A/N: I'm back! Well, actually I was back on Sunday. Sorry that took so long, but I think this is more exciting than Chapter One.
Bile rose in Draco's throat, and he swayed slightly on his feet. He lifted a shaking hand to his forehead, and it was all he could do not to collapse on the cold marble beneath him.
o0O0o
The two sets of parents present could hardly fail to notice Draco's reaction, if not Aniela's. Gianna de Conti broke the silence first.
"Do you two… know each other from somewhere?" she inquired tentatively.
Draco quickly composed himself. Yes, he thought, in a past life.
"No," he said out loud, "I've been feeling a bit off all day, you'll have to excuse me. Must be nerves."
"Well, then," Lucius cut in, quickly covering for his son's moment of weakness, "Dinner is waiting. Elf!"
One of the Manor's many house elves appeared instantly at Lucius' side, bowing low. Lucius never called the elves by name- they were always simply "elf".
"Shall I set out the first course?" the elf asked. Lucius nodded curtly and led the group through the large French doors into the dining room just as the small creature snapped it's long fingers, cueing soup to fill the silver bowls on the table. Draco held a chair for Aniela, as he had been trained to do, being careful not to look at her or let his fingers brush her skin or dress. Taking his own seat directly across from her, Draco looked down at his soup. His appetite seemed to have deserted him.
Narcissa and Gianna began a conversation about plans for the upcoming wedding, which was to take place towards the end of the imminent spring season. It looked like the prospective in-laws were getting along far better than the bride and groom, but isn't that always the case with arranged marriages?
Draco looked up, feeling Aniela's eyes boring into him. The two young people stared at each other in expressionless silence as their fathers began an exchange on relations between the magical communities of Italy and the UK.
Both knew that their secret was destined to remain just that- secret. Draco would stay silent for obvious reasons, Aniela for less obvious ones. In pureblood society, to be raped was to be forever disgraced. A pureblood girl was to be a pristine, pure, innocent on her wedding day. Draco was the only person alive who knew that Aniela was no longer a virgin, and anything she said about it had the power to destroy her life as much as his.
Dinner passed with few words exchanged between the awkward couple. They stayed silent unless spoken to, and were never involved in a conversation that was not led by one of the older people at the table. After the chocolate and blood orange soufflés, Draco was left alone with Aniela in the study as their parents took an after-dinner drink in the parlor and discussed their children's future (read: dowries and other financial matters). He stared at her from an armchair across the room. She stared back. He covered his face with his hands. She stared.
A bottle of Chateau d'Yquem sauternes had been thoughtfully left for them. Draco got up and retrieved an unopened bottle of firewhiskey from his father's "secret" stash. Pouring a glass, he held it out to Aniela. She looked at it appraisingly, then turned her head away to gaze at the carpeted floor. Draco downed the copper-colored liquid himself, poured another, and sat back down. Aniela, looking at Draco the whole time, deftly uncorked the sauternes and poured herself one of the two dainty crystal glasses next to it.
Should he apologize? It didn't seem like it would do any good- you couldn't apologize for things like that.
"Do you want to marry me?" Aniela suddenly asked. Draco looked up from his whiskey glass.
"Of course I don't! You are a living reminder of the worst mistake of my life." She sipped her wine.
"We should probably silence this room."
"Just kick that door shut, it automatically silences itself."
"Convenient. So you're sorry?"
"Of course I'm sorry! I was drunk, I didn't know what I was doing- I know that's not an excuse…"
"Answer me this;" she said, "would you have done what you did if you had known who I was?"
"No, I don't think I would have."
Aniela was shocked by her own ability to stay calm. "And that proves that you're just like any other sick former Deatheater. If I was a muggle girl, you wouldn't care. You were never sorry until now. I can't believe I'm being forced to marry you."
"That isn't true. I am not a former Deatheater," Draco said defensively, "I'm different… I've changed. I've regretted what I did every moment since, dreamed of it every night, been haunted by it constantly," he shook his head, looking down. "In fact, that's the one good thing, I think, that came out of all this. It rid me of all my bigotries, my delusions of grandeur… at least it grounded me."
Suddenly, Draco's head snapped up again. "I need to escape from... all this." he gestured around the richly decorated study with it's silk brocade drapes and goldleaf-edged mahogany furnishings. "I should just run away."
"No way. I'll get in trouble with my parents if you run away." Draco raised an eyebrow. "Trust me, it's the kind of thing they'd do."
"Yeah, I kind of know the type. So how about you run away too?"
"Alone?" Aniela suddenly looked rather frightened and not half as collected and controlled as she had appeared to Draco for the past few hours. Draco looked at her thoughtfully.
"How about… together?"
"Are you fucking crazy? Well yes, obviously—"
"No, actually, I'm not, not anymore. Look- maybe I can't make you trust me just on good word—"
"—oh trust me, your 'good word' means NOTHING—"
"—but what I can do… ugh, there's no one who can bind us for an unbreakable vow… oh, I just know I saw something…" Draco trailed off as he flipped through a thick, leather-bound volume plucked off the top shelf of one of the bookcases that lined the study.
"Here!" he pointed his wand at himself, muttering words and staring intently at the open book. Aniela watched him carefully, wondering what he was doing, but was still taken by surprise as he flicked his wand towards her. She tried to pull out her own, but it was concealed rather difficultly in her unforgiving dress and there was no way she could have blocked in time anyway. She felt a pleasantly warm sensation as the light from Draco's wand seemingly disappeared into her skin, leaving it glowing slightly for a moment before fading. When it was over, she felt completely normal- but that didn't stop her from pointing her wand, now successfully retrieved, directly at Draco's heart.
"What the hell did you do to me, you sick bastard!? Take it off right now! I'm warning you, say the countercurse—"
"I can't," Draco replied coolly, "only you can." He turned the spellbook in her direction. She took the book, disarmed him with a flick of her wrist, and held both wands tightly at her side as she read.
The Bound-Safety Spell
The Bound-Safety Spell forms a magical relationship between two people- one being the Bound, the other being the Protected. It can be cast either by a third party or by the Bound himself, in rare cases, but not by the Protected. Essentially, the spell prevents the Bound from causing any physical harm- intended or accidental, magical or otherwise- to the Protected. The spell is a serious commitment to enter into, as it can only be lifted by the Protected himself. For instructions on how to perform and lift the Bound-Safety Spell, see below.
Draco watched Aniela as she finished the explanation and scanned the incantations and diagrams of wand motions underneath it. When she raised her head, he knew she would trust him. How could she not? Suddenly, she grabbed the sleeve of his robe and pulled, jerking his body sharply towards her armchair. He began to topple over, desperately trying to regain balance and prevent the physical contact. Just as he was about to fall on top of her, a visible light shone between them and he was thrown across the room, hitting the bookshelf and dislodging several large tomes which fell on top of him as he crumpled to a heap on the floor.
Aniela grinned. "Okay, I trust you."
Draco looked disgruntled as he got up and brushed himself off, replacing the books in their proper places. "Was that really necessary?"
"Absolutely. So, do we have a deal?"
o0O0o
I know what you're going to say- Aniela seems far less affected by this whole thing than she should be. I can't say I've ever met a rape victim or that I know anything about the psychology or trauma of it, but what I'm trying to do here is to have her repress her emotions and try to act calm about it all, mostly because of her upbringing. She will get more emotional later. Also, while she seemed kind of timid earlier, she actually has quite a fiery personality- that's my first prerequisite whenever I write a character with Draco. She's really an exceptionally strong girl.
Sorry about all that explanation, but I felt it might be helpful to some readers.
I may not be able to update for a while, because I'm going to my grandparents' tomorrow and I'm also alternating between updating this and Unlikely Places.
I loved the three reviews I got for the first chapter, and I'd really love to get some more, so hop to it!!