I awoke in the darkness of the boys Slytherin room to the sounds of them bantering and dressing, and the sweet piney smell of my gorgeous fiancée.
He was awake. His blue eyes were concentrating on the conversations and movements in the room beyond the curtains, and his fingers were drawing little swirls on my waist. "Don't move, they're going to leave soon," he advised against my forehead.
I disobediently turned my face up to his to push sensual kisses against his lips and he moaned at the affection he'd been craving for so many days. His fingers tightened around my waist as I ran mine over his boxers.
"Draco are you up? Or still bawling pathetically over that girl?" One of them smacked the outside of the curtain and a few others giggled. It was Friday, meaning he didn't have any morning classes and neither did I. There was no rush to leave, and I had every intention of talking to him until we had to.
He broke away to yell at them, "Piss off you uncultured rubes, I'm trying to sleep in." His voice had gained back its authority and arrogance now that he had the affirmation of my love back. There was no way Blaise wasn't out there with a telling expression on his pristine features.
He turned back to me and uncharacteristically nuzzled his face into mine with a smile. His long hair fell down over his pointy features as he kissed my face and my neck and I had to fight the urge to scream out from the ticklish sensation. It was phenomenal how the days spent thinking he'd lost me permanently had altered his personality through such intense fear. That, and the stone hanging around his neck.
"Draco, stop," I whispered in a tiny giggle.
"I'm never letting you out of my sight again," he replied quietly as the door clicked and it was finally silent. He lifted his head to listen and I found myself lost in his blue eyes darting around suspiciously.
His gaze fell back on me, "So tell me Madeleine, about that wandless magic you conjured before. I've never seen anything like that." His gaze was calm and intense, and I could feel his breath on my cheeks.
I dropped my eyes, "I honestly... I do not know. Et 'appens when... when I'm really angry." I chewed on my lip feeling like he would judge me for being reckless with magic and my temper. I could have killed him the other day in the courtyard - it was by some miracle that I managed to form it into a wall before it hit him.
He just stared at me, "Sounds complicated."
"It is complicated. I cannot control it." I played with his sheets in my hands to distract myself from his burning attention.
His fingers grazed my chest above the cut of my red dress, "I think it's hot. Literally hot, you could've reduced me to ashes. I'll have to remember not to make you angry." He was giving me a snide grin and I could tell he was trying to lighten the mood with jabs.
It wasn't working. Truthfully, another reason why I had spent days in my bed after the incident had been to cope with the flames. Whatever it was that I'd seen in that mystic orb on Dumbledore's desk felt like it was growing inside of me. It had released at a scale ten times than that of the first time during my rage in the courtyard, and the rapid progression was worrisome.
I looked up into his eyes, and his smile vanished quickly with my worry, "I've seen dese flames in premonitions before. Only darker, and my eyes were filled wit' evil. Dumbledore tried to speak wit' me about it, and I wish 'arry 'ad not been dere to confuse things. I need to know what is 'appening to me before it is too late."
He pushed back from me to look at me more seriously, "Nothing is happening to you. You're fine. Don't listen to Lunatic Lovegood and the Boy Who Just Starts Drama. Potter doesn't know when to stop overreacting. Usually it's quite humorous but this is a prime example of him taking it too far. I can do wandless magic too, loads of magicals can."
"Dis is different," I argued. I restrained myself from mentioning that he also overreacted often and that he and Harry were not so unlike.
"Okay, great, it's different," he rolled his eyes as if offended at being compared as a lesser caster than me. "There are bigger issues at play. Like you needing to prepare for this wedding in two weeks."
"Ugh," I leaned back on his bed and pulled his pillow over my face. It was something I had learned to do to avoid my mother pestering me to get up early.
"My mother wants us both at the Manor in a week. We need to be there so she can ensure we're ready and no one... dies, because they are late showing up." He pulled the pillow off, "That's you, if you were wondering. It's not a discussion."
"I 'ave midterms next week, and den what? I'm supposed to disappear without Snape noticing?"
He smirked, "Already covered it. He's good friends with Lucius."
I physically pouted, "I'm eighteen, dis is ludicrous. I'm not ready."
He raised his eyebrow, "Sorry to be such a disappointment that you would rather die at eighteen than be married."
"Mmmm," I groaned shutting my eyes. "It is not like dat. Come 'ere, you mopey boy." I pulled at the gold chain around his neck and he leaned in to kiss me without being asked twice.
We spent the week finally experiencing a normal, relaxed relationship. I had to force him to study regularly at first, but once he'd figured out that us spending time in the library meant reducing social drama to a pin point he began to encourage the after class visits. It seemed that all he wanted to do was be alone with me, and I soaked up the attention greedily.
It was only a few days in that I realized he was clearly smarter than I was. He was incredibly, frustrating well versed. He'd already read most of the material and probably didn't even need to be there to pass. On more than one occasion he laughed at me for breaking out indignantly that he was literally trying to teach me subjects as if he were one of my professor's.
There were also awkward moments when we'd sit in the book stacks, me in between his knees as we read together and I would inevitably make eye contact with one of the pestilently concerned Gryffindor's who always stared too long. Their faces were that of sickened worry as though I was some kind of imposter in my own skin for willingly cuddling with him.
When I asked him what his plan was to protect his family and avoid punishment from the dark lord or involvement with getting the Death Eaters into the castle he would grow tense. The stress would ripple across his expression in waves and he would consistently tell me he was going to figure it out or that he would procure a way to excuse himself from the role. I had a horrible aching feeling in my chest that he was going to do something dangerous to his own health but he always shut me out very quickly and became angry if I pushed it.
Finally, after writing all of our exams Saturday came, the day we would leave for the Manor to plan the extremely unreal wedding. I woke up with yet more disturbing nightmares to greet the beginning of an already harried day.
It had been a relatively quick flash in comparison to the ones prior. All that I could recall when I woke up yelping in fear and agony was a thunderous impact, and thousands of pieces of shattered glass flying towards my face. My arms went up, and then a second impact. Icy cold water scalded my skin and then I was shaking in my Hogwarts bed. I shoved my blankets off of myself and leapt from the wooden structure as though the sheets were the source of the skin burning, frigid temperatures that had just been engulfing me.
Pansy was sitting halfway up in her bed on her elbow, glaring. "What's happening now Madeleine? Did Draco leave you at the alter?" She faked a sarcastic pout and I shriveled my nose at her.
I fought through how sweaty and ill I felt in the wake of the nightmare and started shoving items into my pervenche bag. I didn't take much as usual, and pounded down the stairs to the common room. My hair was in messy, thick braids and I'd changed into white jeans and my Beauxbatons sweater with the gold lettering. I had to keep pushing the edges of my hair away from my face where it was flying loose against my sweaty forehead.
Draco was an exceptionally early riser as I had come to know, usually out of his bed by 630am like a psychopath. Of course he was waiting at the fire reading wizarding newspapers in his black suit when I appeared closer to 8am.
He raised his eyebrows at me with a frown, "You look like you've just been on a vacation in the desert. Why is your face so red?"
I tugged at my sweater and he guessed it before I could speak, "I'll take a safe guess and go with nightmares." When I nodded he just stared for a moment and I sensed he was irritated by it. Then he led me out on the long walk to the carriage pick up in strange silence. I welcomed it, and even slept for the whole carriage ride by a window that was cracked open. It seemed that we were both suddenly aware that when we came back to Hogwarts we would be officially married, and it was daunting at best. Everything would change.
It was almost noon when we reached the Manor and I was finally feeling better. When the carriage stopped, Ackley refused to let me disembark without holding his hand down the stairs which made me feel ridiculous. Narcissa stood there at the opened gates in a billowing black dress, looking nothing short of a haunting widow that had wandered away from an abandoned building.
The sky was grey and foreboding as we sauntered down the gravel pathway. Draco graciously held my hand while he spoke to his mother, although I wondered if it was to maintain control over me while we approached the blackened mega structure. My eyes wandered up the exterior at all of the windows, and I caught a glimpse of long white hair before a curtain on the upper floor was harshly shut.
"I was thinking you would entertain me for lunch in the informal dining room, due to the time," she gently suggested as we shrugged off coats in the subzero lobby of the mansion. She appeared worn out; her normally perfect skin tone was grey and her eyes had bags under them. Whatever was going on in the Manor, things had become much more glum. One could sense it in the air, like an evil static that was spreading out like radiation. Invisible yet, keenly present. I suddenly felt ridiculous for being in such bright colored clothing while Draco and Narcissa stood before me in all black, blending in expertly.
Draco's silvery eyes scanned me wearily, "Madeleine had a rough start to the day, mother."
I decided I wanted to have lunch with Narcissa for several reasons. I had hordes of questions that remained unanswered by Draco. "I'm fine. Let's go," I responded in a forced, bright tone and Draco visibly winced.
Narcissa guided us away through the Manor towards the back, where a large porch spanned much of the backside of the estate, surrounded to the brink by dull and forgotten magical gardens. The porch naturally had two double French doors that emerged from a lavish indoor dining room. There were clusters of tables and chairs ornately decorated with silver plates and bright grey table cloths. The ancient chairs were a faded, dusty rose color, as though stolen from the Titanic wreckage itself.
We sat and Narcissa called on elves to prepare tea. I found myself staring up at the ceiling designs in amusement before all of our attention was called to Draco shouting at an elf in shock. "Get out of here Nibbles! What is she doing out of the kitchens?" he snapped at Narcissa. The tiny female elf had bit his hand apparently for no other reason other than having an uncontrollable desire to, and suddenly she was gnawing on her own arm in a morbid display of punishment. I put my hand over my mouth to cover my reaction to how gruesome her skin looked from all of the bite marks.
Narcissa dismissed the elf with a dull expression and turned to me, pouring hot water in cups, "Madeleine, you and I will have our work cut out for us this week. Primarily, you will accompany me tomorrow for an appropriate dress fitting." Her blue eyes scanned down my form, and I wondered if she emphasized appropriate because my clothing choices were typically offensive to her. "It appears you have lost yet more weight. Has Draco been ensuring your wellbeing?"
"I'm not going to force feed her," he snarled under his breath.
"Can my mother come?" I asked the most basic question a girl would ask for her wedding dress fitting. Narcissa didn't not look at me as she pushed cups across to us. Her face was frowning deeply and Draco also resisted my eyes, opting instead to make origami out of black napkins like a child.
Narcissa exhaled slowly, "Well, it is with great distaste that I must be the one to tell you that neither your family nor friends may be joining us for this wedding. It is far too risky to their wellbeing. You must be aware by now that our family has ties to the dark lord." Her eyes met mine sharply then, as though weighing whether or not I actually knew such a fact. There was a glimmer of threat deep within them.
I faltered. I had tried to manage my expectations up until that point, but it was such horrible news that I let a single sob escape my lips, "Okay, I understand". I buried my face in my hands and shoved my eyes shut, desperately fighting back tears from forming. Draco put his hand on my knee under the table.
"I understand that this is ill news," Narcissa continued in a bored tone, as though she couldn't care less how I felt about my despair at not having my family or friends at my own wedding. "It would be wise to recall that the dark lord watches our family intently. He has unbarred access to this property. Bringing your family here, where you must complete this ritual, would be highly imprudent."
I dropped my hands with a deep inhale, and noticed that Draco's eyes were downwards at the table before me with pity. He must have known all along, yet hadn't been brave enough to warn me.
"Come now children, cheer up," Narcissa commanded impatiently. "You are in love. You are purebloods to be wed, in a pairing entirely of your own choosing. These are treasures not all in our level of society have to hold dear." Both Draco and I did not appear cheerful, but her words of comfort did calm me only in the slightest.