Two reviews means it's double chapter Thursday! Here is the first one of the day and the second is already uploaded as we speak so have fun reading! This chapter was kind of fun to write so hopefully you enjoy it
Briar POV
My chest is tight as I watch Draco walk out of the room after hearing him basically accuse me of wanting him dead instead of being a Death Eater. Ever since finding out my parents were killed by a Death Eater; my biggest fear has been Draco becoming one. Deep down I know he probably thinks it will protect us by him being on the inside, but he's putting himself in danger.
Draco, please come back.
Before I can even try to send him another message mentally, I can't feel him anymore. He has shut me out of his mind. This thought makes me sob harder and I find myself crumpled on the floor in his button down. How did everything change so quickly? I just got him back and I've pushed him away already. I need to fix this, but now I can't get in contact with him.
Saving Sirius was the only thing in my mind when I jumped in front of him in the moment, but in my coma, I came to the realization that I wasn't just saving him because he had become a father figure to me. He is Harry's godfather and a member of The Order. Harry has lost his family just like I have and the thought of not protecting his remaining family kills me. I don't have any family. I'm an orphan and I was only ever close with my parents and grandmother. They're all dead now. The only family I have left is…
"Draco," I whisper out loud as my eyes widen at that thought. Draco truly is the only family I have left. Don't get me wrong, I adore my friends and the Weasleys who have taken me in as their own, but the only person left alive that has seen me truly vulnerable is Draco. Yes, I've been vulnerable with Molly and even Sirius once or twice, but the only person I truly trust wholeheartedly is Draco. I spent hours speaking to him about my parents and their deaths in the Room of Requirement. We gave ourselves to each other hours before I was blasted into my coma by Bellatrix. He's the one death I would never be able to recover from…And I just threw in his face that I would rather die than him be a Death Eater.
Crawling to my bed, I curl up and sob until my throat is raw. The only thought I can focus on is how sorry I am for what I said to Draco, especially after he tried to calm me down. It isn't easy for him to show his soft side and I just threw my "death" in his face. I'm truly the worst girlfriend and person in the entire world.
"Briar, dear?" I turn and see Molly looking at me sympathetically. "Oh sweetheart, scoot over," she says as she sits on the bed. I scoot closer to her and find my head on her lap as she brushes hair off of my forehead. She shushes me and I try to breath deep breaths to calm down, but it just makes it worse. I sob for a few more minutes before the soothing touch of her fingers on my forehead finally calms me down. My sobs have softened to intermittent sniffles and my tears have stopped streaking down my face.
"I think I've lost him, Molly," I confess softly as I sniffle again. I explain what happened from Sirius interrupting all the way to Draco storming out and she stays silent the entire time listening to what I have to say. "I was just so mad because Death Eaters killed my parents…I spoke without thinking and I lashed out. He wouldn't let me explain because he had to go to a meeting and he left saying…" I pause as my chest tightens as I think of the last thing he said before leaving.
"What did he say, love?" I sniffle again.
"There's nothing to say. Besides, if you're lucky, I'll be late to the meeting and he'll kill me so you don't have to be with a Death Eater anymore," I reiterate word for word. "I didn't go after him. I tried to reach out to him mentally, but he shut me out," I admit with shame. Molly is silent for a few more minutes before starting to explain her thoughts to me.
"Love, everyone has fights in relationships. He was hurt so he said something hurtful back to deflect from his own pain. We both know how his upbringing makes it hard for him to be vulnerable and what you said really hurt him," she murmurs. I let out a sob at how his face fell into an emotionless mask when I yelled I would rather be dead than have him be a Death Eater. Her fingers brush my hair a little harder in a comforting way.
"I know. I was angry and being irrational. That was our first fight, Molly. What if I pushed him away for good?" The thought has my throat closing in fear. Now that I know I consider him to be my family, the fear that I could have lost him so soon to realizing that has me sobbing again.
"I don't think that's possible. Like I said, while this may hurt now and you're both not together to talk it out; I don't think he would walk away because of one fight. He stuck around while you were in a coma for two months. Do you really think one fight is going to make him run from you?" I know what she's saying makes sense so I try my hardest to gather myself up to think logically about what she is saying. I shake my head to indicate I don't think he would walk away that easily.
"You're probably right. I'm sorry for being so dramatic," I whisper. She chuckles.
"Sweetheart, you're not being dramatic. You're young and so is Draco. Both of you felt hurt from the fight and both of your feelings are completely valid. Give it some time and then try to mend it. Although, after getting to know how Draco's mind works the two days he refused to leave your room; I don't think you'll have to wait much longer for him to come to you," she states and I can feel a smile stretch across my face. She's right. I sit up and turn so I can look her in the eyes.
"Thank you, Molly. Thank you for listening," I say as I feel motherly love towards her embrace my entire body. She smiles at me and opens her arms for me to fall into. Without hesitation, I find myself surrounded by unconditional love of a mother for the first time since my mother was murdered. The moment, unfortunately, is broken when there is a knock on the door. Pulling back, I see Sirius standing by the door with a small, hesitant smile on his face with a note in his hand.
"This came for you through the Floo. It came from Malfoy Manor," he states. I spring out of bed and grab the note in my hands while ignoring the quiet chuckles from both Molly and Sirius.
BG
We should talk. Meet me in my father's office.
DM
While the note seems cold, I'm just excited that he reached out. I quickly pull on the pants that Sirius left for me before and see the clock reads 4:40. Racing past Sirius and Molly with a quick "I'm going to see Draco," I barely even notice that I forgot shoes. Clad in Draco's button up and a black pair of stretch pants, I clutch the note in my hand as I grab some Floo powder.
"Malfoy Manor," I state clearly with a little bit of giddiness in my voice. Seeing the flames die down, I step out of the fireplace to a quiet Manor. Tip toeing soundlessly to Lucius' office, I notice my Animagus starting to crawl under my skin. While confused, I shake my head and chalk it up to my nerves of seeing Draco after our fight.
Quickly making my way to the door, I open it slightly and slip into the crack of the door quietly. Carefully, I close the door with a soft click before a smile graces my lips as I hear movement behind me. However, the voice I hear is not the one I expected.
"I knew you weren't dead," the voice says. I whip around to stare straight at the woman that almost killed me. Bellatrix Lestrange. I stare at her blankly and feel the side of my thigh for the concealed harness I have on me at all times that carries my wand. My hand settles against my wand and relief fills my face. I draw it and point it at her in a duel stance.
"What…? How…?" She cackles in my face and points to the letter in my hand. My eyes widen in shock and fear thinking she knows where I've been hiding all this time.
"I overheard a little birdy say a certain Ms. Griffin was angry at poor Draco. I took a chance and sent that letter to the floo's last location in hopes it would find you. Imagine my shock when you're supposed to be dead and Draco was grieving for you?" I don't give her the satisfaction of an answer and I just stand there as she paces the floor. The Order is still safe, but I may not be.
Draco, please answer me! I need your help!
Her eyes lock on mine and I feel like her prey. I wait for Draco's answer, but he doesn't answer. My Animagus stirs in my body as it tries to get me to leave immediate danger. Once it realizes I'm staying and ready to fight, I can feel my magic starting to rush towards my wand to give it more power. I focus on my breathing like Snape said to and soon, Bellatrix is flying towards the back of the room with a loud crash! as she lands against the wall where glass trophies had been. Shards fall around her body as she falls to the floor in a heap.
My body stops breathing as I see her unconscious body start to stir off the floor. She turns her head towards me and her eyes hold pure hatred and insanity behind them. My back straightens and I see her rush towards me with her wand raised. Before I can counter her attack, I find myself being thrown forward through the air and to the floor where I land with a thudby the fireplace. With a groan, I go to stand up and see her blocking the door to the study so I can't get past her without incapacitating her.
My dragon, please! I'm in your father's study!
"What's wrong, Bella? Scared of a teenager?" I know taunting her isn't the best tactic, but I need to try and throw her off guard if I want to win this fight. She sneers at me and starts to wave her wand in my direction before I direct my wand and power towards her. She crashes against the door behind her like a rag doll. She laughs.
"You're more fun that your parents were," she gloats. With a look of shock, I stare at her face and feel my anger rising as I lower my wand. Now she's just being held to the door by my emotional magic.
"Who do you think helped Lucius kill them? There was two of them after all," she says carelessly like I didn't have her trapped against the door. I feel my magic pulse in anger and watch her get slammed against the door again.
"What did you do?" I growl in anger. She cackles and smirks at me.
"Why don't you see for yourself?" I'm sucked into her memory as she lets her mind release control to me.
"Why don't we have some fun?" I turn to see Bellatrix standing next to Lucius Malfoy in front of two people in the very study I'm standing in now. The two of them have bags over their heads to keep them in the dark about where they are.
"I agree, Bella," Lucius drawls in excitement. I see her skip over to the two hooded figures and rip the bags off of their heads.
"Lucius, what are you doing?" I stare at the apprehensive eyes of my mother as she stares Lucius down. I see my father shift closer to my mother in a protective stance.
"You were snooping around, Helena. It's only fair that I bring you and Ben here for some answers. How long have you known your mother was Diana Denali?" I gasp in shock and watch the scene change. My parents are facing each other bloodied and bruised with their wands facing each other. I can see the tears running down their faces as they apologize profusely. They're under the Imperious Curse.
"Lucius, I'm bored. Let's just end it," Bellatrix whines. I watch my parents use the killing curse on each other and that rips me from the memory.
"NOOOOO!" I scream at the top of my lungs. Raising my wand at Bellatrix, I realize she showed me the memory to distract me as she was able to walk closer to me when my emotional magic was distracted by the memory she showed me.
"Crucio!" The pain hits me before I can counter the curse and a scream rips from my throat at the top of my lungs. It feels like knives are slicing me all over my body as well as a hot branding iron being pushed against my stomach, arms, and legs. After a few minutes of her torture, it stops. I glare at Bellatrix and catch my breath before going to take a step towards her on wobbly legs.
Just as the office door opens behind her to reveal Narcissa, my relief is cut short as I gasp at the sharp pain that blooms at my stomach. Looking down, I see a long cut in the front of Draco's button down. My blood seeps through. I look up in shock and clasp my hands over the deep laceration and fall to me knees in pain. Hunching over, I groan and can hear Narcissa yelling harshly to her sister.
"What do you think you're doing, Bella?!" Narcissa's tone is ice cold and would've caused me to shiver if I wasn't already shaking from exertion. I focus my breathing and can feel my wound starting to heal itself, but it's so deep that I know it will take a while. Whimpering, I reach out to Draco again and try to pour all of my fear into the message.
Please, Draco. I know you're mad, but PLEASE!
"I'm just having some fun, Narcissa," Bellatrix says nastily back. I lift my head to see they're both staring at me. Bellatrix in anger and with a smug smirk on her face while Narcissa looks at me with anger for her sister and sadness for the position I'm in. I look away and stare at the floor because I can't stand to see their faces right now.
"You heard Draco. She's family," Narcissa growls out. "If you kill her, he'll…" I hear Bellatrix cackle in response.
"He'll what? Kill his Aunt for an insignificant little girl?" I feel a tear run down my face at her words at the thought of just being an insignificant girl to Draco. I focus on my stomach and block out their arguing and grimace when I feel the deep cut over and over again as it starts to heal.
"Come for the show, Draco?" My heart beats a little faster in relief that he actually came, but I focus on gasping for air as I focus on healing. I can feel my body shaking in exertion as I press my hand to my stomach that is bleeding profusely still. It is definitely slowing down, but I'm starting to get light headed from the blood loss. I risk a glance up and meet his eyes as he lets out a gasp when he realizes it's me on the floor. I pant lightly from the energy it took to raise my head and continue to stare into his worried eyes.
Briar.
Just hearing his voice in my head gives me joy. Dropping my head down to the floor when I can't hold it up anymore, I find myself smiling slightly from hearing his voice finally. He had opened our mental connection again.
The real question now was if we would get out of this study alive.