These Endings Are Our Beginnings
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Draco Malfoy nor any other part of the Harry Potter series
NOTE: This is the final installment of the Unforgettable Love series. I apologize for how long it has taken me to write it. It has been an extremely tough year for me. A close friend of mine past from cancer in the early summer of 2012 and it's been hard to keep up the writing spirit. I will be returning with a whole new series and hopefully soon. Thank you to everyone who read this story, and especially those who stuck with me to the very end, and even commented. You are all incredible people to me and the reason I was able to finish this. Keep me in mind for some new stories. And thank you for giving my writing a chance.
Ariana felt the sticky warmth soaking the entirety of her hair as it emanated from that one throbbing point at the side of her skull. She could hear voices talking to her, or possibly yelling, but she was too weak to listen to any of them. She had had enough. She began to close her eyes, feeling the absolute euphoria of sleep, or maybe it was death.
….An Hour Earlier…
Draco had a death grip on Ariana's arm as they speed walked through the party, all the while getting quizzical looks. Penelope was behind them as the twins helped Blaise walk out, bloody and bruised. This plan was absolutely ridiculous. Penelope had decided magic was unnecessary and simply punched Jacky so hard she fell to the ground unconscious. After that, they decided walking out the front door with her bloody captive was the perfect way to go.
They made it to the front door as it opened with ease. As soon as they were outside, they ran as fast as they could with Blaise. Both Penelope and Ariana kicked off their heels to keep up.
"Is anyone following us?!" They all turned to see someone watching them run.
"Is that her brother?!" Draco asked, squinting to look back at the house.
"Let's apparate for crying out loud!" They all stopped. Letting go of each other, they begun to spin to apparate to one of Draco's safe houses, when a few of the guardsmen stepped out of the shadows from the forest. One managed to grab Ariana just as they disappeared.
Ariana felt the grip on her arm as they spun and spun and were finally tousled to the ground. They were on a vast field of flat grass, just yards away from a little cottage.
The guard crawled over to Ariana and attempted to grab her arms.
"Just what do you think you were doin eh?" He asked as he pulled her up on her feet. He held her hands behind her back while his other held his wand to her throat. Ariana wriggled, making it difficult for him to keep a grip.
"Keep still, or I'll mess up that pretty little face up of yours."
"Oh shut it." Ariana said exasperated, and kicked her leg back to dig her foot into his shin. She could hear the bones crack as he keeled back over, dropping his wand. She quickly picked it up and ran like mad to the cottage. She found Draco and the others just approaching it from the other side.
"Oh thank god! I saw him grab you! I was worried something happened!" Draco said running up to her. She put her hands on either of his arms.
"I'm fine I'm fine, but we've got to leave. He'll be back any minute."
"Alright, let's go to the beach." Draco recited one of their codes. They all spun as quickly as possible and were soon falling onto the ground of another little field.
"Please do me a favour? No more spinning?" Blaise slurred, pressing his face into the ground panting. They all smiled and got up a little more slowly. They brought Blaise into the house, setting him down carefully on one of the couches. Penelope begun nursing him as Fred and George raided the fridge.
Draco sat next to Blaise, apologizing for everything as he sucked up his pride.
The house was a small beige house with blue accents. It's colouring was why they used the code of 'going to the beach.' It was all one floor with only two bedrooms off of the main room. A fire was already set and crackling on the far wall of the vast sitting area. Ariana drew all the curtains closed and let out a sigh of relief.
She stepped out of the cottage for a moment, needing a moment to calm down from all the adrenaline. She felt the ache in her belly from earlier that evening with Draco and felt her face flush in the cool night air. She walked over to a small river that cut through the field and dipped her hands in to splash some water on her neck. The river was fairly high and rushing from the recent storms.
She sat there for a while, wondering where they'd go and how they'd get back to normal lives. Maybe they'd take new names and move somewhere far away. Ariana's mind drifted to a peaceful life living with Draco, and maybe even marrying him. She pictured little blonde children running around and felt herself smile. She'd never really thought about having children or marriage in a long time.
"Aren't you a pretty site." Ariana looked up and saw none other than Jacqueline standing across the river from her. Ariana quickly stood up and looked around, but it was just her.
"How did yo-"
"That was awfully mean of you, stealing my guard's wand. Lucky for him, I cover their wand expenses, including trackers in case they get misplaced, or little tarts steal them." Ariana felt her eyes narrow as Jacqueline did a little jump across the narrow river. She saw the slight sink of the edge where Jacqueline landed and felt a plan whirl into life in her brain.
"So, is my Draco ready to come home with me?"
"Home?" Ariana asked innocently. "Oh, you mean the place we just were? The place where Draco and I fucked so hard that we left some thoroughly scratched up furniture? I hope you can get it replaced okay."
Jacqueline's eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared. "You dare touch my Draco?"
"Oh trust me, I was doing far more than simply touching."
Rage was now all over Jacqueline's face and she launched at Ariana. Ariana quickly dodged out of the way and Jacqueline went slipping into the river. As narrow as it was, it's bottom was far from shallow as Jacqueline was dragged down into the strong tides.
As Ariana watched, she felt something hard hit the back of her head. She fell to the ground as a pair of hands pulled her back so she was face up on the ground.
"No one steals my wand." She heard someone say as he clambered on top of her.
"It really wasn't that hard you git." Her words came out sloppy but she still attempted to push him off as much as she could. He punched her hard in the stomach and then slapped her across the face before going to go rescue Jacqueline.
She cleared her head as fast as she could as she saw the man bend to lift her out of the water. She lifted up her foot to push him in when two more men came from behind her and grabbed both her arms to push her back down. Another clambered on top of her.
"Wow, you are a pretty one. I rarely get the pretty ones." He begun to tear her dress up as she struggled to get him off.
"Oh please, you always get the pretty ones. When do I get a go?" One of them argued. They sputtered back and forth as Ariana struggled against all of them, making it difficult for them to do anything.
"Hold still you stupid bitch!" She continued to struggle, until one of her hands slipped from their grasp. She grabbed a rock that was just beside her and smashed it as hard as she could into the man's skull. He became instantly rigid, and fell off her to the side. The other man who had a grip on her arm let go and backed off.
That's when spells emanated the field and hit all of the men surrounding her. She felt her world continue to spin in a haze as she looked up into the night sky, attempting to steady it.
Ariana felt the sticky warmth soaking the entirety of her hair as it emanated from that one throbbing point at the side of her skull where the guard had hit her from behind. She could hear voices talking to her, or possibly yelling, but she was too weak to listen to any of them. She had had enough. She began to close her eyes, feeling the absolute euphoria of sleep, or maybe it was death.
….
She was standing in an endless cloud of white, all the pain gone and no bruising or torn dress. She was wearing a simple white summer dress, her hair perfectly combed out. She turned and turned, awaiting something. Finally, a figure appeared out of the endless cloud. It was Draco, his hair as platinum as ever in the bright light. He was relaxed and happy in an unbuttoned dress shirt and white pants. She began to run to him and leapt into his open arms. She hugged him tightly, feeling like this was where she belonged.
"Is this heaven?" She whispered. She pulled back to look him in the eye. He brought a hand up and stroked her cheek. He didn't reply to her question, and simply leaned in to kiss her.
…..
It was the warmth on her lips that awoke her. Her eyes opened to a sea of golden blonde hair tickling her forehead. Draco pulled away and sighed when he saw her awake. They were in a bedroom somewhere Ariana wasn't familiar with. She could feel her aches coming back as she looked Draco in the eyes.
"Thank god." He whispered.
"You have to say that too often with me." Ariana whispered. He nodded in agreement. "Where is everyone? Where are we?"
"We're at Penelope and Fred's. It was just a matter of waiting for you to wake up."
Draco handed her a cup of water as she sat up. She chugged it back, realizing how thirsty she was.
"How's Blaise?"
"Better than I thought. He's asleep right now while his wounds heal." Ariana nodded in response, looking down at her cup.
"So, any other psycho fan girls I should know about?" She said to the cup smiling.
"Not that I know of." He smiled and out a hand over hers. She looked up at him, a sweet smile curved across his lips.
"Draco, I can't do it anymore."
"Can't do what?"
"I can't deny that I want to be with you. I want to try and be with you. None of this slavery stuff, or trying to figure out who I am, or anymore spells and kidnapping. I want to try you and me, together and stop analyzing why it's wrong or right. I think it's right and I'm not going to second guess myself any longer." She squeezed his hand for a moment, awaiting his reply.
His smile grew slightly and he arched an eyebrow.
"I think we have already started the whole you and me together back in Jacqueline's study." Ariana felt her cheeks flush.
"Yeah, I guess so."
He raised a hand and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. "I love you, Ariana." She felt her heart flutter and sighed with content.
"I love you, too." Knowing good and well that she was telling the truth.
"Why don't we try this the old fashioned way? Like having a first date."
"Sounds perfect." He leaned in to kiss her, but aimed for her cheek. Ariana couldn't help but grin.
…Six Months Later…
Ariana zipped up her last bag and draped it over her shoulder. All of her trunks and cases were piled in her living room, ready to be taken wherever she planned to go. Her apartment seemed hollow now that all of her personal touches had been removed. It could have been anyone's apartment now, which made Ariana slightly sad. As she fiddled with the diamond ring on her one finger however, it made that twinge of sadness fade.
….2 Years Later….
Ariana paced back and forth in her kitchen. A breeze caught from the beach just outside and blew into the open French doors, causing the wind chimes to clang noisily. She jumped about ten feet until she realized what it was.
Finally, she heard the front door open.
She stopped dead in her tracks, feeling the sweat bead down her neck.
Draco came down the hall as he slumped out of his coat.
"So the company's office at Hogsmeade has officially been open for one month and Blaise has yet to run it into the ground. I'd say that deserves some celebration." He threw his coat onto the nearby couch and walked over to Ariana. His steps began to slow and his smile faded as he saw her expression.
"What's wrong?"
"Uhm…" She felt her words become lost somewhere in the breeze, and all the speeches and statements she had were gone. He put his hands on her shoulders, trying to catch her eye.
"Hey…" He put a hand on her cheek. "Look at me." She looked up carefully in his eyes, and finally felt the words escape her lips.
"I'm pregnant." She watched as his face morphed into several different expressions, finally landing on a large grin, with one tear that seemed to be cradled on the outside of his eye.
"Really?" He whispered. She nodded back, biting her lip.
"Is that okay?"
"Okay? Okay? Oh, Ariana it's all I could ever ask for." He hugged her tightly then as if it was the only thing he was meant to do forever.
"I was so worried." Ariana said smiling into his shoulder. He pulled away slightly and grasped her head between his hands.
"Don't be. I will love this baby with all my heart. Just like I do it's mother." Ariana grinned and kissed him feverishly. Never wanting anything more than that moment forever.
"This will always be right to me." She whispered between a kiss, knowing good and well this is where she belonged- no matter how it started.
And so their Unforgettable Love began to grow.