the girl who lost it all [d.m]

sixty one: officium

"Don't you have to be in there?" she inquired, a crease appearing between her eyebrows. She was dressed in a tight lilac t-shirt and loose jeans today and he marveled at how pretty she looked all the time. "What about the Horcr—"

"They can wait," he interrupted, unable to resist brushing a strand of her hair from her face. "What happened?"

She blinked up at him, pressing an absent-minded kiss to his palm. "It can really wait if you're busy."

"Elara," he laughed, pressing his hand to her cheek and swiping his thumb across her cheekbone. "It's okay. Tell me."

She seemed to steel herself with a deep breath. "I think I know where my sister is."

Draco's eyebrows rose. He hadn't returned to the safehouse for the night yesterday—and had felt terrible about it the entire day. She often had nightmares and he hated to think she'd be alone when she woke from them—but he'd been hunting down Order members in London all night. The Dark Lord hadn't allowed him to rest until he'd killed them.

He'd been thinking about her the entire time. Even as he maimed, tortured and killed. All he'd been thinking about was how she might be knelt in front of the toilet, throwing up or shivering in a ball on the floor, unable to breathe.

It had been torture to stay away and his nerves had only settled when he'd arrived at the safehouse and Granger told him she was fine and just out picking herbs.

"Where?" he demanded, brushing some dirt off her cheek.

"You're gonna hate me for this," she said, giving him a wry smile, "but in Malfoy Manor."

Draco drew his shoulders back and inhaled deeply, looking down at her. He could tell by the look on her face that she was hesitant, almost unsure. "And you want me to find her."

She looked up, surprised. "You're not gonna ask how I know?"

He shrugged, not caring when Weaslette and Kaia passed them on the steps, heading inside. "You're probably right anyway."

She glared at him, pushing away his hand. "You have to challenge me. What if I'm making a stupid mistake?"

"It'd be no different from ninety percent of the time," he drawled back, smirking as her glare deepened. Her mouth turned down into a scowl, her eyes dark and he chuckled.

"There's that look," he murmured, bending to kiss her forehead. She swatted him away.

"You're—" she began but he cut her off once more.

"Insufferable, I know." He pinched her hip and she rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright. Please, won't you endeavour to tell me how you stumbled upon this discovery of yours?"

Elara scowled further and turned on her heel. "I'm not speaking to you."

Draco laughed and caught her waist, spinning her right back around to face him. "Okay, alright. I'm sorry."

He had no idea how just looking at her put him in such a good mood—but seeing her frown disappear nearly made him grin. It was embarrassing.

"So I was talking to George," she said, suddenly all excited again, almost bouncing on her feet, "and he mentions how Freya had this—By the way, do you know Alfie is their kid?"

Draco's eyebrows rose further.

"Yeah, right?" She was talking fast now. "So anyway, I was talking to George and he says Freya had this smile he'd never seen before. Sincere and—and true. And that she had golden hair and brown eyes. And it just—it just clicked in my head and I was sure there was no way it was possible. I mean—I'd only gotten a glimpse of her and why the hell would she be in Malfoy Manor? But then I was sure because I'm always right and there's no way I couldn't recognise my own sister, right?"