CH-73

She doesn't quite have the right reason why I don't want to get married, but I don't mind letting her believe that what she said is the truth.

"Marriage didn't hold me back," Father says.

"But look at where you stand, and then look at where I stand."

"You were married."

"Yes, but the key word there is 'were'. I was married, and now I'm not. Marriage is such a distraction. How can one properly serve the Dark Lord with such a distraction?"

"Bella, please don't interfere on this matter," Mother says.

"Who did you two have in mind for my nephew, then?"

"Don't tell—" Father starts to say, but it's too late.

"Astoria Greengrass," Mother says.

"You have got to be kidding me," I say without thinking.

"What kind of an attitude is that? What do you have against Miss Greengrass?" my father immediately asks.

"Only that she's about as thick as a cow," I reply, eliciting an amused laugh from my aunt.

"Draco! She's a beautiful young lady. Don't ever let me hear you comparing her to livestock again," Mother reprimands me.

"But it's true. She's dumb as a mule. I can't hold a conversation with her."

"Her intelligence is not a factor—" Father begins.

"Dear god, Lucius, if you think she's pretty, marry her yourself."

"Bella!" Mother exclaims.

I can't help but laugh at that.

"You think this is funny, do you?" Father demands, rounding on me.

Aunt Bella glares at him, all amusement vanishing from her features in an instant. "If you hurt that boy again, I swear to you—"

"He is my son, and I will punish him as I see fit!"

He points his wand at me, but Mother grabs his wand arm to stop him. Father throws her off and points his wand at her instead.

"And you!" he roars. "I've had enough of your insubordination. You will obey me!"

"Lucius, that's enough!" Aunt Bella shouts.

Then Mother is writhing on the ground, a sight too familiar to my eyes. Despite all my years of schooling and all the time I spent practicing spells, I feel like I'm four years old again, unable to lift a finger.

Aunt Bella flicks her wand, throwing Father up against the wall.

"I said, enough!" she bellows. "Draco, take his wand from him."

I glance at my mother, who's breathing heavily on the ground. She'll be all right. I step over to my father and pry his wand out of his hands.

"I never liked you, Lucius," Aunt Bella says venomously. "As long as Cissy loves you, I will not hurt you. But I will not stand by and watch them suffer at your hands."

"That's more than slightly hypocritical, don't you think, Bellatrix? You've tortured Draco more than once, yourself," Father says disdainfully.

"Bella please, put him down," Mother says.

She's gotten to her feet and is looking between Father and Aunt Bella worriedly.

"Fine. But consider yourself warned, Lucius."

She releases the spell holding him up and spins on her heel, walking away swiftly. I toss my father's wand at him, and he catches it.

"Mother, Father," I say in farewell.

I turn and follow Aunt Bella down the hall. When we're downstairs, she finally turns around to face me—she knows that I have questions.

"What the hell was that about?" I ask her.

"Contrary to popular belief, I do care for my family."

I nod. "Dark Lord first, family second. I know. But I've never seen you lose it like that before, and this has been going on for years."

"Well, better late than never," she says. "I am sick and tired of listening to Cissy's screams. I told her not to marry into this cursed family."

"Hey, this is my family you're talking about," I say, grinning.

She only sighs in response.

A moment later, she asks, "When will you meet the Dark Lord tomorrow?"

"Nine thirty, at night," I reply.

"Ah, that's too bad," she says. "I was going to ask you to accompany me to pay Mundungus Fletcher a visit."

I frown. "Isn't he a member of the Order? Why would he—"

"Oh, you don't know yet! Tonight, we finally infiltrated the Order's headquarters. You weren't at home when we struck. Unfortunately, Mundungus must not have known all of their locations, because most of them disappeared to some alternate location. We're taking turns, seeing if we can torture it out of him."

"Can the Fidelius Charm be broken by torture?" I ask.

"It's worth a try."

I nod. "I suppose so."

Aunt Bella looks down the hall, in the direction of her quarters. "It's very late, and I have things to do tomorrow, as do you. Go to bed, Draco. And don't worry about your parents. They'll come around."

She starts walking away.

"Aunt Bella…"

She looks at me over her shoulder.

"…thanks."

She gives me a half-smile before disappearing down the dark hallway. I hear her footsteps slowly fade away, and then I head back up to my room.

Lying down on the bed, my head is jumbled up with all the things that happened in the past few hours.

I thought they'd had Mundungus in custody already. How the fuck did he get out? His escape from the Order headquarters explains how the Death Eaters would know where to attack, but I don't see how he could have gotten out.

I can't believe my father is thinking about my marriage. Out of all the things he could be worrying about, he chooses my marriage. Fuck, I don't want to marry Astoria. I'd take Daphne over her. Even Pansy—at least she's got a brain, even if she's a bit pug-faced and unpleasant to look at.

But it's all right. They can't force me to marry her. I'll just reject the marriage. Mother doesn't think it's a good time to be wed, anyway.

I ponder whether or not Rowle will be able to pull off the little heist I have planned for him. It's pretty simple, but Rowle is not the brightest man there is. I'm not as worried about his success as I am about covering my tracks. If Voldemort gets wind that his dagger has been stolen, he'll probably go mad. I can't have him finding a connection between Rowle and me—that's why I told Rowle to go at ten o'clock tomorrow evening. At that time, I'm certain I'll still be at Voldemort's side, throwing suspicion off me.

But I still have the sinking feeling that there's a huge chance that this won't work out. My last night in this bed might be coming soon. And then it'll be a bed of earth that I'll forever sleep on.

How bloody poetic of me. Fucking hell.

I close my eyes and inhale deeply through my nose. I can still smell Granger—her distinctive, fresh, flowery scent is so clear in my memory. Just thinking about our kiss has the blood in my body rushing south, and I feel myself hardening.

Fuck, Granger.

I chuckle. I do want to fuck Granger.

Laughing at my own thoughts. I must be tired.

I remember the light kiss that she'd given me, the first one she'd initiated. Her lips pressed so, so softly against mine, and all I wanted was to take her, right then and there. It didn't matter to me that Ginevra Weasley was lying one bed over, or that Blaise, Potter, and Weasley were only separated from us by two doors. I wanted to pound into her until she was screaming my name, loud enough so that the whole world would know that she was mine.

Fuck, I'm hard as a rock.

I take a few deep, controlled breaths to slow my heart rate and calm myself down.

K̾o̾-̾f̾i̾

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