Persuasive

forty-eight

Dear Avalon,

I know you're upset with Lucius and I but I wanted to inform you that we will be gone for the remaining week of winter break, and we need you to come take care of the Malfoy Manor. We'll be back before you know it.

Love, Narcissa

I dropped the letter on the floor and collapsed onto my bed with relief. I get to be at the Malfoy Manor all by myself, with no mother jabbing in my ear or father constantly bringing me down. But then, the perfect thought occurred to me, why be alone when I can be with Tom?

I shouldn't let Draco know about this letter, i'm still angry with him, plus nobody wants their brother around when you'll be fucking a guy in every room of the house. So, I ripped the letter to shreds and flushed it down the toilet.

I packed my luggage full of a week's worth of items, and hurried off to Tom's dorm to bring him with me.
I knocked on his door with an eager look on my face ready to tell him the news, but he opened the door with pained eyes and a sorrowful look on his face.

"What's all this?" he questioned as he looked down at my luggage.

"Are you okay?" I questioned as I studied his eyes, looking for some type of clue as to why he was so downcast.

He raised his eyebrows at me and pretended like he didn't know what I was talking about, quickly faking a smile.
"Yes of course."

"Do you want to come with me to my house, my parents won't be back for another week." I exclaimed as I hoped to see joy in his face.

"Uh yeah, yeah sounds great." he nodded as he rubbed his eyes and looked down at the floor sheepishly.

I needed to know why he seemed so miserable. His hair was undone and he looked like he hasn't been sleeping at all.
Perhaps it was something I did?

"Did I do something?" I blurted.

He looked back up at me and quickly shook his head.
"Of course not, don't worry about it really. I don't want to ruin our fun." he beamed as he stood at the doorway.

"You won't ruin anything-"

"Please, Avalon. I really don't want to talk about it right now."

I nodded my head and waited for him to pack, but he said he didn't need to.

"Why should I pack when I can wear your brother's clothes? He's a size medium in shirts I suppose?" he smirked as we trudged our way through the halls.

"I'd be surprised if he was anything under an extra large." I muttered as we quickly apparated to the Malfoy Manor.
When we arrived, Tom glanced around the place eyeing every room carefully as we made our way to the kitchen.

"I'm fucking starving." I mumbled as I looked through the fridge.

"This place seems like the perfect place for my servants." Tom's voice trailed off as he continued roaming his eyes around the room.

I turned around to face him with a furious look on my face.
"What?"

"Calm down, i'm only joking." he teased as he made his way over to me. "So tell me about this place, you have any hidden doors where you keep little elves?" he leaned over on the counter and smirked at me.

"Dobby was a one time thing." I rolled my eyes at him as I grabbed some cereal. "And I actually felt bad for him, you know Draco cried to him every single night in second year?" I chuckled as I sat myself down by the counter.

Speaking of Draco, I heard his snobby voice coming from outside as the doorknob twisted open.

"Shit! Hide in that closet!" I whispered as I pointed to a small closet by the kitchen. He hurried over and locked himself inside.

"What do you think of the place?" Draco's voice echoed from a distance as I made my way over to the front door, only to see a girl standing right next to him.

When she saw me, she widened her eyes and nudged Draco on the arm.
"I thought you said nobody would be here?" she whispered into his ear.

"There is nobody here-"
Before he could finish his sentence, his eyes met mine and he saw me standing there with my arms crossed.

"Why the hell are you here?" I snarled as I inched closer to him.

"Mother sent me a letter to take care of the place, why the fuck are you here?" he hissed. "Now we can't fuck-"

The girl quickly punched him in the arm.
"Shut the fuck up."

"So we both got letters then." I muttered as I dropped my head to my palms.

"You're here alone?" Draco pressed his eyebrows together and towered over me with a suspicious look on his face.

"Yes." I gulped, keeping my eyes locked with his. Draco always knows when i'm lying, and the main thing I do when I lie is refuse to make eye contact so I made sure my eyes were glued to his.

"Hm." he raised his eyebrows at me. "Let's go Belle." he pulled her away as they made their way over to the kitchen.

"So are you going to introduce yourself?" I scoffed at the girl as I followed them.

"Oh my god right.. sorry." her voice trailed off. "My name is Annabelle Nott, you may have heard of my obnoxious brother Theodore Nott." she rolled her eyes.

"No actually, I haven't." I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Your brother and I are just friends, but I must say from the way he describes you, you're not what I was expecting." she pressed her lips together.

"What does that mean?" I crossed my arms and gave her an unpleasant look.

"You're pretty, and you seem like the type of person I'd want to be friends with. See your brother, he's a real shit talker." she cupped her mouth and whispered to me but Draco still heard her.

"All the shit I said about her is true!" Draco called out as he looked through the fridge.

Annabelle was a Slytherin, and she was about my height. She had dark hair, almost black, and wore her hair in a low ponytail. She had fierce looking eyes, and an intimidating face, but her voice was so cheerful and bubbly.

Draco came back over to us and handed Belle a cigarette as he held one in his hand.
He grabbed the lighter and lit it carefully, causing the room to smell like cigarette ash.

"So you smoke now?" I scoffed at him as I grabbed the cigarette out his hand.

"Uh yes, I always have." he hissed as he yanked the cigarette back.

I knew Draco didn't smoke and just wanted to impress Belle, which seemed to be working. Belle lit the cigarette in her hand and knew what she was doing, which means Draco was only smoking because she did.

"Tell me, are there any guys you've hidden around here? Because there's no way you have this place all to yourself and didn't invite anyone." she whispered as we started walking towards the closet.

"You cannot tell Draco." I chuckled as I kept my voice low.

"Oh my god no way." she shrieked as she tried controlling herself. "Where is he?"

For some reason, I felt like I could trust Annabelle with my life. I know it sounds crazy because I literally just met her, but we clicked and that usually never happens when Draco brings back one of his girl friends.

I pointed to the closet where Tom was hiding, and she quickly covered her mouth trying to cover her scream.

"Why are you guys pointing to a closet and acting so weird?" Draco interrogated as he made his way over to us.

"No reason." we both blurted at the same time, and quickly erupted in laughter.

"Oh for fuck's sake." he muttered as he rushed over to the closet.

Shit shit shit shit-

He opened the closet to see Tom standing there, with his back against the cupboards munching on some chips.