Learn to Love » Draco Malfoy x Reader

XXIX

The next week or so was kind of a blur.

The Malfoy's came over to stay with my family and I the night that we returned. There was something odd about us all together. Even though I was used to it, them staying was something different. There was no reason that they couldn't floo home at night or just pop in when necessary, but they chose instead to stay. I suppose that meant they respected my family (of course they did, otherwise they wouldn't marry off their son to my family), but it was still a strange feeling having someone as daunting as Lucius Malfoy at my breakfast table.

It meant that there were restrictions on things, more so than usual.

I had to be extra prim and proper. Not that I usually wasn't, but I had to make a good showing in front of my in-laws, which meant more elegant clothing all the time that was still modest and no interacting with house elves. I felt bad many times when younger house elves would come hug me or tell me some of the latest house-elf chatter in the community and I'd be looking over my shoulder to make sure my parents or the Malfoy's weren't lurking around.

It wasn't that I was ashamed; they were some of my best friends and caretakers. It just unfortunately was not something I could admit to with my parents around... or even Draco.

As much as I'd come to like and care for Draco, many of his aristocratic tendencies became heightened when we lived together. At Hogwarts, we'd only see each other during specific parts of the day and at night go our separate ways, even if I didn't necessarily want to. Seeing him at all hours of the day was comforting, but it accentuated his negative characteristics.

I was sick of hearing him scoff under his breath when I spoke to a house elf longer than a minute or when I took the time to clean off my own espresso cup in the kitchen rather than calling for it to be taken away. Little things like that made me somewhat annoyed with him, but I could deal with it.

Living with him had many more positives than negatives.

We'd spent a few days in the same bed before, but this was much different. It was so much nicer to have someone you genuinely cared for and adored to sleep next to.

The night would typically start with us reading to each other, one lying in the other's arms and the other whispering whatever words were on the page in dim lighting just bright enough to read off the page. There was plenty of caressing and light kisses, anything to evoke an emotional and affectionate reaction.

There were more than their fair share of hungrier, more passionate kisses too. Depending on the time of day (or night), we'd pull each other aside or into one of the many rooms in my family manor and have our fill of each other. I'd usually end up doing a beauty charm afterward, just to make sure my makeup wasn't smeared or my hair wasn't messy.

Even if we were married, our parents were still around and I had no doubt they wouldn't approve of us sneaking off to make out then walking out together for dinner.

Affection wasn't typically something pureblood couples flaunted.

Most were loveless marriages anyway, so the fact that we even desired each other at all was an anomaly. It wasn't proper and could even be considered uncouth to do anything more than perhaps hold hands in a public setting, or even with other family members present.

Draco and I were no strangers to pureblood culture, but it became harder to conceal our affection for each other when we were so tempted to touch or kiss one another at almost any given point in the day.

How could we not? It was extra difficult when considering all we did for those days was be in each other's presence. Sometimes our parents were around, mostly at mealtimes, but more often than not it was just us wandering around rooms.