The Ultimatum ~ Draco Malfoy

Chapter 1

August 28th, 1998

It was a warm afternoon in late August, the day of June's 18th birthday. The sun was descending slowly and the sky was a beautiful pink and blue hue. June was standing in front of her large windows, lost in her thoughts as admired the view.

"Are you ready?" a soft voice spoke. June turned to face the person standing in her doorway.

"Yes, mother," she said, walking slowly and stopping in front of a long mirror with a golden frame. She saw her mother step behind her in the reflecion.

"You look as lovely as ever," her mother said as she placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders.

June looked at herself in the mirror, her eyelids shimmering in gold and her cheeks stained in the same pink shade as her lips. Her dark, curly hair hung loose over her bare shoulders. She was wearing an ivory, strapless dress with a sweetheart neckline. It hugged her waist tightly and then puffed out over her hips and draped all the way to the floor, accentuatung her figure. It almost looked like a wedding dress.

It was too much. She felt like a doll. Her father's doll.

She was just a puppet in this house, designed to obey her 'master', who was her father. He was the one who decorated their entire home in boring, dark colors and cold, hard materials. He was the one who sat down in his office each saturday, deciding what they would all be eating the following week. He was the one who ordered her around and, heck, at this point, he was even dressing her!

Her mother gently twisted one of the brown locks around her finger and curled her lips into a subtle smile. "The guests are waiting for you," she finally said.

"I'll be right out. I just need a moment," she told her mother as she stroked the light fabric of her dress.

"Alright then," her mother said, dropping the dark curl and leaving the room.

The guests waiting downstairs were the Malfoys. Her head ached as she thought of all of her memories of the blond boy. The arrogant, selfish, sly little boy who had made the past twelve years of her life a living hell. They repulsed each other, yet their parents were very keen to set them up.

Their parents came upon an agreement years ago; unless the two of them absolutely despised each other when the time came, they would get married. Now that they'd both turned 18, it was expected of them to start courting.

She hadn't seen him for about a year. He'd taken the mark a few years back and was very busy tending to his Death Eater duties. He was absent most of last winter and, by the time he came home, June had already been sent away to finishing school for the summer. She'd returned just in time for her bithday.

She wasn't ready to see him again. She didn't want to.

She shuddered as she moved towards the door, taking one last deep breath before reaching for the handle and turning it. The floorboards creaked faintly underneath her as she stepped out of her bedroom and into a dark hallway. A flick of her wand, and all of the lights turned on instantly. Moving on shaky legs, she stopped and turned as she reached the top of the staircase. She froze at the sight in front of her.

They were all standing at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for her. The platinum blond boy whipped his head up to her and met her eyes. He wasn't at all what she was expecting; he'd changed a lot since she'd last seen him. He was taller now, his shoulders broader, his features sharper. He didn't look like the scrawny boy she once knew. In fact, he looked quite handsome now.

She gathered the fabric of her dress at her waist until it lifted slightly over her feet, taking  another deep breath to calm her nerves before proceeding to step slowly down the stairs. She met his gaze as she struggled to walk gracefully on her shaky legs and high heels. Those grey eyes wandering over her body as she moved. His gaze was affecting her so much that it made her knees buckle and, for a moment, she thought she was going to trip down the remaining three steps. But before that could happen, she quickly pulled herself together and stepped off the staircase.