The Creeper
"Willow, Phoenix feather core, and twelve and three-fourths inches." I said, while my mum was admiring my wand. It was three months after I had found them in the Manor, and we still had so much to catch up on.
"It's wonderful. You know, it's very similar to my wand: Birch, Phoenix feather core, twelve inches. Your father's is Holly, Unicorn hair, ten inches."
"Whoa. That's so cool." I said.
"So, tell me more about school? What house were you sorted into?"
"Gryffindor of course!"
"Just like your father."
"What? You weren't in Gryffindor too? I always thought…" She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.
"Naw, I was only a mere Ravenclaw. Nothing compared to the fearless Gryffindors!" She joked, but I just looked at her.
"Only a Ravenclaw? Come on now. One of my best friends, Luna Lovegood, is a Ravenclaw, and she's brilliant. Not to mention one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, even if she is a little strange…" I trailed off, but my mother just laughed.
"Oh, I'm sure she is. If she's anything like her father, she's very strange. But if she's anything like her mother, she's also incredibly nice."
"Where is dad, anyway?" I asked, and she looked a little weird about it.
"Bellatrix has him running some errands for her."
"Why, that's not at all surprising." I said, sarcastically.
"Oh, he'll be okay. I want to hear more about you! What was it like living with the Weasleys?" She asked me.
"It was wonderful. They all treated me as if I was just another Weasley." I said with a warm smile.
"I'm so glad you were able to live with people who you were already close with." I nodded.
"Yeah, me too. Especially the Twins. For so long, they were the only ones who could take my nightmares away. I'd just crawl into bed with one of them, and I'd magically be able to sleep. Of course, once we all started getting a little older, that started to not be an option." I said, laughing. She laughed too. "But now I have Malfoy. Surprisingly." She looked really happy for me. "And of course, being friends with Harry Potter, school has been eventful. I've saved his ass so many times." And we both started to laugh again. I really loved having my mum back. I was just telling her about the Tri Wizard Tournament when Narcissa came into the room.
"Talia, darling, I'm afraid you'll have to continue this tomorrow. My sister has just gotten back." She said, and I jumped up and pulled her inside more.
"Narcissa, I would like you to meet my mother, Melissa." They shook hands, but then they hugged, which was nice.
"It's so nice to finally meet you! Thank you so much for taking care of my daughter while she's been here." My mum said, and Narcissa waved her off.
"Oh, it was no trouble. If my son loves her, it's reason enough for me to love her. I was so happy when she told me about finding you here. I had no idea Bella was keeping you guys here, honest. I would not have allowed it."
"I believe you!" They both grabbed my hands, and then Narcissa reminded me that we had to go.
"I'll come back as soon as possible, okay?" I said, hugging my mother. She nodded.
"I love you."
As we walked down the hallway, carefully, since Bellatrix could be on her way down it, Narcissa got down to business.
"Talia, I'm afraid we have something to discuss that has to do with Draco…"
…
I was on my way to the stables later that day, with my bag full of stuff. When Narcissa had told me her little secret earlier, I had immediately started to hatch a plan in my mind. I had been afraid that someone would catch me when I was out there, but Narcissa had assured me that none of the Death Eaters go anywhere near the stables. I was being very sneaky, watching out for Bellatrix so I wouldn't get caught. But as I was almost out of the glass doors in the kitchen that open out to the back yard, I heard her shrill, biting voice intruding on my silence.
"What do you think you're doing?" I turned to her and tried to out on my best innocent look.
"Mrs. Malfoy asked me to spend the day cleaning out the stables. She said they're disgusting, and she wants a better, cleaner environment for her son's horses." I said, silently daring her to challenge me.
"How do I know you're not lying to me?" She asked, her eyes narrowed.
"You can ask Mrs. Malfoy yourself, Ma'am." I said, accidentally saying the word "ma'am" with a little too much harshness. But I don't think she noticed, as Narcissa just so happened to walk into the kitchen at that moment. Ah, fate, you're a wonderful thing. She looked at me with fake anger.
"Miss Jackson, what on earth are you still doing in here? At this rate, it will take you two days to clean the stables." And of course, as always, Bellatrix took no blame for herself.
"Well, you heard her! Get to the stables!" she said to me, and I smiled internally. With one look at Narcissa's eyes, I could tell she was feeling the same.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Malfoy. I'm on my way." And I left. I was walking down the path, through the chilly air, taking my time to smell all the pretty flowers. As winter would be arriving soon, I knew they wouldn't be there much longer. Even if Narcissa didn't plant all these flowers herself, I know she picked all the plants and where everything would go. She loved this garden, and sometimes from Draco's bedroom window I could see her walking along the path, admiring it. I was just about to open the doors to the stables when I saw something out of the corner of my eye again. But also like last time, when I turned to look, there was nothing there. This was starting to get super creepy; it was like someone was following me. But when I heard the call of a horse, I forgot about the stalker and opened the doors.
I had never been in here before, and I immediately wished that wasn't true. There were four horses, all a different color, and I made a mental note to myself to ask Draco about their names. And then I got to work. I really did need to clean up in here, but for different reasons than Bellatrix thought. I strung up lights and set up candles, but then stopped as I realized I forgot one of the most important things: putting up magical barriers around the stables. So I did, and I added an extra barrier that would keep it warm in there, as the nights were getting colder. As long as no one crossed over the threshold, all they would see was me cleaning. And trust me, once Draco got here, cleaning was one thing we would not be doing. As I slipped into a very cute, very short sun dress, I heard someone walking down the path, and decided to hide behind one of the horses. I wanted him to see how I decorated the place before he saw me. I heard the door open, and for a second I got scared that it wasn't actually Draco. What would happen if it turned out to be Bellatrix, or another Death Eater, or even Greyback?
But when I saw his familiar white hair pass my hiding place, I knew it was Draco. I very quietly slipped out from behind the horse and snuck up behind him, and I wrapped my hands around his waist. He tensed for just a second, and I thought to myself, "Who else would walk up behind you and hug you?" But after a second he relaxed, and grabbed my hands.
"Hey there," I whispered in his ear. He chuckled.
"What's all this for?" He asked me. I spun him around so we were facing each other.
"It's a celebration, silly," I told him, and he got even more confused. Honestly, this guy was more thick than Ronald sometimes.
"What are we celebrating?" He asked, and I gave him a look that I hope said how dumb he was being.
"Really?" I asked him, and he shook his head, still not getting it. I waited a few seconds, and then I smacked his shoulder. "I can't believe you didn't tell me your birthday was at the beginning of June! It's been months!" Understanding filled his eyes, and he suddenly looked a little uncomfortable.
"Oh, yeah. Well, I just thought that with everything going at, it wasn't that important." He explained, but that wasn't good enough for me.
"But we celebrated my birthday!" I said.
"That's different! You were suffocating in that house, with Bellatrix making you do all that shit, and The Dark Lord pressuring you and all, you needed it!"
"You need it too, Malfoy. For the same reason I needed it. Just because you're used to all this, doesn't mean it's easier on you. Every time I look at you, you look sad, and tired, and broken. You think I don't notice, but I do, Malfoy." I said.
"Shit, you used my last name. I better go along with this." He said, a smile breaking his sharp face, and I couldn't help but smile back.
"Absolutely. If you'll follow me, Mr. Malfoy, to this adorable little bed I've put together…"
"Ooh, a bed? Maybe I should have told you about my birthday earlier." He said suggestively.
"Oh please. Sex isn't the only thing we're going to do." We sat down.
"Oh, really? What else is there to do, then?"
"Well first, you need to tell me the names of all these horses. I'd really like to ride them while I'm stuck here."
"The white one is Shadowfax, the brown one is Brego, the grey one is Snowmane, and the black one is Stybba." I looked at him with utter shock.
"Those are all horses in the Lord of the Rings movies. Except for Snowmane and Stybba, which are names you would only know if you'd read the books." I said to him.
"Technically, Stybba was a pony."
There were a few moments of silence, and then I spoke, "That is so hot." And I crawled on top of him and we had sex.
…
"If I knew you found my nerdiness sexy, I'd say nerdy things more often." Draco said to me after we finished.
"I wouldn't mind that."
"So, I'm all for lying here forever, but I thought you wanted to do other things besides each other." He said, chuckling a little as his joke, which made me laugh.
"You're right." I whipped out my wand and yelled the summoning charm, and his purple acoustic guitar zoomed to me from its hiding place in Snowmane's stable.
"My guitar?" He said, grabbing it from me.
"Yeah. I found the room all your music stuff in it, and I picked out my favorite of your guitars."
"Is it your favorite because it's purple?" He asked me.
"You know me so well." He started strumming on his guitar, and as always I was amazed at how natural he was at it. And also as always, he fell into a song that I was familiar with. It had been such a long time.
Sweet love, sweet love, trapped in your love
I've opened up, unsure I can trust
My heart and I were buried in dust
Free me, free us
You're all I need when I'm holding you tight
If you walk away, I will suffer tonight
I found a man I can trust and boy, I believe in us
I am terrified to love for the first time
Can you see that I'm bound in chains?
I've finally found my way
I am bound to you
I am bound to you
So much, so young, I've faced on my own
Walls I built up became my home
I'm strong and I'm sure there's a fire in us
Sweet love, so pure
I catch my breath with just one beating heart
And I embrace myself, please don't tear this apart
I found a man I can trust, and boy, I believe in us
I am terrified to love for the first time
Can you see that I'm bound in chains?
I've finally found my way
I am bound to you
I am bound to…
Suddenly the moment's here, I embrace my fears
All that I have been carrying, all these years
Do I risk it all? Come this far just to fall? Fall
I have entrusted, boy, I believe in us
I am terrified to love for the first time
Can you see that I'm bound in chains?
And finally found my way
I am bound to you
I am, ooh I am
I'm bound to… you
"That never gets old." Draco said as we finished the song, and I didn't have to look at his eyes to know that they were glowing. It was the middle of the night, but neither of us felt like sleeping. I wished this night could last forever. For a while it was like I wasn't even a prisoner here, and Draco wasn't a Death Eater, and everything was normal. It was like we were just two people, visiting each other over the summer, having one of the best nights of our lives. But of course, none of that was true.
"Draco, I have to talk to you about something." I said, and he looked concerned.
"What is it?" He asked me. I took a deep breath, and then spoke my mind.
"I have to get out of here. I keep trying to plan escapes, but everything I come up with ends with the Death Eaters finding and killing me. But I'm getting out of here, one way or another." I said, and I expected Draco to be either upset that I was leaving him or upset that I was doing something as dangerous as trying to escape. But really, he just looked… understanding.
"I had a feeling that you were going to say that." He said, looking solemn. I sat up, holding a blanket around me, and grabbed his hand.
"Draco, you could come with me." I said, hopefully. He just shook his head.
"I can't. I would, but it's just not possible."
"Why not?" For an answer, he held out his arm to me, the one with the Dark Mark. I rubbed my thumb around it, but was careful not to actually touch it. This was something that I'd rather the Dark Lord not see.
"This is why not. We have them so we can summon him, but it also works the other way."
"He could use it to summon you back?"
"Yep. And then he'd know that I've been unfaithful to him, and he'd kill me. And probably my mother too, because she'd probably take my side." He said, looking sad, and I knew that we both were wishing that this wasn't the case.
"Oh. I see."
"But you still need to get out of here, Talia."
"What about you? I can't just leave you here with these people!"
"You have to! Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself here."
"So can I!" I said, stubbornly crossing my arms. He laughed.
"Of course you can. But you can also get out of here and help your friends kill The Dark Lord. That's more important than staying here with me."
"What about my parents? Can I just leave them?" I asked. I had just gotten them back; I didn't want to lose them again.
"I'll take care of them." I believed him, and I knew that he was right about me needing to get out of there.
"Well, this is great and all, but it's going to take me forever to come up with a good escape plan. I could very well be here for months." I said, putting emphasis on the last word. If I didn't plan this exactly right, they'd kill me for sure.
"Lucky me." He said with a smile, and then we started to snog. But then we broke apart and just laid together. "Did you visit your parents again today?" My face lit up.
"I did! Well, just my mum really, because apparently the Crazy Bitch had my dad doing some errands today or something. But it was really great catching up with her. I missed her a lot. And—" I was cut off by a rustling sound coming from outside. I sat up quickly to see a blur of movement just along the side of one of the windows. "Did you see that?" I asked Draco, pointing towards the window.
"No, but I did hear that noise. What do you think it was?" He asked me.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." I said, and got up and headed for the door.
"What are you doing?" Draco said, jumping up after me, pulling on his pants.
"This is the third time I've seen this mysterious something/someone and I have to go out there and find out!" I said, grabbing the doorknob.
"That's fine, but you might want to put something on." He said, and I realized I was completely naked. Draco threw me his white button-up shirt, and I quickly pulled it on and went outside. I looked around, squinting in the dark, and saw some movement out in the trees. Someone was running away from us.
"Oh, no you don't," I mumbled to myself, and chased after them. I had to admit, whoever this was, they were really fast. Like, inhumanly fast. I almost couldn't keep up, and I did stumble a few times. But Draco was always behind me, there to help me back up. I was slowly catching up, and I could tell by the long hair that it was a girl we were chasing. But as I stumbled again, I got frustrated. So, when I got back up, I didn't start running again, but I did yell. And by the way the trees shook, and how Draco had to cover his ears, I could tell I had put a little extra Siren mojo into it.
"STOP!" I yelled, and she did. Well, she actually fell to the ground. So I took the opportunity to finally completely catch up to her. But when I was a few feet away, something inside me was screaming to stop. And I did stop, scared for some reason. And when she finally stood up and turned around, I felt like someone had knocked the wind out of me. I felt like I couldn't breathe, even though I knew I was. Because what I was seeing should've been impossible. And I didn't believe it until I felt my voice whisper one, single word.
"Kayla."
