A/n: Hey! HAPPY NEW YEAR GUYS!
Sorry this is late for a day.:)
New year was such a hectic day and... well...
Okay, I'm sorry.
Try to avoid being late.
But gosh, what a roller coaster life is.
Couldn't help it.
Sorry.
By: Aningme
Chapter 8
Dilemma: The Sequel
It was all a blur.
Just a moment earlier, they were just watching TV and digging on some popcorn on a family movie. And now, they're running through a crowd in the hospital where her friend was working. She hadn't understood the whole story of what happened. Just when she heard Harvey pronounce the word 'accident' on the phone, she was in a dead run.
She would be damned if something happened to Hermione.
And to the baby.
Finally reaching the hallway where the room was, Ginny and Seamus walked slowly towards the door. She didn't know what to think or expect on the other side of the room.
But when she saw Draco, leaning over Hermione's belly, his cheek resting on it, his eyes closed with her hands in his, she couldn't help it but spill big fat tears. They went through so much already… It kills her seeing them both suffer…
She knew Hermione planned to tell Draco of the news tonight. She knew about the surprise.
But everything ended up in a damned hospital. With a damn accident.
Regaining her composure, she waited with Seamus beside her until Draco noticed their presence through the door window.
Acknowledging them, he gave them a weak smile and let them in.
"Harvey called us. We heard about the accident." Ginny began; her voice so fragile, her eyes still drowned in tears.
"She'll be glad you're both here." Draco answered and managed to smile.
"Is she going to be alright?" Seamus asked; his arm wrapped around his shivering wife.
"I believe she will be. But it will take some time…" Draco explained, still holding her hand.
"I'm… Oh Merlin." Ginny turned into her husband's arms and wept. "I'm sorry… bugger… I shouldn't have talked her into giving you the news in the café." She sniffed and clutched her husband's shirt. "It's my fault."
"No." Draco muttered and watched as Seamus whispered in Ginny's ear, calming her. "It's not your fault. You didn't do anything."
"I'm sorry Malfoy… I… If I have known…"
"You haven't done anything." Draco pointed out. "Someone else did…"
"Can I help?" Ron suddenly interjected, entering the room. "Relina's outside with Harvey." He added, assuring Seamus and Ginny.
"Merlin… What did really happen? I don't understand…" Ginny asked, calming herself, finally.
Draco sighed and turned to Hermione. "A potion. It took only a potion to do this to her…" He caressed her lifeless hand and nudged a hip on her bed beside her. "A potion in dark arts methodology."
"What?" Ron furrowed his brows. "Is there such a thing still?"
"Who would do that? No body knows that kind of stuff now, now that the war is over." Seamus added.
"I do. I have mastered most of it through the years." Draco amended, practically admitted. Though he really didn't need to admit. Everybody knew it anyway. It had been the basic school gossip in Hogwarts in their time. Also a reason why everybody feared him. "But, I have never seen anything like this before… Such potions have different effects, either physically, mentally, or emotionally. But for now, they haven't found any effect. Except for the unconsciousness."
"They? The doctors know about the potion?" Ginny suddenly asked, bewildered.
"No. Mrs. Dubley does." Draco explained. "She's one of us."
"Good Merlin." Ron hissed. "What did she find out?"
"Cake." Mrs. Dubley suddenly replied, entering the room as if in cue. "It's the work of a cake."
"Cake?" Ginny furrowed her brows in confusion. "What cake?"
"Strawberry cake." Draco suddenly muttered in realization. "Strawberry cake. It's the… Damn all to hell."
"Yes, a strawberry cake." Mrs. Dubley furrowed her brows. "How did you know?"
"She was giving me one this morning. She was all acting weird about it and… Damn it." Draco cursed. "I didn't eat it. I left it in our fridge. I didn't know what the hell was in it."
"Narcissa Malfoy…" Ginny spat it. "I heard something about your mother coming over to your house and spooking both of you… But I never thought of her taking a step like this too far…"
"She was after me…" Draco mumbled, as if in a trance. "She was after me… not her…"
"Don't blame yourself, Malfoy. It will do no good if you blame it on yourself." Ron reminded, as if reading his mind, and stepped closer to look at Hermione. "What have she done?"
Draco closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "She won't get away with this." His voice suddenly turned from gentle to a dead, silent threat. "She won't..."
Narcissa Malfoy sat in one of the plush sofas in the extravagant living room in front of a roasting fire. She was getting anxious of what was to happen. The plan, and doing it, thrilled her, excited her. But the thought of endangering the life of her beloved child threatened her. She made sure the potion wasn't poisonous or deadly. She just wanted to fixate her son's life on hers.
She wanted her son back ever since her bastard husband took him from her. He took her chance to love her dear son and raise him with her embraces and love. He always hurt her, and if he was pissed off enough, beat their son too. She always begged him to stop, begged, like a worthless cockroach. She swore she would do anything to stop him from beating his son. But he would just laugh and spit on her face.
The kid has to learn, bitch. You know nothing of raising a child.
But he's just a boy…
The Dark Lord needs him.
You're hurting him!
He'll get used with it! Now shut up!
He always said it was for training. To serve the Dark Lord.
Where is your Dark Lord now? She almost laughed at that, and wanted to snicker at Lucius Malfoy.
But it would be impossible now, now that he's dead.
He won't bother her anymore.
Now, she could have her son back again, after taking his no good mud blood wife out of his life. He would forget about her. And their child.
It was all too easy.
How would one love a person if he doesn't even remember her?
It will only take a while to drive out Hermione Granger out of this house.
She never belonged to the Malfoy family, anyway.
She will never be.
Feeling contented, she drank down her glass of red wine and smiled at herself.
She was a damn genius.
"Madame," Harvey suddenly entered the double doors and slightly bowed at her.
"What are you doing here? I told you not to disturb me unless it's urgent." Narcissa snarled. "What do you want?"
"It wouldn't take a while, Madame." Harvey stared back at her face blankly, coolly. If only she could see his boiling blood underneath his façade. "It is urgent. Sir Draco needs you in his office."
Narcissa almost felt the slight tug of excitement in her heart with her son's name. All has begun. She mused. "Is something wrong with him?"
"No ma'am." Harvey wanted to curse her, seeing the excitement in her eyes. "He just requests of your presence in his office."
She suddenly felt her thrill shatter into pieces at the realization of the situation. "He wants me to see him in his office?"
"Yes ma'am." Harvey muttered, perfectly maintaining a blank face.
It was impossible. He should be unconscious by now if he took the cake. "Right now?"
"Yes, ma'am. If you would follow me?" Harvey gestured towards the doorway, and led her to his office.
Narcissa hesitantly stood up and followed him.
What went wrong? She thought, panic exploding in her head. He must not remember anything right now but me!
Entering his office, Draco Malfoy sat on his master chair and stared at her, stoically.
"Thank you, Harvey. That's all for now." Draco uttered and gestured for her to take a seat. His power vibrated from every corner of the room. His face was completely calm. Very threatening calm.
She didn't know what was coming. Harvey felt a little pity for her but crudely shrugged it off. Perhaps it had been so long since they had been together that she doesn't know his master's wrath. Wrath against people who bugs him. Wrath against people who sticks their noses to his businesses. Wrath against people who aggravates him. Wrath against people who took what was his. And what he loves.
"It's a surprise that you wanted to see me." Narcissa tried to hide her confusion with a smile; right after Harvey stepped out of the room. She always felt irritated around that butler of his. He should've fired him.
"Yes indeed." Draco muttered; his voice steady.
An awkward silence followed.
"You wanted to see me?" She spoke first, feeling uneasy.
Draco just stayed silent, reached out for his tube of vodka, and watched her through the rim of his glass.
It always struck her as he held her gaze with his eyes. He got that from his father, she thought, and barely managed to stare back at him.
It was such great power to make her feel uneasy with just a stare.
Nobody could do that to her before.
Only Lucius Malfoy.
It was that moment that she thought she loved him, when they were in the halls of Hogwarts, during their school days. He was just walking back. She was walking forth. And he just looked at her. Held her there as if he was setting her on fire. It was that powerful glance that took her heart to Lucius.
She loved him with all of her being. But he never did love her back. He just wanted her, married her, and when he got her, he just pushed her around like she was just a pet slave.
But she was free now.
And she could take the only thing that he left for her to love.
And now, there he was, staring at her, looking at her, just the way his father did.
Long, long years ago.
"You have something in your mind." She finally blurted, wanting escape from their staring game. She knew she was losing it.
And so did he. "You must be entirely surprised why I am still here." He straightforwardly answered, settling his glass back on the table.
Her smile was suddenly shattered. He knew. "What are you talking about?"
It was a lame reply. And she knew it. "Don't play games with me, Narcissa. You don't know who you are dealing with."
"I know you, Draco Malfoy. You happen to be my flesh and blood." She snapped back, her anger at her failure eating her gut.
"I may have come from you. But you don't know one bit about me." He said.
"You don't know what you're putting yourself into. That bitch you married is nothing for you! You should have thought of that before you did foolish things."
"Reality check, I have my own life. I built my own empire with my own hands. I made myself to whom I am now. And that bitch you're referring to happens to be the woman I love, and the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with."
"That's bullshit. You think you know a lot about marriage?"
"I may not know a lot about marriage, but don't worry, I won't let us end up like you and your husband."
That did it. "How dare you!" She sprang up to her feet, furious in every way. "I loved your father! I gave him my whole being! And what did he do? Huh? He ruined me!" Her eyes were bulging, big floppy tears shedding down her cheeks.
He slowly stood up too, his eyes baring her down. "Don't make him the reason for you to ruin mine."
"I ruined yours? I ruined your life? I was saving you from them!"
"My wife is in a damn hospital right now because of you!" He bellowed, his voice shaking the walls of the room.
"Oh, so she ate the cake." She laughed; a strained fat laugh. "Well then, this is much better, don't you think?"
"Damn you." He cursed. "You were after me."
"I was after you. You should be the one in that coma, forgetting everything else." She came around his desk and stepped up to him. "Everyone else. And you'd only remember me, and we'll live happily…"
"What do you want from me?"
"I love you Draco." There were more floods of tears flowing down her face. "I want to take care of you and love you the way I never had the chance to."
"That's bullshit." He retorted and stepped back. His heart was racing already, pumping and banging against his chest. "If you loved me, you'll let me live happily with the life I got myself."
"That's talking nonsense. You're wasting your life to a filthy girl and her useless child."
Draco just stood there, his temper finally blasting off in his head. He took his glass of vodka and smashed it across the wall. "You knew? You fucking knew?"
"She's vulnerable. She got herself pregnant to lock you with her. Once that child of hers is born, you'd have no chance of—"
"I love her! What part of that can't you understand!" He stepped forward and grabbed her shoulders, his nails digging in her flesh. With his anger visible on his face, she suddenly felt the same fear she had before… "If you loved my father, you would know…" There were threatening tears in his eyes now. "That's my child, mother… My family… Why couldn't you just let us happy?..."
Narcissa just stared at him, and wept. She loved her son. She told her herself that for a million times… But…
What have I done?
"Draco…" She sobbed, trying to reach for his face, but he stepped back, away from her reach, and turned his back away from her.
"The Ministry of Magic was reported about everything. You'll be escorted to Azkaban tomorrow morning."
"Draco…" She fell down on the floor and wept. She said nothing more.
He walked towards the double doors of his office, unnerved himself, and looked over his shoulder. "I never knew you love me this much. Thank you for that. But I have my family now. I have to take care of them." He said, and left the Ministry of Magic to take care of her.
Walking out on the streets, Draco took a walk through the park before going over the underground for the hospital. He walked over and replayed all that had happened just a few moments ago. Every single detail of it, slowly wearing him down.
Feeling tired, he stepped up over to a bench, the same bench where he and Hermione once talked. He remembered it was there where she cried, when he told her he was going away to Canada. It was there where he told her he was running away… A decision which caused their long separation.
With those memories in mind, he leaned over, propped his elbows on his knees, buried his face in his palms, and heaved a sigh. He didn't notice the single tear slipping from his eyes, dropping to the grassed ground.
He was miserable when he ran away from her and left her back then. He made a big mistake. A mistake he almost dreaded his whole life. He knew he loved her ever since then. You'll just know it, won't you? But every single day of the two years he spent without her, the truth was all but getting clearer. He didn't want her out of his life. He needed her more than anything else in the world…
And now, with their child in her womb, they are again separated in a very different way.
She wouldn't recognize her own husband when she wakes up.
She would forget everything that had happened.
She would forget she even loved a man named Draco Malfoy in her life.
And that their child, helpless in every way, is sleeping inside her, in her womb.
A/n: Tsk. Terrible life.
Messages. Right.ü
I wouldn't forget that.ü
caz-jket - Of course.ü I will give you more.ü
ashling - yeah... the worst is coming. Well, we can say it already came but... well, we'll see if it would end in a happy ending.ü I just hope you guys won't kill me for this.ü Last time... WHEW! people wanted to murder me.ü Heck, that's the life of writing stories.ü Until then!ü
xbl0ndi3- yeah, I also thought of evil lucius, good narcissa thing but... It just doesn't work out for me.ü So THIS happened.ü Ah... what a bummer... I really hate Lucius.ü Narcissa is fine but... I wanted a new angle for her.ü You think it's good?
Zarroc - Thanks for the review!ü Well, I hope that Hermione will be okay too... But with all of the incoming problems, I just hope she survives...ü Until next time then?ü
vytiri - I just hope you didn't catch my disease!ü I hope you get well soon.ü Uhm, well, narcissa will indeed go to Azkaban for all of that. But that's not the real trouble in here now. I just pity Draco for everything he'll go through..
evillizzy89 - She won't lose the baby.ü That, I promise you.ü
SpiritWell - Always missed you calling me by that name.ü Hm... about tha happy ending? Well, we'll see.ü
queenofthelameos- thanks for reviewing!ü Now we have two queens on board!ü Yay!ü
contagiousbeauty - I know it's horrible... I just hope I survive the story too!ü Anyway, thanks for reviewing.ü ALWAYS appreciate it.ü
Queen of Duct Tape - Well, life is such a busy thing to hold on to.ü But even so, glad you're still around.ü Will always appreciate it.ü
chatse-aeon - I love reading your reviews.ü I don't know... there's something in it that make it look different.ü I like it.ü Thanks so much.ü I'm glad to have you back again.ü Some of the other reviewers in Dilemma before are missing and... well... I feel kinda sad about that. But it doesn't matter.ü Sometimes the alerts here are just plain wrecked and sometimes, well, the story just sucks.ü But anyhows, Happy New year to you.ü And I am glad that you like the story.ü Until then?ü (PS: I will check out on your story.ü Promise.ü)
priyax3- thanks for the review.ü I'm really happy you guys actually like the conspiracy thing.ü It was actually from the story I wrote when I was really REALLY younger. As in a kid. And I just thought that it wasn't such a bad idea.ü glad you liked it.ü
Oh! And guys... HAPPY NEW YEAR AGAIN!ü