Always. (A Draco Malfoy Story)

The Tasks.

The days leading up to our next meeting with the Dark Lord were agonizing. Neither of us had the appetite to eat, and didn't have to energy to even get out of bed.
Binky continued to try and bring up food to the room, but I've always turned him away.

Draco didn't talk much since we got marked. He's always looking down on his arm when he thinks I'm not looking at him. I know he's trying to put a brave face on, but I know he's just as nervous as I am.
We're cuddling in bed, with Draco playing with my hair, as I do some reading. I look up at him and see that he's zoned out, staring into space. I close my book and sit up straight, "What are you thinking about?" He gave a half smile, "Our future."

He gets off of the bed and makes his way to the dresser. He pulls a box out of a drawer I let him use for his belongings while he was staying here. "I wasn't going to give you this until later... but now seems a better time than any."

He flips the small box open to reveal a very large diamond princess cut ring, crown display, with smaller emerald and diamond ring accents surrounding the larger gem, all on a silver band. It's the most beautiful ring I've ever seen in my entire life.

"Draco..."

He explains, "It's the ring you deserve." I'm still staring at it in awe. Draco chuckles, "I charmed it, so I'll always know if you're ok." He reached into his shirt and pulled out a matching band, hanging by a chain on his neck. I giggled, "You stole my idea."
I examined my ring closer. Within the diamond, if you look close enough, you can see the reflection of the Malfoy Crest.

I gasped, "When did you even get this?" He smirks, "I've been owling Mother for a while now. She's happily went to the shop for me as I described what kind of ring I wanted to give you." I chuckled, "So that's what she's been doing all this time." Draco chuckled and shrug his shoulders, "Well, she's not a Death Eater... so she has a lot of time on her hands."

He removed my emerald ring from my ring finger and replaced it with the diamond ring. I stared at my hand in awe. Holy fuck, this is gorgeous.

I cup his face into my hands as my lips collided onto his. His hand caresses my cheek as the kiss deepens. He slowly retracts his lips from mine, so that only our foreheads are now touching.
He whispers, "We'll get married as soon as this is all over."
I smiled and agreed, "As soon as this is all over, we'll get married."

-

The day has come for our meeting with the Dark Lord. We weren't exactly sure what time we were going to meet him, so Draco and I spent the entire day waiting anxiously... but ready.

As the clock struck 4 PM, Draco and I began to wince at the pain emitting from our arms. We rolled up our sleeves and saw the serpent ink slithering, to and fro. We gave each other a kiss before apparating to the Malfoy Manor.

We stood outside the same door and stared at the dark, mahogany wood before Draco reaches for the doorknob. "Wait!" Draco shoots me a look while I carefully removed my new, beautiful engagement ring and hid it in my pocket.

We entered the room and saw everyone present. Even Father was there, but not Mother. Father was actually speaking to the Dark Lord when we arrived, which was off setting to see. The sound of the door creaking open turned everyone's attention to us.

Voldemort smiled and dismissed my Father before saying, "Draco and Joy. Have a seat." We both hurried to the table and occupied the only two empty seats. We kept our heads down the second we sunk into the chairs.

"Our time is near. We are close to rightfully rule the Wizarding World and eliminating Harry Potter once and for all." Everyone looked up to Voldemort, who was sitting at the head of the table. "Although...." He begins to rise. "There is one thing that manages to always stop me... Albus. Dumbledore."
He glides over to Draco and I, "That is where you two come in." I looked everywhere and anywhere to avoid his glare, and I could tell Draco was doing the same.

Voldemort goes on, "You two will repair a Vanishing Cabinet, located at Hogwarts. It's twin in Knockturn Alley. It will act as a passageway for us to enter Hogwarts undetected. Once that is done, you must kill Albus Dumbledore." I tensed up at the words. 'We actually have to murder someone? Let alone Dumbledore?'

"You will complete your tasks, no later than the end of the school year. Do I make myself clear?" We both nodded. "Yes, my Lord."
He flashed a grin before returning to his seat.

I turned to Draco and saw the life gets sucked out of him. He was pale and slightly sweating, deathly nervous.
I gave him a soft smile, careful to not let anyone see. Draco just stared at me.

Draco and I didn't know, but on the other end of the table, Narcissa looked at us with worry... developing a safety net on her own.