| Girl on Fire |

44

VERONICA MALFOY

Mattheo and I were woken up to the sound of someone pounding on the door. I looked at the clock and it was already 12:00pm. "What the fuck?" Mattheo said. "I got it." I said. I started to stand up when he pulled me back down. "Mattheo what are-" I started. "Not wearing that you aren't." he said. I looked down and I realized I was still in my bra and underwear with one of Mattheo's dress shirts on. I sat back down and he walked over to the door. "What do you-" he started as he opened the door. Then second he turned the handle, Draco, Allison, Blaise, Theo and Enzo came bursting in. "What the hell guys!?" I exclaimed. "We've been looking for you everywhere!" Blaise said. "What's wrong?" I asked. Draco stared at the floor and everyone was quiet. "Draco, you gotta tell her." Theo said. "Tell me what? What's going on?" I asked. They were all silent, like they were avoiding something. I just didn't know what. "Draco? Tell me." I said. "Mate, just tell her." Enzo said quietly. Draco looked up at me with a look in his eyes I have never seen before. I stepped closer and took his hands. "Tell me." I said quietly.

"Father was arrested." he said. My heart stopped and I froze for a moment. None of this made any sense. "What?" I asked. Draco sat down on the chair and buried his face in his palms. "I can't." he mumbled. Blaise just nodded at him and walked over to me. "Blaise, what happened?" I asked. "We don't know everything. But Draco got a letter from your mum. Last night, something happened. Your father broke into the ministry. Potter was there. Something about a prophecy and Sirius Black died. Your father was arrested for it. All of it. Along with other death eaters." I stared at him as he pulled me into a hug. "I'm so sorry V." he said. I stood there stiff. I shouldn't be upset. Right? He was an awful man. But despite that, he's all my mum had. Even if he treated her terribly she still loved him. He was still my father. Draco finally stood up and hugged me. "Are you ok Ronnie?" he asked. I nodded and he stepped back. "Mattheo did you-" I started. Then I stopped. As I looked around, I saw all my friends, except Mattheo. He was gone. "Where did Mattheo go?" I asked. Everyone looked around but he was gone. "Where did- where did he go?" I said. My voice became shaky and my eyes watered. "We'll go look for him." Allison said. Draco nodded at them and took my hand. "Come on Ronnie, let's go to your room." he said. I nodded and we walked to my room. I changed into a skirt and a sweater and brushed my hair. Then Draco and I sat next to each other on my bed and he handed me the letter from our mum. I read in and I felt awful. I looked at Draco and he was just twisting his favorite ring around his finger. Everyone in our family has something similar. He has a ring with the Malfoy family crest on it, I have a necklace with a pendant of the crest, mum has a brooch and father also has a ring. "I don't know why I'm upset. He was a terrible father to us and an awful husband to mum. He deserves this." Draco said. I looked at him and nodded. "He's still our father. And mum deserves better than this." I said. He nodded. A few minutes later, our friends came back in. "Did you find him?" I asked, sitting up nervously. Allison shook her head. "We looked everywhere." Enzo said. "He's gone." Theo added. A stray tear fell down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away. "But um Dumbledore wants to speak to you two." Blaise said. Draco sighed and we both got up. "We'll meet up with you guys later." Draco said and we walked out. As we walked down the halls, people stared. They held a new version of the daily prophet. On the front cover was a picture of our father... in Azkaban. Draco and I just looked straight ahead. As we walked past the Great Hall, we could hear whispers of our name. We almost made it to Dumbledore when we heard someone call after us. "Hey Malfoy!" We both turned around and Weasley, Granger and Potter all stormed over to us. Draco took a protective step in front of me as they approached us. We both drew our wands and held them at our sides. "Did you know?" Granger demanded. "Piss off mudblood. We are so not in the mood to deal with you right now." Draco spat. "Too bad, your psychotic aunt murdered Sirius Black. So I'm going to ask again. Did you know?" Weasley asked. "I said piss off, we don't-" Draco started. "No. We didn't know." I said interrupting him. The trio looked at me and I could see Potters empty eyes. As much as I hated him, I still felt a tiny bit of pity. "We didn't know. Now we have to go be there for our mother because her husband is in Azkaban and she is completely alone. So like my brother said, Piss Off. Or I'll make you." I snapped. "Why do you even care? Everyone knows about your father. He's evil just like you. That death eater deserves Azkaban just like your boyfriend. I'll bet it's only a matter of time before you two are tossed in there too." Weasley said. "Oh you fucking bastard, I'm going to crucio your-" I started. "That's enough Veronica." Snape said as he walked up behind us. "Of course, come save your godchildren." Granger mumbled. "From what I saw, you are the ones that were going to need saving. 50 points from Gryffindor. Now leave." Snape said. The trio stormed off and we turned to face Snape. He had the same look that Draco did. "Are you two alright?" he asked. "We can handle the Gryfindorks." I said. "That's not what I meant Veronica." he said. I sighed. "I'm assuming you are wanted by Dumbledore." he asked. "Yeah, we are heading there now." Draco said. "Good, I'll escort you." he said. "That's really not necessary. We can-" Draco started. "I know you two can protect yourselves. I would just feel better if I went with you." he said. We nodded and he walked with us to Dumbledore's office. We stepped inside and Draco took my hand. "I got you Ronnie." he whispered. I nodded.