Don't Embrace the Past

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and themes belong to JKR.

The chapter title comes from the song, "Perfect Situation" by Weezer


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Chapter 2: Something Really Special Might Come

Lucius Malfoy watched the beautiful woman lying next to him with an intense gaze. Her cheeks were still flushed from the previous activity of satiating her sexual needs with the man she called her husband.

He watched her as she slept: the rise and fall of her sheet-covered chest with each deep breath she took. To him, she was flawless. Her pastel blue eyes hidden beneath her lids were the trait that made him weak in the knees. Well, a Malfoy man did not go weak in the knees, but if they did, her eyes would be the things that made him.

It had been a suggestion from his father that Lucius marry the youngest Black daughter. At first, Lucius had been hesitant. Narcissa had attended Hogwarts with him and she had seemed to be a haughty, arrogant girl who stood on a pedestal so high that nobody cared enough to reach for.

After being properly introduced to her at a social function thrown by the Ministry a short while after their graduation, Lucius found that his assumptions of her couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

She turned out to be a very sophisticated, nurturing woman who only put on the appearance of being an arrogant aristocrat to keep up with the Black family status.

Lucius proposed to her after only a month of courtship with the exaggerated support from both his father and hers. Cygnus Black had wanted his youngest daughter to marry the Malfoy heir for as long as he could remember.

Much to their parents’ joy, Lucius and Narcissa had fallen in love quite quickly.

A day didn’t go by where Narcissa didn’t tell Lucius that she loved him. He was a man of subtle emotions and hidden sentiment, but he found ways to display how much she meant to him. Narcissa’s favorite display was the way he would sometimes leave a narcissus flower on his pillow for her to wake up to.

Narcissa’s eyes fluttered open and she caught the sight of her husband’s dark grey eyes staring back at her.

“Have you been watching me sleep again?” she asked as her lips curved into a sleepy smile.

“Yes,” he said shamelessly, leaning down and kissing her cheek.

“As charming as that is, I still find it a bit eerie,” Narcissa said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Do you?” he asked, nuzzling her neck and drinking in her sweet, honeyed scent.

She ran her manicured fingers through his blond tresses, which could rival hers any day. “Just a bit. I mean, what if I do something gauche such as sneeze or burp or something even crasser?”

Lucius chuckled deeply against her neck. “How utterly superficial of you, mon doux.”

“What do you have planned today, Lucius?” she asked, her hands still occupied with his silken mane.

“Staying in bed…encore performance of our morning quickie,” he said between kisses.

Narcissa laughed. “You are by far the randiest man to grace this earth.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“We’re not as young as you assume, Lucius, I get winded these days walking around this god-forsaken manor and you still expect me to be in tip-top shape for random shags in any room that’s empty.”

“You’re in beautiful shape. And speaking of random shags…” he said and inched the sheets lower off of her body.

“Don’t get any ideas, Mister Malfoy. I need to shower and leave soon.”

“And where are you going?” he asked, stopping his previous actions.

“I haven’t seen my son in two whole days, so I think a visit is in order.”

“Are you ever going to cut the umbilical cord? No wonder the boy turned out to be such a spoiled brat.”

“Excuse me? You’re the one who bought him everything with a price tag. So you are just as guilty as I am. Now remove your hands from my person or I will not oblige your devious fantasies anymore.”

Lucius gave a very uncharacteristic pout and pulled away from his wife, but not before giving her bum a squeeze as she rose out of bed.

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Draco looked up from his book as the fireplace in his living room roared to life in green flames. A moment later, his mother’s elegant form gracefully strode out of the hearth and into his living room. Not a single fleck of dust touched her.

He stood up from the couch and kissed his mother on the cheek in greeting.

“I was wondering when you would snap and come visit,” he said with a knowing smirk.

Narcissa raised an eyebrow. “Well, I wouldn’t have to come visit if my only son would get his lazy body in gear and come visit his parents everyday like he promised.”

“Surely everyday is a bit much, mum,” he said. “Besides, you know I work 10 hour days and whatever free time I manage to have, I spend it catching up on sleep.” He left out the part of going to the pub and downing a shot of firewhiskey before retiring for the night.

Narcissa took the seat next to her son. “I still don’t understand why you even work at all. You have more money in your vault from your inheritances than most countries have as their national budget.”

“I told you that I don’t want to use money that has been accumulated from centuries of Dark Magic,” Draco said coolly, perusing the book in his hand casually.

“You and I both know that is not true. The Malfoy and Black families never earned a penny from dark dealings. All that money has been earned through hard work and very intelligent investing.”

“Ok, I’ll save it for a rainy day,” he said casually.

Narcissa rolled her eyes. “Now what have you been up to, dear?”

“Since your last visit of the day before yesterday? Oh, you know, the usual: traveled the world, wrote a novel, apparated to the moon.”

“By Zeus, you are the most insufferable boy,” Narcissa huffed. “It was a simple question.”

“Mum, you fuss way too much over me. It’s as if I never left the manor.”

Narcissa sighed. “Would you please just indulge me and then scoff at me later, love.”

Draco put his book down and put his arm around his mother. “Well, I had a meeting at work today which lasted for what seemed to be a millennium. I almost fell asleep after the fifth presentation on budgetary limitations for the new curricula at Hogwarts.”

“If you dislike your job so much, why don’t you just quit?” Narcissa asked.

“I don’t dislike my job at all. In fact, I really do love it. Running my own business is the one of the best things to happen to me. I could live a happier life without the meetings, but since I’m the boss, I really can’t do without them.”

“Well, whatever stirs your cauldron, dear,” Narcissa reassured. “So, have you been seeing Cara at work?”

“Cara?” Draco asked.

“You know, that girl we met at your office holiday party.”

“Yes, I’ve seen her around. Why are you asking about her?” Draco wondered, knowing exactly why his mother was asking about her.

“Well she seems like such a nice girl and she’s very pretty. Your father said she looks a bit like me when I was younger.”

Draco suppressed a groan. “Yeah, mum, that’s exactly what I’m looking for in a girl, one who looks exactly like my mother. There’s nothing psychologically wrong with that at all.”

Narcissa shook her head. “Have I mentioned how insufferable you are?”

“You might have,” Draco said with a smile.

“Well, are you going to ask her out or not?” Narcissa asked impatiently.

“No, mother. She’s really, truly not my type.”

“Blonde hair, blue eyes, nice body. She’s everyone’s type,” Narcissa persisted.

“Not mine,” Draco said with a tired sigh. “Don’t worry about my love-life mother, I’m perfectly capable of handling it on my own.”

“Well your father and I aren’t getting any younger and we would like to see some grandchildren grace the lonely manor. So I say go out and find a girl to give us those grandchildren,” Narcissa said.

It was Draco’s turn to roll his eyes. “I’ll have you know that I am going out with a girl tonight."

Narcissa perked up. “Really? Who is she? Is it that Parkinson girl, because I swear I cannot stand her or her mother and their pretentious---”

“No, it’s not, nor would or will it ever be,” Draco interrupted. “It’s a girl I met last night.”

“Is she pretty?”

“Gorgeous.”

“What’s her name?”

“Samira.”

“Oh, sounds exotic.”

“She is.”

“Family?”

“Don’t know,” Draco replied with a shrug. “I didn’t ask her surname, but I’m sure to find it out tonight.”

Narcissa smiled. “Well, I better be off to let you get ready for this big date with your new friend. Now, Draco, remember to be a gentleman and if you invite her to your place after this first date and she says no, then she’s a good, solid girl who you should pursue. If she says yes, then she’s a wanton hussy who you shouldn’t bother with anymore.”

Draco rolled his eyes once again. “Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind. Now hurry back to father before he sends a search party out. You know he doesn’t like to be left alone for long periods of time.”

“Azkaban will do that to a person,” Narcissa said pointedly. “Promise to update me on how your date goes, love. I’ll be expecting a visit from you tomorrow.”

“Don’t expect too much,” Draco mumbled under his breath.

“What was that, dear?” she asked, walking over to the hearth.

“Nothing, mum. Just have a safe floo.”

“Yes, because it can be so dangerous,” Narcissa said sardonically. “Do try and clean up your place dear, it’s getting a bit dusty.”

“Yeah, I’ll get right on that, goodbye mother.”

“Au revoir,” she called out before disappearing into the green flames.

He turned back to his original activity of reading and checking the clock every few minutes.

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Samira cursed as she stubbed her toe against the coffee table in her living room.

“Blasted table and its stupid bloody pointy edges,” she exclaimed as she hopped about on one foot.

She had gotten up to answer the door and the table had interrupted her trek. She managed to pull herself together before opening the door to the extremely handsome man on the other side.

“You made it,” she said breathlessly as she surveyed him in the light. The dim lights of the pub had clearly not displayed his true beauty.

“Of course I did,” he said as he ogled her. The same fact occurred to him. The dim lights of the pub had clearly not displayed her true beauty.

“Come in,” she said, opening the door wider for him. She glanced at his classy attire. He had worn a black button-up shirt with khaki pants under a black traveling cloak. She wondered if he would ever notice that he probably had more of a fashion sense than she did.

He walked in slowly and turned around to hand her a single white rose.

“Oh, thank you, that’s very kind of you,” she said, taking the flower from his hand and smelling it.

He smiled in reply and continued to watch her as she turned to find a vase for the single rose.

She looked dazzling in a dark purple cocktail dress that blended perfectly with her olive skin. Her hair had been pulled back to reveal a slender neck and straight, smooth shoulders.

He cursed his mother for her stupid rule of no sex on the first date. As stupid as it sounded, he respected her wishes and only sought to make her proud.

When Samira disappeared into the kitchen to fill the vase with water, he turned to look around at her modest flat. It was decorated simply, with contemporary furniture. Nothing too fancy, with hints of Moroccan influence every few paces.

He spotted a large black box resting on a wooden table against the wall. He recognized it and wondered what a witch was doing with one in their home.

“Uh, Samira?” he asked as she walked back into the living room.

“Yes?” she replied.

“Is that, what is it called, um, a television?”

Samira turned to where he was staring. “Yes.”

“A lover of muggle things?” he asked, a bit surprised at how well he was handling it.

“Um, no not particularly. It’s for my niece. You see, my brother, Michael, married a muggleborn and they want to raise their daughter with both muggle and magic lifestyles. I baby sit often for them and when she comes over she likes to watch some sing-song shows or whatnot.”

“Oh, I see,” he said, secretly glad he wasn’t about to date a female version of Arthur Weasley.

“So are you ready to go?” she asked, grabbing a cloak from the closet near the door.

“Yep, now do you prefer Apparition or walking there? It’s not too far. Only a few minutes walk from here.”

“Uh, how about we apparate there and then walk back afterwards?” she asked.

“Sounds good to me,” he said. “Side-along Apparition alright with you?” he asked as she locked the door behind her and led them towards the lift.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were looking for an excuse to get closer, Mr. Draco,” she commented with a flirty grin as they rode the lift to the ground floor.

“Ah, but I think you do know better,” Draco replied with a grin of his own to which she laughed.

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They arrived at the trendy café, which had opened in Hogsmeade the previous month.

Samira couldn’t stop smiling. She could tell that the female clientele were shooting envious glares in her direction and she couldn’t help but smirk back.

Nothing could dampen her mood. Nothing at all.

“How great of you to join us here at Café de Monde, Monsieur Malfoy,” the maitre‘d greeted them.

Samira’s smile vanished. Had the maitre‘d just said ‘Malfoy?' As in, Malfoy, the family that had practically sat in the lap of the Dark Lord and fought on the dark side of the final battle?

It seemed something could dampen her mood after all.