𝙀𝙐𝙋𝙃𝙊𝙍𝙄𝘼 ➣ 𝐷. 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑓𝑜𝑦✔

𝟑𝟐 | 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑮𝑶𝑳𝑫𝑬𝑵 𝑻𝑹𝑰𝑶

"𝗪𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗦𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗢 𝗘𝗔𝗧, 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗥?" My mother asks as we step into the foyer of the enormous mansion, one that is unfamiliar to me. I shake my head, not really in the mood to speak with her, or my father for that matter. I hear her sigh behind me, but say nothing else.

"Welcome, sir. Right this way," a strange man greets in a stern tone. I can feel my mother's gaze burning the back of my skull as I fidget with my dress; a gorgeous one, might I add. It's black satin fabric reaches the floor, hugging my figure almost too tightly. My back is completely bare, and I feel so... exposed. And a chill goes through my body, goosebumps forming on my arms as the gold, metal snake touches my bare back.

I'm lead up two flights of stairs to the second floor. We make our way down a long hallway until we finally reach a set of double doors at the end. They're pushed open to reveal a room with a large table in the middle, a single man sitting at the end. The instant we make eye contact, fear hits me like a tsunami.

"Lenora Kane. How lovely it is to finally meet you," He grins, his yellowed teeth make me uncomfortable, and his lack of nose is odd.

"My Lord." My father gets on one knee and bows his head. Bile rises to my throat, but I force myself to keep it down. Now is not the time to lose your cool, Lenora. If he suspects anything, it'll be the end of me as I know it.

"Rise, my loyal follower. And tell me, why it is you're here."

"It's my daughter, My Lord... I have tried everything I can think of, but to no avail. She refuses to follow." I furrow my brows and turn to my father. His face is stern and he doesn't even turn to me. A small whisper fills my ears, making me turn my head. Voldemort is now standing.

"If she refuses, then you know what must happen. Lenora Kane, your actions are punishable by death, have you any last words?"

"W-what? I never said I didn't want to follow you, My Lord. My father is lying!" My voice comes out raspy and unfamiliar to my ears. I'm taken aback when Voldemort instantly takes out his wand and points it at me. "Please, don't! Mum, Dad! Please, don't let him do this to me!"

"Avada Kedavra!" The last thing I see is a stream of green flying toward me before nothing.

A loud screech fills my ears and then a hand touching me. I gasp as my eyes snap open, trying to adjust to my surroundings. That's right... I'm on the train to Hogwarts, not meeting Voldemort. I can feel the cold sweat on my forehead and the pounding of my heart in my ears is deafening.

"Lenora." The voice comes from my left, making my head turn to meet Draco's familiar steel, gray eyes. His brows are knit together as he watches me closely. "Are you alright?"

I take a moment to regain my composure, swallowing some spit in an attempt to moisten my dry throat but it doesn't work. I nod in response and my voice comes out quite raspy. "Yeah, just a bad dream... Sorry."

"You know you can talk to me, right?" His voice is soft, his eyes full of an emotion that only I ever get to see; genuine concern. Theo and Blaise are better friends with Draco than Eleanor is so they see a better side of him sometimes. Eleanor isn't Draco's biggest fan, but I know she's okay with the two of us being together. She's been nothing but supportive toward us these last three months since we started dating.

Blaise and Theo haven't really said anything on the matter, either. They seem all for it, considering they won't stop teasing me about it. They used to tease Draco, too, but from what Blaise told me, he threatened to carve their hearts out and serve them to me on a silver platter and that seemed to hush them. I had found it quite amusing, in fact, but Theo seemed genuinely afraid so I didn't mention it.

"Lenora?"

"Sorry... Again. There's just a lot on my mind right now."

Draco is silent and his jaw tightens unconsciously. He knows the cause of it. Anger is evident in his voice, even if he tries his best to cover it. "Your father is pushing this on you, isn't he? Now that your 16th birthday is five months away."

I nod slowly. My father has been endlessly reminding me of my "duty" to the family. I don't want to become a death eater, but he's trying so desperately to force it upon me. I'm scared to go home during breaks because of his obsessive nature. I'm scared he'll force my hand, and I don't want that. I just want to live a normal life, one where I'm not being controlled by a tyrant, noseless, snake-whisperer.

Instead of saying a thing, Draco lifts his arm and wraps it around my shoulders, pulling me to him. I rest my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes. Draco has always made me feel safe, like I can let my guard down. I feel this way with my friends, but with Draco, it's in a different way. With Draco, it's like no matter what I say or do, he'll never judge me; he's going through almost the same thing I am. His father is quite persistent in him becoming a death eater, though, I'm not quite sure how Draco feels about it all. It's the one thing he stays quiet about.

Soon enough, the train stops and all the students on board get off I follow beside Draco as we make our way to the carriages that take us to Hogwarts, Crabbe and Goyle close behind. Just ahead of us,The Three Musketeers are lugging along on their merry way. No one believes Potter that Voldemort is back, aside from Draco and I, of course. Except, we know he's back because our father's are death eaters so we know much more than Potter.

Draco's voice catches me off guard as he struts along, a smirk on his pink lips. "I'm surprised the ministry's still letting you walk around free, Potter. Better enjoy it while you can. I expect there's a cell in Azkaban with your name on it."

A gasp escapes my lips as Potter lunges as us with a grunt emitting from his throat. He stares daggers at Draco as Weasley holds him back and Granger just clutches her bag in the background like the helpless witch she is. It takes everything inside me not punch that stupid look off her face and instead focus my attention on Draco. I grab his arm gently and pull him toward me.

"Just stay away from me!"

"Let's go, Draco. I don't want to be associated with the Golden Trio." The blond boy doesn't resist and turns on his heel. I send one final look to the trio, making Weasley visibly gulp, before facing forward and keeping up with Draco. He's grown quite a few inches over the summer, so every two steps he takes seems like a million for me. He has to be at least 5'9" now, whereas I'm still 5'3, just like I have been for the last year and a half. I hit a growth spurt early so while everyone else got taller, I stayed the same.

The smooth fabric of Draco's suit feels nice on my bare fingers. He's in all black with his hair styled. It's not slicked back like it was in our first two years at Hogwarts, but I can definitely tell it's been styled even just a little. A shiver runs down my spine and goosebumps form on my legs. Maybe today was too cold a day to wear a skirt. I mean, I'm wearing thermal tights underneath, but today seems a quite bit chillier than past years.

Things are changing and the world just seems to keep getting darker.

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