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chapter thirty seven
the space cadets
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My electromagnetism lecture ended about an hour before Draco was supposed to arrive at eleven-thirty. The house was empty and quiet as I waited. Often, I had music playing when I was home alone but I was so distracted I didn't notice the silence.
Despite the outside appearance of peacefulness, my stomach was unsettled. It wasn't quite anxiety, but it was along those lines. Like a tightness that covered my entire body. I had to continue to pace around the house or the feeling would get worse.
This would likely be Draco's first real experience with Muggles. Sure, he'd likely met them before, but almost certainly under wizarding contexts, not Muggle ones. I wasn't sure what I was expecting but it all made me uneasy. It certainly wouldn't be good for me to repay Dr. Brandt's favor by bringing a guest who was rude to her.
Not that I thought Draco would actually be uncivil (to her face at least), but I supposed I couldn't be sure. That was what made me nervous.
It was as though Galileo could sense the unrest. He followed at my heels as I paced, walking laps from the living room to the kitchen and back.
Steadily, the grandfather clock ticked away from the living room, its rhythm slowing the passage of time to a monotonous crawl.
And then, finally, the fireplace flashed green and I spun around to see Draco crouched over, standing in the center, a bit of soot at the edge of his jaw. He coughed into his hand and then leaned down so he could step out into the living room without cracking his skull on the brick. When he was out, he roughly brushed off his clothes, his face sour as he glanced over his shoulder.
"Couldn't have a fireplace that can be stood in comfortably?"
"You have something here," I said, matching his humorless tone, and pointed to my jaw. He pursed his lips and rubbed his face. "We can only make the fireplace so big before my mother's Muggle friends start asking questions about our ridiculously tall fireplace."
He sneered, crossing his arms over his chest. "Or...you could just not let Muggles enter your house," he said and before I could retort, his nose crinkled and eyes shut. He sneezed loudly into his sleeve.
Galileo let out a startled bark from where he was probably laying in his doggy bed in Mum's office. Within seconds, he sprinted into the living room—a blur of black fur and slobber. He nearly knocked me over in an effort to greet Draco, his tail waving wildly.
Grinning, Draco lowered himself to Galileo's eye level and reached out with both hands to scratch behind his ears. Galileo wasn't quite as enthusiastic with Draco as he was with his favorite people (Theo, for example) but, still, the fact his tail was wagging meant he was happy—which also meant that Draco couldn't be completely rotten.
