Draco twisted himself around, seeking a more comfortable position. Fortunately, his bed was enormous, and he barely remembered that Narcissa was lying on the opposite side with him. He couldn't help but feel immensely foolish, seventeen years old and still sleeping with his mother for comfort. He wondered what his friends at school would have thought. Except, none of his friends had ever had a vicious werewolf entirely obsessed with him both in a violent sense and an unshakeable lust. He missed them. Their obnoxious quirks and all. He missed Blaise, their intellectual connection and comprehension of complicated topics. He missed Pansy, when she wasn't falling down all over herself for him, she was a good listener. Even if was just Draco's vague ramblings, always skirting the real issue.
Narcissa suggested she stay here tonight with him. She worried that her and Lucius's bedroom would be too far down the hallway to hear if he needed help. Draco hesitantly agreed, thinking of how many times Greyback had snuck into his bedroom, while he was alone, in the dark. Thought of his hands all over him, his breath ghosting across his neck. Draco's stomach churned at the thought and he nestled deeper into his blankets. He lay facing his bedroom door, eyes wide open. It was impossible for him to sleep soundly, especially when the other Death Eaters were still permitted to come and go here.
Heavy, muffled footsteps sounded from outside his bedroom door. The sound grew louder, but not by much, as if the person was taking care to be quiet. Draco watched as a black shape appeared from under the narrow crack of the door. Everything went silent. Draco stopped breathing, fear creeping into the back of his mind like mold. Unblinking, he watched the shape shift back and forth outside. There was a quick, deep sniffing sound twice. Draco's body was tense, ready to spring up and defend his mother if needed, despite her having the wand.
After a moment, the shape continued down the hallway. And it didn't return.
Draco scooted close to his mother, and placed his hand on her shoulder, gently rousing her.
"Mother-" He went to whisper.
"I know." She whispered. Draco hesitated, not knowing she'd been awake this whole time. In the darkness of the room, he saw her pale white hand clutching her wand, ready.
…..
They ate together the next morning in the kitchen rather than the dining room to Draco's request. Draco couldn't tell his mother why, but the sight of the dining room nearly made him vomit, and he broke into a nervous sweat.
Narcissa prepared them each a piping hot cup of tea with no milk. There were little provisions in the home due to the Death Eaters. Draco didn't sleep a wink last night, he doubted his mother did either. Last night, he lay facing the door, his back against his mother's. He watched the door all night, listening and waiting. His mother faced the windows, probably with the same exact idea Draco had. Watching both forms of entry to his bedroom. He told her Greyback had come through his window a time or two because of the trellis outside and the corners.
"How's father?" Draco spoke in a quiet whisper. It was all they did lately. Stuck together like a body and its shadow, whispering softly to one another or remained in complete silence.
"Better." She whispered in return. "His physical wounds have healed. He'll be up with us shortly."
"And Aunt Bella?"
"Haven't seen her." Narcissa responded curtly. Draco nodded and held his cup of tea close, enjoying the warmth pouring over his chilled fingers.
"What are we going to do?" He asked.
Narcissa was quiet for so long, Draco wondered if she even heard him.
"I don't know." She said at last. "For now…we lay low. Do not do anything that would incur the wrath of the Dark Lord."
"What about Greyback?"
Narcissa's jaw clenched, her eyes became like steel. She set her teacup down.
"Outlast him." She whispered. "He can't linger here forever. Eventually, he will be pushed with the rest of the Death Eaters for the war. There will be our reprieve."
"But what about after? What if he wins the war?"
Narcissa fell silent, her eyes glancing away. She didn't speak again. Draco looked at her closely. Her cheekbones were far more pronounced than a few months ago. When he returned and hugged her, she felt paper thin. He couldn't fathom how terrified his parents had been when their son was missing without a trace.
Something moved outside in the back courtyard. Draco flinched when he saw Greyback walking about, his hands in his coat pockets. His eyes flicked to his mother. The storm in her eyes was back as she watched, like a mother bear.
From outside, Greyback turned around, facing them and looked at them through the window. He caught Draco's eye, and smiled. A cold shiver rushed through him. His breath caught in his throat. He knew nothing could really hold Greyback down here. He was probably just biding his time, waiting, and watching as the Malfoys slowly went insane, waiting for him to finally act. This is his plan, Draco bet on it, the werewolf refused to make any moves, letting the Malfoys live every moment in a tight, gripping paranoia.
Narcissa grabbed Draco's arm, scaring him slightly.
"Come. We're going to the study."
…..
She lit the fireplace in the cozy, quaint study. Despite it being early morning, she drew all the curtains in the room closed, so that Greyback couldn't spy on them from outside.
Together they sat in silence for hours. Narcissa curled up in the armchair with several books laid down by her leg. She had one cracked open on the arm of the chair, but Draco could see her eyes weren't really reading. He knew she was listening for footsteps in the hallway, or for somebody to try the doorknob.
Draco sat on the chaise. His heart fluttered when he first sat down. Greyback had never tormented him in this room, but the rich burgundy, Persian carpets, viridian wallpaper and towering bookshelves reminded him of Lucius's personal study. The room where Greyback's looming form descended upon him on the couch, trapping him, whispering vile things into his ear.
My Snow White Prince.
All the breath emptied out of Draco, his heart stilled for a moment. He nearly forgot Greyback said that to him. What the bloody hell does that even mean? Why did he say that? Why? Draco couldn't focus on the book he brought to the chaise with him. Everything they did here felt so false. Slowly, it was driving him mad. The fact that the Dark Lord forbade them from leaving the manor was even worse. It was akin to drifting on a raft in the middle of the ocean, with one particularly insistent shark.
After another hour or so, Narcissa let out a sigh and set down her book. She got up.
"I'm going to the toilet. I'll be back quickly." She approached Draco and held out her wand. "Keep this with you."
"No," Draco insisted, "take it with you. He might be in the hallways."
"No, Draco," Narcissa said forcefully, "keep this with you. It's you he wants." Her voice cracked on that sentence. Her eyes glassed over. Draco closed his mouth and snatched the wand, holding it tightly. Narcissa danced over the towers of books on the floor and left the room in a hurry.
Draco clutched the wand, his heart pounding. Going to the lavatory with his mother would have been absolutely ridiculous. But considering what they were faced with, he almost decided on getting up and rushing after her. She was probably too far away by this point. She moved fast.
The door clicked open, and in an instant, Draco wished he had just run off with her. Greyback pushed the door open and then closed it behind him, never breaking his gaze from Draco.
"It's about time, love," he said. Draco shuddered. He stood up from the chaise and pointed the wand at Greyback. "It's not a good idea to keep me apart a wolf apart from its prey." He said, advancing across the room.
"Stay away." Draco warned, though there was no power or force to his demand. Fear gripped him tightly, freezing his ability to move. His heart pounded in his ears, seeing Greyback again. His body remembered the pain inflicted.
Quickly, Greyback closed in, forcing Draco up against a desk in the room. Draco sat on top of the surface and tried to crawl backwards across it, but Greyback's hands clapped down on his thighs, holding him in place. Draco stuck the tip of Narcissa's wand against his throat, right under his chin. There was dried blood on Greyback's chin and a near wild look in his eyes.
"Your family is causing a considerable amount of trouble for me. Exactly the reason I took you away from home. Perhaps I should rip their throats open. Then I can have you all to myself."
Draco's eyes flashed teeming with fear.
"No-no-no-no! Please don't kill them! Please!" Draco pleaded. Something clicked in his mind. "If you kill my parents, I will have nothing left to stop me from killing myself. I'll be dead too."
To his relief, he felt Greyback's grip on him loosen, and he was silent.
"I don't think you have what it takes to do that, Draco." Greyback whispered at last. His hand went for Draco's, the one with the wand. In a split second, he wrenched both of his hands behind him to protect his mother's wand. Greyback chuckled, darkly amused and pressed in closer to Draco, his hands slipping from his thighs to behind him, easily grabbing Draco's wrists and pinning them. With Draco's arms immobilized, he ravished him with his tongue and teeth, his urgency in needing to taste Draco, his panting. Draco squirmed and grimaced, ducking away from him and falling onto his back across the desk, his and Greyback's hands trapped under his body.
"Don't think won't do it here." Greyback threatened. "I've taken you on the dining room table before. I'd take you on top of a pile of corpses."
Revulsion flickered through Draco as he struggled to free himself, but from how Greyback was positioned, he was effectively pinned. Using that to his advantage, Greyback pitched forward and assaulted Draco's neck with his tongue and teeth. Draco allowed it to happen, wincing, seeing through the distraction as the werewolf tried to get at the wand.
"GET OFF OF HIM!" A woman's voice shrieked. Greyback chuckled, but complied and pulled completely off. Draco sat up, free.
"Narcissa Malfoy," Greyback trilled, not the least bit threatened. "Oh, Draco, I've told you before I have no issues going through your mother to get to you. Remember?" Greyback grinned, showing nearly every one of his lethal fangs. "Your son doesn't put up much of a fight. Do you like the marks I've left on him?"
Draco grimaced and held his mother's wand up, directed at Greyback.
"Get off him now." Narcissa hissed.
"Has he told you what I've done to him?" The amusement vanished from Greyback's face. In its place was intense cruelty. "I've done things to him that would replace your darkest nightmares."
Something in Narcissa snapped, a beam of lightning tearing easily through a tree.
"CRUCIO!" A wand pointed to Greyback. The werewolf didn't drop immediately like both Malfoys expected, but his knees did buckle, and he did curl forward. His jaw clenched together, not letting out a single sound. The curse broke, and Greyback rose up, towering above them.
"Think you're the only one with a wand?" Greyback drew out his own. "I'll show you how the Cruciatus Curse is really done." He pointed his wand at Narcissa.
Draco, panicked, stuck his wand out at Greyback and bellowed,
"Sectumsempra!" The result was instant. Blood erupted like a red ribbon across the room, spraying both Narcissa and Draco in the face as Greyback fell ungracefully to the ground. Narcissa collected Greyback's wand and stood in the corner, her eyes flashing at Draco to come to her.
Draco slid off the desk and put distance between Greyback and himself before rushing over. Like a viper, Greyback shot out and grabbed Draco's ankle, tearing him down onto the floor. Narcissa shrieked and went to shoot out a curse. Greyback speared his claws into Draco's shoulder, ripping a scream from his mouth.
Suddenly, in a whirl of black, Bellatrix appeared at the doorway. She glanced at her sister and lurched forward to grab one of the wands.
"CRUCIO!" She shrieked, catching only Greyback. Free, Draco scampered away toward his mother who caught him up in her arms and dragged him to his feet, pushing out of the room as Bellatrix in a fury hurled curses at the werewolf, holding him in a Cruciatus Curse for minutes at a time. As Narcissa and Draco escaped into the hallway, they heard Greyback finally break. A haunting, bellowing scream of an enraged beast.