Avoiding Draco Malfoy on the Hogwarts Express on its way to London was much easier than I had anticipated, though I did not expect it to get easier when I'd have to attend the Malfoy Yule on Christmas Eve. I sat with Daphne and Tracey on the train, all three of us discussing our plans for Christmas, New Year's, and the rest of the winter break. And before we knew it, we were already at Platform 9 3/4, our families or guardians waiting for our arrival.
Hopping out of the train with Daphne, Tracey, and our luggage, I quickly spotted my brother, Aiden, and both of our parents. My heart jumped slightly in my chest upon realizing that my mother was here. I couldn't stop myself from grinning as I approach my tall mother. Her bright white teeth clashed against her deep brown skin, and her soothing dark eyes softened even deeper upon my arrival. Daphe and Tracey parted ways with me and went looking for their families.
"Maeve, my love," my mother said, immediately reaching over to me for a warm embrace. I looked up at her beaming face.
"You're not at the shop?" I asked, unable to hide my excitement. My father, the hazel brown of his eyes hidden behind his bright smile, chuckled at my comment. "Hello, Dad," I added. He nodded, exposing his spiky dark hair. "Did you get a haircut?"
"I did," he said, suddenly passing his hands over his head to feel it. Aiden laughed beside me and asked to feel Dad's now-fuzzy hair.
"Indeed he did," my mother huffed a gentle and loving laugh. Her gaze landed back at me. "As for your previous query — Well, your aunt decided to be a good Samaritan and took over the shop while your father and I brought you and Aiden back home."
"She's visiting so soon?" I asked, my face lighting up. Usually, they'd arrive a few days after Christmas, just before New Year's Eve.
"Well, of course she is, silly," my mother said, her smile causing deeper wrinkles in the corners of her eyes. "And so is Rose-Marie and Aurélie. We discussed this over the summer, did we not?"
"Oh," I hummed. Rose-Marie and Aurélie were my cousins. "I suppose that means we're not going to the Malfoy Yule this year, since they're not invited."
Ha! Easy way out of that ordeal! I thought.
"Oh, nonsense," my mother said. "I've already spoken to Narcissa, and she's very much looking forward to seeing my sister again — you know already your aunt Véronique is not a stranger to Narcissa, Maeve, my love."
"Sure, but isn't it their first time at the Malfoy Yule?" I asked, hopeful for a cancelation.
"Not exactly," Mother informed me. "Véronique has attended the Yule with your cousins a few times before you went to Hogwarts. You don't recall?"
"Oh, I guess not," I lied quickly, feeling defeated.
"You don't seem to want to attend this year's celebrations," Mother noted, eyeing my intently. "Did something happen between you and Draco again?"
"Oh, yes, it did," Aiden suddenly butted in. I thought he was busy speaking with Dad, but apparently, their conversation was short.
"No, it did not," I asserted. "In any case, why don't we get moving? I'm starving!"
I deemed convincing my parents to have us — or just me — skip the Malfoy Yule this year to be an impossible feat. By the time Christmas Eve rolled in, it was too late. Rose-Marie and Aurélie, apparently barely remembering the time that they had last attended, could not hide their excitement. I tried to humour them, but pretending to be happy about going this year was excruciating.
I better not see your nasty face at the Manour, this Christmas! Draco Malfoy's sneering face was stained in my memory as my parents, my brother, my aunt, my cousins, and I traipsed up the driveway towards the Malfoy Manor. Magnificent white peacocks struttled majestically atop of the tall hedges on either sides of the path.
"Oh, I remember the white peacocks!" Aurélie said fondly, her cheeks turning slightly pink on her deep almond skin. Although my cousins lived in the affluent commune of Neuilly-sur-Seine in France, Aurélie was easily impressed.
"How do you even remember that? Were you not four years old at the time?" Rose-Marie asked, amazed. She was older than than all of us, due to hit the age of seventeen in February. Meanwhile, Aurélie was younger than all of us, having just turned eleven in July.
"Actually, I was six," Aurélie corrected snidely.
When we reached the front door, Rose-Marie hastily adjusted her dark kinky hair that she had tied into a neat high bun earlier.
"Your hair looks great, Rose," I assured her. She laughed sheepishly.
We finally had reached the tall dark front doors of the Malfoy Mansion. The white building stood tall, looming over us, and accented by the bright grey waxing gibbous moon in the dark Winter sky.
My heart skipped a beat. I prayed to Merlin that Draco Malfoy would not be the one to greet us at the door nor that he would notice us arrive in the first place.
The door swung open at last. Narcissa Malfoy stood there in a long sparkly silverc dress. She had a bright smile on her face upon noticing us. She urged us to enter the Manor.
The entrance hall was tall, white and home to ornate portraits of Malfoy's ancestors. There were also seemingly rare and important paintings of undecipherable landscapes and long-dead historical figures. There were also Christmas decorations of holly, mistletoe, and poinsettia throughout the entrance hall and into the large drawing room connected to it.
"Ah, it's the Blackwoods, at last," she said.
"And the Loreleïs," Aunt Véronique chimed in, placing her hands on her two daughters, Rose-Marie and Aurélie.
"Yes, of course. Véronique Loreleïs and her two magnificient daughters..." Narcissa Malfoy trailed off, as if searching her mind for the names of my cousins.
"Aurélie and Rose-Marie," Aunt Véronique helped out the hostess. Whilst my family and Narcissa Malfoy greeted each other, I noticed the platinum blonde hair of Draco Malfoy in the crowd. He had a cup in his hand and was engrossed in a conversation with Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson.
Before Draco Malfoy could make awkward eye contact with me, I quietly sneaked away from the entrance, where Narcissa and my family were still chattering away. Although it seemed impossible, I opted to hide from Malfoy entirely, so he'd think I had not visited the Manor.
I urgently tiptoed up the gleaming marble staircase nearby and found my way up to the second floor. The hallways here were unoccupied. Most sane people would rather spend the evening celebrating downstairs, where everybody else was, but I was trapped in a particularly unique ordeal.
The second-floor corridor was white and extended towards a very large and unique library. Perhaps I could occupy my time in there, reading my problems away, and, hopefully, filling my mind up with something a bit more cheerful.
"Let's begin with the second floor..."
It was Draco Malfoy. Of course, he was giving a house tour to my visiting cousins since they hadn't been here in so long. I didn't have time to run down the hallway towards the library unnoticed, so I immediately slipped into a random room on my right, locking the door behind me — not that magic couldn't swiftly unlock it anyway. I held my breath as I heard footsteps diminish in the corridor. Malfoy was guiding my cousins in the opposite direction from where I was. Inevitably, they would do a full circle and return, but I still had a little more time of peace.
Just as I calmly turned around to face the room that I was in, the chandelier lit on because of course Draco Malfoy had a chandelier in his bedroom — Oh.
I was in Draco Malfoy's bedroom.
Of course, I'd been here before. I would visit the Manor every week before going to Hogwarts, and every year since then. The last time I was in Draco Malfoy's bedroom specifically was the summer before our second year at Hogwarts. Not much had changed since then. His four-poster bed still bore the same emerald green curtains and silk bedsheets. There was a lavish-looking carpet on the floor, and a black wooden desk next to the door.
The desk had a letter on it with a neat handwriting. It looked like someone was in the process of writing it as the ink and quill lay lazily next to it. Not caring for Malfoy's privacy, I read:
Dear Parkinson,
I don't expect her to show her face, today. But
And that was it. There was nothing else. Not even another letter. It was as if he had to leave suddenly while writing this message. I wondered why he was writing about me — because obviously he was. Who else was he not expecting to show up today?
Mentally dismissing the letter, I turned around to look at the room.
In front of the large paned windows was an ornate silver mirror stand. I approached cautiously. This was where I imagined Draco would idolize his looks, and adjust his expensive clothes. But this time, it was me gazing at myself in the mirror.
My Fulani braids had been changed to be very long passion twists, courtesy of my Aunt Véronique, who thought my hair was growing back "atrociously" under my previous braids — which was fair because I had forgotten to ask Tracey for a re-touch.
Rose-Marie had done my makeup. Deep green eyeshadow that she believed made my hazel-brown eyes pop; subtle rosy cheeks and a brownish pink lip gloss that she said matched my light brown skin.
I wore a black and flowy dress that reached my calves. The dress, including the long sleeves, was covered with sheer and lacey material. It was designed by my Aunt Véronique, who ran a designer clothing shop back in France. I spun around in place to witness the flowy nature of the dress, which I loved.
The large windows of Malfoy's bedroom gazed out into the frontyard. I could see new visitors arriving within the hedges of the Manor and being greeted by Narcissa Malfoy.
Draco Malfoy also had a large walk-in closet parallel to his bed. There was so much space in his room, you could almost use the space to host a Ball.
"And this is... my bedroom," Someone tried the handle but it wouldn't open the door. "Why is it locked...?"
Frantic and feeling like I was suddenly unable to breathe properly, I slipped under the bed where the long bedsheets draped over the sides and kept me at least partially hidden.
"Alohomora."
The door suddenly swung open. I held my breath.
I could hear the careful footsteps of my cousins as they looked around. Draco Malfoy quickly led them out of the bedroom.
It was quicker than I was expecting.
Disgruntled, and once they were out of earshot, I slid my body out from under the bed, hitting my head on the frame as I went out.
"Ouch," I moaned as quietly as I could.
Hiding from Draco Malfoy in his own bedroom was too anxiety-inducing for me to continue. I had to get out of there.
I tried the door. It was locked.
"That's ridiculous..." I huffed, pulling out my wand. We weren't allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts when we're under seventeen, but the Ministry wasn't too good at tracing magic and would probably assume it was Narcissa or Lucius Malfoy casting at this location.
"Alohomora," I cast.
I tried the door again. Nothing.
Trying not to panic, I spun my body around to look around the room. There was no way of escaping. I was trapped in the bedroom of the one person I did not want to see tonight.
How could I even get out of this predicament?
I peered out the window. There was no one outside at the moment. I tried the handle, and sure enough, the window swung open. I looked down.
Snow covered every surface. Maybe two or three inches deep of snow. Of course, there could be layers of ice under the fluffy snow atop, but that wasn't going to stop me from trying to jump. Not even the frosty weather was going to stop me.
I grabbed my wand, trying to recall the spell that Dumbledore used on Harry when he fell off his broom at the quidditch match.
What was it? Allesto monentome? No...
As I racked my brain to remember the spell, the door handle wiggled. Draco Malfoy was definitely back, and the last thing I needed was for him to see me.
I hoisted my body over the windowsill as quickly as possible, grabbing onto any edge I could find and hoping to be able to quickly and safely climb my way down.
But it was too late. The blonde prick saw my terrified face as I accidentally ripped my beautiful black dress on my way out.
"Blackwood!" He looked furious but confused. "What are you—?" he jogged towards me.
I was hanging on the edge of the windowsill, looking up at his puzzled face. And I was paralyzed.
"Trying to escape through the window?" he mused, a despicable smirk growing on his pale face. "I knew you were hiding in my room earlier. Not only was the door mysteriously locked, but it was also peculiar that the lights were already turned on when I entered. Of course, I had to put a locking charm on the door so that I could investigate later. Not to mention that your family made it very clear that you were already at the Yule. I certainly didn't expect to find you, uhm... hanging onto the windowsill of my bedroom."
He laughed mockingly. I wanted to punch him so hard in the face right now, but my hands were busy stopping me from falling.
Malfoy extended his hand to me. I wondered what would happen if I tried to pull him down with me.
"On second thought..." he pulled his hand away as if reading my mind. "Just allow me to help you up. You look too pathetic right now."
I felt like an utter fool. How could I have even gotten myself into such an uncomfortable situation? But there was no way I would let this slimy git help me. As if!
"I'm fine, thanks," I said coldly.
My feet were hanging in the air, wind blowing through my ripped dress, but I knew falling would be worth it, considering the other option was owing anything to the blonde git here.
"Don't even think about letting go—" he said.
But I let go.
The fall was scarier than the landing, though it went by in a flash. I landed on my bum right into the snow, gazing up at a horrified Malfoy leaning over the windowsill.
"Are you mad!?" Draco Malfoy called down at me. He looked stunned but also like he was trying not to laugh. "Don't move, you imbecile."
His figure disappeared from the windowsill, and his bedroom curtains flowed aimlessly in the wind.
I looked down at my dress and pulled at the ripped parts. It was not much wearable now. My legs were entirely exposed. And it didn't help that I couldn't find my wand anywhere near me. My aunt would not be pleased. Thankfully, I was hidden behind the tall hedges that surrounded the entrance. Unless someone were to pull back the drawing-room curtains, no one would notice me lying there.
There was a searing pain on my bottom, which I should have expected, having just allowed my body to fall down the second floor of a Mansion. It didn't feel like anything was necessarily broken, and I supposed I could thank the snow for acting as a menial cushion, but standing up was not going to be easy. The snow was also very cold under my skin, but I felt like I did not care about that right now.
Suddenly, somebody emerged from the edge of the Manor. It was the blonde prick from earlier, hurrying towards me.
"I don't understand how you're not in Gryffindor after that reckless stunt you just pulled," he berated. I rolled my eyes, looking away from him.
"Just leave me alone, Malfoy, please," I begged.
"You've probably broken dozens of your bones just there, don't move," he said, leaning over me. He began pulling out his wand.
"Jinxing somebody helpless? Such fair play—"
"Reparo."
"Oh," I huffed. He had just mended the broken seams and ripped fabrics of my dress. "Magic performed by underage students isn't allowed outside of Hogwarts."
"Shut up," he said simply, storing away his wand. "You know nobody follows that rule, anyway."
"I don't know... Maybe I should tell Dumbledore," I mused.
"Sure, you will," he said, eyeing me with amusement.
"Of course, I will. He's my best mate," I responded.
"Alright, let me help you up," Malfoy said, choosing to ignore my silly retort. He got on his feet and offered me his hands. I simply looked at them without saying a word. "It's Christmas. I'm not your enemy, today."
"How charitable — You literally just locked me up in your bedroom earlier. What were you planning on doing to me back there, anyway? Kill me?"
"No," he scoffed. "You're the one who brilliantly decided to hide from me in there. I was just trying to teach you a lesson."
"Oh yeah? How? By killing me?" I insisted.
"Why are you so convinced that I want to kill you? Bloody Hell, Blackwood." Malfoy scrunched his nose with displeasure.
"Why would I not be convinced? You're the one that told me you didn't want to see me at the Yule," I said, my brow furrowed.
"How are you not cold right now?" he said quickly, avoiding my remark. I was still lying on the freezing snow, which had mostly melted under my skin.
"Fine, I'll get up. But I'm doing it alone," I muttered, slowly getting on my knees.
Malfoy straightened up; his arms crossed as he patiently watched me struggle to get up. For the first time, I was noticing what he was wearing: a black velvet suit with equally black slacks and shoes, paired with a pine green blouse.
I managed to get on my feet, a hand on my hurting bum.
"You broke your ass," he noted.
"What?"
"Your bum is broken from the fall," he clarified.
"No, Malfoy. My skin just stings — it's bruising. You can't break your ass. It's just flesh," I said as if it were unbelievably obvious.
"Yes, you can. Goyle did," he said.
"How?!" I asked, bemused.
"He fell off his broom once," Malfoy shrugged.
"Okay, well, I'm fine. Don't have a heart attack," I said, irritated.
"I wasn't," he said, scrunching his nose once again, his arms still crossed.
Exhaling in annoyance, I began walking towards the edge of the Manor, away from the hedges. Malfoy trailed behind quietly. I did not bother looking back as I trekked into and through the Malfoy Manor and found my way to the drawing room, where we found nearly every guest of the party.
A string quartet played classical music as people conversed and consumed food and drinks provided by various servers walking around. I hadn't previously noticed the atmosphere of the Yule as I was too preoccupied hiding from Malfoy earlier. Oddly enough, he did not even seem to care much that I was here today. I was puzzled by this development but could not ponder over it much longer before a beaming Daphne Greengrass tackled me into a hug.
"MAEVE!" she exclaimed, holding onto me so tightly that I had to gently hit her arm multiple times to indicate that I needed to breathe.
"Daphne," I greeted with a smile.
Daphne was wearing a silky emerald green dress that reached her toes. She had a black crocodile-skin hand purse in one hand and a champagne glass in another.
"Is there alcohol in there?" I asked.
"What d'you reckon?" she replied sarcastically before taking a sip. I pursed my lips and nodded shortly, slowly glancing around the room.
Draco Malfoy was now with Blaise Zabini, and Pansy Parkinson again. He was openly staring at me as Pansy and Blaise spoke to each other. I tried not to glance back at him again.
"Mother says I can drink stronger alcohol when I turn sixteen," she said, cocking her head to the side as she observed her champagne glass. "But for now, turning fourteen has granted me champagne privileges."
"Oh, lovely," I said, unsure of what else to say.
I reckoned the rest of the evening would continue as smoothly as it was at the moment. And it did. For the most part.
Narcissa made a toast with her husband, Lucius Malfoy, all about prosperity, fortune, success, etc.; I was partially asleep half of the time. When I later asked my mother when we were leaving, she was too busy enthusiastically conversing with Narcissa and Aunt Véronique to even notice my presence. I took this as a hint that it would be another few hours.
Thankfully, I did not end up making any more awkward eye contact with Draco Malfoy as I seemed to always do these days. By the time it was almost midnight, Aiden came to rub his snow-wet hands on my face to annoy me. Apparently, he was outside playing with snow with some people. I cursed at my brother as I had to promptly leave for the powder room to wash my face.
"Merry Christmas!"
I was patting my face dry with a gold-rimmed white towel when I realized that the clock had probably struck midnight to indicate that it was officially Christmas Day.
"Merry Christmas!" I heard other people say in the distance.
I adjusted my dress and looked for any minor imperfections from when I had torn it earlier. Draco had fixed it up correctly, it seemed. But I still had my doubts. I could not return this dress broken or deformed to my Aunt. She would immediately notice, for sure.
After one last glance in the mirror, I pushed the washroom door open and—
"What was taking you so long? Merlin..."
Draco Malfoy was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, seemingly waiting for me to get out.
"Don't you have like ten washrooms?" I said.
"I wasn't looking for a washroom. I was looking for you," he said, almost disgruntled.
"Okay... Well, here I am..."
"Not for me," he said quickly and almost snidely. "Your mother asked for you earlier."
"And you couldn't have just knocked?" I said, confused by his attitude. As if I knew that he was waiting for me out there.
He laughed pompously.
"No," he said, now un-leaning himself from the wall and slowly approaching me. "Thought it'd be funny for you to miss the Christmas celebrations happening."
"Oh, you mean that I care about missing out on people saying "Merry Christmas," to me? That's funny," I said with a snort. Malfoy sneered.
"Sure, you do," he said.
"Is that what you were planning on doing to me earlier? Lock me in your room so that I'd miss some menial Christmas chants," I jeered, smirking at him.
"That's not—" he paused. "I wasn't planning on locking you up there all night — Just until I found you."
"And then what? Kill me?" I pressed.
"Why do you want to know so badly?" he asked, a flicker of annoyance in his eyes.
"Because whatever your plan was, it failed," I said, smiling with satisfaction at that realization.
"Well, I certainly didn't plan on you jumping out the window," he retorted.
"Oh, please. You make it sound like I'm suicidal—"
"At this rate, are you?"
"No!" I denied, baffled. "Anyway, what were you planning on doing to me?"
"Nothing," he said, irritated. "Stop asking moronic questions, Blackwood. I was just looking to berate you. Is that so hard to believe?"
I said nothing because it wasn't so hard to believe that. And we remained quiet, our gazes flickering away from each other.
"Is there any food left?" I asked suddenly, crossing my arms as I suddenly felt a little cold.
"Not really," Malfoy responded simply, his hands in his pockets.
"Well, then," I said. "I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose."
And without another word, I left Malfoy alone in the corridor.