Transfixed: A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction

Chapter 66

We apparated onto the front porch of my home. Draco staggered as people usually did when apparating to a place they had never been before, and I held onto his arm to steady him.

"We're here," I said softly.

We looked up at my home, my beautiful home by the sea. It was still cold as we stood outside, but not nearly as cold as it had been when we left Hogwarts in the mountains of Scotland.

Draco gazed up at my house with a sad look on his face, and I was sure he was comparing it to Malfoy Manor in his head. His childhood home was massive and dark and cold, hidden in the forest. Mine was warm and quaint and cozy, nestled by the waves and sandy beaches. It was built by my great grandfather Harold, a Gryffindor, who was the star of the quiddich team during his time at Hogwarts. He was the best beater the school had ever seen, due to his wicked strength.

But after his time at Hogwarts ended, he decided that he wanted a life where he could live simply, so he married my great-grandmother, a fellow Gryffindor named Ruthie, and they came to Dorset to start their life together. He became a carpenter and built this house himself, as well as most of the other homes in the village. He and Ruthie both used magic all the time at home, but he didn't want to use it in his work. He just wanted to use sweat and strength and good old-fashioned discipline.

They raised four children, one of whom was my grandpa, and introduced them to both the muggle and wizarding worlds. All their children attended Hogwarts, but a tradition started in my family to not hide away from the muggle world. Instead, we made friends with it.

So yes, the Clifftons technically were pure-bloods, but we were never a part of the exclusive club of other pure-blood wizarding families. We were never interested in any of that. We were more interested in adventure and travel, and family most of all.

Draco was still looking at the house, and I thought about how different our family stories were. I wondered if he would approve of my Granddad Harold and my family's choices. It would certainly be very foreign to him. But I had given his family a chance, and now I knew he would give mine a chance, too.

"C'mon, we'll freeze if we stand out here forever," I said, taking his hand and knocking on the front door.

My mother answered, and I threw myself in her arms before she could say anything.

"Mummy," I said as I buried my face in her sweater. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, my darling," she said as she held me tightly and gently stroked my hair. "Thank heavens you're safe. I'm so very proud of you."

I broke away and grabbed onto Draco's hand. "Mum, this is Draco Malfoy. He's a spy for the Order of the Phoenix now, just like me. And he is my boyfriend."

Mum looked at him with a neutral, yet not unpleasant expression. She was not the warmest person to anyone, least of all to strangers, so she treated him with the same curtness with which she treated everyone else.

"We're very glad to have you with us, Draco," she said. Draco straightened his spine and smiled stiffly.

"I'm very glad to be here, Mrs. Cliffton."

Draco followed me upstairs to get settled, and I nearly cried from happiness when I stepped foot in my bedroom. It had been five months since I left for Malfoy Manor with Snape. I had left determined and excited to start my assignment as a spy, and now here I was, returning home with the boy I loved.

Draco stood at the threshold of my room as he took everything in. I sprawled out on my bed like a starfish and took a deep breath in.

"I'm home," I mumbled into my pillow.