AN - So happy for the new readers to this amazing story. This chapter will jump across different perspectives and through time a little. Please let me know if it doesn't make sense and i'll reorder it. I wanted to move away from Josie for a bit.
Enjoy.
"Where are we up to on the hunt?" Lily asked Sirius.
"No progress. No sign of the sword at all" he said, as Lily wrapped an arm around him from behind. She glanced down at the papers that were laid out on the huge table before them and frowned at their lack of progress. Surely they'd have completed far more than this by now? "Harry's due back in an hour" he added.
It had been 7 months since they had seen Josie, and while initially, all their efforts went on finding their daughter, they were now spending their time on the mission that Dumbledore had set for them before his death.
When the family arrived back from Hogwarts shortly after Dumbledore's funeral, they sat down with whatever remaining members of the Order they could find and began making plans.
The Order of the Phoenix members would gather regularly and discuss plans for an ambush, to locate Josie, continue with Dumbledore's mission and end Voldemort's reign, however, after only 2 months, Lily's house was destroyed in an attack, putting a halt on any plans they had. During the attack, Mad Eye Moody was killed, and several other members of the Order were injured.
It had taken a lot, but the family had decided, with no alternate options, to move to Sirius's childhood home in Grimmauld Place, in central London.
Initially, Lily had sunk into a dark place, staying in bed, not showering, not caring for her children, relying on Sirius and Harry for almost everything. She couldn't cope, couldn't imagine a world where one of her children, one that almost lost her life before she was even born, to Voldemort, was on the side of evil.
Lily had spent a month in bed before waking one day and realising that she could wallow in her depression, she could spend all her time in sadness, crying about a daughter who she had failed to protect, failed to notice, failed to see, or she could get up, make plans, clean the dark magic out of the house and focus on putting things right.
It took another month of scrubbing, cleaning and sorting of junk, in both the muggle way and the medical way, before the house resembled anything other than an evil old building full of hatred and fear.
By the time Lily was done with it, it was light, airy and void of doxys, pixies, boggarts and any forms of dark magic. The portrait of Sirius mother, which had been placed in the most central part of the hall many years ago, was removed by taking out the entire wall and rebuilding it altogether. Initially, the occupants of Grimmauld place had to creep around, avoid disturbing the portrait so she wouldn't scream obscenities at them. For Carina and Lyra, it was something they couldn't comprehend – a member of their biological family not liking them. They were Blacks by blood. According to them, they should have been loved unconditionally. It was the opinion of Walburga Black, however that the girls were stains on the name, muddying the Black name with their mother's muggle blood.
It was a blessing when the portrait was gone forever.
By September, the family was ready to put all of their focus on finding Josie. Not that they hadn't been, or they hadn't wanted to, but it had become difficult given Lily's state of mind.
On the 2nd of September, Harry received an owl from Ginny that would alter their immediate plans.
Dear Harry,
I know you and I are over, and I accept that. I do not accept the reasons behind it, in fact I think you're mental. We finally got to a good place and…. Whatever… Anyway, I am writing to update you on the state of things at Hogwarts.
Josie is here. Please tell your parents so they stop the crazy search for her. I couldn't believe it when I saw her on the train yesterday but there she was. I couldn't get near her of course. She won't even talk to me, won't look at me. She has bloody body guards with her at all times and she now sleeps in the Head Boy and Girl room with Malfoy. Yep, you guessed it, they both made Head boy and girl. What a joke. He's a tosser and an evil git and Josie's just blinded by either the imperious or whatever he has in his pants that makes him so intriguing. The thing is Harry, when the announcement was made about who the heads were, Snape called her Josie Malfoy. Malfoy! Surely they haven't gotten married? Please tell your mum. If she checks your family tapestry, it will show whether or not Josie is now a Malfoy. Why would she do this? She's only 15. How could she? Really? There's no way she could legally have gotten married. I will make it my mission to talk to her. Find out once and for all what the hell is going on.
Snape is headmaster. Its horrendous. I've been back a day and he has already changed everything. There are two new professors, the Carrows, brother and sister, who are on control of everything. Snape announced at the feast that they'll be using the Crutiatis curse on students who step out of line. I really don't know how I feel about that. Its fucking barbaric.
I just… I don't know if I'll be able to write to you much more. I don't want this to lead anybody to you. I want you to be safe. Harry, once this is all over, I want us to be together again.
I know your family is on some mission that Dumbledore left you and I ok with that. Just please, be safe.
I love you always,
Ginevra
The letter was both a reprieve and a very disturbing piece of information for the family. Upon reading over Ginny's letter to Harry, Lily immediately checked the family tree, noticing that in fact, Josie was now connected to the Malfoy family tree with a marital bond to Draco Malfoy. Lily had exploded over the information.
"She's fifteen years old! Who in their right mind would allow such a thing?" she screamed.
"Oh, I don't know, Malfoy's?" Sirius asked.
"How on earth can this be legal? It can't. The family tree is wrong" she said.
"It's not possible. Family trees are ancient magic. They can't be fooled Lily. Its real. They have probably invoked old wizarding laws for the ceremony which negates the need for the bride's family's approval. That means, a girl of any age can be married… As long as…" he said.
"What? As long as what Sirius?" Lily asked.
"As long as she willingly consents. Without mind tampering" he said.
"So you're saying that she went into this willingly?" Lily asked.
"That's the only way" he said.
"She's just a child" Lily sighed, relenting and falling into the arms of her husband.
Harry didn't hear from Ginny after that. He didn't hear from any of his friends who were at Hogwarts. Harry knew that out of all the people he knew, the Longbottoms had returned, as did Ron and Ginny. Hermione had fled the country with her parents, not letting anyone know where she had gone, but sending muggle post cards to him in the mail to a post box that Harry had purchased.
It was now December and Lily was focused on the mission at hand.
She passed the cup of firewhiskey she held in her hand to Sirius who was looking over the papers spread out over the table.
"What is next on the list? Where do we go from here?" she asked.
"We need something to destroy the horcruxes with" Sirius said.
"I thought for sure we'd find something here" Lily said.
"This house was full of dark objects, that's for sure, but none dark enough for this" he said, pulling Helga Hufflepuff's cup down from a shelf, tossing it from one hand to the other while it let out a slight squeal.
"I still think we should keep these with us. If something happens, if we have to leave… we can't leave these behind, not after everything.
"No way, not after how they affected you. You're never laying a hand on them again" Sirius said.
"I just… After everything we did to find them, to finally realise the truth about these pieces of his soul… We can not lose them. If something happens Siri…" she said.
"Lil, just stay on track. Stay focused. We have the locket and the cup, the diary and the ring were destroyed by Dumbledore, if we're correct in our assumptions, the lost diadem of Ravenclaw is the only one we need to find and then we just destroy the snake. We just need the sword…" Sirius said.
"Or basilisk venom" she said.
"Or basilisk venom, which is impregnated into the sword" Sirius said. "My point is, we are so close, we have come so far. There are so many wards around this house, not a single entity can enter this house. You created them. We will be fine here. This is the safest place on earth" he said. He was right. There was no way that anybody could get in, apart from them. Lily had created wards that were designed on their blood. The only people who could even see the house were herself, Sirius, Harry, Lyra and Carina. She had used their blood for the spell to set the wards. It was completely impenetrable.
"It would be nice to have visitors…" Lily said, thinking about how badly she missed her friends.
"Mum…" came the voice of Lyra from the hall.
Lily looked up at her daughter, standing in the entry way, hand on her hip, expectant look on her face. Lyra's long red curly hair was pulled back into a messy bun and she had a pencil poking through her hair.
Lily raised an eyebrow at her daughter, waiting for her to continue with whatever demand it was she had this day.
"Break time is over. You wanted to keep on the schedule… its time for transfiguration" she said.
"Its Christmas… No school on Christmas" Lily said, hoping to get out of it.
"It's the 20th mum, its not Christmas. You-Know-Who doesn't take breaks. I need to learn. I need to fight. Time to talk is over. Its time to get on with it" she said, attitude radiating off the 13-year-old girl.
"That it is…" she said, turning to Sirius and rolling her eyes before leaving the kitchen to tend to her twin girls to complete their education.
Lily had decided, as soon as the decision was made to keep the girls' home from school, that she would home school them. Between herself, Sirius and Harry, Lyra and Carina's education would continue. Excel, even. Some days she wished for a break, but when her daughters expressed their absolute desire to learn, to grow and to thrive, she couldn't think of a reason to hold back.
She walked up the stairs and into the library which was set up as a classroom. Her girls were all too eager to learn about the complexities of transfiguration. Today's lesson was about Animagi, something she was all too eager to teach them.
xx-xx
Josie sat on the sofa in the room she now shared with Draco at Hogwarts. It had been a long day and she was glad for the holidays to begin.
Her travelling case sat beside the door, next to Draco's, awaiting the moment where they would floo to Malfoy Manor.
"Being head girl does have its perks" she muttered to herself and she glanced across the room to the large mirror that reflected her face back to her.
She did not want to be trapped on a train all day with no where to go, no where to hide if the Longbottom's or the Weasleys attempted to corner her again. As it was, she had someone go with er everywhere she went these days. Crabbe and Goyle were basically her bodyguards, not allowing anyone apart from Draco within 15 feet of her. She hated them. She hated the way they spoke, the way they ate, the way they did everything. At mealtimes, she sat at the Head student table, which didn't exist before now. She thought that it was Snape's way of keeping her away from the Gryffindors. In a way, she was grateful. She missed her friends, particularly Hazel, but the life she made for herself was with Draco now.
Draco entered the room from the corridor and sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. AN exasperated motion that she had come see as something he did constantly.
"Everything ok?" she asked.
"I can't help them. Not all of them. They need to stop" he said.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Your friends. They've been fighting back. They just need to stop and things will settle" he said
"I know, but they're fighters" she said.
"Bloody Gryffindors" he said with an attempt at a laugh. There hadn't been much of that lately.
"If I could… I would try…" she said.
"I know, but you know what we were told. No contact" he said sadly.
"I remember" she said, standing to put her arms around him.
"Ready to go?" he asked after a while in each others arms.
"Not sure if I want to go to him or stay here with them. But either way I'm packed" she said.
"I'll do what I can to make sure he stays away. I promise" he said as he kissed her temple.
Draco collected their bags in one hand and took Josie's hand with the other as they left the room. Theirs was close to the headmaster's office, so the walk was quick. At the bottom of the stairs, they came across one of the newest professors, who Josie hated beyond belief – Alecto Carrow.
"Well well, if it isn't the dark lords' favourite newlyweds" she said, tapping her wand on her hand.
"Do you need something, professor? We're heading home for the holidays" Draco said, feigning politeness.
"I need to know what it is you did that has placed you in such good standing with the dark lord. He likes you, Draco, and your little half-blood wife. What have you done to please him so?" she asked.
Josie thought about this. It was true. Somehow, Voldemort had become Draco and Josie's biggest fan. He personally attended their wedding and gifted them with an entire vault of galleons as well as some incredibly rare and valuable jewels. Not that they needed it, as Josie discovered upon her wedding that the Malfoy's are the second richest family in all of Wizarding Britain, second only to the Blacks of course whose wealth, combined with the now defunct Potters, was greater than anyone could gather or spend in several lifetimes. Perhaps that was why no one batted an eye at the unusual pairing. Josie couldn't be after Draco's money as she had more than enough of her own.
"The Dark Lord appreciates those who work hardest to serve him, professor, now if you'll excuse us, we have to be going" Draco said, pulling Josie with him up the gargoyle staircase.
And serve him they had. As it turned out, Draco and Josie's mission was not complete when they had returned from Hogwarts following the death of Dumbledore. Voldemort had put them to task on the attack on Josie's family home, which they carried out successfully. It pained Josie to do, however, upon making sure they would not be in the home, she coordinated the attack, making sure only minor casualties resulted. Of course the Order had been tipped off and they attended the battle. The death of Mad-Eye-Moody was unavoidable and deeply regretted. Josie grieved for the man as if he were her own family.
She shook herself out of the memory as they stood before the headmaster Snape.
"Your occlumency?" he was asking.
"It is up to scratch" she answered.
"Up to scratch won't do. It needs to be perfect" he said, rounding the table and standing before her. He pulled his wand out of the sleeve of his robe and before she had a chance to prepare, he was invading her mind. She immediately brought the most irrelevant memories to the forefront of her mind, shutting the important things right at the back in a place she knew could never be accessed even the most skilled legillimens. She brought forward memories of Voldemort that showed him in a compassionate light, ones that demonstrated his talents, his power and his generosity. She recalled some vague slivers of her childhood, unimportant facts that were of no consequence as well as memories from the year before, the cabinet, Dumbledore…
"Very good. I'm sure your level is adequate for the Dark Lord to believe" Snape said. She could have sworn he saw a small smile across his face. "Draco?" he asked.
"As perfect as ever professor" Draco answered.
"We'll see" he said as he pointed his wand at Josie's husband. She watched as Draco narrowed his eyes at the headmaster. After a while, he stopped and stepped back around his desk.
"The dark lord will be pleased. And disturbed. Besotted is a word I'm tempted to use. He'll simply find it amusing, I believe" Snape said. Josie just looked to Draco and smiled. "Ahh, young romance" he said after a while.
Josie wondered which of their memories he had shown. She thought back to several of her own memories from the past few years. The ones from the last 7 months were the most amazing memories she had accumulated yet.
xx-xx
7 months earlier
Josie opened her eyes as the spinning feeling stopped. He was standing outside of an enormous black wrought iron gate that was emblazoned with a magnificent M. This was surely Malfoy Manor. Her heart was still beating faster than she had ever thought possible, which was not surprising given the way in which they had just fled Hogwarts Castle.
"Do you think we'll ever go back?" she asked.
"Hard to say. There is so much to consider now. Best to just take it as it comes" Draco said. "Are you ready?" he added.
"Of course I am" she answered.
"This is it. Once you meet him, once you're in, that's it. You're in and theres no out" he said.
Josie swallowed hard and thought for a moment whether she should slap Draco for not taking her word for it, each time he had asked her already that night, or kiss him for being so considerate, so willing to let her go in order to maintain her light, her goodness.
"Draco, this is it. You are it for me. Lets just get this over and done with" she said.
Draco waved his wand in a diagonal direction across the gate, which made no sound. It didn't unlock, click, move or change it appearance in any way, however, Draco led Josie forward, and the two of them walked through the metal as though it were not there. Josie looked back in awe as they walked down the perfectly paved driveway that Josie guessed was never used.
The yard was immaculate, what she could see of it anyway, in the dark. There were a few orbs of light placed uniformly around what appeared to be some gardens and she thought she saw flamingo statues near where they walked.
"This driveway is very long" she said.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I can apparate directly into the Manor, there's a ward set up, but your magic needs to be tuned to it. We'll work on that later" he said.
"Draco, I won't be apparating anywhere. I'm 15. Barely. I still have 2 years before I can even use magic outside of Hogwarts" she said.
"That won't be an issue. There are no traces on the Manor" he said with a smile as he looked to her.
"Well, that's a relief" she said, feeling grateful that she wouldn't be living like a muggle for the next 2 years.
They reached the front steps of the Manor which, now that she was close, looked more like a castle. She paused to look up into the grand building and even in the dark, it was incredible.
"Its big, but trust me, its not that impressive when you consider the company" Draco said.
Josie shrugged as she climbed the stairs and stood before the huge double doors. Draco tapped his wand on the door and the door swung open.
"What, we not going to walk straight through the wood?" she asked.
Draco smiled and shook his head, leading her through the entryway, into a grand foyer and through to what appeared to be a grand ballroom.
"Draco…" she whispered, unsure of how to put into words the great impression the manor was making on her.
"Its nothing" he said. Josie thought his mannerisms had become more tense, forced. The Draco she knew and loved was there still, but the person who was holding onto her hand was someone slightly different. His tone was clipped, his brow furrowed and his whole posture changed. This was aristocrat Draco. Pure blood, Slytherin, rich boy… no, rich man, Draco. Josie hoped she would love this version of him too.
Draco and Josie walked towards a large dark wooden door and Darco stopped with his hand on the handle and turned to Josie.
"I love you, ok?" he asked.
"I love you too Draco" she said, reaching up on tip toes to kiss him.
They were soon disrupted by the footsteps of Professor Snape behind them. He didn't stop to make small talk before he reached for the handle, forcing Draco to remove his hand, and opened it himself. As the door opened, it revealed a large formal dining room, with a fireplace and a long table that, at first glance, easily sat 20 people.
Snape entered and Josie watched as he inclined his head, almost in a bow, towards the head of the table. She could not see who was seated there, but she could guess. Snape took a seat near the head of the table as Draco and Josie entered.
Josie felt the awkward way all eyes in the room fell on her. Draco copied Snape's slight bow and Josie, assuming it was the right thing to do, did so aswell. When she righted herself again, she made eye contact with the man who sat at the head of the table.
She held in a gasp when she saw him. He was tall but not because of his proper posture, he appeared to be just naturally taller than everyone else. His skin was pale, paler than anyone she had seen before, and his eyes were bright red. His nose was almost non-existent, except for slits on his face. He had no hair and his ears were nothing but small holes in each side of his head. She could easily compare him to a giant snake. She remembered that he was a highly skilled ligilimens, so she ceased her mental dictation of his appearance and brought forward the memories she has just made at Hogwarts.
"Ahh, our young lovers" came the high-pitched voice that Josie had not expected. "Draco, such accomplishment with very little instruction. And Miss Potter I take it?" he said.
"Josie, please" she said, closing the distance between herself and the darkest wizard to ever live and extending her hand.
"Josie Potter. How delightful to meet you at long last. I have heard wonderful things from Narcissa" he said, taking her hand in his own and nodding his head slightly before releasing her.
Draco's mother sat half way down the table, not looking up from her hands which were knotted on the table in front of her.
"Please, be seated" Voldemort said, indicating to the seats that were 2 spaces down from where he sat.
Josie was shocked to find herself sitting so close to the head of the table. She knew very little about pure blood ways, but she was certain that seating arrangements, particularly in relation to meetings where there were so many in attendance, was incredibly important.
Once the commotion of the new arrivals had settled down, Snape was asked to tell his version of events, followed by Draco. The story telling went on for quite a while and Josie had to, at one point, wordlessly case a rennervate spell on herself to wake up.
"What say you, Miss Potter?" asked Voldemort.
"I don't have anything to add I'm afraid. The story as I saw it is exactly as Draco told it" she said.
"And what of you family?" asked a death eater.
"Yeah, she's a Potter aint she?" asked another.
"That's not…" Draco began, but Josie placed a hand on his arm, halting his retort.
"That is of no consequence. My loyalties are to Draco" she said, looking around the table, almost challenging them to question her.
"And what about the Dark Lord?" asked another.
"My loyalties are to Draco and they align with his" she said confidently.
"I can attest to this. The two have been inseparable for more than a year. In fact, I have witnessed firsthand Miss Potter's withdrawal from her family and have it under good authority that she has been becoming further and further isolated from the Potters and the Blacks throughout the last two years" Snape said.
"Whose authority Severus?" Voldemort questioned.
"Lily Black, nee Potter, nee Evans" he said.
"Ahh, the lovey red haired witch who was my downfall" he said.
"We are also due to be married, my lord" Draco said, taking her hand and placing it upon the table for everyone to see the ring he had placed on her hand.
"Beautiful" she heard Narcissa whisper. Josie cast her a smile which was returned.
"Very well, very well. Given the age of Miss Potter… apologies, Josie, a hasty traditional ceremony will have to take place. Narcissa, how soon can you make the arrangements?" Voldemort asked.
"I will make the arrangements within the month my lord" Draco's mother said.
Josie sat open mouthed, shocked at the announcement of her own wedding date. A month. She loved Draco and agreed to marry him, and her intentions were still to be married to him, however, the speed at which she would become the next Mrs Malfoy, was slightly daunting.
The table discussions continued until a meal was delivered. Draco excused himself and Josie, as they had already eaten.
Draco led Josie on a tour of the Manor, which Josie was certain she'd forget.
"Its almost as big as Hogwarts itself" she said.
"Nowhere near" he answered, leading her into the vast library.
"This is incredible. How do you ever leave this place?" she asked, perusing the shelves and seeing titled she had never even dreamt of.
"If I could leave and never come back, I would" he said sadly.
"Surely life here hasn't been all bad?" she asked, pulling him into a hug.
"Now its not" he said, looking down into her face, pushing a stray hair behind her ear.
"So, the uh… sleeping arrangements?" she asked.
"Very proper, I'm afraid" he said. "I'll show you to your room" he said, leaving behind what would be Josie's favourite place so far.
xx-xx
Josie woke the following day to the sun shining brightly in her window. It must have been late, as it appeared as though the sun was higher in the sky than it should have been if it were early morning.
"Good morning" came the soothing voice of Narcissa Malfoy.
"Good Godric, you scared me" Josie said, sitting up with a fright.
"Apologies child, I thought it was best we have a talk before you get carried away with my son" she said.
"Of course" she answered.
"You're still prepared to marry my son? After everything you've had to do for him thus far?" she asked, quite direct for having woken up such a short time ago.
"Of course. Absolutely. I understand Draco. It's not just some crush" she said, feeling slightly offended that, after everything, someone would doubt her feelings or her intentions towards Draco.
"I don't doubt it, I can see the way you look at each other. I had to ask. You understand why, don't you?" she asked.
"My family?" Josie asked.
"And the sudden need for your wedding to occur quickly" Narcissa said.
"Why is that?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
"For you to live in the Manor, have information that you wouldn't normally have, sit at the table with the dark lord, you need to be married or marked" she said.
"So its marry Draco or take the dark mark?" she asked, answered with a nod from the Malfoy Matriarch. "That's fine. I agreed to marry Draco. I want to be with him for the rest of our lives. Today, tomorrow, next month, next year. I'll marry him regardless, Misses Malfoy".
Narcissa smiled and carefully clasped her hands together.
"Well that's that then. You shall call me Narcissa, or mother if you prefer. I'll have our house elf Deely bring you a selection of dresses and Tooley will begin making the arrangements. How do you feel about the twentieth of June?" she asked casually, as if they were arranging a lunch.
"That's fine by me" Josie said.
xx-xx
June rolled by quicker than Josie could have ever anticipated. She had spent every day by Draco's side, only asked to leave while he entered into meetings as she was not yet marked or married. Her argument that she was as good as married was not acknowledged by anybody, least of all Voldemort. She didn't mind, as she spent the time in the library, reading up on things she never knew existed.
Over the course of the month, Josie made a conscious effort to position herself in places she knew Voldemort would frequent, in order to remain at the forefront of his mind at all times. She hated him beyond belief but felt that if she could build some kind of rapport with him, find some common ground, she could find something to focus on to continue living on the side of darkness.
One day, just a few days before the wedding, Josie was reading in the library while Draco burnt off some energy on his broom. She was completely enthralled in a book about alchemy and its role in immortality and didn't notice Voldemort enter the library and claim the chair across from her, watching her as she took in the words of the text like they were oxygen. As she shifted her position and stretched her arms and neck, she jumped at the sight of him.
"Merlin, you startled me" she said, straightening up.
"Apologies, I was truly captivated by the way you were entranced in that book" he said.
"Its an amazing read. I can't believe I haven't really read up much on alchemy. So much to learn really" she said.
"What do you take from it then?" he asked, placing his fingertips together and leaning forward, elbows on his knees.
Josie spent the next several hours discussing the potentials of alchemy with Voldemort, at several points completely forgetting that he was in fact, the darkest wizard to ever exist. She learnt a lot from what he knew and the conversation they engaged in was purely intellectual. He didn't engage with her as though she were 15, he spoke with her as if she were an equal.
It was this day that Josie realised, Voldemort may be evil, he may be capable of terrible things, but underneath all of that lied the complexities of childhood trauma, neglect, abuse and questions relating to his own identity. Josie hoped that she could spend more time with this incredibly confounding man, get to know him and uncover his true intentions. As it stood, Voldemort's claim was that he desired witches and wizards to be free, practice magic out in the open and hold power over muggles. He desired a world where muggles were scarce, and wizards were the dominant ones. Josie felt that perhaps, there was something completely different that he was seeking, and the desire for power was a symptom of something deeper.
The next day, Josie was invited to sit with Voldemort at meals, something which, until then, had been restricted to the closest members of the Dark Order.
The day of the 20th arrived with perfect weather. The dress was perfect, the veil attached beautifully. Josie's normally straight hair was curled into soft waves that cascaded down her back and she applied subtle natural make up that accentuated her features just enough.
The ceremony was attended by Draco's closest family, which included his recently released father, his mother, and a couple of people Josie hadn't ever met, including the psychologically impaired Bellatrix Lestrange, who wasn't shy in voicing her opinion on the marriage of her nephew to a Potter.
Voldemort himself presided over the event, which shocked Josie. She was saddened to be spending her wedding day with none of her own family members around her, however, she knew that it just wasn't possible. Perhaps when all of this is over, and her family forgives her and understands why she did what she did then they can renew their vows and have a real wedding.
A spell was cast over Josie and Draco to ensure that they were freely and willingly entering into the marriage as Josie was not yet of age. Weddings were always held once the couple had reached the age of 17 however, Josie had discovered, over the last two weeks that a witch or wizard can enter into a marriage at any age, as long as they are of sound mind and enter willingly. The spells to confirm this of course are complex and Josie was intrigued to discover how much so.
Once the ceremony was over and Josie was officially married to Draco, Voldemort announced the new Mr and Mrs Malfoy, presented them with their elaborate gift from him and retired to his room for the night. The ball that ensued was attended by many death eaters, friends of Draco's and some cousins, aunts and uncles and family members of Draco's who probably fit into more than one category of family member.
Josie tried her hardest to enjoy herself. She had her first dance with her husband, cut her cake, smiled politely an said all the right things. She had proven herself worthy of the aristocratic lifestyle. She looked, dressed and acted the part. The fact that she was a Potter would soon be forgotten and she would forever be one of them.
The music was getting to be a little much for Josie and she made her way to the bathroom to have a few minutes of peace. She slipped away mostly unnoticed and was relieved when the bathroom was unoccupied. The bathroom itself was the size of the Gryffindor common room, however, the colour scheme was all black tiles and deep greens.
Josie took a seat on the seat in the corner of the room and placed her head between her knees. She knew she had done the right thing. Narcissa liked her, Draco loved her. Hell, even Voldemort liked her. Lucius was warming to her and the only one she was yet to win over was Narcissa's sister and Voldemort's closest female death eater – Bellatrix. She hoped it would be easy.
Josie stood to leave fixing her hair with her wand in the mirror before turning to the door. As she unlocked the door, it flew open towards her, knocking her back, causing her to land on the floor, sending her wand skating towards the door.
When she stood and straightened her dress, Rodolphus Lestrange, the husband of Bellatrix, was standing before her, the door to the bathroom closed, Josie's wand in his hand.
Josie didn't say a word, just looked to him, to her wand and to the door.
"You know, in ancient times, when a witch married into a family, the senior members of the family would designate one man to confirm the purity of the witch" he said, insanity emanating from him, most likely from years spent in Azkaban. "Now, given that Lucius does not have the capacity to do it himself, I am the one who the responsibility would naturally fall to" he added. Josie took a step back, coming into contact with the chair she had sat on a minute earlier.
"Aren't we lucky that we're not in ancient times?" she said, moving in sideways steps to make her way to the door and hopefully retrieve her wand in the process.
The look on the face of this deranged killer was manic, psychotic. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand and her stomach churn when he took a step towards her.
"You invoked ancient traditions to make sure you could marry at your age, you can't shun other traditions just as you see fit now can you?" he asked.
"Draco won't allow it" she said, feeling bile rise in her throat.
"What Draco doesn't know…" he said, coming towards her and stopping directly in front of her. She could smell the fire whisky on his breath.
"Will hurt him when he finds out" she said.
"The dark lord won't allow retaliation. Its not proper. Draco will understand once he is aware of the tradition" he said, taking one of Josies curls in his hand and bringing it to his nose. "Much nicer than my wife's mangey mess" he said.
Josie tried to pull away but he took a fistful of her curls and dragged her towards him, smacking her against his muscular frame. Tears sprang to her eyes when she realised that not only was she wandless, she was physically weaker and there was no way she would overpower him and get away.
"You can't do this. Vold… the Dark Lord… He won't agree to this" she sobbed, trying to pull free. He now had hold of her wrist and was pulling her towards the seat. He threw her down, ripping her dress in the process as he tried to get his hands underneath the layers.
"Stupid fucking dress… stop struggling or I'll stun you" he muttered, as she struggled to get free.
She wished more than anything that she hadn't let her wand slip from her hand when she felt to the floor.
"Get off me. You have no idea... Draco will fucking kill you for this" she was now screaming.
"Shut up you pathetic half blood bitch. If you weren't so young, I wouldn't bother, but since you're bound to be nice and tight, I can't resist" he grunted as he continued struggling with her dress.
Josie kept fighting, despite the threat of being stunned, she would not let this happen to her. She managed to push him off her enough to get up and get to the door. The door opened with an explosion despite her not having case a spell and she ran through it into the hall. Rodolphus caught up to her and pushed her into the wall, causing her to fall. He threw himself on top of her, seeming now, not to care who came upon them.
"Get off me you disgusting fuck" she yelled, as he touched her any place he could with his grubby hands. Josie kept fighting, and she managed to get her knee up and rammed it into his crotch, making him cry out in pain.
"Fucking hell" he roared bringing his knees to his chest and rolling onto his side.
Josie stood and backed away as she glared at him. Her hair sparked and he began to choke. She continued to stare him down and his face began to turn blue. She couldn't care less in this moment if he died, however, when Narcissa and Draco entered the corridor she became distracted and the choking sounds stopped. She turned to Draco and ran into his arms as Narcissa bound Rodolphus with ropes and retrieved Josie's wand.
"Here you go dear. Draco, take her to her room" his mother said handing Josie her wand and levitating the struggling death eater down the hall.
Draco scooped Josie up into his arms and hurried off down the hall, to the room Josie hadn't expected to return to after they were married.
"What happened? What did he do to you?" Draco asked, holding her by her arms and looking her all over.
"He didn't do anything, he tried to… I fought him off" she said.
"What did he try to do?" he asked. Josie could tell he was trying hard to hide his anger.
"He was going to try and fuck me, Draco. There. He said it was tradition. He said that someone from the family had to ensure my purity. Whatever the fuck that is. I stopped him and that's that" she said.
"I'll be back" he said, turning towards the door.
"Don't you leave me" she called after him. She didn't want to be alone.
"Josie, I can't just let this go. We're married. He tried to hurt you" he said.
"Yeah and he's a fucked up, deranged psychopath" she said.
"You don't understand. I have to do this. I have to deal with this" he said.
"I get it, it's about honour" she said.
"Damn right its about honour. He dis-fucking-respected me by trying to hurt you. He wanted to hurt US to get us away from the table…" he roared. It was clear that he was not angry at Josie, but she sure felt that way. "TOOLEY" he called, summoning the house elf, who popped not the room immediately.
"Master Draco" she said.
"Keep an eye on Josie. Help her out of this dress and draw her a bath" he demanded, kissing Josie on the forehead before running out the door.
"Git" Josie said as Draco left her.
"Tooley will help Mistress with the buttons" she said to Josie.
"Mistress?" she asked, never having been called that by the elf before.
"Tooley serves Mistress Josie and Master Draco"
"You never called me mistress before" she said.
"Mistress was not mistress before" Tooley said, as though Josie was just expected to accept whatever change had just occurred.
"But now I am? Why, because I'm married?" Josie asked.
"Tooley was brought to the Manor when Master Draco was born. Tooley is bonded to Master Draco for life" she said as she snapped her fingers, causing the buttons down Josie's back to undo. "Mistress Josie is now bonded to Master Draco. Tooley now serves Mistress and Master the same" she said with a shrug.
Josie hated the thought of having her very own House Elf, but as she was helped out of her many, now tattered, layers of her dress, she resigned herself to the fact that this was just another part of Draco she had to accept.
Josie had been in the bath for almost an hour before Draco returned. He didn't talk about Lestrange and Josie didn't ask. He removed his robes and his underclothes and slid into the bath behind Josie, taking the bath sponge and carefully washing her back.
"So, Mrs Malfoy… are you ready for your wedding gift?" he asked her.
"You got me a gift? I… I haven't even been anywhere to get you anything. This isn't fair" she said, pouting.
"Don't worry, this is a gift from me to both of us. Come, lets get dressed and I'll show you" he said.
"I was thinking we stay in what we've got on" she suggested.
"Plenty of time for that, come" he said, hopping out of the bath and drying himself off with his wand.
Josie got out and stood still while he dried her with his wand. She got dressed in the plain, but expensive looking, robes that were laid out on the bed for her. They weren't there before, she assumed that Tooley was responsible.
When she was dressed, Draco took her by the hand and led her out of the room and down the hall. They walked through the halls of the Manor and Josie noticed that all of the wedding guests were now gone and Narcissa and Lucius were no where to be seen. They left the entry hall and left through the front doors.
"Where on earth are we going" Josie asked, wondering if they were going to leave.
"Not far, I promise" he said, as they walked around the eastern side of the house along a path. They walked for 5 or so minutes through the grounds that were lit up with actual fairies in the gardens, each flittering around the hedges and plants with a small lantern.
They rounded a bend in the garden and came upon a small cottage. There was a low picket fence surrounding a small front yard. The yard had a small garden in the front and two small steps that led up to a veranda. The door to the cottage had an intricately carved D and J emblazoned upon it.
When Josie walked in, she saw that it appeared to be a 2-bedroom cottage with its own kitchen and bathroom. The whole house itself was probably only slightly bigger than the Gryffindor common room, but to Josie, as soon as she saw it, it was perfect.
It had a fireplace that appeared to be large enough to be connected to the Floo network. There was a comfy looking sofa and a single chair which sat beside a bookshelf that took up the entire wall.
"The bookshelf has a portal to the library in the manor. You just have to put your hand there…" he indicated to a handle that she recognised from the library, "and say Portus and it will take you to the manor and back. It only recognised your magic and mine so no one else can pop in unannounced" he said. Josie was captivated.
He led her to the kitchen, showing her the cooling spell that had been cast on what Josie thought would ordinarily be a refrigerator.
"This is mostly for show. Tooley will still make us meals" he said.
"Oh, I don't know... I'd like to cook sometimes" she said
"You can cook?" he asked.
"Of course I can" she said.
"How do I not know these things about you?" he asked, pulling her into his arms.
"You never asked?" she suggested.
Draco released her and pulled her to a small hallway that led to a bathroom which had a tub the size of the one she had just been in at the Manor, a small guest bedroom that had a bed, a desk and a small cupboard and then on to the main bedroom, which had an enormous bed, a huge walk in closet and a TV.
"A TV?" she asked in delight.
"Well, we're far enough away from the main house that the magic shouldn't affect it" he said.
"A tv?!" she repeated.
"Yeah" he said, confused as to why this would be a bog deal to her.
"I can't believe this. This is too much Draco" she said, kissing him and pushing him back onto the bed.
Josie and Draco consummated their marriage on their brand new bed, in the home that he gifted her for their wedding. If she could remain in this moment forever, she would be the happiest she could ever be.
xx-xx
"You cast some pretty powerful magic the other night dear" Narcissa said.
"I… I don't know… I didn't want to kill him; I was just angry. It happens sometimes" Josie said, as she sat at the table for breakfast in the Manor a few days after the wedding.
"Wandless magic?" Narcissa asked a perfect eyebrow raised.
"Yeah"
"Tell me, can you control it?" she asked.
"Well, not really. Its odd because I normally have excellent control over my magic" Josie said.
"That's right, Josie has more magical control than most adults I've seen" Draco said, helping himself to some bacon and eggs.
"Hmm. It seems to be emotionally driven. I haven't seen anything like it in a long time, but if you let me, I can help you control it" the older witch said.
"I'd like that. Thank you", Josie said.
xx-xx
August
Josie landed in the living room of her cottage on the arm of Draco and threw up on the carpet.
"We have to go back Draco; I didn't see Lyra. She could have been in there still" Josie said, sobbing.
"I made sure they knew in advance. Everyone was out. They didn't see you. If you go back, they'll think you're responsible for the attack and you'll never get back to your family" Draco said.
"Aren't I? Aren't I responsible?" she cried out.
"No! No you're not" he said.
"I handed them the location. I helped take down my childhood home Draco" she said.
"You did what you had to do to survive. If you hadn't given the dark lord something worthwhile, he'd begin to suspect you. You did what you could to protect your family and maintain the façade we've built here" Draco said, taking her into his arms, comforting her as best he could.
xx-xx
Dear Mrs Josie Malfoy,
We are please to inform you that you have been progressed on to 7th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is due to your exceptional academic scores and ongoing dedication to studies.
You will find enclosed a list of required books and supplies.
Yours faithfully,
Severus Snape
Headmaster
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
xx-xx
Dear Mrs Josie Malfoy,
We are pleased to offer you the position of Head Girl at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Upon undertaking this role, you will be responsible for taking leadership of Prefects and their duties. You will be expected to share a common room with the Head Boy, while retaining your alliance to your house.
Yours Faithfully,
Severus Snape
Headmaster
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry