Chapter 22

Family Reunion

Meanwhile, Roxanne was having quite a horrible time herself. She was in a tent, on her own, and totally confused on what was happening. Two Death Eaters stood either end of it, stopping her from escaping. They had taken away her wand but had given her cushions sos he did not have to sit on the hard, canvas ground. She had no idea what she was here for but she knew it was bad. And it was just about to get worse…

"ROXANNE!" cried a woman, from outside the tent.

Roxanne's gaze snapped up to the opening and in walked – or rather, in ran – a nearly middle-aged woman. She had black hair and steel blue eyes and was wearing a Death Eaters cloak. She threw off the hood and grabbed Roxanne in a sharp hug.

"Get off!" yelled Roxanne, pulling the woman off her.

"My darling! I haven't seen you for so long!" sobbed the woman, ignoring her daughter's cries. She ran her long fingernails through Roxanne's hair, getting them caught up.

Roxanne pushed her mother away and stood up, glowering down at her, her black locks in a mess.

"Roxanne, what's the matter?" asked Marilee Winters. She was wearing a lot of makeup, which was smeared as tears ran down her cheek and her sleek black hair was tied up in a French plait. "Its me, your mother!"

"You have no right to call yourself that!" shouted Roxanne, putting as much hate into those words as possible. It felt like she was shouting poison.

"Shush, my darling! Everything will be alright," whispered her mother, holding out her arms. "You're just startled!"

Roxanne pushed them aside. "Don't touch me," said Roxanne, her voice trembling. Her mother looked at her with a perplexed expression. "Y-you represent everything I hate. Just don't touch me."

"Honey! Sweetie! You don't mean that! You're just angry because of the circumstances!"

Roxanne stared at her mother disbelievingly. Then the 'circumstances' got even worse. Adrian Winters walked in. He merely stared at Roxanne and smiled, with a kind of triumphant smirk that maybe was supposed to look friendly but Mr Winters hadn't been friendly for a long while. Being in hiding for three years and then Azkaban for twelve had taken its toll on the couple. Roxanne took after her father with her high cheekbones but Adrian Winter's were protruding so much they looked like they would tear the thin layer of skin. They both had dark blue bags under their eyes and sallow teeth and skin and the air of someone who hadn't seen daytime for many years.

The tent door was pushed aside yet again and a tall, skeletal man entered. Voldemort leered down at Roxanne. Roxanne's mother stopped her quiet pleading. "Marilee, Adrian, could you leave us alone for a few minutes," he said quietly. They bowed and left the tent.

Lord Voldemort stayed standing, he still towered over Roxanne.

"You may not know, Roxanne, but Mr Malfoy has been working for me since his fourth year," said Voldemort softly. "I'm sure Harry told you about the prophecy in the Ministry of Magic?"

Roxanne remained silent, and glared at Voldemort. He took that as a yes.

"There's one about you as well…yes…do you wish to know what it says?"

No reply.

Not bothered by her lack of response, Voldemort carried on. "Its says; 'Two shall be born from the Dark Lord's closest companions in the month of November," he recited slowly, "Heir and heiress they shall be if they carry out the Nuptial. If not, the girl shall fall for the Dark Lord's adversary and true love will conquer all in the end."

Roxanne merely blinked, her eyes glaring at him venomously.

"True love," he repeated in a mocking fashion. "Is that what you feel for Harry, Roxanne?"

"W-well you shall not win in the end, so it m-must be," she replied scathingly, her voice quavering slightly under the powerful aura of the Dark Lord.

"Well…no matter what you think. You shall be marrying Malfoy and you shall be my most important supporters. Right hand man and woman if you wish," he added, smirking. "After all, how can you love someone who's dead?"

"W-why Malfoy? W-why me?" she garbled.

"You are both extraordinary strong people, with magic or without. And…very easy to manipulate," he said, a grin curling his lipless mouth.

"I am not!" retorted Roxanne.

"Believe what you wish, Miss Winters," said Voldemort. "Or soon I shall be saying, Mrs Malfoy."

Roxanne had nothing to say to that. It wasn't going to happen. She'd rather die than to be forcibly wed to that scum. She avoided his gaze and decided to look at a snake statue near the doorway. It flickered its tongue at her. Wait…statues don't move.

Voldemort turned to the snake and spoke to it in Parselmouth.

"Roxanne, this is my familiar, Nagini." The snake lowered her head in an unmistakable act of respect.

Voldemort smiled disdainfully at Roxanne and then left the tent, Nagini followed suit. The second she was left alone Roxanne pulled up the side of the tent and checked it was all clear. Seeing no one at the other side of the canvas, she lifted it up, but before she could get out, someone came in.

It was Draco.

"If you wish to keep your face pale and unbruised, I'd get out if I were you," she growled, curling her hands into hard fists.

"Listen, Roxanne, please just hear me out," he said, wrapping his fingers around her wrists to stop her from punching him.

"Let go of me, I don't want to listen to your lame excuse. I trusted you and…and now I'm here!" she cried, kicking him instead.

"Just listen!" he yelled, throwing her back onto the cushion. She attempted to get up but he put his knees on her legs and held her arms back so she could only move her head. She glared up at him with utmost loathing and tears of anger welled up in her mauve eyes.

"I didn't want to do this! Do you think I want to be married to you?" he didn't wait for an answer, "No, exactly." He was lying, but if it were to calm her down… "I didn't know about this until December and I couldn't say no!"

"Why not?"

"Because the Dark Lord would have killed me! Me, my mother, my father and everyone I care about. Probably even you since then you'd be worthless!"

"We could have protected you! Dumbledore would have looked after you!" she said despairingly.

Draco laughed hollowly.

"Yeah, yeah of course. Why didn't I think of that? Of course, the man who had tried to stop me attending Hogwarts and had fed me Veritaserum loads of times and then wiped my memory, would want to protect me!" he said sarcastically.

"He would have! If I had asked him, and told Harry…no, you know what, never mind. Its too late now," she said, wrenching her arm from his grip. She pushed him off and stood up. "Let me escape and maybe at my funeral I'll put it in my will to forgive you."

"I can't let you go! He'll know," said Draco, a look of pleading in his eyes.

"I don't care."

"Please, Roxanne! It'll be ok, you and me, we'll get used to it," he said quietly.

"That's what you think," she said, lifting up the side of the tent. She screamed and fell backwards as a hooded face looked at her form the other side.

"Sorry, Miss Winters, no escaping," the guard said, in a contemptuous voice.

Roxanne looked back at Draco and for a fleeting second she saw a look of triumph on his pallid face.

"I will not stay here," she said, as if that finished the matter.

"I don't understand. You liked me when we were in Hogwarts, you can't say you didn't have feelings for me, Roxanne."

"The difference is, Draco," she said, his name in a cynical fashion. "I didn't know I'd end up marrying you under the eyes of Voldemort. And anyway, I love Harry. With you it was just…I just felt lonely in the Slytherin Common room…"

"HARRY WILL PROBABLY BE DEAD BY THE END OF THE YEAR!" roared Malfoy furiously.

"THEN I WANT TO GO WITH HIM!" she yelled back.

Malfoy was quite stunned by her bluntness.

"But he…I…he won't be there…I will always be there for you!" he said angrily.

"I don't care! I don't want to be married to someone who I don't love, or even like! I'm only sixteen."

"I love you, doesn't that count?" he said sullenly.

"No. No it doesn't because the feeling's not mutual," she said wearily, massaging her throat.

Draco looked away from her, his arms crossed irately.

"I'm sorry but-" she added, not knowing whether she meant it or not.

"-Well tough, we're getting married and there is NOTHING you can do about it," he said, standing up and stretching to his full height, which was quite a considerable height more than Roxanne.

"Yes there is," she said, glowering at him.

His fists were clenched so tightly his knuckles were white.

"And there is nothing you can do about it," she added.

Draco lifted his hand as if to make to hit Roxanne, but thought better of it. "You're just asking for it, you are," he muttered.

"Oh well! It's better than going down without a fight, unlike you. You just take commands from Voldemort –"

"Don't say his name," he hissed, pointing his finger threateningly at Roxanne.

"Why not? Scared are you?" she taunted, hitting his finger aside.

"You…you can't say His name. You don't deserve to say His name!"

"And you do?"

"No! Just…just don't. He doesn't like it," said Draco, cracking his knuckles and looking around the tent frantically.

"Like I give a shit what he thinks," she spat. "For all I care he can jump off a cliff into a pit full of hungry manticores."

"Shut up!" he whispered fiercely. "He can hear you!"

"Well he can go fu –"

Draco clasped his hand around her mouth to stop her blaspheming about the Dark Lord.

"Gerroff," she said in a muffled voice.

"He'll be angry, Roxanne!" muttered Draco, so close to her it tickled her ear. "It won't matter if you're the heiress, He'll hurt you…"

Roxanne muttered something that sounded distinctly like 'paranoid'.

"I'm not, Roxanne. If only you knew…" he shook his head and let go of her.

She whipped around to face him and opened her mouth to retort but Malfoy got there first.

"And then if you escaped he'd kill your auntie and uncle. Then your kittens…then Potter, that mudlood Grander, Weasley…everyone you care about," he said, clenching and unclenching his fists.

Roxanne looked at him, realising he spoke the truth. She could save her own life but at what cost? Tears leaked from her eyes and she covered her face.

Draco bent down and put his hand on her shoulder. When she didn't shrug him off, he put his arms around her and hugged her. Roxanne, being so miserable, didn't care.

"I'll look after you, Roxanne. I'll keep you safe," he whispered gently. "It'll be ok…"