Always Remember

VIII.

"Alive and kicking. Literally kicking. Those poor house-elves. Hermione would have a stroke if she ever saw how the Malfoys treated them," Matthews says, folding his arms in front of his chest. 

"Lucius is the worst... if they don't walk fast enough, if they even do a tiny thing wrong, he kicks them like he's playing football. It's terrible. I've tried to speak up to him but... he's got a tongue on him. I think he yelled at me for two hours straight," Collins says, shaking his head.

"And the worst part is, there's nothing we can do. Those degenerates ask for our help but then treat us terribly! It's like they know that we're ordered to protect them no matter what. Everyone knows the Malfoys are bad people so they expect us to endure it," Matthews finishes and I wince. The Malfoys, the parents of the man I love, did sound like terrible people. I remember the way they reacted when Draco kissed my cheek and I am grateful I don't have to spend as much time with them as Matthews and Collins do.

"I'm really sorry to hear that. First of all, we should definitely talk to Hermione about what she can do about protective and anti-abuse measures for house-elves... but you won't have to stay with the Malfoys for long. I'm sure the Ministry is doing everything they can to solve what's going on." 

"We'll we just talked with HQ and they got nothing, so they're doing everything they can but they haven't solved anything," Matthews sighs.

"Well, there hasn't been any reports or suspicions of an incident today so maybe that's a good sign," Collins says with uncertainty. 

"Maybe," I reply, trying to keep my optimism up for Collins. But I know that that really isn't a good sign. Especially since their last attack was on Ron just yesterday, they could just be taking their time planning another. A grim reality. 

"Well, we have to get going back to the Manor now," Matthews says, glancing down at his watch, "We have to get together again soon. We really need to blow off some steam. Maybe Leaky Cauldron..." By the look on his face, he's already imagining relaxing to a big, cold glass to wind down. 

"Yes! And hopefully, it won't be interrupted by any more crazy wizards," Collins adds, hugging me, and I laugh. 

"Leaky Cauldron sounds great. I'll send you guy's an owl or something when I'm free. See you guys later," I say and they smile, waving before disapparating away. 

___

I finally get home and see Draco waiting for me. He was sitting on the couch, inspecting my tv remote like it was something foreign. He was flipping through tv channels and scoffed at what had been "dumb muggle drama", but he was undeniably interested in at least some of it. Mostly sci-fi. 

"Gattaca? What kind of word is that?" he had tried to play it off as teasing but I knew he was intrigued with the movie. 

"Well, it's a word made up using letters of nucleobases. Nucleobases are... sort of like information for your DNA," I had tried to explain but he just stared dumbstruck at me. 

"DNA?" is all he said and I giggled.

"It's in your body, in your cells. It's the reason your body grew and turned out the way it did. So, for example, there's a certain combination of letters that is the reason your hair is such a light blond," I answer, leaning forward to run my fingers through his hair, and his attention switches from the movie to me. He lets me gently comb through his hair and leans into my hand. His eyes, that familiar and comforting icy blue, look into mine.