Dramoria Malfoy was already wishing she was back Hogwarts. At least at Hogwarts you didn't need to deal with stifling silence and angry glares. The latter came solely from her father while her mother just looked away completely, her eyes focused on her plate. "Is there anything you would like to tell us about your term Dramoria?" Comes the barely restrained voice of Lucius Malfoy. It's enough to set Dramoria's pulse to racing. There was no way he could no right? After all they had been so careful to avoid detection. Then again her father had spies all throughout Hogwarts and Slytherin especially. Maybe she had been less careful than she thought.
"No father. Aside from excellence in grades and improvement nothing new has occurred" she responds quietly, her own eyes going to her plate. She could almost sense her father's eyes squinting and his mouth tightening. "Hmm so this gossip about you and Harry Potter? What do you make of all that" he asks finally, letting all his cards out on the table. He smiles sinisterly before picking up his goblet of wine and gently swirling the liquid by lightly moving his hand in circular motions. "I must confess I'm shocked at how intuitive you can be Dramoria. To lull him into a sense of safety with you. May I ask when you plan to kill him?" He adds sagely looking curiously at his daughter to gauge her reaction.
Dramoria looks up, trying to find a way to make her father understand. If only he knew how much more powerful the Malfoys would be if they allied with Harry. How powerful she'd be if she married him like she wished to in the future. How he was already hers and how he seemed to wait upon her. "Father….I…..will never hurt Harry, nor will I seek his harm" she says simply to which all air seems to be sucked out of the already oppressive room. "What did you just say girl?!" Snarls Lucius Malfoy as he stands up, spilling over his goblet of wine. Hilly instantly appears to clean up the offending liquid but Lucius smacks her away. It's enough to force Dramoria herself to stand up, finally fighting against the one man whom she had always tried to make happy. "That's enough father!" She says simply, power already in her voice. Part of her crackled with fear. She was overstepping a boundary she had never once thought to cross before. Even her mother looks up in concern.
"Hilly are you okay?" Dramoria asks the house elf, moving away from the table to get her up off the floor. Hilly is shocked, horrified even at the younger Malfoy's bold display of opposition to her father. "Hilly is fine young Dramoria, but Dramoria must listen to master" she says, popping away before she could get her favorite human in even more trouble. Lucius is fuming as he stands at the table but calms himself, realizing he will not win this battle with anger. "Do not tell me you love this boy Dramoria? He is the sworn enemy of all we stand for and of your lord" he says evenly to which Dramoria sighs. "I….I do not want to follow the dark lord anymore. He's wrong" she says simply before blushing. "And yes father, I am in love with Harry",.
The declaration brings ice into the room. "What did you just say girl?" Asks Lucius, who now stands and advances on his daughter, murder in his eyes. "Father just listen. If we ally with Harry we will be powerful in England again. We won't need to live in fear either. And he's not a muggleborn….he's the head of a noble house, two if he assumes the black…." She isn't able to finish as Lucius's hand slaps out across her face, striking her down onto the floor. She had never been slapped by her father and she couldn't help the tears that now streaked while she cowered before the man she once wanted to be like. "Listen to me, you little harlot. We serve the dark lord and Potter will be dead when you return to school." He says before straightening his robes and standing up, ready to exit, content that he had made his point clear he turns however, and makes one last proclamation. "I had hoped to announce this under happier circumstances but you are to be married to Theodore Nott. The bonding was going to occur after you finished school but with this new…..evolution I say we move it up to the end of the school year. Congratulations lady Not" he says with a sneer, enunciating that he was happy to be rid of her before he exited.
Dramoria, having nothing left in her, laid on the floor and cried. It was only a second however until she was in her mother's arms and weeping on her shoulder. Narcissa Malfoy nee Black was not Happy, and especially not with her husband. She still remembered when Lucius had given up all rights to her and left his wife to handle all aspects of child rearing. He had even beat her in the years after for the crime of not bearing him a son. That stopped eventually and Lucius and Narcissa led separate lives now. That left her to become a reasonably independent woman who hated the dark lord. She hated how Lucius had only taken an interest in his own daughter when the dark lord ordered her marked for reasons still unknown to her.
Dramoria, wanting her father's approval underwent the ritual, gaining nothing but self loathing from it. Her mother could tell. She had always been so good at reading her own daughter. The tough exterior hid a soft and needy little girl. One who wanted to be comforted and loved at all times. It was hard to be a mother and watch your child be exposed to the horrors of the world. It was even worse when one of those horrors lived under the same roof. "Shhh my little dragon shhh" Narcissa cooed into her ear lightly kissing her cheek. There were so many questions but they could wait until Dramoria was calm. The soothing presence of her mother seemed to work and quickly her sobs became light huffs and sighs.
"I knew there was a boy, I just didn't think it was Harry Potter of all people" she said, light mirth in her voice as she kissed her daughter's forehead. "Is he really that special? Does he make you feel happy?" She asks her to which Dramoria nods, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her robe.
"He's my everything mother. I….well I think I've loved him for a very long time. I just didn't want to admit it to myself" she says before lightly standing, her mother standing with her and gently rubbing her back "Hilly, please fetch us some tea. We are going to have a girl to girl talk" she says teasingly as she winks and kisses Dramoria's cheek. "Mooooom" she whines, embarrassed and turning beat red at her mother's ministrations as she was led to the table. Hilly instantly pops in, two full cups of tea ready as Narcissa sits with her usual regal grace. A smile adorns her face before she reached over and grasps her little girls hand. "Tell me about him" she says gently, a twinkle in her eye as Dramoria averts hers. "Head a typical stupid and reckless Gryffindor. He always has to be the hero and he does it flawlessly. He doesn't even want to do it he just jumps into action and he's…...gentle and loving and, and he's just….Harry" she says simply before her mother lets out a little laugh.
"I always wondered who my little girl would fall in love with. I felt that way about a boy as well. " She says, drifting off into memory before shaking her mind off and returning to her daughter, leaning in conspiratorially. "So, I take it you don't want to marry that Ponce Theodore Nott, am I correct?" She asks with concern in her voice. Dramoria instantly turns red and shakes her head viciously. "I'd rather die. He's a typical idiot who wants a docile and sweet little homemaker. Harry will give me freedom" she says simply to which Narcissa smiles. "I wish I had been in your situation dear but I do not wish for you to marry him either. That's why I will arrange a contract for you to become " she teases. Dramoria just tilts her head, curious as to what her conniving mother was planning. "You see, your father renounced responsibility for you. That means I get to decide who you marry, and that means you get to decide who you marry, unless I truly don't like them" she teases lovingly. "So I will be meeting Harry. The only way you can be protected from your father and the dark lord now is to be with Harry. Even Dumbledore will welcome you into the fold and that mark upon your arm will be forgiven. Does Harry know about the mark?" She asks curiously to which the younger Malfoy admits that he does not.
Narcissa's mouth frowns as she hears this but offers no comment other than "you must tell him". The conversation continues with Narcissa explaining the by laws of marriage to her and the protection it offers, Dramoria nodding along, ecstatic about all that seemed to be laid out before her. True so much of it hinged on Harry but at the end of the day she would convince him. She would stand by him, even against the dark lord and now her father.
