Snow Storm - D.M , H.G

31. The unbreakable vow

Narcissa hadn't anticipated receiving an owl so late in the evening. She was just getting ready for bed when she heard the tapping at her window. She recognized the eagle owl that she'd gifted her son on his eleventh birthday. Were it not for the late hour, she might have been excited that he was writing to her. Instead, she was instantly filled with anxiety. She tied her robe around herself and moved to the window, letting the avian inside. At first she thought the parcel contained two letters, but she quickly realized that one was not a letter at all. She read the newspaper announcement with a heavy heart. She wanted to be happy for her son, she did, but how could she when she knew that her husband's very life hung in the balance?

Several years ago the Malfoys made a promise to the Greengrass family, swearing her son in marriage to their youngest daughter. It was a common practice in families like theirs. It wasn't necessarily set in stone, but it was a plan, and removed the nasty complications of courtship. Astoria Greengrass was two years younger than Draco, presently a sixth year Slytherin student at Hogwarts, barely even old enough to wed. However, when Astoria's father learned from his oldest daughter, Daphne, who was a fifth year same as Draco at the time, that he had begun to build a negative reputation with his female classmates, he felt the fate of his daughter's future was in jeopardy.

The mothers were furious when they learned what their husbands had done, an unbreakable vow, wherein Lucius swore that Draco would follow through with their promise to marry Astoria no matter what. Angry, but not afraid. Narcissa had been confident that when the time came, Draco would dutifully commit himself to the young woman. It wasn't until she saw the necklace around Hermione's neck in that issue of Witch Weekly that she had reason to fear for her husband's fate.

It was how she knew that Lucius would kill the child if given the chance. It wasn't nearly as much about her dirty blood as his own life. She knew that her son would never bring a child into this world without binding himself to its mother. And tonight that belief was confirmed. He was marrying her. And the moment their union was made official, Lucius would be lost forever. And as far as she was aware, Draco was none the wiser of the sentence he'd just laid upon his father.

"Lucius!" She shouted angrily. "Lucius, get in here, now!"

Lucius sat in his study, a glass of whiskey in his hand as he scowled down at the stack of papers in front of him. He heard Narcissa summon him, sounding quite angry, and he sighed. He downed the contents of his glass, got a refill, and stood, making his way to her. "Yes, dear?" He said sarcastically. She was clearly angry with him, for what, he couldn't be sure.

"They're getting married," Narcissa told him with an ironic laugh when he entered the room, shoving the announcement into his chest. "Do you know what this means, you bloody idiot? You and your stupid unbreakable vow... Are you happy now?"

Lucius took the announcement, reading over it quickly, before looking at his wife. "Well, of course I'm not happy. The bloody idiot. He needs to know." He scowled as he thought of his son marrying that mudblood whore. She had already taken part in ruining their family name, and now she wanted to take it? "He simply can't, he won't go through with it once he knows the truth." He took a large drink of his whiskey. After their recent history, he actually wasn't that sure.

"You honestly believe that? After everything that you've put that boy through, you honestly think he'd ever choose you over her?" Narcissa hardly believed it. Draco's loyalty to his father had dissolved into nothing in the last year or two, from what she could tell. "He's going to marry her, Lucius. He loves her!"

He hated to admit it, but she might be right. He sighed angrily, slamming the parchment down on the dresser. "Well, she wouldn't go through with it. She's the bleeding hero, after all, you really think she would marry him knowing I would die as a result?" he challenged. He hated to put his fate in her hands, but he knew she was such a goody-good that she would never go through with it.