The Impatient Man and His Suit

The Confession

I took a short breath to answer the question but found that I struggled to dictate my words. During the many months before, I had grown used to the scheduled privilege of being in his company, but as he stood before me, he became somewhat of a passing dream. I feared if I were to look away only for a moment, that he would disappear. Nonetheless, peeling my eyes from his, I discovered it was easier to speak if I wasn't gazing at his person.

"I came to return this," I fibbed, pulling the watch from my pocket. Letting it dangle by its chain, I set it carefully into his outstretched hand.

Running his thumb over the front, he spoke "Where did you get this?"

"Well, among several other things, that's what I've come to talk to you about."

Further fastening his hold on reality, the dimness of his features returned, and he stuck the valuable into his pocket, "Just by being in my vicinity, you could get the both of us into a lot of irreversible trouble. Do you know that?"

While his notion of my ignorance wasn't completely off, I felt confident in my tenacious venture to his home and was pleased with the result. There was still a chance for a major mishap to unfold however and the true issue at hand was refreshed in my mind. I could not lie to myself that the goal was to see Draco one last time but surrounding that was the pressure to persuade him.

To my surprise, he refrained from expressing any negative emotion, as he was wont to do, and simply stood there, perhaps to consider the great lengths I went to in order to reach him, for he began to walk past me, motioning a hand to follow. Before we exited the lush air of the greenhouse, he threw on a jacket. Despite the coolness which returned to his voice, something was lacking in his movements. He was not as calculated and seemed fatigued after every motion. I trailed behind him, maintaining my patience in wait of what was to occur next. Continuously looking over his shoulder, he appeared to be checking if I were still behind him and had not disappeared as some figment of his imagination.

We entered through the rear of the house and down a series of concrete steps where the servants' quarters would have been and passed through a low corridor lined with empty bedrooms. The kitchen was enormous and certainly capable of producing grandiose feasts but seemed long since used for such an occasion. Together we ascended onto the first level of the main house and the true ornately colossal design of Malfoy manor was revealed. In contrast to the dark and cramped layout of the floor below, I became dizzy at the sight of unreasonably high ceilings supported by countless columns and supporting beams. The entire home was draped in melancholy. Even though windows could be seen in every room, the light seemed to shudder and turn a greenish blue under the structure's malevolence. Following timidly down an open gallery, I looked through the giant wall of windows and spotted my own footprints in the snow, trailing across the distant front yard.

We concluded our journey through the never-ending galleries and halls at the library. Never had I seen a more glorious display of books, bookcases, ladders, balconies, sofas, desks, rugs, windows, curtains, and various oddities. Porcelain and marble statues of men, women, and animals spread randomly about the floor space. Empty artisan vases, chests made of pure jade, and paintings occupied every space where books couldn't. But the most striking piece in the entire room was an unreasonably large serpent skeleton, suspended in an upright spiral.

After accepting Draco's most unusual act of offering me a cup of tea, we sat silently in our seats, waiting for the other to begin. Still unable to tear my gaze from the endless number of trinkets surrounding me, I wondered how a pre-adolescent Draco would appear, running down the halls of the manor. Enraptured by my curious excitement, a part of his mystery was being satiated within me. Entirely distracted as I slipped into a daydream of his childhood, I suddenly felt embarrassed about my investment.