After Tonight

Chapter 14: Acts of Consumption

Draco followed his mother into the living room, knowing Hermione was following closely behind him. He could smell her scent, the light flair of strawberries in the air, and he craved to bury his hands in her hair. Narcissa stopped next to the hearth, leaning her arm against it and Draco stood beside her. She offered him a warm smile and he tried his best to return it, to show her he was grateful to be with her again somehow, and watched as she turned to address the small group of witches and wizards that were now in her living room.

"I am aware of how unideal all this is," Narcissa started, her eyes flickering over all their faces. "I know many of you have had the worse end of the stick courtesy of my husband and son." Draco paled slightly and he could feel Ron shooting mental daggers in his direction. "But please know, I am against the things my husband stands for," she continued and grasped Draco's hand as she tossed him a smile. "We are against the things my husband stands for. We were wrong to stay silent for so long, to side with the Dark Lord and let so many perish under his reign. But no longer. The fact that Draco is here should be proof of this should speak for itself."

"I seriously doubt it," Ron mumbled, to which Draco had to stop himself from smirking as Hermione shot Ron a glare.

"We've all made mistakes," Theo piped up, with Pansy leaning into his side. "This is a genocide, what they're doing. If we aren't careful..." he paused to look at her, and she gave him an encouraging grin. "...we'll jeopardize the future for everyone."

"Theo is right," Narcissa said, and Draco felt her squeeze his fingers. "There are still many that need to be extracted and many followers of the Dark Lord that need to be put down like the dogs they are."

Draco raised his eyes in slight amusement at his mother's terminology, looking around the room to try and register everyone's reactions. Hermione was standing near the doorway, her shoulder pressed against the frame and her mouth twisted in concentration. He had missed that facial expression, the one she wore when she was trying to figure out an arithmancy problem.

"I think we should be divided into groups for certain jobs," Draco suggested, feeling the eyes boring into him. He coughed slightly, suddenly becoming self-conscious. "Perhaps a few groups gather goods and scout places to hide Muggle-borns and others to break out the remaining people in Malfoy Manor."

"Draco!" Narcissa hissed, but it was too late. Ron, Hermione, and Neville exploded into questions, and Ginny started yelling loudly.

"People in Malfoy Manor?"

"Who's there? Is that the prison?"

"How many? They've been in your house this entire time?"

"One at a time!" Narcissa snapped, turning her gaze to Draco, dropping her voice a few octaves as the others continued their verbal accusations. "Are you sure they're at the Manor?" The sentence was poised as a question, but Draco was certain Narcissa already knew the answer and had suspected this would happen once she had left. "I always knew your father was money hungry, but this..." she breathed, ringing her hands slightly. "This is even low for him. Draining them in our own home?"

Draco said nothing but nodded, afraid to say something wrong once more, and Narcissa tried to quiet the crowd as he stalked away from the fire hearth.

"What, don't want to contribute to the cause anymore?" Ron sneered, and Draco was tempted to lift his middle finger.

"Piss off, Weasley. I need the loo," he replied, climbing the stairs two at a time.

He walked quickly into his room and then into the bathroom that was adjoined, ignoring the unmade bed and opened window. He closed the restroom door behind him, turning on the sink and exhaled deeply.