NUMB | D. MALFOY {EDITING}

xli. lies

« LIES »  

As much as the pain forced her to stay home and cry her heart out under the covers, Anastasia decided that mourning an unrequired love wasn't for her. She continued her routine of taking care of Teddy while Andromeda recovered from her cold, and sometimes she would stop by the store to help George and Ron manage the business.

That day wasn't the exception. She walked into the shop with the decision of being a new person and to try and get over Draco, she needed to do it if she wanted to make her stay in England comfortable.

"While I finish the love potions with Ron, why don't you three stay here to help the customers?" George said to the trio in front of him, Hermione nodded.

"Of course." She said quietly and the ginger nodded shortly before running to the third floor with Ron.

"At least I won't be alone with Annie like the other day." Harry pointed, making Anastasia snort. "It was a mess."

"Excuse me? But who managed to organize the shelves before George noticed they were sprawled everywhere because you decided to play improvised Quidditch!" The brunnete argued, making the raven-haired boy laugh.

"Quidditch? Inside the shop? Harry, have you gone mad?" Hermione stepped in, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Why are you turning it to me? I wasn't the only one here!" Harry exclaimed.

"Fighting again, Potter?" The room fell silent as the trio turned around to meet Draco's playful grin, that soon disappeared at the sight of Anastasia.

The emerald eyed-girl looked down to her feet with nervousness and Hermione took the boxes over the cashier and quickly walked to the second floor. Harry turned his head to his friend and then at Draco, who was standing there with a confused yet cold expression over his features. Harry suspected it was because of Anastasia's presence.

"Hello, Draco." Harry half-smiled. "How are you? And Astoria?" He asked, face palming himself after realizing Anastasia was still in the room.

"She's fine, and so am I." The boy said shortly. "I—"

"I'd like to have a word with Draco." The brunette spoke loud enough for them to hear. The platinum blonde boy raised an eyebrow as he turned to her. Anastasia turned to Harry. "Privately, please." With that, her friend nodded and climbed the stairs to the third floor to join Ron and George.

Suddenly, it felt like it was a bad decision. She wanted to get out of there, to leave England and never go back. The look he was sending her was enough for her to feel like everything was lost, that she might as well pack her things and leave again. At the moment, the idea felt so tempting.

"I want to—"

"No." Draco shook his head rigorously. "I will talk and you will listen, understood?" He stepped forward. "You just can't come back out of nowhere, one year later I might add, and expect everything to go back to the way it was! Of course I had to move on! Don't you dare to come and scold me for being with someone else, when you left me!" He practically yelled, and Anastasia flinched because it was the first time she saw him so angry. It scared her. "I waited for you, every single day for you to come back, but you never did. I just read the Daily Prophet and you always manage to be there, your smile, how happy you seemed in America. While I was here, alone, miserable without you. My parents constantly urged me to find a wife and make her happy, but they weren't you because I felt so lonely without you."

"I didn't know." The girl mumbled shyly.

"Of course you didn't know, you left." He snapped. "And you didn't even care."

"Of course I cared!" This time, she felt a burning anger bubbling inside her. "If I wouldn't have cared, I wouldn't have left!"

"Oh, so now you're saying that you left because you cared of me? For us?" He exclaimed, pointing at himself and then at the stairs Harry and Hermione used to go to leave them alone. "You're unbelievable."

"I'm telling you the truth." Anastasia grunted, crossing her arms over her chest with anger. "Everything I did was for you, for all of you! Because I cared."

Draco laughed bitterly. "If you have cared, you would've left a note. Something, but you didn't."

"Of course I did!" She frowned, uncrossing her arms quickly.

"Where is it then?" The boy raised his chin with a smirk. "I didn't get a note. You're just using your bloody lies to get off this." She frowned and turned her head to look at the stairs.

"Harry Potter! You come here right now!" Anastasia shouted, and this time, it was Draco's turn to flinch at her sudden outburst.

The brunette exhaled deeply as she waited for Harry to come down to meet them, and she wasn't sure why he was taking a lot to do so. She was about to shout his name again when the raven-haired boy appeared, running down the stairs like Ron when food was at the table.

"What do you need?" He questioned hurriedly.

"Did you or didn't you send Draco the letter I gave you?" Anastasia asked almost right after he finished talking.

"Obviously!" He protested, frowning. "That same night I owled it to him!"

Draco frowned lightly and turned to meet the girl's gaze, but she was looking somewhere else. He saw how her puzzled expression slowly changed from confusion to anger, then, to sadness again.

"I can't believe it." She whispered under her breath.

If Harry did send the letter to Draco that night, then the responsible of his hate towards her was Narcissa, or even Lucius. If the letter was owled to them, then they could've easily taken it to hide it from their son's knowledge. Without a letter, he would've been disappointed and heartbroken because of her departure. It made sense, that's why they were so eager for him to find the perfect girl to marry with. They planned it all

"Annie—" Harry called for her, but his words were just empty sounds for her.

"It's their fault." She managed to speak, then, her emerald eyes met Draco's. "See? I did send you a letter. If you didn't get it, ask your parents why."

"Are you implying that my parents are behind all of this?" The girl was surprised to see him offended over her words. "Are you mad?" He exclaimed angrily.

"Ask them, then." Anastasia raised an eyebrow, feeling the tears threatening to leave her eyes. "Go on, why don't you go and ask your parents about that letter? And while you're there, ask them about why they wanted you to marry someone immediately."