PRETENDING TO LIVE~ {The Lestrange Daughter #2}

𝟕𝟗. Eighteen

TRIGGER WARNING; Contains depictions of violence and injury. Not terribly graphic but please take care if you are sensitive to such things.

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Narcissa brushed her hair back from her face for the sixth time in the last three minutes and then reached over to Draco to straighten his collar.

Voldemort had sent a group of Death Eater's off to collect the remaining others from Azkaban a while ago. He had expressly told Narcissa she was to stay behind. Valentine supposed to was trying to keep her and Lucius apart as long as he possibly could, but for his plans to work, he needed all the followers he could get.

There was nothing about Lucius Malfoy that Valentine would welcome back. That had always separated her from Narcissa and Draco. She didn't know how or why they loved him, but they did.

"Why do I have to be here?" Valentine scowled at them.

"Well, we need to greet father when he returns." Said Draco. 

"I think you're forgetting something." Valentine frowned. "I do not care if he rots forever."

"Valentine." Narcissa sighed, giving her a look.

"Oh, please. There's no way you expected me to be happy about this?"

"I didn't." Narcissa admitted. "But I would appreciate it if you didn't start a conflict."

"Who me? Start a conflict?" Valentine arched a brow at her. "Never." 

"Please, Val." Narcissa sighed again. "Please, let's just get through this with as little trouble as possible."

"I can't believe you want him back." Valentine grumbled under her breath. "He was nothing but a bastard held back by his own cowardice and I doubt the jail time has made any difference."

Valentine saw Draco flinch and she almost regretted speaking so harshly in front of him. Almost. She knew Draco would see and hear much worse when he would have to witness his father returning home in the same state as every tortured soul imprisoned in Azkaban. 

But Draco would get what he wanted. After watching Leah get her father back and then Blaze and Beckett with their parents, he would finally get what he wanted.

Valentine couldn't pretend to know a lot about parents, but she was coming to find that most people felt they were important, no matter the state of that parent. She couldn't say she agreed with that.

"Respect for us has fallen enough as is." Narcissa set her jaw and eyes firmly. "If the others see how you disrespect him, we will never regain what we lost."

"That sounds like a problem for you Malfoy's." Valentine said snidely.

"What are you talking about?" Draco's brows knitted together. "You practically are a Malfoy, Val."

"Is that supposed to somehow be reassuring?" 

"Valentine." Narcissa said seriously. "I understand why you don't want him back but the Dark Lord's decisions are out of even your control. Things don't have to be the way they were before. They can change."

Valentine's skin prickled with irritation. Not long ago Narcissa had apologised and taken responsibility for all the years Lucius Malfoy had lorded over them. Valentine wasn't sure what she thought might be different now because of that but she wasn't just going to let her uncle stroll back into their lives again and let him take over. 

"Lucius Malfoy? Change? Fuck off." She grunted and headed for the entryway. "You can greet the bastard yourself."

-----Pretending To Live-----