Desolation Row | A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction

Chapter 28

It was just over two weeks since we had found out that Duchess was pregnant and we were beginning to adapt to our pregnant cat's lifestyle pretty well. Sunlight streamed in through the window, falling onto my face as I slept. Well, sunlight streamed in through the window falling onto my face and bloody well waking me up. I stretched and yawned, looking at my watch on the bedside table. 6:30am. I hated the summer sometimes. August the 30th. Shit. It was Elisa's birthday. It wasn't as if I had forgotten that it was my best friend's birthday (I had been quite prepared actually and had bought her presents months in advance) but I had forgotten to wrap them. Springing out of bed, I rushed to the wardrobe and pulled all of Elisa's presents from inside it. I hurried downstairs quietly, depositing Elisa's presents on the coffee table and opening the back doors for the cats. After collecting the wrapping paper and ribbon, I stared at the presents for a little while, trying to decide how best to wrap them. I waved my wand at a deep red paper, cutting a large strip and levitating the present above so that I could place the paper underneath it.

Draco emerged at 7:45am. I could hear him coming down the stairs as I attempted to wrap the last of Elisa's presents.
"Lia? Why are you wrapping presents at quarter to eight in the morning?" asked Draco, dropping a kiss to the top of my head.
I sighed and looked up at him, explaining how I'd left it all to the last minute. Draco laughed and told me to go and get dressed, he'd sort it out.
        When I returned from my shower, a neatly wrapped pile of gifts sat on the coffee table (wrapped more successfully than my attempts would have gotten me) but Draco was nowhere to be seen. I soon heard sounds of life coming from the kitchen and wandered in to see my boyfriend cooking.
"Bacon and eggs?" asked Draco and I nodded in agreement, a noise of delight issuing from my mouth.
Draco was an incredibly good cook and I wasn't ashamed to admit it; I told him that at every meal. Now, he just laughed and shook his head, not really giving me a proper response. Something seemed wrong.
"Dray, wh-what is i-it?" I asked, my voice jumping up in concern.
"I.... I'm just-" Draco sighed and put down his cutlery resolutely. "I'm just scared, Ophelia. I'm scared of my father, of Lord Voldemort, of this war. I'm scared that somehow he's going to get to you that he's going to... to hurt or maybe even..."
Draco trailed off and looked up at me. I took his hand in mine and smiled.
"I g-get it. I'm ter-terrified too, Dray. I j-just... I guess, all o-of th-this hasn't really s-sunk in yet. It's n-not real."
Draco nodded and stood up, taking my plate from me.
"Let's go and see Ella."
I smiled. Since when did Draco call Elisa Ella? Oh well, I thought it was cute.

As Elisa pulled open the door, I grinned at her.
"Happy bir-birthday!" I exclaimed, placing Buchanan's basket on the floor as Draco wandered in and did the same with Duchess', however with slightly more effort as he was carrying the bag that held Elisa's presents.
Duchess jumped straight onto Elisa's lap and my best friend laughed.
"Us pregnant gals have got to stick together, huh Duchess?" joked Elisa, before continuing more seriously. "But what a lovely surprise! I've missed you guys, thakn you for coming over."
I laughed as Elisa began to stroke my cat's head and turned to head into the living room.
"I was making a cake for myself." gestured Elisa to the counter.
Draco looked at her from the corner of his eye and Elisa feigned offence.
"Excuse me Mr I'm-not-pregnant Malfoy, but you don't get an opinion on my eating habits until you yourself have a baby growing within you. No uterus, no opinion!"
Draco laughed heartily to himself as Elisa's cat, Misty, came prowling into the room. I looked at the counter and stared at what was beside the cake.
"El?" I asked, catching my best friend's attention. "Why i-is th-there an entire b-block of ch-cheddar ch-cheese with a huge ch-chunk bitten out o-of the cor-corner?"
I pointed to the cheese and Elisa laughed, taking it in her hand.
"Cheddar cheese has been one of my major cravings!" she laughed, taking a bite of the cheese and savouring it before swallowing it and continuing her reasoning. "I really, really love cheddar cheese."
I shook my head with a laugh and glanced at Draco who seemed completely shocked, almost as if he had never even heard of pregnancy cravings before. Draco wandered off into the hallway after Duchess, Buchanan and Misty, leaving Elisa and I alone. My best friend  laughed again as my gaze drifted to a pile of pregnancy books on the side and I read the title of the top book.
"Th-these hel-hel-helping at all?" I asked, lifting the top one off the pile.
"Wouldn't know. Haven't had the chance to read them yet, my friend gave them to me a few days ago." she answered, her gaze sliding between me and the book.
"N-Nev?" I asked. I wasn't jealous, what are you talking about?
"No." answered Elisa, looking up at me. "No, uh, Lyla. She's just had triplets in April."
"Tr-triplets?" I exclaimed, raising my eyebrow. "M-Merlin, I th-thought tw-tw-twins were a ha-han-handful. M-my father mu-must ha-ha-have had an iss-issue with me and- wh-wh-what? I m-mean Madeleine a-and Edward. Hon-hon-honestly, s-sometimes those t-t-two seem so mat-mature I think th-th-they're our a-a-age."
Elisa nodded in agreement. "Yeah, tell me about it. Let's just say I'm grateful I'm only having one."
"O-oh? You've b-b-been to an app-appoint-appointment?"
"Yeah," Elisa said, smiling softly. "I, uh, I actully have something for you guys."
"El, i-it's y-your bir-bir-birthday." I countered, grinning.
"I know, I know." began Elisa in mock defense as she fished around in her pocket for something. "I was going to send it to you anyway. I want to see your reaction."
Elisa passed me a small square photograph labelled 'Fifteen Weeks'. My heart stopped before suddenly I burst into tears. With a shaky laugh, Elisa stood up and hugged me as I sobbed. This was my best friend's baby. It was going to be happy and healthy, so was Elisa. I just couldn't stop crying.
"What the hell is going on in here?" asked Draco, emerging from the hallway.
Elisa and I pulled away and as I began to attempt to talk, another bought of sobs racked me and I just clutched the photo and continued to cry. At this, Elisa also began to cry, Draco face contorting in confusion.
"I got an ultrasound photo for you guys," Elisa told Draco, wiping her tears and rubbing my back fondly. "I don't know if I made a mistake in showing Ophelia."
Draco chuckled and enveloped me in a hug as Elisa reached for the plates in the cupboard.
"Shall we eat some cake?"
I had now calmed down and nodded hungrily but just as Elisa went to lift the cake into her lap, I shook my head.
"El, re-remember!! You can u-use mag-magic now!"
Elisa gasped and reached for her wand, waving it at the cake.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Elisa's wand hand was shaking with excitement.
She came over to where Draco and I were now sat on the sofa and placed the cake down on the table with a smile. With another wave of Elisa's wand, the cake was split into pieces and she gestured to us to take a piece each. I gratefully lifted and piece up and took a bit, flavour exploding in my mouth.
"Elisa, th-this is amazing!" I grinned around my mouthful and Elisa smiled back, Draco nodding in heavy agreement as he swallowed.
"Want to know a secret?" asked Elisa with a smirk.
I nodded and took another bit of my cake.
"I used a muggle recipe that comes with the batter and icing," she confessed and I laughed.
"What these mug-muggles come up w-with without m-magic is in-incredible."
Everyone chuckled again before we lapsed into pleasurable silence as we all ploughed through our slices of cake.
After we had all finished and placed our empty plates down on the table, I lifted up the large gift bag I had sat by my feet.
"Happy bir-birthday, El!" I said as I handed her the bag.
She grinned and thanked me and Draco before she placed her hand delicately into the bag. As she rummaged for a gift to open, I looked at Draco out o the corner of my eye and he smiled at me. Today was going so perfectly, it was like nothing could go wrong. We were drawn away from each other's eyes when Elisa pulled a present from the bag. I grinned, she'd love this one... hopefully. As she tore off the tape, I waited apprehensively for her to pull off the paper, looking myself more excited than she did. I had spent a very long time making this gift. There was a small corner of wooden frame poking through the open paper and I smiled even wider as Elisa was made aware of what it was. As she pulled the frame from the paper, she smiled brightly. I had painted (or attempted to paint) a large picture of the three of us and our three cats. There were colours of emerald green and ruby red shot through the background and I had tried my hardest to capture each of our personalities in just one facial expression. However, of course, this had to be a bloody magic painting didn't it and of course, the painted depictions of ourselves would not stay still.
"Bloody hell, Ophelia!" said Elisa, her expression one of pure shock. "I thought I was the artist!"
I chuckled, blushing slightly as she continued to shower me with compliments. Elisa cast her glance around her living room before pointing to an empty nail on the wall.
"Could you put it up there for me, please?" asked Elisa and I nodded, taking the painting from her.
I placed it on the wall and grinned, my painted counterpart copying me as Buchanan jumped from Draco's shoulder to hers. Sitting back down, I watched as Elisa pulled another present from our bag of mysteries.
"Dray ch-chose this one," I said proudly, causing Draco's ears to turn pink.
Elisa gasped and grinned slightly.
"Thanks, Dracula," she grinned, winking.
Draco feigned a look of offence and snorted, shaking his head.
"Anything for my favourite sloth," shot back Draco with a laugh.
Elisa's jaw dropped as she too faked indignation.
"I will actually fight you," she threatened with a grin and a smirk.
Draco shook his head.
"You wouldn't dare. Anyway, open the bloody present."
I shook my head with a laugh, wondering why on earth I was associating myself with these people. Elisa unwrapped this present just as carefully as she had done the other and pulled a box from the paper. Lifting the lid on the box, Elisa gasped, tears coming to her eyes.
"Draco, it's gorgeous!"
Draco had picked out a gorgeous harmony ball on a long chain that when worn would rest against Elisa's pregnant belly. My boyfriend smiled a little, glad that Elisa like it.
"Thank you, Draco!"
"You're welcome, Ella," smiled Draco, just as Elisa went in for another gift.
Elisa had opened the majority of her presents when we were disrupted by the appearance of a graceful, silvery doe. It was Snape's Patronus.
"Ophelia, you must return home. Something has happened. I cannot tell you this way. I need you to return home. I am deeply apologetic."
The doe disintegrated before us and a heavy silence enveloped us.
"Ophelia..." began Elisa but I shook my head.
"I'm... I'm s-sorry, El. It's your bir-birthday, I feel so b-bad but--"
"No. Do not feel bad at all. You have to go, Ophelia, something bad has happened by the sounds of it, I need you there for that. I'm okay here, I've got my cake and my cheese. I'll be okay."
Elisa smiled a sad smile, her eyes conveying the depth of her worry. I smiled gently back at her, my legs like lead as I rose from my seat, Draco copying me and placing his hand on the small of my back, a gesture of comfort - calming me down. We made our way to the door in silence, Elisa following behind us. We each held a cat basket as we approached the door. Even the cats were quiet as if they knew something sincere was happening. I turned to face Elisa and pulled her into a deep hug, Draco wrapping his arms around us both. I promised myself that I wouldn't cry. I needed Elisa to think that I was okay, that I wasn't worrying endlessly about the vaguely ambiguous message that my ex-professor had sent me. Even though I was trying, I knew Elisa would be able to see right through me. She would also know to pretend like she didn't. We all pulled away and I took a deep breath before stepping out into the hallway and apparating home.

I opened my eyes when I felt my feet hit the floor. Professor Snape was stood before us, a sealed letter in hand.
"Everything is in here," he said solemnly, handing me the letter. "I must leave you before they begin to notice I have gone. Ophelia, I'm so sorry."
And with that, Snape was gone. I was still clutching his letter tightly as I walked into the living room. Placing Buchanan's basket on the floor, I sat down heavily on the sofa and stared at the seal on the back. Breaking it, I lifted out the thick parchment with a heavy sigh and began to read. Only a few sentences in, I stopped and looked up at Draco, the letter still in my hand. I couldn't bear to read much more. A group of Death Eaters had attacked my Aunt and Uncle's house, killing them and two of my cousins. One of those Death Eaters was my third cousin. Suddenly, everything had become real. My family was turning on each other. Willing my eyes back to the page, I continued to read. My house. They had gone back to my house. I could feel my blood pounding. I couldn't see properly, I couldn't hear. My house. Death Eaters had destroyed it. The house that held 17 years of memories for me, even more for my father and his parents before him. The Avondale Manor was destroyed. My heart began to thump painfully against my ribcage as I dropped the letter, my head falling into my hands. I began to sob. I was vaguely aware of Draco wrapping his arms around me but I didn't feel it, not really. I was empty, drained. This war was going to take everything from me. Everything had become so real. Suddenly, everything was directly affecting me and it made me realise that soon I was going to have to fight this. Soon, I was going to have to face the people that took my family from me, that destroyed my home and there was one thing I knew for certain.

I wanted revenge.

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Hey guys!!

So, this is the last chapter before the epilogue!! I really hope you've enjoyed this book because I've had tremendous fun writing it!!

Me and have had all manner of fun with our respective series but don't worry, this isn't the last you'll see of Ophelia, the next book 'Bulletproof Heart' will be up very very soon.

But for now I want you all to remember that I love you so much and thank you for reading.

- Izzy xx