Planned Liars • Draco Malfoy

Chapter #8

There was a few seconds' silence in which I was staring at my Mother standing in the entrance to the office.

"Oh, Miss Mullen, I didn't know it was your..."

"Mira, go and get me a coffee," I cut her off, "or tea. Or water. Whatever," I told her quickly and, fortunately, she got the hint. She sprang to her feet and brushed past my Mother on her way out, then closed the door behind her.

"What are you doing here, may I ask?" I asked angrily, standing up.

"Aurora, it's.. .So good to see you..." my Mother said calmly, a bit bewildered by my attitude. I snorted.

"Oh, really? Can't tell you the same thing," I replied, crossing my arms. She inhaled sharply, looking half sad, half disappointed.

"I know you're probably mad..."

"Probably?" I snorted again. "What else do you expect me to be? You were totally ignoring me for five years and now you think I'll greet you with open arms or something?"

Anger was boiling up inside me as I recalled the events from five years ago.

Five years ago, June 1998

"Do you want me to go with you?" Draco asked as I walked up to the Malfoy's Manor door. I shook my head in response.

"I have to do this alone. I'm not sure how they will react," I explained, then sighed. "Here goes nothing," I added, then Disapparated, only to appear at my house seconds later.

It was quite early in the morning and I knew my parents were going to wake up pretty soon. I tiptoed to their bedroom, then raised my wand, hoping my skills would be enough.

"Obliviate," I whispered, pointing at my Mother's head, focusing on bringing back all her memories about the Malfoys. I did the same for my Father and the only thing I could do after that was wait.

I went downstairs to the kitchen and after half an hour or so, they came there, too.

"Aurora!" called my Mother happily as she saw me. "What are you doing up so early? You should get some sleep, it's holidays, isn't it?"

"Good morning, Aurora," said my Father, entering the room right after that.

"I need to talk to you about something," I replied quickly. I had been rehearsing this conversation so many times, yet I was barely ready for it when it began.

My parents exchanged curious looks.

"What is it?" Father asked.

I took a deep breath, preparing myself to ask the question.

"Do you remember the Malfoys?"

My Father raised his eyebrows, confused.

"Of course we remember the Malfoys, Aurora," he said, causing me to become a bit tense. The charm worked, great, but this was only half of the success.

"What about them? I assume they're all in Azkaban by now, right?" my Father asked.

"No, they aren't," I replied firmly, already having a bad feeling about this.

"How come?" said my Mother, surprised, but I ignored her question.

"If you remember the Malfoys, I assume you remember their son Draco," I said quickly.

"Yes, and?" my Father was eyeing me suspiciously.

I took another deep breath, only half ready to drop the bomb, but I had to do it before I would lose the courage.

"Well, I only wanted to tell you Draco and I are together."

"How come?!" my Mother asked again, pure terror on her face.

"How could you?!" my Father thundered at once, hitting the table with his fist. He didn't need any repeating. "How many times I have to tell you what sort of people they are?!"

"Hear me out, Dad, and calm down," I said calmly. "The war has ended. Voldemort is dead. There is no..."

"They were fighting on his side, Aurora!" he cut me off. "They should be in Azkaban right now!"

"They changed sides before his death! And Draco's been fighting on the good side for a very long time!"

"Of course they would tell you that," my Father snorted and I stood up.

"They didn't tell me, I have seen it! I have been there!"

"You shouldn't even talk to them!"

"I don't care what you say, to be honest!" I yelled angrily. "I'm of age and I can do whatever I want! I just thought you'd support me, because that's what parents do!"

"Parents don't let their kids meet with the wrong sort!" my Father yelled.

"Aurora, it's for your own good!" Mother added.

"Fine!" I shouted in response. "Goodbye, then! I have nothing else to tell you!" and I Disapparated on the spot.

"I heard that you got engaged..." my Mother told me quietly, as though afraid of saying it aloud.

"Oh, yes, I did," I replied loudly so she would know I wasn't happy with her knowing. "To the man you and Father dispose of, may I add."

"Aurora, I just want you to hear me out..."

"And why should I?" I cut her off. "It's Draco who gave me everything when you and Father ignored me. A place to live, a reason to live, unawavering support and love. And where were you? Oh, yes, you were too busy huffing."

"Hear me out, Aurora. Please."

I sighed and sat down on the chair, massaging my temple.

"I have nothing better to do for now, so whatever," I snapped, not looking at her.

"When I heard you got engaged..."

"Who told you, anyways?"

She shifted uncomfortably and cleared her throat.

"Shane," she said eventually, causing me to stare at her in shock.

"What? How come you know Shane?"

"Let me explain, Aurora... It's just... We were trying to get to you, but we didn't know how... Shane was telling us how you were doing all this time..."

"What?!" I shouted, jumping to my feet.

"He's a nice guy, we thought..."

"Don't even finish," I cut her off again, anger boiling up inside me. "I know exactly what you thought. You expected me to fall in love with him."

My Mother looked down at her feet.

"I won't lie to you, we did," she admitted, causing me to snort. "But when I heard you got engaged, I understood how much you must love him..."

"Oh! Soon enough!" I yelled in response and right after that the door of the office opened without any warning, revealing Draco.

I fell silent and looked straight at him, then brushed past my Mother to reach him. I don't think he even got a glimpse of her face.

"Draco, let's get home," I told him quickly.

"What?" he asked, surprised by my sudden suggestion.

"You heard me, I want to go home," I repeated, being ready to get out of there right now. I didn't care. I couldn't take it anymore.

"Well, that's why I came, so..." he grabbed my hand. "Don't you need to take anything?"

"Nothing, let's go," I rushed him, not even looking at my Mother.

Draco nodded, still quite bewildered, and we Disapparated.

It wasn't until we sat down on the sofa and he asked me what happened when I eventually broke down.