All the Little Secrets| D.M. (18+)

Chapter 21

It had been five days since we'd arrived at Malfoy Manor and I could not have felt more isolated. Draco and I barely spoke, he tried to be as polite as possible over meals but we would always end up having forced and uncomfortable conversations. I'd thought about telling him about Pansy multiple times but I was afraid that he'd stop speaking to me. Even though our conversations had been awkward, some conversation was better than no conversation at all and I wasn't willing to risk losing it. Aside from that I continuously tried to steer clear of Narcissa since I knew she did not want me in her home. She made it fairly easy since she never sat down to meals with Draco and I. Typically she stayed in her room and bossed around the poor house-elves with whom I had previously shared the servent's quarters. They weren't allowed to speak to me because they were on strict orders from Narcissa herself. I'd only bumped into her once on the staircase as I was heading down to dinner, she was going back up to her room with a large glass of red wine. She didn't say much, she simply scowled and continued walking. Lucius had yet to return from whatever strange assignment he was on, so the house was eerily peaceful but with each passing day the tension grew. We all knew he would be coming back sooner or later and there was no telling which Death Eaters or if the Dark Lord himself would be accompanying him. 

With all these things on my mind and a lack of human interaction, the days dragged on. Other than petting and playing with Cinder I found myself trying to pass the time by flipping through the old book of student records I'd borrowed from Harry. I had packed it in one of my bags in a small secret compartment and almost forgot it was there until Cinder managed to pull it out. I would scan the faces of each student hoping to recognize one of them or see some sort of resemblance but no such luck. Thanks to Theo the only thing I knew was that my parents were Gryffindors. I would skim the pages of all 1st through 7th year Gryffindors at least five times a day. Sometimes I found myself conversing with the moving images of James Potter and Lily Evans. I would tell them what a wonderful person their son had grown up to be despite all the obstacles that stood in his way. It honestly did make the isolation a little less depressing but then I would remember that they were just pictures of people who used to be alive and had it not been for the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters they might still be. Just as I was starting to despair I heard a soft knock.

"Prue." A muffled voice said.

I already knew it was Draco since he was the only one that called me Prue and dared to speak to me. 

"Come in." I chimed eagerly as I stashed the book of students underneath my pillow. 

He opened the door gently and popped his platinum blonde head inside. Cinder began approaching the crack in the door and trying to escape so Draco quickly came in. He bent down for a moment and picked Cinder up, as he began scratching her chin he shut the door with his foot. Draco made his way over to the large bed in the middle of the room where I was sitting and sat down next to me. He let go of Cinder and she bounced off his lap and onto the floor, leaving small patches of grey fur all over Draco's dark blue turtleneck and black jeans. I hadn't noticed that I'd been watching him so intently the entire time until we made direct eye contact. I looked away almost immediately and tried not to blush but I couldn't help myself. 

"So I know things have been strange lately, and I wanted to apologize. I know that spending the Holidays here with me and potentially Death Eaters was not your first choice, I should be trying to make this less awful for you." Draco admitted quietly. 

I shrugged my shoulds, "Honestly, this is the first time I'll even be doing anything close to celebrating the Holidays so it's already an improvement. Plus, I'm glad I have you to celebrate them with even if it's just as friends." I smiled sweetly. 

Draco smirked and looked up at me with his stormy eyes, I could see a flicker of joy pass through them. I genuinely felt like he was growing as a person and that made me extremely happy for him.