Chapter 12
We landed in front of a large estate which reminded me of Malfoy Manor only it was slightly smaller. Even the surrounding expansive grounds, although pleasing were just barely comparable to Malfoy's. It was still a grand estate though and I wondered if this was the Toussaint family estate or the Armand's own property.
"Is this Armand's home or the family's estate?" I asked Malfoy.
"It's their family estate. His older brother Leon lives here," he said.
I just nodded, already knowing about his brother Leon inheriting the estate after their father's death.
I could hear a light hum of voices and soft music from the grounds behind the Mansion. Instead of going around the house though, Malfoy lead us into the house.
"I told Toussaint we would meet him before the ceremony starts," Malfoy said as he held the door open for me to enter first into the extravagant foyer. In my direct line of vision was a double set of stairs that began together in the center of the foyer and then curved away from each other to reach opposite ends of the upper landing. Above me was a gigantic and expensive looking chandelier, the light of which radiated off the warm tones of the room nicely. Rather than admire the splendor which he must have found so commonplace, Malfoy moved off to my left to greet a man I did not realize was there at first.
"Leon, it's great to see you again," Malfoy said with a genuine smile as they shook hands. So this was Leon. He was more stunning that Armand if that was possible. It was obvious they were related, they looked similar, but Leon's hair was a few shades lighter and his eyes a more vivid blue, plus something about the way Leon held himself attracted further notice to his handsomeness.
When I took my place on Malfoy's right, he placed his hand lightly on my back and I fought back the desire to step away from his touch as he said, "This is my date, Mya."
Leon took my hand and told me it was wonderful to meet me and I returned the sentiments.
"Where is Armand?" Malfoy asked then.
"He's upstairs just finishing getting ready. He's expecting you, yes?" His French accent was much thicker than Armand's, but his English was just as good.
"Yes, we'll just go up for a moment and then join everyone else out back," Malfoy replied.
"Alright. I have to warn you now though because I don't know when he will be here, but Mathis knows the wedding is taking place today. He told me he'd be here."
Malfoy immediately tensed. Mathis was of course Armand and Leon's brother who has chosen an alliance with Voldemort. What did he mean by coming to his estranged brother's wedding?
"This is disturbing. However, everyone knows to be on guard in the presence of people who aren't one of us. Once he arrives will you warn me if anything seems particularly suspicious?"
"Suspicious? What's suspicious Malfoy?" sounded a deep voice from behind Malfoy and me. Toussaint looked around Malfoy's tall figure and his eyes widened. Malfoy and I then turned around to face the man who just entered the foyer.
His face would have been attractive if it wasn't marred by such a haughty expression.
"Ah, Mathis. What a…pleasant surprise," Malfoy stated in a tone colder than the one he even used with me half the time.
"A surprise? Is it really a surprise I would be at my brother's wedding?" he queried. He had an evil glint in his eyes but it was difficult to discern whether it was there for a reason or if it was there permanently. He the looked directly at me and said while walking closer to us with an intense gaze, "Who is your date Malfoy?"
Instinctively I recoiled towards Malfoy, the man in the room I was the most familiar with. I took half a step closer to him and he put his arm around my waist, gripping me tightly. I took a quick glance up at him and his jaw was locked tightly. He was barely containing his fury.
"This is Mya," he said tersely.
"Mya," he said my name slowly. "It's nice to meet you Mya," he said holding his hand out. I had no other choice but to shake his hand so I stood up straight and looked into his eyes with a confident gaze as I replied, "I'm glad to meet you too." Thankfully I remembered my American accent.
"Ah, you're American," he observed and seemed pleased by that for some strange reason. "I must insist that you save me a dance during the ceremony."
I was thoroughly disgusted and creeped out by him, but it was obliged to consent, surely it would be improper etiquette to refuse. In a normal situation, it might not matter, but when I was pretending to be a high class pureblood witch, I had to possess perfect etiquette.
"Of course," I replied not trusting myself to say anymore without betraying my true feelings.
He smiled, but not a kind smile. It was a mischievous smile and I was instantly worried about my well-being for having caught his interest. I assumed he took an interest in me only because I was Malfoy's date and he wanted to get at Malfoy somehow.
"I'll just go join the other guests outside now," he said and the swept out of the foyer.
Malfoy and Leon shared a significant look and Leon said in a low voice, "I'll head outside too. I'll keep an eye on him all evening. You'll be alerted when he does something too out of the ordinary." And he too left the foyer leaving Malfoy and me alone.
He still had his arm around my waist and he looked down at me with a determined gaze. "Don't worry about Mathis; as long as I'm with you he won't hurt you." His thumb was moving in reassuring circles on my waist.
I had by now learned to take anything Malfoy said with a grain of salt. So I squared my shoulders and stepped out of his hold. "I'll be able to handle myself."
He narrowed his eyes at me. "Don't underestimate him Granger."
"Let's just go see Toussaint," I said.
Malfoy turned away irritably because of my dismissal of his warnings. He stormed up the stairs angrily and I followed him. Once we reached the landing we passed a few rooms, took a right turn in the hall, and then passed a few more doors before Malfoy stopped to knock on one. The door immediately opened and Armand was standing there looking happy as a clam.
For his friend's sake, Malfoy pushed forgot his anger and entered the room greeting him pleasantly. When the door was closed behind us, Armand took notice of me.
"Granger?" he asked a bit unsure. Malfoy's work on my appearance was truly amazing.
"Nope," I replied smiling. "Today I'm Mya Daray."
"Good work Malfoy," he said and Malfoy thanked him, smirking of course.
"So are you nervous? Or is there anything that we can get you?" I asked.
"No I'm fine. I'm glad you're here though," he said and hugged me for the first time since we'd become friends and I was a little surprised by the action but hugged him back nonetheless.
Malfoy abruptly stood up. "Well Toussaint, we'll just leave you now. There's only another fifteen minutes until you're getting married," he said looking at his watch. He looked a little peeved about something.
"Alright I'll see you guys out there," he said and Malfoy grabbed my hand and quickly pulled me out of the room behind him before I could say anything to Toussaint.
"What's your problem? We only just came up here."
"I want to make sure we have good seats," he muttered walking briskly down the hall.
When we reached the bottom of the stairs, he stopped and turned me to face him.
"Now remember Granger," he whispered, "You're my date so you can't spend the whole night acting like you hate me."
"I know Malfoy; you'd do well to remember that too."
He looked like he was going to say something, but I cut him off, "Let's go outside now." I tucked my arm under his and he led us outside.
Walking outside we were immediately met by Nott and Zabini.
"Draco we saved you and…" Nott trailed off.
"Mya," Malfoy filled in.
"We saved you and Mya seats," he finished. Both men were openly checking me out, which made me slightly uncomfortable. Zabini stepped forward and took my hand. "It's nice to meet you Mya. You look beautiful," he said winking, letting me know that he knew who I really was. "Allow me to walk you to your seat?" he asked holding out his arm. Glancing at Malfoy with a small smirk on my face, I accepted his arm and allowed him to walk me to where we were sitting in the second row of seats.
The back lawn had white chairs set up rows on either side of a makeshift walkway where the bride-to-be would make her way to the altar from the house. Zabini moved to the fourth chair in and sat down. I sat next to him. Malfoy sat on the other side of me, and Nott next to him on the end. When Malfoy sat next to me, he was situated so his leg was resting against mine. I wanted to move a bit, but that would cause me to be in the same situation with Zabini, so I dealt with it. Besides, his warm leg resting against mine wasn't such a big deal.
"Nice work Malfoy," Zabini whispered leaning over me slightly so Malfoy would hear him.
"Thanks," Malfoy said smirking. I rolled my eyes. The way they were acting, they must have thought I was hideous in my natural state.
"Did you notice Mathis is here?" Nott said softly.
"Yes, I saw him when he arrived."
"Did you speak to him?" Zabini asked.
"Yeah, he acted like a creepy son of a bitch as usual," Malfoy replied.
"We'll make sure to watch him extra closely," Zabini said.
"Good, but don't let that distract you from keeping an eye on everyone else too."
"Of course bro. Don't worry, we've got you covered," Zabini said reassuringly.
More people started filling into the seats around us so they dropped the conversation there.
A man in long white robes walked to the top of a small elevated landing and stood calmly facing the large crowd gathered to see the wedding. Within a few more minutes, Armand was also on the landing and he stood waiting for Cecile to emerge from the house.
When we heard the door open, everyone stood and faced the house. The woman emerging was obnoxiously beautiful. So much so that she must have made every woman there feel drab in comparison. She was tall and had long wavy blonde hair and clear blue eyes. As she walked down the aisle, everyone turned and watched her meet Armand on the landing.
She put her right hand in his left and then the man in white performed the marriage ceremony which took the better part of an hour. When they kissed at the end of the service, everyone clapped enthusiastically. They were the picture of happiness.
Toussaint then said to the guests, "Thanks again for coming everyone. There are refreshments in the ballroom for anyone who would like some. Dinner will be served at five. Enjoy!" Everyone then stood up and slowly made their way to the ballroom.
Once inside the humungous ballroom which surprisingly fit everyone there, people scattered themselves around the room, getting drinks and speaking amongst their acquaintances in groups. Zabini, Malfoy and I stood together a few feet away from a table full of drinks. Nott had gone off to another part of the room and I briefly spotted him talking to Daphne Greengrass.
It wasn't long until Pansy Parkinson joined our group and she was introduced to me. She was perfectly civil when she thought I was a pureblood. She was mostly focused on Malfoy in conversation though. Yet, although she was forward with him, it was difficult to determine if she actually had any interest in him. So I spoke to Zabini most of the time and allowed him to ask me a million impertinent questions about my made up life in America which he found amusing.
Eventually, Armand and Cecile entered the room and made their way around to personally greet all of the guests. When they finally came to our group, being the only person who had yet to meet Cecile, we were introduced. She was perfectly friendly and even seemed a little shy at first.
Armand immediately fell into conversation with Malfoy, Parkinson and Zabini so Cecile said to me, "Would you like to come with me to grab a drink, Mya?"
"Sure," I said.
Rather than get a drink, we began to take a turn about the room. When we were a safe distance from the group we left behind, she began speaking.
"Mya," she said with a humorous glint in her eye, "I'm so happy to finally meet you. Armand has told me so much about you, I feel as if we are friends already," she said enthusiastically. She was completely sincere in everything she said.
"It's nice to meet you too," I replied just as ardently. "Armand has told me so much about you too, and I'm so glad I was able to come today. You look spectacular by the way. Your dress is amazing."
She smiled. "Thank you. I got it in Italy. I won't deny that I tend to go a little overboard when it comes to clothes."
"Well it seems perfectly reasonable in this case."
She then glanced around us to be sure no one was close enough to overhear, "I do hope we can see each other outside of this setting. I understand you aren't really yourself this evening so we cannot speak freely. Plus, Armand tells me that the only people you ever get to talk to are him, Blaise, Draco, and Theo, and that must be tiring," she said conspiratorially.
"I'd like that very much; God knows I need someone else to talk to outside of Malfoy's house."
We then fell into an easy conversation. I assumed she must have been much quieter when Armand first met her, which is why he thought her dull. Not to mention the fact that she was supposedly very unattractive eight years ago so he probably didn't even bother trying to get to know her. But upon speaking to her more, it was clear that although reserved, she is perfectly capable of carrying on a lively conversation.
While we were walking about the room, I remembered my real job here which was to look out for suspicious behavior. Nothing really caught my eye, but I did make sure to keep track of anyone I saw Mathis speaking to. Many of the people I didn't recognize, but most of them seemed tense when he spoke to them.
Dinner came and went without complication. Malfoy and I sat at the honored table with the bride and groom in their grand dining room, while all the other guests sat outside at the tables that were spread out all over the lawn where the rows of chairs were hours before. Joining us at the table was Leon, Zabini, Nott, Adrian Pucey, Marcus Flint, and Daphne Greengrass, who much to my surprise seemed to be showing a strong interest in Nott, which he evidently returned. I wondered why Cecile didn't have any family here but figured it wasn't my place to ask.
Everyone was shockingly pleasant. I'd never experienced kindness on behalf of most of the people at the table and it was odd to experience it. Also, I was content with the way Malfoy was behaving. It was clear to everyone I was his date, but he wasn't overbearing. He was charming and pleasant. This was a side of Malfoy I could get used to but I kept my walls up, knowing that after tonight everything would go back to the way it was. Not that I really wanted his kind attentions regularly, or at least I tried to convince myself of that.
After dinner, was dancing. Armand and Cecile took the floor for the opening dance, and then everyone else joined in. I of course had to dance with Malfoy, and much to my chagrin, I didn't have to pretend to enjoy myself. He was a great dancer, every step was confident. He was warm and smelled wonderful. For these reasons, although he held me closer than was probably necessary, I couldn't bring myself to complain. I danced with Armand once and Zabini a few times as well. Although Zabini wasn't as skilled a dancer as Malfoy, he was the most fun to dance with. He would point out things he found amusing about the people around us so we didn't dance so much as stand still laughing. I also danced with Nott once when he actually left Daphne at one point. He was all business though.
"Have you seen anything?" he asked.
"Nothing yet. I've been keeping track of everyone Mathis speaks to though."
"Anyone more often than others?"
"Millicent Bulstrode maybe, but nothing too questionable."
"I'll keep an eye on her anyways," he said and the rest of the dance passed in silence.
Luckily, Mathis seemed to have forgotten about the dance he requested, which only convinced me that he was in fact just trying to get under Malfoy's skin earlier.
This dancing carried on for a couple of hours before Malfoy found me again and I was obliged to go with him as he mingled with the guests as a leader must. He kept my left arm tucked under his the entire time we made our way through the ballroom and outside, where the large patio had groups of people chatting. I didn't know many of the people, and although Malfoy introduced me, I forgot their names almost as soon as I heard them. When we went outside, it was already completely dark. On the patio were a bar and a few small tables where a few girls, who were probably only about sixteen, were sitting. When Malfoy and I passed, I could hear them gossiping about all the "sexy men" there were.
While Malfoy made his way to speak to another person I didn't know, I said, "I'm going to get a drink. Do you want anything?"
He shook his head, let go of my arm and then continued walking. I got my drink and made to return to Malfoy, but he had disappeared from the patio. Peeved at being completely alone in a sea of people I didn't know, I began walking across the patio sipping my drink when I heard, "Mya," from behind me.
I turned around and Leon was sitting at one of the tables with a drink in hand. I sat across from him and complimented how nice the party was.
"Thanks, I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying it,"
There was a small pause before I asked, "So do you live on this huge estate by yourself?"
He nodded. "Yes, it's a shame really. Most of the house is unused with only on person living here."
"I imagine you'd be rather lonely being the only one in such a large house," I said.
He shrugged. "I'm not really home enough to notice. I spend most of my time working and when I am home, I'm either sleeping or in my study doing work so I don't even have time to think about being alone here."
"Where do you work?" I asked, although Armand had previously told me he worked for the French Ministry of Magic.
"I work for the French Ministry."
"Wow," I said feigning surprise. "What do you do?" I asked since I didn't know the particulars of his job and I was curious what kind of job could require so much time spent working.
"Well I am in the Ministers council. There are five of us who are in his council and we just help him make decisions by providing information and all possible courses of action."
"That's an impressive position. How did you get that job at such a young age?"
"After school, I got an internship in the Ministry. I met the current Minister before he was elected and he liked a lot of my ideas, so when he got the position he asked me to be in his council."
"That's amazing, I –" but I was cut off by someone coming out of the house saying, "Leon, you've got to come here."
Leon smiled sympathetically to me. "Sorry, we'll talk again later yeah?"
I nodded.
He got up and walked into the house. I finished my drink and then decided to do the same so I could find Malfoy.
I searched the ballroom but I couldn't find him anywhere. I decided to head back outside when I spotted Mathis and Millicent Bulstrode together again. Looking closely, I saw that they were speaking warmly with one another. While everyone else got uncomfortable when a known enemy came there way, Bulstrode was perfectly content. Something was off, but how stupid could they be to converse so feely where anyone could see?
It was now imperative that I find Malfoy and I quickly went back outside. Once I stepped onto the patio, I saw Malfoy by the bar, blatantly hitting on some woman. I was furious that he would be out here, with a woman who isn't his date while I'm trying to find him for something important. I didn't have the gem he gave me, since I left my purse in the house, so I had to personally interrupt their conversation.
"Can I borrow you for a moment?" I asked quietly when I walked over to him.
"Excuse me, I'll be right back," he said to the woman, giving her a dashing smile and then followed me around the side of the house until we were completely out of sight, and hopefully out of earshot.
"What do you want?" he asked, a little irritated I dragged him away from the woman at the bar.
"Don't give me that attitude Malfoy. She'll still be there once I'm done talking to you," I retorted.
"Well get on with it."
"It's Mathis. I've been watching him with everyone tonight. Usually, when he comes around people stop talking until he leaves, but not Millicent Bulstrode. I've seen them together multiple times tonight and she's very open with him," I explained.
He was instantly more serious when I mentioned Mathis. "Alright. Have you told Nott or Zabini about this?"
"Only Nott. I mentioned the two of them speaking quite a bit earlier, but I wasn't too certain of anything yet."
He nodded. "Well there's really nothing I can do about this now. But at least we're on to something." With that he turned away to go back to the bar. I wouldn't even get a thank you from him? He was so irritating.
I couldn't stand that he was going to just walk away like that so I said, I thought I was supposed to be your date," I said lightly.
He leered at me, "Are you jealous Granger?" I gave him a strange look, which I hope conveyed that the idea was absurd, but I realized that I did feel a sharp pang of jealousy when he turned his back on me to return to the woman at the bar.
"Ha. Of course not. Go enjoy the floozy," I said.
He smirked and walked away and out of the shadows came Pansy Parkinson.
"Well Granger you certainly look quite unlike yourself tonight."
Shit. "How much did you hear Parkinson?"
"Only the end of your conversation. Don't worry though. Malfoy will lose interest in whatever slag he's found within the hour."
"Whether or not he does makes no difference to me," I replied with as much sincerity as I could muster.
She just smiled and shook her head as though she knew better. "Whatever you say Granger. So I thought you were being held prisoner. How did you end up here?" Apparently she was looking for a full on conversation. I was expecting a few terse remarks and then she would run off to Malfoy and demand why I was here.
"I'm not at liberty to talk about that," I replied and surprisingly she didn't push further.
"Not surprising."
"Yes, but you can't tell anyone who I really am."
She gave me a shrewd look, "Of course not Granger, do you think I'm some kind of idiot? Believe it or not but I understand the importance of discretion, which is why I'm uncertain of whether or not I should tell you what I'm about to tell you."
This was odd.
"What are you talking about Parkinson?"
"When was the last time you saw Ron?" she asked. This threw me for a loop. How much more bizarre could this night possibly get.
"Why are you concerned? Do you know where he is?"
"Just tell me when the last time you saw him was," she persisted.
"Almost two years ago. He left England in September, a few days after my birthday. It will be two years since I've last seen him," I told her more detail than was probably necessary. She looked a little disappointed by my answer which was odd.
"Why do you want to know? Have you seen him? Do you know where he is?" I asked forcefully hoping to get an answer.
"Can I trust you not to speak a word of this to anyone? Especially not Draco," she asked, almost sounding a little worried that someone would discover whatever she was about to tell me. But to me, a secret from Malfoy was a secret worth keeping, as long as it didn't put me in any danger in the process.
"Of course, the last person I would ever tell is Malfoy anyways," I assured her.
She smiled. "That's what I hoped."
"So what it is it you're trying to tell me?"
"I assume you know Ron went to Spain when he left England?" she began.
"Yes, but how would you know that?" I asked astounded.
"I ran into him while I was there on vacation with a few of my cousins who have a flat in the wizarding part of Madrid."
"What? You saw him? When? How was he, what was he doing, why didn't you turn him in?" The questions spilled out of my mouth like rapid gunfire. Someone had now verified for me that he made it to Spain in one piece. Although I received an unsigned postcard from the country, which could only have been from him, a simple postcard left a lot of questions unanswered.
"Well, it wasn't long after he first arrived there that we ran into each other. You know Spain is still free territory, so he was able to walk out in public during daylight. Well he and a few others arrived and rented rooms in the same building as me. The first time I saw him, I thought I would turn him in. But for some reason, I didn't bring myself to do it. Then a few days later, one of my cousins invited one of Ron's friends up to our flat for a small party, and of course Ron and the others came too. It was tense at first but then we wound up off on our own talking, and then I knew I couldn't turn him in."
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" I questioned skeptically.
She smiled. When she began telling her story about Ron, she became infinitely more pleasant. "Yes. We continued seeing each other for the next few months, before he finally had to leave. I won't even begin to tell you how worried I was, how worried I have been actually."
"I can imagine," I said more to myself than her. "So you love him?"
"Yes," she said seriously.
"Wow, this is certainly a surprise. Have you seen him since?"
She shook her head sadly. "No, all he said to me the last time I saw him was that he would let me know when he'd be returning to England. That was almost two years ago, and I haven't heard a word of him or from him."
"Oh God, I hope nothing happened to him. Why are you telling me all this?" I asked.
"I don't know, I just felt like I had to. You are his best friend and I know he loves you. I guess I just thought that you should know."
"So where do you stand with Malfoy then? I mean, I'm sure you know full well Ron will never support him. How did he feel about you affiliation with him?" I asked.
"Well he came to understand that I could never turn on Malfoy. I told him that I would help in whatever he did to weaken Voldemort, but I would not help him destroy Malfoy. Well, I know you are well aware of his temper, so needless to say he was angry about that for a while, but I made him accept it eventually," she explained.
"You know, please don't take offense at this, but I always assumed that you had feelings for Malfoy. And I think he's under that impression too," I told her.
She seemed a little perturbed but smiled all the same, "You know that doesn't even surprise me. I know I can be a little forward with all men in general, but I have no feelings for Malfoy whatsoever. I haven't for years. We were great friends before we dated a long time ago and I would like if we were again, but it doesn't concern me too much. Besides, Malfoy thinks all women love him," she said rolling her eyes and we both laughed.
I never expected to be having a civil conversation with Pansy Parkinson of all people, but she was surprisingly nice and wasn't as much of an idiot as I thought. Upon actually viewing her without a predetermined hatred, I saw that she was actually a lovely woman. She had blue eyes and shoulder length black hair, and while like me, she did not possess any exquisite beauty, she was far from being plain.
"Yes, he is rather egotistical when it comes to women," I agreed and I saw the topic of our conversation walking towards us over Pansy's shoulder.
"Ah, speak of the devil and he doth appear," I said. "Listen, thanks for telling me. You don't have to worry about me telling Malfoy."
She nodded and smiled. "Hopefully we'll get another chance to chat sometime." And with a brief acknowledgement to Malfoy when he got close enough to where we were standing, she walked away.
"Time to dance Mya," he drawled and led me into the house to dance.
When he took me onto the dance floor and began moving us around the room, I said "So what made you decide to dance with your actual date? You seemed to be enjoying the other women earlier," I said with some edge. Where was this attitude coming from? Why should I give a damn who he talks to or dances with?
He smirked. "Settle down Mya, jealousy doesn't become you."
I glared. "Believe me Malfoy, I'm not jealous," I said with finality and he didn't say anything else.
We didn't even make it through the first song when Mathis appeared out of nowhere and told Malfoy he would like to speak with him privately.
Malfoy looked furious but assented. "One moment please," he said and Mathis gave us some space. He went to stand by the doorway of the ballroom.
"You will stay here, do you understand?" Malfoy said sternly.
"Why should I?" I asked, stubborn as usual.
"Are you stupid? Because he's dangerous, that's why. Just stay here." And then he turned away and followed Mathis out of the ballroom. And of course I followed them.
I followed them a good distance away from the mansion, until they came to stop at the outskirts of a forest. I hid myself behind a tree that was just behind Malfoy.
"What are you doing here Mathis? What do you have to gain from coming to the wedding of a brother you no longer speak to?" Malfoy questioned.
As though he didn't hear the question, Mathis said, "What if I told you I knew where your next raid is planned?"
"That's impossible," Malfoy said forcefully.
"Don't be so sure," Mathis replied wickedly. "But I'm catching on to you. I can't believe that these raids which rarely ever accomplish anything are all that you spend your time planning."
"Believe whatever you wish Mathis, it is of no concern to me," said with convincing nonchalance.
"But it should be Malfoy. I am working hard to discover what you're hiding," Mathis glinted.
"As you can see I'm not worried," Malfoy drawled. "The idea of you discovering anything of importance is laughable."
"You'd be wise to treat me with more respect, Malfoy," Toussaint replied harshly straightening up to reach his full height.
"You are by no means superior to me," Malfoy returned standing up straighter too and he towered over Mathis.
"As a matter of fact I am. I am the Dark Lord's most trusted follower now."
"Yeah and we'll see how long that lasts," Malfoy scoffed and Mathis seethed.
"You're a fool Malfoy and you will soon meet your demise."
"No," Malfoy said callously. "It will be Voldemorts demise and yours as well. And it'll be sooner than you think."
With this threat, in an instant Mathis pulled out his wand and catching Malfoy off guard shouted, "Crucio!"
Malfoy fell to the ground withering in pain, but no sound passed his lips. "I'll teach you your rightful place in this world Malfoy!"
Malfoy's wand had fallen out of his hand, and seizing the opportunity, I lunged forward, grabbed the wand and shot a spell at Mathis before he had time to react. I missed, but his Crutiatus Curse ended which was what I intended. He tried to send the curse my way but I blocked it just in time and shot out a spell of my own, knocking him off his feet. He quickly regained his footing however, and shouted "Crucio!" again and I spun out of the way, the spell missing me by centimeters.
"Stupefy!" I shouted, pointing the wand at Mathis, but he dodged it and then took off running into the woods, realizing that it was not going to be a fight easily won. I started to run after him when Malfoy who was now on his feet grabbed my arm to hold me back.
"Let him go, it's not worth it."
"Not worth it? Where were you for the last five minutes? He's a danger to society!" I shouted and tried to move again.
"Now isn't the time Granger," Malfoy said gruffly pulling me back towards him roughly and losing my footing a bit, I fell back into his arms. He didn't push me away, but wrapped his arms tightly around me. My head was tucked under his chin. After a minute of standing in this manner, he gripped my chin and forced me to look at him.
"The next time I tell you not to do something because it's dangerous, you better listen to me," he said sternly.
I was instantly more furious than I had been a minute ago. "Don't act like I can't handle myself Malfoy. Besides, if I –"
"Shut up," he blurt out. And then he kissed me. It was gentle, yet firm at the same time. He had one arm around my waist and his other hand was gripping my hair. I stood unmoving for a moment but then I reacted, unknowingly dropping Malfoy's wand and placing my hands on his shoulders.
His kiss fueled a fire in me and I didn't even consider who I was kissing, but only I only thought of continuing. He pulled me closer when he felt me responding. Once he ran his tongue along my lower lip however, I regained rational thought and stepped away. I was shocked and appalled at my response. He gazed at me with an unreadable look in his eyes. Then he seemed to come to his senses too and looked away from me.
I was even more mortified when he bent down to pick up his wand. I had the perfect opportunity to make my escape. Malfoy was wandless, I was in control. But I blew it. I stood there kissing him when I should have been cursing him.
Eager to get away from him, I said, "I should get back to the party."
And he let me go without a word.