… The Beginning
Malfoy Manor.
It was so… huge. And dark, and cold, and intimidating.
As I walked along the path to the huge monstrosity of a house, my impending doom seemed to grow and grow with each step. What were they going to do to me? Torture me? Chain me up to a wall and give me almost no food and water and use the cruciatus curse on me until I gave in? Or maybe even worse—make me eat tofu… I shuddered at the thought. I really hated tofu. I noticed how off track my mind was going, so I mentally shook myself.
I felt someone grab my other arm, and felt the biggest pang of fear I'd ever felt. Fenrir Greyback was holding my arm, pulling me along. Apparently Draco wasn't moving fast enough. I looked up to the scruffy, terrifying face of the werewolf I had met on Christmas Eve to see hungry eyes. He was looking at me as if he couldn't wait to get his teeth into me. When he finally looked away from me with an extremely creepy smile on his face, I switched my gaze to a friendlier gaze. I looked into the icy grey-blue eyes of my boyfriend, and my fear faded. But only a little bit.
I tripped over a crack in the walkway, and scraped my knees and hands. My hands were still bound, so I had a hard time getting back up. When someone gently grabbed my hands and helped me up, I assumed it was Draco.
"Thank you. I didn't mean to—" I started, but was cut off.
"That's quite alright, my dear. Tell me, has anyone ever told you how… delicious you look?" Greyback. I cringed, trying to get away from him, when Draco yanked me away.
"Don't lay your hands on her ever again, you filthy wolf." He said. Bellatrix walked back to see what the holdup was.
"That's right, Draco. This lovely creature belongs to the Dark Lord now, and we can't let anyone of… lesser quality be permitted to touch her." She started leading me away from the chuckling werewolf, along with Draco. I looked at Malfoy as we reached the huge front door, and mouthed the words 'Thank you' to him. He nodded, almost imperceptibly, with sincere care. He really cared about me.
"And here we are, home at last." Bellatrix said, as we walked over the threshold. I was immediately greeted by warmer air and the distinct smell of a fire burning in the fireplace. Under any other circumstances, this would have been a beautiful place to live. The tapestries, obviously antiques, were amazing, and the huge swirly staircase was just screaming for me to slide down its banister. I was amazed at how calm my mind was during all this, but I knew that once I was left alone, wherever that might be, that all the fear would break free and I would be an emotional mess.
"Is it done?" I heard the voice come from the living room, where we had somehow made our way too while I was lost in my thoughts. When I looked up, I saw two people that were obviously Draco's parents. One of them, the woman, was strikingly beautiful. She had brown hair with white-blonde streaks right above her ears. She stood tall with authority, as if no one could touch her. I immediately respected her. The man, and obviously where the voice had come from, I had seen before on a few occasions. He used to be very clean cut, and very important. Now all I saw was a man with tired eyes, and a cowering posture. Lucius Malfoy.
"Yes. Dumbledore is dead." Bellatrix said, with much pride.
"And, did Draco…?" Asked the woman.
"Not to worry, Cissy, Snape here was the one to do it." I had forgotten he was with us until she said that. "Although, if I were you, I'd be disappointed that my son was too weak to carry out this deed." I felt Draco stiffen a bit, and I wished I could reach over and hold his hand.
"I will never consider my son's action's weak." I liked this woman. She was strong.
"Where is the Dark Lord?" Bellatrix said, but she didn't have to wait for an answer.
"Did everything go according to plan, Bella?" That was it. The voice from my nightmares, the one yelling the killing curse at me. The one I heard at the Ministry of Magic last year. And sure enough, when I looked up, there he was. Lord Voldemort. In the flesh.
"Yes, my Lord, we've done it. Dumbledore is no more." Bella said, practically groveling at his feet. Classic clingy girlfriend. I tried to pry my eyes away from his noseless face, but I just couldn't. And when his eyes met mine, my insides went cold.
"And who do we have here?" Draco's grip tightened protectively around my arm.
"My Lord, we found this girl following us at the school. I was about to dispose of her, but Greyback here thinks she may be a Siren." Voldemort's eyes widened, but only slightly.
"I don't think, I know. She has a very distinct, very rare scent. She is definitely a Siren." Everyone was now scrutinizing me, and I felt extremely vulnerable.
"Is this true, girl? Are you a Siren?" I tried to think of a suitable lie, but the only ones that came to mind all ended in my mind with me being deemed unimportant and disposed of, as Bellatrix put it. So, I went with the painful truth.
"Yes, sir." I said. He nodded.
"And how developed are your powers?"
"Not very much, sir." He chuckled. Or, at least, he came as close to chuckling as someone like him ever could.
"Such a polite girl. What is your name, my dear?" I had been dreading telling them this, but it had to be done.
"Natalia Jackson, sir." A flash of recognition filled his face, but left as quickly as it had come.
"Ah, miss Jackson. Your parents were called Sean and Melissa, am I correct?"
"Yes, sir."
"And your sister was Nakayla?"
"Yes, sir." I almost couldn't handle her name being said by him. He was the reason she was gone.
"I'm told some of my… followers paid your family a visit a few years ago. Is this correct?"
"Yes, sir." I said through my teeth. It was getting extremely hard to control my temper at that point.
"Ah. I see." I could tell that the interrogation was over. This was good, because if he had asked me any more questions, I would have let out the scream that had been building inside me and tried my best to off him right there. "Draco, Narcissa, will you please show this lovely young songbird to our guest room? And make sure she's comfortable. We will need her focused and relaxed for what is to come. The rest of you, follow me. We have plans to discuss."
My hands were magically unbound, and Draco started to lead me up the stairs. The never ending stairs, I's start calling them. It felt like hours went by as we climbed the huge, winding staircase. Narcissa was in front of us, so Draco took the opportunity to rub my back. It was very comforting, but I couldn't help but wish for a moment alone so we could talk. Finally, we took a turn that led us off the stairs. Narcissa opened a door, and stood aside so we could go through. As we passed her, she spoke.
"Draco, you can show her around a bit. I'm going to go get her some clean linens and lavatory supplies." And she left, closing the door. But he didn't show me around the room. Instead, we collapsed into each other's arms and clung on for dear life. We made our way to the bed so we could sit comfortably, and he pulled away. At first I didn't want him to, but then I realized that it was because he was going to kiss me. It was desperate, and felt as if we hadn't kissed in years.
"I'm so sorry. I never wanted you to be a part of any of this. And him questioning you about your family, and Greyback treating you like some five star meal, it's all so horrible. I'm so, so sorry." He said, after pulling away ever so slightly.
"None of this is your fault, Draco. Really, it's my fault. I'm so scared. I have no idea what's going on, and what he's going to do to me, and all I've wanted this whole time is to go back to when we were worrying about whether or not to tell our friends about us and now I may never see them again and I think I'm having a panic attack—"
"Shh, it's okay. Trust me. I won't let any of them hurt you. I wish I could tell you you're safe here." And we hugged some more, and somehow started snogging. Maybe it was just spur of the moment, scared about the future kissing, but it was what we needed to do at the moment. Well, until we heard someone clearing their throat from the doorway. It startled us so much that Draco accidentally bit my lip as he jumped away from me.
"Mother! Uh, I can explain…" He said, and she looked mildly amused.
"Well, explain away, then."
"We, uh… Well… oh, bloody hell. I love her, mother. We've been seeing each other secretly for months now, and I don't care what anyone has to say about it." He looked so proud and strong, standing there, sticking it to the man. I think only I could tell how nervous he was at what she would say. Well, being his mother, maybe she did too.
"Well, I don't see why anyone else has to find out about this. As for me, I just want you to be happy. And you are." The look on his face was priceless. I could tell he really cared about his mother, and what she thought of him. "Natalia, darling—"
"Please, call me Talia." I said, not liking when people use my full name.
"Alright. Talia, these are your sheets and blankets. We'll have to see about getting you some more clothes, and things to do, as you'll be spending quite a bit of time here. I highly doubt you'll be made to stay in this room at all times, but I'd actually prefer it if I were you. I'll try and do my best to make sure you two get to see each other as much as possible, but it may take some time. Now, I'm going to go down and join the others. Draco, you may stay for a little while longer, if you'd like."
"Thank you, mother. For understanding." He said to her, and went over to hug her.
"Yes, well, we could all do with some happiness lately." And she left us alone.
"I like her. Why didn't you mention how awesome your mum is?" I said once he was sitting next to me again.
"She wasn't always this way. I mean, she always cared about me. But it was the tough love kind of caring. But ever since all this crap happened, she's got a little soft spot for me. I think she just doesn't want me to lose myself to all these Death Eater ways." I flopped on my back, and he did the same. This had been a very interesting day.
"Hey, did you notice his face when he was talking about my family?" I asked him after a few minutes. He turned onto his side so he could see me.
"I did, actually. I thought I was just imagining it."
"You weren't. What was that about?"
"I have no idea. Maybe I'll do some snooping and find out."
"Just don't get in trouble! I don't think I could stay sane in this place without you."
"Sane?" He said, joking with me.
"Well, relatively sane."
"That's more like it." And we started kissing again. It was nice, just like it always was, but something was still bothering me. And when he crawled on top of me, I realized what it was.
"Wait, stop." I said, moving out from under him. He didn't look offended or anything, just concerned.
"What is it?"
"I just can't do this right now. There's something not right about it. Not with the Dark Lord in the same house." I crawled over to the headboard and leaned into all the pillows there. There were so many pillows! "You're not mad, are you?"
"Of course not. I get it. We can just sit for a while, if you want." I smiled, and pulled him close. "So, what are you going to do about all this? The Dark Lord wants to help you develop your powers to use for himself."
"Honestly, I have no idea. If I agree to this, and don't do it carefully, these powers could corrupt my mind. But if I don't do it, they'll kill me."
"Well, I'd rather like it if you didn't have to die."
"Me too. So I guess I'm doing this."
"I guess so." And we sat in silence for a few minutes. And then we heard someone shout from downstairs.
"Draco, would you please escort Miss Jackson down here? We have some rules to go over!" Bellatrix said. Great, just what I needed. Rules. Draco helped me out of bed, and then I looped my arm through his.
"And here we go. To my doom." I said, a little dramatically.
"I'll be right here the whole time." He said as we reached the bottom of the stairs. How many times a day was I going to have to go up and down these things?
"Here we are. Take a seat, everyone." Bellatrix said. I relaxed a little bit when I saw that Voldemort was nowhere around, even thought he was still probably in the house. But I'd take what I can get. "Okay, so here's what's going to happen. Natalia, you are going to practice controlling your powers, until you can control them perfectly. I don't care what it takes, or what we'll have to do to motivate you. Every few weeks, you are going to demonstrate how far you've gotten for the Dark Lord and all of his followers. When you're not practicing, you're going to act as a servant for the Malfoys. This means that you will assist them in any way possible. You can only leave the house if one of them is with you. Do you understand what I'm saying?" I nodded. "Oh, and while you are here, Greyback will not be allowed in this house unless he has been invited here. Now, you are all dismissed." We all got up and left. Draco and Narcissa and I went back up the never ending stairs, and I had a thought.
"I'm a little confused about something."
"What's that, love?" Draco said.
"Well, don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled they're working so hard to keep Greyback out of here. But how could they possibly know about my fear of werewolves?" I asked Draco, but it was Narcissa that answered me.
"You see, dear, you're not the first Siren we've had here." Draco looked just as surprised as I was by this discovery. "And of course, Fenrir was just as obsessed with her as he is with you. But we had no idea how much he wanted her and what he would do. One day, he snuck in here, so he could drink from her blood that was so amazing to him."
"And he turned her?" Draco asked. She shook her head.
"Even worse. He killed her." I was horror struck.
"Wh… why?" I asked.
"He didn't try to. You see, he figured that she'd be just as useful as a werewolf. But what we didn't know at the time is that Siren blood is so powerful, it overpowers the poison in werewolf saliva. So he ended up taking her life."
"Oh God." I whispered. I was paralyzed the whole way back to my new room, so Draco had to lead me right to the bed.
"You know you don't have to worry, right? He's not allowed anywhere near you."
"Yeah, I know. This is just a lot to take in for one day. He wouldn't try anything, right? Because now he knows what will happen."
"It wouldn't be very smart of him, I'll tell you that." I sighed.
"Shit."
"You said it." We didn't talk for a little while. I was too busy freaking out on the inside, and I had a feeling he was doing the same. Finally, I couldn't contain it any longer.
"Okay, I can't take this anymore. I know I've been quiet and polite and all, and I may seem calm, but I'm SO not. I'm freaking out, Draco. I can't be a prisoner here!" I got up and started pacing.
"Slow down for a minute. There's nothing to be afraid of here." I stopped to stare at him incredulously.
"Oh yeah? How's that?" He was trying hard to find the right words.
"I'm not sure." He said. Told you so, Malfoy.
"Exactly." He got up too, so we were both standing. "Draco, there's everything to be afraid of here. And I know you keep saying things like 'It'll be okay, Talia.' And 'I'll be right here the whole time, Talia.' But you won't be, remember? Even your mother said she doesn't know how much time we'll get to spend together." He came over to me and pulled me into a nice, familiar, warm hug. I was about to pull away to kiss him, but we were interrupted for the millionth time.
"Draco! Come downstairs, you have duties to attend to!" Bellatrix said in a sing-song voice. Draco grunted in annoyance.
"I hate that woman. Ever since she's been here, it's like SHE has the authority to order me around. She's not my mother." He said. I wanted to help him, so I decided to lighten the mood with humor.
"It'll be okay, Draco. I'll be right here the whole time, Draco." I repeated his reassurances from before. He looked at me, and I gave him a "haha" kind of smile. At first he looked upset, but slowly I saw that wonderful smile of his appear. And then we both burst out laughing, which was a big mistake.
"DRACO! Quit taking advantage of the new servant, and get down here! NOW!" He sighed again, and leaned his head against mine.
"Okay, go on, get the hell out of here. I'll see you soon." I said, and I gently nudged him to the door. But when he was gone, I felt empty and alone.