A Redheaded Evans

"You said 'welcome to America', but this looks just like England, only with more space," Draco said when Julia exited the highway and began navigating the streets of Cedar City. Tall, old trees lined the sidewalks, providing a gentle green shade wherever people walked, and the houses were small and neatly kept.

Julia shrugged. "Technically, we're still in the desert. This part of Utah is called high desert, what with us being six thousand feet above sea level, but this is the desert all the same. We'll get you checked in at the clerk's office, and then I'll take you down to the Holiday Inn. My brother-in-law has connections and found an opening for a day receptionist. I used all the money I earned this summer to pay the first month's rent on our place. Some other people live in the basement, college students, but they'll leave us alone."

Draco nodded, taking in all the information, but he was amazed. Sure Julia was his best - and perhaps only - friend, but to have done all of this must have taken more work and preparation than she let on.

"We can get you all settled in, and then if you want any more furniture we can pick some up at Wal-Mart while we do our grocery shopping for the week," Julia continued.

Is this what being married is like? Draco wondered. Not completely. The wife didn't usually have to make all sorts of legal and job arrangements for her husband. But shopping for groceries and whatnot. That was completely domestic and house-wife-y. Draco realized with a sudden horror that he didn't know how to cook. At the manor, house elves had taken care of everything.

"I'm not the world's greatest cook, but it's easier to cook for two than for one." Julia shrugged lightly. She pulled into a parking lot and cut the engine. "You're probably really tired, so we'll get all this done as quickly as possible."

Draco nodded and unbuckled the seatbelt. He smoothed his shirt down as best as he could, then followed Julia into the building.

They approached a desk, behind which sat a bespectacled old woman who looked more like someone's granny than a government official.

"Can I help you?" she asked, peering at them over the wide rims of her glasses.

"My friend here just arrived, and I was wondering if you could send the last of his immigration paperwork up to the main office in Salt Lake City," Julia said, smiling politely.

The woman squinted at Draco, who maintained a neutral expression. "Do you have a green card and the appropriate documentation?"

Draco reached into his pocket and drew out his passport, his work visa and his folded-up birth certificate. He slid them across the counter. The old woman took them and scanned over them briefly.

"All right, everything looks like it's in order." The old woman turned to the computer on her desk and held her hands poised to type over the keyboard. "Name?"

"Draco Malfoy," he said.

She raised her eyebrows at him, then asked him to spell it. She asked him his birth date and place, his parents' names and his permanent address in America. Julia spoke up for him. The woman asked if he was employed, and he said not yet. She told him to call in as soon as he found a job, and she would finish the paperwork and send it north for him. Draco nodded, and then he and Julia left.

"That was relatively painless," Draco commented as he slid back into the car.

"Do you know how to drive?" Julia asked suddenly as she pulled out of the parking lot.

"No. Why?"

Julia groaned. "The Holiday Inn isn't really within walking distance of the house. Campus is, however, and I was just going to let you take the car to work while I walked to and from school. I forgot that you don't drive. Well, school doesn't start for another month or so, so until then you can go to driver's ed and I'll drive you to and from work until you get your license."

Draco nodded. "Whatever works best."

"You driving yourself works best," Julia assured him. "Now this job you're applying for is a public relations job, and it means that you'll be dealing with lots of different people all day, and each one of those people has the potential to be the biggest moron on the planet, but you'll still have to be nice to them. Think you can handle that?"

Draco arched one eyebrow imperiously. "I'm a Malfoy," he drawled. "I have impeccable manners."

"How is your patience, though?"

"Good enough if I can deal with Crabbe and Goyle for nine months out of the year," Draco answered.

Julia disliked the sound of that drawl. It must have been part of the façade he used while at school, because he had never used it during their phone conversations. "All right. Just thought I'd give you fair warning."

Draco was silent for a moment, staring out the window. Finally he said, "I'm grateful for anything you do for me, Julia. And anyone is patient enough to deal with stupid people all day if it means that he doesn't get killed by Death Eaters that his own mother has sent after him."

Julia bit her lip. She had almost forgotten why he was in America at all.

They arrived at the Holiday Inn. Before Draco got out of the car, Julia reached out and opened the glove box. She drew out a small black box. There was something else she had forgotten as well.

She flipped up the lid to reveal to plain gold rings. She handed the larger one to Draco.

"We're married now. There is no law stating that married persons have to wear wedding rings, but it's just a muggle custom," she said.

Draco stared at the ring for a moment. Then he reached down and slid the Malfoy signet ring off his left hand, sliding it onto his right even though it was slightly too big, and replaced it with the simple wedding band.

Julia slid her own ring on as well. "There. Now none of the muggle girls will try anything funny with you." She grinned in an attempt to lighten up the mood, and failed. "Listen, Draco, besides Nicola you're my best friend. You know my philosophy on marriages of convenience. You don't have to feel that you're holding me back from dating or whatever - I have too much school to concentrate on to even dream of dating boys like last year. That was a disaster anyway. And if you fall in love with someone, don't think it'll worry me if you want to go out with her and stuff. I won't mind, I promise." She looked at him hopefully, but his face remained as it always was, impassive with an air of superiority.

"You're my only true friend, besides Nicola," he said finally. "And I somehow doubt that I'll be falling in love with anyone else." With that, he got out of the car.

Julia, glad to hear that Draco wasn't feeling guilty, didn't really hear his last statement as she climbed out of the car as well.

The hotel was small but tastefully decorated. Draco wasn't much of an authority on modern decoration since, from what Julia had told him, the wizarding world was sort of stuck in medieval times with magic serving as the main convenience - that and indoor plumbing. Julia walked right up to the front desk.

"Hello," the young woman behind the desk said. She was tall and wispily blonde. Her nametag read 'Karen'. "How can I help you?"

"I've come to speak with Robert," Julia said.

Karen nodded. She reached down and picked up the phone. She dialed three numbers, spoke quickly and quietly, then set down the phone and said, "He'll be here in just a moment." She slid her gaze over the Draco, and her smile widened. "How can I help you?"

"He's with me," Julia said, her eyes narrowing slightly. Draco noted the frostiness in her tone and realized that she and Karen were glaring at each other. He opened his mouth to offer a sarcastic witticism encouraging them to fight over him, but at that moment an older, balding man with glasses and a warm smile stepped out of the back office.

"I'm Robert. What can I do for you folks today?"

"Hi. I'm Julia, Lawrence's sister-in-law. I called you about the receptionist opening?" Julia smiled politely.

"Ah, Julia, I remember. Lawrence told me about you. How's he doing, anyway?" Robert reached out, and they shook hands.

Draco listened to their idle chatter, ignoring Karen smiling suggestively at him, until Robert finally turned to him.

"So, this is the guy? How are you doing, son?"

"Pleased to meet you, sir. I'm Draco Malfoy," he said smoothly, extending a pale, graceful hand and shaking's Robert's smaller hand.

Robert raised his eyebrows. "Nice accent. Where are you from?"

"England," Draco said. "Northern parts."

"So you're looking to be the day guy." Robert nodded at Karen. "If you get the job, you'll be working with Karen here. How are you with computers?"

Draco saw Julia blanch out of the corner of his eye, but he just smiled. "I can handle myself quite well on a number of different operating systems. I can use a word processor and a number of different business applications, actually." Nicola had taught him everything useful on her laptop, and he would sometimes manage the pub's finances after hours on its old computer.

"Did you at least graduate from high school? Decent phone etiquette and communication skills? You can read and write?" Robert asked.

"If I were not already the family ignominy, I would be it if I were illiterate," Draco replied. He noticed Robert frown, puzzled, at the word 'ignominy'.

"What do you think, Karen. Can you handle this guy?" Robert asked.

She smiled and nodded a little too eagerly.

"Do you have an language skills?" Robert turned to Draco again.

"I can speak French almost as well as I can speak English. My German and Italian suffer from misuse, but I know enough Latin that I can navigate almost any romance language," Draco said promptly. Robert and Karen looked quite impressed, but he remembered Julia mentioning in a letter that American high schools weren't very vigorous in teaching foreign languages.

Robert grinned. "You sound perfect for the job. Just fill out an application, and you can come in tomorrow at around eight and Karen will show you the ropes. Pick up a few pairs of khakis, and the company will provide a uniform shirt. Your nametag ought to arrive in a few weeks."

"Thank you very much," Draco said, inclining his head graciously.

"No, thank you," Robert said. "A man with your skills will benefit this establishment greatly." And he vanished into the back office.

Karen handed him a job application and watched as he filled it out. Draco didn't like writing with plastic pens as much as he enjoyed writing with a quill, but he did the best he could. Julia helped him through several of the sections, including his social security number.

"It's on your visa," she said, so he pulled it out of his wallet and copied it down carefully. "I recommend you memorize that number, because you'll need it for the rest of your life."

Draco nodded. He filled out the information on the back. When he signed he had to stop himself from pressing his signet ring down to leave the family seal. He had received his signet ring along with the news that his father had been taken into custody, a precursor to him becoming the Lord of the Manor.

"Thanks, and we'll see you bright and early tomorrow!" Karen said brightly, taking the paper from him.

Draco managed not to cringe. He nodded politely and followed Julia out of the lobby.

"Congratulations - you just got your first job!" Julia said.

Draco wrinkled his nose slightly. "I don't really look forward to the prospect of working with that bint," he said.

Julia grinned up at him, and Draco couldn't help but smile in return.

"Just tell her that your best friend will beat her down if she tries anything funny," Julia said, balling her hands into fists, her face taking on a fierce expression.

Draco smiled down at her. "Will do."

And suddenly she was against him, warm and soft, arms wrapped around him in a hug.

"I'm here for you," she whispered, voice muffled in his shirt.

He just stroked her hair.

Their place was a small two-bedroom house with a bathroom, a small kitchen and a small den.

"The people who live downstairs go in from the back," Julia explained as she led him in. "You can have whichever room you like - they already have beds, and there's a sofa and some bookshelves in the den. I've got the kitchen supplies, most of it left over from the apartment dorms."

Draco stared at the two rooms. They were side-by-side, the same size, with the same beds in them. Both of them were already made up with sheets and pillows and blankets. He arbitrarily chose the one on the left and set his bags down in it. A small bureau of drawers rested against one wall next to the closet.

"All right, I'm in the other room already anyway." Julia grinned. "Let me show you where everything is, okay?"

Draco nodded and followed her through the house. It was small and clean, and she had already decorated a bit. He recognized Nicola in some of the pictures on the wall, and another picture featured an older redheaded man, so he assumed that the pictures were of family and friends.

"The towels and spare blankets are in the linen cupboard next to the bathroom." Julia pointed to the small bathroom that had an exterior vanity with two sinks and a large mirror. The actual bathroom featured a neat white porcelain toilet and a combination bathtub-shower. She led him down the hallway to the den. It was fairly small, but the carpet looked soft. A computer stood on a desk in the corner, and a worn sofa was pushed against the other wall that wasn't lined with bookshelves. Julia's books and textbooks took up a few shelves, but there was plenty of room left for Draco's books. He was glad.

"This is the den. If you want to have company over, we'll probably host them in here," Julia said. "Also, this sort of doubles as a study for both of us."

Just past the den was the kitchen. There was a double sink, a stove and a refrigerator. Julia pointed to the small door that Draco thought would lead out the back.

"The pantry's back there, along with the washer and dryer. This place has no dishwasher, so we have to wash dishes by hand. But all we have to do is get a microwave, some food and we're set. It's not the greatest, but we'll survive." Julia turned to look up at him.

Draco knew that his surroundings were a little shabby, but he was inexperienced in the ways of muggles. "It's fine to me. Besides, didn't you tell me that most newlyweds end up in apartments with a mattress, a rice cooker and a packet of ramen noodles between them? If that's the general case, I'd say we're quite lucky."

Julia smiled. "Yes, we are lucky. Do you think we need anymore furniture or anything?"

Draco shook his head. "I suppose we should buy food."

"All right. We can swing by a locksmith's and make you copies of all the necessary keys." Julia fished her keys out of her purse. "Ready to go, then?"

Draco smirked faintly. "Yes. I wish to see what sort of evil conglomerate this Wal-Mart is."

Draco had no idea what muggle food he did or did not like, so Julia bought what she liked and they could find out what he liked as they went along. Draco turned plenty of heads as they walked, mostly female. Julia had relegated him to pushing the shopping cart while she selected food.

"You do at least eat potatoes, right?" she asked.

Draco nodded. "Yes. I couldn't rightly call myself an Englishman if I didn't eat potatoes."

Julia raised one eyebrow as she placed a sack of potatoes in the cart. "I could've sworn you once said the same thing about Seamus Finnegan and being an Irishman."

Draco just looked at her imperiously, but without the malice it didn't have its proper effect and she ended up laughing.

"As soon as we're done here we can go pick up those keys," she said. On the way in Julia had stopped by the locksmith's booth and dropped off two keys to have copies made. "Tomorrow you ought to call the clerk's office to tell them you've had a job, and after work we'll go by the bank so that we can open you an account. I'll print off my schedule and sneak you around campus after dark so you can find me if ever there's an emergency. I should get you an email account as well - or do you already have one?"

"I have one, actually," Draco said. "Nicola would let me muck about on her laptop while she worked, and when she had it upgraded to include wireless Internet I set up one of those hotmail accounts."

Julia nodded. "Ah, then you would be pretty good at computers then, under Nicola's tutelage."

"How will you explain things if she ever comes round while I'm home? If I start work at eight I ought to be home by three," Draco said. "Eight hour shift, right? Although I suppose I could work for twelve hours. Do you really want to lie to her more and tell her that you don't know who I am?"

Julia fell into silent contemplation as they perused the cereal aisle. Draco tended to have toast or porridge for breakfast, so he stared at the brightly-colored boxes, letting her choose. He knew that Julia hated to keep secrets from anyone, that if she kept secrets from her college friends that she told them to Draco, but Julia hated hurting anyone, would go so far as to hurt herself to help another.

"I suppose I could tell her that you randomly ended up as my roommate, and that I recognized you from all those digital pictures that she sent, and I wanted it to be a surprise," Julia offered. "After all, she knew you were leaving the country."

"Well, it's not above me to lie," Draco drawled. "I could quite easily tell her that I moved here so that I would know someone. After all, Nicola is such scintillating company that I couldn't have her just over the summer."

"If you say it that way, she'll know you're being sarcastic and just laugh. She's actually been really worried about you," Julia said.

"There's a reason I act the way I do," Draco told her coolly as they turned down the bread aisle. "There are a limited number of reactions to cool snobbery, and I can predict all of them."

Julia just laughed.

Draco pushed the shopping cart past the clothes aisles, frowning at the muggle clothing. Having been raised in wizarding robes, he still felt as if he were running around in a costume while in muggle clothes. He wrinkled his nose at some checkered flannel shirts and went to push the cart onward, but Julia put a hand on his arm.

"Wait. You need some uniform pants, five pairs," she said. She pulled him toward a rack of trousers made of some rough, yellow-brown fabric that had entirely too many pockets. She picked up a pair, held them up, eyed him, then thrust them into his hands. "Here, some khaki cargoes. Go try them on."

"Khaki cargoes? Is that what you call these?" Draco raised his eyebrows at the wad of fabric, then followed Julia's gaze to the sign that hung a few aisles away that red "Men's fitting rooms."

"Go try them on," Julia said again, placing a hand in the small of his back and propelling him in the general direction of the blue and white sign. "I'll come with you and you can model them for me, all right? And if they don't fit you can try on a pair of a different size, but I looked and they seem like they'll fit."

Draco smirked. "Glad to know it pleases you so to gaze upon me. Come round later tonight and you can watch me shower."

He blinked when Julia pressed closer to him. "Welcome to Clan Toreador," she purred. "Tell me when and where, darling."

They gazed into each other's eyes for a long moment, neither of them budging. Someone cleared his throat, and they broke apart, Julia moving their cart so a man could pass.

"I'll give you a few house points for mettle, but Clan Toreador?" Draco shook his head. "You should know better than to use allusions that your enemies will misunderstand. It takes the impact out of the statement."

Julia sighed. "I almost totally forgot. You know about the dice games, right? I've told you about those in my letters. Nicola told you about them too, didn't she?"

"I thought that it was against some wide muggle belief that gambling was immoral, but yes, Nicola tried to explain some of it to me." Draco crossed his arms over his chest. "What of it?"

"Well me, Nicola and the gang - including my ex - all play these dice games together, and chances are that they'll want to use our place to escape the curfew in the dormitory." Julia frowned. "We tend to get loud and rowdy when we play."

"I wouldn't mind being entertained by your imaginary games," Draco informed her loftily. "And I must see this git of an ex-boyfriend to see just how much your taste has improved in choosing me over him."

Julia looked a touch skeptical. "If you insist. And that Clan Toreador statement - allusion to one of our dice games. Now go try on those pants. I want to admire your long legs."

Draco grinned wickedly and hurried to obey. He was going to enjoy living with Julia. It was amusing enough to exchange letters with someone who could stand up to his wit, but there was nothing more fun than the joy of instant comebacks in their games of repartee.

When they arrived back at their house, Draco was armed with new uniforms, and a key ring that provided him with a house key and a car key. Draco helped Julia put away the groceries, which mostly involved him holding random food items and standing in the middle of the kitchen until Julia told him where they went. When the chore was done, Julia stood with her hands on her hips and surveyed her kitchen with a look of satisfaction.

"Well, our own house on our first night. Feels good, doesn't it?"

Draco glanced at her. "It does feel oddly satisfying, I must confess."

Julia yawned and glanced at the clock. "It's only half past eight? I can't possibly go to bed this early. Haven't been to bed this early since I was in primary school. What do you want to do?"

"I really ought to unpack," Draco said.

Julia beamed. "Then I'll help you."

She followed Draco into his room. He unloaded his suitcase first, which was full of books. Julia admired the old leather-bound tomes in awe. She picked one up and held it near her face, inhaling. It smelled of must and age and cold. She loved old books - books like these were only in museums anymore.

"If you wouldn't mind putting them in alphabetical order," Draco called after her as she carried an armful of books into the den and began arranging them on the shelves.

Draco shoved the suitcase under the bed and set about unpacking his clothes. He sorted the underwear into the small bureau, then hung all of his shirts in the closet. He noted that almost all of his muggle clothes seemed far more formal than what he had noted other muggle boys wearing, but Julia had told him that Americans dressed informally compared to British people. Draco folded his trousers neatly and laid them in the bottom drawer of the bureau. He set his ink, quill and parchments on the desk. He didn't have much in the way of personal belongings. Draco set his toothbrush and toothpaste on the vanity counter, then stowed his shampoo and conditioner on the edge of the bathtub. He ventured into the den and saw that Julia had arranged all of his books on the set of shelves opposite hers, and that they were in alphabetical order according to title. Julia was sitting on the sofa poking through Draco's copy of Hogwarts: A History.

"The fact that you're reading that at all means that you are as studious and antisocial as I am," Draco said, sitting down on the other end of the couch.

He folded his hands neatly in his lap as he had been taught to as a child and just watched her read. She was curled up with her feet under her, one hand idly tugging her red hair loose from its plaits, stroking the pages as her gaze followed the words intently.

Draco knew her mind inside and out, for they had practically bared their souls to each other through their letters. But he was physically distant with most people. Physical distance allowed for more emotional control than people knew. He remembered the way it had felt when she had hugged him earlier. She had been so warm and soft and alive against him. Draco could talk to her, sure, but he wasn't so sure how to act around her. Most of the girls he'd been around at school had fawned all over him and tried to flirt with him, and he'd had to drive them away so he could study. When he roamed the halls of the old castle with Crabbe and Goyle he walked slightly ahead of them, apart from them, never touching them. Draco was a very solitary person by nature. The only people he'd ever been able to stand for long periods of time were Nicola...and Julia, when she had obtained a cell phone and they had their monthly conversations that lasted for hours on end. Draco wasn't sure what to do now.

Julia lifted her head and blinked suddenly. "Oh. Hey. Didn't see you there. This is...fascinating." She blushed slightly as she reached up and slid the book back onto the shelf.

Draco lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug. "It is good reading. Useful bits of information in there as well - mostly in the vein of the schedules of moving staircases. Good stuff to learn your first year there."

Julia sat up and shook her hair out. "Are you doing all right, Draco?"

He frowned at her, confused. "I'm doing fine, that I know of. What do you mean?"

Julia leaned closer to him. "Draco, I know you've been raised to be stoic at all times, it's an aristocratic thing, but really, how are you doing? Inside? I mean, your mother snapped your wand, so you'll never be able to do magic again...do you really think that you can live as one of us...muggles?"

Draco saw the concern shining out of her eyes, and something in him wanted to give in, to tell her of the panic and terror that had been hovering in the back of his mind as soon as he saw his wand snap in half, but he couldn't. He was a Malfoy.

"I had those two months with Nicola to come to grips with my situation," he told her calmly. "You muggles may not have magic, but much of your technology makes up for what you lack. And just because you don't have magic doesn't mean that you're not people. If you can live without magic, so can I."

"But most of us have never lived with magic," Julia said. "We live in oblivion. You...you're living in lack."

"Living in lack. Not sure that's a grammatically correct sentence coming from a literature major," Draco drawled, "but I never have and never will 'live in lack'. I am a Malfoy. I lack nothing that I want or need."

"Are you sure?" Julia searched his gaze.

Draco lifted his chin. "Completely."

"What is it that you want? Need?"

Draco said, "A house, which, while it is tiny compared to Malfoy Manor, is warm and comforting and there are no house elves constantly underfoot. Food, with which I will probably poison myself a few times until I learn to cook. A source of income, which is a job that involves working with a blond bint, and perhaps waiting until both of my parents assume room temperature - which my father is far more likely to do sooner than my mother. And human companionship, which comes in the way of a pretty redhead, who is also intelligent."

"Glad to know I'm pretty and intelligent," Julia said, but she still looked a touch doubtful. "So you'll be okay without magic? Without your broom?"

"Well, I will miss my broom and quidditch," Draco confessed. "But then I never intended to play it once I advanced to university, and even if I did play it, it's not the same without Harry Potter and his little friends to smash."

"Last I checked, you never beat him," Julia pointed out.

Draco smirked. "That's because quidditch is for boys, not men. I much prefer fencing as a sport. And I did remember to grab my favorite pair of swords before I departed, so I'm satisfied there as well. Although I seriously doubt that there are any decent fencers around this small place." He wrinkled his nose in distaste.

Julia's eyebrows went up. "You brought your fencing foils? Cool! Can I see them sometime? You know, you could get a job as a stage fighter over at the Shakespearean Festival."

Draco sniffed contemptuously. "Stage fighting is a sham. It's live steel and blood or nothing for a Malfoy." But he was secretly pleased at Julia's enthusiasm over weapons. He knew from her epistolary discussions on her dice games that she enjoyed guns and knives and a variety of oriental weapons, but he had never known she appreciated western sword arts.

"What had you planned to do once you graduated, anyway?" Julia asked.

"I would probably have ended up in the Ministry, somewhere low level until the time came for me to take my father's place," Draco said with a shrug.

"But what part of magic did you enjoy the most?" Julia's green eyes shone.

Draco thought about it for a moment. "Defense against the dark arts. Even though I am skilled in the dark arts myself, I wanted to, perhaps, become an Auror. My father would have been horrified if he knew, but I'm the old sort of Malfoy, the warrior sort of Malfoy, and if we don't get into a scrap every now and again we go mad."

"Really."

Draco continued as if he hadn't heard the blatant skepticism in her voice. "That was half the fun in antagonizing Potter and his little friends."

"But Hermione punched you, once."

"It was a weak punch, and I'll only hit a girl if I think she really deserves it," Draco said. "I really could've hurt Hermione if I'd hit her. See, Potter trained hard at quidditch and was fantastic at it, but if we'd done any sort of muggle sport, he didn't have the basic conditioning for it. Quidditch is more about broom and magic skills than physical prowess, of which Potter had none and I have loads."

Julia rolled her eyes. "Always modest, Draco."

"Never. I'm a Malfoy."

"So tell me, what does it feel like when you do magic?" Julia's eyes lit up again.

Draco liked it when her eyes lit up like that, loved her fierce intelligence and curiosity. "It doesn't really feel like...anything that I can describe. Magic for a witch or wizard is part of us, instinctual and natural. Granted, it takes a bit of training."

Julia nodded encouragingly, resting her chin in her hands, gaze fixed on him as she took in every word. Draco was slightly unnerved - no one had paid such rapt attention to him before, not this way. But he kept speaking.

"In the beginning, its sort of like...learning how to dance. You have to consciously tell yourself to do something, have to consciously do it the right way. But with enough practice, it comes naturally." His brow furrowed slightly. "There isn't much in the way of physical sensation when I cast, it's all mental really. Of course, if I use too much magic I do get tired."

"Why do you need wands?" Julia asked.

"Wands allow us to filter our magic and focus it, rather than letting it explode all over the place," Draco said. "When our magic first comes to the forefront it does sort of tend to explode things - when we become emotional windows break or something. Not that it ever happened to me - I am quite in control of myself. But some wizards or witches, if trained, have the fine control to use magic without a wand."

"Do you know anyone who can do that? Is it terribly difficult?" Julia gazed at him expectantly.

Draco stared at her for a moment. Dare he tell her? He ought to be honest with her. They were married and living in the same house, and even if it was a marriage of convenience they were friends and friends were honest with each other. "I can perform wandless magic, actually."

Julia blinked. "What?"

They hadn't discussed magic as much as they had discussed their different cultures, so Julia didn't know much about magic at all. She knew plenty about what it could do, what muggle conveniences paralleled it, but the actual working of magic she had more or less left alone in their letters.

"My father trained me when I was young. He wanted me to be a strong wizard, and sometimes the strongest wizards are nothing when they lose their wand. A Malfoy is never weak. Very few wizards can do wandless magic. My father and mother can do minimal magic without wands, but I'm strong. The veela came through the strongest in me, and so I can do all of my magic without a wand." Draco said it without pride; it was just a fact. Both of his parents had veela blood in them, and Draco had inherited all of it - the good looks and the strong magic. "But I cannot just go around doing magic here. I'm unregistered with the ministry here, and if someone they don't know does magic they'll dispatch someone to find out, and if they find me..."

"So you can't do magic anyway." Julia reached out and slid a hand over his. "I'm sorry."

Draco shrugged. "I can learn to live without it. I can learn to live without anything."

Julia was silent as she digested this information. Finally she said, "What's a veela?"

Draco blinked. "A veela? Oh. It's a dark magic creature. Female. Sort of like your mythological succubus. I have the pale hair and eyes and skin of the veela." Then he smirked. "Of course, I inherited the good looks as well."

Julia swatted him on the arm. "Indeed." She glanced at her watch, and suddenly her eyes went wide. "What kind of a wife am I?" she wailed.

"A non-traditional one?" Draco offered. He watched, confused, as she jumped up and began to pace the carpet, fidgeting. "What's the matter?"

"I forgot to make us supper!" Julia cried.

Draco dismissed her statement with a wave. "I'm not very hungry anyway. And I think that time zone change is suddenly getting to me. I'm going to bed, all right?" He stood up and started for his room.

"Are you sure?" Julia asked, green eyes wide with worry.

Draco smirked. "Quite sure. Now I need my beauty sleep."

"Okay," Julia said faintly, still sounding worried. "I'll wake you up at seven, all right? It'll give you time to shower and whatnot."

"Thank you," Draco said. He headed into his room and closed the door. He changed into his pajamas and stared at his bed for a moment. He looked down at his left hand, at the simple gold band that had replaced his signet ring. He had been legally married to Julia for over a month now, but it didn't feel real. Now he was sharing a house with her. They would wake each other up for school and work and go grocery shopping together. She was Julia Malfoy now. Draco remembered when they had first started writing. She had been smart and funny and cheerful, and Draco felt as if she was the only one who knew him, the only one he could tell things to. Later, she had admitted to finding him witty and sarcastic and definitely arrogant, but he pulled it off so well that it didn't bother her since he wasn't mean to her. He was intelligent, she had also written. She hated stupid boys. Draco remembered when they had first exchanged pictures. He had known it was a risk, sending her his school picture, but he didn't have any muggle pictures of himself that didn't move. When he opened her letter, splashed across the first line in large, bold letters were the words "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS PICTURE?" Draco had been amused by her ranting and raving about the picture, how he moved and stood in the frame. She asked about his robes and his house, for she was oddly familiar with the British school system, but every now and again she would interject with "he keeps pushing his hair out of his face" and "he never smiles, but he scowls a lot" and "is this what you're really like?" Draco had grinned to himself and forced himself not to laugh out loud, else he'd risk strange looks from everyone in the pub. But when he looked in the envelope again, he'd found her picture. She'd written a "P.S. Sorry I'm not so good-looking" at the end of her letter. But Draco was fascinated. It was true; she wasn't very pretty. She was really rather plain-featured, although her hair was a lovely shade of red. It was her smile that had him hooked. It was warm and open, and her eyes sparkled with intelligence. Draco remembered with a flash of jealousy. He had seen a smile like this once before. It was Hermione's smile, the smile she only gave to Harry. Draco had spent many nights lying awake, wishing that Julia only smiled like that for him. In the years they had written each other she had had several boyfriends and would occasionally tease him about having loads of girlfriends, and Draco would burn with fury every time she had a horrible break-up. He was particularly angry about her most recent boyfriend.

But now here he was, living with her in a house. He'd been in her company for all of twelve hours and now he was her husband. They were friends, but they were married. Draco stared down at the ring on his hand and wished that it meant as much to her as it did to him. He would do everything he could to keep her happy and safe.

Draco shook himself out of his reverie and went to brush his teeth at the vanity. He heard music playing and water running in the bathroom and realized that Julia was singing in the shower.

"I'm your little butterfly! Green, black and blue make the colors of the sky!"

Draco blinked at the odd lyrics and brushed his teeth and washed his face. He reached up and ran a hand over the smooth flesh over his cheekbones. He was nineteen and he still didn't have to shave. He chalked it up to the veela blood and headed to bed.

Before he fell asleep, he wondered what veela blood did to muggles.