Story title: Memoirs of a lost soul
Author: Yukaya
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the main character and certain parts of the plot, not everything. All the rest belongs to JK Rowling and the editors/publishers/etc of the Harry Potter series.
Pairings: Irmada/Draco
Summary: We all know what happens to the trio in all seven books. Now, how about a look at what it felt like to be the "bad guys" having love issues…
Author's note: Chapter five is up ^_^! Again… REVIEW ^_^! If you want to criticize, go ahead, but make it useful, k? By the way, here's a long chapter to make up for posting late. Enjoy ^_^.
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Chapter 5: First encounter
The next morning, I awoke feeling somewhat lighter than the day before, when the stranger had come to see me in the forest behind the zoo. Moving rapidly, I got out of bed, performed my daily ritual in the bathroom, and headed downstairs to the private dining room where my parents and older brother were having breakfast.
"Irmanda!" scolded my mother. "Where have you been all this time? Your father and I need to talk to you."
"Yes, mother." I replied.
"You shall listen carefully and shall not say a word until I have said all what I wish to say, understood?" My father spoke in a cold voice, that which made it clear that my existence would be threatened dare I speak a word.
"Yes, father" I said, almost whispering from the fear
"Good." he snapped. "Today, we are going to see a good friend of mine, one with whom I have professional relations which should not be doubted by him. This man offers me a great deal of trust and money, and if that was to be troubled, I shall never forgive the person whose fault it was. Do you understand, Irmanda? We will see a man that can put all our lives on the line if we dare offend him in any way or form possible. Thus, I order you to keep quiet at all times, sit still, and only answer by saying small phrases such as "Yes, sir" or "Yes, madam". Furthermore, we will be sitting in the dining room, so I want you to leave the room and be gone well out of earshot when you are asked to do so. I hear they have a son five years older than you are. You shall sit with him at all times; he will know when to leave the area and where to take you. You are to follow him around the manor and do as he wishes. Brake any of these rules and your very life will be at stake. Do I make myself clear?"
The way he spoke was terrifying. Throughout his speech, I listened very carefully to what he said and learned it all by heart. He said I would be meeting this man's son, but I wasn't interested in him. I didn't understand why they were taking me to see these people if my presence was so unwanted I was to fake a silent death. It was a silent death after all. I could neither talk, whisper, go where it pleased me to go, or sit next to whom I wished. For you, dear reader, it is difficult to imagine how a girl my age could be so suppressed by her family. After all, I was barely twelve years old but was still treated as if I was only two; like it mattered to tell me to keep quiet or to sit still, like I didn't already know that. I soon came to understand that that was simply how life went when you were born in a rich family. The wizarding world was a difficult place to live in if you were rich, especially if you were a rich teenage girl, daughter of a very important and very rich man. However, being rich didn't stop your father from yelling at you and hitting you, even at the age of twelve.
Despite my having a shivering cold body that was paralyzed from fear of my father, I was able to whisper a soft "Yes, father, as you wish", allowing me to sit at the table and start on my breakfast. My brother left a few minutes later saying he had work to do. This, of coarse, meant he would not be there during tonight's meeting with this other my father so deeply feared. You think I didn't care about making a mess at that reunion? You're probably right, but I had to control myself, at least until I was safely locked up in my dreams with my dear friend again.
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I looked at the manor in full admiration as our carriage pulled to a halt at the bottom of a long marble staircase leading to the front door of the Malfoy Manor. I assumed Lucius Malfoy was the man my father had spoken of that morning. The door opened slowly, revealing a witch, who had to be Narcissa Malfoy, and a wizard, whom I guessed to be her husband Lucius. My parents descended first from the carriage. As I followed them, I thought I caught a glimpse of a blond head running after a brown one inside the manor. However, I couldn't look any further, seeing I had to say hello to our night's hosts. After the formalities were over, we headed inside the manor and our evening began.
There was no one at the table apart from the Malfoy couple, my parents, and me at the table. Once we finished our meals, Narcissa accompanied my mother to another room for a chat and my father asked me to leave and go look for Mr. Malfoy's son. I wasn't too enthusiastic about this new encounter but I knew too well what any disobedience would cost me. So I left to fetch this Malfoy boy. I wondered if he was one of those who were running after each other when I had first arrived. Funnily enough, I soon found out. Just as I turned around the next corner, I bumped into someone. Looking up, I saw it was a young man, about sixteen years old. He was taller than me by a head or two and had brown hair and grey eyes, one of the most enchanting pair of grey eyes I had ever seen. He seemed distracted at first, looking around him as if trying to get away from someone or something. Then, realizing my presence, he calmed down, fixed himself up a little, and put a smirk on his face. Seeing the traces of sweat on his face it was obvious to me that he had been running. As he looked towards me in such interest I couldn't help but blush.
"Hey there" he said, still smirking and looking me up and down. "I've never seen you here before." He seemed to be so confidant in himself. Or at least he had to be, in order to be looking at me like that, as I f I was the prey and he the predator. "Are you the daughter of that old man we're hosting today?" I gave a slight nod. "I knew it. Only girls belonging to intelligent men like him could be as good-looking as you, my lady. Now, how about some fun. Come, I'll take you to my room – third floor, first chamber on your left. I'm always up there." He said, smiling.
His look became more intense as he began to approach me. Suddenly I felt an urge to flee, but something held me back, nailing my feet to the floor. I just stood there as his hand took hold of my right cheek and his face approached mine. I only managed to whisper a low "wait" which made his smile become even wider, and slowly he continued to move in on me until his lips were impossibly close to mine. Suddenly a yell, which sounded something like "Derek", made him look up and made me jump a few inches back. I quickly turned on the spot to see where this sound had come from. It was a boy. A tall, pale, thin, blond-haired boy. He was in his early teens – about two or three years older than I was – and he was gorgeous. I had never seen such beauty in a man. In fact, I had never seen this man before, yet I felt I knew who he was. He stood there a few feet away from us, slightly bent forward, breathing heavily. He was frowning and his hands were curled into big fists at his sides. He looked angry and I finally realized what the brown-haired boy had been running from.
"Derek." His tone was softer, yet his anger was obvious. "What on earth do you think you're doing? You know you're not to approach her. What were you thinking? You could have gotten all of us in trouble! You know that, don't you?"
The moment he spoke, I recognized his voice, the only thing he had not changed about himself the first time we met. He was the person from my dreams. He tried to contain his anger but was failing miserably at it. Obviously, he was not used to controlling his emotions, nor was he used to controlling his facial expressions, seeing the way he looked at Derek and me. The latter just looked blankly at him as if he was some sort of an alien. Then, in a somewhat childish way, he gave a little sigh and said:
"Oh, why do you always have to spoil all the fun in life? Well, I suppose I can't have you after all then, can I?" I blushed, this last sentence being directed to me. "I'll be off then. You know where to find me." He ended this sentence with a wink meant for me to receive and for the blond-haired boy to see.
"Just leave, will you?" said the pale boy insistently.
"Alright, alright. Hold your horses, shrimp face." He said, walking past me, disappearing from sight behind the large a large marble column.
"Well, I hope you're happy." He said frowning.
"Happy about what?" I asked, feeling blamed for a crime I had not committed.
"You have no I idea what your carelessness could have cost us, do you?" he replied
"No, I don't have any idea what's wrong with you, and I don't know why you're so angry at me." I said, my voice rising. "However, I do believe I was the least careless possible. All I did was follow my father's orders. He told me to go look for Mr. Malfoy's son, and that's what I did. Now can you please explain to me how this, of all things, can be proof of my so-called carelessness because, apparently, I'm failing to understand?"
We stood there for a short while, both staring and frowning at one another. I was scared of him, yet I stood my ground, refusing to move or take my eyes off of him. Then, with a deep sigh, he took a step backwards, putting a hand on his forehead, shading his closed eyes. As he opened them again, I finally saw their color: a soft nuance of grey that seemed to pull me in the longer I looked at him. Surely enough, the tension had slightly diminished.
"I'm sorry I overreacted." He apologized with such delicatessen. "I guess I was just angry with him."
"Him? I asked. "Oh, you mean Derek, right? Who is he anyway?"
"My cousin. He's the most stupid, worthless, indiscrete, cowardly…" but I cut him off.
"Alright, I understand." I said smiling. "But he didn't seem so bad to me." He looked at me with one eyebrow raised. "Well, alright, maybe a little." he chuckled "It's good to see you smile." I said joyfully. "I was beginning to think you could only frown and yell, but apparently not. There is a good side in you after all." At the sound of this last sentence he looked at me in shock. Realizing the expression his face bore, he straightened his face out and finally decided to present himself.
"I'm Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy." He gave a deep bow and held his hand out for me to take.
"Pleased to meet you, Draco" I said, shaking his hand with a little curtsey. "I'm Armanda Driggador, daughter of Olivia and Armando Driggador. I expect you know them, since they seem to know you well. They said I was to come and find you."
"I see." He said, sounding thoughtful. "Let's go somewhere else, I hate being on this floor."
I nodded in accordance to this proposition and then we were off. We moved down the majestuous staircases, past the scary goblin statues, and along the winding corridors, down into the depths of the Manor. The whole time we walked side by side, talking, even laughing together. We came to a halt in front of an enormous door which led out to the gardens. Looking around I realized that these were the vastest gardens I had ever been in. It pleased me, since I was a very nature-loving person. I walked around this prestigious layout of plants and various greens, including all types of trees and bushes. I was fascinated by the variety of plants exposed all around me. I turned to look at him. He was a few feet away from me, watching me intensely. I went up to him.
"Your gardens are beautiful." I stated
"Yeah" he replied no enthusiasm whatsoever showing in his voice.
"You live in the most magnificent mansion in the whole world yet you don't seem to like it." I told him
"It's hard to like it when you're only living there to avoid being taken away from your family by another one." He replied dully.
"What do you mean?" I asked, all of a sudden becoming more and more interested.
"I'm my father's only heir. So I'm the one who's going to inherit all of this: the mansion, the gardens, his money, everything. If I don't inherit him, my cousin will because that's what my grandfather wrote in his will. That's the only real reason I exist."
"I see" I said calmly. He started to look irritated, so I decided to let this conversation drop for his own peace of mind.
"So, where's the most interesting place around here?"
"Come. I'll show you." He told me, standing up. The smirk that now shown on his face told me something … was about to happen.
He took me back to the mansion. We walked and talked for almost an hour by the time we reached the place he was talking about. We stood in front of a large door on the third floor. I had a sudden jolt of wariness as I remembered my first encounter with the person who now awaited me on this very floor. I wished the thought away from my head only to find that it was the most stubborn one I had ever had. It finally went away when Draco opened the door – which protested with a high squeak – and told me to come in. My eyes widened in admiration as I crossed the doorstep into the unknown room. Of coarse, I expected it to be beyond beautiful, but saying that would be an understatement.
We walked further into the dark-lit chamber – he stayed behind me so as not to be in my way – as I contemplated the incredibly detailed and subtle embroideries sewn into the thick curtains hanging down from the high ceiling and walls. They were colored in black, red and silver on black cloth the length of the stone walls they covered. Though a grand chandelier hung from the ceiling, the only source of light in this room was a gathering of candles shaped in various traditional forms – short and thick and tall and thin. The dim lighting gave me a somewhat reassuring impression of this room, despite the fact that it made it hard to see even half of its contents. Despite the darkness I somehow felt at ease. There was a wooden desk – with one chair behind it and two in front of it – standing in the far back of the room, facing the door. I slowly walked over to the desk without really knowing what I was thinking. Draco was suddenly at my side, a worried expression faintly visible on his pale face. I figured I was just so absorbed by the beauty of the ornaments decorating the room that I had forgotten all about him, not to mention his deep, maybe even frustrating silence. He continued to stare at the floor like a child who had something to confess to his parents. I moved closer to him to see his face, expecting him to back away like most shy people tend to do. I guessed I was wrong about him being an introvert. He stayed silent and still as a statue, still staring at the floor with great interest. After a while, I looked away, back at the desk. A glistening object laid carefully on it had caught my attention when the light coming from one of the candles brushed across it in a ghost-like way.
The shiny object was a long, silver table cloth that was piled carelessly – still looking like a piece of art and matching with the curtains nonetheless – on the desk, flowing over the side, almost touching the ground. Black satin laces were gently embroidered into the thin silver velvet. It was so overly beautiful that it could only belong to a family like the Malfoy's. I reached out to touch it gently with the tips of my fingers, caressing the length of the soft cloth. I was aware of Draco's intense eyes focused on my face but decided not to react. He continued to stare at me and his gaze fell on the hand that was still tracing the borders of the satin. Very slowly, his hand moved towards mine. He seemed quite hesitant and, failing to understand his intentions, I stood almost motionless, my fingers still delicately tracing the contours of the cloth. He seemed to rethink what he was doing and took several steps back towards the wall behind him.
"Maybe we should go." He said in a low voice, staring at the floor.
I nodded once and we left the room. I threw a last glance at the cloth that covered the desk before retreating out of the dark chamber. For a reason I was yet to learn, I felt somewhat attracted to that piece of cloth, as if it were somehow mine, as if it had belonged to me in a previous life and had been taken away from me by force. Now I was being reunited with my long lost cloth, after so many years of solitude, and I couldn't even take it back home with me despite the obvious need I felt for it to be mine again. Of course, this was just a feeling, nothing more yet it still seemed so real to me. I shrugged away from the thought and followed Draco out of the room, down the stairs and back into the gardens, which led us to the main entrance again. Suddenly, a new thought came into my head.
"Why?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Why what?" he said stiffly.
"Why did you take me to that room?"
"Let it go, it doesn't matter."
"But I want to know. Please?" I tried, with my best pleading expression this time.
"It doesn't matter" he insisted.
"Okay…for now" I wasn't ready to be defeated and I wanted the answer to my question!
After that, we walked around in silence for a long while until our parents came out of the study, finishing the conversation they were all visibly happy to leave behind. Draco and I stood waiting for them by the main entrance, without addressing a single word to each other, both facing a different direction. Mr. Malfoy looked our way and frowned at his son for a second before whispering calmly to his wife who equally looked disappointed. My parents did the same. I wondered what about Draco and I was so worthy of their fierce expressions, like we would truly regret something after they were done with us. I kept my mouth shut, since I definitely wasn't in a rush to find out what had gone wrong.
Draco had looked up to greet his parents but immediately looked back at the floor after seeing the ferocity that lingered deep in his father's eyes. This was obviously a day none of us would forget.
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Okaaaaaaay ^_^ Phew! That was long! Hahah ^_^ Anyways, tell me what you think =D If you have any suggestions, go ahead and tell me…Remember: constructive criticism is always welcome ;) lol
See you guys for the next chapter and I'm looking forward to reviews ;)
