Against the Odds

going back

"What is even the point?!" I shout slamming the front door behind me.

"Clara May Lestrange you get back inside right now!" Lucius yells at me. I ignore his words, continuing to walk down the long driveway as he continues to yell, his voice growing fainter.

I'm Clara. Clara Lestrange. I was thrown into the Malfoys home at the ripe age of one year old. With my mother being thrown into Azkaban I didn't really have any other place to go. I can hear Lucius yelling but can't make out the words. I make it about halfway down the driveway when I decide to lean up against a tree and stop. I'll eventually have to go back up there so might as well make it an easier walk.

"Hey Clara," Draco says hovering above me, "Dinners ready, and it's about to rain so you should probably come back." I stare at the ground moving dirt with my feet. "Clara," he sings, waiting for an answer.

"I'll be up in a minute," I say, rubbing my eyes. "May just come up please," he groans. I hate when he uses my middle name. "I said I'll be up in a minute," I say glaring at him. He throws his hands in the air and walks away.

Draco knows me better than anyone. We will always have our problems but at the end of the day he has seen me at my worst and doesn't hate me for it so here we are. Both being in Slytherin we have the same friends and typically hangout a lot. Our only huge problem is because we're so close in age, his father will always use me as someone he can compare his son to.

"Hey wait," I shout, using the tree to help me stand up. Draco slowly turns around. "I'm coming!" I slowly jog up to him and join him as he walks up the long driveway.

"What's going on?" Draco asks, breaking the short silence. "What'd you mean?" I respond. He scoffs and shakes his head, "I mean, you've been on edge lately, you're always snapping back to my Father which you know better than to do, I mean this just isn't like you." I sigh and tuck some hair behind my ears. "I dunno, it just feels like as school gets closer everyone is more on edge and I feel like I'm walking on eggshells between you and your father, and I can only do that for so long until I just explode." He listens silently as I rant on. If there was ever such a listener it would be Draco.

"Well, we leave in the morning for school so we just have to get through the night," he says, turning to face me as we reach the door. He wraps me in a big bear hug causing me to let out a sigh of relief.

"What the hell are you two doing out here? Get inside," Lucius huffs.

Draco walks in first and I follow shortly after. We walk into the dining room where the house elves have been working to get all of the food ready and the table set. Lucius takes a seat next to Narcissa, I take a seat next to Draco, who is across from his father. And baby Marcus, who is now a year and a half, sits in his highchair next to the table.

The food is served out in silence. The only one making any noise is Marcus, and occasionally Narcissa who is talking to Marcus. "Thank you," I whisper, as one of our house elves pours soup into my bowl. She nods and continues on.

"So, how are you both feeling about starting your fifth year at Hogwarts tomorrow?" Narcissa asks, breaking the silence. "Good," Draco replies. I continue on my soup and slowly look around, trying to assess the mood of the room. "I think it'll be an interesting year, considering all that happened last year," I say, taking a sip of water.

"It is truly awful what happened to that Diggory boy, now isn't it," Narcissa says sincerely. Lucius mumbles something, causing Narcissa to shoot him a glare. "What? I was-" "No, it's inappropriate," Narcissa starts.

"Excuse us Mother, Father, but Clara and I really need to get packing, we'll have a busy day tomorrow," Draco says slowly pushing out his chair. My eyes widen and I look up at him. I'm still hungry. I follow what he does and get out of my chair and follow him up the stairs.