Safe and Sound

Ollivander leaned forward, taking my hand in his and placing a kiss to the top of my hand, like a proper gentleman. I smiled kindly at him, dipping my head in greetings. He had absolutely no idea what I looked like, though he easily recognized Draco at my side, giving him a polite nod. It seemed he held no ill will to him; yet.

“You are quite beautiful, Miss…”

“Devaux,” I offered quickly, not wanting him to know that I was the other Potter sibling. A French name was reason enough not to get my wand from him, and he seemed to think nothing of the fake name. “Miss Devaux.”

“Please to meet you, Miss Devaux. How may I be of service?”

I sipped my glass for a moment, getting my thoughts in order as I did so. “I had a question about wand lore, and when Mr. Malfoy here said that you were in the household, I simply could not contain myself.”

A light sparked in the old mans eyes. There was nothing else in the world that he loved more than wand lore, which is why he had made it his profession. Any one who wanted to ask him questions about wands was a friend to him, which is why I had studied up on it a bit for this conversation.

“Of course, dear. Go right ahead.”

“Is priori incatatem a real thing?” I questioned, sounding as curious as possible. “Can wands cores truly connect with one another if the casters carry twin wands? I ask because my sister and I have twin unicorn hairs, and it seems that when we hex one another, our wands seem to react. No one has really been able to explain this to me.”

Ollivander launched into a full explanation of the situation I was talking about. I memorized what he was saying, wanting to know as much as I could before giving him over to Voldemort. Though Draco and I were there to kidnap Ollivander, I knew that it was best for me to get what knowledge I could about the connection between Harry and Voldemorts wand.

After his explanation, I offered him to join me as I stepped outside for air, wanting to ask more questions. He didn’t even hesitate, happy that he found someone at the party that he could relate his information to.

The moment we were outside, he turned to me, ready to ask what my questions were, but he stopped, the tip of my wand meeting his face. There was no one around, and Draco stood a few yards away, keeping watching.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured, the old man looking fearful. “Petrificus totalus.”

Ollivander froze up, eyes going wide as his body locked up, unable to move. Very slowly he fell backwards, hitting the floor without moving so much as a muscle. I stared at his motionless figure for a few moments before looking at Draco, nodding at him.

Draco moved quickly, walking towards us and taking my hand as well as Ollivander’s. The gut wrenching feeling of apparating took a hold of me and the next thing I knew we were standing outside the gates of the manor, the black gates towering menacingly over us.

At the gates, a group of snatchers greeted us, their clothes haggard and their faces dirty with smirks. Draco and I left Ollivander in their hands, striding through the gates and heading towards the home, our work done for the night.

Inside, I hoped that Ollivander knew nothing about what Voldemort was looking for. I myself hadn’t a clue, but I knew it must have had to do with the way his and Harry’s wands connected, making it difficult to kill my brother.

Inside, the house was quiet as usual. Voldemort was gone, performing his own tasks, leaving Draco, Lucius, Narcissa, Bellatrix and myself to go about the house without anyone else plaguing us. The only people who bothered us, were the occasional snatchers, bringing people who possibly had relation with Harry, though they always failed.

Shedding the dress in my room, I stepped into my room, the lights off. The only light was that of the silver moon shining through the window, making my skin look pale and milky. I stood there for a few moments in just my knickers, feeling like I had just peeled off one of the many layers of my disguises.

The door opened and closed and I turned to see Draco standing there, his eyes startled but glued to my figure. I was motionless as his gaze raked over me before he slowly made his way towards me, eyes meeting my own.

My heart began to beat irregularly as he neared me, his height looming over me. He looked down at me through thick, blonde lashes, his eyes deep and mysterious. His hand reached up and touched the flesh on my hip, tracing the curve up my side, making me shiver under his touch.

“You are so beautiful,” he murmured, his voice low and husky, a tone that I had never heard from him before. His hand ran up my back, smoothing over my skin, his fingers spreading to cover more ground. “do you know that?”

I shook my head. Only Draco ever made me feel beautiful. I felt like a monster. “I’m only beautiful for you.”

Draco nodded his head, his eyes hooded as he dipped his head down and caught my lips, moving his own extremely slow against mine. My hands gripped the back of his neck as I stood on my tiptoes, desperate to be closer to him, to feel his touch. My fingers tangled in his hair as my mouth moved against is slowly.

In a single movement, Draco swept me from the ground and carried me towards the bed, laying me down gently. He was being so careful, so loving. It was in great contrast to the brutality we had been experiencing for months.

Every butterfly kiss he placed on my jaw and down my collarbone made the fears that had been building go away, made the strain of the darkness fade into the back of my mind, nonexistent. His breath on my skin, so delicate, reminded me of what it was like to be loved, to be gentle.

Pulling his shirt off, I exposed his perfect, smooth skin, the taught muscle in his chest and stomach flexing under my touch, jumping with excitement as I traced his figure, not able to get enough of his smooth skin. He was so beautiful, like that, a pale statue made fit for the heavens.

A groan escaped my lips as Draco pulled my bottom lip with his teeth, his hands roaming my body as I ground my hips into his, a throaty growl escape his lips as he placed kisses down the middle of my bare chest.

My hand found Draco’s pants pulling at them as I growled lowly, “Off.”

He made no hesitation to remove them and the second confinement underneath, some how managing to leave love bites down my neck and remove my own underwear at the same time.

For a moment we paused, our eyes meeting as he righted himself. My heart was hammering, the realization that Draco and I had never had sex before dawning on me. Draco pressed his lips to mine feather light, murmuring, “I love, I have always loved you, and I will always love you. Our love is legend.”

“I love you too,” I whispered, my words cut off into a gasp as he thrust forwards.

*

The pale light of a stormy afternoon was barely peeking through the curtains, like a child fearful of waking parents. I could see the stormy light through my closed eyes, and I let them flutter open, my eyes adjusting to the dim room, a single beam of light escaping through the curtains that had been haphazardly thrown shut.

Shifting slightly, I grimaced in pain, slightly sore from the activities the night before. Put me through death eater training, quidditch training and torture and I could survive, but loosing my virginity? Let the soreness follow.

Draco’s light breathing was like music to my ears, as I turned over, ignoring the twinge of pain. He looked so innocent sleeping, like a younger version of himself. He was bare chested, his lower half covered my the blankets, warmth radiating from his body.

Unaware of how much time was passing, I simply lay in bed, staring at his sleeping figure. I wished that he could look so calm all the time, and I wished more than anything that I could give him that kind of serenity, that kind of peace that one only found in the deepest forms of sleep.

As if he were becoming aware of my gaze, Draco took a deep breath in and out before his breathing picked up, signaling that he had fallen out of sleep. His eyes opened, their blue depths taking a moment to adjust to the light before focusing on my green eyes, a smile gracing his face.

“This is something I could wake up to every morning,” he murmured, his hand moving from his side to cup my face, thumb brushing across my cheek in a gentle touch; everything about last night had been gentle, and I was vaguely aware that though Draco was no virgin, it was the first time he had made actual love. “I could wake up to see those eyes, knowing that they would only close when they were beside me, knowing that I was the reason they opened again.”

I smiled. “It’s afternoon, Draco. We slept all day… and you sound poetic.”

“You know I’m not.”

Our silence was broken by a sharp rap on the door and the piercing voice of Bellatrix barking at me to get dressed, and to wait in my room until she called. She repeated the step, except telling him she wanted him immediately. unaware that his room was empty and that his presence was in my room.

Just like that, our beautiful moments were gone, washed away by the tides of change, only to be swept up in a swell. They would only return to us when the tides returned, and I had no idea when that would be.

“Wonder what we’ve got in store for her to be bothering us on our day off,” Draco muttered, sourness creeping into his tone as he rolled from the bed. It made me frown, not liking for him to be so quickly put out.

“Don’t be so putt off by it,” I murmured, slipping from the bed, grinding my teeth. Damn the soreness. “It’s our job.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Getting dressed, I tried to pretend his words hadn’t bothered me. He had so quickly dismissed my attempts at comforting him. But that was only natural, for him, to be so quickly disgusted again. I knew that I shouldn’t take it personally, but ever since my change of sides, I had been taking everything to heart.

Draco dismissed himself from my room without another word. Dressed with nothing else to do, I sat down. An hour passed by and still no one called me down. I was beginning to get irritated, when a I heard the voice of Lucius yelling down stairs.

I stood straight up in my room, my sense going on high alert. Deciding I didn’t give a damn that I had not been called upon, I stormed out of my room, heading down the stairs and taking out my wand. I moved directly to the living room, freezing when I saw the group of people there.

A few snatchers stood in the living room, two of them holding Ron and Hermione, restraining them. My heart nearly went through my throat, seeing Harry on his knees, though something was terribly wrong about his face; it was swollen and mutated, unrecognizable, even to me at first glance. I assumed it was Hermione’s work.

Draco stood face to face with Harry, but no words left his mouth. My heart was beating so hard in my chest it was making me sick, and it was hurting. Draco couldn’t tell them it was him, they couldn’t give him up.

“Ah, Reagan!” Bellatrix called, noticing me standing there, taking in the scene. I stood at attention, coming forward only when the mad woman beckoned me. “Draco seems to be unable to answer my questions.” She pulled Harry’s head back by the hair. “Is this your brother? Do not lie, Reagan. Otherwise it’ll be very bad for you.”

I frowned at Harry, trying to hide the blood roaring in my ears. Walking up to him, I gently moved Draco aside, getting down with eye level to Harry. His face was unreadable through the swollen features, but I knew he must have been terrified.

Circling him, I feigned distaste, kicking him slightly and running my hands through his dirty hair, making a show of my examination. When I was done, Bellatrix demanded and answer. “Well?”

“That’s not my brother,” I said resolutely, leveling my gaze with her. “There is no way his face has been bloodied up that bad, and if it has, God help the poor bastard.”

Bellatrix narrowed her eyes. “Is she lying, Draco?”

Draco shook his head. “That isn’t Potter. If it is, I don’t understand what’s happened to his face.”

“Yes.” Bellatrix’s voice echoed in the large hall as she strode away from Draco and I, moving towards Hermione, her eyes interested in the girl. Hermione remained motionless, not gazing at me. “What did happen to his face? What it your work? Give me her wand, let’s see what her last spell was.”

One of the snatchers moved to give Bellatrix Hermione’s wand when a glint caught my eye. I saw one of them holding a very large sword, one completely unfamiliar to me, but there was something strange about it. “Bella,” I called, drawing the woman’s attention. “Why has he got a bloody sword?”

Bellatrix whipped her head around, her black curls flying like snakes as she did so. Her body began to tremble, looking at the weapon. “Where did you get that from?”

“Found it on them,” he answered smugly, clearly pleased with his findings. It was a mighty fine sword, though I wasn’t quite sure why Bellatrix had interest in it. “Reckon it’s mine now.”

One of the things I had always prided in Bellatrix, was her ability to strike like a snake, lighting quick and without warning. Which is exactly what she did in that moment, snapping out her wand and striking the man, knocking all of the snatchers off their feet and disarming them as easy as pouring a cup of tea.

“Get out!” She bellowed, practically shaking the walls with her voice. The men rolled on the ground, coughing and scrambling to their feet, trying to escape her insane rage. “All of you, get out!”

Bellatrix whirled around, thrusting the sword into my hand so roughly that she nearly severed my hands. “Put the boys in the cellar!” she barked at Narcissa, who quickly obeyed, grabbing them by the shirts and pushing them towards wormtail. “We’re going to have a talk- girl to girl.”

Hermione looked absolutely terrified at Bellatrix’s words, the evil, sneering face of Bella nose to nose with the younger girl. My mind reeled, trying to think of ways to save her, but Bella turned to me, screaming at me to lock the sword in the safe.

When I hesitated, she gave me the look of death, and I decided that if there was any way to save Hermione, it would have to be done from outside of that room, where Bellatrix could not see me.

Leaving the room swiftly, I practically ran all the way to the safe, unlocking it with trembling hands. My hands were shaking so badly that I had messed up the first time, cursing and redoing the lock. It was when I finally got it open that I heard the first scream, making my heart wrench.

Slamming the safe shut, I spun around, a second scream assaulting my ears. I could only imagine what she was doing to one of my friends. The thought put me over the edge, making my world spin. Tripping over the rug, I dove for the waist basket in the study, retching into it as my head spun.

My brother was here. It was over. Voldemort would win. Another scream racked through my mind as I wretched again, hearing Hermione’s torture. Shoving away from my bile, I gasped for air, forcing myself to my feet. I couldn’t not give a fight, I couldn’t not try.

Stumbling towards the living room, braced myself against the frame. Bellatrix was now screaming at a goblin, which would not yield any answers. Hermione lay motionless on the ground, but I could see her shallow breathing. I took a step towards her, though she could not see me.

Bellatrix yelled then, turning back to Hermione and stopping my procession towards the girl. Bellatrix murmured to herself, knife in hand as she advanced on Hermione, intentions of killing her, I was sure.

“Expelliarmus!” Ron screamed, knocking Bella’s wand out of her hand, startling us all.

The room broke out into chaos as I bolted across the room, deciding that this was the moment. This was the moment I would forever cherish and regret, because the only way Harry was getting out of here alive, was by my aid.

In that moment, I completed one of the most selfless acts I had ever done. In that moment, I knew that though my love for Draco was stronger than anything in the entire world, that it was stronger than all of the magic a wand could conjure, that my love was no excuse to let the world fall to darkness. My love was nothing compared to the lives of others, and the other love stories existing.

That was the thing that they never told you about love stories; you couldn’t just sacrifice the world for the person you loved. It wasn’t that easy. Sometimes, you had to make the cruel decision, to shatter your own heart if it meant giving humanity a glimmer of hope, a look into a good future.

After all, that’s how most tragedies were formed, heroes giving up the things they loved most in order to save others. Sometimes the heroes gave up their lives. I was giving up my life, and putting Draco’s in jeopardy, and I knew that if some how we lived through this, he would never forgive me.

But true worth doesn’t come from being able to save something, it comes from knowing when to sacrifice something.

“Stupify!” I screamed, hitting Lucius in the chest with the curse, knocking him in the air and backwards. Narcissa and Draco were both so shocked that they stopped moving, Harry and Ron disarming them.

“Stop!” Hermione screamed, drawing all of our intentions. My blood ran cold, seeing Bellatrix pressing a blade against Hermione’s throat. We were dead. We were all good as dead, and Draco was too.

“YOU BITCH!” Bellatrix screamed at me, making me flinch. Draco’s face was stone. “You lying little wench! I’ll kill you with my own hands. Drop your wands!”

My muscles tightened as I dropped my wand, standing next to my brother. My heart was beating wildly still, and I felt grief welling up inside me, filling me to the brim. If they didn’t kill me know, grief would kill me. It would consume me and it would destroy me.

Draco picked up our wands, never looking at me. My heart screamed out for him, but I clenched my teeth so hard I thought they would crack, trying not to show the emotion that was striking me like lightning.

“Well,” Bellatrix hissed. “You’re eyes are all bright and shinny now, just in time for the Dark Lord. Call him.” No one moved, not even Draco. His eyes found mine for the first time since I had shown my allegiance. They were filled with nothing but pain, and it nearly put me over. “CALL HIM.”

Lucius rose from his spot on the ground, stumbling over to stand in front of me. His glare that I was met with could freeze the very core of the sun, for it chilled me to my very bones. I watched in fear as he raised his hand over the mark, the very mark that I bore on my arm.

But he never made the call, a small sound attracting all attention in the room. simultaneously, everyone glanced up towards the sound, my eyes blinking rapidly in confusion to see a house elf sitting on the chandelier, hard at work unscrewing it. Just as we looked up, the metal contraption came free, causing Bellatrix to scream and shove Hermione towards it.

Ron leapt forward, snatching Hermione out of harm’s way as leapt forward, diving towards Draco who had bolted out of the way. He flinched away from me as I got level with him, placing my hands on the wands in his hand. “I love you, Draco. Don’t you ever forget that.”

He shook his head at me and I pulled away from him, grabbing my brothers sleeve and backing into the corner with them, clinging to him desperately. He is all I had. He is all I would ever have, ever again.

“You betrayed us,” Narcissa whispered, her eyes glittering with tears. My legs trembled, but my brother held me strong. “After all these years, after everything I did for you.”

“I fooled him to,” I said loudly. Though it sounded like I was boasting, I was trying to remind her that Voldemort had been fooled too. I clung to the hope he would not punish them, seeing that my deceit had been deep routed. “I fooled the Dark Lord as well, do not forget that. No one understood my treachery. Not even him.”

Light glinted in the woman I called my mothers eyes. She understood. She had too. “You are not daughter of mine,” she whispered, the last blow to my emotional state.

Grabbing hands quickly, I felt the pull of apparation, my eyes going to Draco one last time. But he wasn’t looking at me, I couldn’t see his eyes. His face was turned away, his shoulders rocking with a sob.

My knees hit sand, but I could not feel it. I fell forward, letting go an inhuman sound, a sound that was the very essence of pain, grief and heartbreak. It was the kind of cry that people wrote requiems of, a lament that would be talked about for years and years, for the sound of sorrow was like no other sound in the world.

Grief consumed me.