Chapter 16 – The End

Once Nat left with her band of friends from Umbrigde's office, I was afraid. I've no idea what's going on, why she and her friends broke into Umbrigde's office, where she was running off. I was battling the Bat Bogey Curse when Snape came back to the office. He used the counter curse on me and asked me what was going on. I told him that they left. Blaise said that he saw Potter, Granger and Umbridge go towards the forest so it's likely the others went there as well.

Snape asked all of us to go to the Hospital wing and get ourselves patched up. I must say Nat and her friends did a lot of damage. We quietly went to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey fixed us up pretty quickly. After that it was a long wait. Is she all right? Where did they all go? Even Snape looked pretty concerned that they didn't return from the forest.

I hate not knowing things. And Nat constantly getting herself in difficult situations makes me very angry. I wish I could just tie her up to one of the many pillars in Hogwarts. Other than my mother if I'm protective of anyone, it's Natalie. She's my best friend and my confidante. The life she has is so different from mine. It's really difficult to keep up with her.

I couldn't wait anymore. When it started to get dark, I went to Snape's office.

I knocked. "Enter." I heard Snape's voice say.

"Professor, I want to talk to you."

"Go on, Draco."

"Where have they gone off to?"

"I have no idea." He answered like he has rehearsed this line many times.

"Professor, I know, you know so please tell me."

"I don't know what you're talking about Draco."

"Natalie is with them. I want to know. I'm worried for her." Snape is one of the few people out of the family who knows about Nat and I. My mother and Snape are good friends.

He sighed, "They have gone to the Department of Mysterious."

"Is this something to related to The Dark Lord?" Please say no, please say no.

"Yes."

I panicked. No, no, no, no, no! She is going to get herself killed. She is going to get murdered. I felt tears escaping my eyes. This cannot be happening.

"She's going to be fine. The order is with them as we speak." He sounded concerned. Maybe he didn't expect me to react this way.

I quickly wiped the tears, "Okay." I nodded curtly like I had been taught all my life.


I had no clue what was happening around me. Nat was constantly on my mind. I prayed to God like my mother had taught me. I want her to come back alive that's it. I'm not even sure what I ate for dinner or even if I ate something. I was on my bed but I couldn't sleep. Sometime before daybreak, I heard a knock on the window. I saw Mother's owl, Hermes outside. I let it in and took the rolled up parchment from the owl. I offered the owl some owl treats.

What could mother want to say to me so early in the morning?

Dear Draco,

I have terrible news. Your father was arrested in the Department of Mysteries and taken to Askaban. But you don't have to worry, he will be out soon as the dementors don't work for the Ministry anymore.

Your aunt Bella killed Sirius Black. I don't think he deserved it. He was always nice to me when we were younger. This is going to upset Natalie a lot. You need to be strong for her.

Love,

Mother.

P.S – I think you should do what your grandmother told you before she passed away. Things are going to get even more difficult from now on. This is only the beginning.


"Draco." My grandmother, Isla Malfoy called for my attention.

My grandmother said she wanted to talk to me in private. She's been very sick lately. The Healers say there's nothing more they can do.

"Yes, Grandmother."

"I want to talk to you about you and Natalie." She said weakly.

Just a few days ago, Natalie and I were told that we have been engaged almost all our lives. What more could our families have hidden from us? Since this news was broken to us, Mike and Will have been unbearable. They tease us so much. They came up with a silly rhyme to tease us – 'Draco and Natalie sitting on a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!'

Nat didn't take it well. She didn't like the idea of someone else choosing the course of her life. For her, I'm a friend. For me, well…she's always been more than a friend. A few months ago, on her birthday, when we were left alone for a short while, I kissed her and I felt a jolt. It was not a very long kiss. But we both had goofy smiles on our faces for the rest of the day. I saw her cheeks go red and I liked it. I always wanted to kiss her.

Then we were told about this engagement and it sort of ruined the whole thing. Currently, we are going through the awkward silence phase. I don't know how to talk to her anymore. Are we supposed to talk about this?

"What about Nat and I?" I asked anxiously.

"I can tell that she's very important for you." She said perceptively.

"She is." There's no use lying to Grandmother, she's a gifted seer. She's probably already seen this conversation happening before.

"Good. I like her. She's good for you. Your Grandfather may have made this contract out of self-preservation but now I see, in the long run, it's a good thing." Grandfather passed away two years ago. "She brought joy and laughter into your life. Something, you wouldn't have gotten if this contract was not made."

I have to agree to that. My house is so eerily quiet. Sometimes, I feel like I'm the only one in the house. There's a sense of rigidity in my family. There are no loud dinner table conversations. We are way too formal even though we are family. But at Nat's home, everything is the opposite of what happens in my family. They laugh loudly during dinner conversations. They are so lively. Even when Mike, Will, Andy and Nat are arguing with their parents, there's so much passion. Nat's family way of dealing with situations is to talk it out, then laugh it out and then hug it out! I don't even remember the last time my father hugged me.

I love spending time at any of the Shepherd properties. There's always something happening. And then there's Nat's mom. She bakes me chocolate chip cookies. She told me that she'd send some for me even when I leave for Hogwarts. It's because of her I have tough time thinking that of her as a 'Mudblood', like father addresses her in the company of our family. My mother has never baked me anything. I don't think, she's ever set foot in the kitchen. Over the years, our mothers have formed a friendship. Despite, her shortcomings my mother is my number one!

"You should try and hold on to her, Drakie." My Grandmother continued. "She is your strength and weakness."

"What exactly are you trying to tell me, Grandmother?" How can someone be my strength and weakness at the same time?

"Natalie will want to find a way to end the engagement."

"That's not surprising. She's been displeased ever since we found out. But if that's what she wants then I guess, I'll have to be with her on this."

"But you want to keep her with you, don't you?" She smirked at me.

"Why do you ask me something when you already know the answer? I liked her even before the whole engagement fiasco."

"No matter how much you want to keep her with you, you'll have to give her up."

"What if I don't want to?" Even before the contract, I've always felt a sense of belonging with Nat.

"Sometimes, fate takes a cruel twist and you may have to do something you don't want to." My Grandmother had that far away look in her eyes. "If it's a situation of life and death, I'm sure you'll give her up."

"Maybe, I'll get her back later." I said optimistically.

She chuckled, "Oh Drakie, so optimistic! When I was younger, the Ministry destroyed on the books that contained information about breaking a marriage contract."

"Why would they do that?" I was intrigued.

"It was a rebellious period. Lots of young wizards and witches falling in love with each other but they were engaged to someone else. A lot of contracts were cancelled. Many purebloods felt threatened by this rebellion. They were afraid bloodlines would get affected if contracts could be cancelled so easily. So, they destroyed all books, which contained that information and people were forbidden to write or share this information with anyone."

"Why does everything come down bloodlines always?"

She snorted, "I've no idea."

"Do you know, how it's done then?"

"Of course, I know." She told me how it's done.

"For something so big, it's a pretty easy fix."

"That's the reason they wanted to hide it because it's so easy to end a contract. If it was a complicated fix, I don't think people would even attempt to end the contract."

"I agree."

"Are going to tell Natalie then?" She asked me slyly.

Do I? "I'm not sure." I don't want to lose her. "Not right now. We'll be starting at Hogwarts soon, she'll make new friends. So, will I but I don't want to lose her."


Mother sending me the owl would mean that, Nat is in the school now. I hope, she's not too injured. I decided to check the hospital wing. It's obvious if they went to deal with something related to The Dark Lord, then they'll be in the infirmary. I was almost close when I heard a voice say, "What the hell were you thinking, Nat?"

I went a little ahead and saw Mike, Will and Nat. Will said, "This is very reckless."

"I tried to convince them we don't have to do this. But Harry was just too convinced and he wouldn't listen to anyone." Nat said. Her body was covered with cuts. There was a huge bruise that circled her neck like a fat necklace, it looked like someone strangled her.

"You scared the hell out of us, baby girl." Mike sounded hurt. Mike is always protective of Nat. "If something had happened to you, what would we have told mom and dad?" He hugged her tight.

"I'm sorry, Mike. Everything was happening so quickly. I would have sent a message to you if I could think of something at that time."

"Nat, you can't just take off like this. I thought you were smarter than this. Sirius is gone because of you and your friends." Will said angrily. Nat started crying. It almost looked like she had cried a million times in the past few hours.

"Will, that's enough. That is no way of talking to Nat. She's already hurt. Don't rub her wounds." Mike warned Will. What did I tell you about Mike being protective of Nat!

"Well, it true." Then Will took a couple of deep breaths. He went next to Nat, "I'm sorry, Nat. What I mean to say is that there are consequences for rash actions. The mistake that you all made cost someone's life." Will said softly. "This is not only Harry's fault."

"Yes, the rest of you are equally responsible for this. Sure, it was Harry's crazy idea to go and save Sirius but you all just gave in to his crazy idea without a fight. The rest of you were six and he was just one person. How would he have gotten to London if you all hadn't helped? I'm sure if you all had resisted he would have given up the idea in some time." Mike told her kindly.

"And did you really think Voldemort was going to make the same mistake twice? When Mr. Weasley was attacked he might have felt the intrusion when Harry dreamt the same thing. When he showed Harry that he was attacking Sirius, he must have done it as some experiment. To know, if it really worked that way. To know, if Harry would risk his life for Sirius." Will deduced the situation. "When you researched Voldemort, you must have come across him using mind games to win. How could you forget it?"

I felt someone tap on my shoulder. I saw Andy behind me.

"What are you doing here?" Andy asked me.

"I needed to know if she was okay. How come you're here now?"

"Mike sent one of the house elves to ask me to meet them. The elf mentioned they were somewhere near the infirmary. Why are you hiding?"

"There conversation sounded really intense, I didn't know if I should interrupt."

"Let's go."

When Nat saw me, she left Mike's embrace and ran towards me. She hugged me tight. She was crying. I didn't know what do to. I just held her and let her cry. Mike, Will and Andy exchanged meaningful glances. Andy asked them all the questions on my mind. I listened intently to every word being said.

I found out that, Potter had some crazy dream about the Dark Lord torturing Black to death. These guys went there only to find out it was a trick and the death eaters waiting for them. They were attacked. Then the order made an appearance. Black got killed which made Potter want to kill Aunt Bella. Nat went behind Potter to make sure he was not going to get killed. Dumbledore and The Dark Lord duelled each other, resulting in The Dark Lord fleeing. He possessed Potter, who strangled Nat. Potter was now with Dumbledore.

I didn't say anything, Nat was still sobbing into my shirt. But Will is right, it sounds like Nat and her friends led her Black to his death.


The next day, I didn't get to speak to her. She was with her friends in the hospital wing. They were injured even more badly than Nat was. I wanted to speak to her. As hours passed by I was angrier than I was before. I finally understood the implication of my father being arrested. The interview was bad enough and now everyone is staring like I'm next in line to join my father. It doesn't matter if he would come out soon. This is a confirmation for everyone who didn't believe that my father was a death eater before. My father's greatest strength earlier was people not being sure about his death eater status. But subconsciously, I was already blaming Nat and her friends for this.

I sent her a short message asking her to meet me in the room of requirement. I told her I was not taking no for an answer. She came twenty minutes later. She looked sad and like she'd been crying a lot. There were circles around her eyes. She was coming to hug me but I held my hand up. She looked shocked. A lot of questions danced around her eyes. I could still see the large bruise around her neck. It was faint.

"My father is in Askaban 'cause of you and your friends." I told her venomously.

She cowered involuntarily. She hadn't expected this from me. "He would have killed us. He tried to hit me with powerful curses. It was luck that most of them missed me."

"And why do you think that happened?" I almost shouted at her. "Let me remind you, 'cause you and your friends just can't stick to your business. You have to interfere in everything."

"Draco, you can't honestly believe that I wanted this to happen. And quite frankly, your father had it coming." Her confidence increased with every word.

"Shut up! Just shut up! I told you your overconfidence would lead you to do something bad. Not only did you get tricked but also actually got Sirius Black killed."

She looked like she was about to start crying again.

"I can't keep you safe if you've got a death wish. This absolutely unacceptable."

"I didn't ask you to keep me safe." I could feel the anger rising in her voice.

"Well, too bad for you. We are engaged, so I'm going to be worried for you." I reminded her

"It's not like I asked for this. I want it to end quickly so you don't have to be worried for me, Draco."

"Give me your ring." I ordered her.

"What?" She looked confused.

"Give me your ring."

She still looked confuse but she complied. I took out my ring. I put both the rings in the floor and shouted, "Incendio!"

The rings burned in the fire.

"What are you doing?" She asked me finally.

"Ending the marriage contract."

"You knew?" She asked angrily.

"My grandmother told me before she died."

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?"

"At that time, I was afraid of losing you but now, I realise that you don't really give a damn about what happens to me or my family. You'll just keep doing things like these again and again. Maybe, Malfoys and Shepherds will never resolve their issues. We will always be on the opposite sides."

"What about the written contracts?" She asked with a deadpan expression.

There were three copies of the marriage contract, one with my family, one with Nat's family and one was stored in the Ministry. "They will burn off after the rings burn and disappear."

We watched the ring burn for a while. I didn't say anything nor did she.

"I'm done with you, Nat." I told and left the room.

I didn't let the door close fully. Through the gap, I saw her fall hard on the floor and she started crying. She cried profusely. I wanted to go in and console her. I've never seen her this way.

"I'm so sorry, Nat. I have to do this. We are on the opposites of this war. You can be used as leverage and I don't want that. I don't want you to get hurt because of me. No matter how much I love you, I can't leave my mother alone." I whispered hoping she'd hear me.

She cried for a very long time. She, finally, got up and wiped her face. With a determined expression, she came towards the door. Before she could see me, I hide behind some armours. I watched her walk away.


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