Fatal Affair

Chapter 21: The Fight

"Draco, wait!" Nova shouted as quietly as she could, not wanting to be overheard. 

Nova raced after Draco through the Manor, trying to catch up to him. She finally managed to follow in stride behind him. 

"Please, just talk to me," Nova pleaded. "Let me try to explain." 

"How could you!?" Draco turned so quickly, Nova almost crashed into him. His face was red from fury, his fist balled and his stance was fleeting. 

"Draco, I'm so sor-" 

"He's my father!" Draco shouted. "And I thought you were my friend." 

"I am your friend, Draco," Nova cried out. "This has nothing to do with our friendship." 

"Of course it does! This has everything to do with our friendship. He's my Goddamn father, Nova!" 

"I know," Nova said. "There's nothing I can say that'll excuse my behaviour." 

"Then why are you still talking?" 

"I didn't want to hurt you, Draco. I never intended for you to find out." 

"Jeez, that makes me feel so much better," Draco said sarcastically. "What the hell are you even doing?" 

"It just happened Draco, it wasn't planned." Nova reached out for his arm and Draco took a step back, out of her reach. "I'm so fucking sorry." 

"How could you?" Draco searched her face, as if her expression held the answers he sought. "You're fucking my father," Draco laughed as he said it. "What the actual fuck." 

"Draco, please, let's talk about this," Nova said, taking a step towards him.

"No." Draco took a step back. "I'll never forgive you for this." 

He turned to leave and before Nova could stop herself, she asked the question that had been spiralling in her mind since Draco caught them. "Will you tell your mother?" 

Draco stopped in his tracks, peering over his shoulder to look at her. "Of course not. This would destroy her." Draco turned his head, facing ahead. "Why should she waste her time on a home-wrecker like you?" 

Draco walked away. Nova cringed at that word, home-wrecker. It's something she feared she was, but not courageous enough to admit. She closed her eyes, took a steadying breath, and turned to walk in the opposite direction. 

She found Lucius sitting on a sofa, a glass of whiskey in his hand. He sat up when she came in, the ice on his drink clinking together softly, as if the whole world did not just fall upon Nova. 

"Did you find him?" Lucius asked.

"What is wrong with you?" Nova asked accusingly. "Why aren't you the one looking for him? Why aren't you out there, trying to talk to your son?" 

Lucius looked taken aback slightly, but quickly fixed his composure. "Careful. I don't even let my wife talk to me like this. Besides, he wouldn't listen to me." 

"How do you know?" Nova shouted, not caring how loud she was being. "He needs his father, Lucius! He is lost, scared and alone. Not only is he doing a job that not even a grown man could accomplish, but he just caught his father cheating on his mother. He needs love and care, Lucius. Are you so cold, that you're unable to show affection to your son?" 

"I highly doubt he would want to see me right now," Lucius said, watching as he swirled his drink then took a sip. 

"He's your son, Lucius," Nova repeated. "He doesn't want to speak to his father's mistress. He needs you and you're letting him down. Which, I have a hunch isn't the first time you've let him down." 

Lucius stood, getting close to Nova's face. "Do not speak of things you don't know, silly girl," Lucius said through clenched teeth. 

For the first time, Nova felt slightly afraid of Lucius, however her anger quickly overpowered her fear. "I know him better than you, Lucius, and I've been here 6 months. You've known him his whole life, yet you're like a ghost to him, absent and withdrawn." 

"How dare you!?" Lucius shouted, causing Nova to take a step back. "You know absolutely knowing! You are a child. You are a nice distraction from life, nothing more! You have no right to to have an opinion about how I choose to interact with my son." 

"You have to be joking," Nova said, refusing to look away from his impending gaze. "You have pushed me to gain his friendship, you wanted me in his life for your own gain, Lucius. Now you're saying I shouldn't have an opinion of him?" 

"Precisely," Lucius said. 

"That's bullshit! This whole time, you wanted me to develop the relationship you never had with him, but knew you should. I get a fucking opinion, Lucius." 

"Your opinion is meaningless, to me, to Draco, to anybody." Lucius took a step closer. "You are meaningless in this house. You exist to please, that is why I keep you around." 

"I'm not here to fucking serve you," Nova said, teeth clenched. 

"But you are here to serve, nonetheless." Lucius's mouth twisted into a sinister smile. "You are nothing. You are small and worthless. I can see it. So can Draco." 

"Fuck you," Nova whispered. "You're upset that you're a shit father. You're hurting me so you can feel better about how much of a piece of shit you are. But guess what? Your words are empty to me. I don't fucking care what you think of me." Nova stood her ground when Lucius took another menacing step towards her. "You're a shit father, Lucius. I know that bothers you. So do the right thing, and go talk to Draco." 

"Shut up, you worthless girl," Lucius said. 

"You know what," Nova said, hurt swelling in her chest despite her words. "Not only have you failed as a husband and a father, but you also failed as a Death Eater. The Dark Lord has no use for you. I see it, everyone else see's it too. You have failed in every area of your life. What is even the point anymore." 

Nova saw the moment his hand twitched and she reached for her wand as quick as lightning, before he had the chance to even lift his hand. She pointed it at him, the tip of her wand digging into his neck. 

Lucius let out a laugh. "You are too much of a coward to even try." 

"Flipendo!" Nova shouted.

Lucius flew backwards, his glass of whiskey falling to the floor and shattering into a million tiny pieces. 

Lucius quickly got up, his wand pointing at Nova. "You will regret that. Confringo!" 

The curse shot at Nova and with a wave of her hand, she directed it towards to opposing wall. The painting it hit fell hard on the ground, the frame breaking in two. 

"Stupefy!" Nova screamed. 

Lucius deflected it with ease, took a few steps forward, and yelled, "Crucio!" 

Nova quickly overcame her shock and ducked out of the way, avoiding the spell by a mere millisecond. 

"What the fuck, Lucius!" Nova shouted as she stood back up, brushing the broken shards of glass from her hands. "An Unforgivable Curse!? Really!?" 

At this moment, Bellatrix ran into the room, followed closely by Narcissa and Draco. Nova and Lucius barely registered them. 

"Stupefy!" Nova screamed, and Lucius deflected. 

"Petrificus Totalus!" Draco screamed, pointing his wand at his father. At the very same time, Narcissa pointed her wand at Nova and shouted, "Incarcerous!" 

Lucius fell, like a board, to the ground. His eyes moved wildly across the room, searching for his attacker, his body immobile. Meanwhile, ropes coiled around Nova, forcing her into a seating position on the ground. She wriggled against them, trying to loosen them. 

"Seeing as Nova is the only one of the two who can speak," Bellatrix squatted down next to Nova, "why don't you tell us what is going on?" Bellatrix smirked as she spoke.