NOTE: I do not own any of the ideas or characters expressed in this story (except Cassie Jackson). All of these belong to J.K. Rowling.
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Draco P.O.V.
It’s more difficult than it seems to change out of soaking wet clothes when your fingers are so numb they can’t even bend. The fabric keeps slipping out of my fingers, and I’m starting to get seriously frustrated. Blaise told me Snape wants me in his office as soon as possible, but I’m having difficulties just changing out of my wet clothes.
I manage it somehow and start down the stairs of my dormitory to head all the way up to Snape’s office. I’m feeling a bit better now that I’ve got warm, dry clothes on, but only if I ignore the painful ache in my chest.
With curfew over an hour away, some people are still out of their common rooms, and many notice me walking purposefully through the halls. I know I must look like a wreck with my reddened eyes and pale face, but to be honest, I don’t give a crap right now.
By the time I reach Snape’s office, I’ve gotten more curious glances than I can count. I knock carefully on his door, but it swings open before I hear any sort of response from inside. I take a cautious step forward to see Severus Snape sitting in the ebony Headmaster’s desk. Dumbledore’s old desk. My head spins as the events from last year resurface, but I force them back down. Too much is happening today to possibly think about that.
Snape looks up to see me standing there awkwardly in the doorway, and he gives my face a mildly curious glance. To his credit, Snape decides not to mention how awful I look as he drawls, “I’ll Apparate you to Malfoy Manor in a minute. Wait until I’ve finished.”
I give a stiff nod, swallowing the snappy retort that I can indeed Apparate on my own, that I don’t need him to do it for me. I realize it’s best not to argue with Snape at the moment as I watch him frown over the papers, his worry-lined face looking much older than usual.
As I watch him carefully, an intense surge of anger rises up inside me. It’s his fault, what’s happening to this school and everyone in it. He’s the one who hired the Carrows and made Hogwarts a living hell. I glare heatedly at the top of Snape’s head as he bends over the papers, trying desperately to contain myself. My mind feels frayed after…everything, so I’m not too far from losing it completely again.
Snape puts down his quill suddenly and rises smoothly from his chair, effectively ending my furious thoughts. He steps away from the immense desk and strides to the center of the room without a glance in my direction. “Come here.”
Trying not to be annoyed with his commanding tone, I reluctantly walk over to stand beside Snape, eyeing him carefully. He extends his arm to me, and I take a deep breath before accepting it.
There’s a loud crack, and I have the familiar feeling of being sucked through a small tube, twisting this way and that until my feet finally hit solid ground. I only feel dizzy and sick for a few seconds, having Apparated so often this summer that I’ve gotten used to the side effects. I blink briefly and glance around half-heartedly to see the walls of the entrance hall at Malfoy Manor.
Snape turns to me with a cold, expressionless face and says, “I’ll be leaving now. When you’ve finished speaking with Lucius and Narcissa, Apparate outside the gates of Hogwarts. I’ll send someone to let you in.”
I nod after a moment, wondering why I couldn’t have just Apparated here from the gates instead of having Snape do it for me. The Headmaster takes a step back away from me just to be safe, but before he Apparates back to his office, Snape gives me the most unsettling look. He gazes down at me with pity and sadness shining in his eyes, then disappears with the usual crack. As he Disapparates, I come to the strange realization that Snape had given me the exact same look Blaise had earlier. What the hell is going on?
Before I can think any more on it, a shrill, “Draco!” distracts me. I turn reluctantly to see my mother practically running down the hall towards me, her eyes glistening with tears. I don’t even try to stop her as she pulls me into a bone-crushing hug, whispering in my ear, “I’ve missed you so, so much, sweetheart.”
Normally, I would push her off me and complain about how she was smothering me, but I don’t seem to have the strength this time. As she slowly pulls away and holds me at arms length, I notice how haunted and dull her figure is, even worse than when I left over two months ago. My mother looks me over carefully, and I can tell she’s thinking the exact same thing about me.
“Is—is something wrong?” she asks cautiously, gazing at my red eyes and deathly white face.
I swallow hard and force myself to nod, knowing if I try to say anything that nothing will come out. Yes. Something is wrong, but you can never understand even if I try to explain.
My mother gives a weak smile, but she wears the same expression both Snape and Blaise gave me earlier. She grips my shoulders tightly as she says almost guiltily, “Draco, your father and I…we…we need you to do something for us.”
Oh god…not another task, please no.
When I don’t attempt to say anything in return, my mother continues shakily, “The Dark Lord…we haven’t done much to please him these past few months. Your father had an idea…so he spoke with Yaxley about it. You remember him, don’t you?”
I give another stiff nod, feeling sick at the mention of Yaxley. He’s just like the rest of the Death Eaters, and I’m just as disgusted by him. My mother has tears threatening to spill over as she says, “Well, Yaxley agreed to your father’s idea, but…I’m afraid you won’t like it, sweetheart.”
I swallow once more and force out in an unnaturally thick voice, “Just tell me what it is.”
“…do you remember…that Yaxley had a daughter?”
“I…what?” I remember her, sure; she’s a Death Eater as well, but Yaxley never lets her come to any of the meetings. I’ve only seen her once—I just remember being angry that I had to come to the meetings and she didn’t. But I don’t see what Yaxley’s daughter has to do with anything.
My mother is now opening and closing her mouth, unsure of what to say. She stammers out, “Draco, we…you and her, we need you to—“
The sudden appearance of Lucius Malfoy in the doorway of the living room stops my mother’s struggle to find the right words. She turns to him hopelessly, searching his dull eyes for some sort of help. I look up at my father and see how terrible he looks, so thin that most of his bones are visible. I glance away quickly, not wanting to see how completely broken he looks now.
Lucius steps beside my mother, looking down at me blankly. He offers no greeting, just says to me emotionlessly, “You and Yaxley’s daughter are to marry by the winter of next year.”
The words don’t register in my mind for quite a while. As I slowly attempt to put two and two together, my parents watch me carefully for my reaction. I realize Lucius is gazing down at me as though he expects me to accept this without question, while my mother is looking at me fearfully like I might explode at any second. I force myself to blink a few times, trying desperately not to vomit up my insides all over the marble flooring. Did he really just suggest…marriage?
“It will please the Dark Lord, Draco,” my mother whispers carefully, eyeing me. “Yaxley is a trusted follower, you know that. There is no other option.”
I take a step back from the both of them, my head spinning sickeningly. This cannot be happening, not after everything I’ve been through today. Not after what happened with Cassie.
Swallowing hard, I force out shakily, “You want us to…have a—an arranged marriage?”
Lucius nods impassively, seeming to feel no remorse for this. “Yaxley understands what this will do for us, and he’s being very generous.” He adds on forcefully, “Don’t screw this up, Draco. Yaxley won’t allow us to go through with the marriage if he sees that you don’t want it.”
“Of course I don’t want it!” I spit suddenly, startling my mother so badly that she jumps. My voice rises dangerously as I snap harshly, “I never wanted something like this. I have a right to make my own decisions, and I am not going to marry someone I barely know. You can’t force me to do something like that!”
“Draco, be quiet,” Lucius hisses, stepping closer to me with his hand raised. “We have guests—“
He stops mid-sentence, staring in fear at something behind me. Breathing heavily in pure anger, I turn furiously to see none other than Yaxley standing in the door way of the living room. I freeze, having assumed only my parents were in the house. Yaxley eyes me coldly for a moment before a blonde, slightly shorter girl steps out from behind him.
We stare at each other carefully for much longer than necessary, eyeing one another suspiciously. I take another step away from my father, praying the whole time for Yaxley’s daughter not to come near me, because I know that I might lose it.
The five of us stand there awkwardly in the entrance hall together, looking around carefully to avoid eye contact. My mother breaks the uncomfortable silence by saying calmly, “Draco, you’ve met Yaxley before. This…this is his daughter, Samantha.”
She gazes up at me cautiously with blue eyes, then takes a careful step forward. Her voice sounds small and quiet as she says to me, “Pleased to meet you, Draco Malfoy.”
I feel completely and utterly disgusted by what is going on. The four of them are acting as though this is actually normal, as though I’d actually be okay with this. Samantha is still holding out her hand for me to shake, so I take it reluctantly, trying my hardest not to cringe at her touch.
So many terrible things have happened to me today that I’m barely keeping from collapsing. It feels as though it’s been one awful thing after the other—first Cassie and now this. I stumble away from Yaxley’s daughter, feeling the vomit burning its way up my throat. I can’t do this, I can’t. “I—I…”
My mother steps in quickly, realizing that I’m about to tell Yaxley that this marriage is not something I even remotely want. She cuts me off quickly, saying cheerfully, “Yaxley, why don’t you and Samantha return to the living room? Lucius and I need to speak with Draco for another minute.”
Yaxley nods suspiciously, eyeing my panicked face as he turns away with his daughter back to the living room. As soon as the two of them have disappeared, Lucius turns to me in fury. “What were you thinking, Draco, I told you not to—“
“I don’t care,” I hiss bravely, looking him in the eyes defiantly even though my fingers refuse to stop shaking. “I can’t marry her. I can’t.”
Maybe it’s the pain in my voice, but my mother whispers suddenly, “Draco, are you...are you dating someone?”
I don’t answer, because a lump in my throat is forming as I realize that no…I’m not dating anyone anymore.
Lucius’s face turns cold at my unresponsiveness, and he bites out, “Who is she?”
The sickness suddenly takes over my stomach and I have the intense urge to vomit for what feels like the fifth time today. I turn away from my parents without a word and start unsteadily for the door, realizing I can’t be in this house for a second longer.
I can hear my father start after me again, snapping furiously, “Draco, do not walk out that door.”
But I do, and I don’t even think twice about it. They’ve gone too far this time; I can’t do something like that for them. Lucius’s voice increases in volume as he stops in the doorway, shouting after me, “You cannot just walk away from this, Draco. Get back here, boy. Draco!”
I Disapparate with a loud crack and tears in my eyes, leaving my father yelling at nothing but the cold night air.
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Ok, so I know this chapter took a random turn of events...but it'll all piece together eventually :D anyway, thank you all so much for all your reads, votes and comments!! they really mean so much to me (':