CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Mackenzie angrily moved past the elf that greeted her at Draco's door. She stormed into Malfoy Manor, her wand sitting ready in hand at her side.
"Master Malfoy is in the Library Miss." The elf told her.
She sprinted up the staircase to the Library Draco used, throwing open the door, pointing her wand at him.
"INCARCEROUS!" She shouted. Instantly Draco was bound to the chair he occupied, magical binding ropes holding him in place.
"Mackenzie, what is the meaning of this?" He demanded.
She walked slightly calmer into the large room. "I thought you might enjoy the feeling of being bound in a position that you do not choose and that you cannot come out of. There is no way out."
"Why have you bound me Kenny? What are you trying to prove?"
She threw the contract onto his lap. A look of outrage passed over Draco's face.
"I will not under any circumstances sign that!" Mackenzie stated. "How dare you have something like this written up, expecting me to sign it. Did you think I wouldn't read it? Did you think the law terminology was too far past me? You're in for quite the shock. I take my bar exam in only one week. I'm studied and …"
"Kenny." Draco argued with her from his chair. His stare was as ice cold as hers. "You have no choice but to sign it."
"Why is that?"
"Because." He explained, under the specific laws of our personal contract, I have final say."
"You bastard!" She snapped, her hand moving harshly across his face.
Draco struggled to free himself. He breathed in slowly when no movement helped his cause. "Kenny, please sit and listen to me." He pleaded. "I can explain better if we are both calm and …please give me a minute."
Mackenzie wasn't sure why she had felt so much kindness for him when she was so angry with his behavior. She sat across from him, her wand still in her hand.
"It's a start to a negotiation for our marriage. We are both required to sign it."
"I know that." She said. "And you've already signed it, expecting me to do the same."
"No. I signed it in hopes of starting a negotiating process. We can work all of this out."
She eyed him with suspicion.
"Please unbind me Kenny. We have an appointment you should not be late for this morning."
"George." Mackenzie said aloud.
Draco nodded, grabbing at his wrists when the knots and ties were loosened. He stood, stepping in closer to Mackenzie.
"I deserved all of that and I apologize. " He said, taking her hand in his. "Let's be on our way."
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"You'll be alright." Draco told his fiancée as the two walked up the remaining steps to Grimmauld Place.
Because the home was Unplottable and invisible to those who searched, Mackenzie and George had the brother-in-law take off the Fidelius Charm keeping it hidden. Harry had temporarily given access to Mackenzie and Draco.
The two walked up to the battered and worn door. Mackenzie pulled out her wand. With temporary access, she could unlock the door. Harry heard the unlocking and managed to reach the door to greet his sister-in-law. The two hugged briefly.
"He refused to let me be here on my own to see George." She whispered to Harry as she walked in further.
"This is going to be bad." Harry groaned. "Very bad."
"It was your idea Potter." Draco stated.
The two stared hard at one another, about to get into another battle.
"Mackenzie!" Ginny gladly greeted her sister-in-law with a hug, interrupting the men that she saw standing behind her sister. "We've missed seeing you." She faked.
The question of what was going on burned in Ginny's eyes.
"I need to speak to George. Harry told me he should be here today."
"He's in the drawing room." Fred commented, coming from another room, pointing the way to a very large carved door.
Mackenzie drew in a deep breath, not prepared for another false argument with her husband. She winked at Fred and walked past the group. She was certain this "argument" would soon turn to a real fight when George saw Draco standing beside his wife."Here goes nothing." She opened the door. The room was dark, except for a few torch lights on the walls. George sat on a couch, reading through a few books.
"George." She quietly spoke through the darkness. His head whipped up and for a split second she saw him want to smile. His expression changed instantly when Malfoy walked in beside her, his arm around her waist.
"What are you doing here? You have no business here."" George unpleasantly asked as the blond fully appeared with a disgusted look.
"I'm here to support my fiancé Weasley. I suggest you talk to her and get this over with so that we can move on with our life together."
"She can't fight her own battles?" George pushed.
Mackenzie took the cue. "I don't want a fight George. I only want to talk to you."
"I have nothing to say to you Mackenzie."
"Please George. This is important to me." Mackenzie implored, her voice evoking every emotion possible in her husband. "Harry thinks this will be a good idea. I need to move forward and I need to talk to you before I can do that."
He rose an eyebrow at her, doing everything in his power not to smile at her. "It's a little late for talking."
"Please George."
"Just give her a chance to say what she needs to say Weasley."
"No." George firmly stated. "I will not talk to you while he is attached to your hip."
Mackenzie turned to Draco, her eyes insisting with him.
"Absolutely not Kenny. I will not leave you with him."
"You have no choice." She returned. "If you want us to move on, then you will wait outside of this room."
"I can't do that. I won't leave you on your own."
"Draco, if you want me, all of me, then I have to talk to George alone. He won't talk with you around, and if that continues, nothing gets resolved."
The blond sulked, halfheartedly agreeing, taking Mackenzie into both of his arms, kissing her cheek before letting go, slowly leaving the room. Mackenzie followed, closing the door behind Draco as he left.
"He's listening at the door." She quietly said, moving back into the room. The two knew undoubtedly that Draco would listen in on their staged battle.
"So, are you ready to fight?" George offered to his wife
"No." She looked at him with heartache in her eyes.
"I'm so sorry Ken." He said. "What do you want?" His voice went cold, growing in volume and mock annoyance. There was also pain in his voice that Mackenzie knew was pain for having to put either of them in this situation again.
"What can we do about this George?"
"This is your doing Mackenzie. It's your fault we're in this position. You want resolution for something that cannot be resolved so easily."
"My fault? How did you possibly come to that conclusion?"
"I had you and then you tore my heart from my chest. I'll never feel the same for anyone."
"Don't be so dramatic." She spoke, swearing she heard a snicker from the opposite side of the door.
"I love you." George added for more dramatic effect, knowing that they both knew he meant it.
"I had nothing to do with the position we are in now." Mackenzie returned.
"You agreed to marry him!"
"I didn't!" She faked the sound of choking back tears. "I had no choice!"
"Wrong answer." "There is always a choice. This was never about a contract and a promise to Malfoy Mackenzie!" George and his wife were now yelling back and forth, being extra theatrical. "This is about security!"
"What?!?"
"He has a lot of money! You agreed to marry him out of security!"
"You're a self-righteous bastard George Weasley!"
"Mackenzie…didn't you pay attention to anything that I said to you when we were together?"
"Apparently not, because the minute a problem came up, you said something completely different." She stormed off to the other side of the room.
"You were bored Mackenzie. You needed to see if there was something more you were missing."
"You son of a bitch. You can't accuse me of something like that."
"I just did." He closed in on her.
"What did you expect me to do George? There is no way out of this."
"You could've stayed with me. Refused Malfoy."
She shrugged her shoulders. "You don't think I tried that?" Both heard Draco chuckle outside of the room.
"He's still listening." She mouthed.
"Stay with me Kenny."
"Stay with you? Are you mental? I'm with someone else. How well do you think that would work? We're still fighting George. I can't get past fighting with you."
"That's what we'll do now Kenny. We've been doing it from day one." Both were now secretly thinking of the day they met again, how great that single day had been. George continued. "Two minutes after we met, I called you a snob. You're a pain in the ass Ken, but I love you."
"Sod off George. I didn't come here to be insulted." She motioned to the door.
George slowly went to the door to see if they were still being spied upon. The door cracked and George saw Draco sitting in a chair, brooding away from the door.
"He's not listening anymore." George spoke, closing the door completely, lowering his voice. He opened his arms as Mackenzie ran into his chest, embracing him tightly.
Another forty minutes of what was meant to seem like civil conversation, and the couple reappeared in the doorway. Mackenzie smiled at Draco as she walked away from George.
"Is it finished now?" Draco questioned her quietly.
As she suspected, there was still a tone of malice in his voice.
Mackenzie nodded once, still looking heartbroken. It was easy to look that way when she felt it too. The screaming match she'd had with George had ended near an hour ago, and even after professing her love quietly to her husband for forty minutes, she still felt the sting of hurt she always felt she caused with her words.
"It's done." She said. "There is nothing more to be said or done here."
Draco tilted his head, his eyes shifting to the room Mackenzie had just been in. George stood in the doorway. He looked positively angry again. The look that crossed Draco's face caught Mackenzie by surprise. George stood watching the two behind her. She could still feel his presence. Her head turned briefly to see the same tone of malice she'd heard in Draco, now settled in her husband's eyes.
Unable to resist a good tortured moment for someone else, Draco stood, moving straight back to his fiancé, wrapping her in his arms. For a few lonely seconds, he swore he saw the look of pain crash over George's face while his hands moved through Mackenzie's hair and down her back.
"Let's go now."
Mackenzie nodded again, unable to look back at George again yet, to see the hurt in his eyes would cause her far more heartache. She and Draco walked in step towards the door quietly until Mackenzie's arm was caught by Fred, a look of questioning sorrow in his eyes too. Mackenzie walked in a circle, making it seem as if she were trying to escape Fred's hold, all while whispering into his ear, making Draco none the wiser of her own plans.
"Tell him we have a date tonight. I'll see him at home."
Fred's hold broke when Draco's hand caught the same arm, releasing Mackenzie from both men.