ethereal - draco malfoy

malfoy manor

"We can sit in the kitchen until they get back if you want." Malfoy suggested. I looked around my surroundings before nodding.

He walked passed me and I followed him as he lead me into their kitchen. I walked over to the island and took a seat at one of the tall chairs. When I sat down, I yelped in pain. My hair got stuck on the back of the chair.

"I am so sick of having long hair." I mumbled to myself. "Hasn't your mother told you to cut it?" Malfoy asked as he sat across from me. "Yeah, how did you know?" I queried. He shrugged. "She talks about you a lot to my parents and me." he said simply. I didn't reply, we just sat there in silence.

"Excuse me if I'm wrong, but isn't your mother abusive towards you?" he blurted unexpectedly. I tried my best to hide my shock before replying. "Yes. Well, she was. She hasn't hit me in months, which is odd, but I'm not complaining." I explained. Malfoy nodded and the room grew silent again.

"So how's therapy?" he blurted again. I tucked a piece of hand behind my ear. "I actually don't have therapy anymore." I lied. His head cocked to the side; he was surprised. "Really?" he queried. "Mhm." I hummed. "How come?" he interrogated.

"I just didn't need it anymore. Diggory still has to babysit me, though." I said. That was technically only half a lie. He hummed in thought for a few seconds before he finally seemed satisfied with my answer.

"So you're not a ticking time bomb anymore?" he questions further. "Oh, I am. I've just learned how to control it better, I guess." I explain. He nods again.

This is weird and awkward; suffocating, if you will. I'm sitting in my enemies house, talking to him about therapy and shite like it's completely normal. I wonder if he knows that my parents are there for the same reason his are.

"How are you and Parkinson?" I ask. I don't know who I shocked more with that question; him or myself. "There is no me and Parkinson. I dumped her after a month." he spat with a cold expression. I didn't respond.

"How are you and Jackson?" he asked. I almost choked on my own oxygen. I looked at him with wide eyes. "I'm sorry what did you just say?" I said quickly. He raised a brow before explaining. "You and Jackson Nott. Theo's brother? You guys are a thing, right?" he questioned.

I cleared my throat trying not to choke again. "Uh, no. Jack and I are friends. I don't really do relationships." I explain quietly, looking down at the island-top. "So you guys just shag?" he asked. I gagged loudly. "First off, what the fuck. Second off, I'm just now able to accept hugs and forehead kisses from my parents. I can barely handle that, let alone have sex with someone." I explain defensively.

"So what started all this then? Your problem with skin to skin contact. I've never understood it. Does it like, hurt or something?" he asked as he held his head in his palms. I shook my head and huffed. "Nope. It doesn't hurt. It's not like a medical thing, it's more of a brain thing. Skin on skin contact just makes me uncomfortable, but everyday I work on it." I explained. He tapped his index finger on his sharp cheekbone, looking at me through squinted eyes; as if he was trying to figure me out.

I hoped and prayed that he wouldn't ask what started it again. I've done so good these past few weeks, not thinking about it. I can't think about it. I refuse to think about it.

"Don't worry, I won't ask you what started it. I know you don't want to think or talk about it." he said simply, as though he just read my mind. I raised my eyebrows in surprise, but then nodded and sighed before taking all of my hair and pulling it to one side.

"I think I'm going to cut it." I thought out loud. "Not too much though." I added. "My hair has always been long. I've never had short hair." I added again. "When?" he asked, looking at my hair.

"I don't know. I'll wait until my mother gets back and ask her when she can do it. She's good at shite like that." I said absentmindedly. He didn't respond. We just sat in silence, both looking at my hair.

"If you've been wanting to cut it, why wait until now to say anything?" he questioned. I shrugged and flipped my hair back over my shoulder. "Because anything that my mother wanted me to do, I wanted to do the opposite." I stated simply. He gave me an impressed look while he nodded his head.

-

We sat around the kitchen until our parents arrived to the manor. Sometimes we would talk, other times we would sit in silence. When we heard the familiar sound of apparation outside the manor, we shared a look before standing up and walking towards the door.

When we got to the front door, it swung opened before we even got the chance to touch the knob. My mother's hair was slightly disheveled, so was Cissy's. My fathers suit had some ash on it, along with Lucius'.

"Ready to go?" my mother asked as she turned to me. I nodded my head before reaching for my jacket and shrugging it on. "See you next week, Cissy." she said as she and Cissy shared an embrace. My father and Lucius shook hands firmly. "Bye, Malfoy." I said with a sigh. "Bye, Morningstar." he said with a small wave of his hand.

My mother, father and I walked out of the manor and went back to the apparation point to apparate. Once my father apparated us back to our Manor, my mother let out a sigh of relief. She then turned to me. "Did you enjoy yourself, Cynthia?" she asked. "Yes, mother." I said. She gave me a genuine smile and placed her hand on my shoulder as we began to walk. "That's good." she said quietly.

We finally reached the double doors to the manor and walked in, and I sighed in exhaustion. "Goodnight." I groaned before trudging upstairs to my bedroom.