The Marriage Law~ Draco Malfoy

Chapter 16- Part 2

Ivy and Narcissa chit-chatted about a lot of topics- and connected on most of them- during their stroll in the garden.

Narcissa told Ivy about Draco when he was younger as well. Some were embarrassing stories and some were moments when she felt very proud of Draco. That is when Ivy realised how much Narcissa is proud of Draco and how much she loved him.

They were enjoying themselves so much that they didn't realise when four hours had passed away. They decided to go back inside for tea.

--

They walked into a drawing-room, which was similar to the dining room, but instead of the long table, there were couches and chairs placed. There was a piano and some bookshelves in the room.

A house-elf served them tea and rushed off. Both of them continued their conversation from earlier.

Ivy's gaze fell towards the huge bookshelves that were towards her right. Narcissa noticed this and asked, "are you fond of books?"

Ivy looked back at Narcissa and replied, "I am, very much so"

"So is Draco" Narcissa muttered, smiling.

"Oh, um, sorry, I didn't quite catch that," Ivy apologised. "I just asked if you wanted to go and take a look at the books" Narcissa replied as she placed her teacup down and gestured towards the bookshelves.

Ivy mimicked Narcissa and walked to the bookshelves. She glanced over all the books and read their titles. She found a book with an interesting title and pulled it out. She opened the book and saw Draco's name at the corner of the front page.

"Draco treasured that book. He wrote his name, right on the front page, so no one would take it away from him" Narcissa grinned, looking at the book chosen by Ivy. Ivy nodded her head, acknowledging Narcissa's words, as she continued to flip through the pages of the book.

"You could borrow it, you know" Narcissa stated looking at Ivy, who was engrossed in the book. 

"Oh, no, thank you though," Ivy said closing the book and proceeded to place it on the shelf. Narcissa nodded and walked back to the chair she was sitting in. After glancing at a few more books, Ivy joined Narcissa and they both resumed drinking their tea.

--

Ivy was directed towards a room, by a house-elf, to freshen up for dinner. Ivy entered the massive bedroom and placed her bag on the bed.

The bedroom also had tall ceilings with similar wallpaper as the rest of the house. The bed was gigantic as well. There were two massive closets to the opposite side of the bed and a vintage vanity set was placed next to them.

Ivy went into the bathroom to change into her dress. Ivy decided to wear a black, off-shoulder, long-sleeved, knee-length dress and paired it with black ankle-length black boots. She kept her hair and make-up as they were and rushed out of the bathroom to go to the dining room for dinner.

As she walked down the stairs, she saw Draco waiting for her. They started walking to the dining room together.

"What did you and mum talk about all day?" Draco asked looking at Ivy, who told him everything she and Narcissa did all afternoon and he nodded. They reached the dining room and sat in the same seats they were sitting in during lunch.

After everyone had settled down, Lucius called the house elves and told them to serve dinner. The house-elves hurriedly arranged the cutlery and plates and then started serving the food. Soon, the room was filled with echoes of cutlery clanging.

"Miss Rose, I heard you have lived amongst muggles, is that true?" Lucius asked Ivy in a disgusted tone, and that question made Draco look up from his food and at Ivy.

Ivy gulped and replied with false politeness. "Yes, I lived in my grandparents' castle the past three years."

"Meaning, you did not come in contact with any muggles, did you?" Lucius asked and Ivy nodded. Lucius' relieved expression was unmissable. This made Draco even angrier but he did not do anything about it. The rest of the dinner was soundless.

--

Draco decided not to waste a single minute inside the manor after dinner.

"It was lovely to meet you, Ivy, dear. Maybe at Christmas, we could meet the rest of your family, at our annual Christmas ball." Narcissa said as she walked Draco and Ivy to the front door.

"Of course, Narcissa. I will make sure to write them" Ivy said respectfully as they continued to walk.

As they reached the front door, Narcissa pulled Draco into a hug and they exchanged goodbyes. Meanwhile, Lucius gave Ivy a light nod and she returned the gesture. Narcissa then turned to Ivy and placed light kisses on her cheeks and exchanged goodbyes.

Ivy and Draco left the Manor and apparated back to the place near Hogwarts. They walked back to their living quarters in complete silence. They did not see anyone in the common room and so walked straight to their room.

As they entered, Ivy plopped down on the chair and sat near the fireplace with her eyes shut. She heard a loud bang and heard the bedroom door slam loudly, which made her jump.

She remembered what Blaise said- try to talk to him but don't push him- and decided to talk to Draco. She lightly knocked on the door and opened it to find Draco sitting on the edge of the bed with his hands covering his face. She walked over to him and sat down next to him.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Ivy asked concerned and placed her hand on Draco's back. Draco flinched at her touch and got up from the bed and started pacing around the room.

"Malfoy, talk to me, what's wrong? Is it something I did? Something I said?"

"No. It's something I didn't do. We should've left the second that man started disrespecting you. We never should've spent a whole day in that house." Draco answered getting angrier and in a disappointed tone. "Fa- Lucius was right, I am a coward. I let you get disrespected because I was too scared to leave."

"Woah, Woah, Woah, that was not your fault and you aren't a coward Malfoy," Ivy said in a concerned tone as she got up from the bed. Draco walked away from her and scoffed. "You don't know what I am. I have done things you could never even think of."

Ivy walked towards him and began speaking in a pleasant tone. "You know when my parents sent me away during the war, I was so angry. How could they think I couldn't handle it? I used to say this line on repeat. When I came back and heard everything that happened, I realised they were right. There was no way in hell I would've survived that"

Ivy continued to talk slow steps towards Draco as she spoke. "But you know who did? You. Not just did you survive being in the presence of such negativity at such a young age, you were brave enough to come back to Hogwarts, with your chin up, knowing people would say horrible things about you. If that isn't courage, I do not know what is. I look up to you, metaphorically and literally."

The last line made Draco let out a chuckle and Ivy smiled.

She walked in front of him and looked at him with her bright eyes and continued in a pleasant tone. "Draco Malfoy is not a coward. He never was and he never will be. He is a lot of things and I know for a fact that coward isn't one of them. And do not, ever, let anyone, tell you otherwise. And besides, I spent more time with your mum, who was nothing like Lucius."

They both were pretty close now. Ivy had her hands supporting Draco's head. They stared into each other's eyes.

They snapped back and looked away tensely as they cleared their throats. They went to their closets, changed their clothes and went to sleep, without muttering another word.

A/N

Sorry for the slightly long chapter, loves

Thanks for reading

<3