PRETENDING TO LIVE~ {The Lestrange Daughter #2}

𝟕𝟎. William

Leah and Blaze waved from the platform as the Hogwarts Express pulled away from the Hogsmeade station. Draco, Anna, Chloe and Benjamin were with them, all there to see Valentine off.

Valentine sat back with a sigh, putting her feet up on the seat across from her. It felt so unnatural to be in a compartment by herself. The quiet might have been nice if it wasn't so unnerving. 

She stared out the window as her friends grew smaller and smaller. Leah looked like she was crying again, Benjamin and the girls trying to console her. And Draco looked so small despite being the second tallest of the group.

As the train reached the end of the station platform another familiar face popped into view. Liam and Jane were standing near the edge.

Valentine's hands curled into fists. She wasn't just leaving Draco to his own devices, she was leaving Liam to Jane's.

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

Being without even seeing Draco was strange, especially given how he had been clinging to her for months now. A few hours was nothing. Even a day didn't feel too out of place, but eventually, the lack of his presence was louder then if he was there.

Valentine would scoff at some kind of egotistical comment made by Bellatrix and glance over at where she felt Draco should have been standing, but of course, he wasn't there. These two weeks would be the longest she'd ever gone without seeing his face. At least when they'd fought about Umbridge, they would see one another in class and at meals. Back then Valentine had felt the distance like salt in her wounds but this was so much worse knowing that he wasn't in a good state of mind.

She'd never returned to Malfoy Manor without him before, not unless you count her week-long suspension in her first year. In that situation, she'd been so focused on how she almost ruined everything that night in the Forbidden Forest that she had hardly thought about the miles between her and her cousin, but the Draco of six years ago was not the same Draco she knew today and that worried her endlessly.

She'd sent an owl to Leah and Blaze, reminding them to watch both him and Liam. She even dropped a line to Anna and Chloe on the off chance that they noticed something themselves in. Even Snape, her enemy and alley, and Benjamin, her possible assassin, would be keeping an eye out. If something happened, she would know and that was all she had to comfort her.

She straightened the pelts in the skirt of her dress. Being called in to speak to Voldemort himself was nerve-wracking as hell. Luckily, she was quite accomplished in hiding her true feelings and was becoming very skilled at maneuvering around in her own mind, covering the memories and feelings Voldemort best not know. Even if Voldemort was to look inside her head, he was going to be sent on a wild goose hunt trying to figure out her real intentions and emotions.

The library door opened and Bellatrix and Rabastan stepped out.

"Hello, niece." Rabastan grinned the way he always did and ruffled her hair.

She slapped his hand away with a scowl. He knew she didn't like to be touched but always seemed to think she was joking when she said so. She wasn't.

"He'll see you now," Bellatrix said stiffly, slamming her shoulder into Valentine's as she passed. It was clear to see how put off she still was about Voldemort taking such a shine to her.

What an absolute child.

"Go on then." Rabastan nudged her towards the door. "Just mind your manners and what not."

Valentine rolled her eyes at his attempt at advice. She straightened her back and knocked firmly.

"My Lord," She said. "You asked for me?"