Chapter 4
Draco raised two fingers, requesting another drink from the bartender. Whiskey on ice. With a touch of amaretto and orange peel. The Muggles had a name for it, he was sure of it, but remembering the components was complicated enough for him.
The bartender – Jun, according to his name tag – smiled as he handed him the drink, swiping the rim with orange peel. “Thank you.” Draco turned to face the rest of the bar and took a sip.
Most people would assume Draco was hiding out in a Muggle bar in Westminster so he wouldn’t have to see any wizarding folk – too ashamed to show his face in public, not with a Dark Mark occupying his inner arm and a wand that had killed Voldemort. He knew about the rumours that still followed his name, the occasional tabloid claiming he was “biding his time” to become the next Dark Lord, the whispers that he had never really “turned good.”
But Draco knew the truth. He was in a Muggle bar on his birthday, all alone, because he liked the peaceful life that the Muggles lived, blissfully unaware of the fact that the country had been plunged into a war that would have destroyed their world as they know it five years ago. Muggles were charming and interesting in their own way, and they had a damn good understanding of how to get by without magic.
“Happy birthday, mate.” Well, not all alone on his birthday.
Draco gave Theodore Nott a weary smile. “Hello, Theo. How did you find me?”
Theo chuckled and slapped the wizard on the shoulder. “Well, number one, you’ve never been home for a birthday since the end of the war, and number two, it’s not unlike you to drink in a bar by yourself like a lonely little man. I apparated in about two hundred bars before I found you.”
“Well, you know me.” Draco watched Jun as he poured Theo a gin and tonic. That was an easy drink name to remember. Just the ingredients. “I don’t like being around people.”
Theo rolled his eyes and bit into his slice of dried orange. “You can’t hide from the world forever. You’re a Malfoy, you’re supposed to be going around making donations to the Ministry or some obscure foundation.”
Draco scoffed. “The ministry has no use for blood money. I doubt Shacklebolt would take kindly to a donation made by plundering goblin villages and torturing other wizards.”
“At least make an appearance. Do you even speak to anyone except your house elf? Even your mother hardly knows what you’re getting up to these days.”
“And she doesn’t need to.” Draco knocked back his drink, letting the ice clink against his teeth. “You’ve been harassing my mother now?”
“Not harassing. I visited her today because I thought you might be celebrating with her. She’s probably eating the cake Tori made for you. Speaking of which,” Theo leaned forward. “Have you even thought about meeting someone new?”
Poor, sweet Theo. He was too optimistic for his own good. “Yes, Theo, because all the girls are tripping over themselves to date a Death Eater.”
“Well, I know they’re not,” Theo admitted with a sheepish look on his face. “But at least try to get out there. Or even just talk to someone who’s not a house elf. It’s not healthy to hole yourself away like this. You deserve happiness too.”
Draco slammed his tumbler onto the bar counter. “No, I don’t.” Theo started to protest. “No, Theo, save it. I tried to kill Dumbledore when I was sixteen. I housed Voldemort at Malfoy Manor for two years. When Harry was hunting down the Horcruxes in the final battle, what was I doing? I was trying to bring him back to Voldemort! And even after that, after the battle and Voldemort gone, my family fled Hogwarts to escape prosecution. I am a criminal, Theo. The Ministry may have forgiven me because I was ‘just a child,’ but I wasn’t a fucking ten year old who has no clue about wrong or right. I knew what I was doing. I knew what I was doing when I took the Dark Mark. The forgiveness of the Ministry, the fact that I am allowed to walk free after everything I’ve done is blessing forgiveness enough. The best thing I could do for everyone now is to just stay out of their way.”
Draco’s chest rose and fell rapidly after his vehement outburst. Theo swallowed. “Fair enough. I know I can’t change your mind. I just want one favour. Please.”
Draco nodded. “What is it?”
“Come to the charity ball next week. The one that Shacklebolt holds every year to commemorate the end of the war.”
“No. I am not going to peddle for the attention of others. All the tabloids will be there. You know I don’t want to be in the public eye.”
“Draco, please. Just this once. I worry for you, mate.” Theo’s brown eyes were soft and slightly shiny. Was he about to cry? “I don’t know if one day I’ll come around to your house and you’ll be gone.”
Fuck. Sometimes Draco found it easy to forget that even if he didn’t want him to, Theo would always care for him. “Fine. Just this once. But I’m not going to try to seduce anyone there. I’m not seeking a relationship.”
Theo grasped his shoulders, nodding eagerly. “Of course, anything, just come to the ball. And you have to stay until Tori and I leave.”
Draco groaned. “That stupid Rita Skeeter is going to have a field day with this, isn’t she?”
Theo grinned. “Maybe. You may as well give her something to write about, hm?” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“Absolutely not.”
“Boring. I’m mighty glad you said yes, Draco, otherwise my birthday present for you would be pretty fucking useless.” Theo reached for a bag nestled behind one of the bar stools and handed it to him.
Draco looked inside it. A suit. “You fucking planned this, didn’t you? You’re going to make me talk to everyone at the damned ball!”
Theo cackled. “No taksie backsies!”
Draco smacked him upside the head before both men dissolved into uproarious laughter.
Wiping tears from his eyes, Theo heaved a sigh. “You will come, right? You’re not going to bail?”
Draco smiled. “No, I won’t.” he pointed a finger at the other sternly. “But it’s just this once.”
Theo rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, whatever. Come on, Astoria’s made you a birthday dinner. She’ll kill me if I come back empty handed.”
Draco grinned. “Lead the way, mate.”