I woke up tangled in my plush bed with my head pounding from the night before. I rolled over and stared up at the canopy in confusion, drifting my arm across the empty space next to me. I sat up fully when I realized Draco was missing.

The wind off of the ocean was blowing the bright curtains frantically into the room and the smell of late spring on the coast of France provided an aromatic awakening. I brushed hair out of my eyes to gain a better perspective of his figure huddled on a chair on my balcony. He had a grey blanket wrapped entirely around himself; only his platinum hair could be seen blowing from the gusts of the sea.

I pushed out of the bed and stretched, lazily wandering to him before realizing something was terribly wrong. He had his eyes shut harshly and was shaking. I walked around him and put my hand on his shoulder and watched as he jumped in shock.

"Draco, are you alright?" I carefully probed, unsure of what could possibly be amiss. He looked up at me with bloodshot eyes, his face appeared incredibly tired and sad.

"I couldn't sleep. The absinthe gave me nightmares," he offered a weak explanation and I rubbed his shoulder to comfort him, turning to look out over the ocean where his eyes were squinting. The sun was glittering off of the waves and people were wandering along the dirt pathway on the opposite side of the gated seawall that separated the private property from the edge of the barrier rocks. It was hot and humid already despite being so early in the morning.

He shifted in the chair, pulling the blanket tighter around his body. "I had these...endless nightmares about the dark mark on my arm. Like I was some kind of...demon, for having it. I tried to scratch it off last night, I don't even know what I was thinking." He held out his arm and pulled back the sleeve of his hoodie, and my hand shot to my mouth in shock. His arm was bloodied, scratch marks lined his pale skin up and down in harried lines. The dark mark shone straight through the lacerations as though no effort could alter it's pristine appearance. He squinted up at me as though he were a child caught in the act of having destroyed something valuable.

"Draco, dis is 'orrible. I'm sorry," I muttered, trying not to show how disturbing it was through my reaction. I wondered how I hadn't woken up to his cries despite being so drunk.

He looked back over the bay before us, "It's given me some perspective. Madeleine - you must promise me you will never allow the dark lord to coerce you into taking this mark, unless you are absolutely threatened."

I grimaced, "I 'ave no desire to do dat. You don' need to worry about dat."

I left him in my room for the day after he mentioned he wanted to try and sleep now that the drugs had left his system. I wandered around the Villa taking in the memories of my younger years as though for the first time. I was on the third floor, lingering on beautiful portraits of Victorian relatives in white wigs when my mother spotted me and approached rapidly.

"Mon fille!" She cried in a loud voice that was arguably not an indoor volume, "'ow are you feeling? I 'eard from Éduin dat dere was an incident last night. Walk wit' me." She looped her arm through mine and guided me down the nearby stairs. She was in a pale yellow dress that made her green eyes pop in the light, and her familiar smell of vanilla wafted between us as we walked.

My nerves built as she guided me through the villa and out into the Renaissance gardens. I suddenly felt extremely aware of how bizarre and unexplainable the display I had put on the previous night was. Everyone had easily been terrified and I'd acted entirely psychotic - god only knew what Éduin had reported to my parents.

Charlot had a gentle smile on her face as we walked out onto the gravel pathway from the promenade deck. The many geometrically aligned pathways were framed by blossoming plants waving in the humid day, and perfectly shorn boxwoods in exact rectangles. The air was aromatic with floral scents and the sweet stench of the ocean spraying onto the rocks beyond the seawall. Hundreds of seagulls were barking in horrific, high pitched squeals as they plucked at various strewn items on the rocks.

I glanced up at my balcony to see if Draco was still out there but he'd vanished from the chair. My mother's light voice cut through my thoughts as she followed my gaze to the fifth floor, "You have been under a lot of stress, 'aven't you? Dis war in England, you 'ave been affected by it. I know something is wrong, and I know dat because you 'ave unlocked your Veela capabilities, Madeleine."

She was patting my hand with a wistful expression, her emerald eyes shining bright in the daylight. I inhaled sharply and closed my eyes as we sauntered along at a snail's pace. "Éduin, he told you dat I lit my 'ands on fire last night."

She nodded, and reached her fingers out to pet at some blazing roses that were twining on an arbor we passed below, "Oui, and 'e also told me dat 'e made a mistake and 'e es sorry. Dis ability 'as not been seen in women of our family for a long time - only an incredible amount of consistent stress could bring dat out in you."

"I 'ave been so stressed," I begged myself not to cry but tears were already welling in my eyes, "And I don' want dis power. I cannot control et when I am angry." I looked up at her with pleading eyes, hoping she would know what to do.

She frowned at me, "Dis is a gift dat cannot be given back. And alas, a very difficult one to master. Veela women have lost demselves to et before. You must be extremely careful not to allow yourself to be swallowed permanently by hatred. Dat is why you must always wear your moonstone. Dat is why we 'ave passed dem down for centuries; to protect our 'earts."

I swallowed hard, knowing that Draco was extremely possessive of my moonstone. It would be possible that I would reach a breaking point and need to take it back despite what his interests were. I silently prayed that she would not ask to see it in that moment. Her own moonstone hung around her neck above her dress, glowing even in the daylight on it's golden chain and in the talons around it.

"Ma mère," I felt shaky as I spoke, "Could Draco and I ever come 'ere to live? If et gets to be very bad in England."

"What es going on in England for you, Madeleine?" She asked assertively, her direct eye contact provided an unnerving chill up my spine. "Your father and I know about dis uprising of de dark lord, and your father too, he es very stressed trying to prevent a spread of dis to France. Draco's father has told us dat de Malfoy's are involved in de Ministry dere - are you safe?"

I blanked at the information. Lucius had told my parents that he and Draco were part of the government? He obviously had not been entirely forthcoming about what side of the war they were on.

We reached the seawall and my mother pointed her wand at the ancient, gated archway that led out to the public pathway. The sound of the waves crashing was extremely noisy at the coastal edge, and with the strong wind came sprays of water across the pathway that tickled the skin of pedestrians. She closed the gate behind us and we started walking along the familiar pathway.

I decided to maintain my promise to myself not to expose Draco in any way as a Death Eater, although the offer to open up and pour my heart out to my mother for support was dangerously tempting. I twisted my dress in my hands, "I spend every single day worrying about Draco, and I 'ave seen 'orrible things. People 'ave died, a lot of people 'ave died." My words were thin as I choked on them. "And now I 'ave to learn to control dese new powers."

My mother nodded, "Et es never easy to 'ave a 'usband in politics, you can take dat from me. Et will always be strenuous and even dangerous depending on what 'is position is. And of course, ef et becomes to be too much you may both come 'ere. You know dis Madeleine, you must not let dis war put your personal safety at risk." She hung her arm around my shoulders and pulled me into her as we walked and I weakly smiled, knowing all too well how much risk my personal safety was exposed to. I was at the very center of it all, and so was Draco. There was a real possibility that my time at the villa that weekend would be the last time that my family ever saw me.

Back inside the villa I realized that I had contracted a sunburn from my walk with mother, despite already being so tanned from working out in the fields with The Order. My skin was uncomfortably hot and I had decided I would go to the roof and swim in the pool once I'd checked on Draco's condition. There was still several hours before dinner, when my parents had planned to learn more about our lives in England.

He was still asleep when I quietly entered my room. His eyes looked dark and generally his appearance was sickly. I tip toed to his side to take his temperature out of fear that something worse was going on. The moment my hand touched his forehead he jumped awake, his fingers shutting painfully around my wrist as he glared up at me before realizing his surroundings.

"What time is it?" he asked hoarsely, dropping my wrist from his iron grip to rub at his eyes. I scowled at the twisted skin as he sat up with messy hair.

I wandered away to my walk-in closet to grab a golden bathing suit. "Et is only two, you should go back to sleep," I muttered as I yanked off my dress. As I was changing he leaned forward on the bed to watch me.

"What are you dressing into?" he asked with unmasked confusion.

I laughed at his face, "A bathing suit, what do you mean? I'm going swimming."

"In the ocean?" he baulked in horror. His eyes flew to the coast outside of the window where the swells of precarious water were slamming into the rocks. It would be a murderous affair at best if anyone did plan to swim on that particular portion of the coastline.

"No silly, in de pool," I pointed at the ceiling above me and his bright blue eyes followed my finger in even deeper confusion.

"Where is it?" he asked, sliding out of the bed in just his black boxers. He threw on baggy clothing as I wandered around looking for a hat and sunglasses.

"Et es on de roof," I replied curtly as I slammed shut a drawer and went to the door. He followed me closely and I didn't question it. Once we'd reached the white, luxurious roof top his eyes widened at the baby blue water of the pool that was situated directly in the center of the roof, surrounded by exotic potted plants and palm trees.

I dropped my things on a lounge chair and started wading into the shallow end. The water was beautifully warmed by the rays of endless sunshine. I flung myself forward so that the water came up to my neckline and my hair floated around me. I turned on my back and floated, staring up at the sun in bliss. I never wanted to go back to England.

"Why does it smell like that?" Draco was asking and my eyes slid to take him in, hovering on one knee at the deep end with his fingers in the water.

I laughed, "Et es chlorine, to keep et clean. 'ave you never seen a pool before?"

He scowled at me, "No. Obviously not."

I giggled at the indignation seeping across his pretty face, "Can you swim, Draco?"

He shook his head to suggest that he indeed could not swim. It was so entirely odd but I supposed it made sense: he'd grown up in rural England in a building with no power. There was no pool at Hogwarts, either, although I had heard there were bubble baths in the prefect's bathrooms.

I swam to him and clung to the edge, my hair dripping around me. I splashed water at him to tease him and he backed away in outrage. He watched me swimming for a few more minutes before returning to the edge to put his toe into the water. In his distracted state I quickly swam back to him and yanked him into water.

It was instant chaos as he splashed to the surface swearing and grabbing onto the edge. His clothing was completely drenched as he coughed with his forehead against the tiles, "Why? I told you I can't swim. What the fuck is your problem."

I giggled and kissed his cheek menacingly as he pushed his hair out of his eyes, then turned to look around the pool behind him. He let one arm outstretch into the warm water, playing with the sensation of the pool. "See, et es not so bad," I cooed from where I was clinging to the edge very close to him.

He smirked cruelly at me, "I swear to god, if you ever disrespect me like that again there will be consequences."

I leaned close to his face, looking into his eyes, "Oooo what kind of consequences?" I purred, my fingers running up his leg under the water. I groped his bulge and pressed my lips into his softly. The sunshine burned onto my eyelids as we shut our eyes and kissed in the pool.

"You're going to drown me if you keep doing that, I won't be able to hold on," he whispered against my kisses, growing hard in my hands below the wavering fabric of his sweatpants. Our affections were briefly interrupted by his watch going off with a loud beeping. I groaned in protest as he twisted away from me to balance on the edge of the pool by his elbows and interact with the interface.

"What is so special about dat watch?" I asked with burning curiosity.

He turned to me with gentle eyes as he calculated whether or not to offer any explanation. "Well, come here," he motioned for me to snuggle up next to him where he was hanging onto the tiles. As his hair dried in the sun it spiked off of his head making him look like a member of a boyband. I too brought my elbows up onto the ledge to peer down at it. "I like to build things. This watch already had this compendium software in it, to store notes. I've magically altered it, to instead store memories."

He pressed on several metal nodes that were poking off of the circumference of the watch which seemed to allow him the ability to navigate through program files. The digital writing was basic but easy to read in it's neon green glow. He opened up a folder that read Memories. Within that folder there was hundreds of carefully organized folders by year, then deeper in one of them from that month he showed me the same naming system as was on the vials of memories in the burial chamber at the Manor.

"I had to have a back up, incase my father ever finds the memories. And this also allows me to store new ones that I haven't had a chance to remove from my mind safely at the Pensieve. It's insurance, if you will." He quirked his eyebrows flirtily at me and I could tell he was incredibly pleased with himself. It was truly impressive, and I mentally remarked at how intelligent he was. I thought back to the blue prints of the cars in his room during Astoria's horrible first visit. I looked at him with adoration as he pressed more nodes, his eyes concentrated on the watch's interface.

"For example," he said in his handsomely dark voice, clicking on one file that read Manor - Madeleine - Ballet Dress. His eyes flitted upwards as a holographic presentation of the memory flickered before us. I was dancing in the new dress with my hair floating around me in the ballroom. The image was slightly blurry but still clear enough to cause my jaw to drop. I watched as I ran into his arms and he held me up, kissing me.

"It needs further refinement, I'm working on the quality," he explained, watching the memory forlornly. He clicked it off and rested his head on his arms, looking at me sideways, "Don't worry, only I know the passcode to open it. I just installed it."

I was utterly floored, realizing then why he never let me touch it. The value of the item was unparalleled. "Et is so amazing, Draco. You are so smart," I smiled at him, biting my lip.

He scoffed, rolling his eyes. I had a split second to register that the compliment had embarrassed him before he playfully shoved my head down into the water.

Later that evening after we'd showered off the chlorine and dressed for dinner, we met my parents in one of the more quaint outdoor dining spaces, where my mother had decorated a patio with string lights that hung in a matrix of bright bulbs. The table was carefully designed with pastel pink floral clippings from the gardens and navy a blue runner. All manner of appropriate forks and knives spanned out on either side of the silver plates and bowls. There was dozens of large candles lit, buzzing in oversized wooden lanterns.

It was beautiful and the stars above were clear as crystal, making the scene feel magical.

Despite the wonderful display and warm tone to the evening, Draco and I were sweaty and nervous as we sat down across from my brother who was sipping on wine hastily. Adaleus and Charlot were at either end of the small table, talking across to one another about Ministry business.

Adaleus sipped his brandy with a twitch of his signature handlebar mustache and then put it down with a heavy bang.

His yellow eyes landed predictably on Draco as he cleared his throat to speak, "Draco, my boy, et 'as been brought to my attention dat my daughter may be involved wit' dis' political war in England. You're father 'as only stated briefly to me dat you work in government. Please, elaborate." He dug his fork into a thick steak before him as he waited.

Draco swallowed harshly at the instant interrogation, his eyes focused on nothing in particular on the shiny silver plate before him. I chugged wine out of my golden glass to try and numb my nerves. Across from me Éduin was watching the both of us with an intense gaze.

"Yes, sir. I do...work in politics. I'm concentrated in a field division. I usually work around the perimeter of the war zones, scouting for...enemies to be detained." I nodded my head as I watched him straighten his spine, looking my father dead in the eyes. He had managed to frame it perfectly without lying, but without any details regarding what side he worked for.

Adaleus raised an eyebrow, "So tell me boy, exactly 'ow dangerous is your work? Is my daughter's life in jeopardy?" His gaze flickered to me before going straight back to Draco's. My mother watched with silent concentration as she chewed on her food.

Draco sighed heavily, running his fingers along the back of his neck, "It's extremely dangerous. I'm in a warzone every day. And yes, she is sometimes. I'm sorry, I know it's not what you want to hear, sir."

Charlot put her fork down with a look of dread seeping across her face. Adaleus seemed to sense her panic as he held his hand up to reassure her that he would maintain control. He turned back to Draco, "What I want to hear is de truth, which you have fittingly given me. For dat, you 'ave my trust, Draco. What I want to know is 'ow you plan to ensure she survives dis war."

I closed my eyes, not wanting to be there for the terrifying interview. Draco shifted in his chair as he thought of what to say, "We have a connection, sir, through our marriage bond. I know where Madeleine is at all times, and I can even sense when she's distressed sometimes. I will always come when she needs me to. And...she spends most of her time at our family Manor, which is on a property that is nearly impossible to penetrate without invitation. And Madeleine...is extremely capable and resourceful. When she is off of the property she surprises me with her ability to think quickly, with or without a wand, she's a force to be reckoned with. I trust her to take care of herself for the most part, when she's not busy making reckless decisions."

Éduin spoke with his mouth full, "I very much like dis boy." He pointed his silver fork at Draco who just smirked back at him.

"Yes, Draco, you seem like a very well mannered, sensitive and caring boy. I can see dat you are passionate about Madeleine," my mother said, holding her wine glass in the air by her elbow on the table. He can be, when he wants to be I sarcastically thought to myself, knowing full well that Draco had very bad anger issues and could be less than caring at times. "Curious, I 'ave never 'eard of such a marriage bond, but dis does put my mind to rest a little."

"Draco," Adaleus interjected my mother's speech, "Listen to me. I can respect your bravery for fighting in dis war. But do not let my child die due to your duties."

"Of course, sir. That would be an equally devastating loss for myself." Draco spoke quietly, awkwardly, as his confidence visibly faltered with the threat. He looked down at me with distress lining his features.

"What es your take on dis dark lord? Can he be eliminated in a timely manner or does England need 'elp from France? I 'ave spoken wit' your minister, dat fool dat 'e is, and I 'ad been 'oping to remain uninvolved." Adaleus probed, now slicing the steak before him. It must've looked off that neither Draco or myself had yet taken any food, because Éduin rudely threw a spoonful of scalloped potatoes across onto my plate with a wink. I glared at him, and starting serving food of other varieties onto our plates.

Draco was now very pale despite the rosy sunburn he'd acquired on his face from being in the pool midday. "I think the end is very near, it's just an intuition. The dark lord is extremely powerful, but he is unaware of all of the pieces on the table. There are a number of spies amongst his ranks that fight for England's freedom without his awareness. But it may come to a point that we need your help, sir. Harry Potter is growing weaker." I pushed food around on my plate in horror, wondering if what Draco said was genuinely true. Was he counting himself amongst those spies? Myself?

"Harry Potter!" Éduin spat excitedly, "You pale Englishman, do you know Harry Potter?" He looked between the two of us rapidly. Draco scowled against his better judgement, his lip curling up in disgust at Harry's fame.

"Mmm, 'e was in Madeleine's year at school. Madeleine - you would know 'im right?" My mother spoke up.

"Yes, we both know 'im," I nervously stated.

Adaleus cleared his throat, "Draco, ef 'arry Potter ever needs de assistance of France, we will come." He shot Draco a very serious look and Draco simply nodded, finally starting to pick at his food as the conversation drifted to other lighter topics.