I'd Follow You (a Draco Malfoy story)

Chapter Twenty Two

Sitting beside his mother and aunt was horrible, the air was thick with tension and everyone averted their gaze as Voldemort listened to Snape's information on Harry Potter's whereabouts. Draco stared pointedly at his hands in his lap, noting that his mother tensed when Voldemort got from his seat and began to slowly circle the gathered party members.

"It was told to me that since Harry Potter and I share a wand core, we can not harm each other. Which means....I require another's wand....." Voldemort's footsteps stopped beside Lucius Malfoy's chair, "Lucius..."

"M-m-my lord?" Lucius choked out, since the failure at the Ministry and Draco's own failure of not murdering his headmaster himself, the Malfoy name was holding on by a thin thread.

"Your wand, Lucius, I require your wand," Voldemort held out his hand expectantly, Draco watched with a held breath as his father surrendered his wand. Voldemort studied it for a moment before breaking the serpent head off the end of the wand with a sharp snap, before tossing the discarded ornament to the floor with a thunk before walking away.

Draco inhaled sharply, shifting in his chair as he looked around, "as you know we are joined by a very special guest." Voldemort flicked his newly acquired wand in front of him, a body began to gracefully glide toward the table. "We are joined tonight by Charity Burbage, the Muggle Studies instructor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In her opinion she would have us mate with Muggles," at this everyone around the table makes retching noises as the conscious form of Burbage weeps for her life.

Without warning, Voldemort's wand shot a green light and Burbage's sobs stop and her form is left on the table as Nagini appears from the floor, slithering onto the table as Voldemort grins, "dinner, Nagini."

Draco averted his gaze, his stomach climbing up his throat, the taste of bile at the back of this throat as he closed his eyes and tried to shut out the sounds of bones breaking. The rest of the meeting was white noise as Draco held his eyes closed tight.

Another letter....

Draco looked down at the letter in his hands, unopened with her name crossed out and Draco's scrawled over it. The disappointed feeling in his chest was heavier than normal, every letter that Draco sent Angelina was returned exactly the same way. This was the tenth letter he'd sent, Draco knew Angelina would be mad after everything, but mad enough to not accept any of his letters? That was the last thing he expected. With a defeated sigh, Draco tossed the letter to the ground and left the room, hoping to find something to keep him busy for the rest of the day.

*****

"So do you just scratch out your name and send them back without a second thought?"

Angelina glared at her sister, a nasty scowl plastered on Angelina's face as she looked at Pansy. "What's it to you?"

Pansy looked taken affronted, "you're my sister...."

Angelina couldn't help as she laughed in Pansy's face, remembering the events from last school year--almost being pushed down stairs, and not having a single conversation all year. Pansy's expression darkened as she glared at her sister, "I don't know where you were last year, but we aren't sisters! You said that yourself," Angelina gasped out before walking past Pansy.

Pansy grabbed her arm roughly, "look. Things are going to be tense, we need--"

"We're purebloods," Angelina pulled her arm from Pansy roughly, basically slapping Pansy's neck as she stepped away. "Nothing is going to touch us, so don't say: 'we need each other, Ange!' You lost that when you wanted to toss me down the stairs."

Pansy's eyes shifted to the ground, Angelina flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked away without another word. This is how her time at home had been spent, Pansy trying to talk to her--possibly out of being forced to live so closely together--and Angelina ignoring her as best she could. After all, what was the point? Pansy said her piece, now it was Angelina's turn to respond.