Chapter Six
The owl landed next to Draco and held out it's leg, "As a matter of fact, yes it is. I only just wrote to father this morning before coming to see you at St. Mungo's... his responses are quick, but never this quick."
Draco opened the letter and the owl flew off. The letter only had two sentences written in a neatly scrawled hand. It simply read:
Go to Snape's office when you get this. Bring the girl with you.
Draco stared at the letter, trying to will it to say something else, but nothing else appeared. Alex grabbed the letter and then grabbed his hand. She stood up fast and pulled him up with her. Draco thought she looked more angry than he had ever seen her, but he wasn't sure with how to deal with it.
"Alex, what are you doing?" Draco didn't want to seem panicky, but he was.
She smiled at him, "Don't worry Draco, I'm not afraid of your father, so let's go see why he wants us to go to Professor Snape's office."
"You're either fearless, or insane."
"I'm a Gryffindor, so perhaps I'm both."
He held her hand tightly as they walked inside and down to the dungeons that held possibly her doom, even though she couldn't know what his father might have planned for her. They got to the office door, where Draco knocked gingerly on it, hoping that no one would hear and that they could walk away from the door at that moment. Unfortunately, he never expected Alex to be so relentless in her courage, he gasped softly as she just opened the door and walked into Snape's office.
Draco was only mildly surprised to find his father sitting in a chair, chatting with the Head of his House. The adults hadn't noticed the two children enter and Draco was still wishing to turn back before it was too late.
Alex cleared her throat, "Excuse me Professor Snape, but Draco and I were told to come to your office as soon as we received a letter from his father."
Alex watched carefully as the blond man turned around in his chair to face her. She wasn't afraid of him, in fact, she found him strangely intriguing. She could see where Draco got his hair and eyes from, she could also see the family resemblance.
"Come here girl," Mr. Malfoy said coolly, "so that I may look at you closer."
Alex raised her chin and walked towards the man, not even flinching. She stopped when she was two paces in front of him. She peeked over at Draco who was looking even more uncomfortable with her being so close to his father.
"Very brave, aren't you?" Mr. Malfoy seemed uninterested in her.
"I see no reason to be afraid of you, sir." Alex didn't mean to sound defiant, but it just happened to come out that way.
Mr. Malfoy looked at Snape and then back at her, "Fierce too. So you see no reason to be afraid of me, do you? Then you obviously don't know whom you are dealing with."
She couldn't help but feel angry now, "I know who you are, but you can do nothing worse to me than has already been done. Fear is dark and alone and you sir, are neither of those."
Draco was staring in horror at his father, trying to will him not to do anything stupid to Alex. He hoped Alex wouldn't keep walking that fine razor's edge that was his father's temper.
Mr. Malfoy looked over at Draco, "Something to say son?"
Draco walked towards his father, "No sir."
"I didn't think so. Now girl, turn around in a slow circle for me."
Alex spun slowly, when she faced Draco's father again, she poured acid into her voice, "My name is Alexandria or Alex, not girl... and I don't appreciate you talking to your son in that derogatory manor, so I suggest you use a tone more appropriate of a father talking to his child, sir."
Mr. Malfoy stood up to his full height and looked down at her, suddenly he smiled, "You would have done well in Slytherin, Alexandria... it's a shame the Sorting Hat put you into Gryffindor."
She looked up at him, "The hat gave me a choice for any of the houses, I simply picked the house that I knew someone in, which was Gryffindor. Are you done inspecting me now, sir?"
He sat back down, "Yes, I am. Come here Draco," he sounded more gentle, "introduce me to your foolishly brave girlfriend."
Draco was stunned for a second before he moved forward and took Alex's hand, "Alex, this is my father, Lucius Malfoy. Father, this is Alexandria Draven."
Lucius held out his hand and Alex shook it, "A pleasure to meet you Miss Draven. You seem more well matched for my son than any other female I have met in his age group and that includes Miss Parkinson. I think Draco, that I shall write to Pansy's father to inform him that you will not be required to marry his daughter. Would you like that Draco?"
Draco stared at his father, "You have no idea how much I really don't want to be with Pansy."
"I see... it is done then. No, she would not have done well for you anyway, you need a strong mind and a strong heart in a future wife... like this charming young woman here. Shall I write to your family Alexandria and formally ask them for you to marry Draco when you're both of age?" Lucius seemed sincere.
"No, sir. Before you protest though, I don't think it would be fair to your son. I think he should be able to choose whomever he wants to marry and while I hope it will be me that he chooses, a lot can change in the three years it takes before we're both of age. Besides, isn't it a young man's duty to ask his prospective father-in-law for the daughter's hand in marriage? You would be robbing your son of a valuable life lesson if you wrote to my family." Alex calmly responded.
Lucius looked pleased with her answer, "Too true, Miss Draven. I concur with your assessment of the situation. Please feel free to write to my family any time you wish, especially if anyone from Slytherin House were to bother you in any way. Now, if you two don't mind, I have some business to discuss with Professor Snape. You two are free to return to your frolicking in the afternoon."
"Good luck with your business." Alex said before she turned with Draco's hand in hers and headed out the door.
They got as far as out into the corridor before Alex had to sit down, "Well... that was intense." She smiled weakly.
Draco sat down next to her, "I thought you weren't afraid of my father?"
"I'm not afraid of him, but that doesn't mean that it didn't take everything I have not to do something foolish in front of him. So what business do you think he has with Snape?" Alex wanted to change the subject.
"I haven't got any real ideal, maybe he's asking Snape to make sure that no one from Slytherin bothers you." Draco shrugged and stood up, helping Alex up too. "I hope meeting your father won't be like that."
"I can most assure you that it will not be even remotely like that." Alex smiled wickedly, "Now kiss me Draco, make me forget the intensity of meeting your father."
Draco grinned from ear to ear before he pressed himself closer to Alex, backing her into the wall and kissed her with a burning passion that he felt nothing could smother. The kiss went on for what seemed like to be forever to the two of them and it was only broken when they both heard a blood curdling scream. Draco moved his head away from Alex's and they both turned towards the source of the sound.
It was Pansy and she was shrieking like a banshee. It was only after a while that they heard words in those shrieks, she was screaming at Alex, "He's mine," over and over again. Draco stood protectively in front of Alex, but fortunately he didn't have to do anything. The noise had roused the suspicion of Professor Snape and Lucius Malfoy, so the two men had come out of the dungeon to investigate the sound.
Snape noticed Alex and Draco only a few seconds before Lucius did, "The two of you, go now!" Snape had snapped at them and they were only too happy to oblige.
They were still within range when they heard Snape shout at Pansy to get a hold of herself. The two of them ran up the stairs and back out into the courtyard, thankful to not have heard anything else that might have been said to or from Pansy.
"Well, at least now we don't have to worry about anyone else telling Pansy." Alex laughed hard as she sat down on the bench they were at before they left.
"How can you be so calm about this Alex?" Draco laughed with her though.
She shrugged, "I told your father the only thing that scares me is dark and alone, Pansy doesn't phase me because I have you... a light and a hand to hold... being blind was the only thing I was afraid of... but I'm not blind anymore."
Some leaves crunched, the two of them looked up. It was only Harry, Hermione, Ron and Lavender so they relaxed a little bit.
"You two look tense." Hermione stated.
"Who us? Why would we be tense? I've only just met Draco's father, been treated like an incompetent child, been accepted by Draco's father after showing how brave I am, and then made out in the corridor only to realize too late that Pansy was watching, so now I'll have an enemy for life... but I'm not tense." Alex responded
"What?" Harry and Ron asked in unison.
"While we were sitting here, I received a letter from my father telling me to take Alex to Snape's office, once we got there, we noticed that my father was there too. He was very rude and insulting to Alex, but she responded every time with the same amount of acid in her voice that he had in his and he respected that. He admitted to thinking that she was the type of woman that I needed to be with instead of someone like Pansy. He even offered to write Alex's family to formally ask permission for me to marry her, Alex refused with good reason. My father and Snape still had business to discuss, so we were allowed to go on our way. Alex and I stopped in the corridor, I kissed her, maybe a bit more... passionately... than before and Pansy saw us and screamed like a banshee. Snape and my father came to see what was making that awful noise and told the two of us to leave, so we did and now here we are again... so yes, we're a bit tense." Draco explained.
"One hell of a day then, eh Alex... you see your boyfriend for the first time this morning, you tell your best friends about your boyfriend, you meet your boyfriend's father, get offered to be your boyfriend's wife and make a new enemy all within maybe six hours... that has got to be some kind of record." Ron chuckled, which made Alex and Draco feel a lot better about the situation.
Alex looked at Ron, "Way to sum that one up Ron... glad that we didn't have to spell everything out for you. Being with Lavender must be giving your brain a boost... I say you keep her even if only her being around improves your comprehension skills."
Everyone laughed, knowing that Alex was joking around and glad that no one was hurt, except for maybe Pansy, but that thought just made everyone laugh harder.
"So what are you going to do about Pansy though?" Lavender asked the question that she thought was probably on everyone's minds.
Alex shrugged slightly, "That depends on exactly what she does when she comes after me. Although, I more than likely won't do anything, but I do have permission to write to Draco's father about her if she bothers me, but in all honesty, I don't plan on letting her get to me."
"I would crush her personally, if it were me..." Lavender looked around at everyone's faces, "what? If someone threatened me, I would destroy them first... stop looking at me like that, I'm just being honest."
Alex laughed, "That's why I said it depends on what she does to me... I just don't expect her to be all that imaginative in her revenge against me. The way I see it is she probably won't do anything that isn't just petty girlish nonsense... but if she moves into extremes, then so will I."
Draco kissed her hand, "This is why both my father and I say that you would do well in my family... no point in disgracing your name for petty matter, but once matters get serious, then it's all business. You really would have been great in Slytherin."
"Well then maybe you should have introduced yourself to me that day in Ollivander's and then I might have been in Slytherin." Alex stated nonchalantly.
Draco looked as confused as everybody else, "What day in Ollivander's? I'm sure that I would have remembered you if I ever saw you."
"You went in to ask Ollivander to take a look at your wand because it was sluggish, slow to respond to even the simplest of spells. I was the girl at the counter, getting my very first wand." Alex smiled, "You probably thought I was just a first year at the time."
The look that went across Draco's face was one of recognition, "I did think you were just a first year," he said sadly, "I didn't even bother to ask you."
Alex squeezed his hand reassuringly, "Don't worry about it Draco. Any other person would have thought I was a first year too, seeing as I was buying my first wand... no one expects a fourth year to be getting their first wand."
"How did you recognize him anyway Alex?" Harry asked casually.
Alex blushed a little, "He still smells the same way now as he did that first day I heard him, plus his voice hasn't changed either. Being blind you get used to identifying places, people and things by senses other than sight."
"Wait? What do I smell like to you?" Draco looked surprised.
"You smell like raspberries and mint. Which I've noticed smells more strongly around your head, so I figure raspberry shampoo and mint toothpaste." Draco looked at her baffled, "Am I wrong?" She asked innocently.
Draco shook his head, "My mother makes all of our shampoo, raspberry scented, but she makes mine less strongly scented."
"Apparently not as unscented as you had hoped," Ron interrupted, "if Alex can smell it without any issues."
"I like it though," Alex interjected, "raspberries and mint are two of my favorite smells and flavors. A lot of my fondest memories have some association with one or both of those scents."
"I guess I should count myself fortunate enough that my girlfriend likes how I smell then, maybe I'll write to my mother to see is she can make a special blend for you with both raspberry and mint in one bottle. She also makes lotions and creams, all sorts of girly things with whatever scent the person wants." Draco expressed sincerely.
"Anything that she might be willing to make for me, I'd be more than willing to pay her for." Alex was excited about the prospect of her favorite scents being made for her, no matter what it might cost.
Draco chuckled softly, "She wouldn't make you pay for them, they would be a gift since you and I are together. I'm sure my father has already told her all about you anyway, that is if he's gone home yet and if not, I'm sure he's probably written home to tell her about you."
Alex wasn't sure if she thought that was a good thing or not, but she was going to take it as a positive sign if Draco's father was making her feel welcome into the Malfoy family. She was about to say something back to Draco when she noticed that Professor Snape was walking in their direction. Everyone turned to look and see what caught Alex's attention, most of them surprised to see the teacher walking in a brisk pace towards their group.
Snape stopped directly in front of Alex, "I'd like to have a word with you right now, Miss Draven, in my office."
Alex gripped Draco's hand before she stood up and followed behind the Potions Master as he walked inside the school. She wasn't sure if she should try and make conversation or not, so she simply decided to keep her mouth shut until they were in the office. She was just hoping that he wasn't going to punish her for what happened earlier with Pansy, but knowing Snape's reputation, she wasn't sure of anything that he would or wouldn't do to a student. She was however surprised when they got into his office simply because he had offered her a seat close to the fireplace.
"I know that you are probably wondering why I called you into here," Snape's voice seemed warmer somehow.
Alex didn't know what to say, so she just nodded at the teacher in front. Snape offered her a mug of something that looked a lot like hot chocolate and she cautiously took it from his hand. She took a small sip to test the drink, as soon as she realized it was actually what it seemed, she took a bigger drink. Snape smiled slightly at her and drank from his own mug.
After he finished a drink, Snape spoke to her, "You are in here because Lucius has taken a keen interest in you, and as one of his closest friends, it is my responsibility to look after you..." Alex opened her mouth but was cut off before she could say a word, "I know that you think you don't need anyone looking out for you, but I must warn you that Miss Parkinson has taken an extreme disliking to you, and while she may seem like her head is just full of fluff, her father does know some fairly powerful spells that he is bound to teach his daughter once he finds out that his daughter no longer has the favor of the Malfoy heir. I brought you in here to ask for your permission to teach you some more advanced defensive spells."
Alex sipped the last of her drink, wiped her mouth and then responded. "Honestly sir, maybe Pansy's father should just ask Draco whether or not she even had his favor to begin with, because I'm fairly certain the answer would be a big resounding no. However, I do understand the need to learn to protect myself and I would be a fool to not take advantage of your offer, whether or not I actually need the extra protection is a mute point as it is better to be safe than sorry. So... when do we start?"
Snape smiled genuinely at her, "I'm glad to see that you aren't unreasonable like most students your age. Learning extra defensive spells is always a good thing, as for when do we start, I thought that we could begin lessons in three days and then continue them every Tuesday and Thursday an hour after dinner... if that works for you, I did check to make sure the times wouldn't conflict with any of your classes in any way."
Alex nodded slightly, "Three days puts it the day after Christmas, so that works as well as every Tuesday and Thursday. I see no problem with that schedule, but what happens if you run out of spells to teach me?"
"You plan to excel on every spell in the first try?"
"I certainly hope to properly cast every spell on the first try, but realistically, I imagine that I would at least need maybe two to three lessons on the same spell before I fully get it." Alex grinned, "I'm fairly proficient in casting spells, even Professor Flitwick will agree with that."
"I have seen your grades in your classes thus far and yes, I do agree that you are proficient, however, the spells that I will be teaching you are at levels of magic much higher than what you are currently used too. Which I suspect is the reason why you're willing to give yourself a few lessons in order to learn them, but we will see how long each will take you, and if you do well enough with each spell and prove yourself to not be a blundering idiot on them, then I am in a position to award you more House points depending on how well you perform." Snape chuckled softly, "Now that we've discussed this, you are free to go let Mr. Malfoy know that not only have I not abducted you, but that I've also offered to teach you new spells. I'm sure he is probably nervous and worried that his father asked me to dispose of you... I wouldn't be surprised if he not only is pacing around in circles, but knowing him, he's probably doing so out in the corridor outside of this office."
Alex smiled at the image, "Good point, he probably is worried and thank you Professor Snape, I really appreciate all that you're doing for me."
Snape smirked and waved her out of the room. She walked out of the office and into the corridor. Low and behold, there was Draco, pacing around like a lost little puppy looking for his owner. Draco stopped his pacing when he heard footsteps and he looked up from the ground to see Alex standing there smiling at him.
"Alex!" He ran to her and hugged her tightly, "I thought something bad was going to happen to you in there, you were gone for so long and I wasn't sure if my father had asked Snape to do something horrible to you. The others tried to reassure me that nothing bad would happen to you while you were on school grounds, but they don't know my father like I do, so I pretty much rushed down here to make sure that I wouldn't have to get a teacher in trouble, or more importantly, that I wouldn't have to try to kill him if he hurt you."
Alex laughed so hard that her sides hurt, "Oh Draco, that's sweet in a really strange way, but no. All Snape did was offer to teach me some advanced defensive spells on the chance that Pansy tries to attack me with any extreme curses or hexes." She kissed him softly on the lips, "I'm fine and I will be fine, your father was the one who suggested Snape teach me, so nothing to worry about."