Hateful Love

Chapter Fifty-One

NOTE: I do not own any of the ideas or characters expressed in this story (except Cassie Jackson). All of these belong to J.K. Rowling.

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Draco P.O.V.

          When I get home, I expect my mother to strangle me for not responding to any of her letters. But all she does is hug me tightly and whisper repeatedly, “I was so worried, honey.”

          Maybe it’s the tone of her voice, but I don’t pull away from her as quickly as I normally would. I just stand there for a moment while she clutches at me desperately, almost as though she’s unsure if I’m real or not, and then I slowly lift my arms up and hug her back. My chin rests on her shoulder, and I look behind her to see my father striding into the room. He stops dead at the sight of me and just stands there, his lips pressed into a tight line. We eye each other carefully for a long moment, and I’m suddenly scared he’s going to come over and hit me—not that I would blame him. But all Lucius does is give me a small nod, then blink several times as he crosses the parlor over to us.

He rests his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it gently as my mother pulls away to grasp either side of my face and look at me with watery eyes. The three of us just stand there together, no one saying anything. And for a moment, just a moment, it feels like we’re a normal family again.

But the feeling doesn’t last long.

“Draco…he’s here. He’ll want to see you,” Lucius says quietly, removing his hand from my shoulder and backing away slightly. “I’ll just go tell him you’re here, and then—“

“Wait,” I interrupt, and even I notice how hoarse and dull my voice sounds. “You have to at least tell me what happened.”

My father sighs, his body visibly deflating like a balloon. He wrings his shaking hands in front of him as he looks at the floor, absolutely refusing to meet my gaze. “Well…even though you weren’t responding to our letters, we were acting as though the marriage was still going to happen as planned. The Dark Lord didn’t know. But then…Yaxley’s daughter, she—she was seeing someone else. A mudblood. When the Dark Lord found out, he…he killed them both.”

I swallow hard, knowing my face must clearly show how scared I am just by seeing the looks my parents are giving me. Unsure of how to respond, I ask carefully, “Do I…did I know the guy? Did he go to my school?”

“No, honey. His name was Randy, he went to Durmstrang.” My mother is watching me carefully, her eyes still brimming with unshed tears. She reaches over and clutches my arm, whispering uncertainly, “Draco, honey…you need to…your father and I, we—“

“We need you to tell us if you really are seeing someone. Because if you are, and you walk into that room to talk to the Dark Lord, you—“ His voice shakes and his lip quivers for a second before he finishes, “—you won’t come out, Draco.”

My head is spinning with fear, but I set my jaw and reply firmly, “I’m not dating anyone. Let me see him, I have nothing to hide.”

 There’s a moment of complete silence as my father tries to calculate my reaction. I do my best to keep my expression cool and my thoughts blank, and it must work, because he eventually backs away. Lucius turns around and tells me quietly to follow him, and I do so with my stomach churning.

My mother keeps her hand on my shoulder as we walk down the hall, and I’m trying desperately to ignore the fact that she’s sniffling as quietly as she can. I keep telling myself that I’m going to be okay, that I’ve learned enough to block off my thoughts from the Dark Lord. If I just bring the memory of when Cassie broke up with me to the surface, he’ll hopefully just assume we never got back together. Hopefully…