[Draco Malfoy]

Location: Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire • Date: Jan 17

Draco pushed back from the desk. He hadn't been able to bring himself to use his father's study yet, let alone any of the master wing of the manor, so he had reclaimed his old set of rooms upon moving back in with Astoria.

His wife.

He glanced down at his hand, eyeing the band of silver and smiled. It hadn't yet been three months since the wedding and he was still just as madly in love with her as always. She made him complete, kept him grounded, and he had never dreamed he would ever find someone who could make him feel happier than he ever had in his life. Yet here he was, Lord of Malfoy Manor with Astoria Malfoy by his side.

Draco rose from his chair, going to the window and looking out over the grounds. As much as it had worried him at first, it felt nice to be back at home. He had no doubts as to why he felt that way, of course.

[Astoria Greengrass]

The floor was thick with grey dust. Much of the vintage furniture, once beautiful and appreciated, was broken, chairs without legs and cabinets without doors - like a body with no soul that would never work. Though many items in Malfoy Manor had lost their lustre, they stood in their dusty cabinets with all glory and pride intact. Coats of patina embraced the stone and copper sculptures like the varnish of age and wisdom.

The painted eyes of ancestral portraits looked down upon the new addition with disdain as she glided gracefully through the halls. But the manor, dark and gloomy, was ready to transform and take its ghosts into a new and more heavenly dimension. For in truth, the haunted walls reinforced with unspeakable sins had been slowly replaced by the warmth of Astoria Malfoy, the sunlight herself.

And if she was the sun….

…he was the moon.

Astoria entered to find her husband near the window, bathed in the glowing light of the setting day, more beautiful than any star preparing to take it’s place in the sky. So she went to him and placed a gentle cheek to his back, a delicate hand to his heart.

“Draco? Something wrong?”

[Draco Malfoy]

He heard the light footsteps approaching and smiled a private smile to himself as the love of his life approached. Any room always felt warmer, brighter with her in it, and this was no exception. He had claimed the study as his own personal project, transforming it from a teenage boy's space to that of a grown man, tidying, reorganizing, and purging it of any remnants of Death Eater occupation. On the oaken desk sat a number of artifacts he had dug out from under piles of old school books. The artifacts framed piles of paper, documents he had been looking over, trying to figure out the finances of the manor.

Because, being the Lord of Malfoy Manor meant taking on everything, including the finances.

His wife's touch brought him back out of his thoughts and he covered her hand with his for a brief moment before turning, looping his arms around her waist.

"It's just been a long day," he admitted, leaning back against the windowsill while still holding her to him. "If I have to calculate another figure, I'm sure my head will explode. I'd almost rather be back in Arithmancy at this point," he said before kissing her.