Light in the Darkness

Chapter 69

Adelaide hadn't heard anything from Perseus throughout the course of the day. She sat miserably in the Manor, unable to leave beyond the property line. He could be dead for all she knew, she was going crazy. She couldn't wait any longer.

She creeped up to Draco's room and hesitantly knocked on the door. She heard a low, "mhm?" and she entered. Draco was sitting at his mahogany desk reading a pretty old looking book. He looked up and his focused expression disappeared seeing Adelaide's furrowed brow.

"What's wrong?" he leaned forward in his chair.

She stood by the door way, grasping the drawer for support, "I-I haven't heard anything from Perseus and I'm getting worried..could you" she hesitated, "Could you go to our Manor and see if he's there? I just, I'm worried he's dead or something horrible happened to him." she felt stupid for acting so paranoid, but the thought of losing Perseus after Philip was too much to bear. She wouldn't recover.

He stood up, smoothing the front of his robes, "Yeah, of course. I'll be right back." he rested his hand on her shoulder, "I'm sure he's fine." he gave a wavering smile before leaving and heading downstairs.

She took a shuttering breath, regaining her strength, and followed him downstairs. She sat on the sofa staring at the Floo for what seemed like forever.

Draco came back through in an eruption of green flames. His hair was messy, there was a black powder line across his cheek, and his shirt was wrinkled under his blazer. She immediately stood up, "What happened?"

He grabbed her hand, "He's fine. The Dark Lord apparently told him to leave Potter. Perseus is just uhm...well he's letting off some steam. It's fine."

"What do you mean let off steam?" she reached out, touching the black streak across his face. She paused however as the strong scent of fire came off of him and she realized the black powder was soot, "What were you burning?"

Draco twisted his rings nervously, "Well, uh, let's just say you no longer have a West Wing of the Manor. No worries though, he's going to rebuild it."

Adelaide swallowed a laugh, "The West Wing?"

Draco nodded his head, hesitant as to what its significance was.

She let out a strong laugh, "That was my parent's wing, they'll be furious." she laughed louder. It was the first time she'd laughed in a long time. Draco let out a little chuckle, wiping the black soot off his face with the back of his hand.

"Merlin, I hated the West Wing. My parents had an awful taste in decoration. It was always so dark and bland. They placed spells, so if we entered we'd get disoriented and lost. There honestly probably wasn't much to burn." she sat down on the couch in relief that Perseus was fine. Draco sat next to her and she leaned her head on his shoulder, soaking in the smell of burnt firewood and firewhiskey.

She muttered, "Your aunt paid me a visit early this morning."

Draco's face went pale, nothing ever good came out of a visit from Bellatrix.

"The original plan was to sneak me into Hogwarts with Polyjuice Potion, but she insisted I go through the animagus process."

He tilted his head down towards Adelaide, "Like the animal transfiguration animagus process?"

She nodded, "Yeah. I hate the idea of it, but I'm not telling her no."

Draco laughed shyly, "No, no you shouldn't tell her no."

"What if you're like a large, scary animal?" Draco asked hesitantly.

"Are you trying to say something?" She teased.