"Come on, Elle!" Draco called, pulling me into the street. We had gone to lunch from the Apothicary about thirty minutes ago, and word had caught on. It seemed like every reporter in the country was there, and they all wanted to hound Draco and I for information. Needless to say, it kept us from enjoying our dinner and freaked me out. I had not clue why there were so interested in my life, or the wedding, but it was enough to scare anyone.
Draco and I began sprinting towards the Apothicary, while all of the reporters followed ofter us, their auto-writing quills floating behind them.
"What does your dress look like, Miss Snape?"
"May we see the ring?"
"How long did it take you to realise that you loved her, Mr. Malfoy?"
"Do you plan on having kids?"
Does the wedding have a theme?"
"What is the menue for the reception?"
"Where is the wedding taking place?"
"My I have a word, Miss Snape?"
"Do you think your Uncle would have approved?"
"Mr. Malfoy!"
"Miss Snape!"
"Come on!" Draco pulled me into the Apothicary doors and lead me towards the back. Lucius eyed us in surprise.
"What is going on?" He asked. As if to answer his quietion, the press came through the door like a heard of cattle.
"Ignore them!" Draco yelled, then pulled me into Lucius back office behind the counter.
"They are not obligated to answer any questions." I heard Lucius say through the door. I sat down on the couch I usually took naps on.
"What about you, Mr. Malfoy? How do you feel about this?"
"I have no comment. I am affraid I must ask you to leave. If you do not, I will be forced to inform the authorities." Lucius's threat must have worked, because after that was silence.
As the shock began to go away, anxiety started to kick in. I put my hands to my face as I began crying. That was terrifying, not to mention rude and disrespectful. If I wanted to go eat, I shouldn't have been bothered. And some of those questions were just hurtful, such as 'What would your Uncle think of this?'. That was none of their business, as well as a question I hadn't considered. How would Uncle Severus react to Draco and I getting married?
I guess he wouldn't mind as long as I was happy: or, as happy as I could be, atleast. Same for Scabior and Vincent. All they wanted in life wasfor me to be hapyy, and I guess since I love (as far as I knew) Draco, that would make the most sense. I was comfortable around him, and he knew how to calm me down, even when I didn't want him to. Marrying him was the most sensible solution, and-
"Calm down, Elle." Lucius's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. He was standing in the now opened doorway. "If they bother you again, we are getting the Ministry involved, okay?"
"Why are they interested in me?" I sniffed, and leaned against Draco who was sitting beside me.
"It's because of you."
"What do you mean?"
"They are interested in you because you survived the Killing Curse. Your Uncle ended up being a double agent for the War. You've almost been adopted by a well know, and one of the oldest known, Pure-blood Wizarding Families, and you're marrying one. Not to mention you spent the first part of your life with your father, then was orphaned. You're life is like a book, and as sad as it is, they are using it for entertainment."
"But I don't want anyone reading about my life! I just... I want to keep it all to myself... No one needs to know!" I began to sob. Draco wrapped his arms around me, but I pushed them off. I was begining to feel closed in.
"I know." Lucius replied, sadly.
"It's okay, Elle. I promise. Once they wedding is over, they'll leave us alone." Draco tried to assure, but I could tell by his voice that he wasn't sure. If they were so interested in me before, what would change after the wedding? Nothing. They would just want to know about 'the honeymoon', or 'the kid' (that we probably were not having, seeing that Draco was only marrying me out of pity. Plus, kids were gross, I didn't really want one myself.), or 'the happily ever after (or not so happily ever after). It was all none of their business, and they needed to get their noses out of it.
"How about you go home and try to calm down? Maybe take a warm bath?" Lucius suggested. That sounded nice, except Narcissa was out planning the wedding, so she wasn't home, and I didn't want to be home alone.
"Narcissa isn't home..." I trailed off. He shook his head.
"Draco, take her home. I will be fine here. Run her a bath. Have Gumby fix her some tea. How does that sound?"
"Yeah..." I sniffed and swollowed. Draco stood up, pulling me up with him.
"If you want to, you can send Gumby out to get you a new book, too."
"Okay..." I grabbed Draco's hand.
"Thanks Dad." Draco nodded, then looked at me. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah..." I nodded, then looked down at the ground.
"Be good, Elle. Draco, if you need me, feel free to Floo."
"Alrigh, thanks, Dad." Draco said, then Disapparated.
We ended up in his room. He let go of my hand.
"Gumby!" Draco called out. The House Elf appeared before us.
"Yes, Little Master?"
"Brew Elle some tea." He commanded.
"Yes, Little Master." Gumby did his signature bow, then Disapparated. Draco sat me down on his bed.
"Sit there and I'll start running you a bath. Unless you want to come with me. You can do that, too. Which ever."
"I think I want to go with you..." I hopped off the bed and followed him into his bathroom.
We stayed silent as he ran the bath water. Although we didn't talk, it felt nice to have his company.I could smell lavender wiffs coming from what ever oil he had poured into the water. When the tub was full, we went towards the door.
"If you need me yell." He instructed, then went out the door. I undressed and slowly started putting my whole body in the water. It was really hot, hot enough to let off steam and turn my pale skin red, but that was a good thing. It helped relax me although it burned. Perhaps I was usuing one pain to numb another.
When I finally got my whole body in, Gumby appeared holding a tea kettle and a cup on a tray. It instantly stiffened. Although he was a House Elf, it felt akward for him to be in there because I was naked.
" Gumby has Little Female Mater's Tea. Little Female Master want Gumby to leave tea here?" He asked, pouring the tea into the cup and putting it on the edge of the tub. "Would Little Female Master like Gumby to do anything else?"
"Actually...Can you get me a copy of today's Prophet?"
"is that all Little Female Master asks of Gumby?"
"For now..." I nodded. He bowed and Disapparated. I picked up my tea and took a sip. The warm liquid actually felt a little nice. It probably had some kind of potions brewed in it specifically to calm me down. A special tea Lucius instructed Gumby to use just for me...
"Gumby had Little Female Master's paper!" The House Elf came back with a pop, making me jump. I reached out and snatched the paper. "Would Little Female Master like anyth-"
"No. Leave' I appruptly cut off. The elf just bowed and left.
I opened up the paper and looked inside. I had no intention of reading the whole paper, just a certain one. The parts about me. I scanned a bit, but I didn't have to go far. It was only on the second page, and was the headline of the second page at that.
ELEANOR SNAPE RUMORED TO MARRY IN TWO WEEKS
It read. I instantly felt rage flare through my chest. This was none of their business.
Eleanor Snape, niece of the War Hero, Severus Snape, and second person ever to survive the killing curse is rumored to be getting married! Although her new caretaker, Lucius Malfoy, and his wife, Narcissa Malfoy, was going to adopt the young adult as their offical daughter, their son and her would-have-been brother proposed to her! Obviously, she said yes! Narcissa Malfoy has been seen numerous times in Diagon Alley looking at wedding dresses and making apointments to design a wedding cake.
Although a wedding is every girls dream, especially to a millionair Malfoy, is it really good for Miss Snape? Ever since the battle, she has spent time in St. Mungo's Psychiaric Ward for Bipolar Disorder, Severe Depression, and Post Tramatic Stress Disorder. Would a marrige just add stress to her already stressful life? If the two were to have a child, what effect would this have on her mind? Would it be dangerous to the child as well?
As wild as it may sound, it may be unsafe for Draco. It is reported that Miss Snape has shown violent behavior over the smallest things.
Whether or not the wedding is a good idea, we are all eager to hear about what is to come and what it will be. Where is this wedding? What does her dress look like? What foods will be served? Who will be the best man? Who will have the honour of being the maid of honour? There are so many questions that we do not have the answers to, but we hopefully will soon.
Check out next Tuesday's Prophet to have an update on the Malfoy Wedding.
Article by Rita Skeeter.
"What is this Rubbish?!" I exclaimed, wadding the papper up and throwing it across the room. I was so angry I could growl. First she write a book about Uncle Severus, and now she was writing about me. She was using my life for mindless entertainment. Probably out of spite, too. She knew I couldn't stop her, so she wrote about me, just because she could.
"Elle? Are you okay?" Draco asked from behind the door. I took a deep breath, trying to steady my heartbeat.
"Yeah, I just thought I, uh... saw that stupid peacok in the window." I lied. He was quiet for a moment.
"Eleanor, you're on the fourth floor."
"Yeah... That's how I knew I didn't see it." I replied.
"Well... okay then. I was just making sure you were okay." He said, then I heard his footsteps walk away. I slid down in the tub, letting the water to up to my chin.
People were still writing about me, and I couldn't help it. Lucius said he would get the Ministry into it, but that's what I had done with Rita Skeeter in the first place and it didn't work. The Ministry wasn't going to do anything. I would have to do something myself, but there wasn't much I could do. I mean, I didn't even had full use on my wand, it had restrictions.
I sighed and sat up. I guess the only thing I could do was lay low and hope that they couldn't get any more information.