Persephone was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. Hades fell in love with her and abducted her one day while she was picking flowers. When Zeus demanded her return, he gives her pomegranate seeds to eat. As she has eaten food from the Underworld, she was forced to remain there for three months of the year (during the winter), thus becoming the goddess of Spring and vegetation.
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a n g e l
I wanted them to leave. I did miss Hannah, Susan, and Lorcan very much, but they were no longer a part of my new life. They could not be. And Draco... well, I remembered him, and how life was back at home with him. He had been selfish, jealous, and overbearing. Now, he wanted to separate from Codrus.
"Let's just take her," suggested Lorcan to the rest. "Then we can figure out the cure once we get out of here." He took my arms, but I struggled and he pulled back momentarily. Then, again, he tried to grab me. "I don't want to go!" I pleaded, struggling against him. "Leave me along, please!"
But his hands were larger than mine, stronger. They held me down with a force I never knew he possessed. With one swift motion, he picked me up and hoisted me over his shoulder.
I cried and wailed until I thought my lungs would give out. The thought of being separated from Codrus, never to see him again - it was almost too painful to comprehend. I found Draco through my tears, his silent figure watching as Lorcan began to carry me away. A venomous hatred flooded my heart. "I hate you!" I choked out. "I hate you."
"Wait," Draco said suddenly. "Leave her."
"What?"
"I said leave her."
"What's gotten into you, mate? We have to go!"
"Just fucking leave her!" Draco's command was loud, but there was an imperceptible crack in his voice as he said it. Lorcan stared at him incredulously, but set me back down on the bed. I sank myself into the familiar comfort of the mattress.
Susan stepped in front of me once more. "Angel, I promise, what you're feeling now isn't real. Don't be stupid and let us help you, for fuck's sake! We're your friends!"
"Forget it, Susan."
I could tell Susan was uncomfortable hearing her name on Draco's tongue. Everyone was when he said their names for the first time. I wanted to tell her I had felt that way too. It was Draco's way of telling you that his walls had come down, that he meant what he was saying to you. But Susan did not know that. "You can't leave her here," she cried. "She's your wife!"
Draco's grey eyes were soft. His chin trembled as he looked at me, and he pressed his lips together tightly. "I love her," he said softly, closing his eyes as if speaking to himself. "It doesn't matter if she loves me back or not."
Something in Susan snapped. "But this isn't about that, is it!" she shrieked. "We can't let Lucius have her baby! Come on, Lorcan! Pick her up and let's just get out of here!"
"Stop it!" said Hannah sternly, nudging Susan aside. She knelt down and took my hands in hers. "Angel, listen to me. If you want to stay, that's your choice. We will fight the war ourselves. But remember, you don't belong anyone, d'you hear me? Not to Codrus, not to Draco, not to us. You belong to yourself, and yourself only. We're Hufflepuffs, not pushovers. You'll remember that for me at least, won't you?"
We're Hufflepuffs, not pushovers.
It was like I had been hit with a rock. My mind shot back to a day in Hogwarts. It bright and halcyon day, blue skies and mountain breeze. We were in our first year. Draco Malfoy demanded I give my sweets over. I held them out, but Hannah took a step forward in front of me. No, she had said very loudly. We're Hufflepuffs, not pushovers.
It was a simple memory, one I forgot I even had. But like lifting a river dam, everything came crashing onto me. All at once, like rain over the savannah.
Falling at Quidditch tryouts and being pushed and sacrificing candy. Here, I just wanted to give these to you. Apple strudels and Firewhiskey and blood in the water. I'm here with you, and you're here with me. Towers and words and the silver smell of stars. Angel Dawson, you are the first and last girl I will ever love. Tattoos and Thestrals and dancing at home. Tell me something good, Malfoy. The stars coming alive. Touching his body. Tangled in his bed. I'll come back for you, I promise. Did you hear me? Ravens and letters and secret rooms. Let's stop saying things, just for tonight. Fighting and silver Hippogriffs and death. Don't forget me. A golden castle and jewels and names. Until every single star in the sky has burned out. Nightmares and crying and holding on to each other in the middle of the night. You know you have me forever, right? Gardening and shouting and crying. I want you to leave.
This time, the memories came not as empty husks. They were plump and heavy. Ripe and sweet with every single emotion I had felt.
It was like I had been sinking and now I could swim, dying and now reborn. I could breathe. I could speak. I could feel. Draco, Draco, Draco. My Ophiuchus, with the sun hair and moon eyes and constellation freckles on his back. My husband, with petal lips and eyelashes the colour of Venus.
He was looking at me again for the last time, the corners of his mouth turned down in deep sadness. He had given up. I could see it in his eyes.
"Draco." His name soared from my throat, light as feathers, heavy as bricks. I got up from the bed and started towards him. He stood frozen, letting me come. I reached for his hand, the familiar pads of his palms warm against my freezing fingers. "I'm here... I'm here with you."
And slowly, I put my arms around him, feeling the gentle curve of his spine against my wrists and the hollow of his chest against my forehead. He tensed in surprise. Then, I was enveloped in his arms. He smelt like fresh winter pine and sparkling first snow.
No words were needed. The connection of our bodies seemed to charge an energy within us. It was heated and fluid, like hot chocolate by the fire. Like dancing to Michael Bublé. Like whispering under the blankets before bed.
I felt the top of my head begin to wet as he pressed his face into my hair. The suppressed hitches in his chest, expanding and contracting softly against mine with each quiet sob.
No one made a sound. Somehow, they seemed to know this moment was a magic of its own. Draco and I stood for a long time, existing simply in each other's embrace. It was Hannah who eventually broke the silence. "Let's go."
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The air was cool against my cheeks as we raced down the halls. My hand was clutched in Draco's, his metal rings sending jolts of chills down my arm. We flew past bedrooms and turned corners until we came to the foyer.
It was empty, the entire house now cleared out of all festivities. There was no sign of Lucius or any of the Death Eaters at all. We ran towards the doors, Hannah's arm outstretched in preparation to push them open. I thought of what it would feel like when we opened those doors, how the sunlight would hit my face and shine its glare in my eyes.
And like taking a hammer to a mirror, those thoughts were shattered when Hannah was suddenly and violently yanked away by her arm.
We did not have time to comprehend what had happened. She screamed in shock, and my heart felt like it had stopped. Codrus held her, his muscular arms bent over her neck in a lock. They aimed their wands at him, but Codrus already had his pointed to Hannah's head. "Move and she dies."
They held steady. "There's three of us and one of you," Lorcan observed. "You can't get out of this. Just let her go."
Codrus only grinned, his pearly teeth glinting with menace. "I can't do that, now, can I?" he sneered. "Not when you have something we want."
Me. They were talking about me. My hand instinctively went to my stomach.
Codrus staggered forward, keeping Hannah close to him. "I propose... a little trade," he said. "A life for a life."
"Fuck you," Hannah spat at him, but he only pressed his arm tighter against her throat, causing her to choke. "So? What do you say? Give Angel over, and you four can go home as if it never happened."
There was silence. I would have liked to think they were assessing the situation, to see if there was a way we could all get out of here alive. But that was not the truth. The truth was that they were considering Codrus' offer. My life was more precious than Hannah's. Lucius could not have my baby.
I looked at Hannah's wand on the ground. Just like Dumbledore's fateful day in the Astronomy Tower, it was too far away for me to reach.
No one said anything, and Codrus lost his patience. "GIVE ANGEL TO ME OR I WILL TEAR HER THROAT OPEN IN A SINGLE WORD!" he shouted, sending spittle flying. His cyan eyes blazed with such manic intensity that I knew he meant it.
My voice cut the air like a hot knife to butter. "If I give myself over, you will promise to let her go."
"You will do no such thing!" growled Draco. His eyes were still focused on Codrus, but his grip was crushing my hand.
Codrus grinned, his chest heaving from his outburst. "I knew you'd come to your senses, Angel," he said in a sing-song voice. I saw his hold on Hannah loosen. "Angel, don't you fucking dare!" she sputtered. "I forbid it!"
I unfurled my fingers from Draco's. "What are you doing?" He held on, his fingers clamping down so hard it hurt. "Let go, Draco," I told him gently. The others began to realise what I was doing. Hannah hurled desperate threats at me. Susan and Lorcan began to protest vehemently, speaking over each other.
"Wait, let's think about this!"
"Angel, if you give yourself up, this would have all been for nothing!"
I could only see Draco. I did not want to leave him again, but he would never give me up in exchange for Hannah. It was completely out of the question. I knew what I had to do. "It's alright," I whispered. "Let me go."