Kindred

~Chapter 2~

Sometime around dawn Draco had finally fallen off to sleep. Now it was early afternoon and he made his way down the stairs to find breakfast, or lunch or whatever you wanted to call it at two in the afternoon. He was caught halfway to the kitchen by his mother, smiling like the proverbial Cheshire cat.

"Good morning Draco. Sleep well?" she inquired falling into step beside him.

"Yes mother," he murmured.

"Did you enjoy yourself last night?"

"It was okay," he answered noncommittally.

"You seemed quite taken with Her Royal Highness," she observed as he rummaged through the cabinet.

"She's all right I suppose," he said pulling out a bowl.

Narcissa shook her head and rolled her eyes "I think she would make an excellent addition to the family...providing the rumors aren't true," she qualified the statement. They just had to be, she suddenly felt desperate. She wasn’t completely without regard to her son’s happiness. She wanted him to be happy with his mate, as she had been.

"Yeah we have tons in common. Money, looks, oh and let's not forget murdering fathers!" he spit the words out.

"Do not speak of your father that way! He only did what he had to do to protect us!" Narcissa thundered, her eyes stinging with tears.

Draco rounded on his mother "And then when that didn't work I was forced to..." He threw the china across the room in a fit of anger. Without another word he stormed from the room and slammed the door shut.

He took off hard on his broom and soared wildly into the air. As long as he stayed on his own property no one would report him for flying outside of school, not that he really cared if they did. These days he didn't care about much.

It was quite sometime later when, his anger spent he settled into the clearing next to the stream. Dropping the broom to the ground he sank onto the soft grass and propped his chin on his knees.

Arianna stood quietly at the base of the hill. He hadn't noticed her standing there. She quieted her mind and focused solely on the blonde Draco Malfoy. Suddenly a wash of pure unadulterated pain fell over her, cascading like a torrent of ravaging rain and wind. It whipped through her psyche and tore at her heart. Opening her eyes she shut out the feelings emanating from his soul.

Quietly she walked across the green grass and stopped just behind him. Her hand reached out to him, as if it had a will of its own as it settled on his shoulder. "Draco," she murmured his name, but he didn't move. She squeezed gently "Draco...are you okay?" she asked sliding her hand along his neck.

To her amazement he lifted his eyes to meet hers and she could see the unshed tears glimmering on his long, dark lashes. He couldn't speak, his lip quivered with his great effort not to let them fall.

Her heart ached as she dropped down beside him and gathered him into her arms.

Still he fought valiantly not to cry in front of her, or on her more accurately as he let her hold him close. He couldn't remember the last time anyone had touched him with only comfort in mind. Finally he pulled back, swiping at his tear streaked face with the back of his hand he muttered "Tell anyone about this and I'll be forced to..." he left the threat unfinished as she shot to her feet.

"Are you threatening me Draco Malfoy?" she hissed, her wand already in her hand, the tip cascading purple sparks onto the grass in front of her.

He looked up at her, guilt washing over him. Wait, guilt? What the bloody hell was going on he asked himself. "I'm sorry Arianna...old habits die hard," he muttered standing up.

"Best get rid of that one quick!" she advised her arm relaxing slightly. "Do you know what happens to people who threaten me...where I come from?" her voice faltered as she wondered if she would ever be allowed to return to her homeland and claim the throne her father had left empty.

He tried to smile "We are a pitiful pair aren't we?"

"That we are...fatherless orphans of a sort," she agreed.

He reached for her hand "Thank you...you know...for..." the unfamiliar blush crept across his pale skin, staining his cheeks.

"Anytime Draco...anytime," she said sincerely.

This time his smile widened "You do know that my mother would love nothing more than for us to get together...providing..." he let the words drop off. For the first time he cared whether or not someone was offended by his comment.

"Providing I'm not a halfling?" she said derisively.

He nodded.

"What do you want Draco?" she asked cocking her head.

He let his eyes search her face, no one cared what he wanted. It had never mattered; to anyone. That touched a place he'd rather not explore.

She saw it in a flash, the change in his eyes as surely as if someone had drawn a curtain against the sunlight, his eyes darkened. He pulled her flush against his body "I want," he brought one hand to her face and stroked her cheek "my beautiful princess to know what it's like to kiss you...what it's like to have my name torn from your lips in ecstasy."

It was Arianna’s turn to be rendered speechless. A first for her, nothing short of a spell had ever accomplished that. She licked her lips nervously, truth be told she wanted the same thing. But the arrogance with which the line was delivered left her trembling, not in fear but in confusion. This tall blonde seemed an enigma, a perpetual contradiction. She had sensed it from the first time she had laid eyes on him and he hadn’t disappointed her yet.

Her Royal Highness, Princess Arianna Dawn Marie Huntington of Transylvania was no stranger to arrogance. She let her eyes slid across his body, the motion almost tangible as she wound her fingers into the long blonde locks at the base of his skull “The first, I’ll grant you...anything more than that you will have to earn,” she soothed before pulling his head down to hers.

His lips hovered over hers for a fraction of a second before he made contact with her sweet lips. The world went away in a flash of blinding fire as she consumed him-body, mind and soul. When she stepped away from him she turned and disappeared in a flash of purple brilliance. He stood, rooted to the spot long after the purple light had faded into nothing and the misty English rain was a fine sheen all over his overheated body