Draco's hard road

Chapter 7

-/-/-/-/-

The manor glimmered with the first real spark of life since the Christmas of Draco's second year at Hogwarts. Every surface had been scrubbed. Relics betraying years of hatred and closed mindedness were relocated or hidden. Even the decorations along the walls of the great hall had been updated. Gone were the stag heads, swords, and portraits of scowling wizards. In their place was romantic and impressionist artwork which bore a cheerful dignity. He recognized several paintings and sculptures from books in the muggle library. Curiosity got the better of him, and he checked for magical enchantment, but found none. He took a closer look and allowed the scent of the grounds and glazes come to him. They were certainly old, with the newest piece over a hundred years.

Ada had been busy helping Mother with the preparations. He wondered which museum the dynamic duo had robbed to put this on display.

Both of them had been quieter than usual. The gnaw within his own chest had been building over the last two weeks, and it left him sulking whenever she left. For the first time in his life, he had met a witch he truly wanted to settle down with, and it would be over tomorrow.

The only solace was that Granger had turned down Mother's job offer. Potter said she still held out on the notion that she could make a difference in The Ministry.

Speaking of which, just yesterday The Prophet featured a hit piece on the bushy haired shrew featuring pictures of her screaming and throwing paint and rocks at muggle police via some random London protest. The single sentence of facts served as a springboard into slander with a litany of failed relationships and even a reminder of rejection for an adjunct position at Hogwarts two years prior. While it seemed in character for what he expected of her, there was probably more to the story. Every professor there was minimally a Doctor of something, even down to the bottom of the heap. Filch was a world famous curator and renowned expert of magical art restoration. Even Hagrid had a DVM in magical creature medicine. She had to know that. Never mind protesting the government when you were a government employee was a career killer. No wonder she was being shuffled back and forth between low level ministry positions. All the better that she stayed far away from his family, they certainly could not suffer that sort of attention.

Were muggles like that? Ada wasn't. He was thankful that she was the polar opposite of Granger. It was amazing how their backgrounds were so similar, yet they were so different.

A long sigh drifted out. Tonight, he still had her. It was time to don the suit and happy face.

-/-/-/-/-/-

The party truly was a strange sight. Slytherins arm in arm with Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs. He never imagined he would see the day when the parade of muggle born one pluses marched through the manor like this, willingly, happily even. Muggle borns had been paraded through once before, but they were dragged in chains.

Mother made sure Potter's black suit fitted his athletic frame perfectly. His curly hair was close cropped and laid in perfect waves. And there was Daph, draped over his arm in a sleek black dress which showed off the curve of her hips and her perfect breasts. She wore a relaxed smile, betraying her ease around The Boy Who Lived, but Draco caught the the glimpses when she thought nobody was looking, eyeing Ada.

Jealousy twinged the corners of Daphne's eyes for a split second before it disappeared into her mild smile. She slowly sipped her drink and then innocently dropped the "I still have no idea what you did to him." before recounting tales of Draco's hatred and violence toward muggles.

He beat back the fury. Of course, he had already told Ada the same, but Greengass was clearly enjoying the challenge of baiting her. While he had no one else to blame for the endless font of blackmail, it still made his fists ache. The corner of Ada's lip perked as her eyes drifted toward Potter, who was not-so-subtly staring at her from the bar. "You know, I'm so excited to be here at the manor for the rest of the summer for my internship. It's not often that someone like myself gets to meet war heros. I'm looking forward to working... Closely... With Lord Black on several of the adverse possession cases pending against his estate."

Daphne's smirk slowly drained away. The corner of her left eye twitched as her knuckles whitened against her glass. Potter came back with two more drinks. She took his hand and escorted him to the garden.

Draco slid his hand around Ada's waist and breathed the words against her neck. "Sure I can't talk you into being the next Lady Malfoy?"

She squeezed his hand but there was a tinge of red in her eyes. She dabbed her cheeks with her napkin and wrapped her arm back around his. Soon, Blaise ambled over, joking and telling stories of their Hogwarts pranks. His favorite of all time was still the time he turned Draco's tongue into a big ball of hair ten minutes before a date. "He was so mad. He wanted to hex me into next week, but he couldn't because his mouth was full of bright orange fuzz! Like chewing on a kneasle, that one. You should have seen him carrying on all red faced."

Draco laughed. "Seems like turn about was fair play."

"You and that fucking trouser snake! Lilith still won't speak to me!"

Ada's eyebrow perked and a curious smile replaced her melancholy. Draco continued, "One of my better charms, if I do say so myself."

Her finger touched her lip. "Your charm? Like you invented it?"

He beat back the urge to be a prat. "Remember when we talked about the fun things you could do with magic? That is another one. Our charms classes until fifth year were just learning how charms work. In sixth and seventh year, we had to invent new ones."

"Show me one."

He folded a cocktail napkin into a tiny dragon and waved his hand over it, reciting a quick incantation. Silky wings sprouted off of its back and it flew out of his hand, blowing short plumes of fire. It circled his head three times before he had her stretch her hand out. It landed, pranced around her palm a bit and incinerated a marshmallow frog with a bright orange ball of flame. He snapped and it fell flat before unfolding into a napkin.

Blaise eyed him, before whispering, "Potter know about that?"

"Of course. My parole just says I can't own a wand. Wandless magic is quite fun once you get the hang of it." His brow wrinkled. "Have you seen Pans? She promised she'd tell me off one last time."

Blaise shrugged. "Nobody's seen her. Took off the second her parole ended."

He knew the feeling. The twinge burned, but Blaise's bright smile shook him out of it. His friend pressed a kiss into Ada's hand. "I'm calling first dibs on this one if you prove stupid enough to mess it up. Please tell me you asked her."

Ada's sigh was heavy. "He's not mine to take."

Draco quirked an eyebrow. This was the first time she had given the slightest inkling of explanation. Blaise beat him to the punch. "Malfoy? Who are you betrothed to this week?"

"Nobody so far as I know." What had Mother been up to? "But I can promise you that if I am, it will be over before sunrise."

She bit her lip and frowned. "No, your mother has been wonderful. I..."

Had she been toying with divination? He suppressed a groan and prayed she had not. For a witch who all but disavowed magic, that would be the absolute worst possible choice to play with. Of everything he had studied, it had proved the absolute most worthless and unreliable subject. Trelawny and the horse had made a complete mockery of it, but even his mother's tutor had left him wondering why wizards even considered it something capable of being harnessed.

Zabini, on the other hand, beamed as his hand snuck around her slim waist. "Well, my darling. That's all I needed to hear. Now, Malfoy, if you don't mind...". He made a move to sidle in, but Draco's glare shot daggers at him. Ada's pull deeper against Draco's side gave his confidence a boost. They still had tonight, and he was going to make the most of it.

They danced and mingled. Potter ambled over with Daphne nestled into his side and recounted the story of Granger turning him into a ferret. Ada quirked an eyebrow as Harry spun the tale of another episode where she filled his mouth and nose with bats after Draco insulted her. Mischief bloomed in her smile. "The Hermione Granger? The one who saved your life. Sounds like I need to meet her."

That was exactly the last thing she needed. He rolled his eyes. "We invited her. Probably too busy protesting whatever it is this week."

The corner of Ada's eyes wrinkled. "What's the problem in standing for what you believe."

He blew a bored sigh. "Absolutely nothing. The trouble is signal to noise. Manipulative people with agendas gin up all these causes as vehicles to accomplish their own ends. Those games never include actually helping anyone except themselves, no matter how pure or genuine sounding."

"You sound like you have some experience with this."

"I do. We engineered all of the ministry's propaganda and rebuilding efforts as a vehicle to achieve..."

She laid a hand on his. "Blah blah revenge on the order of the phoenix. Don't play the soulless bastard card with me. It doesn't work."

He let his smirk fall on Potter. "Seems like I've heard this sort of altruism somewhere before. We'll need to talk about your goals for this internship with The Lord Black." He winked, savoring the fire brewing in Daphne's eyes. "She needs to hear it from someone who really knows me."

Daphne fluttered her eyelashes. "I quite like the pain in your eyes."

He headed off to the bar to fetch another pink concoction for her and a tall glass of water for himself. Potter ambled over for another round. Draco couldn't help himself. "What's your swot friend got herself into this time."

Potter rolled his eyes. "Nobody knows. I gave up asking her about stuff like this years ago. She gets these notions. You remember the house elf thing third year."

He didn't. Potter had been behind the only house elf incident he remembered, but Granger had always been such an overflowing fount of bad ideas. "Pitching water balloons full of paint at the constables seems a bit over the top, you know, given yourself."

Potter pinched the bridge of his nose and let a long sigh drift out. "I wish I could say it was out of character."

Had she gone after him, too? Their conversation drifted back to a series of cases he was working on. Draco had always pictured criminals as being smart and careful, planning things out like they had as death eaters.. Well, most of them, at least, but Potter's stories told the opposite. The guilty one was standing there, admitting it. The murderer was right there beside the dead man, telling anyone who would listen, often with his wand drawn and still hissing magic. Thieves stole and took their loot home, then bragged to friends. The cases that hounded them were the ones with no evidence pointing to anyone. Crimes committed by smart people who planned and took some precaution were nearly impossible. They sounded more like a puzzle that took an actual brain to solve. "I bet Alanson gets those."

Potter snorted whiskey out his nose. "Ah, your champion and savior. How did your last visit go?"

"Stupid git wore a yellow rain suit and that infernal sombrero again."

"You should have called Hermione."

Draco's sparkling water shot right out his nose as the visions of her attacking him rippled by. He coughed out the words between spasms of laughter, "Didn't have her number."

"Bastard." Potter wiped his eyes and dabbed his suit jacket before pulling out a black flip phone. "We'll fix that."

A minute later Draco's cellphone buzzed with The Boy who Drank's text. He now officially had the one thing he had never wanted: Hermione Granger's phone number.

Potter was laughing about Alanson. "I still can't picture you of all people lecturing somebody about muggles."

That truly was a strange turn. He drawled the words out. "Reckon I'm spending too much time around you."

Ada slinked up and curled into his arm. Daphne was already glaring at Potter again, but he didn't notice. He was too busy plotting muggle breakfast with Ada. Beans on toast with streaky bacon.

Soon, Goyle joined them with Tracey Davis in tow. As usual, Draco was amazed by how huge his old friend had become. The man's shoulders were knotted balls under the shirt. Arms the size of a normal man's legs were corded with thick muscle. He may as well take a jab... "Thought you swore off purebloods."

"I did. Trace and I were both joking about the irony of bringing muggles to Malfoy Manor. She didn't believe me when I told her about you."

She was staring at Ada. Goyle elbowed her. "She's got the M. An actual muggle witch. From the purges."

Ada rolled her eyes and turned around. Tracey gasped and touched the lumpy letter. "It's real?"

Draco was already bristling. They were treating her like some sort animal on display. But then it got worse. Tracey crunched her nose, and said, "I heard about that when I was in America, but it didn't make any sense. I still can't fathom how that could happen here. I thought Potter, Weasley, and Granger were fighting them. You were all over the news with your army, liberating cities."

Goyle had her by the arm. "No more drinks for you love."

Ada's cheeks were red. "He did fight while you lot all ran off. That's how I'm alive. Did you not know they stuffed him in Azkaban for his efforts."

Tracey turned white. Her head flicked side to side as she whispered, "Azkaban?"

Goyle nodded. "Potter too. They shared a cell."

Tracey wilted as she mouthed, "They put Harry Potter in Azkaban?"

Goyle continued, "Real chums those two. They share everything. Even Daphne."

Greengass flipped him the bird, but Goyle simply raised a glass and blew a kiss her way.

He escorted Ada out to the garden. The cool night breeze rustled leaves as they walked down the paths. Draco pulled her in close but she was still steaming. "They are the reason this happened. They all left instead of fighting and now act surprised when it didn't come out like they expected. They have absolutely no concept of what would have happened if the humans got into the war. They would have hunted us like animals and burned us alive. The ministry had to save face to keep them out of it, so you and Potter took the fall. I wish... I wish it didn't have to be like this."

"It doesn't."

She turned to face him. Her eyes were wet but stormy gray without even the slightest hint of white showing in the bright moonlight. "This is what is. They all close their eyes and stop their ears to it. They're living in some imagination where things are magically different without years of hard work. Then, you've got witches like Hermione Granger, who go out and protest every stupid thing instead of working to fix anything. She was my hero. I idolized the ground she walked on. She was the muggle witch who stood up to evil and made a difference. The golden girl was tortured and bled to defeat the dark lord. I have friends who are still stuck in the camps and she's throwing paint at constables? Look at what this place has done to her. I've got to get out before it poisons me."

He brushed a lock of hair away from her eyes and pressed a kiss into her forehead.

She was shaking. "Sod it all. Burn the whole thing down around them. They can have it, this bloody lot."

"So come live in the estate in Beziers until you start school. You can floo back and forth to The Manor until your internship is over."

"But you won't be there. I'll just play the little human girl and act like magic doesn't exist."

Potter promised he would keep an eye out, just to make sure. Things had been quiet, but you just never knew.

"Promise me you'll practice the magic I showed you. Just in case." He and Potter had taught her a few simple shield spells, apparition, and some particularly nasty attacks. Scrambling somebody's brain, stuffing a blasting curse up their nose or Crucioing them an instant before you apparated away wasn't foolproof, but it would dissuade all but the most persistent attackers. Most witches would never need it, but when you did...

Speaking of... The Boy who Shagged had Daphne bent over the parapet past the tree at the end of the bushes. Apparently, he hadn't reckoned the full moon. Draco laughed and guided Ada away.

-/-/-/-

The great hall sat silent and empty. The piles of cups and plates had already vanished like the laughter and joking that filled it an hour ago. The stains and spills were long gone. The back of Ada's hand dragged across her cheeks. "God, I hate you. Why can't you be a bastard so I can feel good about this?"

He leaned over the bannister and let his eyes drift over the manor's vast forest. "Because I'm a bastard and don't want to call it quits."

"I don't either."

She curled into his arms and let him escort her upstairs.