Aphrodite | Draco Malfoy x Reader

11 | neutralization

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n e u t r a l i z a t i o n

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Draco was going to come over for dinner. That made me anxious, even though the note I'd received the night before couldn't really reduce much stress. Staring at the mess on my bed, where clothes piled all up to mountains, I sighed. What should I wear for tonight?

Mum asked me to arrive before 7pm, in case Draco arrived earlier - "It's impolite for a guest to wait for you. P.S. DO NOT WEAR CHECKERED SHIRT. Mum wants to see her daughter cute and feminine once in a while." she exhorted in the letter in the morning. I shook my head and placed my usual very "non-feminine" items back into the wardrobe. A good girl needs to listen to her mum, I guess?

When I finally decided what to wear, I had not much time left. I hurriedly put on the taupe off-shoulder jumper and the black skinny jeans and a tiny bit of makeup. It's 6:45 pm when I apparated into my parents' house.

Mum pulled me into a hug before she scanned me from head to toe. She smiled and nodded. Apparently, she appreciated my effort.

"The jumper suits you so well. You look cute, darling. Mum is so proud of you," she patted my cheek gently and said sweetly.

"Agree. The Malfoy boy's gonna like it!" Dad chuckled while I rolled my eyes in response.

"Sit, darling. Dinner's almost ready. Now we only have to wait for our gu-," Mum stopped at mid-sentence and rushed to the door as the doorbell rang, which indicated the guest had arrived early.

"Oh, welcome Draco! It's so nice to see you again, honey. Come in!"

"Good evening, Mrs. Y/L/N. It's good to see you too. It's my absolute honour to be invited tonight," Draco replied with a charming smile. "Nice to meet you too, Mr. Y/L/N,"

Mum took Draco's cloak from his arm and placed it on the coat rack while Dad was gesturing the guest to the couch next to mine before turning back to the kitchen to help. Draco, who was in a crisp white shirt with a classic grey stripe tie, took his seat swiftly and suddenly found his fingernails interesting as if he didn't see me next to him.

"Hi," I awkwardly broke the silence between us.

"Good evening," he greeted back curtly, still not looking at me.

"Dinner's almost ready."

"I see."

At the dinner table, everything was fine. Draco behaved like a gentleman, smiled and chatted with my parents. Mum and Dad seemed to be very happy. It's been a while since we last time had any guest in our home. I didn't pay much attention to what they're talking as I wasn't involved in the conversations. I just heard Mum giggled when Draco complimented the dishes. For the whole meal, I was staying quiet and pretending I was invisible. If people didn't know better, they'd think I was just a random stranger who's sharing a table with a family. Just until-

"Darling, are you alright? You're pretty quiet tonight," Mum asked in concern.

"Mmm? I'm just a bit tired, Mum. Everything is delicious," I forced a fake smile and continued cutting the steak into pieces.

I could see Draco laid his eyes on me for a few seconds with my peripheral vision. It's nerve-wracking. I enjoyed not to be the centre of attention, because no one knew when Draco could no longer hold his temper and hate towards me. I didn't want to upset my parents and ruin the peaceful meal.