The Explanations

I woke up the next morning feeling amazing. I was in a wonderful, blissful haze that always came after a good night's sex. I opened my eyes to a beautiful morning with sun streaming through the windows and birds chirping and crap like that. Usually, I didn't sleep in so late, for fear of being caught coming out of Draco's room in the morning. But today, I just didn't care. I was so comfortable, wrapped up in the sheets and the comforter with Draco. It really would have been the perfect morning, if we hadn't been at Malfoy Manor, me as a prisoner. But honestly, for the moment, I couldn't imagine things being any better than they were.

And then I tried standing up.

The events of last night came rushing back to me in a wave of dizziness. I could hardly stand, and the nausea wasn't helping anything either. Why did I have to party so hard last night? Being hung-over at this place was not a good idea. Bellatrix could find out, and there was only so much that Draco and Narcissa could protect me from. My head throbbing, I decided to sit down in my place on Draco's bedroom floor. I was pretty sure this was the most hung-over I'd ever been. I heard Draco start to stir in bed, and I hoped that he didn't feel as awful as I did. One of us needed to be functional.

"What are you doing on the floor?" He asked me suddenly, cutting through the silence.

"Don't be so loud! My head is screaming at me." I said, and he gave a low, quiet chuckle.

"That bad, huh?"

"You have no idea."

"Well, why don't you come back to bed so we can whisper?"

"Would if I could, man. I seem to be suddenly filled with lead. Can't move." I heard him move again, but this time it was to get up and help me back into bed. It would've been so romantic, him carrying me bridal-style into bed, if it hadn't made me want to throw up even more.

"There you go. Now, just stay in bed until you feel better. I'll tell my aunt you're doing stuff for me today." He said, and I enjoyed the warm bed once again.

"I seem to be doing a lot of stuff for you lately. Won't she be suspicious?" I asked, and he thought about it for a second.

"Okay then, I'll ask my mother to tell the Crazy Bitch that you're doing stuff for her today. How's that?"

"Just perfect." I said, closing my eyes, hoping this didn't last all day. I had a sneaking suspicion that it would, though. It was quiet for a few more minutes, and then Draco spoke again.

"Do you remember last night?" He whispered, a sexy grin on his face. It made me laugh.

"I don't think I'll ever forget last night. It was amazing."

"Has it ever been that good?"

"I don't think so. I don't know if it was the drinking, or the swimming, or the horse-back riding, but there was definitely something."

"I don't think it was anything specific. I mean, I felt it all day."

"Yeah, me too. I guess it was just a sexy kind of day." I said, thinking of Kayla and Blaise. "What was up with Kay and Blaise? Did you notice that?"

"Oh yeah. I sure did." He said, and I suddenly got nervous. But why should I have been nervous? She wasn't a little girl anymore. She could take care of herself. Just then, we heard a knock at the door. Draco looked at me nervously, and I hoped I didn't have to get up and hide.

"Who is it?" He called, with the authority of a Malfoy.

"It's your mother, Draco." She said, clearly not liking him talking to her like that. He got so embarrassed, it was adorable. "May I come in? I brought you and Talia breakfast." Of course she would know I'm here. She knows everything.

"Yeah, just wait a minute." He said, and jumped out of bed to put some clothes on. Thankfully, he handed me some pajamas, so I didn't have to get up. I did, however, make sure to be on top of the covers, and a safe distance away from him. Just to be safe. He walked over to the door and opened it for her, and she came in with a tray of food in her hands. I thought that the smell would make me feel more sick, bit it actually helped a little. I sat up, and she handed me the tray.

"There you go. I thought you guys could use some food this morning." She said, a knowing glint in her eye. "How are you feeling, Talia?" She asked me, and I laughed a little.

"How do you always know everything?" I asked her, and she laughed. Quietly, I might add.

"I hardly know everything, my dear. But I have seen enough drunk people to recognize it in my own son and his girlfriend." I was a little embarrassed that she had seen us like that.

"I'm sorry, Narcissa." I said, and she laughed again.

"Oh, honey, you don't think that I've never been drunk in my life, do you?" She said, a smile on her face. I gained a little more respect for her just then, if it was even possible to respect her more than I already did. I looked down at the tray she had brought us, and saw orange juice, waffles, bacon, potatoes, tea, ice water, and even an ice pack. And a little tiny vial of something that I'd never seen before.

"What's this?" I said, picking it up to examine it closer.

"That's my own special hangover buster. Maybe someday I'll tell you the special recipe." She said, and then got up. "There's enough for two." And then she left, softly closing the door.

"Draco, have I ever told you how much I love your mother?" I said, pulling the cork out of the bottle.

"Once or twice, yeah." He said, smiling at me. I drank half of the liquid, handed it to Draco, and immediately started to feel better. The headache went away, the dizziness disappeared, and I knew I'd be able to walk. As I saw Draco's reaction, I could tell that it worked for him as well. We ate the amazing breakfast Narcissa had brought us, and compared notes about the night before. Of course, they were all good notes, but still. It was an amazing morning so far, but the day was still young. And then I groaned out loud, which made Draco look at me questioningly.

"What?" He asked, and I leaned my head back against the head board of the bed.

"Well, now that I don't feel hung-over anymore, I'll probably have to spend the day working for Bellatrix again."

"Unless we think of something else to keep you occupied…" He said, and grabbed my waist and pulled me on top of himself. I laughed and leaned against him, my face against his chest so I could feel his heartbeat.

"Draco, you know they're not going to let you slack off another day. Don't you have super-secret Death Eater missions to go on?" I asked, and he laughed.

"Interesting way of explaining what I do. And yes, sadly, I do have stuff to do today. But you don't have anything to worry about, because my aunt is going to be out today also." I sat up so I was straddling him, but could look at him easier.

"That's amazing news. Well, the part about Bellatrix being gone anyway. When do you have to leave?"

"In a little bit. Why?"

"Do you have time to walk me down to the stables? I want to give Kay her jacket back, as much as I'd like to keep it. The full moon is tonight, and I don't know how many jackets she'll need." I said, hopping out of bed, with Draco close behind. Although he had one of those little changing areas in the corner, he had no problem getting dressed in front of me.

"You're so protective of her, its adorable!" He said in a cute little baby voice, so I punched his shoulder. "And yes, I have time to walk with you."

"Good." When he was finished getting ready, we snuck over to my room so I could get dressed. "Why did you have a pair of my pajamas in your room?" I asked as I chose between two tops to wear, like it actually mattered what I wore. I looked at myself in the mirror and hardly recognized myself. My hair was flat, I had no make-up on, and my hands were worn and sore from all the chores. The only two things that always stayed the same were my bright, round blue eyes and the necklace Draco got me to match. I went with a purple top with blue speckles that accented my eyes. It gave me a little bit of normalcy back.

"You left them there one night. I don't remember when, but I kept them there just in case."

"Well, that was a wise decision." By then I was fully dressed, still looking at myself in the full-body mirror. Only now, I was joined by Draco Malfoy, with his arms around my waist, his lighter greyish-blue eyes joining mine. It felt even more normal, and for a second I could pretend that we weren't trapped here in this personal hell on Earth. But then my eyes traveled to the cut on my face, and I remembered just what I was doing there. I also wondered if the scar would ever go away, or if it would be there to match the one on my arm for the rest of my life. As if he could hear my thoughts, Draco lowered his mouth to my ear.

"We'll get out of here soon. I promise." He started to push me against the wall, so I turned around to face him. When we got there, it wasn't a full-on hot snog session like it usually was. It was just us, standing against each other, looking into each other's eyes.

"How can you be sure?" I whispered back to him.

"Just trust me." Was all he said. Then we wordlessly walked down the hall and the down the stairs. I mean, seriously, it took like ten years for us to just get halfway down the stairs. It was crazy. Okay, maybe it wasn't exactly ten years. But still. When we finally got to the bottom, I saw that the house was practically empty. Draco and I didn't even have to let go of each other's hands. Before we stepped outside, I turned to him.

"I do trust you." We went out into the cool, fall air and I immediately started to shiver. "What is up with this weather? It's so cold!" I said, and Draco wrapped an arm around mine to help keep me warm.

"Well, that's usually what happens later in the year." He said as a joke, and I giggled through my chattering teeth.

"But it wasn't this cold yesterday!" I said, as we neared the stables. Just outside the door, Draco turned to me and wrapped both arms around me, and I immediately relaxed into his warmth.

"Weather is a strange, mysterious thing, isn't it?" And he turned around and opened the door, but very quickly shut it and leaned his back against it. "Actually, looks like she's still asleep. Poor thing must be as hung-over as you were, maybe we should come back later with some of my mother's potion." He said quickly, and started pushing me back the way we had come.

"Well, why don't I just quick slip it inside the door?" I asked, pushing him back. But alas, he was stronger than me at the moment.

"Just trust me, we shouldn't go in there right now. Like I said, you can come back later when you have some time."

"But—"

"It's okay, Talia! Let's just go!" He said sternly, so I followed him, pouting. But the second he let go of my arm, I ducked under his arm and ran to the stables, and yanked open the door.

I was so not prepared for what I saw.

Kayla was still in her bed, wrapped up in the covers, in a deep, peaceful sleep.

Next to Blaise Zabini.

Now, I know that earlier I had thought about this myself, that Kayla and Blaise would be a good match, but something was making me forget that momentarily. Instead I felt an intense anger towards the slimy, sleazy, naked guy sleeping next to my baby sister. As if my hate was radiating off my body and he could feel it, he sleepily woke up and rubbed his eyes. The second they met mine, I could tell he could sense his impending doom. I could sense Draco in the doorway behind me, and I knew the rational thing would be to step outside and let him calm me down. But I wasn't thinking very rational at that moment. Blaise reached over to Kayla and rubbed her shoulder, gently waking her up. She sat up, covering herself with the blanket, and looked at me pleadingly. Blaise started to pull on his pants under the covers.

"Tal, please just hear me out—"

"I'm going to bloody murder your ass, Zabini!" I yelled, cutting her off. It startled him, and he jumped up and ran for the doors at the other end of the stables. But the doors were locked, so he ran into the closest horse's stable, so I ran after him. It was a bit like that muggle cartoon Scooby-Doo, where we chased each other from stable to stable until I had him cornered. I grabbed the front of his shirt and raised my hand as if to hit him, but stopped when I heard Kayla's voice.

"Talia, don't!" She said, and she ran to stand next to Blaise, who was staring at me.

"Tal, your eyes…" He said, and I let go and turned around so he couldn't see them anymore. I felt strong hands grab my shoulders and steer me away, and then he spoke to the other two.

"I'm going to take her outside for a minute and talk some sense into her. You two should get dressed, and we'll be back." And he pushed me outside. When I was outside a few minutes ago, the cold had a huge effect on me. But now, I was burning from the inside. "Okay Tal, you need to calm down and control yourself a little more." He said.

"I am calm! How dare you accuse me of not being in control of myself! Didn't you see what was happening in there? Blaise was taking advantage of my sister! I can't believe you would take his side! This is so—" Draco cut me off the only way he knew would stop me from saying something I would regret. He kissed me. He pulled me close, and gave me a nice, sweet kiss. It wasn't smothering and smoldering like usual, but just hard enough to distract me from my rage. When he pulled away, with my face still cupped in his hands, I could feel myself returning to normal.

"You good now?" He asked, and I nodded.

"I can't believe what I just did. I have no idea why I acted that way." I said, ashamed of myself. Draco just smiled in understanding.

"You've been under more pressure than anyone else could handle, Talia, and you're bottling it all in. Seeing something like this, involving your sister who you've only just discovered was alive, is enough to push anyone in your situation over the edge." I nodded, and decided that he was right. It still didn't change anything, though. "Can we go back in there and let them explain, now?" He asked, and I nodded again. He pulled me inside, where we found Kayla and Blaise, fully dressed, standing there and talking to each other. They both turned towards me and looked at me with love and kindness. I went to Blaise and gave him a hug.

"Sorry, bro. I didn't mean to hurt you." I said.

"Don't worry, you didn't." We pulled apart, and I went to Kayla and hugged her next.

"You okay?" she asked me, and I nodded yet again. I pulled away and we all sat down in a circle.

"I'm myself again, I promise. But can you guys please just explain to me how this happened? I mean, you only met yesterday." I said, and they both smiled sheepishly. Kayla was the one who talked.

"Yeah. Well, I don't know if you noticed how much flirting went on between us yesterday—"

"Oh, we did." Draco and I said at the same time, cutting her off. They both looked a little embarrassed.

"Well, anyway, after you two stumbled into the house last night, I started to get ready for bed, super drunk and tripping over everything, when Blaise showed up."

"She dropped her wand in the grass at my place." Blaise added.

"And he came on his broom all the way over here to bring it back to me, so I said he could sit inside for a bit to rest. And we started talking, and he kept on making me laugh, and—"

"And we were both really drunk still. I probably shouldn't have flown all the way here." Blaise added, again.

"It was really dangerous. Anyway, it was the night before the full moon and all, and I'm always super horny around this time, and it just sort of… happened." She said, and apparently that was the end of the story.

"It just… happened? How does something like that 'Just Happen'?" I asked, and she shrugged her shoulders, and looked down at her lap.

"I really like him." She said quietly, still looking down. Blaise gave a little smile and grabbed her hand, and by the way he looked at her, I could tell he felt the same way. And just like that, I got it. They needed this. Just like Draco and I needed each other, Kay and Blaise needed someone too. It may not be love just yet, but it was still important. And maybe, later on, it would evolve into love. Actually, I hoped it would. I looked over at a smiling Draco, and he looked at me, and he pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. I looked back at Kayla and pulled her into a tight hug.

"I understand." I whispered in her ear, and she relaxed into the hug. I thought the conversation was over, but as we started to stand up, Blaise brought up something that I had been avoiding for a while now.

"Um, you guys? I'm really glad we could work everything out and all, but I think you guys owe me an explanation." He said, looking at me and Draco. I looked up from my hands at Draco, and when he gave me a little nod, I looked at Blaise.

"You're right Blaise. I'm sorry." I said. He gave me a small smile.

"It's okay, Tal. I'm not mad or anything, but I need some answers. You guys keep on lying to me about something, but I've been ignoring it because I've known that it must be important. I mean, did you really think I'd actually believe that bull shit story you gave me at Talia's birthday party? Come on guys. And of course there's the fact that you're here, Tal, at Malfoy Manor, in the middle of the school year. That's just weird." He said, and then paused to take a breath. "Your eyes were green, Talia. You have to tell me the truth." I suddenly felt guilty for trying to lie to him for this long. He was right, I underestimated him. I took a big, deep breath, and hoped to God that I wasn't making a huge mistake.

"Blaise, I'm a Siren." I said, staring him straight in the eyes.

"Holy shit." Was all he said after a few more seconds of staring. I laughed.

"That's pretty similar to how Draco acted when I told him."

"That is so cool!" He shouted, looking excited.

"Not really." I said, and his smile faltered.

"Why not?"

"Because that's why I'm here. I'm being held prisoner here by the Death Eaters and The Dark Lord. They want to use me to help kill Harry Potter."

"So that's why you left school early. And why Bellatrix hit you?" He asked, and I nodded.

"I talked back." I said, looking a little bit more proud than I should have. He laughed.

"That's my girl."

"Blaise, you can't tell anyone about this. This is something that could get you killed for knowing, okay?"

"I promise. Not a word." He said, and did that thing where he pretended to lock his mouth and throw away the key, and we all started laughing at him. We kept on laughing, until Kayla checked her watch and got up suddenly.

"I hate to break up the love fest guys, but I have to get going. I have to get as far away from here as possible before tonight, just in case."

"You have your potion, right?" I asked, getting up after her, and helped her shove her things into her bag.

"Of course! This isn't my first rodeo, Tal."

"I'm sorry, Kay! I just want to make sure you'll be okay." I said, and we hugged. "Come back safe, alright?"

"I will. Promise." She said, and I backed away so Draco could hug her.

"Come back in one piece." He said, and kissed her cheek. He walked over to me. "Let's go so her and Blaise can say goodbye." We turned to leave just as Blaise was walking up to my sister with a very intimate look on his face. Just before we left, I turned around.

"Hey Blaise?" I said, and he turned to look at me.

"Yeah?" I smiled.

"No hanky-panky." I said, and he smiled. Draco and I left, walking back to the Manor with his arm around my shoulders and mine around his waist.

"Do you really have to leave?" I asked him, and he turned me around to face him. As we looked at each other it started to snow, and I took that as a bad sign. Things were about to start happening, and I wasn't sure I was ready for them.

"I'll be back after supper. I'll come see you the minute I get back." He said, and we kissed. When we walked inside, I sat down on the chair and watch Draco leave through the front door.