Michaela's Cousin

Chapter Three: Narcissa's Plea

Draco released his mother from his embrace, then, turning to face her, he put his arms around her shaking body and lifted her up from where she lay on the cold stone floor.

She leaned solidly against him, the smell of the perfume she had worn to the party tickling his nose.

Draco smelled the perfume, unable to believe that only an hour ago there had been cake and presents and laughter. And now? And now his life looked bleak and dark and hopeless.

He put his arm tightly around his mother's waist, and together they walked awkwardly out of the dining room. Narcissa was sobbing so hard that he could barely keep his grip upon her. She was so distraught that he almost had to drag her across the marble floor. He cursed its slickness as the weight of his mother caused his feet to slide underneath him, almost resulting in both of them crashing onto the cold hard floor.

As they toiled up the carved marble staircase, her body leaning heavily against his, Draco whispered reassuringly, "We'll be okay pretty soon. Once the Dark Lord has gained access to Hogwarts, I will be honoured above all the others. No one will dare touch us then. We'll be safe, and when Father gets released from Azkaban, he won't have to worry about the Death Eaters attacking him. Don't you see? This is the only way that everything can be alright again."

His mother reached out and grabbed the heavily carved marble handrail. As they jerked to a stop, she turned and looked at him with red-rimmed eyes. "Draco, you don't have to do this thing! You don't have to kill Dumbledore! We can run away somewhere, tonight. We can pack now and go somewhere where he'll never find us. I don't want you following in your father's footsteps. Look what's happened to him."

Draco stared at his mother, truly shocked. He wouldn't have thought it possible that she would want him to run instead of trying to help the Dark Lord with his plans.

"Mother, you don't know what you're saying. You're just in shock. So much has happened tonight..."

Narcissa shook Draco's arm from her shoulder and whirled around, enraged.

"I know what I'm saying, Draco. If you do what the Dark Lord wants you to do, I'll lose you. The person you are now will be dead, and I don't want to see that happen to you. You can't think of me or your father. You must think of yourself first. Do you really want to be a part of what is going to happen? To be the catalyst for so many innocent people dying? For Dumbledore dying?"

Draco tried to remain calm. He knew that she was upset. But she was being so unreasonable.

"Mother, do you really expect me to just run away? Father has believed in and fought for the Dark Lord to come to power all of these years, and you expect me to just disregard everything he wants, everything he believes in just because he's in Azkaban now? Besides that, if I don't do this thing, we'll be hunted down like animals. You know the Dark Lord won't just let us walk away. We're trapped. Either I do this or we're dead."

Narcissa slumped against him, defeated. Already, she felt a sense of loss, as if Draco had died and the person standing in front of her was no more than one of the moving paintings on the wall.

The sudden dead weight of his mother was too much for Draco. It knocked him off balance. He could feel himself falling backwards. Holding tight to his mother with one arm, he used the other to grab for the railing.

"Tweebly! Cranley! I need some help with Mother!" he cried desperately.

The two house-elves appeared immediately to help him. Together, they managed to levitate Narcissa up the stairs and into her bedroom. Even with the thick bedroom door tightly shut, her heartbroken sobs could be heard clearly.

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

Draco paced his room, his mind a turmoil of emotions. He could hear his mother's sobs and it was agitating him. Why couldn't she see this was the only course of action? There was no other way out. None.

He tried not to think about what had happened. What he had been asked to do. The thought of killing someone, someone he knew, was so horrifying that he felt almost paralysed by it. He was trapped, all avenues of escape cut off.

Kill Dumbledore, kill Dumbledore. You have to do it, have to do it, have to do it.

I won't think of that now, he told himself fiercely. I can't think about that now.

He continued pacing, but his mind wouldn't stay quiet. If only I had someone to talk to about it, someone who would understand.

Then he remembered that Michaela was there. They had always shared everything with each other. When he had needed it in the past, she had always given good advice and sympathetic attention.

He headed out of his room and walked down the hallway until he came to her bedroom. The only thought in his mind now was the relief he would feel once he unburdened himself to her.

He had been worried that she might already be asleep so was pleased to see light shining from under the door. Turning the heavy brass doorknob, he entered.

Michaela was sitting on the bed in her nightgown, reading a book. When she saw Draco come into the room, she jumped up and, grabbing his hand, pulled him over to the bed.

She was so eager and excited to see him that she didn't notice the air of despondency that surrounded him.

Once he was seated, she signed to him, "Okay, I am going to give you your birthday present now. I have been working on this present for six months. I hope you like it."

Michaela stood in front of him, her long blonde hair shining in the light cast from the many lamps overhead, her bright blue eyes glowing with happy anticipation. Clasping her hand in front of her she drew a deep breath and then said, "Hapae Birfday Draceo."

Tears sprang to Draco's eyes as he hugged Michaela tightly.

She signed, "Did I sound ok? You know how I am about speaking. I never wanted to do it before because I was worried about how it might come out. But you've always been there for me and I really wanted to do something special for you."

Draco hugged her again. "You sounded wonderful," he signed. "Thank you so much. Your present was by far the best one I received."

As Draco looked into Michaela's proud, shining face, he just couldn't bring himself to tell her about the Dark Lord and the task he had assigned him. She looked so happy, pleased that he had liked her present. It was her shining moment, and it wouldn't be right to bring darkness and evil were there was so much happiness and light.

Tomorrow I'll be blood, and death and Dark Marks. But tonight, for the last time, I'll be just Draco. I'll be Draco and she'll be Michaela and we'll talk about our friends, silly things from our past, and our hopes for the future. And no Dark Marks will be mentioned, and no hints will be given on the person that I am destined to become.