MAUVE VIOTTO is in her sixth year at Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a widely-loved Ravenclaw. She is a protector of those she cares about, and treats most people with relative kindness despite her sassy attitude. She's a free-spirit...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Christmas at the Malfoy Manor is such a lackadaisical holiday — the air is heavy, the silence loud. It's nothing like the liveliness that any other household seems to have. The lights are dully white, the tree bare with only a red skirt under its shadow. Father isn't home and neither is mother.
It's almost like a regular day, with only the presence of the house elves to distract me from my loneliness.
When I wake up, I can almost predict the neatly wrapped gift from my mother that sits outside my door. This year, it's a gray wool sweater, with an expensive designer name stitched on its tag. Laying over the soft material is a small note, which read the same as it did every year: Happy Christmas, Draco. I love you - Mum.
I suppose it was better than nothing; I'm grateful she even acknowledges the holiday. My father thinks celebrations in general are tedious. He's only bothers to celebrate with an exaggerated sumptuous ball to bring other highly regarded wizarding families to the Manor, with the intent to strengthen our affluent reputation within the community.
Celebrating with my group of friends would be a new experience for me. I can't deny the twinge of excitement I feel — anything to get away from the horrid isolation in the Manor, even if it's in the muggle world.
And of course, it would be alleviating to see Mauve again. I don't like how we left things back at Hogwarts, and guilt would creep up on my shoulders whenever I remember the look of disappointment on her face. She was noticeably upset, and regardless of her reassuring letter, I still can't help but be worried for our friendship. I wouldn't want anything to come between us.
In all honesty, I don't even like Parkinson. She's a blithering idiot. But I suppose I'm convinced to give it a try because she's constant; she's there, and if I were to date her, she'd say yes. It would be safe, I wouldn't lose her if we broke up.
And it shouldn't matter to me at all, but I know she would be easily accepted into my family. She's a pureblood, Slytherin, and holds the weight of a notable, wealthy family in the wizarding world.
Everything about Parkinson was safe.
I pull the sweater my mother gifted me over my shirt and pocket my wand. I pack the gifts I bought for everyone into a larger bag and toss it over my shoulder. Trudging down the stairs, I bid goodbye to the elves, wishing them a quiet "happy Christmas" before I floo out to Damaris' house.
"DRACO! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" I push Theo off of me, rolling my eyes at his dramatics.
"I literally saw you yesterday at the Manor." I deadpan, punching his shoulder. He pouts and rubs his arm, inches away from the spot where I actually hit him. Fucking twat.
I scan the room and realize I was the last to arrive, and then I see her. The corner of her lip pulls upwards as if it was on instinct, and mine is no different. She's wearing the ridiculous matching pajama set that everyone else also seems to be wearing.
