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Chapter three
The Rosiers´ house
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"So, you´re all packed?" sounded a quiet question from the open door of her room.
Angela slammed the last suitcase shut and turned to Draco with a smile.
"Yeah, I am," she nodded and sat down in a chair to put on her favourite sandals.
"I admit I kind of envy you," he sighed, approaching the window.
The brunette straightened up and looked at him thoughtfully. "Actually, there´s almost nothing you should. From now on, I'm going to see my mother a lot more often than I'd like," she reacted smirking.
He turned to her again. "Yeah… However, the two of us won't see each other so much anymore either... Father said that our training is over."
"I know, my mother told me too. My great thanks to Merlin. I've had enough of forbidden potions, curses and incantations."
Draco eyed her somewhat understandingly: "You enjoy witchcraft a lot more, don't you?"
"Sure, otherwise I wouldn't want to study it," Angela stood in front of the mirror and used a rubber band to tie her long hair into a ponytail. It was still terribly hot outside.
"I should rather go; mother´s probably already waiting for me. If you want, I'll give you the address and you can come over sometime," she offered.
Draco brightened up a little. "Really?"
"Sure. I'll be there often alone anyway…" she paused for a moment. "But let me know beforehand. Our house is well protected, so I must let you in first. I'll write it down for you right away," she added, looking around for some paper.
"I´ll be glad to come."
"I think mother must have told your parents about it, but so you don't have to ask them, here you go," Angela handed him a piece of parchment with an address written on it.
Draco took it with thanks and hid it in his pocket.
"But I think you'd rather go after someone else, wouldn´t you?" Angela winked at him and grabbed her sunglasses, which she hooked onto the neckline of her shirt.
"I don't know what you're talking about," the blonde wizard responded slowly.
"Just don't pretend," she grinned, but suddenly her smile faltered. "I'm under no illusion that you won't see each other again over the holidays. From the way you both looked like at that disco… But Draco, keep your eyes open, really."
He stared at her for a moment before he made himself open his mouth to answer: "It would be better if we didn't see each other again."
"But you're going to anyway, now that you know where she lives, aren't you?"
Draco left that remark without any reply.
"Okay, okay, I'm not going to poke in it anymore," Angela sighed, took her suitcase and black shoulder bag. Then she looked at him seriously: "If anything... If you wanted to talk or something, feel free to come. You know we're on the same boat," she emphasized and turned to leave.
She was already by the door when Draco responded: "Thank you, Angie."
Angela stopped in surprise. "What for…?"
"For you being… like you are."
She smiled sheepishly: "And how am I supposed to understand this?"
He shrugged: "Exactly as you hear it."
They were both silent for a moment, looking at each other indecisively.
"That thing with the ship," Draco finally began hesitantly. "It seems to me that we're on it involuntarily, hidden below the deck… If you know what I mean."
"Absolutely," she sighed heavily. "We didn't want to go aboard, but it still sails with us on the wide seas. But let me tell you something, Draco. I'd rather jump overboard, than let this ship drag me to the bottom."
The young Malfoy widened his eyes at her. Angela suddenly put the suitcase on the floor, spontaneously hugged him and planted a warm kiss on his cheek: "See you, Little Dragon," she said goodbye cheerfully.
Draco only managed to start moving again, when she stepped out into the hallway.
"Wait!" he ran after her.
Angela looked at him over her shoulder.
"What did you mean by that?" he asked with his throat tight.
She took a breath, looking sad all of the sudden. "Try to figure it out on your own..." she said and walked off toward the stairs.
For a long while after, Draco Malfoy remained standing where he was, staring into the empty corridor.
/
"I'm done, we can go!" Angela announced to her mother, who was already impatiently waiting for her down in the hall.
"Well, it´s about time!" snapped Mary Rosier, and the never officially recognized Mrs Black. "I've already been there. The luggage is stacked in the hall, so you can unpack it all."
"But I thought…" Angela began with a faint smile.
"Something came up. You can get there yourself, right?"
"Of course I can, but…"
"Lest not when you've been living there for so long," her mother cut her off bluntly. "Don't forget to say goodbye to the Malfoys and thank them. They´re in the living room."
Angela gave up any questioning. "Sure, Mum. I'll go straight to them."
"Okay. I'll see you in three hours," Mary added, heading for the cellar entrance. After all, she and Lucius preferred to move between the outside and the mansion through a secret passage, even if at the first glance no one was watching Malfoy Manor anymore.
Something came to Angela's mind at that moment: "Mum?!"
Mary grumpily turned to her: "What else?"
"I just… Where have you lived until today, if not in our house?"
"We'll deal with your useless questions later, all right? I don't have time for that right now," her mother replied coldly, and without waiting for response, she was gone.
Sighing, Angela put her suitcase down with the other bags, leaving only the one over her shoulder. She concentrated and made her luggage disappear. She waited a little, to calm down completely, put on a smile and headed to the mentioned room.
/
Narcissa was just glad that I finally got out, Angela thought as she apparated to the edge of the sprawling garden belonging to their house and looked around for her suitcases. But I like Lucius' faces less and less. Even though Draco resembles him in appearance, he couldn't be more different than his father.
Finding the trunks under a tall oak tree, she lifted them into the air with a spell and made her way across the lawn to the back patio of a house barely third the size of the Malfoy mansion, as she continued her thoughts.
Why was mother in such a hurry? And she won't be back until after dark. What is suddenly so important when we agreed to move in together?
The low heels of her sandals clicked on the flagstones that led to the nearby pool.
I wonder if she has already seen all the Muggle amenities we have here.
Angela smiled to herself as she remembered Daria's idea and how much her aunt Marion liked all those things. She herself adored the pool the most. She and Daria spent a lot of time in it during the few holidays together. Her aunt had nothing against Daria. She was completely different from her mother…
Angela crossed the terrace with her suitcases in the air in front of her, and the back glass door opened in front of her by itself. She walked into the pleasantly cool walk-through hall, avoided the simple staircase to the first floor, and added her belongings to a pile by the main door.
She looked around with a strange feeling. It was not until she found herself in it again when she realized how much she missed her home.
/
It was quite late when Angela finally heard footsteps from the hall and quickly used her wand to exchange the Quidditch book for the one about jinxes. The sound of steps died down in the kitchen for a moment, but then headed steadily toward Angela.
Mary Rosier, apparently worn-out, entered the large living room decorated in black, white and green colours through the sliding doors.
"Good evening, Mum," Angela greeted her without even looking up from the book. "Dinner´s in the fridge, if you like."
Mary sat down in the comfortable armchair across from her daughter and tiredly ran her hand over her forehead. "Where?" she asked confused.
"That big white thing in the corner of the kitchen, it's cold inside," Angela explained a bit annoyed.
"Ah, yes… Muggle stuff. Can you tell me why you and Marion bought all this?"
"Since you refuse to keep a house elf, you'll have to get used to it, if you want to eat at least sometimes properly. Like me. You'll see it's much more comfortable," Angela assured her.
Mary just grunted, then leaned back more comfortably and stared at her. "I want to talk to you about something," she began slowly.
"About what?" Angela asked with disinterest.
"About your future," her mother replied.
She supressed an urge to roll her eyes. "We've already talked about that more than enough, haven't we?"
"Don't be cheeky," Mary scolded her. "Your initiation will take place on the first of October, just like Draco's, but that's not what I meant."
Angela finally got interested and put the book down. "What do you mean then?"
"I´ve already discussed this with the Malfoys and we all agreed that we want to ensure the best possible future for our children."
Well, that will be bright indeed, when we are going to be Death Eaters, Angela thought sourly.
"And?" prompted her mother aloud.
"You'll be engaged before the initiation," Mary said with a satisfied smile.
Angela raised her eyebrows. "Who?"
"Well, Draco and you, of course."
"What?" Angela barely stopped herself from bursting out laughing. "Is this a joke?"
"I'm absolutely serious, Angela," Mary replied coldly.
She understood and her smile disappeared.
"No way!" she barked sharply and stood up. "We don't live in Middle Ages for you to decide who I can marry! Besides, I'm too young to get married!"
"Calm down, dear," Mary said coldly. "The numbers of pureblood wizarding families are dwindling and your marriage will be the best for both clans."
Angela snorted disdainfully. "Forget it, Mother! Even Draco won't agree to this!"
"He will have to. And you as well…"
"And if not?" she blurted defiantly.
Mary stood up to face her. "Listen, girl. You´re not of legal age and I´m your mother, so you will obey. By the end of this month, Draco will propose to you and you will agree, understand?"
Angela looked in her mother's eyes, furious in her mind.
"I will never marry Draco!" she snapped, turned on her heel and ran out of the room.
As her quick footsteps faded away at the top of stairs, Mary smiled coldly: "We will see, my dear…"
/
Angela angrily slammed the door behind her and walked across her room to the open glass door to the small balcony. She was gradually getting really fed up with the way her mother wanted to run her life.
I wonder what Draco will say about this, she chuckled to herself bitterly.
She seriously considered lighting a cigarette, but dismissed the possibility after a while. She leaned against the wooden railing and peered out at the dark outline of the forest beyond their garden. Downstairs in the living room, she was so upset that she did not even remember asking her mother about the place where she used to live again.
She was slowly calming down and remembered the unicorns in the Forbidden Forest. If they started to have more problems with vampires again now, it would be too much to handle for her. Naturally, her thoughts wandered to Harry as well… To the look on his face when he saw her sitting at the table with Lupin. She should not have visited that house. She just stabbed the still open wound...
Sighing, Angela turned and was about to close the window when she suddenly heard the sound of wings. She waited a moment and realized that it was getting closer. Before long, she could make out the outline of a flying owl. She backed away and let it fly inside. She turned on the small lamp above the bed and untied the letter from the black owl's leg.
The little owl remained sitting on the head of the bed, squinting at Angela. She tiredly sat down on and tore open the envelope. As she expected, the letter was from Draco, and it began rather ironically:
My future sweetheart,
I assume you already know the news from your mother. My father told me about it in such a tone as if he was announcing that I just inherited his entire wealth with immediate effect. You can imagine that would definitely make me a lot happier.
I argued with my parents, but they didn't back down from that marriage nonsense. I'm sure you feel the same way about this, so… What are we going to do?
I would like to come round tomorrow. Write me where we can meet.
Draco
Angela got up, sat down at her desk, and scribbled down a reply in the same vein.
My dearest Draco,
I almost threw the door off its hinges, I´m so angry. Mother says she only wants the best for me. Such bullshit makes me sick. I totally agree with you. It's nonsense!
Tomorrow at ten in the morning, let´s meet in that dead-end street by the discotheque. Then I'll take you to our house. We will have privacy; Mother will definitely not be here.
For now, be well if you can.
Angela
She sealed the letter properly, tied it to the owl's leg, and it immediately took off. The bird flew out into the night sky and before long, the sound of her wings died down.
/
The next morning, the sultry calm of the garden behind Rosiers´ house was disrupted by a double crack and Angela appeared under the trees holding Draco's hand. However, as soon as they were at place, she let him go.
"From now on, you can apparate to our property normally. But only here to the garden, the house is protected against it," explained Angela, and since they were in the shadows, she pushed her sunglasses from her nose up into her hair. "Rather do not show up at the main entrance. There are usually Muggles around, but someone curious might notice you."
"Got it," Draco replied, looking around curiously.
"Come on then," she urged. "We can sit on the terrace. I´ve prepared some Coke for us. I can offer you some ice cubes from the freezer, if you like."
"From where?" Draco smirked incomprehensibly.
Angela just waved her hand: "Don´t bother with that."
They slowly walked to the house, when Draco happened to look to the left and stopped in his tracks: "You have a pool here?"
"We've got quite a lot of Muggle stuff here, you'd be surprised," Angela replied already in the doorway. "Take a seat," she said and headed for the kitchen.
Draco sat down in the corner of the terrace in a comfortable chair with armrests and scanned the well-kept garden with his eyes. Already when he and Angela greeted each other at Batimov Street, he noticed that she was just as distracted and annoyed as he was. They were both fed up with those nonsenses, which they were forced to.
In a moment, the brunette appeared again, with a tray in her hands. She placed two tall glasses with dark liquid and clinking ice inside on the small table and sat across from Draco with a sigh.
"It´s as hot as if it was noon already," she complained, taking a deep gulp from her glass.
"Where´s your mother anyway?" Draco asked.
"What do I know, where she's always hanging around," Angela replied grumpily. "Let's get to the point, shall we?"
"Agreed," he nodded.
"Fine, so... Our dear parents decided that the two of us should get engaged before the initiation and probably get married after school. Does it agree?"
"Yeah," Draco muttered, taking a drink with pleasure as well.
"Do you want to marry me?" she asked him in a tone that made it clear she knew the answer.
"No," he said dryly.
"Great. Neither do I, so we'll agree on that."
"Now the question is, what we´re going to do when they´re trying to force us to it," Draco responded.
Angela frowned: "What do you think they'll do if we both go to them together and say we're not getting married and that's it?"
"Hard to say," he frowned. "But we can try."
"It's probably going to piss them off," she mused. "But if neither of us wants to, they can't compel us!"
"I can't think of what they could use to do that," Draco agreed.
"But are you willing to go through with it? It won't be fun…"
"Definitely."
"Fine, so now we just have to arrange for them to be together and give them a surprise announcement," Angela concluded.
"That's going to be a blast," Draco chuckled, but there was not even a bit of humour in it.
