Aliah Snape (BOOK 4) - Fight or Flight

Chapter 63 - The Hardest Goodbye

Narcissa's cries were nothing like Aliah have ever heard before. She cradled her daughter in her arms and begged for her to wake up. Lucius also had tears streaming down his face but the anger was evident in his eyes. "The whole dinner," Aliah thought, "was for him to make me know that he could hurt me, yet he didn't kill the person close to me. He killed the trust between the Malfoys and me,"

Aliah watched as Draco crawled his way to his parents, he too was sobbing hard. There was a lump in her throat. She did this. It was her fault that the Malfoys, who had risked their lives for her, had their daughter killed in front of them.

She rose from her spot on the ground using the wall as support. She didn't know what to do, but she did know one thing, she didn't belong here. Aliah carefully snuck away into the shadows and ran up the stairs. She ran to her room and grabbed her bag from the closet and threw it on the bed. She rushed into the big wardrobe and Aliah grabbed the first lot of clothes and stuffed them into her bag. She returned to her wardrobe and though she didn't have time to change her clothes, she swapped her shoes from her wedges to sneakers.

She exited the wardrobe and to her surprise Draco stood at the foot of the bed holding her bag. His eyes were red and there were tear stains on his cheeks. "Where are you going?" he asked quietly, his voice cracked with every word.

"I don't know," Aliah said quietly. She felt guilty enough and she prayed that she didn't have to run into any of the Malfoy's. Obviously that wish didn't happen.

"Why are you leaving? Why are you leaving Aliah?" Draco threw the bag onto the bed, the contents spilling out. Aliah stepped back, for the first time she was scared of Draco. She had never heard the harsh tone in his voice before.

Draco stopped in his tracks, noticing the fear in her eyes. He lowered his head to the ground, "I'm sorry, but please don't leave,"

"I have to. If it wasn't for me, your sister would be alive,"

"I can't lose you,"

"I don't want to go-"

"Then don't!" Draco rushed over to Aliah and grabbed her hands.

"I have to, I'm sorry. Tell your parents I'm sorry," Aliah shook him off and grabbed the jumped off her desk and pulled it over her head. Draco entered the wardrobe and in a few seconds, he returned with a bag on his back.

"What are you doing?" Aliah asked

"I have had this bag packed for a long time. I'm not losing you too. Remember what you told me in the cellar? You go, I go,"

"But that's different-"

"you go, we go," Draco walked over to the bed and stuffed her clothes back into the bag and handed her the bag. She took and swung it over her shoulder and he grabbed her left and rubbed his thumb over her engagement ring.

"I gave you this ring for a reason. I made a promise to you and you made a promise to never leave me,"

Aliah stayed silent but she wrapped her arms around his middle and buried her head in his chest.

"Where are we going to go?" Draco broke the silence

"I have an idea but I don't think you will like it,"

"I don't care,"

"let's go then," Aliah grabbed her hand and they rushed out of the room, making sure that neither Lucius or Narcissa saw them. They managed to creep their way down the hall until they reached the nursery.

Muffled sobs were all that they could hear. The door was slightly ajar and together they crouched and peeked through the door. Narcissa gripped the rail of the crib, her knuckled white has she cried. Lucius wrapped his arms around her from behind with his head on her shoulder. He had stopped crying but was quietly muttering things to his wife that Aliah could not understand.

"Why is it always us?" Narcissa quivered, "I thought everything will be different,"

"It's not your fault Narcissa, if it wasn't for that stupid curse and if Aliah just joined us this wouldn't have happened," Aliah heard the anger in Lucius's voice.

"It's not her fault,"

That was enough for Aliah. Narcissa shouldn't need to continue to defend her when Lucius was correct. Aliah grabbed Draco's arm and they ran down the hall and the down the stairs. In the entrance hall, Aliah didn't go to the front door but turned left to the drawing room. She pulled Draco to the door leading to the garden.

The cool air caused Aliah to shiver but she did not stop running. They had to make it to the boundary to disapparate. Her legs wanted to give way underneath her but Aliah was determined to keep them moving. Draco now took the lead and pulled her along.

The moon was the only light they had but it wasn't enough when Aliah tripped over a rock. She let out a hiss but Draco caught her before she hit the wet grass. "Are you ok?"

"yeah, I think I sprained my ankle," Aliah rose to her uninjured foot and slowly put pressure on her right foot. Another hissed escaped. Draco turned around and crouched, "what are you doing?"

"Climb on my back, I'll carry you," Draco said. Aliah leaned over and wrapped her arms around his neck. He rose to his feet and grabbed the back of her thighs to keep her from sliding. "Thank Merlin I played quidditch, how much food have you eaten while you've been here?"

"Shut up," Aliah chuckled. Draco ran through the maze like hedges until they finally reached the border.

"where are we going?" Draco asked

"26 Kingston Street."