𝐵𝑒𝓆𝓊𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 | 𝒟.𝑀.

14 | See Where You Get It From

I dressed myself with mild civility in my dusty room. I had to balance precariously on my mattress with my curtains shut around the bed so that all of the judgmental paintings would not get a glimpse. Then, the grumpy house elf had had to help me zipper up the ridiculous gown.

The blue dress fit well except for the fact that it was too long, as expected. I performed a simple charm to shorten it above my ankles and put on the shoes I'd managed to grab before Draco had pulled me angrily out of the fancy closet.

I chuckled to myself at being able to gain some control through the choice of my own dress color. Looking at myself in the floor to ceiling mirror once again I remarked at the improvement since the last time I was standing there. I looked proper and high-class. Elegant on every level. My long blonde hair cascaded down in waves and my golden eyes were darkly shaded. When I decided I looked acceptable, I gathered up the dress and opened my door to find Draco possessively leaning against the wall. He nodded his head in quiet approval at my efforts to dress up. Then he held out a crystal glass of the same liquid he'd been downing earlier.

"You'll need it, trust me," He said encouragingly when I just stared at his hand. I slowly took it and sipped at the strong whiskey. We stood there for a while, sipping and glancing awkwardly at each other.

"What do I need to, uh, know about, your family?" I took another sip of the strong, sour drink and mentally forced myself not to make it obvious that it was giving my damaged brain a headache. I could feel it swirling in my stomach, burning with the promise of feeling calmer later.

He looked contemplative for a moment and then sighed rather loudly, staring at his shoes. I made a mental note that when he was truly being vulnerable he tended to look away at the ground, "Uh. My father doesn't care for frivolity. I know you have a strong sense of...humor. But you need to contain that around him." He kicked at the black carpet, furrowing his eyebrows as he collected and sorted his family's personalities into sentences, "No laughing at dinner, Madeleine." I paused for a moment, realizing it was the first time he'd used my first name so casually in conversation.

"Sounds just like my family," I said sarcastically. He looked at me quizzically, clearly missing my point, "Et is a joke, Draco." I rolled my eyes and his eyebrows shot up from hearing his first name as well.

He cleared his throat and continued, "He also hates muggle holidays, like Christmas. We are only doing this because your family stressed that you usually do something for this holiday and my mother wants to impress them." His mouth was pressed into a firm line now and his eyes were glued to mine with sincere concern, "He's going to be very angry about tonight. Please, don't say anything you don't have to say." He took another large swig of his drink and I decided to match him after the foreboding warning.

I put a hand to my mouth, wincing slightly from the white hot heat of the whiskey, "See where you get it from."

"Get what from?" He rudely raised his voice, his eyes peering at me. I was reminded again of how much taller he was than me by his towering figure.

"That - right there," I pointed at the middle of his face and he scowled.

I lost control and laughed, spilling some of my liquor on the floor. I pressed my hand against my mouth to prevent further giggling while I stared down at the perfect circle of wetness on the tiles. Draco was following my gaze with the opposite face, "The elves will clean it. But this," he took the crystal glass out of my hand swiftly, "was obviously the wrong move. You're already hysterical." He placed the glasses on a hallway table and looked uneasily at me.

I pressed my mouth into an awful grin, forcing the laugh down that was building in my chest. He looked so perfectly agitated and there was something about that face on him that did this to me. His face was filling with uncomfortable judgement as he watched me struggle to be normal. "Okay, easy now... stop it." He was leaning away from me and I instinctively grabbed his tie and pulled him towards me in my giddy state. His forehead met mine with just enough force not to bruise either of us. "Madeleine!" His voice came out genuinely angry now as he tried to unravel my fingers from his clothing, looking down and struggling to see where they had tangled.