Bloodlines || A Draco Malfoy Romance Fanfiction

August 1993 - 28

As the summer passed, Draco attempted several times to discuss our relationship. I hadn't had the heart to tell him yet. At first, he tried to discuss it when it was just him and me alone together. In turn, I started to make sure that at least one of our parents was in the room with us.

The time had come again for school shopping in Diagon Alley. Since my father had already headed over to attend to some business, I Flooed over to the Malfoys' by myself later in the morning to meet them. 

Upon arriving at the fireplace of the Malfoy Manor drawing-room, I saw a familiar blonde-haired boy lounging on one of the couches, a book held above his head. Once I had arrived, he looked over to see me.

He smiled, swinging his legs off the couch and standing up. "Well well well. Look what the cat dragged in." He walked over and stood in front of me, looking down. Had he grown a couple of inches taller over the summer?

I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes at the jest. "Hello to you, too. Mr. Malfoy," I said, with an amused smile. I looked over him, taking notice of his appearance. "Your hair looks different."

He ran his hands through his loose hair. "Yeah. Mother wanted me to make sure you were greeted because she wasn't able to. I haven't had time to put anything in it."

"Well, I think it looks nice." That was an understatement. He looked incredibly handsome, but I wasn't about to tell him that, considering my... our... predicament. Over the summer, I had quickly grown a crush on my best friend, despite him being the one boy I wasn't allowed to date.

He gave a lopsided smile as we both stood in silence for a moment, neither of us really knowing what to say. He was a smart boy, and after my behavior over the past few weeks, he knew I was trying to avoid conversation about us, so he started breaching the topic less often. However, there always seemed to be an energy between the two of us after that kiss.

"You have a bit of soot in your hair," he said lightly, breaking the silence. He lifted his hand, taking a single curl resting on my shoulder between his fingers. He gently smoothed his fingers down the curl, loosening the soot, and the curl sprung back up.

My heart raced at the gentle movement, and the realization that he'd paid attention to me removing small bits of debris from my curls enough to know how to do it himself without turning them into a frizzy mess.

"Aphrodite, dear!" Narcissa said, coming into the drawing-room and pulling my attention away from Draco.

I smiled, hurrying to get around Draco. "Narcissa!" I said approaching her. We embraced in a familiar hug.

We released from the hug, but she held her hands on my shoulders affectionately. "I am so sorry I wasn't able to greet you," she said.

"It's perfectly alright, Narcissa," I assured her. "Draco was able to see me in."

She looked at Draco pointedly. "I do hope he had some manners."

Turning my head to Draco where she couldn't see my face, I gave him a knowing look, knowing his mother would not have agreed with his form of greeting. "Oh, he was a perfect gentleman." He gave a sly smirk.

She smiled lightly as she looked back at me. "Very good." She said and once again turned her head to her son. "Draco, did you need to finish getting ready before we leave? Your hair isn't how you usually keep it."

He took a brief glance at me, then back to his mother. "No. I'm ready."

Narcissa considered Draco for a second before continuing. "Alright. Now while we're shopping, you two need to stay close to Lucius, William, or me. Do you understand?"

I nodded in agreement, but Draco protested. "Mother, you said two weeks ago we could do some shopping by ourselves this year."

Narcissa looked at her son, her eyebrows knit. "I'm sorry Draco. That was before Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban. We can't risk something happening to you or Aphrodite."

He looked disappointed, but he sighed and nodded in understanding.

Soon after our fathers met us downstairs and we headed off.

Draco

I don't know what was going on, but something wasn't working between Aphrodite and me. I'd tried too many times to talk to her about the kiss, and where we were going, but she was insistent on avoiding discussing it. Of course, I wasn't going to just accept that.

Father was at the Ministry, mother had a social event to go to, and it was one of the times that Aphrodite and her father weren't visiting. I only had a few hours before mother returned, and that time couldn't go to waste.

I had distracted the house elves, directing them to do various, time-consuming tasks. Then I made my way to my father's study, confident I wouldn't get caught.

Lucius Malfoy's study was his sanctuary. Most were allowed in only if given special permission, and never without the owner himself. Even my mother and his best friend were not entrusted with the privilege of coming and going as they please. In fact, William had his own study in the house to work when Aphrodite and he stayed for more than a day.

However, the office held the most valued of our spell and potions books, and I wanted to thumb through them to see if anything could help me with Aphrodite. I didn't want my father's help with this, nor my mother's. The article in the Prophet and my mother's reaction were enough embarrassment on the subject as far as they were concerned.

Closing the door quietly behind me, the sunlight from the tall window became my only source of light, casting dark shadows on a portion of the room. I thumbed through several shelves, not finding anything that I thought would help.

I landed on a shelf of books, the volumes arranged in a gradient of age. Each volume said "Malfoy Family Records," although the older volumes seemed to be in French. The head of the family and the years they lived differentiated each book.

My eyes landed on the last of the volumes. It was not the newest, representing my father's generation. Instead, however, the spine said in the same gold leaf engraving Malfoy and Cytheria.

Oh good god, please don't let us be cousins, I thought, grabbing the book and pulling it out.

I walked over to my father's desk and set the large text down carefully to not make noise. There was a full-page spread for a single Malfoy and Cytheria going back generations. I had known that our families had been friends for generations, but I didn't realize how far back it had gone.

Skimming to the end, there was a loose piece of parchment that hadn't yet been bound into the book. I picked it up, more closely examining it.

There listed two lines of families, distinctly separate from each other. I counted 13 generations of Malfoy men, including myself, and 12 lines of Cytheria men with Aphrodite on the end.

This wasn't a potion or a spell, but I felt it was a solution to my problem. I folded the parchment neatly, pocketed it, and returned the book, leaving the study looking untouched.