PRETENDING TO LIVE~ {The Lestrange Daughter #2}

𝟐𝟓. Sandwhiches

"Val, where are you going?"

"Out."

"Out where?"

"Outside."

"Valentine." Narcissa sighed, exasperated.

This wasn't their first conversation like this but Valentine hoped it would be the last.

Draco watched from the foyer stairs. He had given up on trying to get Valentine to stay and get any details from her about what she did 'outside' several conversations ago. And with Lucius still off somewhere, avoiding her and licking his wounds, Narcissa was the only one still trying. However vain it always proved to be.

"You should realise by now that it's not your business where I go. I can look after myself just fine."

"I'm your legal guardian, it's precisely my business!"

"Something about the long history of the Malfoy, Black and Lestrange families leads me to believe that they don't hold much credence in what is legal or not."

"Valentine, please." Narcissa half pleaded. "This can't go on like this. I need to know where you are and that you're safe."

"How many times do I have to tell you that I can protect myself without your assistance?"

"You can say it as much as you like but it won't change that I need to know where you are."

"You really must like being disappointed." Finished with the conversation, Valentine turned and headed for the door.

"Valentine Druella Elladora Lestrange! Do NOT walk out that door!"

"Don't wait up. I might not be back in time for dinner."

-----Pretending To Live-----

Valentine watched Delaney forcefully shove a dozen pairs of heels into an already overflowing suitcase. She squashed it under her weight and then struggled with the zipper.

"How did you even get it all in there in the first place?" Valentine frowned at her efforts.

"Because she didn't pack it last time." said Zoe as she came in through the open door, in the process of packing her own bags.

"Then who did?" Valentine watched as Delaney stubbornly sat on her suitcase.

"Her mother."

"Seriously?"

"Zoe!" Delaney whined, falling backwards off the suitcase onto the bed. "It won't fit!"

They heard Bobby laughing at her from the other room and Delaney groaned loudly.

"You don't need that much stuff." said Zoe.

"But I do."

"No one needs to carry twenty-five pairs of shoes around with them."

"Ha! It's only twenty-one!" Delaney declared as if that made the world of difference.

Valentine knew that if this had been a normal situation for her, then they could have just used an extension charm on the suitcase, but this was the Muggle world and her magic had no place in it.

Delaney went back to laying over the suitcase, trying to make the zippers meet.

Valentine bit her lip to smother her laughter and headed out into the lounge room. This was the last time she'd be in this hotel as far as she knew because soon, the members of 'Ashes 2 Ashes' would pile onto a tour bus and drive away.

A certain Professor hadn't wanted her to come back and see them again. He thought that she would be better off cutting them out of her life although, but for her, that would have been like turning her back on Draco, Leah, Blaze and Liam. She didn't think she'd be capable of such a thing.