Draco

My parents still weren’t used to me not abiding by their every wish. I didn’t want to argue but they wouldn’t let the subject go. For the past hour and a half, they had tried to convince me to cancel the event in Helsinki, Finland, about two weeks from now that I planned to attend. My father, charming as usual, had spat something along the lines of “Who would be ridiculous enough to risk their lives for something as silly as Muggle wear”. It was no use to point out that he could attend their next gala in his birthday suit if he thought clothing was ‘silly’. Besides, this event was special; I’ll be auditioning as a band fashion designer for the upcoming world tour of a popular symphonic metal band and have worked very hard on the ensemble I’d be presenting. I was quite confident that I could land the contract. It was odd but I was drawn to the goth style with all of the details and accessories and the various facets it comes in. So far, I’ve released some subtler and more elegant goth items but I wanted to go bold and sexy and over the top. It wouldn’t be wise, however, to simply make my next collection like that — it would most likely hurt the current brand. If I got the contract, however, it would be acceptable to divide my attention and possibly set up a second brand for it as a follow-up.

When my mother started to beg me to move in with them for the time being and lay as low as possible, I had it. How could I possibly do that? I wouldn’t let a bunch of stuck-in-the-past maniacs interfere with my life, let alone with my job. They wouldn’t stop me from getting that band fashion designer deal. Besides, being around father twenty-four-seven would certainly further worsen our relationship and cause a lot of angered discussions and fights. I didn’t want to put my mother through that, not again. With a finality to my words I hissed at my father, “I will discuss the trip with the Ministry and if they assess the situation to be too dangerous and tell me to call it off, I will” No, I won’t. “If they can ensure my safety, however, I will attend. Either way, we will not discuss the matter any further. They’re the experts.” What my father didn’t know, was that Robards had promised me that they would be as unobtrusive as they could be. Hence, the chances that this will lead to my attendance were extremely high. Turning to my mother I added, “And there’s no difference between staying here and at my place if both are equally secured. I will be fine, mother. I’ll keep a low profile, I promise.” Probably. I hate  lying to her, but I would at least try to do so. I just wanted her to stop worrying so much. “I need to freshen up — if you’ll excuse me.” I walked down the hallway with long strides and too much force behind my steps. Thankfully neither of them followed. As I closed the bathroom door behind me, I called one of the house-elves to get me something to rid me of my throbbing headache. My reflection looked tired and at least 10 years older than it should have. I splashed cool water on my face and tried to calm down.

After the initial shock — and the fear it had brought with it — had faded, I felt even more determined to defend the life I had now. I had worked hard to be where I was today and I wasn’t going to stop fighting for it now. I was a Malfoy after all. I necked the potion the elf had dropped off, straightened my shirt and jacket and left the bathroom to return to my parents. I was determined to not discuss the topic again.

As I entered the sitting room, my father breathed in, probably to start arguing again. At the same moment, the hearth rattled and announced the return of the redhead. I never would have thought that I’d ever be happy to see a Weasley, let alone this particular one. I bit back a smile of relief as I turned toward him. Instead of his robes he now wore a grey suit and light blue shirt; it suited him extremely well. I watched him walk over to us and couldn’t help but notice that he exuded calmness and authority. For a second I wondered if this really was the same short-tempered and insecure man I had hated and envied at school.

About halfway he drew up a questioning eyebrow and grinned at me mischievously. I was staring and he had noticed. I quickly turned to my parents as I felt blood rush to my cheeks. “The last word has not yet been spoken, Draco.” My father snarled lowly and stared at me intently. I forced my determination to overrule my embarrassment and stared him down. Before I could reply properly, the fireplace rattled again and a tall blonde woman stepped out of it. She took a look around, spotted us, beamed at the redhead and joined us. “This is Lara Beck, she’s also assigned to you.” “Nice to meet you, sir” She smiled and nodded politely. I noticed a subtle accent as she spoke, but couldn’t pinpoint where it was from. If she wasn’t from England, then she wouldn’t necessarily know who I used to be and judge me for it. I felt somewhat relieved at that thought but as she approached I immediately regretted that notion.

She stood too close to Weasley and the way she looked at him reminded me of a toddler staring at a Christmas tree. Not that I care, it just doesn’t seem … professional, that’s what bugs me …. At least he doesn’t seem to notice. “My pleasure”, I drawled out and nodded politely, trying to hide my annoyance. “Ready to head out?”, the redhead asked but looked at me suspiciously. I nodded in reply, saying short goodbyes to my mother and father.

After checking my house’s Muggle and magical security, Weasley asked about my routines. He prohibited tons of things when I was on my own, like leaving windows open, getting the mail, answering the door, answering a call from unknown callers and so on and so forth. “You know, it would be faster if you told me what I’m allowed to do without a guard present”, I huffed.  I tried to stay in my professional persona but something about that Weasel made me want to be difficult. In theory, I knew this made sense but it still seemed over the top and definitely not unobtrusive. He laughed in reply and rolled his blue eyes at me, “I didn’t know you had a sense of humour, Malfoy”. Did he always look that handsome? … Where was that coming from? I forced  that train of thought out of my head as I felt blood rush to my cheeks. “That just proves how little you know me”, I turned around — hopefully in time to hide my blush. I busied myself by making coffee. “Want some?”, I asked in a desperate attempt to force a short break so I could regain my focus — focus on how I’d be able to abide by all these new rules but still be able to tend to my business and duties. Also, we still haven’t discussed the upcoming audition in Helsinki and all these rules got me worried.

When we moved on to check my schedule I started to tense up again. “Saturday in a week I’m supposed to be at an event in Helsinki. It’s not a public event and not a lot of people know that I’m planning to take part in it. I have to go there. I can still do that, can’t I?”, I asked him dreading the answer I might get. I had wanted to phrase that differently, to make it sound more like a given that I was definitely going and he was supposed to find a way to make it possible. In my mind, I cursed myself while I anxiously watched him ponder. I started nibbling on my bottom lip. He looked at me and inhaled like he wanted to say something, but instead looked back at the entry in my planner. The next few minutes felt like hours. When he finally looked back up, I was sure my lip was red and swollen.

“Well, there’s still time to prepare, so I’m confident we’ll manage to ensure your safe’y on the trip. If you can provide us with all the de’ails — like means of travel, hotel and the like — that is.”, he said calmly, still deep in thought. A wide grin spread over my face and I started to joyfully bounce up and down in my seat. “You’ll still need to follow our rules, mind!”, he commanded but smiled. “Great, I’ve never been to Finland before”, his partner said eagerly.

The rest of the day and the following one passed quickly. I had to finish up preparation to open the store on Thursday. I added some final touches to the pieces that I planned to put out on display and kept up with the other daily business by adjusting my workflows with Maisy and handing over more responsibilities to her. It wasn’t easy to get used to Weasley and Beck being around. Although it was even weirder when they weren’t around if I’m honest. I felt handicapped in what I was able — or rather, allowed — to do. And since preparations for the Finland trip took longer than expected, I kept finding myself in inconvenient situations. That’s why I enjoyed the redhead’s company more than his absence. Guard Beck seemed nice enough, but the way she was glued to his side reminded me of Lavender Brown in our sixth year — which only caused me to dislike her even more. It still was odd to be around my childhood enemy but not for the reasons I would have expected; it was so odd because of how aware of him I was. My eyes constantly kept wandering toward him staring him up and down, following his movements when he drank his tea or coffee. Even Maisy picked up on it and she usually was pretty oblivious to strange things happening around her — which was exactly the reason she was perfect for the job. It lowered the chances of her registering any kind of accidental magic.

Beck, who constantly followed Weasley around, upped her game regarding her advances on the following day. Although obvious to everybody, the redhead didn’t seem to notice, no matter how hard she tried. She didn’t give up, however, that silly girl. If the redhead would only have been as blind regarding me. Since it was his job, I guess, I should have expected him to catch me staring at him which he usually commented by, “Seriously, Malfoy, I won’ hex you when you ain’ lookin’, jus’ relax. Geez..”.

It was early morning on Thursday, the opening day of ‘Vêtements Magiques’. I was just finishing my second cup of coffee when the door rang. The post usually arrives later in the day and both Weasley and Beck haven’t stopped by yet. I sighed heavily and got up to check the peephole to see who it was. It was a young boy with a small parcel. As he heard me approach he called out, “A package for Mr Malfoy, personal delivery.” I sighed again. “I’m not properly dressed yet, can you leave it on the porch?”, I lied. I didn’t want to cause him any trouble but I wasn’t supposed to answer the door. “Sorry, sir, I’ll need a signature. But I’ll … I’ll wait for you to get ready.”, he said but checked his watch. This is ridiculous. I don’t even know when Weasley or Beck will get here. “I’ll be with you in a minute”, I said as I turned to my wardrobe to get some gloves so I wouldn’t touch the delivery. I also grabbed a scarf to cover my mouth and nose, just in case. Then I opened the door. “There you go, sir. Please sign here”, he said and handed me a pen. I thanked him and watched him leave.

Before I could decide whether to take the parcel in or leave it out front, I heard a dark low growl a couple of inches behind me. I turned and almost bumped into Weasley who stared down at me, his wand in hand. With a quick movement, he shoved me behind him, grabbed the package, tossed it into the air and away from the door, and blew it up by casting a wordless Expulso. He was livid.  With a quick step, he was in my face again, grabbed my shirt and pushed me into the next wall. The door closed behind him with a small gesture he waved in its direction. His face was only an inch away from mine. I shuddered. This way, Weasley was extremely intimidating but, Merlin be damned, he was also bloody sexy. The muscles in his arms and jaw flexed and his eyes grew dark with wrath as he bored his gaze into mine. “‘ark at me, blondie. You’ll do as I say when I'm on duty. You don't put your dapper arse in any unnecessary danger. Do you understand?” He spoke slowly through gritted teeth, his voice was deep, low and menacing; the commanding tone left no room for argument and no question as to who was in charge.

I squirmed. His demanding presence sent shivers of fear down my spine — fear and unexpected arousal. I generally didn’t like being ordered around and I’ve never been interested in being submissive either. But there I was, shaking like an aspen leaf, feeling my blood rush into my cheeks and groin. I swallowed hard and nodded vigorously.