𝕴𝖓 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕰𝖓𝖉 [√]

8

"So, he just turned up on the day and you let him stay?" Nikolai asked while they made their way downstairs to the floo.

"Yes, I didn't trust him at first, but he wore me down," Tom said, chuckling a bit. "The first year, he only came on the full moon. Then twice a week. He would sit outside my window and howl, till I came down to pet him," he said, and Nikolai laughed. He definitely picked up on Moon's obsession with his dad.

They stepped into the floo and Tom picked up some powder. "Malfoy Manor cottage," He said, dropping the powder.

They stepped out of the floo at Malfoy cottage, where they spotted Lucius hovering over Severus on the couch as they made out.

"Ahem," Tom cleared his throat. The two jumped and fell off the couch and looked over at the two Riddles standing by the few. "So, to the Yule ball, then?" Tom asked, raising a brow. The two jumped up and dusted themselves off.

A sweet smell flowed around Nikolai, who stiffened and looked at both of the men, trying to figure out who the scent was coming from.

"Yes, I'll get our coats," Lucius blushed, before leaving the room.

Nikolai's eyes zoned in on Severus as the scent remained in the room as Lucius left. The man he had a crush on, who was in love and happy with another person, was his mate. He was glad he blocked his scent before coming.

Severus looked over at Nikolai, noticed Nikolai staring at him, and cleared his throat. "Nikolai, I want to apologize for how I treated you," he said. Nikolai opened his mouth to answer, but his brain was still catching up that the beautiful man before him was his mate.

"Um...yeah," he said as Lucius came back with his and Severus's coats. The blonde helped Severus into his coat before putting him on his own.

They exited the cottage and headed toward Malfoy Manor. They walked through the garden silently and Nikolai kept stealing glances at Severus.

"So, Nikolai," Lucius said, falling in step with him. "How have you been adjusting?" He asked softly.

"I have been adjusting fine, Tom gave me a book to read and taught me everything in it as I read it. There are still things I need to learn, but I'm sure Tom will teach me all I need to know," Nikolai said and Lucius nodded.

"I'm sure, Tom loves to teach. And he's really smart too, so he loves to share what he knows," Lucius said, looking over to where Tom and Severus were walking ahead of them, talking about potion ingredients.

"You and Severus seem happy together," He commented and Lucius smiled a soft smile that Nikolai never thought he'd see on the man's face.

"Yes, he's my everything," Lucius said and Nikolai hummed.

"I never thought I'd see the day Snape was smiling at someone," He commented and Lucius sighed.

"It took him a year to agree to date me, and even then, he was still holding back because he doubted me. We were friends for years, but he's always had a problem with accepting love like what we have now. But I got to see him grow confident enough to yell at me, challenge me, get mad at me, and even embarrass himself on occasion without fear of thinking that I'm going to leave him because of it," The blonde said and Nikolai could see the love in his eyes as he spoke.

"That's good, I am happy for you," Nikolai said, and Lucius thanked him.

They got to the manor and went to the ballroom where all the guests already were. Nikolai looked around and spotted a few familiar faces from both the dark and the light sides.

He made his way to a corner planning to be a wallflower until he could leave. He stood there for a while before his vision was blocked by blonde hair. "Nikolai," Draco greeted and the red-eyed male looked at him skeptically.

"Malfoy," He muttered and Draco bit his lips as his eyes flicked around the room.

"My father has explained your situation to me, and I wanted to apologize for the way I acted while we were in school," the blonde said, and Nikolai paused before standing up straight and realizing he was a bit taller than Draco.

"Are you apologizing because I'm your lord's son or because you want to?" He asked and Draco frowned.

"Both, look, I get that it's our thing to fight, but it's kind of getting old and meaningless," Draco said, and Nikolai nodded.

"Then I hope we will be friends," Nikolai said before stepping past him and leaving the ballroom.

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Word count: 767

Re-published: May 2, 2024, 7 am

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