Fake Truth

XIV

The woods behind of Draco's house were silent which Draco did not find at all nerving, he had not been in there in his whole life, and one in such new places would not know about normal behaviour of one place. It was not normal for a forest to be this quiet, especially since it was night. He wanted some time alone to think about where Valerie had gone to, she could not have left the country, he was sure of that, yet she was not at Hogwarts and did not have a home that he knew of.

Wandering into the forest, late at night, especially this close to a full moon was quite dangerous, everyone knew that, but Draco was desperate for some alone time where he could clear his head and think. Change of scenery, that's what he thought he needed, halfway through the day. This stupid 'amazing idea' led him into an unfortunately awkward situation.

Draco manouvered his way around the twisted trees that branches intertwined with bushes that merged in with the rest of the surroundings. The moon peaked where leaves had fallen from the trees and illuminated the surroundings, guiding him a little better through the uneven forest floors. He looked down to see his feet walking over many years of dead plants, leaves, moss, animal droppings: death. He was treading upon death. He shook, why was he thinking these terrible thoughts?

He stopped for a while, in a small clearing about half a mile in from the boundary that met with the end of his garden. It was silent, no birds hawking above and not animals rustling through the bushes looking for their next meal. Draco pulled his hands up into his sleeves and wrapping his arms around himself, trying to keep himself warm.

"Where should we begin then, Draco?" the low voice snarled at the blonde that was trying to hold himself together. "Where have you been, Draco? Tell me, what has been going on?" Draco stood, terrified that the person  in front of him would hurt him. It was a cold, grey day and one could feel the icy winds blow around them. Foolishly Draco only had on his light travelling robes and was shivering as he stood, exposed to nature's unpunishable actions.

"Nothing" he growled back, looking dead into the eyes of his enemy which he realised were a stunning shade of deep blue, he recognised them from somewhere, but where? "Nothing has happened."

"But what about the deal, my little cherub, what about Mama's deal?" the mystery figure taunted, slowly and purposely infuriating Draco, "What happened my little cherie, what happened?" he knew it was a woman then, an old woman with an oddly deep vocal range and deep blue eyes that showed signs of evil behaviour.

She shuffled forward towards him, reaching out a bony, pale hand to touch his cheek, flinching at the temperature of the hand and the fact she was touching him, he jerked his head back, shocked by the contact. She removed her dark hood from her head and flashed a smile full of wonky, yellow teeth. Her hair, or what was left of it, was scraped back into a small, tight bun. "Nanna?" Draco's voiced held caution as he tried to recognise who this woman was. Her resemblance to his Nanna was very little but her height and eyes matched what he remembered. But where did she go, she was never in his childhood after the age of seven? Eight? Nine? It was definitely before he left to go to Hogwarts, he was sure of it.

"Where have you been, Draco?" she reached up again to try and stroke his face but before she could even feel his body heat radiating off his face he pulled back, grabbing the fail woman's wrist with his left hand and keeping it above her head.

"Don't touch me," he growled, dropping her arm as if it were insfested with vermin, "You don't need to know anything about what has happened."

She brought her wand up- a black, hideous thing which looked like it had been carelessly thrown around for years- muttering something, which Draco didn't quite catch, not knowing what she had said at all, leaving him to wonder whether it was dangerous or not. "Please Draco, Please listen to me.
"No!" he shouted at her, "No!" Bloody women he thought always wanting to talk. I'm leaving. Draco tried to move his feet but they were stuck to the ground. He couldn't move! What now?  He had no idea what type of sticking jinx she had put on him, maybe it would wear off in a few minutes?  "What have you done to me, woman. Undo it this instant!"
He glared at her, cold grey eyes boring into deep blue oceans. They had stood there in the cold for so long that their bodies had gotten used to the temperature and felt surprisingly, quite warm. The forest was such a beautiful place, with tall trees letting in slips of light through their amours of leaves and small streams that intertwined with one another almost creating small islands of land. Draco didn't know why he had never been in here before. Maybe it was because of the creepy witched that lived in here.
"Let me go! I won't be treated like this! I am Draco, Draco Malfoy and my father will-"
"Your father will what? Where is my Lucius?" the witch seemed surprised to hear Draco talking about his father, she hadn't heard from her son in fourteen years.
"He's dead, okay?" he tried to lunged towards her, tears streaming from his face, "He's dead and its all your fault, you-you bitch!" he tried to grab her but she stepped back , just in time to miss his reach.
"What do you mean my fault?" she sounded offended to be guilty with her own son's death. "I haven't seen him in fourteen years, Draco, that's a big accusation," she said, cocking her head to one side, "A very big accusation."
"You were a follower of Voldemort, weren't you?"
Her face immediately drained of any colour, "yes," her voice quivered as she spoke, "yes, but so was every other pure-blooded family."
"Yeah, well that's what killed my father. You and your stupid pure-blooded s-"
"Don't you dare talk like you know anything about pure-blooded families," she snarled at her grandson, her long, painted fingernail at his face, edging closer towards her caged grandson.  "You don't know a thing about pure-blooded traditions. You don't know anything-" he cut her off.
"Oh really, then if you obviously know more than me then tell me what has happened to your precious lord then? Who defeated him? Who was forced to become a Death Eater?"
His grandmother snapped, her face red and her eyes narrowed at her blonde grandson, "how dare you talk to-"
"SHUT UP!" Draco stopped to take in a deep breath, "answer me you fool, or are you too scared?" he reached into his robe and brought his wand out, secretly, without her knowing. Her head was bowed down to the floor, obviously in some form of self pity, Draco wasn't going to waste time.  He moved his feet slightly-the spell was wearing off- and shot a tying spell at his own grandmother who instantly fell to the floor. Thick, industrial ropes bound her into a neat little parcel, as if he was going to send her via an owl back to where she belonged. He stalked towards her flinging her onto his back, "We're going back to the Manor."