Disclaimer: Story belongs to J. K. Rowling. I claim only the more unnerving deviations from the plot.
A/N: Hey everyone. Here is another update as promised, right on the two week mark. Loved the reviews last time round, I always appreciate the time you take to leave a comment.
Oh! Please read the AN at the end of this chapter...I have important news. Good news! Not to worry.
Enjoy!
"Tell me where she is."
Parvati and Lavender exchanged a nervous look as they watched the tense blond by the window. His shoulders were pulled back tersely, his pale hands clenched in stark contrast against his immaculate black robes. Fury – and some unnamed emotion – radiated from his every pore, turning his eyes an unforgiving gunmetal grey as they bored into the two nervous women before him.
Instead of facing the window as was his custom, Draco Malfoy faced the two seers squarely, his gaze unrelenting as he pinned them in place. When his question went unanswered, Draco forced his hands to unclench and smooth over his robes. With a deep calming breath, he took a deceptively benign step towards them and placed his long elegant fingers on the back of an overstuffed chair.
"Answer me."
Parvati licked her lips apprehensively and shakily lowered herself onto the hearthside stool. Lavender placed a clammy hand on her shoulder, half in support and half to support herself; her hands quivered less when they were well anchored.
"We can't tell you, Malfoy." She said quietly, stopping herself just in time as she raised a hand to smooth back her already perfectly coifed hair.
Draco however, caught the edgy gesture, his eyes flashing like a predator sensing blood from injuring its prey. He stepped around the edge of the chair and, smooth as silk, he slipped into it, arranging his robes elegantly around his lean form. Fingers resting lightly against the armrests, Draco coolly watched both women before he leant forward.
His tone was politely neutral when at last he spoke. "Let's make this as painless as possible. Tell me now, where exactly my fiancée is…or else."
"Don't threaten us!" Parvati exclaimed but as soon as the words burst from her mouth, she wished she had not said them. The look in Malfoy's eyes was akin to a cresting storm; they had apparently only seen the beginning of it. Her eyes flickered nervously around the room, not daring to meet his. Instead they landed on the pink, newly healed flesh of his knuckles, knowing from rampant rumours of exactly how they had come about.
She had never liked Goyle during her Hogwarts years, but even she had to feel pity towards the man who had to have his face reconstructed from his old photographs. There had been something of a falling out between the Draco and his old Slytherin crony, but Goyle had refused to incriminate Draco when faced with the frustrated ministry officials and Blaise had claimed ignorance of the entire matter.
"I won't just threaten. I'll do." Draco sat completely still, his eyes unblinking. "I'll make sure you suffer through the most unimaginable horror without leaving a single scar on your bodies should the ministry come knocking."
Lavender felt her blood chill in her veins and her hands tightened around Parvati's tense shoulder, looking for the support she knew came with years of friendship. Even so, she was sorely tempted to sit down, lest her legs give out from the dread she felt. Nonetheless, she stood firm, locking her knees as she prayed for the courage to do what was necessary.
"You wouldn't listen to us when we advised you to tell Hermione the truth. You ignored our warnings and yet, here you stand, demanding information which you have no right to." She had not broken beneath his relentless glare, Lavender thought, but the darkening expression of his face boded ill.
