1It had been nearly a month-and-a-half since Mom died. It was June 17th, two days after our little spat as I sat in front of St. Mungo's. He picked me up surprisingly on schedule at 3:30. I chose to sit in the back, wanting to be as far away from him as possible. We then set out on an hour and a half drive to the home of one of the Minister of Magic's most trusted colleagues, Lucius Malfoy. Just the name sounded greasy and disgusting.
Car trips require little to no talking, so I found no problem in refusing to speak the entire trip. Every once in a while, he attempted to begin a conversation but I blatantly ignored him. Finally we arrived at a large white house with many topiaries and red roses all over the front garden. Waiting for us, on the grand front step, was the Malfoy family. I stepped out of the car and as they approached us I turned to my dad for one last plea.
"Please don't do this! You're just throwing me away."
"Stop it Kat."
"You won't be able to live with yourself! You're being a horrible father! I…" He turned me around to greet my hosts. "Hello," I said through an enormous smile.
"Katrina, this is Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy," Dad announced. "And this is my daughter Katrina."
"Good day my dear, we are so happy to have you here!" said Mrs. Malfoy, smiling. She had a curt, stern face; I assumed that she almost never smiled.
"Yes a pleasure," said Mr. Malfoy, his long platinum hair hanging lower than his wife's. He shook my hand with a firm, chilling grip. "And our son, Draco." A young boy, no older than me, smirked and kissed my hand.
"Glad to meet you." Despite my bitter mood there was something about his icy eyes that entranced me. I shook out of the trance as Dad dropped my bags by my side.
"Well darling, I'll miss you." I ignored him and bent to grab my bags. But Dad stopped me by wrapping his arms around me. I tried to return the affection, but it was difficult. When I broke away he started to get back into the car and Draco was trying to pick up my bags.
"No, its fine, I'll get them," I said, trying to take them from him. He was having trouble lifting one.
"No, I insist," he said.
"No, really! I'll get…THEM!" I pulled them from his grip and almost fell backwards.
"That one is bloody heavy!" he said pointing to the one in my right hand. "What do you have in there?" I looked at him for a moment.
"Firearms," I said with a bit of sarcasm. Mr. Malfoy smirked at my playful banter as I walked away carrying the case with ease.
"Go show her to her room Draco," I heard Mr. Malfoy say. I heard footsteps on the gravel behind me, they were hurrying forward. Soon Draco was at my side. We climbed the grand steps up to the front door where he held the door open for me.
"After you, my lady," he said, bending at the waist. I smiled slightly. I decided that I could make the most out of this. The grand foyer was rather spectacular; a high ceiling sporting a crystal chandelier, marble floor and staircases, each with a deep green runner carpet. He led me up the left of the two winding staircases. I wanted to run my hand along the smooth wooden banister but my hands were full and I refused to let Draco take my bags.
Once at the top, Draco turned left down a long, dark hallway, decorated with old paintings whose occupants were snoozing in the cool shade. After we had passed three grand rooms Draco stopped at the fourth one on the right. I walked in and almost stopped breathing.
The walls were a soft lilac and the floor, hardwood. In the center of the room was a large white canopy bed for two, the comforter was white silk. Through my shoes I could feel the cold floor as I walked over to the bed and rested my suitcases on top. While still admiring the room I unzipped one case and began to unpack. I grabbed a pile of clothes and walked over to the huge dresser with the beautiful mirror attachment. I tried to open the drawer but was having great difficulty. Draco was leaning against the door frame.
"So, Katrina, can I call you Kat?" he asked. I peered at him over my pile of clothes.
"Um…well, sure, why not." I continued to try and open the drawer, with little luck. He finally took a hint and opened it for me. "Thank you."
"No problem," he smiled. "How do you like the room?"
"It's really beautiful." I continued to unpack, pile after pile, from my never ending suitcase.
"My father is a very successful man and had it re-done when we were notified of your arrival." He seemed very proud, a little boastful for my taste, however.
"Oh, he didn't have to do that." I shook my head.
"Oh, it was nothing. Does that thing ever end?" he asked indicating my suitcase.
"No," I said casually. "My mom charmed it for me. It ends when I want it to end." I smiled. When I finally did finish, I noticed that there were two other doors in the room. I walked over to the one closest to the dresser, across form my bed. It was a walk in closet. "This is insane," I said to myself.
"What?" he asked, stretching his neck to try and see my face inside the door.
"Oh, nothing." I shut that door and went directly across to the other. It led to a bathroom with a gorgeous claw-foot bathtub and marble counter for the sink. I returned into the bedroom to find Draco relaxing on my bed.
"So, I heard that your mom was dead?" he asked, reclining against the headboard. I stopped in my tracks and just looked at him.
"Yes," I said while removing my suitcases and placing them beneath the bed.
"So what happened to her?" He didn't really seem to show any real interest.
"Um…" I wasn't sure I wanted to share with him, but he looked at me with those eyes and I gave in. "She had cancer." I nodded.
"And they couldn't fix it?" he asked incredulously.
"Apparently not!" I spat. "Could you leave me alone for right now, please? I am rather tired and…"
"Of course! Dinner is precisely at six! Don't be late!" He slid off my bed and slipped out the door. There was a glint of desire in those icy eyes and to be honest, it frightened me. I nodded. It was already five so I had an hour to rest.
I lay down on my bed, shutting my eyes. In what seemed like minutes, my eyes shot open and I looked at the clock and it was five 'til six. I quickly jumped out of bed and sped down the stairs. As I reached the foyer, I realized that I had no idea where the dinning room was. I took a breath and headed right, down a long, brightly lit hall and almost as if I had lived there my entire life, turned directly in to the second door on the left, which just happened to the dinning room. I stopped and looked around and wondered how I knew how to get there. I shut my eyes trying to remember whether Draco had told where to go or not.
"Oh, good evening!" It was Mrs. Malfoy entering the room behind me. I quickly turned around, a little shocked.
"You scared me." I put my hand to my chest.
"My apologies, dear." I smiled at her as she sat down to the right of the head seat. "Well go on. You can take the seat next to Draco." She pointed to her diagonal. I nodded and followed her slightly crooked finger.
We were soon joined by the Mr. Malfoy and Draco.
"Well I can see that we are late!" Mr. Malfoy said as he took his seat, Draco sitting to his left. "Did you have any trouble finding it?" I realized that he was speaking to me.
"Oh… uh no." I shook my head. The dinner went quietly. I figured that that was probably the routine. Every once in a while Mr. Malfoy would ask Draco a random question, usually regarding duties and jobs I knew nothing of, to which Draco would answer obediently. I ate in silence, as did Mrs. Malfoy. But soon enough the silent torture was over and Draco and I were excused from the table. Regrettably, every meal was like that.
As we left the dinning room, Draco requested I join him in he room for a movie before bed. I was reluctant but wasn't sure whether I actually had a choice. He took me by the hand and I blindly followed him to his room. Once there I quickly extracted my hand from his grip. His room was quite cold. With out even asking me he had chosen a movie and was all comfortable on his bed before I could ask what we were watching. He patted the bed next to him. I took my seat but scooted as far from him as I could with out falling off.
The movie was some horror flick that I had neither seen nor heard of. I was never a horror fan so I was not pleased. I was about two teenagers trapped in a house with some demon who took them captive. At one point, the demon had picked up a knife and the girl was approaching the kitchen. I started yelling at the television.
"No! Don't go there! Go back! Turn Back!!" I screamed. Just then the demon threw the knife; I screamed and buried my head in Draco's chest. I looked up to see that my screams were all in vain for the knife had merely hit the wall next to her head. The movie continued to climax so I kept my head safely against his torso. He rested his hand on my back.
The movie ended and I was ready to head off to bed, but Draco proceeded to talk, refusing me to leave.
"So, do you know what house you will be in?"
"What are you talking about?" I asked, sitting up.
"At Hogwarts! There are four houses!" He went on to tell me all about Ravenclaw and how they think they know everything. Huffulpuff, whose occupants are total push-overs, as he says. Gryffindor, who are the sworn enemies of the Slytherins.
"They all think that they are better than everyone else because they've got Potter!" he spat. I wanted to ask who Potter was but didn't get the chance. He continued, saying that Slytherins were best and I would be lucky to become one and I better pray for it. He started to move in closer as well, during his whole monologue. I was becoming extremely uncomfortable. I had said that I was tired and wished to retire to bed quite a few times, but they all went unnoticed.
"It is getting quite late, isn't it?" He then casually yawned and wrapped an arm over my shoulder.
"I should really go to bed." I insisted and attempted get away with out luck.
"What for? There's a bed right here!" He pulled me closer.
"Yeah, well I like the one in my room." I tried to pull away.
"I think that you will come to like this one a lot better!" He jumped on top off me. I screamed, my head started to pound, and he held all of his weight on top of me. Not only was I being harassed, I was in pain! I couldn't move. I stopped breathing and flexed my hands.
"GET OFF!" I screamed. I didn't touch him but he went flying off of me. Without a second thought I rushed out of the room and back to my own and locked the door.
I was breathing heavily with my back against the door. I wiped my tears away and tried to regulate my breathing. I wanted Danny, I wanted my mom.