𝐀 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 [Draco×OC]

40: NAGINI, YOUR DINNER ⏃

Draco's POV

The air in the mansion is suffocating. The stench of evil that some exude, mixed with something metallic, fills my lungs, and even though I'm seated, I feel like my legs might give out at any moment. My father sits rigidly beside me, and although I don't want to look at him, I know he's as scared as I am. He was always a proud, strong man, but now he's just a shadow of what he used to be.

Suddenly, Professor Snape arrives at the mansion, hurried. Honestly, I hadn't even noticed he was gone. I couldn't concentrate.

"Severus?" asked Voldemort. "Good, I was beginning to fear you got lost. Why don't you take a seat?"

Snape simply nodded, sitting in the empty chair.

"I assume you bring news, don't you?" said Voldemort.

"Yes. It will happen next Saturday, at night."

"That's not what I heard, my lord," Yaxley interrupted. "You see, an auror confessed Potter will be moved when he turns 17."

"That's not true," Snape said. "The aurors no longer protect Harry Potter. They believe we've infiltrated the ministry."

"Well, they're not entirely wrong, are they?" someone said with a laugh, though I couldn't tell who it was as I kept my head down.

"Harry Potter will be taken to a safe place," Snape continued. "Perhaps to a member of the Order's house... It would be impractical to attack him once he's there."

"My lord, forgive me," interrupted Bellatrix, "but I want to do it. I want to kill Harry Potter."

"Bellatrix, I'm delighted by your bloodlust, you know?" Voldemort responded. "But I must be the one to kill him. However, there's a small problem... My wand and Harry Potter's wand share the same core, so we cannot kill each other," he said, standing up and pacing the dining room.

Voldemort prowled the room like a predator stalking its prey. His disgusting, long, thin fingers slowly slid across each person's chair. Everyone kept their heads down, trying not to look at him, except for my mother and me, who stared at a fixed point somewhere on the wall ahead of us. My fear was so intense that I couldn't even bring myself to look at Angie, who was on the right side of Voldemort's chair, trying to keep her composure, also staring at a fixed point. I knew she was as terrified as I was, but I couldn't allow myself to look at her because I knew if I did, I'd break down, or she would, and we'd ruin everything.

"Please..." Voldemort said, smiling. "I'm sure someone would be honored to offer me their wand, wouldn't they? Let's see..." he said, stopping behind my father's chair. "What about you, Lucius?"

"Me?" my father responded. "My lord..."

"My lord?" Voldemort said, mocking him with a horrible grin. "I need your wand, Lucius..."

Slowly, my father pulled the wand from the cane where he always kept it and handed it to Voldemort without looking at him. Voldemort took it in his hands and began inspecting it, running his fingers along the wood.

"Elm, isn't it?" Voldemort asked. "What's in its core?"

"It's... dragon heartstring, my lord," my father replied, looking at the ground, clearly terrified.

Without much thought, Voldemort snapped off the silver snake head that had always adorned the handle of my father's wand and tossed it disdainfully onto the table. Then, he turned to a corner of the dining room, and with my father's wand, summoned a woman toward us, floating face up, clearly terrified. Professor Charity Burbage.

The Muggle Studies professor...

"For those of you who don't know her," Voldemort said, "this is Miss Charity Burbage, who once taught at Hogwarts. Her specialty was Muggle Studies, wasn't it, Miss Burbage?"