Disclaimer: I do not own any licensed Harry Potter characters. Boy, parents lie a lot in this, don't they? Read on!
Rachel needlessly pulled her blood red skirt straight. She was sitting in a high-backed, black leather chair in Lucius Malfoy's personal library. Her father sat in a chair to her left, Narcissa a bit to her right with Lucius next to her. The chair across from Rachel was empty- they were waiting for Draco.
"Sorry I'm late," Draco drawled, not looking very sorry at all.
"Boy, when I tell you to be somewhere at a certain time- YOU BE THERE!" Lucius growled. "You are nearly TWENTY MINUTES late!"
"Now Lucius," Regulus said calmly. "No harm done. Shall we begin?"
"Yes." Lucius grit his teeth. "Sit, Draco."
"Father, what exactly are we going to discuss?" Draco raised a perfectly carved blond brow.
"You haven't told him?" Regulus asked nervously. "That's good. Just fine. To be perfectly honest, I haven't told Rachel everything yet either."
"Father!" Rachel clasped her hand over a gasp. "Aren't we here to discuss my living with the Malfoys while I study in Auror College?" She grew suspicious quickly.
"Ah, Rachel, dear, that is not EXACTLY what we had in mind..."
Draco and Rachel stared at each other with looks of equal confusion from the short distance that separated their two chairs.
"Our Lord has plans for the two of you," Lucius began the explanation. "He's had them ever since you two were children." "The Dark Lord," Rachel rubbed her arm over her Dark Mark that had been given to her after her Death Eater initiation on her sixteenth birthday. "What does he want with us?"
"What I want," Came a hissing voice from the fireplace. "Is you two." Voldemort's slatted red eyes looked out at them from the fire. "My Lord." The men all got up and bowed as Rachel and Narcissa curtsied.
"Draco Malfoy, Rachel Black," Voldemort addressed the two teens while their parents sat down. "I want that you should marry." His words made an already pale Rachel blanch even more. She could feel an icy shock flow down all the nerves of her body, making her eyes roll back as she dropped to the floor in a dead faint.
Draco was not much better for the news. He made a somewhat strangled sort of noise and had to hold himself up with a hand on the mantle as he choked on air.
"You want us to WHAT, Lord?" He said between coughs.
"The children of my two strongest, most loyal Death Eaters," Voldemort's smile was pleasant as mucus mixed with toenail bits. "Married." Lucius and Regulus had both seen Rachel faint and had lifted her up and placed her on a small sofa.
"My goodness, Black. Is your spawn alright!" Voldemort snapped. He did NOT like the reaction his news was getting. "I will leave you to reason with your offspring." And with a sneer, Lord Voldemort was gone.
"Enervate." Regulus poked Rachel with his wand and she sat up with shock. Her snaky black locks flew in places over her face and her honeyed eyes were wide. "Are you alright Rachel?"
"No!" She spat. "How can you even ASK me that!" Her cheeks were starting to tinge the pink of rage. "I have to MARRY DRACO!"
"Hello! STILL STANDING HERE!" Draco punched the wall. "And I am NOT much happier than you are!" He crossed his arms to match her own; they now stood face-to-face in the middle of the room.
"I AM SEVEN BLOODY TEEN!" She thundered. "I DO NOT NEED A HUSBAND!"
'Actually, this might not be so bad.' He thought as he saw her chest heaving up and down and her long legs poking out from under her skirt. "Do we HAVE to marry?" Draco was being strangely the reasonable one, addressing their parents. He did not want to lose the wonderful perks of being a handsome, aristocratic, eighteen-year-old bachelor.
"Yes," Narcissa's calm voice replied. "You do."