Draco Malfoy. His name alone bought a lot of things to mind, especially for Annabella Riddle... She is many things, but she is no fool. Bella knows better than to fall for Draco's 'charm' - or whatever those girls who constantly fawn over him call...
She had left a while ago. I decided to stay pretending to be asleep like she had done in order to not deal with Father, my overhearing would not have been taken lightly. I had a bad feeling about Bella's meeting with the Dark Lord.
I thought that I heard Father say it would only be ten minutes? It has been forty...
Maybe they are just getting carried away...
No... No, something is up.
Just as I thought it, Annabella entered the bedroom once more, this time looking drained and beaten down. She was now bearing a fresh, shiny bruise on her left cheekbone, accompanied by a swollen eye area, probably both from a physical strike to the face rather than a spell. Our eyes met as she slowly crawled back into the bed and curled into a ball, resting her head lightly on the pillow. She did not talk. She did not touch. She made no indication of wanting to either, I thought it best to give her the space she may have needed, and instead headed to the bathroom to clean off and get changed into something more crisp than a pair of boxers.
Wearing the usual black suit -I must admit, in the last year or so it had become my signature look- I sprayed some cologne and slipped my feet into a pair of black leather brogues. I took a quick look in the mirror and decided to leave my hair natural, I had always preferred it that way but Father had always told me to sleek it back in some form of style. I examined the blonde waves atop my head and ran a hand through them to give some more volume, before turning and exiting the bathroom. Bella looked as if she had fallen back into a deep sleep as she did not react in anyway when I told her I was going to have breakfast. Of course that was a lie though.
I most certainly would not be having breakfast in the company of those who had just hurt my Princess. No way on Earth...
"So? WHO WAS IT?! WHO WAS IT WHO GAVE HER THAT BRUISE?!" I yelled as I entered through the doors to the dining hall.
"Draco, quiet we have guests..." I heard my mother call out as I began to storm towards the table.
"DO I LOOK LIKE I GIVE A FUCK? WHO WAS IT?!" I bellowed, feeling the anger surge through me. "WELL? WAS IT YOU?!" I turned to my father, seeing a weird kind of fear in his eyes. At first I was confused, until I remembered that no one in this family had ever seen me in fights at school where the other person would always end up in the Hospital Wing for at least two weeks. They had never seen me this angry either. I had built up a lot of courage this year at school. Some may say my actions could be seen as stupid but I deem them necessary to get what I want, relieve myself of burdens by the blood on my knuckles. I watched carefully as a bone shaking voice spoke from behind me. It was the Dark Lord...
"Draco. Hmm... Now, I don't expect you to understand the parental methods that I use, mainly because you are still so young and naive. However, they were necessary for her growth as a Lady. She must learn to-"
"IT WAS YOU?! YOU BEAT YOUR OWN DAUGHTER?!" I felt myself lose all control as I launched myself at the man (if you can even call him that since he looked more reptilian than human). Clearly, he did not expect the assault as there was no initial attempt to fight back as his wand was most likely elsewhere. I continued to hit him even as my mother and father were trying their best to pry me off. Persistent, I fought back in any way I could. I was in utter disbelief that he would do that so casually to his own flesh and blood. I knew my father did it but I thought that was just him, none of my other friends' parents did it, so I assumed Lucius was just an odd case. But to think that the pale snake in front of me could have been behind all of the attacks on her made my blood boil. I was prepared to kill him right then and there.
I swear if Potter doesn't kill him one day, I will! Fucking arsehole!
How could he do that to Bella? My baby... My darling girl... How could he hurt her like that? And why did I do nothing about it?!
Fuck! Ugh, I should have gone after her when the ten minutes were up to make sure she was safe...
Merlin, how could I be so stupid? So fucking oblivious...
My head was spinning as I rid myself of the strong grip my father held on my shoulder and ran off to my bedroom to fetch Annabella. We were getting out of there before he could do any more damage to her.
My footsteps echoed down the hallway as I proceeded to head towards the door of my room. The cold metal of the handle clinked as it crashed against my rings with the sheer force at which I flung it open, revealing a small bundled up lump under the duvet. In that moment, she looked so peaceful but it could not remain that way. We needed to leave. Not for long, just for the day maybe... To allow things to cool off a little. Slowly, I approached her and, to my surprise, I didn't even have to wake her, she just turned around and looked at me with puffy eyes and streaky last night's mascara.
"Your thoughts are loud. What did you do?"
I was bemused, I must have forgotten to use occlumecy when thinking out of rage.
"Never mind. I will tell you later. Just get ready and we will leave as soon as possible. Just for the day. Maybe we could go out somewhere in the muggle world? You always enjoy it there..." I told her as she climbed out of bed, not giving a reply but being obedient nevertheless.
After five long minutes, Bella finally seemed to be ready and came out of the bathroom looking as stunning as ever. She wore a black jumpsuit with no straps -revealing her toned arms and back and a nice amount of cleavage. There was also some form of lace see-through detailing on the bodice. She looked rather gorgeous.
"Wow... You never cease to amaze me, Bella. You look lovely, darling." I murmured into her ear as I pulled her up close against me, apparating us to the same side alley that we were pressed up against eachother in previously in London. I felt her lips press onto mine for a short while, leaving me wanting more, but she refused and pulled away, taking my hand in hers and walking toward the bustling city at the end of the alleyway.
A/n: sorry for all the author's notes I'm doing, but I feel that I need to just explain why the uploading schedule is so messed up rn lmao. Basically I have been doing very short chapters recently because I am straight up unmotivated. I have not been in the best mental state as of recent weeks, I have been starting my recovery process but it is absolutely draining and I have not found the time nor motivation to write a good chapter for you.
Thank you for sticking with me though. I promise I will try to get things up and running soon! Also this is what she is wearing atm:
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