Just in case || Draco Malfoy

Forty Six - A Mere Few Hours

"Let's runaway
we won't go far
Just to the moon
and beyond the stars"

-Unknown

...

"Draco you startled me-"

"What are you doing?? Especially with my father if he caught you eavesdropping-"

Draco had silently shut the door and was whispering loudly to me. He had harshly pulled me into the room. His hair was messy from just waking up and I could see that he had pulled me away as soon as he saw me with the door open. "What did you hear them say?"

"I just heard them speaking, I just wanted to listen-"

"What did you hear?!" He exclaimed. I moved back slightly, startled by his outburst. He immediately saw me and changed his expression walking to me slowly. "I'm sorry" he said grasping my hand. "But what did you hear?"

"They were talking about putting someone in the dungeon" I exclaimed to him, my mind racing as to who it could be. "They said there are already two people down there, Draco who is it?"

He looked at the floor silently for a moment. "Ollivander and a goblin from gringotts are already down there." I looked up at him, the shock clear on my face.

"Why didn't you tell me??" I asked.

"You didn't need to know" he said back, not looking me in the eye.

"Of course I did! I needed to know if I was staying in a prison!"

"Because I knew you would try and break them out. And it's too dangerous". We both stayed silent for a few moments "Who are they bringing in?"

"They didn't say who, just that it was a girl" I said. "You really didn't think to tell me? Why are they here?"

"You know who. He uses this place to keep prisoners away" he replied to me.

"We have to see who it is they have now!"

"How do you suggest we do that?"

"We can just go downstairs and look at who they bring in it's not that hard!"

"There will be people like Greyback bringing them in. They probably don't know about you, it safer up here"

"Draco I don't give a damn what's safer!" I exclaimed to him. "We need to know who it is". He looked between me and the door, contemplating what to do.

"I'll go down. I'll tell them you are still asleep, get back in bed and if anyone comes in, pretend like you are asleep. My mother trusts us but I'm not sure about my father. Go just in case" he said to me.

"It's just as dangerous for you" I said to him.

"They all think I'm on their side, they don't know you. It's no where near as dangerous. Go!" He exclaimed placing his hand on the door handle. I took one final glance at him before nodding to him. I went back over to the bed and pulled the sheets over me as I saw Draco leaving the room, still wearing the clothes he fell asleep in.

...

"Why do they have her? Surely she isn't a threat"

Draco had come back up to the room not ten minutes later, me trying desperately to listen to what was happening downstairs from the bed, but all I could make out was muffled voices, the slamming of doors and footsteps up the staircase when he returned.

He told me what had happened - a group of four or so death eaters had dragged a girl into the manor. The girl was Luna Lovegood - the Ravenclaw girl that Harry Potter had brought that night to Slughorns party. Draco said that it was only her and he was made to stay in the front room with his parents while she was dragged down to the dungeons.

"I don't know - they didn't say. But you never know, she could be helping Potter". I felt a growing pit in my stomach with his suggestion.

"You don't think- think that they found him?" I questioned. He looked away from me, sat on the bed next to me.

"I don't think so. There would of been more of a reaction if they had of. We would of been told you know who is coming."

"Why do you think they have her then?"

"I have no idea"

...

I decided to cast a spell that would clean off my school shirt and skirt instead of trying to find something of Draco's to wear. Tomorrow drew ever closer, the growing fear of Snape's arrival increasing with each hour of the day that passed. I was told he usually arrived in the very early hours of the morning, usually five or so.

I saw wormtail today - a hunched over man, whimpering and stuttering with every small movement from any of us, even me, as though he was utterly terrified of each of us. He seemed as though he was unfamiliar with the concept of hygiene, his clothes worn and frayed and his skin seemingly caked in a thin layer of dirt. One of his hands seemed to be made out of a foreign silver material, one that you could see your reflection in. It caught the light every so often as he shrunk around the house catching my eye as I ate. He seemed to trail around after Lucius in the morning, Lucius departing the house at around noon, Draco unaware where he was going once again.

Me and Draco had gone down just after the encounter with Luna, me having to act as though I had only just woken up, dressed and come downstairs, oblivious to the fact that there were three prisoners in the house. I ate with Draco, struggling once again. The atmosphere of the house made me exceedingly anxious making it difficult to stomach even a crumb of food.

We couldn't do much more than stay in Draco's room, seated on the balcony while his parents roamed the house. We heard his father leave the house making Draco more eager to go downstairs. We came out of his room to find his mother had once again locked herself into her room.

I saw the house elf that was employed in the house - I had been told that they had one a few years ago by the name of Dobby, only for him to be released unwillingly at the hands of Harry Potter. They now had one who's name was Kobble who hardly left the kitchen, sleeping in a small cupboard in the same room. He was the one who prepared all the food we had eaten so far, and we each had a meal now, me eating a lot more than Draco due to there being no one there making me feel uneasy and wanting to make up for the days where I had been living off of a slice of toast and small bowl of cold soup a day. I still couldn't fathom why Snape had suddenly decided to increase the food we were receiving, though I was glad he had.

We couldn't do much there. I had anticipated that. But still, I got to be with Draco. And doing nothing with Draco, I would take over any day doing nothing at Hogwarts without him.

I fell asleep in his bed again. He refused to have me sleep in another room so I wasn't alone, not that he needed to try and stop me. Just falling asleep in his arms made me forget everything that was happening in the world around me. Including the fact that you know who was back, including the fact there were people being held hostage in the house.

Including the fact that Snape would be here in a mere few hours, and with him could come consequences as severe as my life being take away.

...