The Daughter of He

Chapter 9

Draco and I avoided each other for the next several days, which, generally speaking, I was grateful for. Malfoy Manor was big enough for it to not be an issue, we passed each other in the evenings occasionally but never in the day time. I had a strong feeling Draco liked to stick to himself in his room, but I couldn't blame him since in any other circumstance I would probably do the same. But Malfoy Manor was so elaborate that it would idiotic to stay in my given room all the time.

My father, Lucius, and Bellatrix still haven't returned. My father did, though, write me a letter. It was short and sloppy, so I supposed he didn't have a lot of free moments, but, from my understanding they were looking for a necklace of sorts to curse and that they wouldn't return until after I returned to Hogwarts.

I yawned, internally groaning at the thought of going back to Hogwarts. I really did hate school, it was hard to focus during my classes when my priorities rested elsewhere. And not to mention I stood Harry up. I never sent him a letter cancelling our "date" at Hogsmeade, not to mention I haven't been at school for almost a whole week. Because of that he was bound to figure out I was never sent to tutor him, and that would probably raise unwanted suspicion on my end. Of course I could always pass it off as me having a huge crush on him, which could evidently keep the plan flowing smoothly-regardless of the amount of dignity I would be losing.

I sat up, kicking the blankets to the foot of the bed. Once again, I had gotten close to no sleep. My father forgot to give me whatever he had created to tame the flashbacks, and so the past few night have been just as torturous and exhausting as they always were. Although this morning I had gotten at least 4 hours of sleep, which was more than usual, and I was beyond thankful for that.

"Morning, Novah." I yawned, giving him a scratch on the head before I slipped out of bed. It was almost lunch, which I usually spent alone. Unlike my father and I, Draco and his parents weren't family oriented. Everyone spent meal times alone and seemed to try to avoid each other at all costs. Narcissa seemed to be the only one that ever made an effort to bring them all closer, but even to her it never acted as a priority.

I scratched the back of my neck, patting my hip lightly to signal Novah to my side. He stretched, letting out a small howl to accompany another yawn before he jumped off the bed.

Novah was the only thing that I could really trust, and the only the only thing that kept me from feeling utterly and entirely alone.

I tore my eyes away from him as I felt an angry growl rip through my stomach. I opened my door, making my way down to the kitchen with Novah lumbering at my heels.

Silently, I poured myself a bowl of cereal and threw leftover scraps from dinner last night into a bowl to give to Novah. I sat on the floor next to him, my back up against one of the many wooden cabinets.

"Draco, please. All you have to do is be nice to her." Narcissa begged, although her tone of voice suggested it was more of an order than a plea.

My body stiffened against the back of the cabinet, praying that neither of them would walk around to this side of counter.

"Mum-" He protested weakly, but Narcissa wasn't having any of that.

"Now, Draco." She ticked, "One wrong word from you, from me, or from anybody she could have us all killed with a wave of her hand. I don't know why you're avoiding her, but you're going to stop."

They were talking about me. I was the one who they were afraid of, I was the one they had to pretend to like and get along with in order to save themselves. I felt like a fool. Of course I was, how could I not be with my father being The Dark Lord?

"Yes, mother." Draco deflated, I peered around the corner to look at them. Draco looked exhausted, and I guessed if he was in a better state he would have argued with Narcissa. He wasn't avoiding me because of what happened all those nights ago, he was avoiding me because he genuinely couldn't stand the thought of me.

"Go ask her if she wants to eat lunch with us? She's been sleeping all morning and it would mean much more coming from you than me, Draco."

"No need." I said, standing up, "I've think I've spent enough time with the both of you." I put my empty bowl on the counter top, not bothering to rinse it out in the sink.

I turned to leave, but Narcissa grabbed my arm, "Please, Josslyn, you have to understand-"

"The only thing I understand is that you guys have been faking everything." I growled, ripping my arms out of her grasp, "And you know what?" I shouted, "The fact that you thought I would have my father kill anybody for something as petty as Draco avoiding me is insane, but you know what? Maybe I would have him kill someone for pulling a stunt like this?" I spit, turning to look Draco in the eyes, "Do I still fascinate you?" I hissed, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in my chest as I fled the kitchen.

"Josslyn, wait!" Draco called after me. Unfortunately, his legs were much longer than mine so it didn't take much for him to catch up to me.

"What?" I seethed, turning to face him so quickly that he flinched. He took a step back, and I didn't miss the way his eyes flickered to the wand locked in my white-knuckled grip.

"I just-" He sputtered, running a hand down his face, "You have to understand-"

"Understand what exactly?" I snapped, grabbing him by the shoulders and looking him dead in the eye, "I am not my father, Draco. And you've been an absolute dick towards me for the past six fucking years, you would think if I wanted you dead I would have had him kill you by now. Just leave me the fuck alone."

I released him, my breaths heavy and short. I turned away from him, taking a step towards the staircase. But before I could make it far, he grabbed my arm and pulled me toward himm. He was inches away from my face, his fast, ragged breathing matching my own.

"No," He whispered, his voice hoarse and gravelly. He looked at me, and for a half second I thought he was going to cry, but as soon as the thought struck my mind his face hardened and he pushed me away. "You wouldn't understand. And you never will." He spat, tipping his chin up at me in disgust.

"Understand what?" I screamed, matching his rising anger levels with my own.

He snarled at me. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he just stood their-boiling in his own rage.

"God!" I shouted, throwing my hands in the air and letting out a cold laugh, "Are you that afraid to open up to someone? Is that it? Or what? Did your daddy tell you no?"

It was hypocritical for to prey on his inability to open up, because I was the same way. But it didn't matter. Not to me, anyways.

"Shut the fuck up, Josslyn!" He snorted, letting a deranged smile creep up into his lips, "If you could even start to wrap your tiny, incompetent mind around what anyone in this god damn house is going through maybe, just maybe, you could-"

"I could what?" I shrieked, "I could feel bad for you? I could rock you to sleep and lie to you about how great everything is? Is that what you want?"

"What I want is to be able to live however the fuck I want!" He screamed, before diverting his eyes to the floor and clutching his forearm.

"Draco-" I protested, but he wasn't going to buy into my plead, I wasn't even sure he was listening, but I didn't care. You don't poke a bear. He should have known that, "I think I understand better than anyone." I growled, ripping my eyes off of him before turning towards the staircase for the second time this morning.

But this time Draco didn't stop me from leaving.