Imperio ⇢ D.M

Chapter Thirty Nine

Malfoy Manor

~Draco Malfoy~

"Stand up straight, Draco." My mother purred. Fixing my posture, my mother placed her hand on my shoulder and smiled into the large camera in front of us. The camera flashed, and this years Christmas Malfoy family photo was printed. She looked at the photo and nodded approvingly. She showed my father, who nodded as well.

Every year us three would stand in our decorated lounge room, and capture our pride and wealth in a single photo. It would be copied, and sent out to the few friends and family that we had on a greeting card.

It was something that my mother loved to do. With house elves doing all the house work for her, she feels like a simple family greeting card is enough for her to live the domestic family life she lived when I could barely walk.

Although house elves would clean and such, my mother would always cook and tend to the garden. During Christmas however, she would take on all household responsibilities, determined to make our mansion more homey.

My mother looked out the window, and stared at the snow that laid on our lawn. She sighed disapprovingly, noticing the dying roses. "I'll have to fix them up later..." She muttered to herself.

"Narcissa you don't need to be wasting your precious time enchanting the roses when you could be spending time with your son." My father smiled.

Our family was seen as dark, unhappy, maybe even abusive, but that wasn't the case. Behind closed doors, we are just like any other family... except we're incredibly rich.

Of course 'family bonding' sessions are quite rare unless it's Christmas. It's not often that my father will smile like he is right now, it's normally a sly smirk. My mother pinched my cheeks like she used to when I was little, and smiled.

"I think I'll get dinner ready instead. You two enjoy yourselves." And with that my mother disappeared into the kitchen.

I sighed as I sat down in one of the living chairs, leaning back against the head rest. I couldn't get Arden out of my head since I came home for the holidays. She sent a letter, saying how she's spending the break with the disgusting Weasel family and Potter. I've been reading up on dark spells since I got here, just in case Potter tries anything over the break.

My father tore a page out of an old copy of the Daily Prophet to keep the fire burning in the fire place. It was a Muggle thing to do, since my father could easily just enchant the fire, but he doesn't like old newspapers lying about. Especially the ones featuring articles that he despises.

The glass coffee table had one particular issue of the Daily Prophet that caused problems at home. One of the few times my father had gotten incredibly angry with me.

I stared at the moving picture of me kicking Potter as he laid on the floor. I tried to hold back a laugh as the picture kept looping. The day I fought with Potter over Arden was reported in the news, and made the front page. It was most definitely a slow news day.

My father tore the front page off of the news paper and threw it into the fire. "Maybe I'll think about that event less now that the evidence is gone..." He slurred.

There's no doubt that my father hates the Diggorys. He and Arden's father have been at it for years. The Diggorys are a Pure-Blood family, but they sympathise with Muggles, making them blood traitors. Despite that though, that won't stop me from wanting to be with Arden.

"Sacred Twenty Eight, Draco." He began. "A partner from one of those families will definitely please your mother and I."

"I never said Diggory was my partner-"

"So you bought a 100 Galleon pendant for yourself?" He asked. I looked away from him, trying to hide the guilt on my face. "Either that's a very generous gift for your mother, or it's exactly what I suspect it is."

I started to sink lower in my chair. "No matter." He sighed. "Young love is something magical when you find it during school years." He began. "The spark that you think is there, Draco... it will burn out."

"Do you know from experience?" I asked.

"Not with myself, no." He took more papers and threw them into the fire. "You shouldn't have a weakness, Draco, especially during these dark times where they can be used against you." He warned.

My father stared down at me. His expression was stern, but also filled with concern.

"Things don't have to become dark for me." I mumbled. "You never said it was definitely going to happen..."

My father cut me off. "Don't let yourself have a weakness."

He turned away and stared out at the wilted roses in our snowy garden. I was utterly confused. In what way could anyone use Arden against me? How was she my weakness?

I know for a fact that no one could hold anything against me, and no one will.

~

I love domestic Malfoys so much, then I had to ruin it because #foreshadowing sorry.