stars later on if it stays clear like this."
"Sounds fun," Draco said without hesitation, "but the team have invited me to the pub for some post-match drinks and I already said I'd go."
Arianwen tried to hide her disappointment. "Oh okay, fair enough, that sounds like a good plan too. I'll just see you next time then?"
"Yeah okay," he shrugged, uninterested, "I might have to get Mother to pick Llewyn up though, 'cause I might be late out of practice, but I'll make sure one of us is there on time, don't worry."
"No, yeah, I won't." Not knowing what else to do, she changed the subject. "Are you going to the May Ball?"
He pushed open the doors to the changing rooms and distracted, responded. "Yeah should be, I'll see you there."
"Yeah," Arianwen mimicked as Draco grabbed his stuff, gave Llewyn a kiss, and began exiting the room, "see you."
The door flapped shut behind him, leaving an entirely confused and more than a little disappointed Arianwen to try and piece together the enigma that was Draco Malfoy.