Warning: this chapter contains scenes of a sexual nature, read the first scene then skip to the middle if you'd like to avoid it.

Chapter Sixteen: Gone

"Well?" Arianwen hissed, getting frustrated by Leah's emotional unresponsiveness.

The brunette kept her head low, avoiding eye contact with Arianwen.

"Why don't we all just take a seat and calm down, eh?" Aneirin said calmly, pulling out Arianwen's chair for her to sit with the baby still in her arms. Leah followed obediently, she couldn't deny an order from someone with such high status as Aneirin.

Arianwen glanced around carefully, checking to see if they'd drawn anyone's attention but luckily as they were speaking in fast Welsh, no one bothered to look.

"I'm sorry darling," Arianwen said softly, she desperately wanted answers but was afraid to spook the girl, "I didn't mean to startle you. It's just that this baby, well, without wishing to sound vain – I think we have the same eyes, the Gwydion eyes…"

Leah sniffed and nodded, she looked up at Arianwen, tears flooding from her eyes. Arianwen felt her heart sink; Leah had left just before her father passed away, she didn't pay much note at the time for her attention was taken up by the funeral, but now that she'd seen this baby… She couldn't help but wonder…

"Leah, please. I need to know, is this child my brother?" She struggled to keep the urgency from her voice.

The maid took a long drink of from her flagon, her fingers trembling around it as she clenched on for support. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out other than an odd croak.

She took a deep breath and tried again.

"N-no he's not your brother, the Duke was an honourable man, he would never have laid a finger on me." She took another gulp from her cup and stared fixedly at some flimsy coasters that had been enchanted to tap dance across the table.

Okay so the child isn't my brother… But let's not forget Uncle Dafydd.

"It was Lord Gwydion." She whispered the confirmation Arianwen was dreading, "he… he raped me-" An horrendous sob burst from her mouth and Arianwen reddened, seeing people turning around in their chairs to look at them in confusion.

Aneirin placed a comforting arm around Leah's shoulders, shushing her quietly while exchanging a horrified look with Arianwen.

So this child is my cousin? Arianwen smiled at the little baby in her arms; he'd snuggled his face into her chest and was now sleeping peacefully.

"What's his name?" Arianwen asked shortly, hoping to distract Leah from her public outburst.

"It's Lloyd, after my grandfather." She mumbled between sniffs.

Arianwen smiled softly, rocking the baby in her arms. "Lloyd. It suits him."

"Hello, little Lloyd Gwydion." She whispered to the little boy, caressing his cheek with her finger.

"No." Leah's voice became suddenly harsh, she glared at Arianwen. "Lloyd Jones."

Arianwen blushed and nodded quickly. "Of course yes, Lloyd Jones. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend-"

"It's fine." She stood up quickly, her chair legs scraping against the floor with the sudden movement. "I think I'll go now."

"Oh right, yes. Okay then, lovely." Arianwen placed a light kiss on Lloyd's forehead before carefully placing him back into his pram.

"Before you go," Aneirin said in a low voice., " Does Lord Gwydion know of the child?"

"No." Leah said flatly. "The Duke found out and told me to leave before Lord Gwydion heard the news and tried to hurt me. He said that if I stayed I would be condemning myself and my baby to a life of cruelty and torment. He offered to buy me a cottage here because he thought I'd be safer if I left Wales altogether, so obviously I accepted."

Aneirin nodded. "Well I can assure you that your secret is safe with me. I wholeheartedly agree that Lord Gwydion must not know."

Leah nodded and curtsied to him before turning to bid goodbye to Arianwen. She was unsteady on her feet and stumbled on her way to her baby's pram, she bashed into the table, causing her flagon to topple and clatter loudly on the floor.

The baby awoke and started whimpering but Leah didn't comfort him, instead she shot her child a look of utter disgust and snapped, "be quiet!"

Arianwen muffled her gasp as a cough, she needed to keep Leah on side. "May I visit?" She asked as Leah wrenched the pram away and prepared to exit the pub.

"Only if you can keep it to yourself." The girl hissed.

Arianwen was completely taken aback, the Leah she had known had always been such a timid, polite little thing. Clearly her terrible experience had changed her.

And can I blame her? Uncle Dafydd is not a good man.

"Of course, I won't tell a soul."

After she'd left, Aneirin turned to Arianwen slowly, keeping his voice so low that it would be inaudible to anyone but her. "Did you smell it?"

She nodded, eyes full of worry as she watched the retreating figure of her ex-maid through the window. Leah was drunk.

They stayed in the pub for a while longer, discussing the child and the importance of keeping him from his father. She shuddered at the thought of what her uncle might do if he found out about Lloyd; not only would the child be in danger but the whole of Wales would too – Dafydd had an heir now, and would undoubtedly use him as a bargaining chip for more power.

As Arianwen made her way back to the castle she couldn't help but smile. However the child had been brought into the world, he was her cousin, and she was going to do everything in her power to love and protect him.

I can't wait to tell Draco.

Irritatingly, Arianwen didn't manage to find Draco until later that evening. He had made a rare appearance at dinner in the Great Hall and was discussing something intently with Crabbe and Goyle.

"Draco!" Arianwen called excitedly.

They stopped speaking abruptly and turned to see her beaming at them.

"What's got you so excited?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow at her mockingly.

She opened her mouth to gush about everything that she'd learned in Hogsmeade but Leah's harsh words came back to her. "Only if you can keep it to yourself."

Ah… Maybe not then.

"I er- I was just wondering what you'd like for your birthday?" She offered uncertainly.

"My birthday? It's not for another month!" She heard Crabbe and Goyle snigger in the background and felt heat rising in her cheeks.

"Yes I know that but I just saw a few things in Hogsmeade that got me inspired so I thought I'd better ask just in case I've got it completely wrong and-"

He stood and placed a finger over her lips to silence her. "Okay, enough jibbering. I'll have a think."

She nodded lamely and he dropped his hand from her face, he offered it to her chivalrously. "Shall we go for a walk?"

It turned out that Draco's idea of a 'walk' was actually a quick journey to their abandoned potions classroom, where he had her propped up against the desk they usually worked at and was kissing her rather intimately.

"Draco!" She gasped as his fingers slid beneath her skirt.

"Oh come on," he encouraged, nipping at her neck as he kissed his way down. "I know you want it as much as I do."

"I do not!" She exclaimed in protest.

"Are you sure?" His whispered into her ear huskily, biting the lobe to tease her. She let out a poorly concealed moan and felt him smiling against her jaw as he kissed it. In a subtle movement, his fingers pushed her underwear to one side and slid over her.

"Because it would appear that you do want me, a lot."

She flushed a deep crimson and attempted to wriggle away but he caught her easily and held her steady.

"Now now, Arianwen, you're awfully jumpy this evening." He drawled.

Arianwen closed her eyes, trying to block out her embarrassment; he was very good with his hands. "Well when you're touching me like-" His fingers slid inside of her. "-like that, it's hardly…hardly-" She moaned loudly as he massaged her. "-oh god Draco!"

He took that as his queue to remove her skirt entirely and push her gently down upon the length of the table. Her eyes widened as he kissed his way up her thigh, gently massaging her with his fingers as he teased her. He paused when his kisses reached her delicate underwear.

"May I?" He asked sounding oddly polite, she would have laughed at his chivalry had she not been so painfully aware of her desperate desire for him..

Her breath caught in her throat as she gazed into his eyes, they were full of passion and hunger, an effect that made him quite uncontrollably handsome. She nodded lamely, unable to form words, and watched as he slowly pulled at the lacy fabric with his teeth until they fell to the floor.

What he did next both delighted and shocked Arianwen at once, and she found herself humming and moaning with each flick of his tongue. It was a miracle, really, that no one discovered them for they hadn't even locked the door to the classroom but somehow that knowledge just impassioned the pair even further. Draco couldn't help but grin as he watched his girlfriend squeeze her eyes shut and pull at her hair at his touch. It delighted him that he could arouse her so much and he felt himself harden as she gave another particularly stimulating groan.

He wanted to claim her, to make her his own but an irritating voice in his head told him it was too soon.

You're lucky she's even letting you get this far.

He could feel her getting close to her peak, her legs had started trembling and her moans grew higher and more frequent. He picked up the pace, his tongue flicking backwards and forwards rapidly; he pushed two fingers up her and tilted them towards her belly button. The noise she made in that moment was one of complete heightened arousal and he knew he'd done it. He pulled away gently and held her legs steady for fear that she'd kick him involuntarily if he didn't, the trembling had reached an alarming level. She panted heavily for a few moments before making eye contact with him, he winked seductively at her, his most handsome grin brightening his features.

She covered her face in her hands, unable to handle his cheeky smile.

"You alright there, babe?" He offered casually, sitting beside her on the table and pulling her into his lap.

She nodded and rested her forehead against his chin, her hands lacing around his neck delicately. "Draco-"

"Shh. What was that?" He silenced her quickly and leapt up, setting her on her feet in one movement.

A distant shuffling sound was coming from the beyond the doorway.

"Someone's coming!" Arianwen hissed! She grabbed her clothes and started ramming them back on as quickly as possible. "Draco, they can't see us like this!"

"They can't see you like this, I'll be fine." He tapped his wand on her and she felt the familiar feeling of an egg being split over her head and dribbling down her back as his disillusionment charm took effect.

Professor Slughorn sidled into the room, muttering something under his breath about unicorn hair.

"Draco, my boy! What are you doing in here? We don't have potions today do we?"

"Uh- no, sir, we don't."

Professor Slughorn looked at him curiously as he wandered away from the door and over to one of the many supply cupboards. Arianwen took her opportunity and slipped out of the classroom, she hurried round the corner of the corridor and swished her wand around herself in a circular motion so that she'd become fully visible again.

Draco appeared ten minutes later looking irritated. "Only gone and got myself another essay to do for extra credit." He growled.

Arianwen couldn't help but giggle at his annoyed scowl and he soon joined in, draping an arm around her waist and pulling her closer as they made their way back to the common room.

"Thank you for doing that, I don't know what I would've said if he caught us both there."

Draco gave her a small smile. "That's alright, I wouldn't want to ruin that perfect reputation of yours."

Arianwen looked away uncomfortably. "I feel guilty sometimes." She mumbled.

Draco looked at her inquisitively. "Oh? Why's that?"

"Well because… I mean what would my Father think if he knew what we've been up to? He'd be so ashamed of me! I should be acting like more of a la-"

"Ri, stop." Draco said softly, pulling her to one side and lifting her chin with his hand. "You're your own woman now. With your father gone… Well, you don't need to answer to anyone else."

"But what about you?"

Draco's brow furrowed in confusion so she sighed, continuing. "You'll lose interest! Men like you don't want to marry loose women, you'll have your fun with them, sure, but you'll never want to have anything serious. And don't get me wrong, I know I'm not the perfectly innocent little princess but I would also hope that I'm not-"

Draco's lips pressed against her own, halting her speech. It was a forceful kiss, Draco's arms tightened around her possessively as he dominated the kiss but she allowed it, feeling rather light headed.

"You don't have to believe all the tales you've been told as a child, Ri. I'm not going to leave you just because we're intimate together, if anything it brings us closer."

Arianwen smiled, the intensity in his eyes was making her knees weak, he seemed so desperate to make her understand his feelings that a wonderful warmth spread through her. She leant forward and kissed him tenderly.

"You'll be the death of me, Draco Malfoy."

Valentine's Day…

The 14th of February fell on a Wednesday that year and the whole school was buzzing with teenage excitement. People had been receiving gifts all day, some had roses delivered to the object of their affection during classes or at lunchtime and others had been serenaded by singing dwarves as onlookers hooted and giggled. Arianwen had had neither and by the time her last period came around, she was in a rather foul mood.

"I haven't even seen him all day! Do you think he's forgotten?" Arianwen complained to Blaise as they walked arm in arm to their potions class.

"I know for a fact that he hasn't so just calm down and wait for whatever he's planning for you." Blaise drawled, it was the third time she'd asked him that day.

"How do you know for a fact? Has he told you something?"

"I've already told you that I'm not saying anything else so stop asking me, woman!"

Arianwen pouted and stalked over to her usual potions desk, ignoring Blaise's cries of "who am I going to work with now?!"

No one tried to sit next to her, they probably knew that Draco would hex them if they did, so she began the lesson alone, listening intently as Professor Slughorn described the best method to produce a Shrinking Solution. About ten minutes into the lesson, the door swang open and Draco walked in, looking windswept.

"Sorry I'm late Professor." He didn't offer an explanation as to why.

"No problem dear boy, take a seat. We're going to be brewing Shrinking Solutions today."

Draco smiled courteously at him and scanned the classroom for Arianwen. His eyes lit up when he saw her and a wicked grin spread across his face; he looked at the desk then back to Arianwen, smile growing further.

She suddenly realised that it was the very same desk that they'd been fooling around on the other day. He noticed her blush and winked at her, the exact same cheeky wink that he'd given her after he'd made her climax.

An odd strangled noise came from Arianwen's throat, she blushed furiously as her classmates looked around at her in surprise. Draco looked positively gleeful as he dropped his bag under the desk and patted her back.

"Poor thing has a cough."

Arianwen saw Harry Potter and Ron Weasley exchange a bewildered look, the only time they'd ever heard Draco talk about a 'poor' anything was when he was talking about the Weasley's.

"Right then class, you have an hour and a half to brew your potions and the winning pair will earn 20 points each for their house."

There was a scraping of chairs as the students all hurried towards the supply cupboards to collect the necessary ingredients.

"Come along then, my little lamb." He said, gesturing towards the supply cupboards.

"You're in a very good mood today." She mumbled, following him to the back of the room.

He simply smiled and started passing her the ingredients; two shrivelfigs, a jar of caterpillars, a rat spleen, and-

"Oi Potter, we saw it first." He snatched a bottle of leech juice from Harry's hands.

"Wait your turn, Malfoy. I picked it up before you."

"Now now, boys. What seems to be the problem over here?" Professor Slughorn had come to investigate the raised voices.

"Malfoy's trying to take the leech juice off us, sir."

Draco rolled his eyes. Such a bloody suck up.

"Dear me, is that true Draco? If there aren't enough bottles of juice then you'll just have to share with Harry."

Draco inclined his head to the professor and bent to whisper in Arianwen's ear when Slughorn's attention had turned to Harry.

"I don't like sharing." Draco whispered as he traced his finger down her stomach, continuing to her-

"Armhmhhh!" Arianwen squealed.

Professor Slughorn's head whipped round and he fixed Arianwen with a troubled gaze.

"Are you quite well, dear?"

"Uh-"

"I think she looks a little pale, don't you Professor? Perhaps I should take her to see Madam Pomfrey." Draco interjected.

Slughorn nodded, taking the ingredients out of Arianwen's arms and placing them on a nearby desk. "Yes I think you might be right, Malfoy. I'll let you off this lesson, make sure she gets to the Hospital Wing quickly."

When they were a safe distance from the classroom, Arianwen turned and smacked Draco's arm playfully.

"You made me look like an idiot!"

Draco just shrugged. "Not my fault I'm so irresistible."

They laughed and he took her arm to steer her.

"Where are we going?"

"Well I thought we could get changed and then go for a walk."

"An actual walk this time?"

He smirked and kissed her cheek. "If we must."

When they got back to the common room, Arianwen ran downstairs to get changed and found a large box with 'Madam Louisa's' printed on it. She opened it to see a beautiful dark green dress, it had long sleeves and was tight until the waist where the skirt became looser and would stop at her mid thigh. There was a note in the box as well, it read:

'You thought I forgot didn't you?

Happy Valentine's Day.

Draco.'

She smiled when she put it on, twirling around in the mirror. She grabbed a pair of silver heels, fixed her make up and let her hair down so it could cascade down her back freely. She hastened over to the door before pausing with her hand on the doorknob.

Well I suppose if we're going all out…

She went to her jewellery box and found the beautiful diamond necklace that he'd given her at Christmas time. It rested comfortably on her chest and accentuated the dress beautifully, the neckline of which ended just below her collarbones.

Draco smiled as she re-entered the common room, he was dressed equally as smartly and held his arm out for her to take.

"You look beautiful as always."

"You like it?" She asked, twirling around for him.

"How could I not? It's perfect." He had no doubt that she would be a stunning bride for him in the future. She smiled happily and thanked him by pressing her lips to his cheek delicately. He looked at the box she was carrying in her other hand. "Is that for me?"

"Perhaps… But you don't get it until later."

They made their way out into the grounds just as everyone was leaving their final class of the day, the students stared as they passed and Draco smirked, enjoying being able to show off his girlfriend. When they were outside, he summoned his broom and ignored Arianwen's protests, clutching her with his arm and making her sit on it. He flew them to a distant area of the grounds, where the castle looked more like a little stone model, and set them down at the base of a hilly area. Arianwen looked thoroughly confused and he laughed, he muttered an incantation under his breath and watched as she gasped in awe.

A small white linen marquee had appeared in front of her, illuminated by candles that were suspended in the air around it. The marquee was filled with cushions and blankets on one end and had a romantically decorated table on the other end, with two wooden chairs either side of it.

"So this is why I didn't see you all day?" He nodded in affirmation. "Oh Draco, it's lovely, thank you!"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him affectionately, pulling away after a while to rest her head on his chest. She smiled as his fingers wound their way into her hair, playing with it absently. They stayed in that position for a while, watching the sun set and swaying lightly.

After a romantic meal, the two had settled themselves in the nest of blankets and cushions and were snuggled together.

"So do I get to see what's inside that box yet?" Draco asked as he twirled a bit of her long golden hair around his finger.

"Oh yes of course!" She picked up the box and passed it to him, sitting cross legged as she watched him open it.

He undid the catch carefully and lifted the heavy wooden lid. Out flew a yellowy-gold dragon, about a two foot in length, it flapped its long wings to soar around their heads and eventually landed on Draco's forearm.

"He's a Snowdonian Lancehead, a replica of course, their native to Snowdonia in Wales and he's been charmed to breath fire on anything you tell him to. He won't do a lot of damage though, obviously."

A large smile grew over Draco's face as he inspected the magnificent creature. Both its head and tail were shaped like a lance and a darker golden colour than the rest of the creature, its expansive wings were covered in tiny hooked ridges, and it's eyes were a dark crimson red.

"And look," she said, pulling out her wand, "he's the same breed as my patronus!" She cast the spell and they watched as a huge silvery dragon materialised from her wand. It flew around the marquee, breathing out silver whisps of flame before it disappeared again.

"It's incredible! I can't wait to set it on Potter…" He watched the tiny dragon soar around the marquee absently, lost in his thoughts.

"Shall we name him?"

Draco grinned and racked his head for a decent name for his new pet. "How about Abraxas, that was my Grandfather's name; he died from Dragon Pox, ironically."

Arianwen smiled and stroked the dragon's scales when he landed in her lap. "Yes that suits him well doesn't it, Abraxas the dragon."

She felt his hand warm her cheek as he turned her face towards her, they gazed into each other's eyes passionately and eventually their lips met, moving with such a perfect magnetic rhythm that Arianwen felt her stomach jolting repeatedly.

They stayed out for as long as they dared after curfew until grudgingly returning to the castle. As they neared the common room they heard loud shouts of laughter, it sounded like most of the Slytherin's were still awake.

Pansy Parkinson was at the centre of a large crowd, she was standing on a coffee table and held a large leather bound book in her hands. Draco raised an eyebrow at Arianwen curiously and they moved closer.

"Nice of you to finally join us." She shouted to the pair, smirking evilly.

"What are you doing now?" Draco asked in a bored tone.

"We're holding a book burning ceremony, duh!" She pointed her wand at the book and shouted, "incendio!"

Arianwen's eyes widened in horror as she realised a second too late what the object that Pansy was burning was. It was her photo album.

"No!" She cried desperately, attempting to fight through the crowd to get to it.

By the time she'd shot a jet of water at the album, it was too far gone. She stared at it in horror, her legs went weak and she fell to her knees.

The photos of her family were gone, her last tangible memories of them…gone.

She felt Draco's hands pulling her to her feet but she pushed him off, suddenly seeing red.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" She screamed at Pansy, launching herself toward her. Pansy squealed and tried to run away but Arianwen drew her wand and seconds later a string of flames burst from it, stretching into the form of a dragon. It must have been at least ten times larger than the one she gave Draco and it rounded on Pansy, fire catapulting towards her.

The people in the crowd screamed in unison, all desperately clawing and clambering over each other to save themselves.

They needn't bother. Arianwen thought sickly, her mouth twitching into a maniacal smile. It's only her I want to burn.

She got her wish. The fiery shaped dragon had cornered Pansy and stood on its hind legs, it reclined its head back, mustering all of its energy into one long explosion of fire.

Pansy screamed, a high, terrified scream.

It didn't last long; someone flew into the room and pointed their wand at Pansy and the dragon, a jet of water quelling the flames. It was Professor Snape. He immediately ran over to Pansy to examine her burns and ordered Crabbe to take her to the Hospital Wing before rounding on Arianwen.

"GWYDION!" He bellowed. She did not flinch, her wand arm still raised, she turned her piercing stare to the professor. "Headmaster's office, now!"

A/N: Writers Block! I struggled with this chapter so badly, hence why it's taken so long. I have everything planned for the future but I'm struggling to get their sixth year finished. If anyone has any suggestions or anything you'd like to see more/less of, I'd love to hear them! Please review!

To everyone that has reviewed since I posted the last chapter, thank you sooo much, I love you all!

ForeverTeamEdward13: you were so close! Sorry for taking a while with this update, as of September I'll be a lot more regular :)

RT: thank you for all your comments, I enjoyed your honesty. What did you think was moving too fast, the pace of the story or Draco and Arianwen's relationship? Don't worry, I know she's gone a bit soft at the minute but that is intentional, she'll be getting back to her old self soon and you should see many more of her snappy comments then.

StarletSpotlight: ah how I've missed you! I'm glad you've been picking up at my hints towards a breakdown, it won't be long now! I have a little gift for you in a few chapters time...

MissBlack2: So you noticed that I still haven't introduced Uncle Dafydd, well done ;) he'll feature quite soon, that's all I'll disclose!

Aurora: it's true, people just love to hate Pansy in fan fiction! I like your theory, Dafydd certainly does scare people and it'll be a consistent theme throughout. You won't find out the extent of his power for a little while though.

Thank you all for sticking with me, I'll try and battle on and work through the writer's block.