Eyes on Fire
Chapter 53
AuthorNotes: whoot! Two updates!!!! Review please!!! :D
Dear Jennifer,
If you're reading this, you must've gotten our post-death letter we had timed to mail out to you. We're hoping you're enjoying your stay with the Potters, if everything planned out alright. They are your god parents; Mr. James and Lily Potter. We were close friends with them in Hogwarts when we were younger and we asked them to be your god parents the day you were born since they were both so responsible with their own pregnancy. But if everything didn't go as planned and you're with your grandparents then we are sorry. You would've loved James and Lily. They were so very like us.
It's weird having to chose someone to raise your children after you die. We tried to pick someone who would raise you with the same morals and standards that we would and James and Lily were the closest. If not then, it would've been a man named Severus Snape, who your father was very close to after Hogwarts. Those two were almost inseparable after Hogwarts in the battle of Voldemort. Your father saved him and Severus was forever grateful but Lily and James Potter were so very like us. I don't know if you've met their son, Harry. He was such a cutie.
Anyways, this is our last will and testament. Everything own and have owned will go to you, Jennifer, including our home. You can do with it what you want. You can sell it or keep it. Either one will not hurt our feelings as we watch you progress in life from the heavens. We can understand you selling the house because you've always been an emotional girl. Your father wants you to know that if he sees you crying, you're going to make him cry in heaven. (I had started balling my eyes out with a laugh at this part). We love you so much that it hurts me having to write this to my only daughter. Honey, we never wanted to leave you until you had a settle life with a husband of your own and a life of your own but destiny and fate are so messed up that they wouldn't have it that way.
To explain some things, we had our fortune told just before your ninth birthday and the lady told us what would happen in the future. Your father, being the superstitious one, made me make a will to you and here it is. There's not much to say since it's nothing too formal or set in stone. It's just our word in writing. Again, we love you and we hope we left you in good spirits instead of an argument. Even so, we would still love and cherish you forever.
Love with all our hearts
Mom and dad
I clutched the letter to my chest and clenched my eyes shut as I tried to control my breathing. It was a while before I was composed and I put my parents' jewelry in the case, keeping the letter with me and shoving it in my pocket. I grabbed a few galleons for a cab back to Draco's house and headed out of the vault to see the goblin dozing in the cart. I shut the vault door, which startled him awake and I smiled at him. "Sorry I took so long," I answered. He shrugged and I got into the cart, keeping my eyes on my pocket as he drove us back to the lobby. It didn't take long to fill out some paperwork so if I wasn't who I said I was, they could find me, and I was out on the streets of Diagon alley. I shoved my hands in my pockets and shivered. It was getting chilly out.
I heard some murmured voices in an alley and stopped, staring down it to see some shadowed figured talking. I watched them for a while and heard, "I don't see it necessary to pose as someone else as you fulfill this mission the Dark lord gave you. Are you ashamed of what you are doing, filth?" I made a face and walked a little forward to hear more.
"You know as well as I do that if someone finds out what's happening, I'd be ratted out immediately. It's just to pin it on someone who deserves it to be pinned on," the other person stated but as I took a step forward, I stepped on one of those stupid rocks and fell to the ground. The two looked over at me as I scurried up and stared wide eyed at them. They advanced toward me and I booked it toward the entrance of Diagon alley. I didn't even turn back as I kept running. I stopped at the wall and tapped the bricks, glancing behind me to see them rushing toward me. I didn't know I could run so fast. I shoved through the gap as soon as I could and through the Leaky Cauldron, not acting incognito at all as I rushed through the restaurant and out the door.
I kept running down the streets as my breathing quickened. Tears were falling down my face from the letter still so I probably looked pretty hectic. I wished I knew someone on this street who had a fireplace with floo powder. It'd be a lot faster getting to Draco's house that way than a taxi. I'm not even sure if a taxi could get there. If the Malfoys had their house muggle blocked, no cab would be able to spot them. I kept running though, never looking back. But then a spell shot past my head, causing me to scream out. I stumbled and fell to the ground.
I turned around and pulled my wand out, pointing it behind me as the two figures walked toward me. They walked into the light and I blinked, confused. One of them was one of those goons walking around with Draco at Hogwarts. Another was a spider like woman with crazy black hair and wide, dark eyes. She was smirking at me as I crawled back, holding my wand up defensively. "Well, well," she started. "Don't you look familiar? Are your parents the Williams?" My eyes widened. "I remember that wench's face. She didn't comply at all with joining the Dark Lord so…" Anger boiled in me and I shot up, rushing toward her but she shot a spell at me. It hit me in the chest and I flew back, landing hard on my back and grunting. "You foolish girl!"
"Bellatrix, don't," the goon said. "She goes to my school."
"You think I care, Goyle," Bellatrix snapped, glaring over at him. I turned onto my side and took a deep breath in. I looked over at them and frowned. The Bellatrix lady looked over at me and smiled. "Let's see if we can make you squeal more than your pathetic mother did. Crucio!" The spell hit me like a thousand needles and without my permission, my body convulsed as I tried to keep quiet. It was so hard keeping my moans and grunts of pain quiet in the middle of the night. If I screamed, maybe someone could help but that would give the woman satisfaction. She tore the spell off and made a face before a sound interrupted us. I looked over to see someone running toward us. "Until we meet again," Bellatrix stated before she grabbed Goyle's hand and apparated away. I couldn't even move as I allowed tears of pain to flow down my face and I started grunting in pain. As my body convulsed, my hand had managed to slam against the concrete because now it was throbbing.
"Hey! Are you okay?" I looked over to see a man I didn't recognize making his way toward me. I frowned but nodded, forcing myself to stand up. He was probably muggle so I kept quiet as I leaned against the wall. "Which way did they go?" he stated, pulling out a muggle device I knew as a cell phone.
"I don't know," I mumbled. "I'm fine. I was running from them and tripped. If you hadn't made an appearance, they were going to do something." The man frowned at me and I sighed. "Thank you." I started walking away and I had to hide the limp my leg wanted to do. It hurt bad as I walked up the streets of London, limping and cradling my bruised hand. I sat at the corner of a street and put my head in my functional hand. I started crying again, from both the pain and the letter. How could something like this happen after something so wonderful as reading my parents handwriting? I reached into my pocket and pulled the letter out, staring at it. I sighed and pocketed it again as I heard a horn and looked up to see a double-decker bus materialize in front of me with an old man as the driver and a shrunken head hanging from the window.
"You need a ride, ma'am?" the head stated. I blinked standing and nodding. "Then hop on, little witch." I stepped onto the bus and stared at the head, who smiled. "Where you headed?" I sat down and sighed.
"Do you know where Malfoy Manor is?" I answered. The head laughed.
"Of course, man. Ernie, to Malfoy Manor and step on it. The girl looks like she could use a rest." The old man pulled back a crank and punched the gas, causing me to stumble back and land on one of the beds. I looked back over at the shrunken head and gulped.
"What is this thing?" I asked and the head looked back at me, laughing.
"This is the Knight bus for all stranded witches and wizards. Sorry we were late. We saw your call like ten minutes ago but we were unloading some unpleasant witches," the shrunken head stated. I made a face. "You held our wand out for us, did you not?"
"Uh, yeah I did," I answered, lying. I didn't want them to just drop me off or something. I looked out the windows to see we were driving through the streets of London at a very unimaginable speed. I looked back at the head with wide eyes. "What about the muggles? I think a large purple bus driving this fast would scare them." The shrunken head laughed.
"Muggles can't see us, ma'am. We are invisible to their eyes," the head stated. I nodded. "Malfoy manor coming up." I looked over to see the manor coming in view. I would recognize the beauty of it miles away. I smiled as the bus came a gut wrenching stop and I was tossed from the bed, onto the floor. I screamed out from my wrist and groaned as I slowly stood. "Thank you for riding with the Knight bus. It'll be twenty singles," the head stated. I was glad I got money from the vault as I tossed some money in the toll. "Call again," the head stated as I stepped off the bus, looking back at it. It zoomed off and disappeared as I stared up at the manor. I headed up the driveway and sighed as I stopped at the door, knocking. It wasn't my house.
Footsteps pounded before the door was ripped open and I was engulfed in a hug by Narcissa, of all people. "Jennifer, we were so worried," she stated, leading me in and shutting the door. "How ever did you find your way back? What happened to your wrist, and your leg?" I ignored the last question.
"The Knight bus," I answered. Narcissa smiled as I spotted Lucius and Draco walking down the stairs. "I don't mean to be rude but do you think I can go take a hot shower? I'm freezing." Narcissa smiled.
"Of course, darling. Dinner will be ready for you when you finish. I'm sure you can use something to eat." I smiled and began heading upstairs. I veered around Draco, still pissed off, and headed upstairs. I saw the look on his face as I rounded the corner, stealing a glance at him. He looked regretful. I headed to my bedroom and shed my clothes of, taking a look at my leg. I had scratched all along it from falling and my knee had a huge bruise forming. I sighed and headed into the bathroom. At least my face was intact. I drew a bath instead of a shower and made it extremely hot; at least as hot as my skin could take it. I sunk deep into it and stared up at the ceiling. My thoughts raced back to that pain that Bellatrix did to me. I've never felt that curse on me before but I can see why it made people go mad when used a lot.
I sunk my head into the water and closed my eyes, enjoying the warm water against my chilled skin. It was nice to be in something hot. The water did sting my knee and my elbow, which when I looked I saw some scrapes, but it was much needed after a night like I just had. I finished my bath soon after and put a robe on, weaving my hair up into a towel. I walked into my bedroom and was glad Draco was waiting in my room. I sat on my bed and stared down at my hands. My wrist had stopped throbbing but it was large and puffy. I reached over and grabbed my wand, pointing it down at my wrist. I don't care if I get in trouble. It hurt to bend it.
I mumbled the healing spell and my wrist made a nasty popping sound that hurt incredibly and caused me to yell out slightly before it swelled down and looked normal again. I sighed and left the bruises alone. Those didn't hurt as bad as my wrist did. I dressed in some flannel pajamas and pulled my hair from my head. I brushed it dry and headed out of my bedroom. I really wasn't too hungry; I wanted to sleep the most. I headed downstairs and heard some talking. I listened in for a second.
"How could you leave her alone, Draco? I thought you cared about her!" Narcissa's sharp voice stated. Draco sighed.
"We got into an argument. What am I suppose to do? Just forget about it in five seconds. I went looking for her but I couldn't find her," Draco stated. I frowned.
"It was irresponsible of you," Lucius' voice cut in. "What if someone had been wandering around and spotted her? We all know who that someone would be." Draco sighed and went to say something but I knocked on the door, not wanting to peeve anymore. The door opened and Narcissa stood there, smiling.
"Hi. I think I'm just going to go to bed. I came down to say goodnight," I stated. Narcissa frowned before smiling once more.
"You must eat something," she stated, leading me toward the dining room. I blushed.
"No. I'm not dressed for dinner with you lovely people. Not to sound lazy but I don't want to dress in…"
"It's quite alright," Lucius stated, walking forward as Draco stared at me, sadly. "We understand you wanted to wear warm clothes. We'll send your food up in a couple minutes so you can stay warm." Narcissa smiled.
"Thank you," I whispered as Narcissa led me to the stairs. I stared over at them before heading up the stairs and to my room. They were being incredibly nice. I wondered why…
The food did come up fairly quickly after that and I started to eat it, more enjoyable with a healed wrist. As I almost finished, a knock came at my door. "Come in," I stated, thinking it was more food. But it wasn't a house elf that came in. It was Draco who had come in with a plate of pie on it. He smiled at me and shut the door behind him. I narrowed my eyes at him. "You can leave."
"Jennifer," he stated, setting the pie on one of the dressers and staring at me. "I came up here to apologize for leaving you behind."
"Only because your parents probably told you to do so," I snapped, glaring at him. Draco didn't say anything as I rolled my eyes. "You're so predictable, Malfoy." Draco looked away with a pissed off look on his face before he grabbed the pie and walked over, setting it on my nightstand. "You're not sleeping in here with me," I stated as he sat on the edge of my bed. He looked over at me.
"This is my house. I can do what I want," he stated. I narrowed my eyes.
"I'll just go get Narcissa. She'll tell you to get out," I stated, beginning to get off the bed but Draco shoved me back, staring at me seriously. I blinked, freezing in place. I haven't seen Draco that serious in a while. Actually, I can't recall him looking that serious.
"I'm sorry, ok? I don't apologize much, Williams so you better cherish this moment. I was looking for you until not twenty minutes you knocked on the door. I only came back for my wand and a jacket. It's hard wandering around London with no jacket and a wand," he snapped, glaring at me. I kept still, staring at him with a blank expression. "If you don't want me to sleep with you, fine. But don't expect me to wake you up with breakfast." I wanted to laugh as he stood.
"Draco," I called as he went to walk out. He looked back at me with a slightly irritated look. "Stay." Draco smirked, shut my door, and headed toward me. He pulled his clothes off until he was just in his underwear and he slipped in underneath the covers, next to me as I grabbed the pie he brought me and grabbed the fork, eating it and feeding it to him on every other bite. I valued his apology. The second one had felt like it was coming from him, not his parents.
