Object of Desire

Vodka

Draco had gotten used to the world spinning around him. The floo system usually makes people dizzy or uncoordinated, but for him, Draco felt comfort in the chaotic warping.

Stepping out of the fireplace with no hesitation and not stumbling for a single step, he made his way to the foyer. Knowing he'd find the last people he ever wanted to see again.

"Draco!" Narcissa shouted, startled to see her son interrupt a meeting with select Death Eaters.

"Give me the mark." Draco walked towards Bellatrix, rolling up his sleeve.

"Bella," Narcissa tried to get up to grab her son, but Lucius held her back with a sickening smile etched upon his face. Sitting back down in her chair she continued. "Please, Lucius, you promised."

"I remember nothing of the sort." He quickly spat back. Forcing his grip on his wife to grow tighter.

Shuttering like a dog left in the cold, Draco continued towards his aunt. When he reached her chair, she shot up and used a binding spell to hold his arm to the table.

"This isn't going to hurt darling." She cooed in her high pitched voice. "Well, for me anyway."

"He's just a boy. A child!" Narcissa tried to intervene to prevent her only son to get marked with evil.

"Oh please, mother, I stopped being a child when you let these monsters into our house.

Bellatrix moved her wand from his forearm up to his neck. "Draco, Draco, be careful what you call us. You include your beloved Alana when you speak of us."

Draco could feel his blood boil over. Knowing that they were just trying to get him to show weakness, he kept his emotions under control.

"Just give it to me." He quickly strung together, almost as if the words burnt his tongue to say. "Give it to me and Alana will stopped being used as a weapon."

Bellatrix gave Narcissa one last look, then looked back at Draco nodding with his agreement, then started to mutter the spell that engraved the mark into Draco's soft, porcelain skin. His screams filled the manors hall. The pain took over his body, causing him to convulse and thrash, but still in the binding spell, he couldn't move more than a few inches.

After what felt like years of pain, the burning sensation finally stopped. With his last few ounces of strength Draco looked at his aunt.

"You have me now, stop using Alana as your killing guinea pig." Draco managed to force out.

"Oh Draco, that's impossible. You know that silly." Her face formed a smile with the ugliest teeth Draco has seen. "But it's cute how far you'll go for her."

Before he even had time to understand what just happened, he blacked out.

***

When the sun coming through the window woke Alana, she sat up startled, forgetting where she was. But almost like a wave a nausea, all of the nights past events came flooding back into her brain.

Trying to get her mind off of it, she walked to the kitchen to make tea. After pouring herself a cup, she called out to Draco. Suspicious when he didn't answer, she went looking for the blonde haired boy.

As the hours passed, Alana traded her herbal tea for something stronger. After finishing a whole bottle of vodka, the hours seemed to blur like wet paint on a painting hung too soon. The tang of the alcohol was easier for her to swallow then the fact that even after everything she went through, Draco was able to break his promise so easily, not even attempting to come back quickly.

Minutes turned to hours. Hours turned to days.  Draco was gone for five days. With each day, Alana found herself at the bottom of different liquors. Along with the constant drinking, Alana hadn't been eating. The stress over worrying about Draco made her feel guilty every time she attempted to eat, not knowing if Draco was able to eat.

Around 3 am, the first few hours of the sixth day, the fireplace to the secluded house came to life. Out stepped a white haired boy who looked as if he hadn't slept for all six days, but at the same time acted calmly as if he had slept like a baby the past few nights.

When his eyes matched Alana's, he felt immediate heartache. The small girl, now smaller, sat on the counter with an almost empty bottle in her hand, and the finished ones were spread around her spot on the counter.

"What?" Alana slurred. "You don't like your welcome home party?"

"Stop." Draco attempted to reach for the bottle in her hand but failed as she used the last of her strength to pull it away. "Why are you even drinking? It's not like you've had it hard here."

Alana froze.

"Oh you want to talk about hard times rich boy?" She slid off the counter to try and stand in front of Draco but couldn't manage to keep herself up without holding the counter with her free hand.

Knowing that Draco knew all her trauma, she didn't waste breath telling him what happened to her. "Who said anything about a hard few days? I'm just getting drunk enough so I don't remember who you are."

Draco couldn't stand hearing her talk like this.

"Who did this to you? Who fucked you up so badly that you've completely shut down when someone messes up one small time? Draco said seething. "You don't ever talk to me about your feeling anymore. You pushed me away and only let negativity in."

Alana couldn't look him in the eye. She swirled the bottle around her thin fingers and took a sip, finishing the bottle.

Grabbing the bottle and throwing it into the kitchen, Draco reacted, "Who fucking did that to you?"

Alana wanted to show no emotion, to be like a statue so Draco would give up eventually. Their bond was stronger then any grudge, so she slide down onto the floor, where Draco joined her and started to tell him everything.

"It started with my father, but you knew that." She tried to joke. "Then it was Fred, then... Blaise."

Showing visible discomfort, Alana started to cry uncontrollably after speaking.

"I know he was a bad person, but i shouldn't have killed him!"

Draco knew he couldn't react right then, all he did was hold Alana in a tight embrace. Thought the two both started the conversation with grudges, they both stayed in the same spot for the rest of the night, Alana finally letting Draco in, and Draco letting Alana in, fully.

Well.

She couldn't know about the dark mark. Not yet.