NUMB WITHOUT YOU | Draco Malfoy

| Bonus Chapter 4

Dinner at the Zabinis

Location: The Cotswolds, England
Time: 12 Years Post-Epilogue

"Last time we saw Uncle Blaise he said he would buy me a Hippogriff!" Druella Malfoy's bird-like voice sang as she swung her arm that had been holding her father's hand. Her blonde and brown curls bounced around her head as she talked incessantly about her godfather.

"No. Absolutely not." Draco frowned and looked down his nose at his six-year-old daughter. "I will have no such creatures anywhere near my house. You have no idea how dangerous they can be, Dru."

"You're not still afraid of those bloody chickens, are you love?" Aurora teased her husband as she hoisted her four-year-old son Scorpius higher on her hip. "You had one bad experience at thirteen and it ruined you for life."

Aurora could recall following behind Hagrid as he carried her crying third-year school crush to the hospital wing. She and Pansy Parkinson coddled Draco for weeks following his injury, despite knowing he wasn't that badly injured to begin with. He pretended his injury was much worse than it was, and Aurora just assumed he liked the attention.

Draco's cheeks were tinged with pink, but he kept his expression neutral, "Of course I'm not scared. I just don't want to be the one stuck taking care of a beast of that size. A six-year-old is not equipped for that sort of responsibility you know."

"But Daddy, Uncle Blaise promised!" Druella elongated every word as she cried out in protest.

There wasn't a single person who spoiled the girl more than her godfather, Blaise Zabini. It made every visit to his home a headache for Draco, who tried his best to keep both of his children much more grounded than the way he was raised.

The little girl stomped her feet as they reached the front door of the cottage. To call it a cottage was an understatement. It was the largest, most expensive house in the area. Luna wanted to live somewhere quirky that matched her personality, but Blaise refused to spare any expense, and a compromise had to be made.

Blaise whipped opened the door and stared expectantly at the four who were standing there. He arched a brow, "What do you lot want?"

"The dinner we were promised as coercion to come over here would be nice." Aurora smirked before leaning in to give her friend a kiss on the cheek hello.

"If Lovegood is the one cooking tonight then I might consider leaving." Draco quipped, "She'll probably try to prepare some pretend creature for dinner and pass it off as edible. She can call it whatever she wants, but I know Cornish Pixie when I see it, and I won't eat it."

"For the last time, Nargles are real." Zabini huffed. He opened the door wider to the Malfoy family to walk inside. He led them down an ornately decorated hall full of portraits that were all chattering away with one another, hardly paying the guests any mind at all. "And that wasn't pixie at all, it was pheasant. It's quite expensive I'll have you know. You missed out on a great meal."

"You keep telling yourself that, mate." Draco grumbled, still not convinced.

The more times they came over, the harder it was for Draco to keep coming up with excuses not to eat Luna's eccentric cooking. She was always coming up with something new, and Draco was convinced it was all a game just to see how much she could shock him. So far, Luna was winning.