Through the Dark (Draco Malfoy x OC)

Chapter Ninety Seven

Before sunrise that morning, Snape returned and entered my bedroom via an invisibility spell.

"Merlin, you scared the crap out of me!" I exclaimed as I started to climb out of my covers. "The door opened by itself and then a wand appeared out of nowhere."

"Where is Nagini?" He asked, eyeing the room, complete disregard for my fright.

"I made sure she didn't stay with me tonight," I said having expected Snape's return.

"Good." He approved pointedly and closed the distance between us with a brisk walk. "I spoke with the Order."

"And?" I asked as I turned my bedside light on.

"Light off," he said and I obeyed with an eye roll, immersing us in darkness once more. "I told them what they needed to know. That you are safe here and in good health. Dumbledore has agreed to utilise you as an inside source alongside myself. He believes you will be an even closer mole than I can be." Snape turned his nose up, as if disapproving of the Headmaster's choice.

I rubbed my arm, fingers smoothing over my dark mark inattentively. "You know I won't provide the Order with anything, right?"

"I know," he nodded acceptingly. "The entirety of the Order insists you learn Occlumency. I know Bella has been teaching you, but I will continue your lessons at Hogwarts."

"And Draco's?"

"He must not know our intention. He must not know of your loyalty to the Order, Melody." He stressed.

I pinched between my eyebrows whilst squeezing my eyes shut. "More lies," I sighed.

"It is for-"

"My best interest, my safety, yeah yeah." I waved off and stared off into the blank darkness. "Snape I... I don't know if I am loyal to the Order. If it came down to it..." I looked down at my hands in my lap, unable to finish the sentence, not even knowing what I believed.

"When it comes down to it, I expect you to look after yourself and not only you, but those you care about."

"And what if those I care about are fighting each other?" My voice was small, afraid of asking the question out loud.

"Then that is when who you are truly loyal too will be revealed." He said.

✩✩✩

Being abandoned at birth can do wonders to one's mental state at a young age when acceptance is pivotal. I knew the importance of having 'parents' myself and always wondered how Harry had come out of it as such a bright ball of optimism with a kind heart. This wasn't always the case, however; evident by the man sitting across from me at the dinner table. I had done some reading in my spare time while Draco busied himself with Quidditch or Occlumency sessions and discovered just how awful my grandmothers childhood had been herself - was it heredity in our family?

My great grandfather had been too proud to treat anyone with respect coupled with her brother who sounded rather disturbed. They treated her terribly which forced her to seek love the unnatural way, with a love potion. I felt immense sympathy for my grandmother after reading the alleged articles. It had made me wonder about Tom across from me though. Give any mentally disturbed child boundless access to magic and they would reign terror. His family had neglected him and he had grown up in an orphanage - at an age where the mind was being moulded - he was almost destined to be a monster. I wondered about my birth mother and whether she had introduced any sense of light into his life, but I feared asking in case she did not. Perhaps, Tom didn't even know. He made it clear I was born as a safety plan.