The Dragon's Child Bride

Chapter 24: You\'re Kidding, Right? Right?


She woke up with a touch of a headache and winced. Today was no day for headaches. In addition to spending the morning with her fiancé, she was expected to spend the afternoon with his mother. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but a headache really wouldn’t help.

Laylani rolled over on her side, nearly rolling on top of a sleeping Draco. She pulled back slightly, smiling as he unconsciously moved closer to her, his perfect features at peace in sleep. He’d been hesitant to sleep the both of them in her bed, it only being a full compared to his queen-sized, but in the end it had worked out rather well, making everything quite cozy and of course, in easy reach. She reached out and ran a hand up his arm.

He was so pale, she thought. Not as pale as her, but that was only because he’d spent more time outdoors for Quidditch. Still, the natural color of his skin was like that of milk. Laylani laughed quietly to herself; if they ever had kids, they would practically be albinos. Her laugh softly faded; they were going to have kids. Together. Maybe not soon but eventually. It was a certainty. Strangely enough that didn’t frighten her; it was an oddly heady thought.

She smiled down at Draco, the father of her future children. She didn’t know why that turned her on, but she felt it deserved a reward anyway. She smiled at him one last time before slipping under her white linen sheet. Underneath the sheet was well-lit from the faint sunlight that slipped through her open curtains. She leaned over him, careful to support her own weight, letting her loose hair brush over his inner thighs causing him to twitch slightly but he remained asleep.

She lightly kissed her way down from his navel to his groin, where his member lay half-erect. Laylani wet her lips and placed another kiss on his shaft. She took him in her hands and ran her tongue slowly up his hardening length. She chuckled; somehow it was funny that he would respond even in his sleep. Typical guy. She took a deep breath and took the head into her mouth, swiping her tongue over it a couple times. Draco began to stir, making indecipherable noises. She smiled, her lips stretching awkwardly around him, and then began to drive her head lower and lower taking him in.

Draco could feel himself being pulled unwillingly out of sleep. He was having a great dream that involved Laylani in white lace and giving him an innocent doe-eyed look while doing wicked things to him. He resisted with what he could against consciousness, but it was futile. The blackness behind his eyelids lightened to a reddish-pink that indicated sunlight permeated the room and that he was awake. It took him a moment to connect the thoughts that he was awake and the feelings still persisted.

Hesitantly, he opened one eye to see the unusual form under the sheets. He smirked and the eye slid closed and he thought to himself that he might just be one of the luckiest bastards alive. Then she did something quite startling with her tongue and he knew it.

She knew he was awake now, he was responding much more vocally to her ministrations and that only served to fuel her desire to please him. Laylani felt the sheet be tossed away over her head, making her shiver from the sudden exposure to the room’s air after spending the past few minutes nestled in her warm little cocoon. His fingers laced into her hair with a contented sigh that she echoed making him gasp. She placed her hands on the tops of his thighs and began to draw little circles with her thumbs up and down his inner thigh, from the hip socket to his knee. She could feel those muscles begin to tense and knew it wouldn’t be much longer.

Thinking back to her experiences with previous men, she decided to employ a trick that had always worked to finish the job off so she could get her money and get out of there. She’d never tried it with Draco because there were always certain men who hadn’t taken it well, but she felt safe enough with him that at the very worst, he would just ask her not to do it again. She could live with that.

While one hand continued to move over his thigh, the other moved up in between his legs. She fondled his testicles for a moment before releasing them and letting her index finger push back across his perineum and further, pressing slightly against his pink orifice. Whether out of pleasure, disgust, or just plain surprise Draco’s hips shot forward, shoving his shaft into her mouth until it hit the back of her throat and it was all over. She swallowed his seed entirely and continued to suckle him until his trembling stopped. At last Laylani pulled away and she pressed kisses from where her lips last touched him all the way up to his collarbone before pulling the sheets up around them and resting against his chest. He remained troublingly quiet.

“So,” she said after a while. “How… was it?”

That was exactly what he was trying to decide for himself. Never in his entire life had anyone touched him there and he wasn’t quite sure how he felt about it. It hadn’t been bad, but that was just it. Shouldn’t it have been? It wasn’t altogether pleasant either, it was… different, for lack of a better word.

“Interesting.” he answered, his eyes still locked on the ceiling.

“Oh. Okay. It won’t happen again.” She sounded dejected. Laylani had meant to do something fun for him and instead he was probably all hung-up on it being homoeroticism or whatnot.

“No,” he said slowly. “It wasn’t that. Just no one’s ever done that before…to me. Unexpected, that’s all.” She relaxed a bit. At least he wasn’t upset.

“Well, did you like the rest of it?” He too relaxed, glad to have moved off the subject and rolled on his side to smile at her.

“The best, as always.” She winked.

“You better believe it.” She kissed his forehead. “I’m going to go take a shower.” He made to sit up, probably to join her, but she stopped him. “Oh, no. This is a shower for one. You wore me out last night.”

Draco grinned. Damn right he had. They’d each come at least four times last night, and that was only counting from the traditional sex. Including oral and touch… The grin broadened and she rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

“Oh, yes. All hail Draco the sex god.” she teased with a small bow. He laughed.

“Thank you, thank you.” She stood up, took two steps and stopped, resting a hand against the wall to support her and brought the other hand to her head. She looked shaky.

Draco was immediately concerned. “Are you alright?” After a moment she shook her head and resumed a normal stance.

“Yeah, just a little light-headed. Probably from the headache. I’m fine.”

“You have a headache?”

“A bit. Nothing serious.” Draco got out of bed and grabbed his briefs and trousers from where he’d left them last night.

“I’ll get you something.”

“No, you don’t ha-” He cut her off, already half dressed and halfway to the door.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m up anyway. Go shower.” She pursed her lips. The headache had already gotten a bit worse since she’d first woke up, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to take something.

“Alright, Dragon. Thanks.”

She indulged herself with a long shower, the hot water feeling heavenly against her aching body and distracting her from her small headache. She came out of the bathroom half an hour later, wrapped in a warm towel and feeling wonderful.

Laylani smiled at the scene in front of her. Draco stretched out on her bed next to a platter covered with food, and a pitcher and two glasses of pumpkin juice resting on the side table along with a small vial of green liquid she assumed was for her headache.

“It looks like you’ve been busy.”

“I’ve had the time.” he said, eyes drifting from her to the bathroom door pointedly. She laughed and sat down on the bed.

“But aren’t I clean? Thanks, Draco this is great.” He grinned and grabbed the vial off the table.

“This is for your headache.” he said as he handed it to her. She uncorked it and drank it down. It tasted like the smell of freshly cut grass. Almost immediately what there was of her headache faded completely.

“Much better.” Draco smiled at her and held up half a slice of toast.

“Breakfast?”

“Please.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Laylani?”

“Hmm? Oh, I’m sorry Narcissa, you were saying?” Narcissa began to rattle on about a certain swatch out of the dozens that lay before them. Laylani wasn’t sure how much more she could take.

It had been three hours already, and the two women had already made several decisions, in addition to changing those from last week that Draco had disagreed upon. They were looking at napkins or something like that now. It had all started to run together. Finally, Narcissa’s monotonous voice proved to be too much.

“Narcissa,” she said. “Which do you think would be best?” Narcissa seemed surprised at the interruption but was not hesitant to give her opinion.

“The white.”

“Perfect. Those will be wonderful.” Narcissa wrote that down. She smiled brightly back to Laylani.

“Now this is really just a formality, but Lucius is going to escort you down the aisle, right?”

Laylani paused, teeth worrying her lower lip. Did she really want Lucius to walk her down the aisle? He was the closest thing she had to a father, if her father had tried to kidnap her for God knows what purposes. Yes, he had let her go at what she was sure was a painful cost to him and he had apologized profusely in his letter that she’d finally forced herself to read three days after it came. She had it memorized.

***

Dearest Laylani,

You have my deepest apologies for the unpleasantness that took place between us. I am truly sorry for any pain or hardship that incident may have incurred and you have my word as a Malfoy and a gentleman that nothing of that sort will happen again. If there is anything you need or wish, please do not hesitated to ask it and it shall be yours.

Again, my sincerest apologies,
Lucius Malfoy


***

Granted, to an outsider it wouldn’t seem too emotionally charged but coming from the likes of Lucius Malfoy, it was the equivalent of someone groveling on their knees. He had apologized three times when it had always been like pulling teeth just to try and get one. But still could that be believed? Did she really want to be given away by someone whom she wasn’t sure she could trust?

“Laylani?”

“Um, actually, I had been thinking about walking down the aisle myself. Alone.”

“Oh. I see.” While Narcissa remained calm and collected on the outside, inside she was shocked and displeased. While she had said that Laylani could have anything she wanted for her wedding, there was no denying, even to herself, that Narcissa had ideas of her own she hoped to implement. “Well, why don’t we make the final decision next week? It’ll give you more time to think about it.”

“Alright.”

After another hour and a half, Narcissa finally stood to leave, much to Laylani’s relief. Things had taken an awkward turn since they discussed Lucius. Just before she left, Narcissa gave her a few last words.

“You’re going to have to choose who you’d like to be your bridesmaids soon dear, so please consider everything carefully. Very carefully.”

Laylani blinked as she watched Narcissa disappear down the hallway. What had that meant? She was in no mood for secret codes. Why couldn’t she just state clearly what she wanted? Laylani shrugged and shut the portrait firmly behind her, deciding to study for Monday’s Charms practical. She would ask Draco when she saw him again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The meeting of the Order of Phoenix took place while Laylani met with Narcissa. It was the only way to guarantee she wouldn’t go looking for him or worse, find him during that time.

Draco sat patiently in his chair as the room filled up. He still wasn’t sure who he was waiting for but somehow the people who arrived didn’t really surprise him. All the typical do-gooders were there. McGonagall, Lupin, Moody, a few Aurors he could recognize from their frequent sweeps of the Manor including his cousin, whatever her name was, Ms. Kerrin and a gaggle of redheads that made up the rest of the Weasley clan. ‘Perfect.’ he thought nastily. Still these people, unlike practically everyone he knew, were loyal and pathetically moral; if anyone would protect Laylani, they would. And like every other situation in his life since he’d started Hogwarts, just when everything started to seem like it might be okay, the Dream Team entered.

“Oh, fuck no!” he exclaimed irritably, leaping out of his chair and turning to Snape. “You said nothing about having to deal with Scarhead and his fan club!”

“What the hell is he doing here?” burst an angry Harry Potter.

“Language, please!” called out the matronly Mrs. Weasley. Draco held back the urge to tell her to stuff it. It wouldn’t do to insult those he wanted to save the love of his life.

“Of course.” he said tersely, resuming his seat and silently seething. He watched on while Saint Potter tried to plead with the Headmaster to see reason.

“Dumbledore, you can’t be serious?” Draco scowled

“Indeed I am. Quite serious in fact.”

“B-but he’s Malfoy!”

“Yes he is, Potter.” answered Snape. “Quite the astute observation.” Harry glared at him before turning back to the Headmaster.

“You really think that this, he…that the Amazing Bouncing Ferret is for any other reason than to pass anything we say directly to Voldemort?” Draco rolled his eyes, really getting sick of all this inane chatter when there were much more important issues at hand.

“Shove it, Potter. I’m sure you could prattle on for hours about the big, bad Malfoy, but no one’s interested. So why don’t you sit down and shut up and we can get to the meeting.” He watched with no small amount of pleasure as Potter sputtered himself into silence, collapsing on a sofa with the rest of the Golden Trio, scowling fiercely.

Over the next hour and a half, Draco was surprised to learn just how much surveillance Laylani was under. Someone was watching her constantly, whether it was her friends and teachers covertly monitoring her behavior, her counselor reporting anything that could be of importance to them, or the invisible members who were staked out outside her window and door at night. He blushed faintly, trying to remember if they’d left the curtains open last night. They discussed her behavior in-depth for several minutes until Draco finally had to break in with what he thought was the obvious question.

“Exactly what behavior are you looking for? I mean, how do you know it’s this ‘calling’ and not just an off day?”

“That’s just it.” said Granger. “We don’t know. The prophecy is pretty vague about what the calling would be. A few of us have been studying it, trying to understand it to find a way out of it. ‘Through the eve,’ we’re thinking it might take the form of dreams, somnambulism, night terrors; something like that.”

“She always has nightmares. I mean, just ask Ms. Kerrin, they’re coming practically every night.” Mari nodded silently.

“It would be notably different, Malfoy. Whatever form this calling takes, it’ll be extreme.” He thought about that carefully. It was on the tip of his tongue to mention the dreams she wasn’t telling him about, but he thought better of it. No need to reveal his hand just yet, not until he knew what cards they were holding.

“What’s going to happen to her? I mean, when she does show this calling, what do you intend to do about it?” Draco began to feel distinctly uncomfortable with the way they stared him down.

“She will be removed, Mister Malfoy.” answered Dumbledore. Draco blanched.

“Removed, sir?”

“Yes, she will be extracted from Hogwarts and brought to an unplotable safe house for however long it may be. Alone, I’m afraid.” It took a moment for it to sink in that ‘alone’ meant without him.

“You mean you’re going to take her away from me…again?”

“Trust a Malfoy to only think about how it would affect him!”

“Shut your fucking gob, Potter.” Draco spat acidly. He needn’t have said anything; both Ginny and Hermione had elbowed Harry in the ribs. Hard.

“I know it must be difficult for you to understand, but we cannot put any added risk on her life. One person we can hide, but two…You have to understand, they will stop at nothing to get her back, devoting manpower and resources that we simply do not have.”

Rationally, Draco did understand. He knew exactly what kind of power and resources, both magical and monetary, the Death Eaters had. He knew that while his father could eventually be quelled of his passion to find Laylani, he would scour the ends of the earth to find his only son and heir. But he wouldn’t, couldn’t give her up. The whole reason he was even entertaining the idea of becoming a defector was to keep her. Abruptly, he stood up. He needed to get out of this office, out of this school. He needed space to think.

“I need to go. I’ll think about this, all of this, but I don’t know. I can’t guarantee you anything.” He left without another word and headed to the pitch, hoping the fresh air might help sort his thoughts.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Pansy kneeled in patient subservience at his throne, waiting until he would address her. To say she was excited was an understatement. She’d been waiting patiently for her first orders since she received her Mark during the Christmas holidays with a select few of her classmates, and now that time had come. She felt inordinately proud to see that she and she alone had been called upon for whatever task the Dark Lord saw fit to delegate.

Finally, she heard the whisper-soft sound of Him approaching across the marble floor and her heart leapt. This was it. The Dark Lord sat back in his throne, taking a moment to study his servant.

Despite his initial misgivings about the girl she had proven herself time and time again throughout her initiation rites. What she lacked in brute strength she made up with a keen mind and effortless cruelty. And the true beauty of it was that she seemed so very harmless.

“I do not take kindly to those who have ssssssssstolen what is mine. Asssss it happensssssssss, what issssss mine currently residesssssss within the possessssssion of a certain Headmasssster who’sssss foolish enough to believe he can keep her.”

Pansy nodded keenly, ready to do whatever she was asked the moment he would ask it.

“And while I am being rather insssissssssssstent with her, the child isssssss, like any teenager, being rather resssissssssstant to doing what she’sssssss told.” He hissed out a rather dry laugh. “What she needssss issss ssssome ssssubtle encouragement. A push in the right direction, ssssso to sssssspeak. I trusssst you know the young Malfoy’ssss bride-to be?” Pansy faintly made a face.

“Yes, My Lord.”

“Good. She ssssseemssss to need sssssome convincssssing to follow my command. Conssssider yourself having carte-blanche on the methodssss you usssse to convincsssse her, but know that I want her physssssssically unharmed. Anything elssssse is at your dissssssscretion, including the employment of your fellow colleaguessssss. Complete thissss tassssssk for me, and you shall have your choicsssse of rewardssss.”

Pansy nodded, grinning madly. This was killing two birds with one stone; she would get rid of that pesky bitch and be able to claim one Draco Malfoy as a reward. She didn’t know why the Dark Lord wanted the girl and she didn’t care. What she did know was that she was really going to enjoy seriously fucking with that girl’s mind.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Draco stopped by her room to walk her down to dinner. He didn’t need to but he wanted to see her again privately, away from what were apparently dozens of prying eyes. He entered her rooms silently to see her asleep on the couch with her Charms textbook resting opened on her chest, her face towards the back of the couch. He crouched down to eye-level with her and was just about to wake her when she shifted suddenly with a small whimper. She turned to face him and he frowned at her look of distress.

He hardly considered his next action. If he had, he might have thought about what an invasion of her privacy it was. He might have thought that she had her own reasons for not telling him her dreams. He might have thought of how angry Laylani would be if she were to find out. But the point was he didn’t, and went ahead.

At least some good came of being a Malfoy; they were above the law and consequently he’d been learning Legilimency since he was thirteen. He was rather good at it by now, even if he did say so himself. It would be harder without eye contact, but not impossible with the aid of physical contact. He put his hand on top of hers and slowly began to work his way into her mind.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

She stood at a sink in front of a mirror, bodies strewn at her feet. The room was a pristine white only accentuating the redness of the floor and spattered at random on the lower walls. The only sounds were the running water of the taps, the splashing as she washed her bloody hands and her soft weeping. The steam floated up, fogging the mirror in front of her.

Draco watched in rapt horror as she scrubbed desperately at her bloody hands. She scoured them to what he was sure would be raw in the scalding water, but her hands stayed just as bloody as when he came. He swallowed hard, braving himself to look at the bodies scattered on the floor. With a deep breath, he focused on the floor.

He could feel the bile rising in his throat and he forced his body to swallow again. It was his father, his mother. It was her father and mother. It was him. Their bodies were mangled and mutilated in some of the most horrific fashions he’d ever heard of or imagined. Then he heard it.

\"Come to me.\"

Draco’s focus snapped back to her. What the fuck was that? Laylani’s eyes went wide and she began to cry harder, redoubling her efforts to scrub the blood off her hands.

\"Come to me.” She shook her head frantically as if trying to shake the voice out.

Draco watched the writing appear on the fog in the mirror, dripping down in a bloody red.

***

Potter Will Die

***

A twisted smile splayed over her lips as her fingers began to lightly trace the letters on the mirror.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Draco hastily yanked himself out of her mind, deeply unsettled by what he had seen. He looked to her sleeping form with equal parts respect and disturbance. He had always known her nightmares were bad, but he had no idea they were that graphic and morbid. And that whispered voice… It was worrying to know she had been having these types of dreams every night, and yet she managed to seem relatively well-adjusted.

She drew his attention back to him with another one of her small moans. Draco looked back to her, gently brushing away a rogue tear in the corner of her eye, startling her awake with his touch.

“Draco.” she said softly, forcing a smile. “Is it time for dinner already? I must have dozed off.” She took the Charms book off her chest, sitting up and stretching. Her smile wavered slightly as he stared, looking slightly bemused. “Is something wrong, Dragon?”

How could she seem so calm after that? ‘Well,’ he reasoned, ‘they do happen every night. She’s probably used to them by now.’ Still, to see her act so naturally after seeing explicit visions of the dead corpses of everyone she loved (with the possible exception of Lucius), was troubling.

“No. Nothing’s wrong. Just…noticing how beautiful you are, Princess.” Never would it be said that a Malfoy couldn’t lie with a truth. She blushed.

“Oh.” She offered him her hand and he used it to pull her up off the couch into his arms, kissing her forehead. “So dinner, then?”

“Of course.” He stopped halfway to the door. “Would you like to stay in with me tonight?” She smiled apologetically.

“Draco, not tonight. You really wore me out last-”

“No, I mean just to stay with me. Sleep only, I swear.” She looked at him curiously, her eyes showing indecision. He racked his brain to come up with more incentive for her to stay with him. Finally, he simply added “Please?”

“Alright.”

He held her tightly in his arms that night watching her sleep, as if by sheer will alone he might chase away her demons. He was determined that it was in his arms she would stay, if he had anything to say about it.