Transfixed: A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction

Chapter 43

Eyes bulging, hearts thumping, we stared into the thin air where Harry, Ron and Hermione had escaped. I winced in pain as I noticed a rather large bruise forming on my arm from where I had hit the floor. I looked over to Draco who was laying next to me, similarly bruised and out of breath. We were surrounded by a large group of Ministry workers who had embarked on the chase with us. A witch I didn't recognize extended her hand to help me up, and I took it gratefully. An older wizard did the same for Draco.

"You alright? You took quite a spill," the woman said, looking me up and down.

"I'm fine," I muttered as I brushed myself off. Narcissa's dress was covered in dust and floo powder, coating the fine black fabric with a layer of dull brown soot. "So they got away?"

"By the look of it, a fellow by the name of Yaxley got ahold of them before they were completely gone," she said. "But it was all so sudden, I don't know if he managed to hang on."

The name Yaxley sounded familiar; I thought maybe he was at the Death Eaters meeting I had attended. But I didn't care to ask any more questions. I wanted to get Draco and go home. As if he read my mind, Draco came up to me and took my arm.

"We really should be going," he said. I nodded, still trying to slow down my breathing.

"Goodbye Mr. Malfoy, Miss..." the witch started, but we were off. My name would have to remain a mystery to her for now.

We apparated to the outside of Malfoy Manor. The sun was streaming now, illuminating the house from top to bottom. I walked casually to the front door and let myself in as if I had been living there all my life. I looked over at Draco, who seemed rather surprised by my nonchalance as we entered.

"You seem so at home here, now," he said.

"I don't know what you mean," I replied, giving him a quizzical look. But of course I knew what he meant, I just didn't want to admit it to myself. I didn't want to admit I was becoming one of them.

We stood for a moment in the grand foyer, waiting for Wormtail or one of the Malfoy's to come greet us, but no one did. I began to feel nervous as I took a few steps forward to peer into the great room. It was empty.

"Would your parents have gone out anywhere, Draco?" I asked. He gave a dark little laugh.

"Out? They don't go anywhere, not these days." We exchanged worried glances, wondering what to do. We were both clearly rattled from what happened at the Ministry, and I wanted nothing more than to go to my room and be alone. But we had to report everything that happened. We didn't have a choice; we were still being tested.

All of a sudden, a faint chorus of voices filled the air, and it came from the righthand hallway that led to the dining room. We started heading in the direction of the voices, before I stopped. No one had told us about the Death Eaters having a meeting today. What if it was some sort of trap?

"Audrey, what are you waiting for?" Draco asked as he looked back.

"First of all, you have to call me Audrianna while we're in there. That's my name to them," I said, annoyed. "Second of all, doesn't this seem a bit strange to you? We didn't know there was going to be any meeting today."

Draco let out a sigh, but he didn't look frustrated. "These things happen quite a lot. You'll get used to it. Things change so fast; one minute everything is fine and then there's a crisis. You really can never know what to expect around here."

"Yeah, you're probably right," I said, shaking off the nervousness as best I could. "I'm still a little frazzled from what happened."

Draco came over and put his hand on my shoulder. "You're alright," he said. "You did everything you could to catch Potter. And that's exactly what we'll tell them."