The Christmas Party
The next couple months went by fairly uneventful, and before I knew it, it was the beginning of December. I had been sucking up to Bellatrix, just because Draco had convinced me it would be good for me in the long run. Of course, I hadn't been able to see Draco very much, and I was beginning to think it was because Bellatrix suspected something between us. I also hadn't been able to visit my parents more than a couple times, or Kayla, because The Crazy Bitch kept on making me do these long, hard chores that took me all day. I mean, I know Draco had promised we would get out of here, but I was starting to feel like it was a promise he couldn't keep. And even if we did, they'd still be able to find him through that awful Dark Mark on his arm. And how would we get my parents out of here? All these 'how's and 'what if's were constantly swirling around in my mind, and it was quite annoying.
It was December fifth, and I had the Manor to myself, so I was browsing the many bookshelves for a new book to read. I was in the main parlor when I heard a noise coming from a small stairway in the corner, one that I'd never been down before. I quickly put the book back and turned around to find none other than Lord Voldemort standing right in front of me. I looked down to my shoes, not because it was proper, but because I was afraid.
"My Lord! I'm sorry, I was just looking for a book to read in my room. I'll be heading up there right away." I expected him to be angry with me for being out of my room without permission, like Bellatrix would be. But he wasn't. He used his finger to pull my chin up, and I was forced to look into those horribly human eyes.
"Don't be silly, my dear. You are a guest in this house, and should be treated as such." I didn't know who he was fooling. We both knew that I was his prisoner. He was just trying to make me feel comfortable, to get me on his side. I gave a shy, tentative smile.
"Of course, my Lord. Thank you." I said, purposefully making him think it was working. He let go of my chin and stepped back a few feet, but still kept his eyes on mine the whole time.
"Will you be at the Mrs. Malfoy's Christmas Masquerade in a few days?" He asked me casually, which scared me even more, if possible. I had been cleaning for that party for weeks, and Bellatrix had put it quite plainly that I would be staying in my room the whole night.
"No, sir. Bell—Mrs. Lestrange has made it clear that I'm not to attend." I said.
"Nonsense. You will attend." He said, case closed.
"Th—Thank you, my Lord." I said, looking away. I couldn't look at him any longer. For some odd reason, he kept trying to make small talk.
"Sadly, I will not be able to attend the party. I have very important matters to see to." He said, and I wasn't sure how to respond to him saying he couldn't go. So I just nodded, and gave another small smile. "Well, good day, Miss Jackson." He said, and walked away down a corridor that I'd never been down, and didn't care to any time soon. But then I remembered the stairway, which looked as if it led to some sort of basement, he had come up a few minutes earlier. I was hit with a wave of curiosity, and before I could tell them not to, my feet started to lead me in that direction. But before I could reach it, I heard the front doors open, and I quickly sat down in a corner to polish some random thing. A few seconds later, Bellatrix came hurrying in, looking annoyed.
"Miss Jackson, go to the other room and clean something in there." She said, and I nodded. I knew what that meant. It meant that she had taken my parents out to do something for her, and she didn't want me to see them come in. She still had no idea that I knew they were living under the same roof as me, and I was happy keeping it that way. As I closed the door, I heard a commotion, as if someone was being moved against their will. But to turn around to see would surely get me a slap across the other cheek. As I sat down on a chair to get started, the door opened and Draco came in. I practically sighed in relief at seeing him, but he put his finger to his mouth and pointed to the door. Bellatrix could still hear us from out there.
"Miss Jackson, once you're finished here, I need my laundry done today. I need to pick out a nice suit for the party, which means that they need to be clean." He said, a little bit more loudly than usual, making me struggle not to laugh. He came over and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving, and I started to clean a little faster.
…
I collapsed down on Draco's bed an hour later, exhausted. I'd been working my ass off the past few weeks, and it was nice to finally have some alone time with him. Even if it was just to help him pick out a suit.
"I love this bed." I said, enjoying the soft comforter that smelled fresh and clean. Draco was behind the room divider, changing into one of the four suits I had chosen from his closet.
"And that bed loves you, Tal." He said, making fun of me.
"Hey, don't mock me. I'm tired. And your bed is way nicer than the bumpy cardboard that I have to sleep on."
"You don't sleep on cardboard."
"I might as well compared to this one!" He laughed at my exaggeration, and the sound of it relaxed me even more. He stepped out in a classic black suit and tie, and did some cute little model moves for me.
"What do you think about this one?" He asked. I studied it, and then shook my head.
"It's too similar to what you always wear." I said. He went back to change into the next one, and I laid back down, closing my eyes. "It would be so awesome if we could match our outfits. But Bellatrix is already a little suspicious of us." He poked his head and shoulders out to look at me, and I enjoyed looking at his bare shoulders.
"I thought you weren't going?" He asked.
"I had the weirdest day. I was wandering around, looking for a book to read, and I turned around once to find Voldemort standing right behind me."
"Freaky!" He said from behind the divider.
"I know, right? Anyway, he basically told me that I was a "guest" in this house, and that I should go to the party."
"Well, if the Dark Lord says so, you'd better do it." He said.
"No kidding." I said, although I was a little excited to be able to dress up. I already had an outfit in my mind. Once again, Draco came out wearing a charcoal grey suit, and again, I shook my head. "Don't you ever wear anything different?" I asked, in a whiny tone.
"Don't you ever not complain about what I wear?"
"Well, maybe if you wore something different once in a while, I wouldn't complain!" I said, and felt the mattress go down with more weight. I opened my eyes to see Draco, on top of me, wearing nothing but his boxers.
"Or maybe I should just dress like this all the time." He said, lowering his face to mine.
"Now you're speaking my language." I said, meeting him halfway. It was a nice, long, deep, sweet kiss, and as far as I was concerned, it could have lasted forever. I moved my legs so my knees were on either side of his waist, and arched my back to be closer to him. The kiss deepened into something more urgent, the clothes came off (of me, anyway), and pretty soon I was also in nothing but my underwear. Things had slowed down, and we weren't going to have sex. But it was still fun to fool around a little bit. "Remember back in the day when I didn't want to have sex in the same house as Voldemort?"
"Yeah?" He said, nibbling on my neck.
"That was stupid." I said, and he laughed.
"It was understandable. But I'm glad you've changed your mind." He said, and plopped down next to me.
"Don't get too comfortable, mister. I still need to see some more suits."
"But I'm tired!" He said, sounding like a child who was complaining about something.
"Come on, it's not that hard."
"You're not the one trying on all these suits!"
"Come on, just a couple more!" I said, and he sighed and got up.
"One more suit, and that's it." He said, all cute and stuff.
"Whatever you say." I said, humoring him. After a few seconds of thought, I said something that had been on my mind. "Hey, where does that staircase in the main parlor lead to?"
"Why?" He said, suspicious of my reason for bringing it up.
"Well, it's where Voldemort came from earlier. I was just wondering why." He was silent for a few moments, as if deciding whether or not to tell me.
"It's the dungeons, if you must know." He said, and I bolted up.
"The dungeons?! He must be keeping someone down there! Do you know who it is?" I asked.
"No, I don't know who's down there, or even if anyone is down there. But Tal, you can't go there, alright?"
"But I have to!"
"Just don't! You don't know what could be down there!"
"I have to, Draco! If Lord Voldemort, the enemy, is keeping someone down in the dungeons, it could be one of my friends! I have to go see!" He gave me a frustrated sigh, giving up the argument.
"Whatever, Talia. Just please be careful, okay? Don't get caught." I laughed diabolically.
"Do you know who you're talking to?" I never got an answer from him. He stepped out into view in this amazing, very obviously custom made suit. From where I was sitting it looked black, but when I got up close to him it was actually a very dark, deep emerald green. It looked amazing on him.
"This is perfect." I said, but he looked a little doubtful.
"Are you sure? It's not too… obvious?"
"Are you kidding me? This is so perfect for you. If you were a suit, you'd be this suit."
"That totally makes sense." He said, very sarcastically, so I slapped his shoulder. On the outside I was playful, but my mind was whirling with so many thoughts at once. My outfit for the party, which pair of shoes I should wear, but mostly… how I was going to get into that dungeon without being noticed.
…
It was December tenth, the day of Narcissa's famous Christmas party, and I had finally finished all the chores that needed to get done before hand. I even helped her decorate, which actually turned out to be pretty fun. Of course, we had to pretend otherwise when Bellatrix walked through which ever room we were decorating at the moment, but still. I was just heading up to my room to take a shower and start getting ready when I felt a hand roughly grab my shoulder, forcing me to a stop.
"Where do you think you're going?" The Crazy Bitch asked me. I turned around.
"Up to my room to wash up, ma'am." She eyes me warily.
"Yes, I heard about My Lord's little invitation to you. It's definitely not what I would've done, but I'm not about to defy him, am I?" I shook my head. "You finished all the cleaning and decorating?"
"Yes ma'am. You can ask Mrs. Malfoy if you'd like, she personally made sure that I didn't forget anything." That seemed to satisfy her, though she still didn't trust me.
"Very well. Get to it, then." I bowed my head slightly, and turned to walk into my room. But before I walked through the doorway, she spoke again, "And Miss Jackson? If you even think about trying anything funny, any type of sabotage or escape, I'll personally see to it that your parents don't make it through the night. And that means for the rest of your time here, as well." And when I turned around in surprise, she was gone. I quickly ran into my room and shut the door, and sagged against it.
"That was a close one, right?" Draco asked from my bed. I hadn't noticed him there until he spoke, so I gave a little start. I noticed he was already dressed. "Did I startle you?"
"A little bit. Sorry." I said, my mind still on Bellatrix's words.
"Yeah, sorry. I don't have anything to do until the party, so I thought I'd get ready and come over here to help you get dressed. And then maybe undressed, and then dressed again." He said with a wicked smile, walking over to me. But as he got closer and saw my face, he quickly became concerned. "What is it?" He said, sitting beside me against the door.
"Bellatrix knows that I know about my parents being here. I think she knows that I've been seeing them." I said, and Draco let out a small gasp.
"How?" Was all he asked, but I shook my head.
"I don't know. But she just threatened me by saying that if I try and escape, she'll kill them." I said, and Draco put his arms around me.
"We won't let that happen, okay?" I nodded and rested my head on his shoulder, but I wasn't sure I believed him. That was the moment, however, that I decided I was going to start searching for answers.
…
I stood in front of my mirror a few hours later, dressed in my outfit and mask, next to Draco in his breathtakingly amazing emerald suit, and matching mask. We looked good.
"We look good." I said, repeating my thoughts. Draco kissed my neck.
"We'll definitely be the best looking couple at this party. Too bad we can't actually be a couple." I laughed. There was a knock at the door, and we both panicked for a second, until a soft voice came from the other side.
"It's Narcissa." I went over and opened the door for her, and she quickly slipped in. "All this sneaking around makes me feel like a kid again." She said with a bemused voice.
"You're just such a natural at it, Narcissa." I said.
"I thought I'd find you here, young man." She said, looking at Draco. His face flushed slightly. "Actually, it's very convenient. I was going to ask you if you'd escort Miss Jackson to the party tonight, seeing as how we're trying to keep her from trying anything… sneaky." She said, and we all smiled. Narcissa, you'd done it again, you evil genius.
"But mum…" He said, in a fake-whiny voice, but still smiling.
"I'm sorry Draco, but your Aunt Bellatrix insists that Miss Jackson be watched at all times, and you're the only one here who's close to her age. Otherwise it would look strange."
"Ugh. Whatever." He looked at me and smiled.
"You forgot to throw in a "you're ruining my life" somewhere in there, Draco." I said to him, and Narcissa laughed.
"Ooh, good one. I'll save that for next time we're bull-shitting." He said. I loved this man.
We followed his mum out of the room and down the stairs, for once not having to hide being close to each other. Even if it was "fake". As we entered the ballroom, I immediately saw that there were more people than I had expected, which was a little comforting. Not everyone here was a Death Eater, so I would actually be around some normal people. Most of the people here were faces I didn't recognize, although they were probably all Slytherin families, which would explain that. I noticed a few Slytherins from school, and hopefully they wouldn't recognize me too. I did see that Blaise was here, though. It was hard not to notice the tall, dark and too nice to be a Slytherin friend of mine. We made our way over to him.
"Hey Blaise!" I said to him, and he looked surprised to see me.
"Talia! I thought they'd keep you locked up in your room tonight." He said to me, giving me a hug. "You look great, by the way."
"Thanks. Yeah, I thought so too, but I guess the Dark Lord wanted me to be here. So here I am! Are your parents here?" I asked, never having met them before. He nodded.
"Yeah, they're around here somewhere. I'll probably end up ditching before they leave, though."
"Tal!" I heard a voice call my name, a voice that I knew all too well. I looked over to see someone with hair like mine only more auburn, and eyes like mine only darker. Kayla was wearing a red dress, with a red and gold mask, and she looked amazing.
"Kayla! What the hell are you doing here? You could get caught!" I said, but I actually wasn't too upset. Any chance I could get to spend time with my sister, I would take. She did a little twirl to show off her dress to us, but mostly Blaise. Of course.
"Narcissa invited me! Draco, you have one of the coolest mum's on the Earth. She bought me this entire outfit! Well, everything but the ring, of course." She held out her hand to me, and I laughed out loud. Sitting on her finger was a silver wolf's head.
"Are you serious? A wolf's head? That's so hilariously ironic!" I said.
"It was a gift. Sort of a joke from the other wolves when I was old enough to be on my own." She said. She and Blaise hugged, and I almost had to look away. There was obviously the same attraction from that night a few months ago, but there was something else, too. Something deeper. A server came around with trays of champagne and other drinks, and I felt a wave of relief that for once I was the one being served. I just happened to glance in a random direction when I saw my parents, dressed up and in masks, over in the corner talking to some people. My eyes widened, and my friends noticed.
"What is it, Tal?" Kayla asked, and I had to clear my throat.
"Mum and dad are here."
"What, as guests? That's strange. You'd think they were one of these people." She said, watching them with me. When their eyes traveled to us, we quickly turned around. For some reason, I didn't want them to know we knew they were there. I looked over at Kayla, and noticed her fabulous necklace.
"Kay, is that a bowtie necklace?" I asked.
"Of course." She said.
"Bowties are cool." We both said at the same time, and then hugged. That's when the boys decided to pay attention to us.
"Aw, how touching." Draco said.
"Yeah, two nerdy sisters happy to be together again." Blaise said, and they laughed. We faced them with our hands on our hips.
"Draco, you have four horses named after horses from The Lord of the Rings books." I said.
"And Talia tells me you've quoted The Princess Bride to her." Kayla said.
"So don't be hatin' on our nerdiness when you're just as much of one." I said, and we fist-bumped each other without looking away from his face. A few seconds of awkward silence passed.
"Blaise loves Star Wars! He even has posters of it in his bedroom!" Draco blurted nervously, and we all turned to look questioningly at Blaise.
"Dude! Not cool!" Blaise said, and then gave Kayla a nervous glance. She laughed and affectionately touched his arm.
"Sorry, bro, I panicked." Draco said, and Blaise punched him in the arm.
"Hey, don't hurt my nerdy boyfriend!" I said, and then punched him back.
"Hey! Let's cut the violence and dance with our boyfriends already!" Kayla said, and we all voiced our agreements.
Obviously it wasn't some sort of raging, base-filled, night club type of party. It was slow, waltz-like dancing, people clinking their glasses together, and looking down their noses at people who they assumed were not as good as them. Of course, there were always people like that, especially at this kind of party. Nevertheless, as Draco and I danced together, I couldn't be anything but happy. We danced for hours, until my feet couldn't take it anymore.
"Okay, I need a break. I'm going to go sit down." I said, kissing his cheek.
"I'll meet you there with some drinks." He said, and we parted ways. I was making my way to a table where I saw Kay and Blaise when I felt someone grab my hand.
"Well, that was fast—" I said, but was cut off by being jerked around to face my captor.
Greyback.
"You look absolutely… delicious tonight." He said in that low, raspy voice of his. It made my entire body tense up.
"No," I said, scared out of my mind, trying to back up. But he jerked me even closer to his body, grabbed both my arms in his iron-tight grip, and started to smell my neck. I looked around for someone to help me, but no one was paying me any attention. We were just another couple in masks to them.
"You know," He said to me, his mouth extremely close to my ear, "If you don't want me to be this close to you, you shouldn't be so wonderfully mouth-watering. With that tiny, white dress, those juicy red lips, and your pale, naked throat, you're leaving nothing for my imagination." His lips were all but touching my neck, and I was afraid that this was going to get very painful, very fast. But pretty soon I was being pulled away from him and wrapped up in another, friendlier, pair of arms.
"Back off, fluffy." Kayla said, stepping in front of me. The arms that were protecting me were Blaise's, and I had never been so happy to be in them. And when Draco reached us, I threw myself into his embrace, but still staying close to Blaise. The more protection, the better. Greyback looked all of us over, his eyes settling on Kayla, and then laughed.
"Got yourself a wolf of your own, eh? No matter. She's not as old as I am, therefore not as strong. If we weren't surrounded by all these people, I'd rip you all to shreds. Starting with you, little puppy. And I'd save you're beautiful little songbird for last, so she could watch you all die. I find that terror makes the blood so much sweeter." He said, and I cowered into Draco even more. I hated being so defenseless, but I couldn't help it. I wasn't prepared for this waking nightmare of mine.
"You'll never touch her." Draco said, his voice low, but still dangerous. He tightened his arms around me, and I started to feel safe again.
"We'll see, mini-Malfoy. We'll see." He said, and walked out of the room and hopefully out of the country. But something made me doubt that. After waiting a few minutes to be sure he was gone, Draco loosened his grip on me, but didn't let go.
"I need to get out of here." I said, slipping off my shoes. Draco had an arm around my waist still, probably sensing that I'd need help walking, and Blaise took my shoes and bag for me. We went out into the main living room, and Draco and I sat on the stairs. Blaise set my stuff next to me, and put his arm around Kayla, who was giving me a concerned look. "I'm fine, Kay." I said.
"Are you sure?" She asked, kneeling down in front of me.
"Yeah, I promise. You can go, if you want." I said, and she hugged me. And then her and Blaise left, hand in hand.
"That was some crazy shit right there." I said, sagging against Draco's side.
"I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner." He said, more upset at himself than I was.
"Hey, no worries. Kayla and Blaise were there for me. And you're here now." I said, and I pulled him into a kiss. It was nice at first, but I kept on getting distracted. At first my mind just couldn't stop going through what had just happened. But then my eyes traveled to a little secret staircase in the corner of the room, and I couldn't stop myself from thinking that we were alone in this room. Finally, not being able to stand it anymore, I got up and headed over there.
"Hey, what are you—Talia, don't go down there." He said, trying to pull me away. But I wouldn't budge.
"Why not? Do you know what's down there?" I asked him.
"No, I told you I didn't. But if the Dark Lord was down there, what makes you think you want to see it?" I didn't answer him. I walked down the stairs, carefully, pulling Draco behind me. It was hard, because every time I heard a noise, I was immediately convinced we were caught. Finally, probably getting a little annoyed, Draco just manned-up and stepped in front of me, taking the lead. The door was locked, so he opened it with his wand. Stepping through, I was so not expecting what I saw. My jaw dropped.
"Holy shit."
A.N. Hey! Longest chapter yet! Just a reminder that you can see the outfits I create for this story on my profile. Also, I forgot to give credit to a song that was in one of the last chapters. It was called Bound to You, from the movie Burlesque. I love that movie.