A/N: I don't know. I feel a whoosh of inspiration rushing over me. So I
hope no one minds the updating once a week or so.
Disclaimer: you know the drill Kristin and the plot are mine, the rest belongs to Madame Rowling -----
"How did it go?" Kristin gazed at him pleadingly, hazel eyes locked with silver.
"Not well; he just didn't want to hear it, especially from me." Draco took her hands at first until she started crying. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close as weeping shook her entire self. "I'm sorry, Kristin, I know how much you loved him."
He held her like that for a long while until her sobs came in a shorter, more detached form. Then, he led her to her room and called on a house elf to bring her some hot chocolate, before getting up to leave.
"Don't go," she begged. Draco immediately sat back down. "I really couldn't stand to be alone tonight, please." Her hand brushed his and he sat back down on the edge of her bed. Kristin's eyes welled up with tears again.
"Alright," he smiled and kissed her lightly on the forehead, "I'll stay."
-----
Hogwarts was buzzing with gossip of Kristin and Harry's breakup the next day. Especially when she neither Kristin nor Harry showed up for breakfast in the morning.
"Well, of course, she wouldn't come," Pansy snorted, "dumped by a Gryffindor. I think the shame would be enough for her. But the bruises are something worse."
"I really can't believe he hit her!" another girl gasped.
"At least she hit him back!" A Slytherin guy added.
"I've had enough of that!" Draco snorted, leaving his food sitting on his plate and walking away in disgust. He found Kristin in the Slytherin common room. Her beautiful eyes were puffy from crying and not sleeping last night. He lay next to her for three hours before she finally calmed and settled for slumber. Even then, her sleep was restless with many cries in the middle of the night. Draco himself was tired, but knew it would be suspicious if he hadn't returned to his dorm room before his roommates had awoken.
"How are you feeling?" He sat on the arm of her chair and put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly to let her know he was there.
Kristin sighed and leaned her head on his hand. "Tired, betrayed, angry, I don't know. I feel a lot of things right now."
"I'm sure. Look, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you may want to come to breakfast." Kristin raised her head and looked at him perplexed. "Students gossip and as of right now they are convinced that you are beaten and bruised and Potter is the same. He's not there either."
"Really? You don't suppose something happened to him, do you? Oh no, what if-"
"I'm sure he's alright, Kristin, well, you know what I mean. He probably didn't want to face everyone. Trust me, if anyone knows to avoid prying eyes it's Potter. Please come to breakfast." He took her by the hand and helped her out of the chair. Out of the blue, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close.
"Thank you, Draco," she whispered in his ear before letting going and hesitantly making her way to breakfast.
-----
"Excellent work, Draco," Lucius Malfoy congratulated. "You've finally gotten her where we want her. We lost her once; it can't happen again- WON'T happen again. Do you understand me?" Draco nodded grimly. "She's a valuable asset to our side. The Deatheaters need her power and spirit to finally bring Lord Voldemort to a power not even Harry Potter can rival, now that she's finally apart from that boy. This will surely credit you enough to join us earlier. Keep up the good work, son."
"Yes, Father," the older man left rapidly, robes and near white hair billowing behind him. Even on the run, Lucius Malfoy made his presence known. Draco flopped, fatigued into the large chair in the Slytherin common room and held his head in his hands.
"Is that it?" Kristin demanded, anger flooding her voice. "That's all I am to you? A task? An iniation? Proof to your father and yourself that you've got what it takes to be a fucking Deatheater?"
"Kristin, no, of course not, you-"
"A Deatheater? Have you no decency? I always expected more from you. I never thought you'd end up like your father, the slimy snake. Well, I won't end up like mine," she was screaming now," I won't be a power-hungry coward, killing innocent children so he wouldn't have to compete with a full-grown, full-strength adult. Or using his own daughter," tears flooded her eyes and covered her cheeks," to do his dirty work or kill and hurt those she loves because they don't believe in reveling in others' misfortunes. Some people, like Harry and Dumbledore, retain strength and power without killing the innocent. Bravery is marked by the strength and decency to do what is right, not ridding yourself of those who threaten that strength. But, possibly, being a Deatheater, that's not an idea you comprehend, is it? I hope you die in Azkaban like the rest of your kind will."
Draco remained silent for a long while, long enough for Kristin to escape up her stairs. He darted after her, taking steps two at a time to catch up with her, gaining quickly on her. She made it to the room and began to shut the door but Draco stopped her, overpowering her and pushing his way into her dorm.
She roomed by herself now in a special section of the house, due to special circumstances, special supervision. She struggled against his strength but he overcame her, holding her to her bed and pinning her in place. Kristin continued to fight but relaxed when she realized it was futile. The tears still came though.
"Now, listen to me," Draco instructed gently in contrast to the firm grip he held her with. "You are most definitely- DEFINITELY- not an initiation or anything of the sort. I've loved you since you came to Hogwarts and my father had nothing to do with that. He came to me later with the idea of using you to restore Voldemort and becoming a Death eater, but he's waiting until I'm out of Hogwarts, giving us time to run away. I would never became a Death eater and surely never submit you to anyone who would cause you any harm." He loosened his grip but remained on top of her.
"I don't want to run, Draco," she sobbed, "I'm sick of running; he always finds me; he doesn't stop, never rests; he'll always look for me, for the same reason you will, as a modus operandi, a vessel in which to unleash his misery upon everyone. I don't want to run."
"Alright," he sat next to her and held her close, "we won't run; we'll talk to Dumbledore. He's always able to help and we'll stay here- together."
"Together, Draco?"
"Well- if it's alright with you, I'd like to stay together. I love being with you, talking to you and I believe we could help each other. We each know things that can help the other and we really need to stick together. We come from different places- well, not all different- but the same problem faces each of us and if we use our different experiences together, we'll be able to think of something."
Kristin had calmed. The tears ceased but she still heaved occasionally as Draco embraced her, shaking with emotions.
"Wait!" she pulled away, " you knew who my father was this whole time and you never told me."
"I've known since we were six," she looked at him puzzledly, "when you lived with my family." Kristin gasped at a segment of her life once forgotten. "You've forgotten, Miss Riddle?"
Kristin giggled lightly at the expression on Draco's face. They'd played together for six months while she stayed with him and his family, but the memories had been lost in the shuffle of house to house, family to family, new life to new life.
"I'm afraid I have," she smiled at him tearfully, "though flashes of a bleach blonde brat pestering me all day flood my mind now that I think of it."
"You must be remembering my father," he joked. Draco kissed her lightly on the forehead, gave her an extra squeeze, before getting up. "I have a potions session with Professor Snape in five minutes; would you care to accompany me?"
"I'd love to." He took her hand to help her up and held it tightly as they made their way to the Potions dungeon.
"Ahhh, my two favorite students. It's truly a pleasure to see you on good terms with each other. It took you long enough."
-----
Kristin leaned on a Potions table, waiting patiently for Draco to finish his session of B. N. E. W. T. Potions (Beyond N.E.W.T.) with Professor Snape. As she gazed at the white-blonde-haired boy crushing dragon tooth, her mind wandered.
She was six and half, nearly seven, watching the same boy playing with her and his mother in their sitting room. Just then Lucius burst into the room.
"Narcissa!"
The woman was startled and pulled both children close to her in a moment of maternal instinct. Kristin relished the warmth and caring in her arms but was also startled by the look of fear and anticipation in Lucius' face and the urgency in his voice.
"They know she's here." He stated. He sounded calm again without the fury or anxiety that he'd let slip before.
"Who?" Narcissa Malfoy pulled Kristin closer as if she were afraid to let go.
"The Ministry. I don't know how they know but they do and if they find her in the raids, we're all in Azkaban. We have to let her go." He hung his head low. Narcissa released Kristin but took her hand as she stood.
"Let her go, Lucius? Like she's a bird or a pet we can't control anymore? She's a little girl, damnit! Where is she going to go? Wandering off into the street? Hoping someone else loyal to her father will find her? She may not be that lucky the next time. What if she finds someone not so loyal? They'll kill her out there, Lucius!!"
Lucius Malfoy kept in voice down, signaling his wife to hush. "We're not just going to leave her. I have homes all set up for her. Mind you, they can't keep her long because we're all facing the same fate but at least she'll have somewhere to stay for a few months at a time."
"So she's just going to shift from home to home for the rest of her life? Maybe we should let the Ministry have her. It would be better than what you have planned." Narcissa chided.
"I've found her homes for the next 4 consecutive years until she starts school and then she's always got somewhere to go on summer breaks." He gazed into the stern eyes of his wife and continued with gentility. "It's all we can do for her or she'll be found and- well- destroyed. She's too powerful a weapon in our struggle and they know that. They won't let her live if they know where she is."
Narcissa held Draco tight as Lucius took Kristin away. Neither of the children knew why Draco's mother was crying or where Kristin was going or how long she was going to be away or why Lucius seemed so disappointed, like he was losing a daughter- or simply a valuable tool.
Disclaimer: you know the drill Kristin and the plot are mine, the rest belongs to Madame Rowling -----
"How did it go?" Kristin gazed at him pleadingly, hazel eyes locked with silver.
"Not well; he just didn't want to hear it, especially from me." Draco took her hands at first until she started crying. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close as weeping shook her entire self. "I'm sorry, Kristin, I know how much you loved him."
He held her like that for a long while until her sobs came in a shorter, more detached form. Then, he led her to her room and called on a house elf to bring her some hot chocolate, before getting up to leave.
"Don't go," she begged. Draco immediately sat back down. "I really couldn't stand to be alone tonight, please." Her hand brushed his and he sat back down on the edge of her bed. Kristin's eyes welled up with tears again.
"Alright," he smiled and kissed her lightly on the forehead, "I'll stay."
-----
Hogwarts was buzzing with gossip of Kristin and Harry's breakup the next day. Especially when she neither Kristin nor Harry showed up for breakfast in the morning.
"Well, of course, she wouldn't come," Pansy snorted, "dumped by a Gryffindor. I think the shame would be enough for her. But the bruises are something worse."
"I really can't believe he hit her!" another girl gasped.
"At least she hit him back!" A Slytherin guy added.
"I've had enough of that!" Draco snorted, leaving his food sitting on his plate and walking away in disgust. He found Kristin in the Slytherin common room. Her beautiful eyes were puffy from crying and not sleeping last night. He lay next to her for three hours before she finally calmed and settled for slumber. Even then, her sleep was restless with many cries in the middle of the night. Draco himself was tired, but knew it would be suspicious if he hadn't returned to his dorm room before his roommates had awoken.
"How are you feeling?" He sat on the arm of her chair and put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly to let her know he was there.
Kristin sighed and leaned her head on his hand. "Tired, betrayed, angry, I don't know. I feel a lot of things right now."
"I'm sure. Look, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you may want to come to breakfast." Kristin raised her head and looked at him perplexed. "Students gossip and as of right now they are convinced that you are beaten and bruised and Potter is the same. He's not there either."
"Really? You don't suppose something happened to him, do you? Oh no, what if-"
"I'm sure he's alright, Kristin, well, you know what I mean. He probably didn't want to face everyone. Trust me, if anyone knows to avoid prying eyes it's Potter. Please come to breakfast." He took her by the hand and helped her out of the chair. Out of the blue, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close.
"Thank you, Draco," she whispered in his ear before letting going and hesitantly making her way to breakfast.
-----
"Excellent work, Draco," Lucius Malfoy congratulated. "You've finally gotten her where we want her. We lost her once; it can't happen again- WON'T happen again. Do you understand me?" Draco nodded grimly. "She's a valuable asset to our side. The Deatheaters need her power and spirit to finally bring Lord Voldemort to a power not even Harry Potter can rival, now that she's finally apart from that boy. This will surely credit you enough to join us earlier. Keep up the good work, son."
"Yes, Father," the older man left rapidly, robes and near white hair billowing behind him. Even on the run, Lucius Malfoy made his presence known. Draco flopped, fatigued into the large chair in the Slytherin common room and held his head in his hands.
"Is that it?" Kristin demanded, anger flooding her voice. "That's all I am to you? A task? An iniation? Proof to your father and yourself that you've got what it takes to be a fucking Deatheater?"
"Kristin, no, of course not, you-"
"A Deatheater? Have you no decency? I always expected more from you. I never thought you'd end up like your father, the slimy snake. Well, I won't end up like mine," she was screaming now," I won't be a power-hungry coward, killing innocent children so he wouldn't have to compete with a full-grown, full-strength adult. Or using his own daughter," tears flooded her eyes and covered her cheeks," to do his dirty work or kill and hurt those she loves because they don't believe in reveling in others' misfortunes. Some people, like Harry and Dumbledore, retain strength and power without killing the innocent. Bravery is marked by the strength and decency to do what is right, not ridding yourself of those who threaten that strength. But, possibly, being a Deatheater, that's not an idea you comprehend, is it? I hope you die in Azkaban like the rest of your kind will."
Draco remained silent for a long while, long enough for Kristin to escape up her stairs. He darted after her, taking steps two at a time to catch up with her, gaining quickly on her. She made it to the room and began to shut the door but Draco stopped her, overpowering her and pushing his way into her dorm.
She roomed by herself now in a special section of the house, due to special circumstances, special supervision. She struggled against his strength but he overcame her, holding her to her bed and pinning her in place. Kristin continued to fight but relaxed when she realized it was futile. The tears still came though.
"Now, listen to me," Draco instructed gently in contrast to the firm grip he held her with. "You are most definitely- DEFINITELY- not an initiation or anything of the sort. I've loved you since you came to Hogwarts and my father had nothing to do with that. He came to me later with the idea of using you to restore Voldemort and becoming a Death eater, but he's waiting until I'm out of Hogwarts, giving us time to run away. I would never became a Death eater and surely never submit you to anyone who would cause you any harm." He loosened his grip but remained on top of her.
"I don't want to run, Draco," she sobbed, "I'm sick of running; he always finds me; he doesn't stop, never rests; he'll always look for me, for the same reason you will, as a modus operandi, a vessel in which to unleash his misery upon everyone. I don't want to run."
"Alright," he sat next to her and held her close, "we won't run; we'll talk to Dumbledore. He's always able to help and we'll stay here- together."
"Together, Draco?"
"Well- if it's alright with you, I'd like to stay together. I love being with you, talking to you and I believe we could help each other. We each know things that can help the other and we really need to stick together. We come from different places- well, not all different- but the same problem faces each of us and if we use our different experiences together, we'll be able to think of something."
Kristin had calmed. The tears ceased but she still heaved occasionally as Draco embraced her, shaking with emotions.
"Wait!" she pulled away, " you knew who my father was this whole time and you never told me."
"I've known since we were six," she looked at him puzzledly, "when you lived with my family." Kristin gasped at a segment of her life once forgotten. "You've forgotten, Miss Riddle?"
Kristin giggled lightly at the expression on Draco's face. They'd played together for six months while she stayed with him and his family, but the memories had been lost in the shuffle of house to house, family to family, new life to new life.
"I'm afraid I have," she smiled at him tearfully, "though flashes of a bleach blonde brat pestering me all day flood my mind now that I think of it."
"You must be remembering my father," he joked. Draco kissed her lightly on the forehead, gave her an extra squeeze, before getting up. "I have a potions session with Professor Snape in five minutes; would you care to accompany me?"
"I'd love to." He took her hand to help her up and held it tightly as they made their way to the Potions dungeon.
"Ahhh, my two favorite students. It's truly a pleasure to see you on good terms with each other. It took you long enough."
-----
Kristin leaned on a Potions table, waiting patiently for Draco to finish his session of B. N. E. W. T. Potions (Beyond N.E.W.T.) with Professor Snape. As she gazed at the white-blonde-haired boy crushing dragon tooth, her mind wandered.
She was six and half, nearly seven, watching the same boy playing with her and his mother in their sitting room. Just then Lucius burst into the room.
"Narcissa!"
The woman was startled and pulled both children close to her in a moment of maternal instinct. Kristin relished the warmth and caring in her arms but was also startled by the look of fear and anticipation in Lucius' face and the urgency in his voice.
"They know she's here." He stated. He sounded calm again without the fury or anxiety that he'd let slip before.
"Who?" Narcissa Malfoy pulled Kristin closer as if she were afraid to let go.
"The Ministry. I don't know how they know but they do and if they find her in the raids, we're all in Azkaban. We have to let her go." He hung his head low. Narcissa released Kristin but took her hand as she stood.
"Let her go, Lucius? Like she's a bird or a pet we can't control anymore? She's a little girl, damnit! Where is she going to go? Wandering off into the street? Hoping someone else loyal to her father will find her? She may not be that lucky the next time. What if she finds someone not so loyal? They'll kill her out there, Lucius!!"
Lucius Malfoy kept in voice down, signaling his wife to hush. "We're not just going to leave her. I have homes all set up for her. Mind you, they can't keep her long because we're all facing the same fate but at least she'll have somewhere to stay for a few months at a time."
"So she's just going to shift from home to home for the rest of her life? Maybe we should let the Ministry have her. It would be better than what you have planned." Narcissa chided.
"I've found her homes for the next 4 consecutive years until she starts school and then she's always got somewhere to go on summer breaks." He gazed into the stern eyes of his wife and continued with gentility. "It's all we can do for her or she'll be found and- well- destroyed. She's too powerful a weapon in our struggle and they know that. They won't let her live if they know where she is."
Narcissa held Draco tight as Lucius took Kristin away. Neither of the children knew why Draco's mother was crying or where Kristin was going or how long she was going to be away or why Lucius seemed so disappointed, like he was losing a daughter- or simply a valuable tool.