Dilectio | Draco Malfoy x Reader

Doors and Windows

Draco paces outside the restaurant. He wonders if he's doing the right thing. The last week has given him insight into you; he sees you from a different perspective now. Seeing you in the lift at the Ministry was unexpected, to say the least. Theo mentioned the attack; you must've been filing the report. He couldn't stop his hand from reaching out to touch you when you passed. It was like the world stopped and tipped its axis when your eyes met his. He couldn't find the words to say, so there he stood, silent—stagnant. A part of him wishes he didn't. He didn't like watching you walk away.

He shakes himself out of his stupor when he sees Astoria approaching him down the sidewalk. A special smile, one reserved for a select few people, on his face. You were one of those people once. Astoria stood by him when he was going through his trial and the year that followed. She was a breath of fresh air in his dismal life during the time.

It was the first real relationship he ever had. She encouraged him to attend his mandatory appointments with the mind healer. She was patient and gentle with him; they watched enough Muggle movies and such that her curiosity for knowledge of the Muggle world even brushed off on him. He had bottled up a lot of anger at the world after the war. She would rub his back after a nightmare and hold his hand during a breakdown. She was one of the few people in his life who saw something else in him—something good. He shudders at the thought that if it wasn't for her, he probably wouldn't be where he is today.

She smiles as she approaches. She was a year behind him at Hogwarts. Back then, he regarded her as Daphne's naive little sister. "Draco." She acknowledges him.

He extends his arm, letting her fingers hold it as they walk through the doors. He tenses at the touch, which is odd. It wasn't like the way you used to touch him. It was just different. Something falls in her face when she notices the slight flinch. Her face quickly resumes a small smile, most would mistake it as demure and innocent, but he recognizes it-- mischief.

She leans in and whispers, "How about we skip the dinner and just get sloshed at the bar?"

He laughs. "What about the reservation?"

"You really don't need to be so formal. Besides, we can stay here. This place has a nice bar."

He nods and relays to the host that they'll sit at the bar. As they approach, he takes her jacket off of her and hands it to the host. He shrugs his coat off also and gives it to the man as well. Draco pulls out her seat.

Once she's ordered a glass of red wine, and he, a glass of the oldest scotch they had, Draco begins speaking. "I'm assuming since you're back early, it means you found the cure?"

Astoria and Draco were together a year before she was diagnosed with a blood malediction. It was a family curse, and no one in England had the capability of treating her. They told everyone she was gone on a quest for her soulmate; the truth was harsher. It was why their marriage contract was stalled truthfully. When they found out, it broke Draco's heart. He had achieved something good in his life, and it was being taken away from him.

She beamed at him. "Egypt. The healers there are trained for curse-breaking as well, so they were able to single out the curse from my blood."

Relief floods his system. He visibly relaxes at the news. Even if they aren't soulmates, they've been through a lot together, and there are some things people go through that you just can't help but become friends after, like recovering from a war together.

"So, tell me about you. What have you been up to in the year since I've been gone?"

I met my soulmate. "The usual work."

She rolls her eyes at him taking a sip of her drink. "No one new in your life?"

He shakes his head, distracting himself by taking another drink.