◤ ❝A liar only breeds more liars.❞ ― Andromeda Erebus◢
+ BONUS TRACK! Atlantis by Seafret
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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: ANANKE
January 5, 1997
Their footsteps padded quietly on the floor below them, both accustomed by now on how to hide the sound from Filch and the prefects doing rounds. Draco stayed quiet at her side, and while it was necessary until they reached the seventh floor, she couldn't help but feel the silence in her mind, as well. Neither one of them had been very conversational after dinner with the questions Daphne asked her and Theodore about the winter break (letting out a loud "Oh, Mia! Your hand!" to make all eyes turn to her). All while she was conspiring to kill the blonde in a million different ways, Theo contained her rage long enough for Vaisey to redirect the conversation onto something else.
Seeing Andrew continue to sit with them instead of his seventh-year friends had been the biggest shock of the night. Andromeda did notice that he no longer sat next to her, but on the opposite side of Theodore between him and Daphne, who was in no way happy to be pushed down one by the Quidditch player, but she excused it for the time being. It stung in its own way, being so close to the boy and knowing that she ruined anything they may have had once before, but Andrew was the best of them and he deserved much more than what she had to offer him.
Mia knew Draco noticed how she spaced out during dinner. His grey eyes would constantly flicker to her, inspecting every movement of her face for an indication on what she was thinking. Usually she would contribute some bit of banter to the conversation, but she had been too quiet. So quiet that it was Theodore, of all people, who bit into some courage and answered questions about their break so that she wouldn't have to. No one knew that the girl was thinking of the talk she would have to have with Draco later that night. Dread had filled up her stomach quicker than the small bits of chicken she ate.
Now, Draco was the one tuned out, his thoughts far away from where he was walking. Mia couldn't help but reflect on it for a second, knowing that if it had been September all over again, he would never have put so much faith in her to be their eyes and ears. He would never allow himself to get carried away and lose focus on his surroundings―but it was January now, and he did. That was why he didn't react in the same way that she did when she heard the loud sounds of unstealthy feet, the grumbling that followed soon after belonging to none other than Filch himself.
Her first instinct was to glance around, to find the nearest place that they could hide, all while the fool next to her continued to walk with his eyes gazing distantly at his feet. Only when she grabbed his wrist tightly, urging him to walk faster, did he finally wake up from his daydreaming and hear the footsteps as well. He shot her a panicked look, no doubt wondering how they were already threatening to be caught, but he had little time to act on his fears because Mia was already pulling him to their right.
He realized that they were heading in the direction of the statue of Merlin on the fourth floor, large enough that it could just barely disguise both of their bodies if they were smart about it. Filch's footsteps had gotten louder by now, a harrowing yelp of excitement when he thought he may have heard someone. Draco had already pressed himself deep into the small space behind the statue, shifting around uncomfortably with his tall build.
He blindly grabbed for Mia next, and she barely managed to squeeze into the sliver of space between his chest and the back of the statue. When his hands caught hold of the fabric of her robe, he shifted her so that her arms were no longer in view, but out in front of her on his chest. He paid careful mind to her left hand, the injury resting softly on the fabric of his shirt.
Then, finally, Draco turned his head down in the direction of the girl he was inadvertently holding, and Mia realized just how close they actually were to one another. The proximity from earlier in the common room compared little to the centimeters parting them now. Just like that, Mia noticed that it grew harder to breathe. The palms of her hands could feel the racing heart of his, but she could have figured that out by the way their bodies were pressed together alone. She watched his lingering gaze flicker down lower than her eyes before they returned back, his brow furrowing deeply in thought.
They returned to her wondering stare and he muttered lowly, barely audible. "Is this the part where we snog in a dark corridor to escape the looming threat of detention right around the corner?"
"No, but I will break your nose as an excuse," she whispered back, making a smirk start to grow on his lips despite the circumstances they were in.
Then, there was the flickering of a flame as Filch stopped directly in front of the Merlin statue and Draco instinctively tightened his hold on her. The squib glanced around in all corners before letting out a growl in disappointment. Neither one of them breathed. Draco's eyes watched behind her head anxiously, having the only clear sight of what was happening. Mia blindly trusted him, keeping her inhales shallow and ignoring the way his fingers grazed her waist to hold her firmly where she was.
Filch pattered down the hallway after giving up, his footsteps eventually fading into the growing darkness of the castle. For a short while, the only sounds between them were their throbbing hearts as they waited until they were absolutely sure he was gone. Then, Mia let out a deep and shaky breath, her head instinctively falling forward to land on his chest. Draco's arms relaxed around her, neither one of them quite ready to admit how badly they were shaken up. Neither one of them were quite ready to let go of the other either.
"I'd imagine this is what a heart attack feels like," she muttered before sitting up straight, giving one last look Draco's way before they separated as best as possible for her to squeeze back through. She waited for him in the hall, rubbing her arms together to get rid of her anxiety. "Do you know what would have happened if we'd been caught?"
Draco sighed, and his hand went up to run through his perfect blonde hair until it was an unkept mess of nerves on top of his head. "I'd imagine any conversation with Dumbledore right now would be a bad idea for both of us...come on. Let's get to the Room quickly."
Neither one of them talked about whatever moment may have happened back behind the statue of Merlin, and if anyone dared to ask, Andromeda would say her heart was beating so loudly in her ears out of fear―not from an emotion she was not accustomed to recognize. Draco would say the same, and he would pretend like he had not noticed just how beautiful his partner in all of their ugly chaos truly was.
――――――――――
The Room of Requirements had been a rude awakening in the harsh nightmare she was already living in. Her tongue had gone stale with bitterness at the chair and the rug she slept so many nights on, the awful sight of haphzardous things everywhere around no comfort to her. Nothing among them could take the place of the emptiness she felt when she went to stand before the Cabinet. Somehow, it was different. The cracks in the foundation were gone, but they had long fixed those back in October. She did realize that it was not the physical appearance of the Cabinet that was different, but the feeling of it. In a way she could not possibly describe, the piece of furniture sunk dread deep into her bones.
But now there was a different sensation of dread that crept through her skin, and it was caused by the blank look that riddled the face of Draco when she told him about the visit she received. Her explanation had been short and to the point, giving him the synopsis of what the Dark Lord wanted from her. She waited quietly, sitting on the chair as he stood a few feet away from her. The distance had been unconsciously made between them, but she could see why now. As she watched the boy, she started picking out tell after tell that he was racking his body with rage. The small trembling of his fingers, the vein on his neck protruding, and the simple fact that she could read those grey eyes from a mile away. He was drowning in it, unwilling to let it release.
"I should have been there."
Mia exhaled deeply, moving to rub her knee with her good hand. "You couldn't have known―"
"No, I did. That is the thing, Romy. I knew. I knew that something was going to happen over the holidays. I could feel it. Mother said that he was showing up more frequently to our manor, eager to know when the holidays would begin for us, and I thought that it would be safer to stay back at the castle. I didn't think―he wasn't meant to go after you...I should have been there. Damn it!"
She watched as his wand flew out from nowhere, and a surge of energy was blasted through the thick air and at a pile of suitcases left in the corner of the room. The action hadn't done much to appease his anger, and she could see by the rising and falling of his chest that he was still struggling to control himself. For another short while, there was a chilling frequency between them as Mia watched him experience the stages of his anger like it was her own. Only when his shoulders fell in defeat did she know he had met his resolve, and he tugged deeply on his messy hair before turning back to her.
He paused, glancing down at her bandaged hand. "He did that, didn't he?"
"Draco―"
"Fuck, Romy," he huffed out, the snarl stuck on his tongue. "Why didn't you heal it right after?"
"Spite?" she offered halfheartedly, glancing down at her left hand again to play with a piece of thread hanging off of it. "I wanted to remember what happened―what he said to me, how it made me feel...and I think I needed the reminder that I could still feel pain...that I wasn't―that I wasn't like him. If I can feel this that means I'm not him."
His eyes caught on hers darkly. "You know how I feel about that."
"You didn't hear what he said. The way he talked..." she trailed off when she saw his jaw clench, the accidental reminder that he had not been present triggering him again. "Draco, he opened the book."
"What? How?"
"The book was locked shut by a number of spells from his Slug Club members. Each spell was specific to the member, almost like a fingerprint identification making it necessary to unlock it...he and I shared the same spell to open up the book. The exact same spell―and you know what the worst part of it was? He used his to extinguish a flame that my uncle created. I used it to try and drown the bloody Ravenclaws because I was upset they were talking bad about my Father...and he knew that. He could see that my intentions were darker than his. So, what is that meant to say about me, Draco?"
Draco didn't say anything, standing still in his place and staring at her with a look in his eyes that she couldn't possible explain―upset, denial, a blatant refusal to believe that what she was saying may very well turn out to be the truth? Mia wasn't sure. Only when he slowly unfroze and made slow, quiet steps over to her and sat down on the stool in front of her did she finally uncover what the look was. Guilt.
She watched in confusion as he reached out and grabbed her left wrist so casually that she was surprised how little she reacted to it. When he started pulling away at the bandage wrapping her wound shut, she instantly tried to tug him away because she knew exactly what he would try to do next. His grey eyes shot up to give her a sharp look, and that alone was enough to make her stop and willingly give up her hand to him. The wound itself was already beginning to heal, a small sliver of a scab already covering it so that no more blood could break free, but the gash itself was long and deep. From the bottom of her middle finger, down straight to the beginning of her wrist.
She didn't wince when Draco's fingers touched the skin around it, a frown pulling down darkly on his face as he inspected the wound. "It's going to scar. I don't have any dittany. If you had healed it earlier, it may not have―"
"It's all right," she interrupted softly, barely paying mind to the scar as he inspected the gash. "I already have another by him. I would gladly see this reminder every day than the one higher up."
Knowing what she meant, he peered briefly at the spot further up where her Dark Mark was and pursed his lips tighter. He kept quiet, pulling out his wand from where he had thrown it into his pocket after his demolition job. With a faint mutter of a spell, "Vulnera Sanentur," three times along the mark, they watched as it was carefully bound shut and knitted together so that a red line was the only thing left.
Mia's brows furrowed at the unfamiliarity of the healing charm. "Where did you learn that? I haven't ever heard it before. I only know Tergeo."
"Snape taught it to me," Draco muttered numbly.
"Why would you need to learn a healing cha―" she stopped herself, her eyes instantly darkening on the boy in front of her. Now, it was her turn to clench her teeth tightly together to contain her anger. "He wants to release them, you know? It won't be long now. He and the others are conspiring to break them out."
Draco sucked in a deep breath and without releasing her hand, he sat up straighter. "I figured as much. Is that all he said? Mention of the book, our mission, and the others?"
While there were certain degrees in which Mia could hide her emotions from people, there were two people that she most certainly could not disguise anything from. Draco was one of them, so he immediately noticed the way her eyes dulled at his question. His face upturned, twisting sourly in preparation for whatever she was going to say next. By her actions alone, he could see that it would probably cause another ill reaction out of him.
"Romy..." he started slowly. "What is it?"
"'Perhaps your cousin would find interest in joining us in the future,'" she recited through her teeth, unknowingly curling their hands tightly together as she remembered the words that carried with her in her nightmares now. Her eyes stayed set on the ground as she spoke, ignoring the way they burned hotly at the memory. "A family affair was what he called it."
Draco swallowed hard, knowing the sensitivity of the topic they were entering. "Theodore?"
"He knows, Draco."
There was a long pause wherein Draco thought he heard her wrong or incorrectly reasoned what she meant by those three dreadful words, but when blank eyes only met with his in confirmation, his mind whirled. It whirled with a million different words, phrases, emotions all unchecked by the festering aggravation that he felt in his chest. Was it the pitiful anger that she had not even bothered to ask for his opinion in the matter, or the underlying panic that ran through his veins at the prospect that she may not need him anymore?
Above all else, beyond every section of feeling that coursed through him, it was that he didn't even care anymore―and he knew the reason why he cared so little was because it was inevitable. Theodore had always been destined to fall into the same path as them. Draco had realized that a few months ago when he was reminded that he and Mia were not the only children of Death Eaters. In their own ways, all of them would soon fall into the same loyalties that their fathers had.
Mia began to grow antsy over his silence, shifting uncomfortably in the chair. She noticed that they were still connected by their hands, and she struggled to pull hers away from his as an uncomfortable feeling rose in her chest. She didn't want him upset with her. Not when he was the one person she wanted to talk to about what had happened over the holidays. Not when he was the only one who understood.
"He has been gauging his suspicions since we first came back from summer. After the way we started acting...it was never something that we could hide from him long, Draco. He knows me too well, every action I take before I take it and every word before it comes out. He was the one to help me with the secret to Slughorn's book with Mother," she paused, watching him cautiously. When he said nothing, she frowned. "Say something. Yell at me like I know you so desperately want to. I deserve it."
"I'm not angry."
Her brows quirked at that, and she wasted no time reaching to grab a hold of his wrists in her hands so that she could hold them out in front of them. "Really? Then why are your hands shaking like they've got an earthquake threatening to burst out of them?"
"Because I'm scared, Romy," he explained with a level of emphasis that made her ill, his blunt honesty shocking her into silence. "Everything has gone to shit in a matter of months. At first, I suppose I was too caught up in the pride of it all. The threats were there, and of course I knew that they were real, but we are so deep into this now...I have to kill Dumbledore, Romy. I have to kill someone―a man...and now you have to deal with worrying over your cousin on top of this mission with Slughorn―"
Mia's hands tightened around his wrists she still held. "Stop it. I already told you I would handle Dumbledore when the time came for it."
"And I told you I was not going to place my burdens on you. I won't let you live with something like that just for the sake of my sanity."
"Assuming I survive long enough to live with it."
His eyes flickered darkly on her. "You are not going to die, Andromeda."
"You have no proof to the otherwise," she rejected, sending him a dull stare back. "You cannot promise me that you can keep me safe from him or any other. Not when it is a decision between my life and the life of your family. I will not be the one to put you in the position to even make that decision when we both know what the answer will always be. I know what my answer would be."
"That doesn't mean I am just going to sit back and watch it happen!" he bristled, standing up once again and knocking their hands away from one another. "What would you do? If it were me offering to kill him in place of you―if it were me talking of death like it was just a measly stroll through Diagon Alley? You mean to tell me you would just accept all of my ludicrous ideas?"
Andromeda kept her lips pulled tightly together because she knew that he was right. When Draco noticed, he gestured emphatically at her silence like it was an answer of its own. "That's what I thought. You want to keep having the same argument until the blood runs out of your stubborn little mind? Fine by me. You know better than any other I won't shy away from my beliefs."
"Then I suppose there will be a lot of coming arguments between you and me."
"No more than the usual," he retorted with a scoff.
Her eyes narrowed on him. "You are insufferable."
"Only one of the many traits you find endearing about me."
"You're right," she said with a nod, tilting her head in thought. When Draco's eyes nearly bugged out of his head that she was agreeing with him, she only smirked at him. "Your other traits include your inflated ego, your unbearable narcissism, and the lack of courage you have in dangerous situations."
His stare deepened on her with a quirked brow. "Oh, really?"
"I only speak the truth."
"Something only a liar would say," he hummed, knowing her games all too well.
Her face gleamed with mischief, a grin spreading as they bickered back and forth with one another. "But lying about which part?"
"We both know you love my inflated ego."
"Oh, yes. Hearing you talk so often about yourself reminds me how important it is that I remain humble. There is only so much room for both halves of our personalities in a single room."
"I'm the better half, of course."
"Something only a person with an inflated ego would say."
Draco paused, his eyes dancing with amusement as they stared down at her place in the chair. Neither one of them commented on how odd it was that they could change directions of their conversation like a switch, or that the banter between them was the small sliver of lightheartedness that they desperately needed in that moment. His eyes moved to inspect the entirety of her face, committing her smile to memory, before he shook his head with a snort and a huff of exasperation.
"The liar and the narcissist―what a team we are."
"The most disastrous of all."
――――――――――
January 6, 1997
The next morning had come around by the time they left the Room. They hadn't been able to get a lick of sleep, too busy catching up on all of the information the other had missed over the holidays. Draco informed her that he tried another green apple in the Cabinet, and it returned entirely whole, but when he attempted to use a bird next, the animal only passed away. That left a sour taste in her mouth, but she only said she would look more into Epps' book.
She also had the misfortune of telling Draco the terrible news of his aunt's current health. The boy was visibly upset, his face twisting in a way that could only be identified as a mixture of anger and disgust. For nearly two hours, he stayed quiet, ticking away like a wrongly concocted potion in his mind. There was no good way to react to the news that Bellatrix carried the child of the Dark Lord, and that Draco would soon been related to the unborn witch or wizard by blood. Somehow, knowing him far too well, she could see the pity dug deep into his emotions as well―they both knew what would come of the child. A fate with no choice to the otherwise, just like them.
"Snape has been in a foul mood since our last talk," Draco said quietly as they made their way down the seventh-floor hallway. "I saw him once or twice in the halls, and he came to check up on those of us who stayed in the dormitories over the holidays―would you be surprised if I said he paid particularly close attention to me?"
She gave him a side eye. "You? No. Never."
"Do you think he'll let up?" he asked with a frown.
Mia paused, remembering back to the conversation she had with the man at Slughorn's party, and then the argument that all three of them got into at the end of the night. Both alluded to him involving himself in their business more than either particularly wanted. Mia knew better than anyone that he would not let up from his hopes in getting her to let go of Theodore and Draco or discovering what their missions were with the Dark Lord.
"Absolutely not. He thinks he's protecting us."
Draco's mouth twisted distastefully as they went to turn around the corridor. "All he is doing is meddling in business that doesn't concern him."
"Well what were you exp―Potter. What a pleasant surprise."
Harry Potter was just stepping out of the Fat Lady's portrait when they intersected paths with him, his eyes still bleary from sleep and glasses crooked upon his nose. Just like current of hellfire responding to its enemy, she burned hotly and curled her fists around each other. He glanced over at them in surprise, her greeting throwing him off and making him look between them with suspicion clear on his face.
Mia could see the gears turning in his head, trying to figure out why they were on the seventh-floor, so she did the first thing she could think of and decided to feed into the common rumor going around. Her hand instantly went to Draco's at her side, stepping closer to his taller frame and intertwining their fingers together. At first, she feared that he would give away the cover-up she was conspiring, but rather than glancing down at her in confusion, he only tightened his fingers around hers.
Draco looked at the foul wizard in front of him. "Potter. I had hopes the blood-traitors finally threw you out into the cold weather and let you freeze to death. They missed their opportunity to finally be rid of you...after all, your own family didn't want you, did they?"
Potter's eyes had been set on their connected hands, darting between their faces and the way that Mia was curled up into Draco's side. The appearance of them took him by so much surprise that he barely acknowledged the insult to his parents, normally more than ready to shoot back to defend them. Instead, he just trained his attention solely on them, and Mia despised the way his intense stare made worry crawl up her spine.
"What are the two of you doing up here?" he asked accusingly.
Draco's hand flexed in hers, and Mia decided to answer. "I don't believe that's any concern of yours, is it, Potter?"
"It is if you two are up to something bad," Potter retorted quickly, his mouth scowling between the two of them. They landed once again on their connected hands. "Does Parkinson know what the two of you are up to all the way on the seventh floor?"
"Want to dig your curiosity a little deeper into my life, Potter?" Draco sneered, his brows raising in question. "Jealous that I have someone interested in me and you can barely get a Mandrake to look at that mug of yours without screaming?"
Mia tried not to scrunch her face up at the bad insult, but she seemed to share in the respect that it was not one of his best. Potter only stared dully at him. "They scream already, you git. I'm not jealous. I just think you are hiding something...and I'm going to find out what it is. You can fool everyone else but I know what you are. Your fathers can't protect you now, can they?"
Draco went to lunge for the boy in an instant, Lucius Malfoy still a sore spot in the boy's side any time he was brought up. Thankfully, Mia still had a tight hold on his hand, and her other went to curl around his bicep so that she could pull him back. Draco snarled, letting out a harsh rumble of "Let go, Romy," as he glared openly at Potter. The oddest sense that she had been in this predicament before hit her, and she realized that was because she had. Back in Madam Malkin's when she had to hold him back from murdering Potter for talking about Narcissa.
"Draco. Draco, look at me," she urged, numbly, turning her back to Potter completely. He continued to seethe overhead, his grey eyes steeling like iron and molding into vicious weaponry. Her hands curled tighter around his body, tugging gently. "Draco. He isn't worth it―Draco."
The way that she said his name the last time was enough to pull his eyes away from Potter, softening instinctively of their rage when they met with her concerned brown eyes. She gave him a look only he would know to understand. Then she turned around, her body standing defensively in front of Draco with their connected hands hung behind her back. However, her left hand was open to use her wand if she needed to, but by the way Potter looked the moment his stare caught her glower, she wouldn't need to.
"You ruined what we had left of our family already, Potter. Just leave us alone. The only thing that we are hiding is the smallest ounce of happiness within one another after losing our fathers. After all, you are the reason why Draco and I were forced to become close. Are you really going to take this away from us, as well?"
Potter's gaze faltered on her daring one, all but asking him to even attempt to say something in reply to what she said. Mia knew that she had an opening with the boy, and it all had to do with his godfather murdering hers. Draco did not intimidate Potter, but she could see in his blue irises that he was battling every instinct telling him to flee in the other direction from her. His lips fell into a scowl before he turned on his heel and walked away from them to return to his House.
She and Draco didn't move until he was gone behind the Fat Lady's portrait, their shoulders stiff with tension. Then, when the portrait closed completely, Mia let out a breathy exhale and turned around to face Draco once again. He was already looking down at her, and she could see just how disheveled he had become from his rage of Potter.
She gave him a look. "You need to stop."
"He was the one who brought up our fathers―"
"And you brought up his dead parents," she finished, her lips pulling down knowingly as he glowered once again. "I know how it sounds coming from me, and I won't deny that I have reacted badly before, but we have to be more careful now, Draco. You heard what he said."
Draco clenched his jaw, but he didn't say anything for a short while as they stood there collecting their bearings. Then, he finally realized that their hands were still intertwined between them. His fingers flexed in hers again, the gaudy ring on his index finger brushing up against hers and cooling their flustered skin.
"You really think Potter believing we're a couple is a good idea?"
"Just another name on the growing list, Draco. Better than the alternative..." she paused, a crease growing in the middle of her forehead as she thought. "At least, until Parkinson finds out. Then, I might rather take on Potter."
Draco rolled his eyes. "You say that like you have anything to fear from her."
"Oh, I know she couldn't do anything to me. I just don't want to listen to her fat mouth cry every day. You'd think you were a shiny trophy to throw around instead of an actual person with the way she flaunts you around."
He raised a brow at her, a smirk quirking up the side of his lip. "Jealous, Romy?"
"No..." she said casually, her own smug look beginning to grow on her face. "You're marrying me, remember?"
"How could I forget?"
They said nothing more on their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast, already dropping their hands from one another and deciding to split up separate ways so that no one would suspect anything of them walking in together. Mia was unsurprised to have gotten there first, knowing he would take the longer route. The Hall was buzzing by that time, and she admittedly considered backing right out the door and returning to the dorms before class resumed that day. However, she could all but hear the nagging voice in her head by the name of Theodore and accepted defeat.
When she got to the dining table where all of her classmates sat but one, Theodore quickly turned his attention to her. She slid easily into the open spot between him and Blaise today, sending a nod of acknowledgement to a half-asleep Tracey across from her. Vaisey was next to Theodore again, and Daphne must have decided she wanted to sit across from Theo because she was next to the dozing Tracey. Crabbe and Goyle were further down and already sucking in their vacuum of food. Parkinson was two seats down from Tracey next to Bulstrode, leaving an open space between them directly in front of Blaise.
That open space was immediately what Theo's eyes darted toward before looking back at her in question. Mia paused, knowing what he was silently asking, before she gave a subtle nod and moved to grab a small thing of fruit off the center of the table. Unsurprisingly, as she was doing so, there was a large biscuit placed on her plate not long after and a pointed look from Theo not long after.
"Your hair is blue," was the start of the coming conversation, and she had nearly choked on a strawberry when she realized that it was Andrew speaking directly to her. Theodore was leaning far enough back that she could see his face, and her heart broke in two when she noticed the way his eyes flickered from her colorful hair to her. It was such a reminder of a past moment, not even two months ago, when they were in a similar discussion.
Theodore glanced over at her hair, a small smile starting to pull on his lips before he turned to look at Andrew. "I think I like the green more."
"No, I don't think so. The blue builds more character. Wouldn't want to be too prideful," Andrew quickly quipped back to Theo's statement, grinning over at him before he turned to look at Mia again. This time, his expression softened and he gave her a knowing look that said everything it needed to. "You look beautiful as ever, Mia...although...."
The way his words trailed off and the twinkle that lit up in his mischievous green eyes reminded her so much of the old Vaisey (and oddly similar to Theodore). Mia realized what he was doing before his victim did, and she reveled in the baffled expression on her cousin's face when he heard that wretched spell go off at the breakfast table. Andrew grinned proudly, looking at his artwork on Theodore before setting his wand back down. Daphne, on the other hand, let out a loud and horrified gasp as she saw the twin shade of blue temporary dyed into Theodore's brown mess of hair.
"There we are," Andrew said with amusement. "Wouldn't want Mia to outshow you, would we, Theo?"
Theo turned to him with a scowl, but Mia could see it didn't meet his eyes. "Be expecting something in return for this."
"Oh, I can't wait."
The blue-haired cousins looked up when someone approached their table, taking the last open seat. Draco spared a brief eye roll at Tracey when she lifted her head long enough to give him a look of disgust, but then his eyes moved momentarily over to them. They didn't stay on either of them long, his attention going to Theodore's dyed hair briefly before moving onto her. They acknowledged one another like they had not just spent the entire night together, and Mia moved her eyes away quickly when she saw Parkinson immediately leech herself on Draco.
"Where did you go this morning?" Blaise suddenly asked, bringing all attention to him as he looked at Draco. Parkinson stiffened at her boyfriend's side, looking immediately at Mia with accusing eyes. "I got up around six to take a piss and you were gone."
Tracey lifted her head at that, her tired eyes darting suspiciously from the boy next to her to the girl in front of her. "Yeah, where were you, Mia? Usually you're still in bed when Daphne drags me up for breakfast, but you weren't there either."
Neither one of them breathed for a moment, Draco and Mia not daring to look at one another out of fear that that would only solidify the truth. Parkinson was already beginning to work herself up beside him, her eyes full of wrath and fury as she instantly started to connect the dots. Then, out of the blue (pun intended), there was a beacon of light emitting from beside her that went by the name of Theodore Nott.
"Draco was with me," and all eyes turned to look at Theo in surprise at his revelation. His lie. Everyone knew the boys weren't close friends, and even Draco's eyebrows shot up in surprise before he surpressed his shock. Theodore nodded casually and continued. "I asked him before break if he could teach me some things before the Ravenclaw game―helps to have another opinion on how I'm doing. We were out on the pitch for an hour or so, but he got up before me."
Instantly, three people relaxed―Draco, Mia, and Parkinson―each of them for different reasons. However, that did not answer Tracey's question and the girl looked at Mia with arched brows. Clearly, she was not as convinced by Theodore's cover up.
"And you?" Tracey asked. "Where did you run off to?"
"With me, obviously," Andrew spoke up that time.
Mia's hand tightened around her fork, and she was once again reminded of how truly surprising Andrew Vaisey was. She glanced over at him, careful to keep a look of shock off her face, and she was surprised to see how he was still grinning from ear-to-ear as if he were happy to indulge all of their (fake) secrets. Directly beside her, she felt Theodore's knee knock into hers, alerting her that Andrew was covering for her just as much as he was covering up for Draco.
Still, Tracey was not convinced. "That's funny. I thought you and Mia broke up."
"We were never together," Mia corrected, rolling her eyes as she stabbed a raspberry.
"Then what exactly were the two of you doing?"
"Studying," Andrew excused with a shrug.
Even Daphne had to admit that that was a horrible excuse, and she raised her brows at him. "At six thirty in the morning?"
"It's a euphemism, of course. I can gladly divulge all of the dirty details later―unless you would like to tell them, Mia―but I wouldn't want to spoil Theodore's breakfast."
"Or mine," Blaise grumbled beside Mia. "I don't need that picture in my mind. I'll gladly take studying over whatever classroom the two of you have ruined."
There was a long pause between all of them, and no one was quite sure of what to say. Mia continued to pick at the fruit on her plate in irritation, the entire conversation paired with sleep deprivation and Potter doing absolutely nothing for her mood. She could feel that Theodore had grown tense at her side, as well, and one glance over at him and Andrew was enough for her to see that they were clearly trying to get rid of the tension from their blatant lies as well.
Finally, she was brave enough to look diagonal to her and see what was happening with Draco. She noticed instantly that he had pushed Parkinson off his shoulder, the girl frowning into her bowl of oatmeal and fruit with a bitter look. As if he could feel the lingering gaze, he glanced up from the green apple he was playing with. The grey in his eyes was stormy again, proving to her that he was just as riled up from the conversation as she was.
A liar only breeds more liars, she thought, and while she hadn't been intending on using her Legilimency, the unwavering eye contact between the two of them was enough to send the message into his unguarded mind long enough for his mouth to drop into a frown. The little crease above his brow raised, twitching in response to her words, but that was the end of their interaction.
Draco and Mia would never admit that much of what happened that night would never be spoken of again. Not to each other, and certainly not to themselves.
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Author's Note:
Me: sobbing because this chapter is literally all Dromy scenes, and I am living for the next transition of their relationship. They've got from distant acquaintances, to allies, to friends, and...well, what do you think is next?
The final scene is probably another favorite of mine to write because it shows that Theodore and Andrew were so quick and willing to cover for Draco and Mia (MAINLY Mia because neither one of them exactly give a single fuck about Draco outside of their concern for their favorite baby Erebus). I never spoke much about how it may look bad that they are always missing and working on the Cabinet, so I felt like this scene was necessary!
Did you like the scene with Harry? It needed to be done. No interaction was between Draco and Harry in the books, but I wanted to prove that things are changing from the canon style of the book because of Mia (not a lot, just little things like this). Since she was with Draco, they stayed later in the Room and therefore had been caught by Harry as he was leaving.
What did you think? What are your thoughts on Draco and Romy?
(I totally had to write the cliche 'hiding so we don't get caught' scene in every book, but with a twist. They didn't actually kiss 'cause it's too soon for that and we don't support cheating over here!)
What about Theodore and Andrew's lying for them? Or them in general? Do you want to die as much as I do writing them because they are adorable?
As always, please leave a review and let me know what you think of this chapter and the story so far! Any more ideas on how Half-Blood Prince is going to end?
Will Mia be the one to kill Dumbledore? Hm.
ANANKE: PERSONIFICATION OF INEVITABILITY AND FATE; THE COURSE OF LIFE