| Girl on Fire |

38

DRACO MALFOY

I had just finished taking down the wards and preparing Adrian and Marcus. Their families would be here soon so I went upstairs. When I got to the living room, Mattheo and Veronica were gone. "Ronnie!" I called out. I heard the front door open and I ran over. Mattheo walked in with a defeated look on his face. "Where's Ronnie?" I asked. He didn't say anything. He just stared at the floor. "Mattheo, where is my sister?" I said again. "I don't know." he said. "What do you mean you don't know? What the hell happened?" I asked. "I don't- I didn't mean to," he said. My heart started to pound in my chest. "What did you do?" I said, trying to stay calm. "She has to understand her place. If she doesn't, she will never survive her future." he said. "What. Did. You. Do?" I asked again. "We got into an argument and I lost my temper. You don't understand Malfoy. When I'm with her, everything I feel is multiplied by 100. Love, and anger. I didn't mean to do it." he said. "Do what, tell me what you did." I exclaimed. "I hit her." he yelled back. Then I lost it. I punched him across the face and threw him to the floor. I landed punch after punch and then I realized... he wasn't fighting back. He saw my pause and he stared at me. "It's ok, I deserve it." he said. I punched him once more and I was done. I grabbed his collar and pulled his head up to look at me. "If you ever hurt her again, I will kill you. I don't care who you are." I said. He nodded and I got off him and helped him up.

We sat down and I poured us both a drink. I handed him some ice and I iced my knuckles. "Will she forgive me?" he asked. I stared at the amber colored firewhiskey in my glass and sighed. "Yes. Even if she shouldn't. She loves you too much." I said. He nodded. "Do you really love her, or do you just need a proper pureblood witch to rule with when your time comes?" I asked. "You know about my father right? The story of his creation. How he was conceived under a love potion. You know what that means right?" he asked. I nodded. "When one is conceived under a love potion, they lack the ability to ever feel true emotion." I said. He nodded. "My father always told me I was the same. That I could never feel love. I believed him until I met Veronica. I knew I loved her. I will set fire to the world and never let the flame touch her." he said. "That mark, it's real isn't it. You are soulmates?" I asked. "Trust me, if I didn't want it to be her," he said. I looked at him in confusion. "Now she will have the same burdens I have. I love her enough to want something better for her." he said. "That's why you agreed to it." I asked. "Yes. I know she will probably hate me, but I have to do it." he said. I just nodded. "I'm going to go get her." I said. "You know where she is?" he asked in surprise. "Of course I do. She's my sister." I said. "Ok, I'll see you both at school." he said. I nodded and walked outside. "Apparate." The world spun and I knew I was in the right place.

VERONICA MALFOY

I'm on my 2nd bottle of firewhiskey. It keeps me warm. The sun went down hours ago and it's already 11pm. But that's not the only good thing about drinking. Every time I take a drink and it burns my throat, it distracts from the pain I felt when he hit me. It keeps happening in my head over and over like a loop. The drinks are starting to blur the memory. So I keep drinking. I drink more and more. My vision blurs and I start to feel sick but I keep drinking. I sit in the treehouse Draco, Dobby and I built as kids. We needed an escape from father so we found this park a few blocks from the manor. We built the treehouse and used a spell to hide it from the muggles. Draco and I spent hours here as kids. Hiding, playing, just being kids. I haven't come here in years. I took another swig of the whiskey and squeezed my eyes shut as it burned down my throat. I heard a noise and the sound of someone climbing up the stairs. "I knew I'd find you here." Draco said. He shut the trap door and sat down next to me. "Are you al-" he started. Then he looked me up and down and sighed. "Fucking hell Ronnie are you drunk again?" he asked. "Want some?" I asked, holding out the bottle. He snatched it from my hands and poured it out the window. "What the fuck Draco?!" I yelled. "You've had enough." he said. "Whatever." I mumbled. "We haven't come here in ages." he said. "We grew up, life happened. I think we learned that not even an enchanted tree house can provide an escape." I said. He chuckled. "I guess" he said.

"Mattheo told me what happened." he said. "I could tell by your knuckles." I said. They were bloody and bruised and swollen. "What did you expect?" he asked. I shrugged. "I don't really care what you do to him." I said. "Ronnie, you're drunk." he said. He pointed his wand at me and suddenly it all went away. Bloody sobering spell. "I got drunk for a reason." I said. "Are you-" he started. "I'm so tired of being treated like I am nothing. Like women are nothing. We are just as capable as any man. And I refuse to ignore that any longer." I said. He stared at me. "For the longest time, I allowed my self worth to be dictated by men. Father, Marcus, even you at times. But only I can decide what I am worth. And I deserve better. So if he wants my respect as his future queen then he must give me his respect as future king. And that is final. I'm tired of living in a man's world." I said. Draco smiled at me. "Then make it yours. You don't have to belong to anyone but yourself. You are one of the most powerful witches of our age. You get the highest marks and the Dark Lord himself was impressed by you. You don't need anyone Ronnie. Not father, not Marcus, not Mattheo, not me. You don't want to live in a man's world, then you have to make it your own. Nobody else can." he said. I smiled and nodded. "I will always need you Draco. I need you to be my brother not my keeper. Understood?" I asked. "Understood." he said. "Ready to go home?" I asked. He nodded and we apparated home.