chapter 5
Draco woke with a yawn, he stretched his body, popping his joints. He smiled when the Manor wished him happy yule, with a caress of wind in his hair, with bird chirping outside, yipping and yapping of animals, and the gentle swaying of trees.
"Happy Yule to you too" Draco laughed as he stretched out his hands as if to hug them. Oh Seven, he loves his home. He would do absolutely everything to not change it a bit. It was not that hard to earn their trust as much as Loki liked to believe. Lucius never did a good job at respecting the Manor and when the mantle was passed to him, well he forced Lucius to pass it to him, all he needed was to show the Manor that he respected them. That he would cherish them with all his heart. And he kept his promise, obviously.
At the beginning it was a little hard, because the Home contradicted him at every turn as if to test his patience, that he would give up eventually. But he did not. The house never looked so beautiful and cheery as it did now. And they were happy. Other than the impending doom he thinks would come, they were happy.
Pipsy pop into the room with tea. What would he do with her?
"Happy yule, master Draco" she said happily.
"Happy yule, Pipsy." Draco said to her smilingly. "Are you all going to celebrate tonight? Or in the evening?" Draco asked.
House elves have their own traditions to follow and celebrations on festivals. It was a time for them to meet and mingle and enjoy, away from the responsibilities of their families. Hermione Granger was and still is an advocate for house Elves rights. Draco agrees wholeheartedly. The feud between Malfoys and Weasleys by no means is reduced. Their animosity increased after sixth year. But the twins were business partners and Draco and Hermione were civil. He has no interest in getting close to her except for the sake of his house elves.
There were charities and NGOs created for the welfare of the house elves and Draco was the main supporter. After the way he saw Lucius treating the house elves and from the stories of Dark and White elves from Loki he knew the elves in the Wizarding world had no business being merely tied down by a family. They helped them move out of mind space which had them believe that they were mere slaves. They started their own revolution, now many of the elves call themselves magic elves. They own businesses, house, jobs, vaults. They have their own government and a say in a Wizarding world, like many other creatures. Pipsy and some of the other elves decided they want to stay with Draco. He paid them fair wages, obviously.
"Pipsy is not going, Master needs her today" she replied pointedly.
"You have to go-" he started but she again gave him a pointed stare and he let it go. Pipsy was with him since the day he was born. If he would never go against Narcissa then he would never go against Pipsy.
"Pipsy has made food ready for the Dragon. Master told yesterday that he would have to warn Ignis about the Queen" Pipsy enquired.
"Oh yes, yes. Thank you bringing me here last night. If you hadn't I would've a crick in my neck and bags under my eyes." Draco said gratefully.
"Pipsy did not bring Master here, Master Loki did." she said with a smile on her face. And then the Winds teased him about Loki and what he did Last night. There was a red flush on his cheeks and it was too early in the morning to be blushing.
"You all spare no chance to tease me" Draco whined.
Pipsy giggled "off you go now Master Draco, Ignis waits for you."