𝒜𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓉𝒽 | 𝒟.𝑀.

24 | ﴾ Swan Lake ﴿

Yet another horrifically astringent day concluded at The Ministry. I left the boardroom I was in with overwhelming dread. Multiple days had passed with me avoiding talking to Theo by hiding in random areas with my lunch, and by avoiding Hermione even though Draco had specifically instructed me to go see her immediately. The tension in my body was at an all time high any time I had to walk through the building.

Draco and I had graduated to sleeping together every night, and he was now coming into the Ministry each morning at my side for his own job. Even though he wasn't there during lunch to verify if I was still talking to Theo, there was a very real possibility that we could both run into him and if I had been misbehaving, Theo wouldn't hesitate to blab.

I was sure that Nott would naturally come to the conclusion that I was avoiding him on account of my relationship with Draco, because no explanation had been provided for my sudden absence save for their recent fighting.

Draco now filled me in more regularly on his life and experiences when we cuddled, and I could tell that he was feeling very sensitive about some supposed argument he'd had with Theodore over the TimeTrap game. It simply was not worth the risk of losing what I already had with Draco, so I had been going to the trouble of sneaking around and trying to find a space to secretly eat considering I still had not been assigned an office.

By Wednesday Theodore had obviously decided aggression was the best approach, as I noticed him snooping around on the level that I worked on with a determined expression. In a panic I just barely escaped his rabid search by ducking down behind a shoddy table.

Unfortunately the boy proved incapable of taking a hint. On Friday he stepped out from behind a pillar as I was hastily making my way home across the atrium to the floo network of fireplaces. It was late in the evening, far beyond when most employees stayed to work, and Draco and I had both planned to drink together for the first time to relieve some of the tension of my condition.

Theo flanked me quickly and got right to the point, "Avoiding me? All on account of Malfoy?" He yanked me hard by my elbow and I spun against my will to face him with my hair swirling in my face. "I thought we were pals, Maddy," he nicknamed me awkwardly.

I pulled out of his grasp in disbelief that he had touched me so inappropriately, and dropped my voice as people began to stare, "Draco is my 'usband. Leave et alone."

He bored his brown eyes into mine accusatorially and I continuously shifted mine away in defiance, "Mmmhmmm, how did I know this was coming? Wow...this is just unbelievable. He's got you under lock and key." He held his arms out at his sides like it was the most gobsmacking behavior he had ever encountered.

I wanted to instinctually slap him because I definably had issues with my temperament, but I was at a place of work and didn't intend on being fired for misconduct in the central lobby. Instead I just balled up my fists and hid the action deep in my flowing dress, drawing on sheer concentration to avoid breaking out in an inferno, "I don' feel locked up. I am choosing to be wit' 'im and respect 'is wishes."

I started to turn but he yanked my elbow again with a perseverant glare, "You're a ballerina - ever heard of Swan Lake?"

I frowned deeply, "Obviously." A controversial dance by most standards, Swan Lake was characterized by the fall of the white swan in her transition to the dark swan, in exchange for  both madness and freedom.

"Ever danced it?" he asked without breaking his eye contact.

I struggled in his painful grasp. "I 'ave not, and I know what you're going to say."

He readjusted his grasp on me by grabbing both of my shoulders. He leaned in close to my face, speaking in a hushed tone, "You're already dancing it. You're on the path to becoming a powerful black swan, if you'll only let go. I can help you."