Bloodlines || A Draco Malfoy Romance Fanfiction

The Truth Comes Out - 122

Draco

I couldn't believe how terribly wrong I'd been. She was the defensor, not me.

The dark lord left the room, my aunt following after, and I rushed to Aphrodite. Her face was pale and ashen, and she was disturbingly silent.

"Let's take her into my sitting room," my mother said, her arm wrapped around Aphrodite protectively. "No one else will go in there." She was right, there were deatheaters everywhere else in the house these days. My mother and her father both had looks of worry that did nothing to release the knot that had formed in my stomach.

Nodding, I gripped Aphrodite's arm to support her and my mother and I guided her upstairs with her father following silently behind. As we topped the stairs and neared my parents' private suite, I heard small, quiet whimpers escape her.

When we finally made it to the privacy of the sitting room, she freed herself from us, taking several steps into the middle of the drawing room. She bent at the waste as a low, guttural scream escaped her, causing the portraits of my ancestors to stir in their frames.

I approached Aphry cautiously as she transitioned into heavy, pain-filled sobs. She didn't move away from me, so I took both of her upper arms, trying to console her. Her skin was frozen yet again, and I tried not to think about how long exactly she'd felt like that. What it could mean.

"We need to lay her down, she's in shock," her father said. I nodded in response, placing my hand on her back. I guided her to one of the couches and helped her to lay down. Her father propped her feet up slightly with a pillow, and mother placed a blanket over her. Aphrodite's left arm was still exposed, and the red, welted skull stared back at me, the serpent tongue seeming to mock me for my foolishness.

"You did not tell me that was going to happen," my mother yelled angrily. I turned to see her own tears had pooled in her eyes as she glared at William Cytheria.

Aphrodite's father looked pale and grief-stricken. "I didn't realize it was. Her abilities showed differently from mine. I didn't realize it would happened to her, too."

"Too?" I said. Now I was growing angry. "This happened to you? Why didn't you tell us?" I looked back and forth between the two of them. "Why didn't either of you tell me?" My voice had risen, but I didn't care at the time.

They both had expressions of guilt on their face. "You're father didn't want you to know." William admitted.

That did nothing to quell my anger. "I thought I was the defensor. I thought I was protecting her." The volume of my voice rose higher until it was a roar. "I might have considered taking on this task differently if I knew she would be affected."

My mother look sad, "Darling... The dark lord had already made his mind up the night your father went to Azkaban. He made you feel like you had a choice, but you didn't."

She was right, and I struggled in silence to process that. 

It was Aphrodite's father that pulled me from my thoughts. "How did you figure it out," William asked.

"Ran into the topic in book at school." I spat the answer bitterly. It was a half-truth. There had to be some reason Snape knew but couldn't tell me directly. "As I read more about it, I started to put the pieces together."

Neither could look me in the eye.

"Did you know that the vow tries to break itself after several generations? And a romantic relationship between a male and female within the defensor vow that can result in the union of the two bloodlines is theorized to be a soulmate bond?"

The two didn't respond, still avoiding my harsh glare. I continued, "You kept us from seeing each other. For years. You arranged her to be married to someone else. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT SICK BASTARD ALMOST DID TO HER?" My breathing was erratic, and I could hear my heartbeat in my ears.

The paintings of Malfoys past, who had been silent up until this point, went into an uproar amongst each other. They loved Aphrodite. I swore I even heard Lucius the first call father a "Sorry namesake."

After a short silence, my mother spoke meekly, "Your father thought Aphrodite might tell you sooner than he'd like if the two of you got too close too fast."

"And when was he finally going to tell me?" I asked, sarcasm laced in my voice.

Aphry's father answered, "We've been begging him to tell you for ages. He didn't want you to grow up feeling rescricted. Growing up, he felt like he always had someone looking over his shoulder all the time. He hated it, and didn't want the same for you, but still wanted Aphry to protect you."

A scoffed, "A lot of good that's done us, hasn't it?"

I heard rustling on the couch, and turned to see Aphrodite was trying to sit up. I hurried to her side to assist her. I was glad to see the color had returned to her face, but she still looked drained. She looked at me with weary eyes. "May I go to my room? I'd think I'd like to take a nap."

"Of course," I said, offering her my hand and helping her up. I tucked her arm gingerly into mine, glaring at both our parents to dare try and stop us. They didn't, instead both looking guilt ridden and avoiding eye contact as I lead Aphrodite out of the room to her bedroom.