Chapter 14
"Draco! Come down here now!" Draco sighed and put down his quill; he walked out of his room and down to the entrance hall where Lucius was waiting for him. "I'd like you to meet Mr. Volumnius, he will be working with the company." Draco held out his hand, as he had been trained to do, and shook Mr. Volumnius' hand firmly.
"It's very nice to meet you, sir."
"Ah, you too my boy. Really quite charming, I must say, Lucius!" Lucius smiled a forced smile at Mr. Volumnius. Draco nodded respectfully to Mr. Volumnius and then turned to his father.
"Was there anything else?"
"No, thank you son. By the way, Mr. Volumnius will be having dinner with us later. 7 o'clock please be prompt." Draco nodded curtly before turning on his heel and heading back up to his room. He sat back down at his desk and continued writing his letter to Ginny. He had written exactly 5 words when there was a knock on his door. He slammed the quill down on the desk and stomped to the door. He wrenched it open to find his mother standing there, looking at him curiously.
"I'm sorry to disrupt you, but I did find something I thought you might like to know about. If you're busy, I can just talk to you later." Narcissa turned to leave, but Draco caught her arm.
"Sorry, Mum. I'm just frustrated because I've been trying to finish this letter for about 2 hours now and I keep getting interrupted. Let me put it away and I'll meet you in your study." Narcissa smiled and nodded as she walked away. Draco sighed heavily as he carefully hid Ginny's letter and proceeded to his mother's study. When he got there, she was comfortably stretched out on the burgundy couch. Draco sat down in the squashy armchair opposite her.
"So what did you want to tell me?"
"Have you ever heard of the Erinys Amor Semper?"
"Umm ... no, I don't think so." Narcissa smiled and sat up on the couch.
"Okay, near the beginning of the Malfoy family, there was a lot of controversy. There was a certain son betrothed to a powerful wizard's daughter, but the father allowed the son to marry for love instead of political gain. This created a blood feud between the two families; after several years of fighting, a wise old wizard came forward to solve the problems. He gave the girl's family and eternal blessing of happiness. And to the Malfoy's he gave a curse.
"He decreed that every son born to the house of Malfoy would have but one true love, his Amor Semper. And it was with only that one woman, that the man could be truly happy. If he did not marry this woman, he would turn onto the path of evil and never return from it. He could only ever find true happiness with this one person. To make their love all the stronger, they would be semi-telepathically linked. They would be able to sense the other's feelings and in some rare cases, know when the other person was in trouble over great distances.
"However, it would be most likely that such a love could only come from great hardships. The lovers would have to go through countless trials and dangers to be able to be together. It would seem that the fates are against the couple.
"Furthermore, there was never a guarantee that the woman would love the man back. Sometimes, the one meant for her was not the Malfoy, but someone else. There is a guarantee, however, that the two will meet, eventually." Narcissa sighed and took a sip of her tea, which was sitting on the side table next to her.
"To make matters all the worse, the man would get one and only one chance to gain the love of this woman. Once that opportunity was passed up, he would never get another chance. He would turn to the path of evil, regardless of how good his character was. But, if he were able to obtain her love, they would marry and live happily ever after in a sense. Their lives would not be without hardship, but they would be happy with the love they shared for each other. Their children would face this same curse, but would be more apt to follow the path of their parents." Draco cocked an eyebrow at his mother; he wanted to ask questions, but sensed that she wasn't done explaining yet.
"It has since become a curse on the family because no one has been able to find and marry his love. Every generation that is unable to do so increases the probability that the next generation will not be able to accomplish it either. Ergo, Lucius' chances of marrying his love were a great deal slimmer than those of his great grandfather. This is, perhaps, why the Malfoy name has had such a negative connotation to it. All of the Malfoy men have been destined to turn evil; it is in their blood. Because they could not put aside the malice in their hearts in order to win the love of their destined woman.
"I'm sure you can interpret what I have been trying to imply, Draco." Draco nodded, rather stunned.
"But how do you know that I won't end up like that? Like you said, my chances are a great deal slimmer than those of Lucius or anyone before him." Narcissa smiled affectionately at her son.
"Because, my darling child, I am your mother. I know these things." Draco cocked an eyebrow; this wasn't exactly a satisfactory answer. "I know, but you'll just have to trust me for now."
"Does that mean that you aren't Lucius' true love?" Narcissa chuckled.
"I am, by no means, his true love. I never was and I don't pretend to be. Everyone knows that, but it would have been unacceptable for him not to marry and carry on the Malfoy line." Draco nodded.
"The Malfoy women, none of which were true loves, are some of the most moral and good people on the earth. However, it is their obedience and submissiveness to their husbands that clouds this. I'll leave you with this thought my dear; I have observed that Ginerva Weasley is one of the least obedient and submissive creatures on this planet." Narcissa smiled meaningfully at her son, before getting up and walking out of the study, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
As he played absentmindedly with the family ring, which he wore on his left ring finger, the Erinys Amor Semper repeated itself over and over in his mind. He smirked thinking about Ginny.
Is she my Amor Semper? I really do love her ... I think she loves me too. That would mean I'm not following in his footsteps, which is definitely a good thing. That's got to be the only explanation for her knowing I was in trouble ... there's no other way. But then again, what if she's not? I would never forgive myself if she had to go through what Mum goes through with Lucius ... but then again, if I care about her going through that, doesn't that mean I really love her? I could never bring myself to do that to her ... but then again, what if she doesn't really love me? What if it's just some meaningless fling to her ... I'll have lost my Amor Semper and I'll have to be like him ... am I admitting, then, that she is my Amor Semper? Is that completely preposterous, or relatively believable? I don't know ... I wish Mum would tell me what she knows. I can tell she's not telling me everything ... she's holding something else back. I wonder what it is? Ginny ... my Amor Semper. Hmm, that sounds nice. Mrs. Ginerva Malfoy ... Draco and Ginny Malfoy ... that has a really nice ring to it. Amor Semper ... Ginny ...
A/N: I know, I know, really short. But I didn't want to get out of the Prophecy mood by going back to Ginny or the dinner or anything. Sorry no Charlie in this chapter ... more of him in the next one, I promise! How did you like it? Was the curse thing ok? Erinys Amor Semper means cursed (actually one of the Furies' names, but work with me here) love forever in Latin. Tell me what you thought ... yes pressy that button that says review!
MoonLightPrincess: Yes, I'm so so so sorry there was no Charlie, but he can't take over the fic you know. Anywho, how did you like the curse thing? That tad bit about him being an heir won't really come into play for a little while, it was a bit of foreshadowing! How was this one?
Inukaino: Thanks so much! I'm glad you liked it! Charlie's the best, how was this chapter? Yeah, this kind of gave a little bit of explanation as to why Lucius is an ass, but he still needs to die, I know!
HarryPotterFan670: Thanks a bunch! How was this chapter? I hope it satisfied your need for an update, hehe.
CoolMilena: Yeah, Lucius is so bad ... grar. Anywho, how was this one? Thanks so much!
PaintedSecrets: LOL, my best friend and I have random conversations like that, so I'm kind of used to it! Don't worry about your Lucius death threats, I think them too as I'm writing them. It's lovely to know that the hate you are trying to get your readers to feel, is being felt! Haha, hope that made some sense!
DarkRose: More dark things to come soon, then you will be very happy!
Fieryred20: Thanks a bunch! How was this chapter?
CC: Thanks, yeah, Lucius is an ass and we all know it. Narcissa deserves better, but if she wasn't there what would Draco have been like?! How was this?
ALL: Thanks for all the reviews! I'm at 50! Yay! I'm really (happily) surprised at all the Lucius death threats and comments on my skill, instead of just the plot. Keep reviewing!
Disclaimer: Erinys will follow all of those who mistake my Amor for Harry Potter as ownership ... Semper!