The Healer- A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction

Chapter 22: Malfoy Manor Part I

I curled my hand around soft sheets. Slick, high thread count sheets. As I enjoyed the sensation of the smooth sheets on my bare legs, I returned to awareness, the clouds in my brain lifting one by one.

These sheets are wonderful. But... my sheets are flannel. So whose... whose sheets are these?

All at once, my eyes shot open. The unnerving feeling that something was wrong was affirmed by the unfamiliar room I was in. I spotted medieval paintings on the walls; ancient rugs and animal fur throw blankets, and a reflection of myself in a mirror with brass embellishments in a canopy bed big enough for a king. When I looked out the window to my left, I saw a view of a grey sky over a topiary garden. My stomach sank.

I don't know where I am, but it's definitely not Hogwarts.

I threw the sheets off of me and stumbled to my feet. The icky feeling inside me grew when I looked down at a long-sleeved wool nightgown that I had never seen before. Whoever kidnapped me had taken my wand and changed my clothes. At least my kidnapper had the decency to leave me a robe strewn over a wooden chair.

"Hello?" I banged on the bedroom door. The handle was locked, and my wand was nowhere in sight. My banging increased. When no one came to the door, or even so much as replied, I began to look to the window.

Sprawled out beneath the second story window were snow-dusted hedges lining a long driveway. From the large shadow in the snow below I could tell the house was massive- and it was a precarious height from my window to the ground. But what other choice did I have to escape my kidnapper other than this window?

I pried the window open and shivered at the winter air that came rushing in. I put a knee on the windowsill to hoist myself up- realizing I didn't have any shoes, but not caring.

"Oh, sh-sh-shit." My teeth chattered as I stuck the top half of my body out of the window. I eyed the snowy sill below, anticipating exactly where I would put my bare feet. Everything is icy. I'm no Gryffindor- but I'll climb down this roof if it means escaping a worser fate.

"Erica!"

Before I could make the first step from the window, arms yanked me down and threw me onto the bed.

I shook the hair from my face so I could get a look at my kidnapper. My hands curled into fists when I recognized the short platinum hair, the shoulderpads and lily-white hands peeking out from black coat sleeves. Disgust painted my voice like mud. "Draco?"

I watched as he firmly shut the window and locked it before turning to me. "Were you about to jump from this window?" he demanded, his lips curled into that familiar snarl.

I didn't bother asking how he got into the room; he must have apparrated. "Where is my wand, Draco?" I growled. "And where have you taken me?"

Draco ran a frustrated hand down his tired face. He looked like he hadn't been sleeping again. "I told them it was a bad idea to bring you here."

"Who?"

Draco scowled at me. "The Death Eaters. They're the ones who insisted you come here."

I scowled right back at him. "And where, exactly, is here?"

"My house. Malfoy Manor."

Panic seeped into my bones. Malfoy Manor- Death Eaters. Hoarsely, I rasped, "...You've brought me here to kill me."

Draco stepped forward, hands in his pockets. "You've got it all wrong. You see, Crabbe and Goyle are apparently incapable of keeping their mouths shut when it comes to my personal affairs. They informed their parents of our... relationship. Other Death Eaters caught word, and unfortunately the Dark Lord himself took an interest. He insisted you be brought here."