A Serpent and His Rose (A Draco Malfoy Story)

A Serpent and His Rose [Uninvited Guests]

The second hand on your clock ticked slowly. You tried to ignore it, but it became louder with each passing second. You sat on your bed, staring at the wall. You couldn’t help it anymore. You glanced up. 4:03 pm. You stood up and paced up and down in your room. Anxiety coursed through your body and you felt a sudden shortness of breath. You tried to calm yourself down. The ceremony would be starting right now. You didn’t know what to do with yourself. You sunk down against the wall in the corner of the room, breathing deeply. Despite your focus on breathing, you began to feel a lump form in your throat. So much was going through your head. The night you lost your virginity with Draco. What Tammy and Kasey said. They were right. You knew you would regret this moment for the rest of your life if you stayed curled up on the floor, crying.

You jumped up and ran for the door. Right as you grabbed the handle, you stopped and looked down at yourself. You hurried to your trunk and threw on a dress on some heels. This was already going to be awkward enough, you didn’t need to add going to the wedding in your pajamas to the discomfort. You brushed your hair quickly and threw on some mascara just to make your eyes pop. It seemed like a trivial thing to worry about, but you couldn’t help yourself. You were about to crash a wedding and be judged by every single person in the room. You needed to at least look good.

You always carried some emergency Floo Powder. You pulled the small pouch out of your trunk and raced down to the common room fireplace. You threw a pinch of it into the flames and watched them turn a glowing green.

“Malfoy Manor!” you yelled clearly as you stepped inside. You were instantly transported to the Malfoy’s fireplace in their sitting room. The moment you stepped onto the white carpet, you knew something was wrong. The house was dead silent. Even if all of the guests were outside, the noises of the Manor house elves toiling in the kitchen to prepare the wedding dinner would have easily echoed throughout the large house. But you didn’t hear a sound. You stepped through the archway to the foyer and the main entrance of the house. The first thing to catch your eye was the splintered wood scattered along the floor from the giant double doors. Holes had been blown through both of them and they stood off their hinges.

“Hello?” you asked to nobody in particular. Nothing. You found the doors that led outside to the backyard, also in shambles. You stepped carefully through them and the sight before you was eerie. Hundreds of white chairs were set up facing a gorgeous archway covered in flowers. Footprints left from hurried guests stained the once spotless white pathway that led from the doors where you stood through the rows of chairs and up to the archway. Not a soul was in sight.

“Andrea?”

You turned around to see Felicia standing behind you. She looked beautiful in her wedding dress. Her hair looked like a few strands had fallen out of place, but was still done up well for the most part. She looked shell shocked.

“Felicia, what happened?” you asked, pulling her into a hug and completely forgetting for a moment that this was the woman marrying the man you were in love with.

“They came for Draco.”

“Who?”

“A bunch of Aurors.”

“What? Why?!”

“The ministry has been investigating him. For his ties with the Dark Lord. They didn’t have anything on him that would stick… Until he killed Adam. It gave them an excuse to get him. Our parent’s have been protecting him for this long but it wasn’t enough.” she whispered, her voice shaking.

“Did they get him?”

“N-No.” she shook her head. Suddenly, a loud crack sounded and Felicia broke out of your grip.

“FELICIA!” Mrs. West shrieked. She spotted the two of you and ran over. “Felicia come right now! Your father is furious!”

“Mom--”

“Not now, Felicia! God, can you believe the scandal?! Thank goodness this happened before the I do’s. We don’t need to be affiliated with this family! Hurry up, your father’s waiting!” she ranted as she pulled her along. Felicia nearly tripped over her dress as she was dragged away from you. You could have sworn you saw her smile at you before they both disappeared. You felt your heart flutter. She said this happened before the I do’s, which means that Draco isn’t married. But the joy you felt at hearing this news was overshadowed by the urgency of this situation. Where was Draco?

“Andrea!” you heard from behind you. Tammy, Blaise and Kasey had poked their heads out of the den and spotted you. Tammy ran over and pulled you into a bone crushing hug.

“Tammy… please… let… go!” you struggled to breathe.

“I knew you would come.”

“Tammy, where did Draco go? Do you know?” you asked worriedly.

“His family took him to a safe house. I heard Lucius say that before they Disapparated.”

“What do we do?” you asked, feeling yourself begin to panic.

“Nothing.” Blaise said. You eyed him in disbelief. “Don’t worry, we heard the Aurors. They don’t have proof of anything. They were bringing him in for questioning at the Ministry. And I know how the Malfoys operate. Running might look suspicious, but Lucius will go into the Ministry and make a case about protecting his son. Draco will be fine.”

You nodded as he comforted you but still couldn’t help but worry. Tammy took your hand and the four of you Floo’d back to Hogwarts. They sat with you in the common room, trying to distract you with food and Wizard’s Chess. But as nightfall came and fatigue from the day’s events set in, they went up to bed one by one. You stayed by yourself, not feeling at all tired. In a state of restlessness at around two in the morning, you examined the bookcase to find something to distract you. Your eyes traveled along the spines until they fell upon William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. You couldn’t help but chuckle as you pulled it off the shelf and opened it to page one. You settled in for a long night, curling up on the couch in front of the fire and became completely engrossed in Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy. You hoped that your own love story would have a happier outcome.