Chapter 19

We took breakfast in our room, barely clothed when the house-elf brought in the tray. I was quiet, but Draco was chatty, pointing out all the pictures of us in the Daily Prophet. I nodded and smiled, hopping onto his lap to look at them together. We were on the front page, and there was an entire spread of pictures and captions. Finally, Draco put the newspaper down and started kissing me again, tasting of the honey he had drizzled on his toast. I wriggled out of his arms, smiling and laughing. "Draco!"

"Hmm, what?" he asked, pulling me back towards him. After kissing me one more time, he leaned his forehead against mine and asked, "So, now that we're married, what does that make me?"

"I believe the official term is Consort to the Queen, but in address, you're Prince Draco." A grin spread across his face. "You're not going to have everyone call you that at school, are you?"

"I won't. But I'm tempted."

"Of course you are." I slipped off his lap and opened the wardrobe, pulling undergarments out of the drawers. "Do you want me to show you around now that everything's calmed down a little? Cleary has us booked for writing thank-you cards after lunch, but there's a lovely forest path, the grounds are really spectacular. Did you bring galoshes?"

"Galoshes?"

"Wellingtons." He shook his head. "Ah well," I shrugged, "I'm sure there's some lying around that would fit you."

We tromped around the grounds that morning. The path wove around the hills and through the valley. The hillsides were budding with pinks, purples, blues and yellows, not quite yet in bloom. The mountain, Beinn Nibheis, rose behind us, Windhithe clinging to its side. I sighed, grinning and staring at the mountain. "That'll be your home, you know."

"I know." He walked up behind me and looped an arm around my waist. "I'll move in this summer?"

"Yes, that would be best. And then there'll be the coronation, that'll be busy."

"And what about… I hate to bring this up so soon, but I have to ask. What will happen to my family? To Malfoy Manor? I'm an only child."

I held onto his hand, idly tracing my fingers back and forth. "Well, our first child will be the monarch, the second will inherit the manor, and we'll have a third, just in case." I looked up at him. "We'll need at least three, though I'm open to more."

"You really have thought about this."

I leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "It is my job, dear."

We made it up to the castle by lunchtime. My harp that I had gotten for Christmas was relocated from my dormitory to the music room in Windhithe, and a tutor was hired by Madame Cleary. I spent my days and nights with my new husband, amusing ourselves around the castle during the day, amusing ourselves with each other during the nights. I was alone in the library when Uncle approached me.

"Jack."

"Hello, Uncle." I put down my book, and pulled myself into a sitting position in the windowseat. He sat next to me.

"Now, I know I should have said this before, but I didn't want to upset you before your wedding…"

I groaned. "What, am I the empress of India now, too?"

"No, no. But… Draco… he is very polite. Courteous."

"Yes he is."

"But it's not just your age I'm worried about. There is something… odd about him. I know his father is involved with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. And I only hope that his son is different."

I smiled at Uncle. It broke my heart to lie to him like this. "Uncle, I can assure you, Draco is very different from his father."

"But how can you know-"

"It doesn't matter Uncle. We're married now and you can't do a thing about it." I stood and stormed off, trying to keep the tears hidden.

The day came when it was time to leave for Malfoy Manor, to spend time with the groom's family. I hugged Uncle and shook hands with Madame Cleary (she had long abandoned curtseying), smiling and waving as I held on to Draco's arm. A split second later, we were standing on the gravel drive of Malfoy Manor, Lucius and Narcissa standing at the front.

I smiled at them and greeted them like they were my own parents, which, in a way, they were. They looked a little apprehensive, though. Lucius's shave wasn't very neat, and Narcissa had dark circles under her eyes. I thought something might have been wrong, but nothing could have prepared me for what happened next.

The doors swung open to the entrance hall, and Lucius took my arm. "Jessica, dear, there's someone who's been waiting to meet you for a long time." He let me into the dining room, grim-faced. The table was lined with figures, most of which I didn't know, some of which were at my wedding. At the head of the table sat something like a man, pale, hairless, and with a slitted nose, like that of a snake. He smiled at me, and chills ran down my spine. "Your highness," he said, rising and bowing.

I held myself upright, separating myself from Lucius and giving the smallest of curtseys. "It is an honor to finally meet you." My voice was breathy, shaking, but audible enough.

"You will address him as 'My Lord'," snapped Bellatrix, who was sitting at his right hand. I turned towards her, raising one eyebrow. My confidence suddenly surged.

"You may call him that, Bella, as may the rest of you. I am not obligated to call anyone my lord, except for my lord father, and he has been dead these past seventeen years." A hush fell over the table. I turned to the pale man and smiled at him. "But I choose to, for the sake of courtesy. My Lord."

Everyone was silent, and I was frozen. I was terrified that I had overstepped my boundaries, and was going to be fed to the massive snake beside him, or something equally terrible. He laughed, a grating, odd sound, coming from him. "Yes, she is a princess. Very good." He quieted and leaned forward on the table, a bone-white wand in his hand. "Please, my lady, sit." He turned to Bellatrix and waved his hand. She paused for a moment, then rose, glaring at me. I slowly walked around the table, looking at every face. Most looked away from me. Finally, I came to the empty chair, and sat.

"How do you like what I've done with the ministry?" He gestured a long-nailed hand to a man sitting down the table, who I recognized as the current Minister.

"I think the ministry is a much more effective government now, and I would be happy to see it continue as such." I had rehearsed these lines with the DA, in case the occasion ever arose that I should speak with the Dark Lord. I would be a princess to him, not a servant or a tool.

"Good, good," he muttered, stroking the head of the snake. She slithered along the table, until she came face to face with me, raising her head to eye level. I was frozen, staring right back into those black eyes. "And Hogwarts, what do you think of what I'm doing there?"

"Professor Snape is a good headmaster. He is focused on the important things." My eyes had not moved off the snake. She lowered her head, dropping onto the floor beside my chair and slithering around to be with her master. I exhaled, relaxing a little. He continued to ask me questions, all in a very polite manner, but I could feel the snake beside me, coiling and uncoiling, tense.

Finally, he asked me something I was not ready to answer. "And the muggles here in Britain… and mudbloods… what do you suppose should be done with them?"

"I… ah…" I paused, thinking. "Well, there's a long term solution and a short term solution. Ideally.. over many years… um… they could be... well we can't kill them all."

"Can't we?" His dark, cold eyes were fixed on me.

"I... surely they can be put to use. Possibly for manual labor, that's all they're really good for. Yes, killing them would be a great loss of resource." I paused, looking around the room. There were a few nods. "And of course, we would have laws against marrying them. It's despicable, like bestiality. Pure bloods will need to start having more children. I have lots of ideas, you see." I turned back to the Dark Lord. "What do you think, my lord?"

"You do have a lot of ideas." He looked around the table, staring at each Death Eater. "More than any of you have contributed." He stood, and everyone scrambled to stand as well. I rose slowly, realizing how incredibly tall the Dark Lord was. "This meeting is over." The cracking noise of apparation filled the room, and then it was only the Malfoys and I. The snake moved along beside him, pure muscle, as he left the room.

"Well, I think that went rather well," I said, letting out a shuddering breath and turning to the Malfoys. They looked stunned. I took Draco's arm, holding his hand. "Now, I really need to rest."

There was a honeymoon suite for us, and we got ready for lunch together. We talked about anything but what had happened that morning- the wedding, Windhithe, and our plans for the future being talked of instead.

When we were lying in bed that night, Draco turned to me. "Jack… is it true, what you said…"

"I've said a lot of things. Which do you mean?"

"About pure bloods having more children… could you be… pregnant?"

I chuckled softly. "Honestly Draco, if I'm not now I will be soon, the way we're going. I expect to get pregnant within a few months, if I'm not already. But I'm not sure, if that's what you mean." Without Draco's knowledge, I was actually taking potions to prevent pregnancy. But he did not need to know that.

"Oh." He nodded, draping an arm across my stomach. "Not that I would mind if you were, you know. We're married, we have no reason to wait."

"Precisely." I snuggled forwards and kissed him on the nose. He pulled me close and kissed me, wrapping his hands around me. He pulled back, raising an eyebrow at me.

"How about we go downstairs?"

"What?" He threw back the blankets and pulled me up. He led me downstairs to the drawing room. We were still naked, and as we sneaked around the house, goose bumps rising on my skin. "Draco, we could get caught!" I hissed to him, glancing around for any sign of movement.

"I know," he murmured in my hear. When we burst into the drawing room, stifling laughs, he immediately sat on the couch and pulled me on top of him. I straddled him, and he pulled me against him, thrusting, until the door creaked open.

Both of us froze. I scrambled off of him, staring wide-eyed at the door. Behind it stood Lucius Malfoy. He looked tired, and smelled of firewhiskey. "What are you two doing?" he growled. His eyes raked over me. "Hm." He stepped forward. "Draco, I'd like to have a word with your… wife."

"Father-"

"Go!" He raised his want and pointed it at Draco. He carefully stood, backing towards the door, fear on his face. "No, close the door," muttered Lucius. He did, and I heard his bare feet padding away into the darkness. I stood straight and proud on the couch, not bothering to cover myself, all pride, no fear, staring at Lucius. Quite the opposite of what I was feeling inside. He turned to me, eyes softening. "You really are… a beautiful girl," he said. I remained silent. He leaned forward and traced a fingertip over my shoulder, my collarbone, then down the curve of my breast to my stomach. I shuddered, and he smiled. "I have had everything taken from me," he murmured, "my home… my privacy… my dignity. There is still something I can have, though…" He leaned forward, running a hand through my hair. His face was only centimeters away. "Something I've been wanting… for quite some time." He leaned my face up, so our noses touched. His silver-gray eyes bored into mine, made bright by the liquor. They were very capable of madness. "Maybe... you've been wanting it too, princess."

He leaned forward, pressing his lips to mine. I jerked away, but he held me close. I cleared my mind, similarly to when I was practicing Occlumency. I relaxed my body. Lucius was a tall man, strong, and not entirely unattractive. So I did the only thing I could do to make the situation better. I kissed him back.

He seemed as surprised as I was, opening his eyes momentarily when I gently bit down on his bottom lip. He grabbed my shoulders and forced me up, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me against him. Quickly, he turned me around and pushed me against the wall. I couldn't see him, but I could feel him remove his cock from his trousers. I gasped as it fell against my thigh, Lucius kissing and biting at my neck. He entered be from behind. He was bigger than his son, reaching around in front of me to rub my clit in circles as he thrust into me. "You're all wet for me, Draco wouldn't like that," he growled. "He doesn't like me fucking you, but you do, don't you, my little whore."

I struggled to stay standing, grasping at the wall and gasping. He moaned into my ear with each thrust, rolling his hips against mine, using his other hand to grasp at my breasts. He was much rougher than Draco, manhandling me, gripping me so hard I was sure he would leave marks. Finally, he came inside of me, moaning into my shoulder as he held me tight.

When he was done, he simply left, putting his clothes in order and looking over his shoulder as he went through the door. I waited until I heard nothing, then padded on fox feet to my room, transforming back to human just as I opened the door.

Draco sat on the bed, paler than usual. As soon as I entered, he jumped up. "Did he…?" I nodded. Draco swore violently. I ignored him going past the bed to the bathroom. I drew a bath and soaked in the lilac-scented bubbles, thinking over what had just happened. It wasn't rape, which was for sure. I had found it honestly more enjoyable than some of my times with Draco. I liked being roughhoused. But I had to pretend for Draco. I frowned. I didn't want to. Plenty of people were raped, and it was a terrible thing. Who was I to pretend I was such a victim? I wasn't taking the issue of rape lightly, but I couldn't betray Draco's trust like that. I still needed him. I held my breath, ducking under the bubbles, squinting my eyes shut. I married a Death Eater, then fucked his Death Eater father, and felt practically no guilt. What have I become?

I emerged from the bathroom, toweling myself dry. I walked past Draco, ignoring him, to slide under the covers. Cautiously, he placed a hand on my shoulder. I let him, closing my eyes and trying to go to sleep.