-20-
Future Plans, Disappearances and Returned Trinkets
Summary: She barely even knew him. Draco Malfoy was just one of those kids she passed in the halls between classes or asked to borrow a piece of parchment from when she had none. Thanks to the Dark Lord, however, Aurelia Finn and Draco Malfoy will soon find out they have a little more than just age and house in common. And maybe a little bit greater of a task than just "that Charms essay due next period" under way.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my made up character and plot. J.K Rowling owns all else.
Warnings: Sexual Situations, Violence, Character Death, Substance Use/ Abuse, Adult Language, Book 7 Disregarded, Book 6 Events Slightly Altered
A/N: I AM SO SORRY! I know, I didn't post yesterday like I was supposed to. I am truly sorry. I tried to but I didn't. See, the thing is that I finally got around to reading Twilight. I figured that I'd been putting it off for long enough and I definitely wanted to read it all before the movie came out so I did. And well, I'm sure some of you know how that goes. Who wants to think about Draco Malfoy and Aurelia Finn when you've got Edward Cullen and Bella Swan, right? Sigh. Well, here it is, the delayed Chapter 20.
The remainder of the Easter Holiday didn't go the way Aurelia had expected it to. She had every intention of sitting around and doing nothing, to relax from school. She was rather displeased to find that she had no such pleasure. Her days were devoted to studying, training and sex. Yes, that last one as well. She found that she often needed to relax after a hard day and Draco knew how to make her do just that.
Missing classes for a week really had Aurelia in a frenzy. She convinced herself that she would fail the N.E.W.Ts and end up having to work a muggle job. She shuddered at the thought each time it invaded her mind and only forced her to study harder. Draco, Pansy and Dillard were all very worried for her. She was working too hard. Every morning she would wake up, grab a piece of toast out of the kitchen for breakfast and lock herself up in her room for half of the day, pouring over books. Each day, she would leave her room at three o' clock only to work harder.
The Dark Lord feared that the "final battle", as he referred to it, was nearing and Aurelia needed to be prepared for what lay ahead. Therefore, every day at three o' clock Aurelia was to report to training. There, she learned to endure and resist the Imperius Curse, practised casting the Cruciatus Curse and Killing Curse. She also had to become a Legilimens and an Occlumens. The stress of N.E.W.Ts and everyday life didn't particularly help Aurelia in these areas but she was slowly mastering them nonetheless. Very slowly. Although, her advanced skill in resisting the Imperius Curse made Occlumency a tad bit easier but not by much.
"Concentrate," Lucius Malfoy growled.
"You don't think I'm trying?" Aurelia snapped at him as she rubbed her temples.
"Not hard enough."
"You're lucky you're Draco's father, otherwise you'd be hexed into oblivion by now," Aurelia muttered angrily.
"Threatening me isn't helping you master this skill," he retorted though Aurelia was sure she saw his face light up slightly when she mentioned Draco.
"Can we go back to Legilimency for now?" Aurelia pleaded.
"No, you have yet to improve in Occlumency and we will continue until you do."
"Utter rubbish," she mumbled under her breath and braced herself.
"I did it!" Aurelia shouted happily and sprinted to the kitchen with a letter clutched in her hand. "I made prefect!"
"Fantastic," Leandra Finn said nonchalantly, not looking up from her crossword puzzle.
"Aren't you happy for me, mum?" Aurelia's face fell.
"Ecstatic," she said in the same monotone voice.
"Oh, great," Aurelia replied sarcastically. "Nice to know my hard work is appreciated."
"What are you on about again?" Leandra looked up with an impatient glint in her eyes.
"I made prefect, mother," Aurelia spat cruelly. "You know, that thing only one girl in my entire year can make and requires a lot of hard work."
"I know what a prefect is, Aurelia. I'm not stupid."
"Really? Could have fooled me."
"Don't talk to me like that, you ungrateful little wench," her mother said and stood from her place at the kitchen table. She began to advance on her daughter, a venomous look planted across her pasty features.
"Stop!" she screamed. "That's private!"
"It's all private, Finn," Lucius pointed out. "That's why you can't let me see it!"
"Whatever," she muttered and turned to leave the room.
"Where are you going?" Lucius called.
"I fancy a cup of tea," she growled and left, shutting the door behind her.
Everyday was the same routine. She would go to her training, get in a row and leave in a huff. Even when she would do something right, there would always be fault in it.
"Crucio!" she yelled and the spider in front of her began to squirm.
"No, you're not putting yourself into it enough," Bellatrix interrupted.
"Pardon?"
"Watch," she said and pointed her wand at the spider. "Crucio!"
"How is that any different?" Aurelia asked.
"When you learn to tell, you'll learn to do it right," she explained.
"That is such nonsense. I'm doing it just fine! Would you like a live demonstration?"
"You need to learn control," Bellatrix continued.
"That's a load of dung," Aurelia shook her head and walked out of the room.
Every night Aurelia was left pacing her bedroom, uttering the same things under her breath. Draco always had to sit and watch, trying to comfort his girlfriend.
"Did you know that aconite, wolfsbane and monkshood are the same exact thing?" Aurelia said frantically, thrashing her arms around for emphasis.
"Yes, dear, we learned it in first year," Draco nodded.
"We did? Oh, I'm hopeless. I'm going to fail. You know, your family isn't helping much!"
"My family?" Draco cocked an eyebrow.
"'When you learn to tell, you'll learn to do it right'? What's that even supposed to mean? Tell me, can you tell the difference between a perfect Cruciatus and a, er, not perfect one?"
"No…"
"Exactly!" she exclaimed throwing her arms above her head.
"Aurelia, you need to relax," Draco said and walked over to her, holding her by the shoulders at arms length.
"How can I relax with all of this going on, Draco?"
"I'll show you," he smirked and captured her lips with his own. For just that moment, Aurelia let all of her emotions go.
"What is that?" Draco asked as he looked down at her. They were on Aurelia's bed at this point, a majority of their clothes discarded onto the floor.
"Tattoo," she smiled. "You like it? It's lust."
"I love it," he smirked and began to kiss the place of the tattoo. This was pure bliss for Aurelia and a perfect way to end a horrible day.
However, the horrible days just kept coming; Each getting worse than the next. Eventually, a week later--when the real time for Easter Holiday began--Aurelia was scolded to not walk out on her training anymore. So, instead, she sat unhappily in front of her tutor for several hours. The time dragged on. Aurelia's studying and training had become more in depth and fierce to the point where she didn't have a single desire to let Draco pleasure her at night.
"Draco, are you in here?" Aurelia called as she walked into her empty room after training. She looked around curiously at the deafening silence the place had thrown over her.
"Behind you," came a whisper by her left ear as a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist.
"Not now, Draco," she shrugged him off and walked over to her bed.
"Are you alright?" he asked as she sat on the bed angrily and began removing her shoes. Training had been in the back garden that day, mainly because of the nice weather.
"Tired," she mumbled as she threw her running shoes across the room.
"No kidding," he muttered under his breath.
"I beg your pardon?"
"You were tired yesterday, the day before that and the day before that. Do you just not want to sleep with me anymore?"
"Draco, you're overreacting. I'm tired. I am not about to start arguing with you. I've had a hard day. Your father worked me like hell," she groaned and stretched out her back.
"I'm sorry," he quickly mumbled. "Don't know what came over me just there. I understand."
"Not sure you do," she said under her breath and pulled her shirt over her head. Though he looked like he wanted to say something, he left, closing the door behind him.
Aurelia sighed and flopped down on her bed. She took in a deep breath and held it in for a few seconds before letting it out again. All she wanted to do was sleep…
"Aurelia, wake up!" Pansy was shaking her awake on the morning of the fourteenth of April.
"Five more minutes," she mumbled into her pillow and tried to swat Pansy away with her hand.
"No, now. We need to go or we'll miss the train," she persisted. Aurelia mumbled something incoherent and stood up with a loud groan. Within the hour, she was all ready to leave for King's Cross.
"Feeling alright, Reli?" her father asked when they had Apparated to platform 9 ¾. She nodded in response.
"OK, good luck on your exams. Don't worry, you'll do just fine. And Draco," he added turning to the blond. "Do look after her, won't you? And try to help her master her Occlumency and Legilimency, she hasn't made much progress these past couple of weeks."
"Thanks dad," Aurelia mumbled angrily.
"Stay out of trouble, get plenty of rest, don't overwork yourself and have fun," he finished, kissing his daughter's forehead. Pansy, Aurelia and Draco turned away with a final goodbye and boarded the scarlet steam engine train back to Hogwarts.
The train ride there seemed a lot faster than Aurelia remembered them to be. Maybe it was because she slept nearly the entire way. Her Easter Holiday was as far from a holiday as it could have possibly been. She was more tired coming back to school than she was leaving it.
No one, not even Draco, was able to life her mood at this point. She looked like a wreck. For the next few days she had very little on her mind except studying and training. Draco had, regrettably, not forgotten what Dillard had asked of him. He made her wake up extra early in the morning so that they could practice Occlumency. Aurelia was beginning to feel worried that she wouldn't be any good at Legilimency at all because the focus was steered well away from it. Apparently, Draco had already mastered that skill because his father raised him on it. Insufferable little git.
After her vigorous morning training that left her brain as fried as the breakfast she refused to eat, Aurelia reported to classes. Pansy and Draco had been right, the teachers did give her make up work. Though this should have been a comfort for Aurelia, it wasn't. It just mean there was more to do and more to stress about.
On the sixth day of her return to Hogwarts, though Aurelia could have sworn it was at least a month, she wasn't wakened in the early hours of dusk. She proceeded to breakfast with Pansy--having the appetite to finally eat it--and looked around for Draco curiously. Draco wasn't in a single one of their morning classes, nor was he at lunch. He wasn't at a single one of their evening classes nor was he at dinner. Aurelia began to worry where he had gotten off to all day and decided to check his Dormitory, maybe he was sick.
"Draco," she knocked on the door once. "Are you in there?"
"He could be sleeping," Pansy supplied.
"Draco," she knocked again. "Can we come in?"
"Just go, he's probably asleep." Aurelia agreed with her after a third knock and pushed open the door to the seventh year boys' dormitory. Draco was no where to be found and as Aurelia walked over to his bed (knowing all too well where it was) she noticed a note.
"What's it say?" Pansy leaned over Aurelia's shoulder.
"Dear Aurelia," she began reading. "Sorry I couldn't make training. I had to leave last night but you were already asleep so I couldn't tell you. I'll be back tomorrow morning. I had something to do for him. Draco."
"For him?" Pansy cocked an eyebrow, taking the note into her own hands. "Does he mean You-Know-Who?"
"Most likely," Aurelia shrugged and left the Dormitory with Pansy right behind her.
"Oi, what were you two doing in our Dormitory?" Blaise Zabini asked as he saw us coming out of his room.
"Setting Dungbombs off in your bed," Aurelia replied casually and pushed past him. Zabini rushed into his Dormitory with immense speed. Aurelia chuckled lightly to herself and bid Pansy a goodnight before retreating to bed.
.
"Draco, let's go, they know we're here," Lucius' frantic voice called from the doorway.
"Coming," Draco nodded and snatched up the piece of golden glimmer before running out of the room.
"There they are!" a gruff voice called from the other end of the corridor and Draco was quick to retrieve his wand from his robe pocket.
"Stupefy!" the gruff voice yelled. Lucius just barely managed to dodge the jet of red light.
"Avada Kedavra!" he yelled but a well-placed tripping jinx made Lucius stumble and the curse fly off towards the ceiling.
"Stupefy!" a new man yelled. There seemed to be more of them coming in every which way.
"Protego!" Draco countered, allowing his father time to get back on his feet.
"What the bloody hell was that?" a third man said. Draco had just remembered the Disillusionment Charm that was placed upon him. He wondered why his father's had faded.
"There's someone there with him," the first, gruff voice called out and sent a Stunning Spell in Draco's direction but missed.
"We're never going to get out of here," Draco said to his dad. "Protego!"
"Yes we will. Avada Kedavra!" one of the men fell to the floor as a jet of green light hit him.
"Reducto!" Draco yelled loudly and clearly as he pointed his wand to the ceiling which crumbled and fell onto the group of men advancing toward them.
"Well done," Lucius growled and stepped forward cautiously.
"How do we get out now?" Draco asked.
"Simple," he said and pointed his wand at the rubble. "Reducto!"
The large pieces of concrete burst and scattered away in a cloud of dust. The bodies of Aurors were no where to be found. Draco had a sickening feeling in his stomach as to what happened to them.
"Dad, your Disillusionment Charm," Draco reminded him.
"Right, well hurry up then," he said quickly, his eyes darting in every direction, looking for attackers. Just as the charm was cast, a new group of Aurors were sprinting towards them. Draco and Lucius ducked behind a tapestry, knowing that the Charms would do them little good if they got too close. Once the group had passed Draco and Lucius, the two latter stepped into the now-deserted corridor and proceeded stealthily to a door just down the hall. They stepped into the empty office and quickly located the fireplace.
"You go first," Lucius nodded towards to the fireplace and Draco walked over to take a handful of floo powder.
"Incendio!" he lit a fire and threw his floo powder into it, making the flames dance in a brilliant emerald colour. He stepped into the fireplace, careful not to hit his head on the mantle, and said clearly, "Malfoy Manor."
.
"You know, I had the strangest dream last night," Aurelia mused as she stood by the sink in the bathroom the next morning. Pansy was still brushing her teeth.
"You don't say," she answered once she had spit toothpaste out of her mouth. "What was it about?"
"I have absolutely no idea," she shrugged. "It gave me a funny feeling though. Like last time."
"Last time?" she asked, wiping her mouth with a towel.
"Yeah, you know, a few months ago when I told you I kept having these weird dreams but I could never remember them only that they gave me a funny feeling," she reminded her.
"Oh yeah," Pansy nodded.
"I wonder if Draco is back yet," she said almost to herself and without waiting for an answer from Pansy, walked to the Boys' Dorm.
"Draco?" she called as she knocked on the door. Theodore Nott opened the door and looked Aurelia up and down before replying.
"He's not here."
"Oh," she said plainly and left, hearing the door close behind her as she walked away.
"Well?" Pansy looked up from inside her school bag on the Common Room couch.
"Not there," Aurelia said plainly. "Probably running late. Breakfast?"
The two grabbed their school bags and walked to breakfast, talking about something Aurelia couldn't remember because she was too busy thinking about why Draco hadn't come back yet.
Aurelia realized that he wasn't running late at all. He never came back that day. It was well after dinner, when everyone had gone to bed that Aurelia finally spoke to Pansy for the first time since breakfast.
"He's not coming back, is he?"
"What?" she asked, startled that Aurelia was speaking. "Of course he is."
"No," she shook her head.
"Aurelia, you just need a good rest. He'll be back tomorrow and everything will be fine," she assured her and closed her copy of Witch Weekly. "Let's go to bed."
"You go," she waved her hand. "I'm going to stay and wait a little longer."
Pansy didn't question or urge her anymore before retreating to the Girls' Dormitory. Aurelia sat for five minutes, simply staring idly at the fireplace. When she became too anxious to sit still, Aurelia pulled out her Potions book and began working on the essay due that Thursday. Half-way through the essay, Aurelia was finding it hard to keep her eyes open and decided to retire to bed. After packing up her books and sitting in hope for an extra minute, Aurelia slumped her way to the Girl's Dormitory.
The next morning, the first thing on Aurelia's mind was Draco and so, before she even bothered to get dressed, she sprinted to the Boys' Dormitory. Everyone in there groaned loudly as she woke them up with her insane knocking. It was Vincent Crabbe that opened the door this time.
"Is Draco here?" Aurelia gasped between breaths.
"No," he grunted stupidly. Aurelia could tell he had been sleeping. Without replying, she stomped angrily back to her own room.
"He's not back!" she yelled and caused several of her room-mates to jump.
"Who's not back?" Pansy yawned.
"Three guesses," she hissed.
"Maybe he's using the toilet," she said sleepily as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand.
"Unlikely," she grumbled and went off to get ready for the day ahead.
Every day for the next few were exactly like this. Every morning she would wake up unnaturally early and wake the boys. Someone would open the door and sleepily tell her that Draco wasn't there. Then, she would run into her own Dormitory to tell Pansy that he wasn't there, waking all of her room-mates in the process. At breakfast, lunch and dinner, she would sit, scanning the Great Hall for any sign of Draco. There never was any. Every class she would only be half-listening to the teacher and curse herself afterwards because she knew N.E.W.Ts were nearing and listening in class was crucial. Every evening she would sit in the Common Room, pouring herself out over her ridiculous amounts of homework long after everyone had gone to sleep, desperately hoping that Draco would show up alive and well. Every night Pansy would continue to tell her that he would be back in the morning and everything would be fine.
"It's been nearly a week," Aurelia pointed out feebly as she and Pansy were walking to the dungeons after lunch to enjoy their Friday afternoon.
"I know," she nodded. "He'll be back, don't worry."
"You've been telling me that every day and he doesn't seem to be back, does he?" she asked angrily.
"You know, all of this stress is kind of bad for the baby," Pansy pointed out.
"Oh sure," Aurelia sighed sarcastically. "Let's bring my fatness into this."
"You're not fat."
"I'm fatter," she said. "And once people start to notice, my life will be hell."
"I'm sure they'll understand," Pansy tried.
"You live in a dream world," she said dryly.
Aurelia and Pansy didn't exactly "relax" on their Friday afternoon. Instead, like most of the fifth and seventh years, they sat in the Common Room doing homework.
"I'm missing an ingredient for my Shrinking Potion," Pansy announced as they were doing their work. Aurelia glanced at her paper.
"Leech juice," she answered, not really paying attention to the task at hand.
"Aurelia," Pansy sighed, setting her essay aside. "You have to relax. Draco is fine."
"If you say so," she said, opening her Transfiguration book. As she flipped through the pages, a small piece of parchment fell out.
You're cute when you concentrate.
Leave me alone, Draco.
Why?
Because I'm trying to pay attention. N.E.W.Ts, remember?
Aren't for months.
Ignoring you.
Aurelia shut her Transfiguration book angrily and threw it aside. She missed sitting next Draco in that class. She missed sitting next to Draco at meals. She missed sitting next to Draco in the Common Room. She missed Draco, period.
"I'm going to sleep," Pansy yawned, packing her books up. Aurelia looked around the Common Room to find it deserted.
"Alright, see you in the morning," Aurelia nodded. Pansy looked at Aurelia for a moment as if hoping she would suddenly decide to come along. After realizing that it was out of the question, she stood with her books and disappeared through the passageway to the Girls' Dormitory.
Aurelia let out a deep sigh and straightened her back, leaning her head over the edge of the sofa. She didn't want to sleep because she wanted to wait for Draco to return, just like she did every night. Also, she knew that if she fell asleep the weird, unexplainable dreams she never remembered would return to her just like they had every night of that week and leave her with the same ominous feeling as they did every morning afterwards.
He was dead. She knew it. There was no way he had been "running late" for four days. The only thing that worried her was why he was dead. She didn't know what happened to him because no one had bothered to tell her. Everyone knew they were dating so why had nobody bothered to at least owl her to say that her boyfriend was dead? She wondered if maybe no one knew yet. If maybe his body was laying lifeless in an alley somewhere or a muggle Police station. No muggle would know him because to them, Draco Malfoy didn't even exist. She felt tears forming in her eyes. She knew there was no hope but it didn't matter. She would stay up like this every night for the rest of her life if she had to. She would, under no circumstances, come to terms with the fact that Draco was dead until she saw it for herself.
As Aurelia was idly thinking these thoughts, there was a loud clatter of a stumbling figure coming in through the Common Room entrance. Aurelia turned around, a little startled, to see none other than Draco Malfoy clambering into the room. She gasped at the sight of him. He was covered in bruises and blood. There was a large gash on his eyebrow and his leg was bleeding severely. Without even thinking about the pain her actions would inflict, she jumped from the couch, tears now streaming down her cheeks, and launched herself at Draco who had to clutch the side of a chair to keep from falling. She could feel him wince from the pain but he didn't pull away as Aurelia clung to him, crying desperately into his shoulder.
"I don't think I've ever seen you cry," he joked feebly, his voice dry and cracking. As a response, Aurelia let out an even louder sob mixed with a small chuckle and kissed Draco fervently. Draco carefully pulled her off him and walked over to the couch where he sat with a loud groan.
"Where have you been?" Aurelia asked, wiping the tears from her eyes. She didn't care that every wall she had ever built around herself had now been torn down. She didn't care that even though she'd tried for years to act the way she knew she was supposed to and never cry in front of someone, she was suddenly doing it now. She knew it showed weakness and weakness was dangerous but she didn't care. Crying wasn't her weakness, Draco was.
"It's a very long story," Draco said.
"Please tell me," she insisted as she pulled out her wand.
"It started with a letter from dad," he began and flinched slightly as Aurelia began to clean the wound on his leg.
"Aguamenti," Aurelia muttered, listening intently to Draco's story.
"He said the Dark Lord had given him a task, to go into the Ministry," he continued.
"The Ministry?"
"Yes, he--ow!"
"Sorry. Accio Towel."
"He wanted some information for what they're doing in there," he flinched slightly as Aurelia began dabbing at the wound with the towel she summoned from the bathroom. "Also, he said that if we were to come into contact with anyone in high ranks, we were to try and Imperius them."
"And did you? Episkey," she said.
"No, we were caught. OW!" he yelled as Aurelia had clutched his leg tightly from shock.
"Oh, sorry," she said sheepishly, releasing him. "It's broken, I think."
"Don't worry about it," he waved off and continued. "It was pretty bad, there were Aurors everywhere once they found out there were intruders."
"Episkey," she said again at the broken bone. "How did you escape?"
"Well, there was actually a bit of a duel," he said.
"Just you two against Aurors?" she asked surprised.
"Yeah, only they didn't know I was there."
"What?" she cocked an eyebrow. "Ferula."
"Disillusionment Charm," he confirmed and Aurelia nodded as she continued on to his eyebrow cut. "Anyway, I used Reducto to make the ceiling cave in and we escaped through Floo in a nearby office."
"Brilliant," Aurelia grinned and wet the towel with her wand.
"Of course, after a rumble like that, dad and I had to lay low at--ow--home for a few days."
"So if you've been home--Episkey--why are you so beaten up?" she asked as she finished.
"Apparently, there's a giant in the Forbidden Forest," he laughed but Aurelia could see that he wasn't joking.
"Hagrid," Aurelia shook her head although she couldn't help but grin as well.
"I have something," Draco said quietly as he reached into the pocket of his robes. What he pulled out made Aurelia's breath get caught in her throat. "It's the original; I found it at the Ministry just before we got discovered."
Aurelia stared at the small trinket in his hands, unable to speak. So many different emotions came flooding through her. Whichever emotion it was that managed to overpower her, Aurelia wasn't sure but tears soon began falling down her face again. She watched in amazement as Draco repaired the golden object to fasten itself on the chain that still occupied its place on Aurelia's neck. She slowly fingered the small four-cornered star before kissing Draco on the lips so much that she was afraid it might hurt him. If there was any pain, he didn't show it.
"Thank you, so much," she whispered into the crook of his neck.
A/N: Once again, sorry times a million for not getting this out yesterday. However, it was pretty long. So I guess that made up for it. Erm, I hope you liked this. It didn't seem like much because I made Draco disappear and come back within the same chapter. But, Draco disappearing wasn't the point. The point was the change in Aurelia's character and the four-cornered star. Yes, I'm not finished with that just yet. OK, well I hope you enjoyed this even though it was late. Once more, I'm really sorry for pulling a WB on you guys (haha) but at least I didn't make you wait 11 months for it (haha again).
Reviews are spectacular. Love it? Hate it? I wanna hear them all. Please and thank you :)