We danced, as they all had expected us to. Couples delicately joined the act, and soon we were swarmed by twirling partners and tension in the room had lessened dramatically. Draco eventually stopped moving and pulled me by my hand to a table that had clearly been set up in the far corner for the closest of family members. I sat without question, only to be traumatized by the presence of the dark lord at the farthest end of the table.
His eyes scanned me once again as if he were preparing to print an image of me. He took a deep sip of what looked like rich, red blood, leaving a rouge stain on the skin that should have represented lips. The thin liquid in the clear glass cup sloshed with bubbles at the edges and I was certain it was blood from the nauseated look on several people's faces, but who's blood it was, remained a total mystery. He burst into laughter at my horror, "Lucius, thank you for such a lovely evening. Madeleine has proven to be a very transfixing line item. It seems that she has more promise than you had previously proposed." Draco held my hand tightly under the table as if it were any form of protection, his fingers laced through mine.
Lucius twisted his face in my direction, as though the fact that I existed was a total inconvenience to him, "My lord, indeed, she evidently has more to her than we had anticipated."
"Evidentlyyyy," the dark lord retorted. His bloody eyes shifted between Lucius and myself, and he kept curling up his mouth to display his razor sharp teeth, "She harbors skills useful to our efforts, which I would like to see exacted. Surely, your loyalty still holds true, Lucius, and I can count on you to guarantee that she will provide us with her Veela capabilities." His long nails clicked on the wood of the table impatiently with a dangerous hint. If he wanted to, he could simply strike Lucius across the throat and relieve him of his head in an instance.
From where he sat Draco's father nodded slowly, his eyes evaluated me like I was an informational board giving him directions in a mall, "We would never deny you what you request of our family." Our family, my family. I shifted in my chair, still barely managing to breathe and wishing they would change the subject so I could stop feeling like I was on display.
I noticed then that Narcissa and Draco were having a silent conversation with their eyes. She was looking at him intently, prodding, and he was shaking his head.
"Let usssss mark her tonight," the dark lord sliced through everyone's minds, a look of delight spreading across his horrific features. Draco's face shot up at this latest agenda item and his mouth dropped open in revolt. Voldemort took another deep sip of the blood and never took his gaze from me in the process. I felt like I was staring into a sea of red, losing myself in the mesmerizing terror that was his focus.
The blood rushed out of my face and I thought I would surely faint. My spine hit the back of my chair as I slipped low into it, trembling at the concept that I would be branded not only a Malfoy but a Death Eater all in one day. I couldn't be a Death Eater, I would never ever do such a thing willingly.
Draco squeezed my hand supportively and then he was out of his chair, walking to Lucius on shaky legs. He leaned close to Lucius and the dark lord, whispering something with his eyes caught on the table before him as though he couldn't bare looking either of them in the face. The dark lord burst out laughing in a mocking tone and Draco looked like he might hurl as he walked back to me and held out his hand.
Narcissa let slip a whimper and I noticed a tear rolling down her cheek as she clapped her hand over her mouth, staring up at him like it was the last time she would see her son. He took my left hand and paused to remove my wedding ring, leaving it on the grey tablecloth next to his. I followed his lead in confusion, taking his hand and trying to ignore Narcissa's evident sadness as she gathered our rings discreetly. He pulled me extremely close to him as we left the ballroom.
We had to weave between many people that were clustered around the open doors and out in the hallway. Down the stairs the crowd thinned to nothing, then once we had reached the first floor not a soul was lingering. He was walking so rapidly it could arguably be considered a jog and I tripped multiple times on my dress keeping up. He shoved the double doors to the abandoned first floor wing open and let them bang off of the adjacent walls.
I found a version of my voice that was frail and strained, "Where are we going, Draco?"
He glanced back at me, "I told them... that we were going to our room. To finalize our marriage.
Hopefully that has excused us for a few hours." He halted in front of a blank expanse of wall between the door to his grandmother's room and another one farther down the hallway.
"Are we?" I questioned stupidly. We were far from the fourth floor, and the question had already answered itself unless he was simply taking the long route through the back stairwell.
"Clearly not," he replied, lifting his flat palm before him. He waved, and an arched doorway appeared on the wall that had not been there before. "We're going to the cars. We're running away. You're not becoming a Death Eater." He guided me through the decrepit, ancient door and I gasped in shock at the space it led to.
Beyond was an incredible cathedral affixed to the Manor. Massive stone pillars with slight pink hues within the granite lined the room on either side, supporting an immense arched stone ceiling with odd paintings on the spandrels. Stained-glass windows were filtering light in from the east and west glazing. Evidently once an ancient religious gathering space, it now was filled with shiny automobiles where the pews would have previously been. What an odd conversion of space, yet it made sense as a suitable safe haven for his precious collection.
Our shoes produced a cacophony of noises echoing angrily around the spiritual architecture. Even our breaths sounded loud as he yanked me rapidly between expensive, shiny and unique vehicles, snaking back and forth on an indirect path.
He ripped open the passenger door of a baby blue Nissan Skyline GTR 34, a street race car with a light beige interior and white wheel rims. He indicated to me that I should get in. I stopped in horror, having never been in a muggle car. The flashy metal exterior boasted speed and danger with its intricate curves and racing fin on the back. "Get in the fucking car," he growled, moving around to the driver's side.
I lowered myself into the deep chair and flattened my head against the leather seat. I had to pull my dress in for several seconds and shove it strategically around my feet in order to shut the door.
He didn't hesitate to start the car and an exceptionally loud, guttural growling escaped from the engine and reverberated menacingly around the cathedral. I tugged at the corset to loosen it, frantically panting in terror in the passenger seat. He reached over me to pull a white strap across my body and locked it in place, pausing to kiss my cheek longingly. "Everything is going to be fine. We just have to avoid using magic so they aren't alerted that we've left," he whispered.
I nodded, unable to speak. His hand met the gear exchange and the car rolled forward. The smooth motion was both thrilling and scary and we hadn't even left the building yet. He lifted his ringed hand and commanded the wall before us to open, and it did so, revealing a gorgeous sunset that embodied every colour of the rainbow over the white snow of the February landscape.
His silvery blue eyes searched through each window of the vehicle as he slowly brought the car outside of the Manor and into the snowy lane ahead. He seemed to be holding back from revving the engine too hard in case it would give us away. The car crawled carefully down the back lane and towards yet another set of gates that looked similar to the main ones, and I sat in my seat with my hands over my face to mask how much I was cowering and crying in fear.
Once we were through the gates any lingering sense of safety was brutally defeated as he slammed on the gas and quickly started shifted gears with expert practice. The vehicle roared combatively as we sped up and the landscape slid into a blur outside of the windows. my physical state shot from nervous jitters to absolute fright. My eyes peered between my fingers daringly out the dashboard glass.
He ignored how bumpy the road was below the car's low skirt, and I mused if it was enough to damage the vehicle. He didn't seem to care any more for the automobile's compromise. I could see his breathing was tense and rapid, his face was wrought with anxiety. His blue eyes kept jumping to the rear view mirror with obvious anticipation that we were being followed. I dropped my hands and looked out through the back window with my neck craned and my chest heaving painfully. "Draco, where are we going?" I choked on my words through a tight throat.
He didn't take his eyes off of the road. "To France. Once we get over the border, they won't be able to trace my dark mark," he responded.
I panted and wiped at tears flowing down my cheeks, "Will we make et?" The black makeup that Narcissa had generously applied to my skin was running everywhere and was all over my palms.
"I don't know, I don't know Madeleine. We have to try," he barked angrily, and I took that as my cue to shut up and let him drive. My fingers rose up to cling to the window frame as I watched the trees whip by like blurry sticks. I realized his parents knew what we were doing, thinking back to the devastation that had monopolized Narcissa's expression when Draco had taken my hand at the dinner table.
Would he never see them again if we made it to France? Was that what she had expected? His sacrifice for me was unreal, and I hoped that they would be alright given his abandonment of his Death Eater duties. There was a real possibility that they would be punished gravely by the dark lord for the insolence.
The car made it out to the motorway, merging onto an asphalt ramp with a threatening degree of sideways velocity. He gunned it, and the engine screamed violently between the gears shifting. He was breathing just as hard as I was, weaving between sleepy cars like a professional NASCAR driver. His abilities to drive in such a way were highly impressive but I still actively whimpered, fearing what seemed like an imminent collision.
We drove like that for over an hour, distressed and agitated, and well over the muggle speed limit. It was truly shocking that we hadn't been flagged by the police for the undeniable driving offences. Muggles in tiny cars were honking their horns in outrage as we cut them off and zipped between the gaps of other vehicles. The Nissan was agile and swift, and it was arguably a good choice of vehicle for the circumstances.
Draco finally spoke as we reached a stretch of the A20 highway that was running thinly alongside the English Straight. "We can take the tunnel at the Straight of Dover. It's really close now, just hang on." His voice came out high pitched and breathy, and I could feel the tension in every word. My fingers had been gripping the door frame and the leather of the chair below me for the majority of the ride and my muscles were beginning to strain from my stiff posture. I said nothing in response, just kept staring ahead wide eyed.
Draco's eyes suddenly flitted with alarm to the rear view mirror. I looked out through the glass pane of the sunroof, squinting in the darkness. Three figures were flying low over the muggle cars on brooms, suddenly trailing the GTR with determination. I cried out in fear, my hands flew to my mouth.
"It's Potter," Draco snarled with rage. He increased the speed of the car and zigzagged between cars more aggressively than ever. I could confirm his statement by the unmistakable glint of round spectacles in the tail lights. Several shots of magic escaped the ends of their wands as they tried to stop the car. My heart was slamming so hard in my chest it was notably painful.
"You have to shoot them down Madeleine," Draco ordered me in a dark voice. He pushed a button and the sunroof screeched backwards, allowing freezing air to enter the car. My hair suddenly whipped around my face, temporarily blinding me. I blanked, wondering if he was suggesting that I murder them. "Shoot them, Madeleine!" He shouted, shifting the gears manically.
I stammered over the horrible roar of the car, "I-I don't 'ave my wand." He removed his hand from the gear exchange for only a moment to reach into his pocket and hand me his black wand. He had to unbuckle his seat belt to do so. A large blast of magic hit the back window and a yellow shimmering of bright speckles rippled over the exterior metal.
I was shaking beyond belief as I unbuckled my seat beat and wrapped my left arm around the back seat of the car, sitting up on my knees to point his wand out the opening in the roof. I faltered, realizing that it was Harry, Hermione and Ron. They must have misunderstood something. Whatever the reason was that they were chasing the car, it was beyond me, and it was incredibly bad timing. "Do it!" Draco angrily harassed me as he struggled to keep the speed of the car so high while weaving between traffic.
Just as I began to mutter a stunning spell with deep dread, Harry Potter veered down low between the GTR and a parallel transport truck, pulling up next to Draco's window. "Pull over Malfoy!" he shouted, his knuckles were white from where he was gripping his broom like his life depended on it and his dark hair flew around his face.
Draco backlashed by ripping the car aggressively towards Harry, clearly trying to pin him against the transport truck. Harry flew upwards barely escaping and the truck horn blared, but the driver lost control and drove into the ditch. I watched through teary eyes as a massive, fiery explosion erupted where it had impacted.
Several cars around us were now honking and panicking. The impact on the wizarding world would be devastating. Hundreds of muggles had now witnessed extremely illegal levels of public magic.
Draco had to slide the car quickly between two other vehicles and I lost my balance, falling back into my seat with my hands rigidly on the dashboard. His wand flew into the backseat.
It was at this moment that a spell hit the car that caused all of the glass windows to shatter. Sharp glass flew everywhere, and I saw Ron appear outside of my now destroyed window with a look of burning determination, his fingers reaching towards me. On the other side, Harry once again aligned himself with Draco, only this time he chose a physical strategy over conversation. His hand reached into the car and tangled in Draco's suit. Time froze as he ripped him out through the window.
The car veered in the absence of being controlled by a driver and my mind reacted in slow motion, realizing that I'd seen this before in my nightmare. We had been in the center lane, and as a vehicle to the side slammed on it's breaks to avoid a collision the GTR raced crookedly across the open right hand lane. I put my hands up before my face as the low metal of the guard rail squared itself in the high beams.
The impact was characterized by a deafening crunch of metal against metal, and I was thrown against the dashboard feeling multiple bones breaking at once. Glass sliced me absolutely everywhere like horrible, sharp bullets. The immense pain could not be described in words. The hood of the car blew upwards from the assault, blinding me to where the car was barreling towards beyond the guardrail.
I could taste blood and I found that most of my fingers were broken as I screamed through the pain of trying to pull open my deformed door to escape. The terrain below the wheels was hellishly bumpy and then, just like a roller coaster drop, the car dove straight downwards.
My spine tingled with a hair-raising realization the car was going into the ocean where it would sink. The vehicle stuck like a popsicle into the freezing waters, slowly sinking at first like the stern end of the bifurcated Titanic. When the roiling waves reached the shattered windows the speed of the sinking quickened dangerously. The ocean was doing its best to digest the Nissan, and it wasn't failing in the slightest.
I screamed in agony from the glacial waters now up to my waist. So many bones were broken that it was making it very difficult for me to move, and the weighty wedding dress pulled me down as I reached desperately towards the open roof to escape.
I couldn't swim very well as it was, and now I would have to fight to shore against all odds with broken bones and a heavy dress, if I could even manage to escape the car.
I knew the fight was over when the water level rose to my shoulders and I choked on salty water that was spraying into my eyes and mouth. The water didn't hesitate to fully engulf me and as it swallowed the car whole and the last of my hair was soaked below the water line, an odd, silent peace encompassed me. The sounds off bubbles in the water were all that I could hear.
The car floated downwards, deep into the darkness of the ocean. I was choking on water, actively drowning as my lungs filled and my arms limply lifted and so did my golden hair. The hood broke away with the pull downwards and I was provided a visual of my impending doom. I stared down into the abyss that would forever be my grave, and my mind decided to ease its final moments with the distant sound of Draco's piano lullabies.
My bones were monstrously shattered. The enormous volume of pain from broken osseous matter, cartilage and tissue completely commanded my attention as I screamed and cried, unable to move my body. I was blind and choking on water. Salty fluid ran down my cheeks as I fought to clear my lungs. The cold February air sliced through my soaked body and damp clothing. I could feel hard lumps of rocks below my back and the sound of lapping waves gently wafted through the environment.
Voices faded in and out of my consciousness at varying volumes.
"Don't worry I took care of him. He's stunned, but we have to move quickly before it wears off." I recognized Harry's panicked voice.
"I...I'm going to have to put her into a coma. I don't think this is something she should be awake for mending...if she even lives." This voice was also familiar, laced with terror and sympathy. Hermione Granger, I realized. My clothing was being cut from my body, damp and weighty. Loud tearing noises erupted from the act. I screamed, not able to handle the pain erupting with every single touch.
"Obliviate her first," Harry demanded from my other side. He sounded callous and spiteful, "We don't know all of what he did to her. I don't want her to remember a single thing about him."
Hermione huffed loudly, clearly considering the notion carefully, "There will be consequences, Harry. For one, she won't remember us either. She won't remember much past her first week at Hogwarts."
"I don't give a damn if she remembers me," Harry spat coldly, "I'm all for new introductions. Just do it."
There was a slight rustling of someone digging around in their pockets, "This is immoral," Hermione whined. I felt the tip of a wand against my forehead nevertheless, and her dainty voice whispered guiltily, "Obliviate."
Images of a boy with a pointy face and platinum blond hair swam in my vision as though they were bubbles slowly popping in the air. Quidditch practices. Parties in the Slytherin common room. A girl with dark brown hair and deep blue eyes hugging me compassionately. Sex in raven colored sheets. Love in my heart, laying on my back on the Astronomy Tower. Standing at the edge of the Black Lake. Fear and agony from a burning mark on the back of my neck. A dark, glum manor and a room with a spinning planet at a desk. It all slowly popped and disappeared into a void of nothingness, and then I too slipped into the darkness.