Sarah Writes

         Tonight though, on the celebration of their twins’ birthdays, there’s a rap on the door that has Christina’s skin crawling. There was nothing that could truly create fear in the woman, perhaps Bellatrix Lestrange or the Dark Lord himself, but no one could have predicted the man on the other side of the wood.

         Lucius Malfoy stands proudly, his chin high in the air, though there’s a distinct fear in his eyes that Tiberius understands, especially as a father.

         “I’ve come to strike a bargain,” he says, his voice cold and even as it had been for the decades the men knew each other. Lucius and Tiberius had attended Hogwarts together, both serving in the Slytherin house and competing for greatness. Something about Lucius always won out, besting Tiberius for Head Boy and Prefect in their schooling days. “The Dark Lord has fallen but he is not gone. He’s assigning tasks.”

         “Lucius,” Tiberius says, stepping out of the door. He closes it behind him, not wanting his wife or Alexander to hear, to understand. “Perhaps we could hold this conversation in a more intimate setting, yes?”

         “I’m afraid not,” Lucius says, his jaw twitching. “Twin blood is stronger than any single person’s. The Dark Lord has instructed your children into the cauldron to create a new body for himself.”

         “Surely not,” Tiberius breathes, the air ripping from his lungs in an instant. “What is your bargain?”

         “Give us the twins,” Lucius says, his voice dropping to a dangerous octave. “We’ll spare the eldest boy. In return, I will see to it that no more of your family comes to any harm.”

         “What sway do you have?” Tiberius demands, not believing his own ears. His family was no more important than the Malfoys to the Dark Lord, and there was nothing that would change his mind when it was made up.

         “I have certain information he desires,” Lucius says. “The choice is yours.”

Draco folds the letter in half and tosses it on the table in front of him. He’s a mess. The table top is covered completely in glasses of firewhiskey and takeout. He hasn’t showered in what feels like years, but in actuality, it’s only been roughly three days. Three long, dark days. His mind titters between you and Scorpius. Mostly Scorpius. Another sip of firewhiskey. His head buzzes, his chest glowing from the inside as the whiskey warms him.

He stands, not being able to take it any longer. He grabs his coat, his resolve set as he stumbles out the front door, not even bothering to lock it. What was the point? There’s nothing to steal. Everything he loves is gone, cruelly ripped away from him over something he really has no control over. Well… almost everything.

Despite the summer not fully ending, the air holds a certain chill that rocks Draco to his core. The firewhiskey on his breath mingles with the cool night air, and he works hard to walk in a straight line. He stumbles over the rubble, cursing to himself.

Finally, after knocking into people for miles, keeping his head low, and stumbling around for what felt like hours, he reaches his destination. Only you would have a purple front door. He chuckles to himself, shaking his head. Oh, you. You… You. Your fault.

His anger is back before he knows it and he’s suddenly banging on your door.

“Y/N!” He slurs, dragging your name out as his mind moves slower than his mouth.

The door opens after a moment, and it was obvious he was disturbing you. Hair in a bun, pajamas on, swaddled in a blanket.

“Draco?” You ask, opening the door wider. “Are you- you’re drunk?”

“Yes,” he slurs, his chuckles turning menacing. “Yes, I am drunk, thank you for finally noticing me.”

You sigh, wrapping your arms tighter around your body.

“Come inside,” you offer, widening the door.

Draco looks at you, his face filled with disgust but his eyes holding so much love and adoration. He scoffs past you, pushing his way into your little home.

“This is all your fault,” he slurs again. “Your fault. Gone. Nothing! Just gone. Scorpius.”

“Draco,” you push. “Slow down. What happened to Scorpius?”

“Gone!” Draco shouts, beginning that world famous pace now. “Took him! Gone! You!”

You sigh and lean against the wall, knowing now isn’t the time for reasoning- not when he’s like this. You pinch the bridge of your nose, listening to his ‘took him, gone, you’ mantra over and over again, waiting him out.

“Darling, everything will be oka-“

“Oh, fuck you!” he shouts, finally breaking. He slides down the countertop, dragging his legs against his chest, his heart shattering at the look on your face. He can remember feeling like this one other time in his life- the night he learned he was to kill Dumbledore. And you looked at him that night just as you were looking at him now.

You move towards him slowly, sinking down to sit next to him as his shoulders start to shake. The tears that pour down his face are large and unwavering as he finally just lets go and cries. He rests his forehead on his knees as everything pours into him. You’re alive. His wife has left him. He doesn’t know where his son is. Why didn’t he just wait.

Draco lifts his head for a moment, his own breath caught in his throat as he leans back against the countertop. The cry of anguish that escapes his throat brings tears to your own eyes and you cannot take it anymore. The tears spill over as you grab his face in your hands and kiss him hard. You pour everything into your kiss- the years spent missing him, the tears cried thinking of him, how he must’ve felt, knowing in your heart he’d moved on. The love of your life sitting right in front of you, you can’t let him get away again.

But he pushes you away. Hard.

“How could you?” He demands through his tears. Suddenly on his feet, his teeth grit and though you know he’s on his way to sobering up, there’s still that distinctive slur to his words and the vastness of his pupils. “How fucking dare you! You made me believe you were gone. You made me believe it and then you just show up from the afterlife, ready to start over with me? How selfish are you? How could you do this to me? To us? I love you more than anything else in this world and right now I can’t even spare a glance for you. You ripped my family apart. I blame you! You took him away from me. You’re the reason she’s gone with Scorpius, you’re the reason I don’t have my boy!”

You’re on your feet now, right in his face as you take his words as a slap in the face. How dare he.

“I did everything I could to protect you!” you shout, your own volume matching his.

“I didn’t ask for your protection,” he snarls. “In fact, I didn’t ask for any of this!”

“No, you didn’t,” you shout back. “Would you rather have sat around and waited and worried if I were alive or not for 6 years?”

“Yes!” He erupts. “Yes, I would have! At least I would’ve known you were alive!”

“You don’t know how many times I almost wasn’t,” you admit, your words stringing together faster than you would’ve liked. Your breathing is heavy, matching his as your shouting match continues. “You don’t know how many times I almost made sure I wasn’t! You’re an arse, Draco Malfoy, to blame me for your problems!”

“You are my problem!” He shouts, his face inches from yours. “You and all of my fucking love for you!”

“Yeah, well,” you shout, finally stumbling. He will not win this argument. “Well… Maybe I love you, too!”

“Yeah?” He shouts, nodding his head.

“Yeah,” you say, your resolve settling in. “You think I came back to teach at Hogwarts? If you really think that then you’re a right foul git, just as everyone says! And furthermore, I-“

And suddenly, his lips are shutting you up in full force against yours. You wrap your arms around his neck, allowing him to take full control of the kiss. Your mouth opens, inviting his tongue in as he pushes you against the counter. Draco’s fingers tug at your hair and you groan against his lips. His hands trail down your waist, grabbing your hips and lifting you onto the countertop.

“You drive me mad,” he growls against your lips, his hands tugging at your hair once again. “Absolutely fucking mad.”

“Draco,” you groan. Your head falls back as his lips nip at your neck, sucking softly. “I want you so bad.”

“Y/N,” he moans, his hands roaming.

“Y/N,” he says, this time more forcefully.

You scrunch your eyebrows, looking down at him from the countertop.

“Y/N!” Followed by a banging on your door.

You open your eyes, taking note of your bedroom around you. It was just a dream. A cruel, sick, unusual form of punishment dream. More banging.

“Coming,” you groan.

You flip the covers off of you and move through your kitchen and living room, keeping your duvet wrapped tightly around you as you pull the front door open.

“About time,” Draco utters, pushing past you and into your home.

“Uh, come in,” you say, rubbing your eyes, trying to rub the dream from your mind. “I’ll start some tea.”

“I came for a reason,” Draco says, wringing his fingers together. “I needed to talk to somebody.”

“Oh,” you nod. “Alright.”

You flit about the kitchen, filling the kettle with water and turning it on to boil, your cheeks redder than necessary.

Draco watches you from across the kitchen, his eyes following you as if you’d disappear again if he didn’t. His heart thuds but he plays it cool, crossing his arms over his chest as the silence stretches between you two.

 “Astoria left,” he finally says. Your eyes snap to his quickly, and you can see the pain in his eyes.

 “She did?” You ask, watching him.

 “Yeah,” he nods. “I told her everything. She pushed me to have another baby with her, but I told her I didn’t want another one.”

 “I’m guessing she didn’t take that well?” You ask, your voice lilted.

 “Nope,” he says, his eyes moving to the floor. “So she left… And she took Scorpius with her.”

 “No,” you gasp. “Do you know where they went?”

 “No,” he says, shaking his head. The kettle whistles and you move quickly, dunking teabags into two mugs and pouring the hot water on top. You gesture to the couch and he sits quickly, almost uncomfortably, as you hand him his tea. “Thanks.”

 You nod and sit at the opposite end of the couch, tucking your feet under your legs, relishing in the warmth of the mug between your cold fingers.

 “She can’t just take him,” you say, your voice coming out more stern than you anticipated. “You’re his father. This just isn’t right, Draco.”

 “I know,” he nods, taking a sip of his tea. His face is haunted as he stares absently into his cup, his eyebrows scrunch together. More than anything did you hate seeing him like this. So sad, so lost.

 “Well… let’s go get him back,” you say, tilting your head.

 “How?” He asks, his shoulders sinking further. “I don’t even know where they are.”

 “I know some people,” you suggest, shrugging lightly. “I traveled through villages near here and met a lot of really great witches and wizards. Maybe I could call in some favors?”

 “It’s alright,” Draco sighs. “Astoria’s too smart to go somewhere remote. She’s close… I know she is.”

 You scoot towards him and take his mug, placing both on the little coffee table. You grab Draco’s hands in your own, forcing him to look you in the eye.

 “She’ll come back,” you say, sounding more confident about it than you actually felt. “Scorpius is safe. That’s what’s important. We’ll find them, I promise.”

 “You’ll help me?” He asks, and his voice reminds you of the broken boy from sixth year. “Really?”

 “Of course I will, Dray,” you sigh.

 “Why would you do that?”

 You sigh again, leaning back against the plush cushions as you wrap your blanket tighter around you.

 “Because I love you, Draco,” you admit, not meeting his gaze. “I always will.”

 Draco’s eyes water, but he blinks his tears away the way he always does. He nods once, swallowing hard as he finally looks at you.

 “I thought I’d never hear you say that again.”

 “I didn’t intend to say it again,” you say quietly.

 Draco scoots even closer to you and grabs your hands again. He’s gentle as his thumb rubs the back of your hand, moving to rub your palm and up your arms until he’s cradling your face and finally, finally kissing you. His kisses are soft and gentle- not at all as they were in your dream- and you relish in the warmth of his lips.

 “What do we do?” You ask against his lips, your eyes remaining closed as you savor the moment with him.

 Draco pulls away slowly. “I need to get my son back. If that means going with Astoria’s wishes until I can figure something out, then so be it.”

 Your face is cool as he removes his hands and stands, moving towards your front door.

 “I’m sorry,” you say, though for what you aren’t sure.

 “Don’t be,” he says. He turns towards you, and the lilt of a smile is etched into his features. “I love you.”

 Astoria,

 I might be in the wrong for a lot of things, but I’ve never been wrong about Scorpius. How dare you take him from me. You may think you hold the power, but you don’t. I’ll get Scorpius back, don’t you worry. Remember- I know too much.

 Your loving husband,

Draco Malfoy

Taglist