What Lies Within

Sophie couldn't sleep that night. For obvious reasons. In just a few short hours her and her boyfriend, no wait fiance would be branded as Death Eaters. The summer holiday had already been the most stressful time of Sophie's life and it was only 3 days in. Instead of sleeping Sophie sat on the balcony of the bedroom, staring at the starry sky.

"Soph? Why aren't you in bed?" She turned to see a very tired looking Draco standing in the doorway, his hair flying everywhere from tossing and turning in bed. Sophie couldn't help but smile at how cute he looked.

"Can't sleep." She told him, shrugging. He sighed and gave her a sympathetic look, knowing what she was thinking. He walked out onto the balcony and stood beside her, looking out across the large lawn and to the trees lining the Malfoy Manor.

"Everything will be okay. Just because we have that brand on us won't mean that we are different people. We'll still be us." He assured her. She sighed and shook her head.

"We'll be Death Eaters, Draco. We'll be even more his little minions then we already are. I don't want to do anything for that man, especially be forever marked that I bowed down to him." Sophie argued. Draco simply nodded his head. "Come on, Draco, let's just leave. We can go to The Weasley's. Like you said, they have protection up against The Dark Lord, we'd be safe."

"I can't leave my mother, Sophie." Draco told her making her sigh. "You should go though."

"Just like you won't leave your mother, I'm not leaving you. As I said earlier, if you stay, I stay. Wherever you are is where I will be."

"Now I feel like an awful boyfriend keeping you here in this when you could leave." He exclaimed. She couldn't help but smile before turning to wrap her arms around his neck.

"Even if you tried to force me to go somewhere I wouldn't leave you. It's me and you, through whatever. And thanks to The Dark Lord we'll get through it as husband and wife."

"Don't freak out about this but... I'm not that upset about it. I mean... I am because I wanted to do it on my own time, and propose with this big special romantic gesture, but I guess since my parents always told me I'd be in an arranged marriage, it wasn't really a big deal. I got lucky, at least they didn't arrange me with someone else. I get to marry the girl that I love." Draco admitted. Sophie looked up at him and smiled. "Though I may still do a whole big proposal scene, so don't be alarmed if I get down on one knee and pull out a ring." Sophie laughed and shook her head.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Draco. I guess it's not that big of a deal that I have to take your name before I'm even an adult witch." She said making him smile.

"Who would have thought... The asshole Slytherin and the wanna be Gryffindor Slytherin... falling in love and getting married.." He joked, causing her to let out a giggle.

"You aren't an asshole, Dray... you used to be... but you aren't." She assured him.

"You told me I was a few days ago. When we had that fight outside of Umbridge's office." He reminded her, making her laugh.

"Well because then you were being an asshole!" She argued. He just laughed and shook his head.

"I'm tired, we should head back to bed." He said. She sighed and shrugged, releasing her arms from around his neck.

"I'm not tired." He sighed and pulled her back against him, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Just because you don't go to sleep doesn't mean tomorrow won't come." He told her.

"I know that... I just... if I fall asleep it comes sooner..." She muttered, burying her face in his chest.

"All that is happening tomorrow is we are getting something put on our arms. It will take just a few minutes and then we can get out of here for the day, alright?" He assured her, kissing the top of her head.

"I just can't stop thinking about it, I don't want to be a Death Eater. I know it may not seem like a big deal to you because its just how you were raised. But as much as my parents tried, I am not some carbon copy of them. I don't want any part of this lifestyle but I have no choice because of my parents." Sophie explained. Draco sighed, unsure of what to say. Finally he smiled down at her, lifting her face up to look at her.

"Let me take your mind off of it for awhile then." Sophie frowned up at him. Before she could open her mouth to question what he mean though, his lips were on hers. She giggled and kissed him back, reaching up to thread her fingers through his long blonde hair, pulling his lips closer to hers. Memories of the day before in the bath surfaced in her mind again and that's all she wanted, that skin to skin contact.

"I like this idea." She pulled away to mutter. Draco laughed and pulled her back to him.

"Let's go inside then." He whispered against her soft lips. She giggled and jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist. He walked them back into their room and tossed her onto the bed. Together they crawled up to the pillows and rested their heads against them, disconnecting lips to stare into one another's eyes. "Are you sure about this? Don't you think we should wait until our wedding night?" He questioned. Sophie laughed and turned so she rested across his chest, pressing her entire body against his making him groan and her laugh again.

"Are you sure you want to wait?" She asked. He groaned and connected their lips again before pulling away quickly.

"Yes, I want to wait. Well no... I don't want to wait but... we should. It will just make our wedding night that much more special." He insisted making Sophie pout.

"What if we don't get married for awhile though?" Sophie questioned, running her fingers across his collar bone making him shiver and her smile.

"I'll wait... Though tomorrow I will make sure to ask my mother when the wedding is actually going to be. Part of me really hopes its going to be after the Death Eater ceremony tomorrow." Sophie smiled at first before her smile dropped. The Death Eater ceremony. Right... Draco quickly realized what he'd down and sighed. "No, stop thinking about it. I'm supposed to be distracting you."

"And you had been doing a really good job at it." She mumbled before she sighed and rolled off of him. "We should go to sleep. Night, Draco." She turned her back to him, crawling under the blankets. Draco groaned and got under the blankets behind her. He rested his arm across her waist and put his nose in her hair.

"I love you, baby. I love you so much." He muttered. "And I am so sorry you have been drug into all of this." He whispered. Sophie squeezed her eyes shut tightly, willing herself not to cry.

"I love you, Draco." She whispered back.

"Everything will work out, I promise. As long as we are together, nothing will ever get to be too much." He vowed. She turned her head to look into his grey eyes. She smiled softly and nodded.

"Us against the world." She promised. He smiled softly and kissed her.

"Us together forever." He agreed before kissing her once more. "Good night, love." He whispered when they pulled apart.

"Good night." She turned back around and curled into the blankets, Draco snuggling up behind her. Sophie didn't think she'd be able to fall asleep but she surprisingly did much faster than expected. When she opened her eyes again the sun was filling up the large bedroom. Sophie rolled over to find the bed beside her empty. She sat up and frowned, searching the room for Draco. She got up and went to the bathroom but found it empty as well.

She showered and got dressed quickly before leaving the room, still searching for her boyfriend. She went downstairs to see if he was in the dining room but it was empty. She frowned and searched the living room, finding it empty as well. Had something happened? Where could Draco have gone. Sophie went across the house and searched the only other room she knew, the ballroom.

When she pushed the door open she gasped. In front of her was a large group of people, the same group of people that had been at the marriage announcement a few nights previously. They all turned and parted so Sophie saw into the center of the room.

Narcissa Malfoy stood off to the side, her hand covering her mouth as her eyes crumpled with sadness at the scene in front of her. Bellatrix Lestrange stood beside her sister, grinning evilly. Before them stood The Dark Lord and kneeling in front of him was Draco, his left arm extended to the Dark Lord who had his wand pressed against it. Draco's face was crumpled in pain. As Sophie watched in horror she saw the dark mark slowly begin to burn its way into Draco's forearm.

"No!" Sophie felt herself scream, unable to control it. Draco's eyes snapped open and turned towards her.

"Sophie! Get out of here!" He yelled at her. "You don't need to be here!" Draco looked at his mother who nodded before walking forward and over to Sophie. Narcissa grabbed Sophie's arm and pulled her from the room but not before Sophie and Draco locked gazes and he gave her a sad expression.

"Why is this happening right now? Why wasn't I woken up? What-" Sophie immediately began to question.

"Draco asked that the ceremony happen without you there, he didn't want you to see that happening to him." Narcissa told her.

"The same thing is supposed to happen to me though, so what does it matter if I see it happening to him or not?" Sophie yelled, trying to go back into the room but Narcissa grabbed her arm, pulling her away and down the hall. Narcissa pulled her into the library and closed the door.

"It is not happening to you. It was supposed to but Draco came to The Dark Lord early this morning and begged that he not make you a Death Eater. It took a lot of begging but The Dark Lord gave in." Narcissa explained. Sophie's mouth fell open in shock.

"I'm... I'm not becoming a Death Eater?" Narcissa shook her head. "I can't believe Draco did that for me.." Sophie whispered, falling into a nearby chair.

"He loves you, Sophie..." Narcissa sat down beside her. "I didn't want this... for either of you and I am so sorry that the two of you got dragged into this.." Sophie looked up at the older women to see her close to tears.

"Don't blame yourself, Narcissa. None of this is your fault." Sophie assured her.

"You know.. Your parents and Draco's father and I had planned for the two of you to get married back when you two were babies." Narcissa confessed, smiling a little. "You two used to play together so well. Draco was so protective of you. If you fell and scraped your knee or something he would freak out and come rushing to get one of us to make sure you weren't seriously hurt and he'd always kiss it better." Sophie couldn't help but smile as well. "Then you two got older and grew apart. You became this sweet little girl who had such big dreams and Draco wanted to be exactly like his father..." Narcissa sighed. "I always hoped that you two would find each other again and you'd turn him back into that sweet boy he had been. And you have. I've never seen Draco so passionate and caring for another person. I've never seen him this happy either. I want to thank you for that."

"No need to thank me, Narcissa. I love Draco, with all my heart. Sure, he has his moments of being an ass but at the end of the day he is the greatest man I have ever met." They both laughed gently.

"So you don't hate us for making you be in an arranged marriage?" She asked hesitantly.

"At first I was very angry but I've come to realize that I'm going to spend my entire life with Draco anyway." Sophie responded, shrugging a little. "When is the wedding anyway?"

"Well that's something I've been meaning to talk to you about." Narcissa fidgeted nervously, playing with the skirt of her dress. "It will be held before the end of the summer.. I've already worked on some of the plans but I would really like you to have a say in some of the planning." Sophie just nodded gently, unsure of how to take that she will be married some time in the next two months. Just then the door opened and in walked Draco. Sophie got up and rushed at him. He opened his arms and pulled her against him, burying his face in her hair.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered. She pulled back and looked into his eyes.

"Why did you do that, Draco?" She questioned making him sigh.

"I hated seeing you like that last night. You didn't want to become a Death Eater so I made it so you didn't become one. As long as I complete the task he set me a few days ago you won't become one." He told her making her frown.

"So if you don't murder Dumbledore than I become a Death Eater?" He sighed and nodded. "Then I'm becoming a Death Eater. You aren't murdering someone, Draco."

"Let's not talk about this now, alright?" He insisted, kissing her forehead.

"Fine." She agreed. They turned when they heard Narcissa get up from her chair.

"Sophie, why don't you and I got out tomorrow and have lunch? We can start talking about the wedding more then." She asked the younger woman who nodded.

"Sounds good." Narcissa smiled at her son and his fiancee before leaving the room.

"Did she tell you when it's gonna happen?" Draco asked Sophie who nodded.

"By the end of the summer we'll be married." Draco simply nodded and reached down to take her hand. They were silent as they made their way across the house and to their bedroom. "How's your arm?" Sophie questioned when they were in the safety of their room. She looked at his arm to see it covered by his jacket sleeve. He shrugged and pulled at the end of his sleeve, covering his arm more.

"It's fine." Sophie sighed and reached over to take his hand gently in hers. She slowly rolled up his sleeve, revealing the dark mark tattooed on his pale white skin. She gasped and ran her fingers gently over the blackness. She couldn't believe this happened to Draco.

"It's red." She remarked, noticing the redness around the edges.

"Yeah, it stings a little." She nodded and pulled him into the bathroom, instructing him to sit down on the counter. He frowned but did as she asked. She found a small towel and turned on the faucet as cold as it would go, soaking the rag completely.

"Give me your arm." She told him, holding her hand out. He placed his wrist in her hand. "Sorry if this hurts, but it should get rid of the stinging a little." She told him, placing the cold rag onto his burning flesh. He winced for a second before the coldness cooled the irritated skin, making him feel much better.

"That is so nice." He mumbled, closing his eyes at how good it felt. Sophie couldn't help but smile. They stood like that in silence for a few minutes before Sophie flipped over the rag, pressing the more cold side to his skin.

"Thank you for what you did, Draco..." She whispered.

"I love you, Sophie... I didn't want you to become a Death Eater anymore than you did so I did what I had to do." She took the no longer cold rag off of his arm and put it in the sink before going to stand in between his legs, wrapping her arms around his torso and burying her face in his warm chest while he put his arms around her waist, his head resting atop hers. They stayed like this for hours, just embracing one another and being together. No words needed to be said, they just needed to be near one another...