The Slytherin Heiress

Chapter || 18

We get the house elves to clean up the shattered glass and replace it with a similar one before my father can return. I watch them secure the new chandelier before turning to the courtyard.

I walk outside and run my hands through my hair. I knew it was him. Why didn't I just tell them then and there. My father could have killed him and perhaps this war would have ended.

They took Draco's wand as well as Bellatrix's. They took the sword, they are now able to find and destroy the rest of my father's horcruxes.

"Vera?" I turn to see Draco striding towards me quickly.

"Draco." I say and notice he looks at me with almost fear in his eyes. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

"I've never seen you so. . ." He begins.

"Commanding?" I finish for him and he nods. "I've never been out in a position where I have had to command. I hated it."

"It didn't seem so." He says softly. "I'm sorry, I just don't know where I stand. And I meant to address you as Mistress or am I still allowed to address you as Vera?"

"You have called me Vera for seven years, I don't expect you to change that now." I say, his question wounding me. "I hate the title. I don't want it. I don't even know if I want any part of this war anymore. I just wish things would go back to the way they were."

"I don't." He says and I am suprised. "I mean, I don't wish we would go back to the way we were."

He takes my hands and my stomach flips.

"Vera as much as I hate this war, these tasks, your father, my father. All of it. I. . . I find myself thinking I would do it all over again only to be as close to you as I am now. To have seen you in a different light. Sorry, I don't know what I'm-"

I throw my arms around his shoulders and simply hold him close. Closely he wraps his arms around my waist and clutches me like a lifeline. My hands ball into fists in his clothing and in his hair. A sob racks my chest as his arms around me weaken my mask, breaking it apart as I break.

"I'm sorry, Draco." I sob. "I'm so sorry this is happening."

Draco slowly pulls away, only his face. I realize just how close he is to me as he moves one hand from my waist to my cheeks, wiping away my tears.

"What on earth do you have to be sorry for?" He asks now allowing me to respond. "None of this is your fault. Not this war, not Dumbledore, nothing"

"Draco," I begin before Narcissa catches my eye.

"Don't worrry child," she says and Draco and I part. "I won't tell your father, but he's here."

"He's here?" I ask, my heart dropping. "He's back?"

"And he's angry." She says and my face falls. "Not with us, I have a feeling you know why."

"The horcruxes." I mutter.

"The things you mentioned in the library?" Draco asks, his hand lingering in my waist. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"That's the reason my father is determined to capture Harry Potter." I say. "They're hunting the horcruxes, he has already destroyed three as far as I know."

"What is a horcrux?" Narcissa asks.

"I'm sorry, it will take too long to explain." I say. "Where is he?"

Narcissa leads Draco and I back to the foyer and my feet freeze when I enter the room. Dead bodies litter the floor, blood soaking my father's bear feet as he and Nagini slowly walk over the graveyard.

" they have discovered our secret Nagini."my father speaks in parstounge to the snake. "We must deploy all our forces now to find him. And you my friend must stay close."

I remember bits of my vision when I first discovered what the horcruxes were. Nagini is one of them.

"Father?" I greet him as we join Lucius.

"Ah, my dear Verena." He says, opening his arms with a flourish. "Come here my child."

I share a worried glance with Draco before joining him at the center of the bodies. My heels slip on the blood and the end of my dress soaks in it. When I reach him my father takes my hands.

"I know you have learned of the horcruxes, I made sure of that." He says in parseltounge. "Harry Potter and his friends had destroyed three and he is in possession of another. which you already know as well. You forget child, I see into your mind. Every crack, every crevice of your feeble mind is accessible to me. Even your feelings for young Draco."

"Father please-"

"Do not worry child. As long as you comply, he will not be harmed." He says running his sharp fingernails along my jaw. "I summon you for another reason, a reason you have not yet discovered. You must stay protected at all costs."

"Why?"

"If you perish, a sliver of my soul will vanish and I will be weakened." Realization hits me like a train. I am a horcrux "there you go, never the quickest learner were you? Because of the Malfoy family and your recent failures, the boy knows where you are. He knows what you are, what your life means in this war, he knows where you are. You will not return to Hogwarts. You will stay at my side, protected, here."

"Yes father." I say.

"Go." He says simply.

I nod and return to Draco and his family. I nod to Draco before heading to my rooms, my heart hammering in my chest. Draco joins me in my rooms moments after I slam the door.

"What was that?" He asks

"You. . . You remember the horcruxes?" He nods. "There are eight of them, Potter has already destroyed three."

"Why are you crying?" He asks, taking my hands in his.

"Harry is going to try to kill me." I say and his face falls. "My father, he told me I am a horcrux, a peice of his soul is bound with mine and Potter knows, he is trying to destroy them all. He is going to try to kill me and I need you to let him."

"No." He says gripping my hands tightly. "No that is not going to happen, I won't allow it."

"My father's connection to my soul allows him to see into my mind, but I am also able to see into his. This war it is not just about pure blood and power, he wants to control everything. He will make the world into a slave camp to serve him and only him." I say taking one of my hands and resting it on his cheek. "Draco, if you get she sense that this war will turn in favor of the other side, I need you to let me die when the time comes. Promise me."

"No." He says tearing himself away from my grasp. "No, Verena. I can't do that. Why are you saying this, why are you thinking this if he can see into your mind?" He asks me frantically.

"I can block him mentally for a short time. Hide away secrets in the deepest part of my mind. He won't know. Draco please." I beg.

"No." He says stubbornly, taking my hands in his again. "I don't care what his plans are. If you are gone. . . I would let the world burn, I would light the match myself if only to save you."

"Draco," I begin before he traps my lips in his.

Draco threads a hand in my hair and pulls me closer by my waist. My mind and body go numb as I thread my arms around his neck, pulling him deeper into the kiss. After a long moment he tears himself away and presses his forehead against mine.

"I'm sorry Verena," he begins. "I won't let that happen."

He tears himself from me and exits the room, closing the door sharply behind him.