A/N Oh lawd, another chapter after only a few days. I'm really something :) Read and Review

"Draco, what are you doing up?," his mother finally decided to enter the conversation, apparently. Not to defend my father of course, just to nag at me. Whatever unbending loyalty Narcissa had felt for her husband during Draco's childhood had finally bent after Lucius lost his wand.

"I thought I smelled filth cross the threshold and decided to fetch a house elf to come take care of it," Draco said in a rather bored and half-hearted tone. It was almost if he was repeating a school lesson for the 200th time; his mouth could produce this venomous speech automatically, like a machine. In the Malfoy family there were right answers and wrong answers just as there was the right way to think about things and the wrong.

Rowle must have thought Draco was talking about him, and honestly the term "filth" may have been more accurately used if I had been, because he moved to raise his wand at Draco—

"Rowle, now that you have been a good delivery owl would you kindly get the hell out of my house?"

Rowle smirked at Draco, "Tah boyo, be careful where ye point that stick, now. Ye may poke out an eye." Laughing, he let go of Lovegood and strode out of the hall.

Lovegood barely reacted to being released from what must have been a very uncomfortable position (the much taller Rowle had been holding her left arm at an extremely awkward angle). She turned her gaze from Draco to look at each of his parents and then his aunt steadily for a few seconds. The three were still glaring at the large doors Rowle had exited from, ignoring their new charge until she spoke:

"Soooo…" she drew out as if to break an awkward silence, "What now?" Lovegood asked with a shrug, almost uninterestedly. It was clear to Draco from the long pause that they had no idea "what now." It was after all, 2:30 AM on Christmas Eve (or Day), and an unexpected command from the Dark Lord to interrogate (read: torture) was a little…well, unexpected.

Bellatrix took out her wand, holding loosely in her hand while grinning quite madly at Lovegood. "Girly, clearly you do not understand the situation you're in. Can't have that now can we? Hogwarts is supposed to produce only smart witches, so I suppose I'll have to continue your education. See Draco? Only Slytherin produces wizards of any real measure." Bella lectured him as if he was still before wand-age.

"When have I ever said otherwise, Aunt? Sanctimonia Vincet Semper(1), like I could forget. However, though I can see you itching to abuse this witch—

-BLOOD TRAITOR!

- to the point when you're incapable of stopping your own drool from seeping out of your mouth, -would you like a handkerchief by the way, Aunt?—perhaps it can wait until tomorrow? It is time for family merry making, unless maiming and blood stained floors are to become a new Christmas tradition?

Bellatrix gripped her wand tightly and aimed its tip right at Draco's heart. Her mad eyes bulged comically out of her sockets. Draco saw Lovegood mimic her deranged facial expression (she giggled to her self when she failed to make her eyeballs protrude near as far as his aunt's) and smiled a little.

"YOU LITTLE SHIT—"

"Bella, you DARE point your wand at my son in my own home?"

Narcissa rounded on her sister, wand raised, while her husband shouted at his in-law from afar. Even with a wand, you'd have to have some balls to take that nutter on in a duel.(2) After a few seconds; Draco grew almost as bored of the scene as Lovegood looked.

With a snap of his pale fingers, Draco summoned one of the family house elves to add pandemonium. The Malfoy elves spent their evenings cleaning the mansion and sleeping very little so as to be alert in case one of their masters needed them. Following a loud pop (one that went unnoticed by the still quarreling adults and Lovegood), a pinkish creature appeared in front of Draco. Its body was bent forward in a bow so deep; its tiny nose skimmed the stone floor.

"How may Gerda serve you, Young Master?" It squeaked while keeping its rather large green eyes on fixed on the ground.

"Gerda, take our new prisoner down to the cellar with the others. See that she has some food or something. At least someone in this God-forsaken house should have a happy Christmas." Draco said coldly while Gerda bowed quickly and rushed off to where Lovegood stood.

In the meantime, girl had turned from her captors and faced a rather large painting of his however-many- greats grandfather battling a chimera atop a winged horse. Although quite a magnificent and vibrant rendering, Lovegood seemed most intrigued by the bottom left corner, which portrayed a rather grey section of the cliff on which the beast stood. However, her attention was soon drawn to stumpy Gerda, who was briskly waddling her way. It was as if Lovegood sensed the elf coming because she turned and smiled at the creature before it had reached her.

Draco was taken aback when the much taller human stooped down so she was eye-level with the elf, reaching out to shake Gerda's hand while mouthing an introduction. Clearly Gerda was even more shocked than her master. The little elf jumped four feet back clearly unsure of how to react to this strange human.

Lovegood didn't seem put off at all at the elf's rude manner. I bet Looney is used to people trying to get as far away from her as possible. Although Malfoy was vaguely aware of Lovegood's reputation, he previously had little interaction with her that was not Potter-related. He could now say that she most definitely deserved the moniker.

Draco's head began to pound. All the screaming combined with no sleep was getting to him. He wanted this agonizing scene done with so he could go drown in a bottle of one hundred year-old firewhiskey. "GERDA, GET HER OUT OF MY SIGHT NOW!"

The elf squeaked and ran forward as if she had been struck. Grabbing Lovegood by the arm, she apparated, Draco assumed, to the cellar. His outburst finally broke up the family squabble and they all looked at him incredulously.

"I'll say goodnight then. Happy Christmas," he mumbled and walked through the door into the parlor. Closing the large door behind him, he could hear his family start up again, though perhaps they were losing steam. Perhaps Looney will be safe tonight, Bella seems to have exhausted her strength to match her sanity.

Draco looked around the parlor and breathed in deep. With all the chaos, his need to get far, far away made him momentarily forget where he was. The room contained a large table and little else. Last year, and every year he could remember, holiday dinners had been here. Malfoy parties were extremely exclusive events, yet the members of the upper crust of society who attended were large enough in number to fill every seat. Two years ago, Fudge had sat at his fathers right side and consumed so much wine his face flushed purple. And father laughed and laughed afterwards at the fool, who had sat where the Dark Lord had only the night before without knowing.

The room was sickening to Draco now. He could still picture Burbage hanging disturbingly in the air, moments from death. While at school, Draco kept himself from looking at the dead witch's former seat on the staff table (a difficult task when Alecto Carrow's nasally voice could be heard daily: accusing every student in Hufflepuff of being a mudblood or a squib over her morning bacon). But here, alone in the room where she died, Draco could not keep his feelings at bay. Mixed with revulsion and terror and (guilt?), he ran out of the room. He kept running until he stumbled into the door leading to the wine cellar.

Draco already felt drunk. His legs were like jelly and he was a tad dizzy. Fully aware drinking wouldn't help his mental state at the moment, he stumbled down the stairs anyway, grabbing the first bottle on the shelf.

He slumped down to the floor, leaning against the rack of whiskey and taking large chugs from the bottle. With each swallow, the burning fire that should have distracted his brain from anything else failed to make him forget his depression or self-pity.

Eventually, when the bottle was nearly finished, a single tear fell from his reddened ice-blue eyes. Draco never noticed his own moment of weakness; he was fast a sleep before the tear reached the tip of his pale nose.

(1) The Malfoy Family Motto visible on their crest meaning Purity Always Conquers

(2) As you should recall, Luna did take that nutter on in the Battle of Hogwarts- such a badass.

A/N, so what did you think? lots of sad Draco. I promise Luna next chapter and some interaction. I may write it partially from her point of view, haven't decided. Mostly I'm just tired of calling her Lovegood. But I'll (and you'll) have to worry about that after finals :) reviews!