A Redheaded Evans

He awoke the next morning when Julia poked her head into his room and told him to get up for work. He showered and dressed as he always did, and when he went into the kitchen Julia had breakfast for two waiting. She ate just as quickly as he did, and before he left for work she handed him his lunchbox.

"So I'll see you today at lunch?" she asked.

Draco nodded. "Indeed."

Julia leaned up and kissed him on the cheek again. Only his ingrained Malfoy composure stopped him from shivering giddily.

"Have a good day!"

Draco leaned down and dropped a kiss on her cheek in return. She flooded his senses with warmth and life and the soft scent of apricots. Then he got into the car and drove to work.

Business was still fairly decent with the fall season of the Shakespearean festival still going. Draco greeted Robert and Karen before vanishing into the back and leaving his lunchbox in his locker.

"You look a little tired," Robert noted.

Draco flinched and lifted a hand to his face. He couldn't have circles under his eyes - Malfoy skin was so pale that the slightest discoloration stained like the darkest bruise.

Robert laughed. "You vain boy. No, you just don't seem as energetic as usual."

Draco smoothed down his hair cautiously anyway. "My wife invited some friends over to celebrate the beginning of the semester."

"Ah - she's a student?" Robert asked.

Draco nodded. "Studying English and history."

"So she's probably really into the Shakespearean Festival, then."

Draco shrugged. "She hasn't been too enthusiastic about it. Actually, she did confess to disliking Shakespeare's sonnets, so..." Draco raised his eyebrows and lowered his voice conspiratorially.

Robert laughed. "Sounds like you two are doing well."

"We are. So, what do we have today?" Draco turned to the desk, and Robert began updating him on the status of the guests, and handed him a list of scheduled checkouts and check-ins. Draco set to work, checking through the computer to make sure that nothing was awry, when Karen arrived, sipping at a cup of designer cappuccino, blonde hair perfect as always.

Draco wondered faintly to himself if he was that vain. Then he decided that he wasn't; after all, he'd stopped using the hair gel years ago.

The phone rang suddenly. Draco picked up the receiver and answered politely.

"Holiday Inn Express, this is Draco speaking. How may I help you?"

A woman replied in heavily accented English. "I am looking to book a tour."

"Ah. Let me transfer you to the manager. Hold just one moment please." Draco went to push the hold button, but Robert stepped out of the back officer.

"I'm here. What's going on?"

"Woman wants to book a tour. She sounds foreign. If you need help, I'm here, all right?" Draco handed the phone to his boss and went to stand back at the computer and decode a stack of card keys.

"Good morning, Draco," Karen purred, slipping up to stand too close to him.

Draco fought back a frustrated sigh. She was in one of her flirtatious moods today. If Draco weren't trying to keep a low profile and if speaking weren't a part of his job he would have cast a silencing charm on her every time she decided to be like this.

"Good morning, Karen," he said as civilly as possible.

She fluttered her eyelashes at him again and parted her too-red lips to say something else, but Draco was rescued when Robert called him for language assistance.

The conversation in German was long and convoluted, but eventually Draco and the woman came to an understanding of what she wanted: a series of rooms booked for some students who were coming through for the Shakespearean Festival. The conversation became more convoluted each time Draco had to translate something into English for Robert, then translate his reply back into German. Once the harrowing conversation was over and done with, Draco returned to the computer to discover, with some annoyance, that Karen hadn't done anything with the key cards, so he continued decoding them.

"So Draco, tell me a little more about your family," Karen murmured.

"I don't really get on well with them," Draco said, ignoring the seductive lilt to her voice and continuing to work.

"Not even your wife?" Karen pressed in closer until her presence - and her perfume - almost overwhelmed him.

Draco counted to five to hold onto his temper, then set down the key card he'd been working on and turned to face her.

"Karen, I hope that I only have to say this once. I am in love with my wife." Draco caught her gaze and held it firmly. "Julia is the most beautiful, kind, intelligent woman I know and I would gladly lay down my life for her." Draco felt something release in him as he spoke, and the words began to come faster. "My wife is the light in my world of darkness - and believe me, my world has seen its share of shadows and night. She is the air that I breathe and the hope that I feel and her name is the last word on my lips at night. I cherish her with all that I am and nothing, not even power over the universe itself, could make me turn away from her. She owns my heart and soul and I can never give them to another, no matter how tempting or beautiful that other may be. Nothing can change that. Do you understand?"

Draco had to catch his breath, and he realized that both Robert and Karen were staring at him. Karen's blue eyes were wide. She swallowed convulsively.

Finally she whispered, "I hope that one day someone loves me like that."

She fled for the back room, and didn't hear when Draco muttered,

"Me, too."

Julia was more than glad when her classes got out for lunch, and she hurried to the student union to meet Draco. As the days went by it became easier and easier to think of him as her husband. Julia had never imagined thinking of her husband in such a manner, but Draco was her best friend now. They could talk and laugh and exchange high-browed insults without hurting each other. It wasn't the combination of love and mindless loyalty she had always thought marriage would be.

He was sitting at the same table with his lunchbox, and he rose when she approached, and didn't sit down until she was seated.

Julia blinked. "What was that for?"

"I had thought myself a true Malfoy, but it seems that my manners have slipped now that I am away from the harsh tutelage of my family and peers," Draco said. "A gentleman always rises when a lady approaches or leaves the table."

"I've heard that before, but I've never seen it," Julia confessed.

"If any lady deserves respect, my wife is one of them," Draco informed her loftily.

"Thank you." Julia smiled.

Draco opened his lunchbox and peered inside.

Julia was surprised to see a pink blush spreading across his cheekbones.

"I would have thought that a Malfoy doesn't blush."

Draco held out half of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich and said shyly, "Want to share lunch with me?"

Julia accepted half of the sandwich she had made earlier that day. "I'd love to. Thank you." There was something oddly tender in his eyes, but he looked away and set about getting his share of the food.

Julia bit into the sandwich and was surprised at the taste. It had been so long since she'd even had one of these.

"How was work today?"

Draco shrugged indifferently. "It was."

Julia was always fascinated when she watched Draco. He managed to make everything look delicate and aristocratic, even eating with his bare hands. He tore off small pieces of the sandwich and lifted them to his lips with long, graceful fingers. Julia wondered if he had ever considered becoming a musician or an artist with those hands. Idly she wondered what those hands looked like curved around a wand. And she blushed and got back to eating.

"Are you tired from last night?" she asked. "I haven't stayed up that late in a long time, and my body has become spoilt from too much sleep."

Draco arched one eyebrow, but the imperious humor wasn't in his eyes. "No body is spoilt from sleep, as there is no such thing as too much of it."

"I think Sleeping Beauty would disagree with you."

Draco sniffed. "Hardly. All that sleep kept her youthful and beautiful for a hundred years." Then he grinned wickedly, and that odd look vanished from his eyes. "Of course, I didn't know that those storytellers of fairytales were so kinky. After all, Sleeping Beauty was a good century older than her Prince Charming, and last I heard such age differences were scandalous."

"You would think that," Julia muttered. "I didn't know that Malfoys were dirty as well as devious."

"Not just Malfoys - the whole of Slytherin." Draco smirked. He handed her half of an apple and then bit into his own half.

Julia ate her share of the fruit and considered him curiously. He seemed like his normal self - only not.

"When I went to school we didn't have such heavy house stereotypes. Although I must admit that I had my share of house pride, and sometimes that could meddle in friendships," she said.

"We rarely had friends outside our houses." Draco sipped at his juice delicately. "Of course, many of our classes were scheduled by house, and since it was a boarding school our dorms were separated by house as well."

Julia raised her eyebrows. "Really? Maybe it was different because I went to a day school, but they separated us into form rooms, about nine of them per year, and our classes were scheduled by form, and within one form there was usually an even split between the four houses. Most of my classes I went to with my own forms, and only a couple of classes mixed the forms."

"Most classes were split between houses - different classes we shared with different houses," Draco said. "But there was massive house rivalry. Looking back on all of it, it was quite childish and ridiculous. But our parents and even the teachers expected it out of us, and life is more simple when the social boundaries are already defined."

They finished their lunches quietly.

Draco finally said, "So how are classes going for you?"

"I'll probably need all the help I can get in French, but other than that..." Julia trailed off in thought. She looked up at Draco. "How are you at the muggle history of your own country?"

"Fabulous at it, of course. Do you expect anything less of a Malfoy?" He arched one eyebrow. "For all that the Malfoys are purebloods we recognize the need for occasional alliances with the muggles, and we have to know their history and politics to navigate in their society." He stood up to throw their rubbish away, then sat down again. "For all that the Dark Lord urges us toward destruction and chaos for the muggles, he is a half-blood himself. Conveniently forgotten by his followers, of course."

Julia nodded. "The same can be said about Hitler."

Draco's eyebrows went up. "Pardon?"

"Didn't you know? Hitler was part Jewish himself."

"I didn't know that." Draco laughed softly. "Perhaps our two worlds are not so different after all."

"Will you excuse me for a moment?" Julia stood up, and Draco rose with her. She felt slightly awkward. "I just need to go to the restroom."

Draco sat down once she had excused herself from the table, and she hurried to the restrooms.

When she was finished, she washed her hands and stepped out of the ladies' room. She was about to pause at the drinking fountain for a quick sip of water, but she saw three girls surrounding Draco and flirting with him.

Julia felt a flash of jealousy. She straightened up, ready to go over and tell those girls to leave her husband alone. And then she remembered. No one was supposed to know that she and Draco were married. Draco was her friend, not her boyfriend, and he was only her husband on paper. She couldn't hold him back from having a girlfriend if he wanted one. He had said that he would remain faithful to her, but if he changed his mind she shouldn't be bothered by it. Then she remembered the way Draco had been annoyed by his flirtatious coworker, and she saw that although he was being polite to the girls he wasn't giving in to their advances. He was standing up, waiting for them to either leave or sit down.

Julia tossed her hair over her shoulder and strode over to him determinedly.

"Hey Dray, you ready to roll?" she asked.

The three girls shot her dirty looks.

Draco flashed his charming smile. "This, ladies, is the illustrious roommate I told you about. If would be so kind as to excuse my presence, but I really must return to work."

One of the girls leaned in too close to read his nametag. "So you work at the Holiday Inn?"

Draco nodded. He pushed past them as politely as he could and followed Julia toward her next class.

"I hate that," he said in a low voice. "I hated it back at school when girls would simper at me just because I was the Malfoy heir, and I hate it now. They may not know I'm the Malfoy heir, but honestly, can they not take a hint?"

Julia sympathized with his frustration, but she reached up and ruffled his feather-soft hair anyway. She liked the way it felt.

"That's what you get for having these stellar Malfoy looks."

Draco's mouth was pressed in a thin line. He never frowned, just sneered or smirked or scowled, but never frowned.

"I think it may be the veela blood, actually. It's diluted in me, and wizards are somehow more immune to it, but I don't really know what effect it has on muggles."

"Well, maybe I'm immune or something, because I feel no urge to throw myself at you like they did," Julia said.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her.

"Of course, that's because I know that you are much, much more than your good looks." She smiled at him.

"Of course I am. I'm a Malfoy." He said it without a trace of arrogance, even the mock-arrogance he played at just for her and Nicola.

Julia paused. "Well, this is my class. I'll see you when you get off work, okay?"

Draco nodded. "Indeed. Have fun in history."

"I will." Julia turned to go, and was surprised when Draco leaned down and kissed her gently on the cheek.

He whirled away and headed for the doors, but she thought she saw something flash in his gray eyes.

Julia smiled to herself and headed into the classroom.

Nicola nudged her in the ribs.

"Did Draco just kiss you?"

"A deterrence because so many girls have been hitting on him," Julia said calmly.

Nicola's brow furrowed. "Usually he's smug when girls hit on him."

"They've been attacking en masse." Julia shrugged and opened her binder.

"What was he doing here, anyway?"

"We always have lunch together. Feel free to sit with us if you like."

"I'd like that," Nicola said. "And he can help us with our history, too."

"That he can."

"This is completely ridiculous," Julia muttered when she and Nicola stood in the long, winding line at the bookstore.

"I agree," Fiona said, coming to stand beside them.

"Guess what I heard?" Lisa appeared as well.

"What?" Fiona asked.

Lisa snickered. "I overheard some chicks planning on going over to the Holiday Inn to 'hang out with a friend' and check out the hot blond British boy who works there now."

Julia cringed. "Poor Draco."

"What do you mean, 'poor Draco'?" Fiona demanded. "He probably loves the attention."

"Actually, most of the time when he's being snobby about his looks he's kidding," Nicola said. "If the occasional random girl stops by and tells him he's good-looking, he just sort of laughs it off, but he really hates it when girls just swarm him."

"One of his coworkers hits on him enough as it is," Julia said.

"Couldn't he just file for sexual harassment?" Lisa asked.

Nicola and Julia exchanged looks and shook their heads.

"He wouldn't do that," Nicola said.

Fiona raised one eyebrow. "You can't tell me he's too nice to do that. He's got that whole aristocratic thing going on. They're never afraid to use their power."

"Draco's devious," Julia said. "He'll put up with his annoying coworker in exchange for something far more costly later. Like getting rid of a whole horde of girls."

Nicola snickered. "I can see it now. He'll probably pull a massive fairy trade."

"Who's making fairy trades and why is it not me?" Steven materialized out of the crowd and moved to stand beside Nicola.

"Draco," Fiona said. "He's got the good looks, I'll give him that."

"Yeah, Julia, there's something I want to ask you about Draco." Steven's brow furrowed.

Julia tensed. "What did you want to ask?"

"We can talk about it later."

Julia nodded and steered the conversation toward classes and the hectic pace that was the beginning of the semester. Could Steven sense what Draco really was?

Julia was waiting for him when he came home from work.

Draco handed her his lunchbox and swept into his room to change out of his work clothes. When he emerged Julia was standing outside his door, offering up a plate of cookies.

"Hard day at work, huh?"

"Those stupid bints from the college came by work after their classes. They're friends of Karen's, and while she was decently well-behaved she conveniently forgot that I was married and kept telling them about my 'worthy attributes'." Draco took an offered cookie with a grateful smile and nibbled at it. "I thought I was being sold for auction or something."

"I'm sorry," Julia said. "Apparently Lisa overheard their plans and didn't get a chance to stop them. But I invited Nicola and the other girls to sit with us at lunch occasionally, so you have some sort of security."

Draco sighed tiredly. "I don't mean to be in a bad mood about it all, it's just really frustrating."

"I understand." Julia smiled at him. "Come on. We're going to go lie down in the den and watch some mindless TV. Then we're going to have supper and watch some more mindless TV, and afterwards you can help me with my homework. How does that sound?"

"Lovely," Draco confessed.

* * *

Later that evening, Draco and Julia were sprawled across the den floor surrounded by pizza boxes and empty soda cans, Julia's French and history homework between them.

"Well, this sentence right here is quite straightforward," Draco said, pointing to something on one of the evil pink sheets.

Julia peered over his shoulder. "Not to me. Where's the direct object?"

"There's only an indirect object, and that preposition there dictates that you use 'y'," Draco said.

Julia groaned and buried her face against the back of his shirt, oblivious to the way he tensed.

"Why am I learning this language again?"

"Because it's most useful to you as an English major," Draco recited back to her dutifully.

"Only if I want to read critical theories in their original language," Julia muttered.

Draco laughed. "And why would you want to do that?"

"Exactly. If I didn't need this foreign language to graduate then I wouldn't be taking it."

"Yes, but then what would you do when a dashing gentleman such as myself swept you off your feet and said, je t'adore, ma cherie?" Draco asked.

"Ask him to repeat it in English," Julia said mutinously.

"And ruin a perfectly good romantic moment," Draco pointed out.

Julia huffed. "Romance is overrated. Let's ignore the French for now and do some history."

"Hardly," Draco said. "You finish this assignment and then we'll move onto the next one. Where's your discipline?"

"In France."

The doorbell rang.

"Consider yourself lucky," Draco called after Julia when she went to answer the door.

"Hello, Steven."

"Julia. I was wondering if we could have that talk."

"What talk?"

"About Draco."

Draco rose to his feet and dusted himself off. "What about me?"

Steven followed Julia into the living room.

Julia looked nervous, but Draco seemed far too calm.

"Steven, I'm sure nothing's wrong," she said, but Draco cut her off, gray eyes cold.

"What business do you have with me?"

"You're not all human," Steven said.

Draco raised one eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

"I can sense it in you." Steven prowled a circle around Draco, and Julia saw Draco flinch a few times.

"Hm. You can feel it when I poke into your aura." Steven finished his examination and stood back, staring at Draco. Then he seemed to notice the mess for the first time. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Julia's homework," Draco said coolly.

"So, what are you if you're not all human?" Steven asked.

"Nothing to be trifled with." Draco's eyes turned darker.

Julia put a hand on his arm. "Can we talk about this in a less hostile manner?"

"I just want to know what sort of nonhuman is hanging around my adopted little sister," Steven said, his eyes never leaving Draco.

Draco narrowed his eyes at Steven in return. "You're not all human yourself. You carry the air of a natural shape-changer, of the feline variety."

"That's right. And I don't know what you are, but I can take you down, I assure you," Steven said.

Julia tugged on Steven's sleeve. "Draco isn't dangerous, I promise."

"Oh no, I am quite dangerous," Draco told her, "just not to you. Steven, on the other hand, may force me to make an exception to my personal restriction on my - "

Steven was suddenly holding a saber. "Shall we take this outside?"
Draco lifted one hand, and one of his steel swords flew into his hand. "If you would like to."

"Draco, Steven's trustworthy. We can tell him," Julia said.

Draco shook her head. "No. The only ones I dare trust are you and Nicola, and even then the only one I trust with the truth is you."

"Well, surely if he were one of the men hired by your mother you would have sensed that too." Julia put a hand on his arm. "Please don't fight. If Nicola trusts him, can't you?"

"The less people who know the better," Draco said. Finally he turned to her, but didn't lower the sword. "If someone finds me, you'll be in danger as well."

Steven sheathed his saber somewhere in the recesses of his long black coat.

"Okay. Something's going on here that I'm not understanding," he said.

Draco set down his sword as well. Julia's eyes pleaded. Draco gave in.

"You're right, Steven, I'm not human. I'm about three-eighths veela." He crossed the room to his bookcase and pulled out a book titled Care of Magical Creatures. He flipped it open and handed it to Steven.

Steven studied the page for a moment.

"I thought I sensed an odd energy about you. It says here that veela are female, though." He raised an eyebrow at Draco.

"They breed with human males, occasionally. Leave the male children and keep the female children. Female veela are far more potent than the males." Draco ran a hand through his hair absently.

Steven read further down the page, and his eyebrows went up.

Draco rolled his eyes. "No, I don't feed off of Julia. I'm not veela enough to need to do that."

Steven closed the book and handed it back to Draco, who replaced it on the shelf.

"I won't tell Nicola, then. Thanks for being honest with me. I just look out for Julia, you know?" Steven glanced at Draco's sword. "Although, would you like to spar sometime? No one else in town is a good enough swordsman, and those who might be are afraid of live steel."

Draco smiled. "I would like that indeed."

Julia felt relief flood through her.

"I've never heard of a veela before, and I tend to pride myself on being up to date on nonhumans."

Draco shrugged. "I think it's a European thing."

"Ah. Well, thanks for clearing things up. Have fun with that homework." Steven showed himself out of the house.

Draco turned to Julia. "You didn't say he was that perceptive."

She cringed under his gaze. "He's always been more perceptive than most, but so is Nicola and she never noticed, so...although she did always say that she was sure Steven wasn't completely human."

Draco made a motion with one hand, and his sword vanished.

"How did you do that?" Julia asked.

"Simple summoning charm," Draco said. "It will probably go unnoticed."

"That was really kind of cool." Julia smiled at him.

"It felt good to do. Now, back to that French."

Julia groaned.