I went into another room and left Draco where he was in the kitchen. I had to wonder what the hell his problem was. I pulled back the wood covering on the piano that was sitting by a window. I recalled taking lessons from a Muggle woman when I was a little girl. The memory made me smile. I tried to remember how to play the song from a practice book that I used to love, but continuously messed up. I sighed in disappointment when I realized it wasn't coming back to me like it did in my head. I felt like I was being watched. I stared out the window but saw no one. I kept trying to play the song from memory. "No, that's not it," I said to myself in frustration. I kept feeling like I was being watched, but when I looked again out the window, no one was there. Then I caught a reflection in the glass. I could just make out Draco's eyes. I didn't acknowledge him when he sat beside me on the piano bench. I kept on trying to play my song, but I stopped when Draco's cold hand lightly touched mine, taking over the keys I had been using. He began to play and it was a beautiful somber tune. I placed my hands in my lap and watched in some amazement as Draco's pale, slender fingers moved deftly over the keys like agile spiders, never missing a note. I looked up at Draco's face to see that his eyes were closed, as they often were, and wondered how he was managing to keep playing so perfectly without seeing. The song must've gone on for about four minutes before Draco stopped. He turned slowly and looked at me.
"Where did you learn to play like that?" I asked.
"Javier. He knows many things. It's why I've kept him around."
"You don't trust him, though."
Draco looked at me in shock.
"Why would you think that?" He asked.
"Earlier, you thought he'd hurt me," I said, looking at my bandaged hand.
"And the only reason you kissed me in front of him was to make him jealous," I explained. Draco glared.
"Like I told you earlier, don't ever do that again."
"There's something we need to talk about," he said.
"I don't want to talk to you," I said simply, starting to stand, but Draco's grasp on my arm stopped me. I sighed.
"Javier was asking me why you're not yet a legitimate part of the collective," Draco began. My pulse quickened.
"Collective?" I asked, though I knew perfectly well what he was referring to.
"And many others are wondering the same thing," Draco finished.
"I'm not becoming a Death Eater."
"I honestly can't force you to do this, Angelina," he said, "because one has to be completely willing in order for the initiation to work. It is a blood bond that is older than most magic. I've only been able to buy time on your initiation based on the fact that we've just been wed. Everyone thinks we're on holiday," Draco finished.
"Why do you think I'd ever be willing to become a dirty Death Eater, Draco?"
"...As far as I'm concerned, you owe me for saving your life."
"I don't owe you shit—"
"If I were you, I'd be interested merely for the sake of survival," Draco said honestly.
"So, you really think the Armageddon is coming, and you really think evil is going to win?"
Draco leant close to my face and I felt a cold little breeze.
"Can you not see that I'm actually saving your life?" he asked me seriously.
"What? Why would you give a dragon's ass about me?" I asked just as gravely. Draco sat up straight, looking away from me and out the window.
"You know that it's way too late for me to let you go," he said, "I've made this mistake and now you are a part of it." It was almost as if he weren't speaking to me, but I knew that he was.
"I can't protect you for long if you do not comply," he said somewhat sinisterly, looking back at me.
"Why would you even be doing any of this? It almost sounds like...like you care. But you're a Death Eater, Draco." He looked away again.
"...It's why you're so cold, isn't it?" I said. Draco closed his eyes and was silent.
"Isn't it?" I asked.
"You really want to know why I didn't kill you..."
I stared at him, waiting desperately.
"Somehow, you've warmed me. Somewhere deep down...I do not know what was so different about you that caused me to hesitate in killing you, when there are hundreds of innocents I've ruthlessly murdered, Muggle and magical alike."
He opened his clear eyes.
"I could let you go, and you could go back to Boston and resume your other life among Muggles, but it wouldn't play out well, Angelina."
"And you want to know why, Draco?" I asked angrily. He merely looked at me, waiting for me to continue.
"You had my death faked! Everyone I've ever known thinks I'm never coming back."
"Even if I let you go," Draco retorted, "they'd find me out as a traitor and have you tortured; there are worse things than death." As Draco went on, the coldness about him intensified and hit me relentlessly. His eyes went black, as if the pupils had dilated completely, and there was a literal chill which blew his hair slightly.
"And if it were me calling the shots of your fate, I'd have each and every one of the people you've ever cared about slaughtered before your eyes like cattle."
At that moment, I felt absolutely horror stricken. I stood up away from Draco's coldness. As far as I was concerned, he was the seed of evil. But as I backed away, his expression sombered and he dropped his head silently, looking as though he were tormented by something. For a moment there, I could've sworn he was as empty as a dementor.
"I warn you, be wise," Draco said in a flat, deep voice. And then I ran upstairs, and kept running until I made it to my room and slammed the door. Draco wasn't going to hurt me. He wasn't even coming up after me, and I knew that, but I was still mortified. I didn't know what to do. I just sat on my bed numbly for a few hours, sporadically getting up and pacing, staring at the moon outside. It must've been one in the morning when I finally came to a conclusion. I was going to try and convince Draco to get help. It couldn't have hurt, I thought, as I'd come to believe him insightful that he was in the wrong. I opened my door slowly.
"Draco?" I had to turn lights on. I wasn't even sure Draco was still in the house.
"Draco?" I called again. I walked slowly down the hall and felt a breeze. I turned around, thinking it would be Draco, but instead I realized the window was open, letting in wind. I rushed over and shut it. It was somewhat chilly. I began to get annoyed trying to find Draco, until finally I stopped in a room I hadn't really observed before. I turned on the light to find a room which was styled much like my own, except it had a much bigger bed, one meant for two people. It looked as though it had never been used. I stepped into the room and walked over to the bureau where a chair was pulled away from the vanity mirror. I noticed a wand sitting on the smooth wood. It was Draco's.
"I didn't think you'd have wanted to be forced to share a room with me," he said, and I jumped, having been startled. Draco was standing no more than four feet behind me, near the mirror. He definitely hadn't come in through the door and I wondered oddly for a moment if he'd actually been inside the mirror.
"Don't sneak up on me," I said, clutching my chest.
"You're the one in my room," he said plainly, crossing his arms.
"I know you're going to try and find a way out of this, Angelina, but I'm telling you, there isn't one. You'll become a Death Eater, or die."
"…Well, then, I'm sorry you didn't just murder me when you had the chance," I said sternly, turning for the door, but before I even full turned around, Draco was in front of me.
"Angelina, now I'm begging you to do this. I…I wouldn't have wanted to get this far only to have you killed."
"What are you talking about, 'get this far?' Is this some kind of joke to you?" I asked.
"No, it's not," he snapped impatiently, cornering me. And by that point I was literally in the corner, taking a step back with each step that Draco took towards me.
"There's so much power within you. I can see it. Don't throw it all away because you believe in good and evil. You can be a part of something greater," Draco said, lowering his voice to a whisper.
"Stop right there," I said, motioning with my hands. Draco stood still.
"You could be much more powerful than you've ever been," Draco said coaxingly.
"I don't want to be cold like you," I said just as quietly. Draco frowned. Not knowing why, I took a step forward and closed the gap between us. Draco merely looked down at me with confused eyes as I reached towards his face slowly. As my hand got nearer, it became colder. My hand was so close it nearly touched Draco's cheek and he lowered his head somewhat, anticipating contact. It was all very awkward. Draco closed his eyes, and I didn't touch him, yet he was waiting, holding his breath. The ring on my finger glowed again for what I realized to be the first time in days, but as I retracted my hand, it faded out until it was once again a plain whitish, near transparent stone. I brushed past Draco, leaving him standing where he was, head declined, waiting for my touch.