And Yellow Was the Colour of Her Mourning

It had taken her a year. A single, painfully short yet never-ending year. One year, and she had the man, – no, the boy – who had condemned her sister to a painful death, wrapped neatly around her fingers.

A year and he had fallen for her in the way he was supposed to fall for Astoria. A year, and he had promised his very life to her, utterly clueless of the self-fulfilling prophecy that would turn out to be.

A year, and the boy had slid a silver ring down Daphne's delicate finger. She had looked at the emerald cradled by tiny diamonds that she had seen so many times on Narcissa's hand, and smiled.

"Of course I'll marry you, Draco," she said, sat on his lap, kissing him through tears. Not happy tears. These were miserable, bitter tears, sour in her mouth. The ring that should have been Astoria's. The ring her little sister used to dream of.

Daphne knew better than to let her feelings get the best of her. Astoria's path to an early grave had been paved with feelings, unrequited feelings that grew and grew inside her chest, weighing her down and into the earth.

Close and closer she got to her target. Flirting, luring him like a moth to flame. She grew on him like ivy, clinging to every nook and cranny, every crack, setting down roots in every bit of him that she reached, only to better pull him apart once the time was right.

They were older now. Half a dozen years between them and Hogwarts, even if Daphne's pain – the pain of her sister that she carried everywhere – was no duller for it. Draco had lost his parents in those years. A curse, they said, that had risen from their master's grave.

It made Daphne's path much clearer. Narcissa might have seen through her, might have suspected the sister of Astoria Greengrass, the girl her son had left to die. And Lucius would have shielded his son the moment Narcissa had made her suspicion known.

They were dead, though. And so was her sister. Daphne could only dream of dead Draco, but she was so close now.

They were finally at Malfoy Manor. They had been married for two months now, but Draco had insisted on a wandering honeymoon, and that had meant two long months of traveling, sleeping in luxurious hotels, and lazy days of bathing in the sun. Daphne had endured it, even enjoyed it, even the nights, and the mornings in bed, and the moments when it was just the two of them in a secluded enough place. There was something to be said about seeing the expression of pain in Draco's face, and she didn't care much about how she got to see it.

Daphne stretched, still in Draco's embrace, as the world stopped whirling. Apparating over long distances always made her body numb, and sore. Her husband slid his hands all over her body, over the black satiny dress she wore, pushing her hair off her neck with his nose to kiss that spot in her neck that made her hum.

"Is this my new house?" she asked over her shoulder, her hands over his, restraining them.

Her blond, ice-eyed husband placed his chin on her shoulder and smiled. He grinned actually, wide and silly.

"Yes, it is," he said, kissing her shoulder.

They were still standing just beyond the gates of the estate, and Draco seemed to be in no mood to move. If his breathing were any indication, Daphne would say in was in the mood to fuck her against the gates.

"Well, will you show me around the place? There are so many rooms," she suggested, rocking her hips against his.

"You might not like that," he replied, rocking against her.

"You just might," she winked as she spoke the words, her eyes on his. Draco had always had a penchant for showing off, and she knew it. The added promise of sex, and her hand slowly brushing against his scalp, a slight grip of her nails at the nape of his neck, were well enough to get him moving.

He took her hand, and rushed towards the large double doors.

X

They found themselves naked in a bathtub. Daphne's back against Draco's chest, arms and legs entwined, fingers drawing small circles on each other's skin wherever they lay.

"I must say," she drawled, "I quite like my new house."

"Quite?" His tone betrayed the slight offence. His hands moved faster than she could, one to her mons and the other to an overly stimulated nipple; his feet capturing her ankles and holding her legs apart. "I should show you the other rooms, then. And I'll do it all tonight."

His hands moved, and Daphne arched so violently that her breasts were fully out of the water. The setting sun painted her skin with the soft warm colours of peach, and the sight stole Draco of his breath. He was the one who had turned this into a habit. He liked to watch her bathe, but he liked it more when they were together, when he had the chance to bathe her, amongst other things.

Daphne found her senses again, not wanting to let him have the upper hand for long. She deftly removed his hands from her body, and sat up away from him, keeping her back straight and her shoulders high, knowing that the peach tone of her skin would be all the more evident like this. She looked over her shoulder again, and watched as her husband placed his hands on the round edge of the bathtub, his chest heaving, his lower lip disappearing on the right side as his teeth chewed on it.

"You've shown me this room, I require a new room in which to be ravished. No repeats until I've seen the entire place."

"You are the best thing about this place," he said, under his breath. Then he moved, lightning fast, his body well trained by his years as Seeker, and wrapped his body around hers. "I'm going to carry you naked to the next one."

"What? Just dripping wet?"

He smiled into her skin, then giggled. And Daphne scoffed at her unintended pun.

Draco got up and out of the bathtub, then proceeded to lift her out of the water. Daphne wrapped her arms around his neck, and let him carry her into their bedroom, lay her down in their bed, and take her body, while her mind floated somewhere above them.

He wrapped her legs around his waist, and Daphne pulled her knees closer to her chest, pulling him closer, deeper. They rocked together at a leisurely pace, lips clinging together, hands holding tight together, until Daphne needed more and less at the same time.

"Draco, faster. I need-"

She was unable to finish the sentence, she couldn't put her feelings into words. She needed more, she needed the clarity of mind that followed every orgasm, yet she needed it to be over. The man responsible for the death of her sister, the man she had been pulling the strings of for months, had suddenly become unbearable. She couldn't touch him, she couldn't have him, but he was huffing into her neck all the same.

Faster and faster he moved, until he raised his torso of her and pounded into her in earnest, completely devoid of rhythm by his own impending climax. Daphne closed her eyes and arched her entire body, stretching her arms towards the headboard, keeping as few points of contact as she could, without loosing any of the stimulus she needed.

Her climax came with a pained scream. This was too much. This house, this room, this man, they were all supposed to be her sister's. Draco collapsed on top of her mere seconds later, and her hands immediately went to his shoulders, pushing him off.

"Can't breathe!"

"Sorry," he said, in between breaths, moving to roll off of her.

They lay naked on the deep green covers, skin shimmering with sweat. Draco placed his hand on her belly, but Daphne grabbed it and placed it on his own belly. He laughed, seeing nothing in the gesture but minor annoyance. Daphne held back a sob. This was it. Their marriage would not last long now. Not when she had everything she needed. Not when she could see her sister being happy all over this house, instead of miserably dead in the Greengrass family vault.

She was tired. She was so tired of pretending, so tired of mourning her sister in secret, so tired of constantly pushing the sorrow she felt for both of them to the back of her mind.

She had everything she needed. These two months had given her more than she had dared dream of. She would outlast Draco out of sheer will to do so, she knew it, but she had a debt to collect. A debt of life that she would not settle. All she had to do now was finish it. Collect her debt.

Finish him. Collect his life.

And to that thought she fell asleep, naked on the green covers, curled up on herself, back turned against her husband. The reason her sister lay dead.

X

She woke up a couple of hours later. Still naked, but covered by a plush blanket. Fur. She was covered in black fur. Her eyes wandered about the room, truly exploring it for the first time. They stopped at the mirror, standing tall against the wall, just across her side of the bed.

In it she found a pale arm in stark contrast to a fur blanket, blonde hair spread across a green quilt, a pair of brown eyes, the same shade of Astoria's yet none of the kindness, and still, Daphne could barely recognize herself. When alone, she could let her haughty façade faulter, and her features had apparently morphed under the duress of her loss.

"Daphne?"

Draco's voice did not come from just behind her. Still, her mask was immediately in place, and her face became recognisable again. Daphne sat up on the bed, making no effort to be modest. The fur slid off her body and pooled at her waist, exposing her to Draco's stare.

He was leaning against the frame of their bedroom door, already dressed for dinner. He took the sight of her naked body in his stride.

"I told the elves to have dinner ready for us ten minutes ago. I'm glad to have exhausted you so, but we do need to eat," he said, raising his brow. "Will you be down in five? I'm starving."

"Go ahead," she said, getting up and pulling the fur blanket around her shoulders, "I'll be there in a moment."

He nodded, and seemed to debate coming inside the room to kiss her, but chose to follow the smell of food instead.

Daphne stood up and walked to the mirror. She dropped the blanket and turned to the side. He wouldn't have a clue. She would have that over him, as well.

She found her wand amidst the pile of clothes they had left earlier in the bathroom. She cleaned her body first, then she put her hair back to sorts. She walked back into the bedroom and decided against underwear. It was just the two of them, at home, after all.

Daphne walked into her dressing room and found all of her clothes already neatly organized. Dresses, blouses and skirts hanging from mahogany hangers, shoes tucked into shelves, robes and cloaks hanging further away, wool jumpers folded into fluffy piles of two and three.

She picked a jade green dress. Jade was very much her colour, one quick look at her wardrobe, and it could be found everywhere.

She pulled it over her head, felt it slide down her body, like a caress, and pointed her wand at the back, watching as the entire row of little buttons buttoned themselves up. Daphne then looked into the mirror again, and found the colour to be wrong for tonight.

Tonight was about Astoria, and so she would wear her sister's colour. She flicked her wand at the dress while she thought of Astoria's favourite dresses.

Jade green gave room to canary yellow.

Astoria had been a brunette, so the colour worked better for her than it did for Daphne. Still, yellow was the only right colour for tonight. It had been her favourite, and that was all that mattered.

Daphne pulled her hair up, holding it in place with an onyx hair comb. She sat down at her new vanity, which was smooth from decades, perhaps even centuries, of use by Malfoy women. She pointed her wand at her clutch, haphazardly left on the ground before, and it clicked open, letting a dark object float towards her awaiting hand. Carefully, she opened a little black box, which happened to be the single possession she had personally moved. From it, she extracted a potion. A tiny vial of a dark, dark liquid, that shimmered red under just the right light.

This would take hours, she knew, but she could wait. She had waited a year, and then some, what were a few more hours?

Daphne concealed the vial in her pocket, getting up. She put on black heels, and left the room.

X

Draco was already sitting at the table when she entered the dining room. The great, tall windows gave them a view of the wide night sky, and of the nearly full moon.

"You're a little late," he remarked, "you said five minutes, and it's been at least ten."

"That's my secret," she said, a smile on her lips. "It keeps people interested."

She moved to her seat, at his right hand, and he promptly got up to pull her chair. He sat back down and snapped his fingers, twice. It was the one thing she could not imagine him do around Astoria. She would have him at least ask the elves to bring their dinner up. Daphne, however, had another goal in mind.

Two plates of duck magret with asparagus and mushroom risotto materialised in front of them, and Daphne watched her husband eat with an unnamed pleasure. He sipped from his red wine several times, before he noticed her glass had gone untouched.

"Are you not drinking? I had the elves open this bottle especially for you, and your first dinner at the manor." He eyed her curiously, but devoid of suspicion.

"I don't feel like drinking wine," she replied, taking a sip of water instead. "I'm also more than a little late, you know?" She set her glass down, and waited for realisation to dawn in Draco's eyes.

"You're… Daphne, are you pregnant?"

She smiled, nodding. She wanted to steal him of as much happiness as she possibly could.

Draco jumped off his chair, and Daphne stood up for their kiss. His hands where kick to drop to her still unchanged belly, and he dropped to his knees to kiss her there, through the yellow dress.

Daphne cupped his chin with her hand, and brought his eyes up to meet hers.

"Now, I can't have a drink, but I can certainly pour you one."

She moved to the beverage cart slowly, purposefully. She lifted the crystal cork off the fire whiskey decanter, placed it on the silver tray and reached for a tumbler with her left hand while she extracted the vial from her pocket with her right hand, hidden from view. She poured both poison and whiskey into the thick crystal glass, then dropped three ice cubes into it.

She walked back and offered Draco the beverage.

"You make me want to be better," he said, accepting the drink, "and you're the only person that ever made me feel that."

Daphne sat down again, thinking of a conversation she had had with Astoria, well before she was truly sick, when they had just lost their mother.

"How many people must I lose before I just stop feeling?" she had asked her sister. She could answer that, now. Just two.

X

Daphne stretched again. She had left Draco asleep on their bed, and settled down in a nook by a window with a cup of tea, counting seconds through the night and getting carried away. She wondered how long before she became a widow. She wondered how long she would be allowed to go without the dreadful morning sickness every mother she knew complained of.

She had dreamed of her own mother, and of her sister, back when all three of them went about their lives absolutely unencumbered by curses. Back when her biggest problem was Astoria having nightmares about blue flowers, and they were just that. Nightmares, not a sentence of death.

"Can I sleep in here with you tonight?" Astoria would ask, her head peeking from behind the door to her bedroom. Daphne would wake to the sound of her sister's voice, and simply pat the bed, and they would snuggle safely together until morning came and washed away all their worries with sunlight.

Her husband's troubled breathing caught her attention then. The poison was finally doing its work. Draco limped closer to her, unable to talk, slowly turning an alarming shade of blue. His hand reached out for her, a desperate plead for help in his eyes.

It went completely unanswered.

"No such luck, ferret," she whispered, trying to keep her smile contained as she enchanted, "Expecto Patronum."

She thought of her and her sister running through the fields, giggling under the summer sun, and a graceful lynx jumped off the tip of her wand. It walked towards Draco, and sat before him as he died. While Draco noticed all the things he hadn't yet, including the yellow dress his wife still wore.

Daphne went back to bed and slept until the morning. The sudden death of Draco Malfoy so soon after his wedding made headlines, shocked plenty of witches and wizards.

Daphne mourned her sister at last, and everyone presumed she was mourning her husband.

And when her daughter was born, seven months later, she wrapped her in her arms, still red and wailing, and named her Astoria.

Astoria Malfoy, as it ought to have been in the first place.


Author's Note: Prompts and Challenges

Assignment # 11 Health & Fitness: Yoga Task 4 - Corpse Pose: Writing about dealing with the aftermath of a death

Crystal Maze Diagon Alley 6 Malfoy Manor

Go Beyond! Plus Ultra! Step Four 2 Endurance Training- (word) outlast

Murder They Wrote 12 (Motive) Revenge

Spring Seasonal Challenge – Days of the Year 19 April 5th - Go For Broke Day: Write about someone taking a risk; Aquarium Month 3 Hood/Lid: Write about someone moving into a new home; Crayon Day 5 Canary; Spring Colours 3 Peach; Spring Flowers 9 Puschkinia - "How many people must I lose before I just stop feeling?";

June Writing Club – Bromance to Romance 9 Dialogue "You might not like that." / "You just might."; Record Collection 8 Best In Me, Blue "You make me want to be better."; Written in the Stars 8 (colour) jade; Book Club Severus Snape: (word) debt, (object) potion , (colour) black, (action) limping; Showtime 12 Blackout - (action) Drinking; 4 I Wanna Get Better - Counting seconds through the night and got carried away [bonus]; Elizabeth's Empire 8 Legally Blonde - Legally Blonde "You are the best thing about this place."; Liza's Loves 5 "Can I sleep in here with you tonight?"; Angel's Archive 5 Cheshire Cat [Alice in Wonderland] - (action) Grinning Widely; Scamander's Case 2 Ashwinder (setting) night time; Marvel Appreciation 6 Bruce Banner (colour) Green / (action) changing the colour of something / (Dialogue) "That's my secret."; Lyric Alley 17 You're a little late; TV Spree 1 Plot Point Write about a character who has died; The Forecast Says 1st Sunny Bathe; Hobby Hole 7 Character Draco Malfoy;

Scavenger Hunt - 63 Write a story including the following prompt set: Yellow / Expecto Patronum / Tea

Fantastic Beasts and How to Collect Them – 5 Afanc A lake monster from Welsh mythology. Its exact description varies; it is described variously as resembling a crocodile, beaver or dwarf-like creature. It was said to prey upon any foolish enough to fall into or swim in its lake. Scenario: Write about someone being manipulated

365 Prompts – 331 (setting) Malfoy Manor

WC – 3059 words