Javi made me dinner after he finished in the garden and at that point I had to ask him where the hell Draco had gone. Javi placed a fresh mug of coffee near my plate and sat down at the table beside me.
"I am not sure," he said simply, motioning over another mug and the coffee pot to pour himself a cup.
"He's jealous because he thinks I like you, and you know it," I said out rightly. Javi's ears reddened.
"He is a murderer, yet refuses to acknowledge it."
Javi looked surprised then, "You are my good friend's wife...why would you say he is a killer? Is he wrong for putting to an end a thief and troublemaker? It almost sounds like...you're not on the same page."
I realized with a pang of unease that Draco clearly hadn't spoken to Javier about me. Javi wasn't aware that I had no intention of becoming a Death Eater. I changed the subject before Javi's curiosity got the best of him.
"Where is my husband?" I had to sound believable.
"I thought I told you, I do not know," Javi said, taking a sip of coffee.
"It's late. You don't have to stay," I said. Javier smiled in a friendly way.
"He didn't want to leave you here alone. Not after Bateman. It's possible that this place is no longer so secret...Draco looked very uneasy before he left. I have a feeling it was not just about Bateman. Forgive me for prying, but is everything okay between the two of you?"
"Thank you, Javier," came Draco's voice from the door. Javi slowly stood, wondering as I just how much Draco had heard of our conversation.
"I'm sorry to have left like that, but you need not stay. I'm sure it will be fine," Draco finished. And I looked over at him for the first time to see that his cold gaze was on me.
"It was no trouble, brother," Javi said, "Again, I'm sorry that I led Bateman here. I don't know how he managed to—"
"It's alright. It wasn't your fault. I was trying to figure out the same thing myself by retracing his steps. Javier, it was no accident when he followed you here. Someone else is connected to this..."
"Are you sure?" Javi asked.
Draco nodded, stepping towards me. I stared down into the cup of coffee in front of me. Javi said something in Spanish. Draco answered him and I wasn't sure what he'd said. There was a soft breezing noise and Javi was gone. Draco stood behind me in silence.
"Are you ready to tell me why you're still here? I expected you would be gone by now," he finally said. I stood and made my way around the table, a safe distance from Draco.
"You shouldn't speak about me to Javier," he added.
"I'm still here, Draco, because I realized that this madness you've gotten me caught up in would follow me if I left, and I'd die if anyone I loved got hurt because of it," I said angrily. Draco threw off his black cloak and let it fall on the table.
"...Taking that off doesn't mean you aren't still a killer."
Draco cocked a brow, slowly starting around the table after me, so consequently, I kept moving around the table, away from him. Draco paused, and I stopped. His brows were pinched together in a frustrated manner. There was a breeze and Draco was no longer before my eyes.
"Stop lying to me," he said firmly into my ear. I settled for a gasp when I found him to be behind me, pressing me into the table so I was stuck. I felt his cold hand at my throat, and the long fingers merely traveled the length of my extended neck and paused at my chest, slightly to the left. Draco's hand pressed firmly there, somewhat on my breast, and I was preparing to kick him but paused when I felt my heart quickening.
"You're not scared," said Draco, and he was right, "I've killed enough to know what fear looks like, what it smells like...how it tastes...and certainly how it feels. And you are not afraid of me," he said quietly so near my ear that I bent my head sideways in faux disgust. I was kidding myself. Draco's other hand was firmly planted on my hip, and through the thinness of my dress, it was like his cold hand was touching my bare skin. I felt his breath at my neck, and it was warm. Draco's nose made contact with my skin and I turned round swiftly and moved away from him.
"Don't," I said firmly, closing my eyes, wishing I hadn't enjoyed how close he had been to me.
"Don't what?" came his voice gently. I felt his cold hand cup my chin and gasped. When I looked again, Draco's face was right at mine. He looked in my eyes, waiting.
"You're a killer," I said, pulling Draco's hand off my face and pushing him. I pushed him again, and soon found myself beating his chest. He looked at me with wide, bewildered eyes, though allowed me to continue.
"I wish you'd stayed out of my life!" I screamed, "You've gone and ruined it, you evil bastard," I screamed.
I pushed Draco with all the strength I had and finally he grabbed my wrists so tightly that it hurt. A solitary black tear rolled down Draco's dramatic expression, staining the white skin as it went. His hands were no longer cold. There was a different kind of expression on his face. I couldn't quite read it. I winced at how tightly he was holding my wrists, and his grasp lessened.
"Enough," he said silently, "Enough." The black tear that had come from Draco's eye stopped at his chin, waiting to drip off. I merely inhaled and Draco threw me back and I hit the wall hard before it was his body pinning me against it, his mouth coming down over mine like a trap of some kind. I couldn't breathe and I couldn't move. I felt as though the life was being sucked from me, but somehow it didn't hurt at all. In fact, it felt nice. After a few seconds I started to respond. I felt I was melting into Draco's frame when he propped me up against the wall and my leg slung about his waist. I held his head in both hands, brushing my fingers through his soft hair. He was so cold at first but then he was warmer to the touch when I grasped the back of his neck. Draco let me down a bit, backing away from the wall so that he was still holding me up and my legs were wrapped around his waist. He kept his eyes locked on mine before letting me stand and turning around, and then he knocked all the dishes clear off the table, grabbed me by the waist, and sat me there, his hands traveling under my dress and pushing the skirt back to expose my legs. I felt a shiver go through me as he pulled his fingers firmly down my bare back, stopping at the zipper where he pulled it down, all the while, kissing my forehead gently. I caught a glimpse of the shattered China on the floor, my barely eaten dinner cold and scattered about, and something made me want to stop. I grabbed Draco's wrists before he could pull my dress off, though what he was doing to me felt good and most of me didn't want him to stop. I looked up into his eyes and opened my mouth, but no words came out.
"You want the bed," Draco half asked, half stated. He started to pull me up off the table, and nearly had me in his arms before I objected and stood on my own. Draco kept stepping towards me with every step I took back. I put my hands firmly on his chest when I found my back against the wall again. Draco exhaled deeply. I shook my head.
"What are you so afraid of?" He asked, taking my hands away and moving in on me so that I was once again cornered. I ran my thumb across Draco's bottom lip and he closed his eyes, kissing it. I was vulnerable and I knew it. I took that moment in which Draco was lost at my touch to duck under his arm and disappear up to my room. I closed and locked the door, though I knew it wouldn't have stopped Draco from coming in if he wanted to. Gasping, I rushed to the bed and lay there. I *couldn't* bring myself to love him, not when he was capable of so much darkness. It was that alone which kept me from giving in. I didn't want to fall for him, but I was certainly falling, and I fell into a deep sleep whilst staring at the stone ring on my finger which was once again glowing brightly...
Tropical birdsong awoke me. I found that my door was still closed and locked upon going to open it. I left my room and went downstairs, waiting to happen upon Draco. But as I entered the kitchen, I came to find the smashed plates still on the floor. Draco hadn't bothered to clean up. I walked around the house and never found him as I sauntered from floor to floor. Then finally, I paused at his bedroom door. I knocked and waited, but no voice called to me. I knocked again, still silence. Slowly, I turned the handle. The shades were drawn and it was nearly dark. I tiptoed inside and stopped at the foot of Draco's bed. The blankets were pulled back and he was lying there halfway under the quilt. I stepped quietly around the bed and found myself standing on Draco's clothes. There was an empty bottle of Richebourg Grand Cru on the Persian beside his bed. Something told me that I had been the reason that bottle lay empty there. I looked down at Draco lying on his stomach. I was oddly relieved to find that he was breathing, yet ever so faintly. I leant down a ways to get a closer look. His arm lay asleep over the edge of the bed, where I imagined it to have fallen when he dropped the bottle of wine he'd been drinking. Draco's torso was exposed, revealing a pallor I found a bit shocking. If I hadn't known better, I would have assumed him to be dead. I gasped quietly when I noticed a black mess around his eyes. The pillow was stained in what looked like some sort of ink. And then I slowly recalled the sole black tear I had seen roll out of his eye the previous night, and it occurred to me that Draco had been crying. I felt a sharp stabbing sensation in my chest. How could he have wept when he was evil? None of it made sense to me, as I stood there looking at him. I remembered him saying something about having been warmed, something about me, and as I reached closer with my hand which I hadn't noticed I was doing at all, there seemed to be heat emanating from Draco's skin. I paused before actually touching him and slowly backed out of the room. I wasn't sure what I would have said to him had he woken. I went back to my room and ran a nice bath for myself, taking my time. I opened the closet to find a stunning yellow sun dress. I put it on and left my room. I walked out into the yard at the back of the house toward the horses and stopped at one which was on its hind legs to reach an apple from a tree. Once the horse landed on his feet and was chewing, another apple materialized where the one it had plucked had previously been. I flicked my wand at it and it fell directly into my hands. I took a bite and I swear it was the sweetest apple I had ever tasted in all of my life.
"Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, 'Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?' And the woman said unto the serpent," And I paused as Draco's voice grew nearer, until he was standing in front of me where I stood awaiting another sweet bite, "'We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, 'Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.'' And the serpent said unto the woman, 'Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.'"
I finally took a second bite, looking up at Draco who was watching me do so. He waited until I chewed and swallowed.
"You think that quoting the Bible will save you? Muggles made all of that up to make themselves feel better about making bad decisions," I said. Draco turned his back to me and approached the tree, plucking down an apple and standing there. I watched the same unicorn come up and Draco fed him the apple.
"Save me," he said, his back still turned.
"What could possibly save me when I am in no such situation warranted of being salvaged from?" he explained, slowly turning his head until he could look at me from the corner of his eye. The horse breathed through its nose and bowed its head against Draco's chest. He ran his hand up the horn and stopped. There was a brownish stain on the horn. I vaguely recalled cutting myself on that horn. Draco produced a small handkerchief from his pocket and began to clean my blood from the unicorn's horn.
"This is Ambrose," Draco said, petting the horse. The horse looked directly at me and it was as if he were a part of the conversation. Draco finally turned around so I could see his face. I wasn't sure what to say to him.
"Are you afraid you'll turn evil if you lie with me?" he asked. I took a step back, my pulse quickening at his words, and Draco's gaze turned dark and morbid in a way that made me apprehensive. Ambrose stepped towards me and slowly bowed his head so that the tip of his horn was staring me in the face. I pet his head gently and he was looking right at me with his black eyes, which reminded me of the tear I had seen fall from Draco.
"You have no idea who I am, Angelina," Draco said, "I am only what you choose to see. I know you don't believe I am all bad. Why won't you stop fooling yourself? Why won't you let me show you…?" He was making his way towards me. I stood my ground a moment.
"You crying, that was real," I said.
Draco stopped.
"I didn't," he said, almost defensively. He had been unaware of my venture into his room earlier. I nodded.
"But your tears are black. What does that say about your soul?" I asked him.
"…If I'm capable of tears, as you so claim, am I really as evil as you think?" Draco asked, taking another step towards me.
"Because evil certainly doesn't cry, and evil doesn't love."
"You know nothing about love," I said, stepping around Ambrose so I was on the other side of him. Draco followed me, and I watched him all the while.
"I feel something I've never quite felt before," he continued, stepping after me, "It's something I haven't felt since before becoming what I am."
"A Death Eater?" I said, making it back round the other side of Ambrose. Draco stopped following me and I stopped moving.
"You keep denying what you're actually feeling," Draco stated. My heart was pounding. A small smile lit his face.
"Before I kill, I listen to the pounding of my victim's heart, the blood surging through their veins. You know damn well I'm not about to kill you, but I still hear it so well. You're practically thundering when I go near you…" Draco took another step.
"When I touched you, your heart wasn't beating out of fear. Don't try and tell me anything different."