Safe and Sound

My footfalls were not heard as I moved through the halls of Malfoy manner. Night was falling outside of the home, but night was always in this house, dark, daunting, and quiet. Voices could be heard whispering behind several doors, some human some I would rather not find out. It seemed over the course of recent events, the place I had always called home was filled with creatures and a darkness that held malice unknown to me. It sent chills down my spine.

I slipped into Draco’s room without knocking or warning. My arrival needed no announcement, for as of late, his room had become just as familiar to me as my own. The nightmares that plagued us both and the inability to see each other all the time in our own house was causing us to spend more and more time together laying in bed, exchanging nothing but brief caresses and kisses. We were too plagued to even murmur words.

Draco sat on his window seat, looking out the window as the sun set outside. An orange light bathed his face through the window, the first sign of color I had seen in this house in weeks. It was a beautiful image, to see him briefly close his eyes and feel the warmth of the setting sun through the windowpane. It was the only warmth offered in the house besides the fireplace, but as of late even that felt cold.

“He didn’t select you for tonight,” I whispered, sitting behind him on his seat and snaking my hands around his waist, hugging tightly. He placed his cold hands on mine, stroking them lightly with his fingers. I could imagine he was closing his eyes at my touch.

“No,” he answered, although it had not been a question. “I am to go with my mother to Bulgaria tonight to work out an agreement with a group of snatchers there.”

“Snatchers?” the word was foreign to me, but I didn’t like the sound of it. Snatching, by definition, was taking something quickly and usually against the will or want of another. “What in the bloody hell are snatchers?”

He leaned backwards into me and I shifted, back pressed against the window as Draco stretched out and put his head in my lap, looking up at me, his eyes silver today. I brushed my fingers through his silky hair and he closed his eyes, relishing the feeling of the gentle touch.

“Snatchers are going to serve as the Dark Lord’s bounty hunters,” he explained tiredly. He paused for a moment, just enjoying the touch of my hands. I nudged him before he continued, “They’re to round up muggle borns and blood traitors when we take over the ministry completely. He wants to begin the purge early, and the only way to do that is to have a widespread of them.”

The idea of a “purge” was verging on terrifying. I knew that what Voldemort called a ‘purge’ would just consist of mass genocide of innocent people who were unlucky enough to be in impure families, or have family members who didn’t discriminate. They would all suffer, they would all burn…

Which is why I would foil Voldemort’s plot to attack Harry tonight. I knew I was risking a lot, since I was chosen to be tested on my faith and loyalty to the group. Voldemort may say he adored me and that I was one of his most trusted and talented, but I knew better than to believe his lies. He was wary of me, as he had always been. Unlike most of his followers, I was unpredictable. He could threaten to harm Draco as he had before, but Voldemort was no longer sure if he needed to threaten me.

“How long will you be gone?” I asked quietly.

As much as I liked to tell myself I hated when he left because I missed him and worried about his safety, I knew I only craved his presence at night. His sleeping figure next to me kept away the nightmares. His warmth and body next to me late at night served as my dream catcher, and I was now spending every single night with him, not that he minded.

Draco’s presence at night had become a drug to me. The night we spent away from one another was the worst for me, the nightmares hammering at my mind and body. I suffered from withdrawals very literally, and I hated to think of my selfishness, that when Draco had to leave for his duties, that the first thing that came to mind was how horribly I would sleep. I hated myself for it every single time.

“Two days, I should think.” He raised his hands and traced the outline of my lips. “You’ll be safe tonight, won’t you?”

I smiled, capturing his hand and kissing it. “Of course. I’m always careful.”

He smirked, eyebrow cocked. “That, my little lioness, is a lie.”

I growled, crawling from under him and walking away. “Not you too.”

He chuckled and I could hear his footsteps behind me as he caught me by the waist, holding me there and whispering in my hair, “I think the name is quite fitting. You are fierce and proud, love.” He kissed my hair. “I love my little lioness.”