RP: Finally Free
Date: 10 January 1999
Characters: Millicent Bulstrode, open
Location: Whitelocke Cottage
Status: Public
Summary: Moving in
Completion: Incomplete
Millie entered her grandmother’s cottage and let out a light cough, the place was a lot dustier than she had remembered but she was determined to make the place livable for herself. Part of her ( Read more... )
Characters: Millicent Bulstrode, open
Location: Whitelocke Cottage
Status: Public
Summary: Moving in
Completion: Incomplete
Millie entered her grandmother’s cottage and let out a light cough, the place was a lot dustier than she had remembered but she was determined to make the place livable for herself. Part of her ( Read more... )
Well, he assumed she did. He wasn't going to ask her, of course. She had seemed nice enough the first few times he'd met her, before he'd put her under Imperius, but she struck him as the type that wouldn't take kindly to someone that had hurt her. It might have been lingering paranoia that really worried him about it, but it was more practical to avoid finding out ( ... )
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Seeing Draco coming out of her floo surprised her even more but she did lower her wand, not considering him a threat.
"Draco? What are you doing here?" Realizing that wasn't the most friendly greeting she amended herself. "I mean you are welcome here, I just wasn't expecting anyone. Come in."
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That was an exaggeration, of course, but he had heard about her cottage from three different people. If that many people knew, surely she should be expecting company.
He brushed a bit of ash from his robe and looked around, expression growing skeptical. "Are you... cleaning?"
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Focusing on the chair again Millie managed to lift another layer of dirt from the seat finally revealing the navy blue under the grime.
"Yes, as odd as it might seem Draco I am cleaning. Couldn't ask dad for a house elf and convince him I could take care of my self at the same time right?"
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He watched her with a combination of surprise and vague disgust. If living here would involve cleaning, Draco would much prefer his own flat. Especially if there were to be no house elves.
"Doing menial labour has nothing to do with being able to take care of yourself," he corrected. There were much less politically correct ways he could have finished this sentence, such as this sort of work is demeaning or does he expect you to act like a commoner but he refrained. "Why else would proper families all have house elves?"
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She bit back a chuckle as Draco's face expressed disgust apparently he was as keen about menial labour as she was.
"In my dad's eyes it is. I at least want to show him I can do it before asking for an elf. He'll get the difference between ability to do something and the desire to something. Right?" Millie winked at him to let him know everything was ok.
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It made no sense to him that her father would even expect her to have the ability to clean up after herself. Not creating enormous messes was one thing -- messiness was improper, and Draco disliked it -- but this was not a mess she had created. This was housecleaning, and that was a job for servants ( ... )
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“You know I thought about that, but the portraits gossip and you know part of being a Slytherin is not getting caught. Easier to get this one room done and then have an elf do the rest of the house once Dad has seen what I can do.”
Looking around the room Millie really didn’t think it was going to take all that long. The furniture was the worst of it the rest could be done with an easy wave of the wan.
“It’s really not that bad, I am just taking extra care with the furniture they’re heirlooms.” The mention of housemates caught her by surprise. While she had considered renting out a room or two she hadn’t expected Draco to be interested.
“Well no later than the end of the week I am guessing. Why are you interested in moving in with me?”
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"If you say so," he said, dropping the subject.
Her surprise made him feel ever so slightly awkward, as if he desperately needed a place to stay. Draco hastened to clarify. "I've grown bored of my flat, and considering other places," he explained. Not the full truth, but she didn't need to hear that. "If you are looking for housemates, I assume you'd want respectable ones -- people that wouldn't ruin the heirlooms."
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She raised a curious eyebrow hearing that he was bored with his flat but decided that commenting on that would be rude and unnecessary.
“Well this is a big place and I am sure you have been raised with the right kind of manners. Why don’t you have a look around and see if any of the rooms appeal to you. After that we can discuss it? Hopefully by then this room will be clean enough to sit in.”
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"See you in a bit, then," he said, accepting the offer. Though he was slightly wary of how very dusty the place was, it already felt more familiar to him than his flat. He was too used to older houses, family homes: buildings with the lingering traces of people who had lived in them for long periods of time. That was as good a reason as any to want to move out of his flat.
He headed up the stairs first, leaving her to her cleaning. The bedrooms were large and the furniture -- what he could see of it -- spoke of old money, which made Draco smile a little. Though he would never say it aloud, this mess didn't bother him too horribly: it wasn't the work of impolite hordes taking over a house, but rather of neglect. Draco particularly liked the bedroom with the largest window -- it wasn't the master bedroom, but it was better lit, and it had a nice view of Hogsmeade ( ... )
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By the time Draco came back Millie had the living room windows sparkling and the drapes were an impressive slate colour The rugs were also restored to their former richness and Millie had plopped into the chair she had been cleaning earlier completely exhausted.
She had heard that muggles did everything by hand and she couldn’t imagine how considering just using magic was that hard. Still the room was now livable and she could show it to her father with pride that his daughter was capable of cleaning for herself but with the internship she was hoping to get there would be little time to do so.
“So what do you think? Up to your standards?’
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"It's a nice place," he admitted. "I like older, larger homes. I don't think I'm quite suited to flats, even though mine is one of the nicer ones."
The new feeling of it did bother him, now that he thought about it. He was accustomed to feeling more comfortable in the Manor when he visited, but that was because it was Malfoy Manor, it bore his name. He hadn't realised that it might be simply the old, expensive glamour of it that he missed.
And a place with that sort of feel, but without any memories for him... that sounded just about perfect. At least for now.
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Draco’s confession wasn’t surprising. She preferred the old places too; perhaps just because it was what they were familiar with. Having a flat was different than having a house and Millie liked that kind of security.
“Is that your way of saying you wouldn’t mind living here?”
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There would likely be some accommodations to be made in terms of living with someone else, he supposed. But he would have his own room, and he got along with Millicent well enough. Once she got a house elf, and with the addition of his own, the place wouldn't be bad at all.
He still would probably avoid the rest of Hogsmeade, but the Floo and his owl would give him access to any stores that he wanted. Otherwise, the situation seemed almost perfect.
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“Well, then all that’s left to be done is show my father my work so that he can send me an elf to get the rest of the house ready.”
Hearing that she had someone else planning on moving in would keep him from stalling her moving out.
“When were you thinking of moving in?’
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