The Dragon and the Dove

For Tink, though you are far away, in place and age, we became fast net friends anyway. For Jessica, or angelicstargazer to some, thanks for putting up with my lamest fic ideas for as long as you have. And for CassandraClaire, you will probably never read this, or any of my other works, but I am very inspired by your work. I love it and it makes me laugh. Though

Danni is blonde (and you obviously have something against blonde girls and Ron, you Ron hater you), she is dedicated in your honor.

The Dragon and the Dove: Volume One: The One Who Loved Me

Part One: Green Silk and Lullabies

What is that you express in your eyes?

It seems to me more than all the words I have read in my life.

--Walt Whitman

She stood in front of me, her silvery hair rippling with the wind and glistening under the cold February moon. I watched, helpless to her, as the Dark Lord himself moved to the center of the circle of Death Eaters (my father, who watched among them, though I could not see his face, I knew he was in almost as much helpless pain as I was). The Dark Lord placed one un-humanly long-fingered hand on her shoulder and with the other he lifted her chin gently upward, so that she was staring him in the face. She did not wince, or even look away at first. They just stood there, he staring longingly into her ice-blue eyes and she staring, determined, right back. The red-headed figure that was bound by a Death Eater, awaiting his death, struggled to get to her, but his efforts were fruitless.

I could tell she was freezing. Her usually wintry-but-healthy skin was transparent; small, complicated webs of blue veins were visible, and her nose was rosy. It was no wonder; she wore nothing but thin rags. I knew she would've given a lot just to be able to shiver, but she wouldn't do it, she wouldn't move, her chin was tilted at that arrogant angle that was so like mine and I was stunned in awesome respect for her as she stared unblinkingly into the face of Evil....

*Squiggly Misty Wiggly Stuff that Indicates a Flashback*

I remember it as clearly as yesterday. It was the summer before my sixth year at Hogwarts. I was sitting at the Manor, in my bedroom, happy as could be, admiring my expensive belongings nonchalantly and thanking God that I wasn't a Weasley, when there was a knock on the door.

"Yes?" I called from my perch on the bed.

"Master Draco," came a muffled, squeaky voice, "your mother and father wish to see you in the library."

"Okay, I'm coming," I said, utterly bewildered at the thought that my mother and father were in the same room together and they wanted me there with them. I got up and strode toward the door, opened it, and said, to the small creature with the bat-like ears, "Are you quite certain, Thingie, that you are correct?"

I sneered down at the house-elf at my midriff. She was always afraid of me, and I never knew why; I had never done more than threaten her, but it amused me all the same.

"Y-yes, Master Draco Malfoy, sir, they is waiting for you there now, sir," she squeaked, her ears flapping madly as she nodded fervently.

With a pause, in which I stared down my nose at her and she trembled, and a sudden "Boo!" on my part that sent her flying, I headed toward the library with an uncertainness in my stomach.

********

"Mum, mum, gerroff me, really, now, do cut it out--"

"Draco dear, come and give mumsy a kiss--"

"Mum! Shame on you--"

"Narcissa, dear, leave the poor boy be--"

Finally I broke free of my mother's grasp, or rather, death grip.

"Mum, I love you, but honestly, you can't do that."

"Do what?"

"Rub spit all over my face."

"Well, you were dirty, see, you still are, just there, come let me get it off--"

"Narcissa!" barked my father. Both my mother and I froze. He looked at us exasperatedly, though I could sense the faint amusement behind the exasperation. Then, more calmly, "I do believe we called him here with news....?" My mother looked uncomfortable, even nervous, as I had never seen her before, and I was taken aback. Even Father looked a bit shifty.

"Ahem...Right. Er, Draco, we have some news," announced my mother.

"And that would be...?"

"Erm...Yes," she continued. "Right. Well, this will come as a bit of a shock, Draco dear, and you may or may not like it, but here goes."

After I was sure she was not going to continue without a fight,

"Uhm, plunge on, then," I urged her. But before she could make herself do it, my father cut her off.

"Draco, you are not an only child."

"I--what?"

"You heard me."

I was stunned. Not an only child? Since when?

"When your mother was pregnant with you, the mediwizards all said that you would be a girl. Now at first, you were supposed to be a boy. An heir to me, sort of like my gift to the Dark Lord. Once I was gone, you would take my place. So, naturally, he almost strangled me to death when he found out that you were going to be a girl. But then a thought occurred to him.

"If my part-veela wife and I were to have a daughter, then no doubt she would be beautiful. He could ensure that she was powerful, he could mold her how he wanted, and so he became more and more delighted with the idea of my daughter. You, as a girl, were to be his...erm...companion, sort of like a cross between his mistress and his Queen. He even had a name picked out: Annabelle Lee Danielle Malfoy. Yes, he has a closet fondness for poetry, especially Poe. I don't know why he loved that one poem so much. He was never a romantic aside from it. But on with my story.

"On July 31, 1988, you were born (I bet you didn't know that you had the same birthday as the Potter boy, did you?). And guess what? You were a boy. I expected a good thrashing, but he merely shrugged. 'No matter,' he'd said to Narcissa and I as soon as your mother had recovered. 'This boy is beautiful, as will your daughter be. Now get to work, nine months is a while to wait.'

"But your mother protested. She said that she wasn't fully recovered yet and that there was no way a child could be conceived naturally so soon. Besides, how could we be certain it would be a girl?

"The Dark Lord pondered this for just a minute or two. And, coming to a decision, he used a bit of powerful Dark Magic that enabled him to take my ideal genes, place them inside your mother, all the while ensuring that this would be a daughter. And it worked.

"But the Dark Lord wanted her raised freely, away from us, so that she wouldn't become too attached to us, her family. He didn't want her to attend Hogwarts, for fear she would get ideas from Dumbledore about 'good and evil and all that ick', as he called it. So, she was sent to live in America, with a family of three poor orphaned brothers, the oldest of whom raised not only your sister and his brothers, but three other young witches as well. He felt that the surroundings of poverty and the lack of luxury would nest inside her the same way it did when he was growing up and she would feel the same bitterness as he.

"Annabelle, who prefers to go by Danni and has thought all along that her last name was 'McDonnelly', has known nothing of this until now. She is still unaware of the truth about the Dark Lord. None of us, your mother, I, nor any of the other Death Eaters, who each gave her a gift upon her birth, has seen her since March the 21st, her first birthday and the first day of spring, fourteen years ago."

My father took a deep breath and surveyed me steadily, but my mother was crying.

"Why are you telling me this now?" I demanded of him. He inhaled deeply again.

"As you know, the Dark Lord has lain low for a year, but now that Sirius Black has been killed and even that twit Fudge knows he's back, he's coming out with himself. Tomorrow is your birthday, and to celebrate it, along with his coming out with power, he and all the Death Eaters and our spouses and children are throwing a large and expensive party. Danni has been notified that she is indeed a Malfoy and she is arriving tonight. She does not yet know that she will be married tomorrow."

"That's a bit unfair!" I said, surprising no one more than myself. Then, I continued. "I mean to say, I hate the idea of a sister, even one so close to my age." This was true; I was already jealous and I'd never met her. "But still, she is a Malfoy, and I think that someone that is so young and Malfoy-ish and pure-blooded ought to have a right not to marry some one so old and evil and, well, scaly--"

"Draco," my mother whispered, "have you never seen a picture of the Dark Lord when he was young?"

"Yes, I have, and okay, he was good looking then, but--"

"Don't be silly, boy," my father snapped impatiently. "Think about it. Even when he was seventeen or eighteen he possessed enough Dark power, not to mention common sense, to preserve his good looks. The way he looks now is an illusion, used to intimidate and frighten. He will look human when they are together, even tomorrow night at the party-slash-wedding thing."

At this I felt extremely stupid. Why had I never thought of that? But then I recovered.

"You said that each Death Eater gave her a 'gift of power'. What does that mean and why didn't I get any?" I spat greedily.

It was my mother that responded.

"You see, Draco," she said thickly through the lace handkerchief she was blowing her nose on, "the Dark Lord had a notion. If each Death Eater and their spouse gave her a different blessing, it would make them all sort of like her aunts and uncles. Even his other helpers, the Dark Creatures, blessed her. She's only one sixth human, in fact. One sixth human, one sixth veela, one sixth banshee, one sixth werewolf, one sixth vampire and one sixth pure evil. In that twisted way, we're all kind of one big family through her, even the part- and non-humans."

This made me extremely jealous.

I sulked the rest of the morning and into the afternoon, sure that she would be plain and stupid and skinny and the only extraordinary thing about her would be those blessings from the Death Eaters that I had thought of as my own family, not anyone else's but their own children. Those gifts should have been mine. I hated my sister before I even knew her.

But my mind soon changed.

*******

Just as I had been told to, I showered and dressed in informal yet expensive-looking green sweater, black slacks and green cloak. I looked very pretty, as usual, with my slate colored eyes and super blonde-ness, all wrapped into one smarmy, arrogant package.

I was in the Manor Entrance Hall at exactly six o'clock p.m., with my mother and father, waiting for her. My father looked nonchalantly super, his silver blonde hair tied in a green ribbon an the base of his neck, his black robes and cloak trimmed and lined with green and fastened with silver. My mother was casually pretty in her casually pretty silk green dress. I wondered blandly if my sister would show up in green by instinct, or if she would be dressed as horridly as any American (at the time I was terribly prejudice against Americans for no real reason, just that I'd always heard they were real slobs) would have been. I was just boiling about how much I loathed this ugly, stupid, ugly, skanky, ugly person who was ugly whom I'd never met, when there was a knock on the grand double oak doors.

At my father's gesture, the many house-elves standing at ready, including Thingie, opened the doors as my parents and I moved together to improve our family image (I was sneering all the while).

The figure standing outside on the large marble doorstep was only a silhouette, because there was no real sunlight outside. It was raining. Storming. But I could tell that she held an umbrella and wore a cloak and one of those weird, stupid American hats that *cow folk* wear. Well, I thought it stupid then, but now I'm rather fond of...never mind.

As I was saying, we heard her gasp and she froze, and my father snapped his fingers for the immediate assistance of house-elves for my sister with her luggage. My mother, surprisingly, was the first to speak.

"D-Danni?" she said uncertainly. The girl outside began fiddling with her umbrella, trying to close it shut, and just as she succeeded she was seized at the elbows and by her cloak by several house-elves and ushered into the Entrance Hall.

It was our turn to gasp.

She was not plain. She was not ugly. She was a Malfoy, from head to toe. Her hair was the color of lightning, her eyes resembled chinks of crystaled ice and her skin was of wintry cream. So she looked every inch exactly like me. Big deal.

But I studied her closer. There was something....eerie about her. She looked exactly like a female me, the way she held herself, everything. The resemblance was so close it was scary. But there was one tiny difference that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Vaguely, I realized Mother was crying.

"Danni," she whispered again, and started forward toward the very uncertain and nervous looking girl in front of us. Danni smiled (revealing slightly pointier than usual canines, just like mine), and for a split-second the face of my sister warmed me. Very slightly. Then I composed my cold self again.

Danni began forward to meet our mother, slipped on the water that had dripped off her cloak, and fell backward with a wet squeak and then a thud. Her hat went flying to reveal two tight French braids and her cloak flew open to reveal how she was dressed: an impeccable white ruffled shirt, tight fitting black flares, black boots, and of course there was the hat that went oddly well with the outfit. She was even dressed perfectly. I comforted myself with the thought that she was a clumsy oaf.

My father hurried forward to help her up, something he would not have done for anyone else, not even me, and I loathed her even more. She flushed pink with embarrassment, which just made her prettier (I was now bubbling over with jealousy) as my father helped her up and then proceeded to hug her. It was not making my feelings toward her any warmer. My mother fussed all over her, hugging and kissing and adoring her as I hadn't been in years. I was fuming. My father cleared his throat.

"Draco, aren't you going to greet your sister?" he said.

I looked at her and realized that she had turned her beautiful eyes, so like mine, yet something was so different, toward me and she was smiling nervously. The first time I ever heard her voice, it was directed at me.

"Draco....the Dragon....Hi, Draco. I'm Danni." She was looking at me intently, almost longingly. She wanted a hug from her real brother. Do you know what I did?

Sneering, I looked from her to my mother to my father, all of whom were looking at me, and then back at her. I held her stare coldly for a second, turned on my heel, and walked proudly up the stairs and all the way to my room.

********

It was evil of me, yes, but at the time that's what I was aiming for. I suppose it was mainly for my punishment that, out of all thirty-two bedrooms in the Manor, my father placed her in the one that shared a bathroom with mine.

I didn't know this at first, though, which is why we were both so startled when I walked in on her brushing her teeth.

"Thank God you're only brushing your teeth," I was thinking. However, I was determined not to speak to her. She resumed brushing, but glanced at me sideways out of one gray eye. There was a multitude of emotion in that small glance, and if I'd've been paying attention, I would've realized that it was sadness. I narrowed my own eyes at her, crossed my arms, and leaned on the counter, watching her. Her body stiffened, she spat and rinsed, and she was finished. As she cleaned up around the sink, she gave me another of those glances and sulked from the bathroom, pausing only when she accidentally ran into the laundry hamper on her side. She straightened it irritably, stuck her nose in the air, and slammed the door behind her.

********

There was a knock on the door that I heard through the darkness.

I heard it because I was asleep except I wasn't asleep, I was only pretending. I have no clue as to why that is. In my best groggy voice, I answered: "Whosair?"

There was no verbal reply. At first I thought I'd imagined the knock, but then a small squeak of hinges came, not from the bedroom door, but from the door leading to the bathroom as it opened and a braided head caught the moonlight in its blond-ness as my sister peeked around the door. Immediately, I dropped the groggy.

"What do you want?" I snapped, my voice so icy it chilled even me. She bit her lip, her eyes downcast. She looked sensitive, even in the darkness with only the moon to illuminate.

"Well?" I drawled coldly. She didn't say anything. She hesitated, and decisively stepped gently into the room, shutting the door quietly behind her. I felt strong mingled surprise and anger as she slowly moved toward me where I lay in my bed, until she was right beside me. She was sitting on my bed. She leaned down carefully until she lay, propped up on both elbows and looking at me sadly, right next to me.

I started to say something angry to her, but she didn't flinch. She just looked sadder.

"Why do you hate me, Draco?" It wasn't sarcastic or remorseful, just a sad question. It stopped me dead. She looked so much like me, so why wasn't she exactly like me? Why didn't she hide her emotions so that she almost didn't feel them? Why didn't she hate me right back for being so nasty to her?

"What?" I half-breathed.

"Why do you hate me?"

"Why shouldn't I hate you?"

"I never harmed you. I've never even spoken to you. I've never seen you before. But that's not because I made it so. If I had ever known you'd existed, I would have found some way to be with you. Every since our mother wrote me a week ago, it has been you that I have longed for. You're my brother. I'm your sister. I'm your sister, Draco, and I love you."

I froze. No one had told me they loved me since I was four years old. The sad, desperate look in her face, the same face I saw whenever I looked in a mirror, it had an effect on me.

It completely melted my icy, shrunken black heart, which swelled to about ten sizes too big with a sudden love for this girl who loved me. Someone loved me. Someone actually loved me.

"I-I don't hate you, Danni," I said, suddenly aware that she was very close to me. "I-I th-think I love you too." It was very hard for me to say, since I had not said it since I was four years old. But it felt good. It felt good to be human again, even if only a little.

She smiled slightly and her eyes filled with tears. Wishing she wouldn't cry because I didn't know what to do if she did, I pulled back the blankets and the silky green sheets and reached for her. But she didn't cry. She climbed in and welcomed my awkward embrace with a softer, warmer one.

"It's alright to cry," I said to her.

"I don't cry," she said steadily.

We lay awake for quite a while, she was there with me, in my arms,

and I was not finding it quite so bad. I wasn't remotely jealous of her anymore. I sang softly to her:

In my place, in my place,

were lines that I could've changed

I was lost, oh yeah,

If you go, If you go,

leave me down here on my own,

then I'll wait for you,

Yeah...how long must you wait for it?

Yeah....how long must you pay for it?

Yeah....how long must you wait for it?

Eventually she fell asleep. I guess my voice was more soothing than I thought. But with a horrible jolt I remembered the unjust fate that awaited the only person who'd told me she loved me since I was four years old.

I was determined to save her from it. At all costs.

***********

The Dragon and the Dove: Volume One: The One Who Loved Me

Part Two: Bella Sera

Love is a snowmobile racing

across the tundra and then

suddenly it flips over,

pinning you underneath. At

night, the ice weasels come.

--Matt Groening

I was already showered and ready when she awoke. Though it was her first time in the house, she looked oddly belonging in my bed. She seemed as if she'd been sleeping in it for years. Of course, it could've been the fact that she looked just like me.

"Hey," I said softly as I got up to sit on the bed as she stretched and yawned. She smiled a jaunty little smile at me.

"Hey there," she said, punching me playfully in the arm. Then, more sincerely, she said, " You have a beautiful voice."

"I know. I get that all the time. You should hear me when I'm seducing someone, it comes out all in this purr--"

"I meant your singing voice," she said, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, Draco, have you no shame?"

"No, actually," I lied for the sake of sarcasm. Then, I got serious. "Er, Dan, listen. There's this party today--"

"I know. It's your birthday party," she smiled.

"Um, well, that too," I continued. "But..um...it's also kind of a celebration for....for the Dark Lord coming back to power. No, I'm not joking, our father is a Death Eater," I added as she began to laugh. She stopped abruptly and frowned.

"You mean I'm in the same house as a Death Eater? And I'm related to him?"

"I'll be a Death Eater one day, Dan." She looked horrified. " I'd never hurt you!" I added.

"So you're prejudice against Muggles and all that?" she said, heat rising in her fearful face. I watched helplessly as she became angry. I didn't like it. She began to--well, flip out. She got so angry, in fact, that her hair turned jet black and shrank into short little spikes. Her eyes flashed red and became fiercely blue. Her pajamas turned black. Her lips became red, and

her teeth canines grew into fangs. It was one of the scariest things I have ever seen.

"N-now Danni, calm down--"

"Calm down?! YOU'RE FUCKING EVIL, DAMMIT DRACO! WHY DIDN'T YOU PEOPLE TELL ME THESE THINGS BEFORE I CAME TO LIVE HERE?!?! I--"

"Look, I'm trying to warn you, here, Danni!" I yelled. Finger still raised, teeth still bared, she seemed to deflate. Her hair grew back and turned platinum again; it even braided itself. Her pajamas turned back to white, her teeth shrank, and she was Danni again.

"Warn me against what?"

I inhaled deeply to calm myself.

"The sole reason you exist is because the Dark Lord wished it to be so.

You were blessed by every Death Eater and their husband or wife, and by every veela, banshee, werewolf, vampire, dementor, and anything and everything else in his league when you were born. You were made to be his, Danni," I said, with none of my usual malevolence. I was somber as a widow at the funeral of her husband.

"What?" she said weakly, sitting down on the bed.

"This is why I'm warning you, Danni," I sighed. "You are supposed to marry him tonight. I won't let it happen...unless of course you choose to marry him, why you would is beyond me--"

"Draco, I think I've got a plan," she said, gesturing for me to sit by her, her eyes glittering mischievously, "and I think we'll have a ball carrying it off."

Well, whatever that plan was, it didn't work.

********

It took her forever and a day to get ready for that damned party.

When she finally came out of the bathroom, my mouth dropped. It was a formal occasion, and she was formal; Wearing a sapphire-hued gown adorned with many diamonds and sapphires with a sweeping train and cape that fastened at the shoulders with silver fastners, she dazzled, litterally. Then there was all that long Malfoy hair, a curtain of smooth silk but for a curly bun at the top of the back of her head made her look very elegant and it flattered me that we loked so much alike. I was proud to finish it off.

"Here," I said, handing her a silver box with blue ribbon.

"Oh, Draco, they're beautiful!" she exclaimed as she put in the silver-and-sapphire earrings. I put the matching necklace around her throat myself, and slipped the ring onto her finger.

"At any time, you can reach me through this," I said, showing her my manlier matching ring. "All you have to do is turn the little heart like this--" I gave it a little turn, and silver mist appeared above it. It also turned my sapphire deepest green.

"Hullo?" I said into my ring, winking at her.

And in the silver mist, in my handwriting, appeared the emerald word: 'Hullo?'

"Hi, Draco," she said. And her words appeared blue in the mist. 'Hi, Draco.'

But the clock struck eight pm, and it was time for the party.

********

"Okay, when we walk down the stairs, they'll announce our names, and then we dance, mingle, show off the two youngest and best-looking Malfoys, oh and we're supposed to go see the Dark Lord. This is how you go about it. You walk up to where he is, and when you get about three feet away you get to your knees and crawl over, kiss the hem of his robes. Shows respect or whatever. If he doesn't kill you, you're free to stand up, talk to people, talk to me, talk to him even, dunno why you'd want to..."

She understood my directions plainly. We were ready for tonight. We would wait until time for the wedding, at which point she'd start to get nervous, and angry at having to get married, and she'd flip out just like she had that morning, and I'd carry her away, kicking and screaming, and then we'd get to my room and she'd be herself again and everything would be okay.

Maybe.

".....Annabelle Lee and Draco Lucius Malfoy."

We bowed to each other and then to the staring guests as we waltzed our way across the ball room to where the Dark Lord was sitting on his throne. I went first. I walked close, kneeled, and kissed the hem of his robes.

"Up," he hissed. As I stood, I noticed that he was dressed magnificently, and that he looked like he was about eighteen years old.

"You look good, my Lord," I said casually, but inclining my head as I did so.

"Thank you, young Malfoy, as do you...and..aaahh..."

This was the part that made me quite nervous. Danni was still bowed, waiting for him to reply or to kill her. I watched him watching her, he hadn't seen her properly yet, but he could still tell that she was even more than he'd imagined.

"Annabelle Lee Danielle Malfoy," he hissed in the closest tone to sultry I'd ever heard him use, "Named for the most tragic romance known to literature...and Danielle was my mother's name. Do stand up, child, and let me look at you."

Danni stood. She stared at him through her gray eyes, her chin tilted arrogantly, and I was reminded strongly of me. I panicked as I saw him looking her up and down, his eyes resting on the curve of her thighs, her breasts, and, finally, her face.

"Bella Sera...Beautiful night, is it not? And such a beautiful lady...."

He looked thoughtfully at that face through eyes so dark blue they almost looked black, and suddenly drew his wand.

We both jumped. But he merely chuckled softly and drew up a comfortable looking leather chair beside him and gestured for her to sit. Taking the hint, I shot her a *Don't panic* glance and moved away, toward my girlfriend, Blaise Zabini.

For three hours I endured the torture of trying to pretend like I was the least bit interested in Blaise's gossip about Pansy Parkinson while really I was paying attention to what was happening with Danni.

But the Dark Lord didn't do anything to her; he'd put his wand away. They were just talking. How very strange.

And then it happened. Around eleven thirty, the ballroom doors banged open, making even the Dark Lord jump; he was pleased however, when Nott, Lestrange, Macnair and my father all came in carrying a victim each. Playtime, I thought. But then panic struck me. I looked at Danni, and she looked angry, confused, insulted, and as if she recognized one of those people who were to be tortured. I looked around, and it was no wonder: the four people carried in were none other than Hermione Granger, Ron and Ginny Weasley, and Harry Potter himself.

The Dark Lord looked delighted; Danni looked both fearful and livid. Her eyes were flashing dangerously....

The victims were brought to the center of the now-empty dance floor. The Dark Lord started forward, but Danni looked as if she were confused about what to do--

"Crucio."

Potter's screams reverberated off the stone room itself, making it ten times more ghastly. Looking stricken, Danni leaped up and with surprising speed was at the side of the Dark Lord without him even noticing in a flash and before anyone could stop her, she'd knocked the wand from his hand and sent it flying across the ballroom.

Everyone stared. Even Potter, twitching on the floor, stared at her in amazement. The Dark Lord himself looked genuinely shocked. Danni only panted angrily, her fists at her sides, the ends of her hair twitching and black.

"What was that for, my dear?" he hissed softly, staring at her in a bemused sort of way. Danni pretended not to hear him.

"Let them go," she said warningly.

"Or what?" he teased, cocking an eyebrow.

"Or I refuse to marry you."

He didn't look the least bit amused now.

"You refuse me, and you die."

"So be it, then. It won't make any difference. I'll be dead; you won't have a pretty toy anymore, will you?"

The Dark Lord considered her through his inky blue eyes.

"You heard the Queen. Let them go, boys," he said lazily.

He didn't once take his eyes off her, or vice versa.

"But, Master--" began Macnair.

"I said, let them GO!" The Dark Lord roared, still staring avidly into the set face of my sister.

"Very well, Master..."

The Dark Lord moved closer to Danni. I felt my muscles tense nervously. Still staring at her, he stood behind her and hissed softly, "Are you happy with yourself?"

To all surprise, she smiled sweetly. "Yes, I am."

He straightened. "You do realize that now you have to marry me, whether or not you like it," he pointed out cruelly.

She was not smiling, but her expression was grimly sarcastic. "I'm not an idiot." She snapped her fingers and his wand flew into her hand. She threw it at him like a knife, and he caught it.

"I always did like a feisty blonde," he muttered, grinning

mischievously, a hint of lust in his purr as he continued to stare at my precious sister. "Come sit."

"I wish to dance with my brother, I think," she said breezily, ignoring his kinkiness. He merely blinked and grinned to himself.

As we danced I leaned in close. "Um, what was that?"

"What?"

"That very dangerous thing you just did?"

"I merely channeled my Malfoy-ness. Malfoy Instinct told me it would work."

"About marrying him--"

"It's nothing," she said sharply.

"Danni--"

"I don't want to talk about it, Draco," her tone clearly stated that it was the end of the matter.

I heaved a sigh. "We tried," I whispered. I felt her nod.

And the wedding came and went, and my poor, sweet, innocent sister was left estranged with an evil serpent with inky eyes.

**********

That night, I was surprised but relieved to find her in my bed rather than his. He was in the manor, yes; but she had come to me and this meant that he was not doing horrible, icky things to her.

I was a wreck; I hated the fact that she was married to him. I wanted her to be my little sister forever; in just two days, I'd come to love her, the kind, clumsy beauty that loved me. But she was deeply calm, and she tried to calm me with a story of her previous home, of how her oldest foster brother, now thirty-three, beat her a lot, and how her other foster siblings wouldn't go near her because of her only being one-sixth human. She told me of what a relief it was to be here with her real family, even if they were a bunch of cold heartless killers, and how being married to Voldemort at least meant that someone wanted her....but she'd never known the true nature of real love until me.

That was the first time I'd cried since I was four years old.

And it was she who sang to me this time:

Pero que me quedes t'u

y me quede tu abrazo

Y el beso que inventas cada dia

Y que me qude aqui

despu'es del ocaso

Para siempre tu melancolia

Porque yo si que dependo de ti

Y si me quedes t'u

Me queda la vida

I wondered vaguely where she learned Spanish, but I fell asleep before I could ask.

**************

The Dragon and the Dove: Volume One: The One Who Loved Me

Part Three: Fly Away With Me

...You can see only as far as your

headlights, but you can make

the whole trip that way.

--E.L. Doctorow

I woke the next day to find her gone. I supposed she had just gone downstairs for breakfast, when I looked over at her pillow. There was a note.

Draco,

Gone downstairs for breakfast. And to face up.

--Danni

'Poor thing,' I thought to myself. I got up, showered and dressed at top speed, and walked as quickly as I could down the stairs. I didn't run, because I didn't want to appear to eager or untrusting of him. This is the Dark Lord I'm talking about; he could've killed me if he felt I was unloyal.

When I reached the dining room that we used for breakfast, I saw my mother and father sitting on one side of the table, Danni across from them, and the Dark Lord at the head of it. There was a seat next to Danni empty for me, and as I sat down, I tried not to vomit.

He was stroking her hand and looking at her slyly from under his lashes, and she was staring fixedly at me. She smiled at me--well, it was more of a grimace, but it was a signal that she was glad I had come to sit by her, at any rate.

"Draco, we've been waiting for you," said my mother carefully, in a valiant effort to brake the awkward silence. My father's face confused me. I believe he was sick at what he was seeing, yet oddly proud of it. I felt a surge of anger. My mother hurried away to retrieve the breakfast cart.

"So, Draco," said the Dark Lord casually (well, casually for him, anyway). "You're sixteen. You're both going into your sixth year."

"Erm, yeah--I mean, yes, Master," I stammered.

"Do you know what this means, Draco? After all, there isn't even a year's difference in your age. You'll both be in sixth year, and she turns sixteen next March. On the first day of spring," he added softly, glancing at my sister, who looked stonily back at him, and then both looked at me.

"....It means....that...we all hope she'll be sorted into Slytherin when we get to Hogwarts...?"

My father squirmed slightly. The Dark Lord laughed softly, and it sounded like a hiss when he said, "It means that you're to get your Dark Marks. She's not going to Hogwarts and neither are you."

I nearly fell out of my chair. "What? Why, Master?"

"Because I don't feel like I want her there," he said coolly, "if you dare question me."

My father, sensing danger, quickly helped me out. "Yes, yes, don't question him, boy, you're not going because you're to stay and keep her company. We feel that she would pine if away from you, and if she were too busy pining over you, she wouldn't be completely up to her....erm...duties." He cleared his throat. My sister was looking at me apologetically, as if to say, I didn't mean to get you stuck here without ever going to school again.

*********

"I didn't mean to get you stuck here without ever going to school again."

I looked at her sorrowfully. " I know. I don't hate you for it. It just means I never have to look in the face of another Weasley again. I'm sure they'll home school us," I added as she gave me a doubting look.

But in my head, I already had a nearly-formed plan of her escape, and mine. My only insecurity with it was whether or not I could repent my past cowardly ways, and do it.

********

We'd made the trip to Diagon Alley, my father and Danni and I, to gather our usual supplies. But instead of heading to Hogwarts in September, we stayed at the Manor. We had several different tutors, my father, my mother, Bellatrix Lestrange, even the Dark Lord occasionally. On different occasions, he called in Snape.

"I still think he's working against me, but he's an exceptional teacher, so I won't kill him till you're both finished with him," the Dark Lord reassured us. Danni looked at me with wide eyes as he left the room.

"It's a long story," I said.

"Draco..." she said.

"Yes?"

"You see this wedding band?"

"Yeah..."

"Did you know that if I broke it, I wouldn't be bound to him anymore?" she said it lightly, fiddling with the shiny silver serpent that was the ring.

"Brake it then! We can run--" I hissed.

"I can't; I have to have his permission."

That was a cruel little joke of his.

********

At Halloween there was a costume ball in which Danni and I both dressed as vampires and the actual vampires that attended admired our realistic attempts. At Christmas there was a large celebration that neither Danni nor I enjoyed except for the gifts; I gave her an expensive silver charm anklet with a charm that had her first and last initials: ALM,

and she gave me a snow globe with a little snow nymph inside that reminded me of Danni in a way.

As the Christmas Ball came to a close (after the Dark Lord had given her a beautiful silver flute and she'd given him a golden harp that I'd helped her buy), the Dark Lord stood up and the room fell silent. She was sitting next to him, looking just as wary as I felt.

"As you know, Draco Lucius Malfoy turned sixteen on July the thirty-first of this year."

There was a murmur of acknowledgement.

"As you also know, my crystal-eyed bride--" here he gestured toward Danni "--turns sixteen on the first day of the next spring to arrive. You all know what turning sixteen means for your children, and if I'm mistaken, which, how often does that happen?--" the ball go-ers laughed nervously "--as I was saying, unless I'm mistaken, and I'm not, by the time Valentines Day comes, all of your children will be sixteen, except for Danni.

"So, on Valentines Day, they will all receive their Marks. Including you, Danni, you get yours early," he added softly, with an air of someone giving someone else a huge treat as he turned to look at her. Her eyes were wide, but other than that she showed no sign of surprise or fear. The Dark Lord continued. "Just an announcement, you may all continue the celebration." And he sat back down next to my sister. Trembling slightly, I stood and walked straight toward them. I did not kneel; I merely inclined my head at him. "How has your evening been, dear?" he was saying to Danni.

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it," she said sweetly. I turned to Danni, and silently offered her my hand, and she silently took it.

As we danced, I told her that the important Death Eaters were most likely planning a Muggle capture and killing and that I would be expected to go along and enjoy myself, but all she had to do was complain of a headache and she wouldn't have to go.

She began to protest my going with them, but I cut her off, explaining that, while I loved her, she was the only person I really loved besides our mother, who I didn't really love all that much, and that I was still not a very nice person and I was mean to the Weasleys because they were poor and I was evil and enjoyed killing Muggles. She looked at me with those wide eyes, but she said nothing else as we continued our waltz. After a pause, I told her that I knew how we could escape. Even though I didn't really want to leave the life I'd become accustomed to, I told her, I'd rather be on the run with her than in luxury's lap without her. She confided in me that she didn't want to live in the Dark Lord's cold, lonely castle. I told her to follow my lead and to trust me, and she didn't protest.

The night came to a close, and as the Death Eaters and their oldest children prepared to go Muggle Hunting, I whispered to her, "No fear."

"Never," she whispered back with the sweet, strong smile that I had become so accustomed to in the months since she'd been with me.

Oh, how her smile haunts me.

********

"Now, Danni, don't you want to come to the after party?"

"No, my Lord," my sister simpered convincingly, "I have a terrible headache. I think it would be much better if I stayed behind. I need a shower and some sleep."

The Dark Lord looked at her with the closest face to concern I'd seen him wear to date. It was amazing how he was seventy years old and yet he looked as young and fresh as any eighteen year old, his deep blue eyes staring at her. He was good-looking, and I was thankful that at least she wouldn't have to vomit every time she looked at him. Though she may have done that anyway.

He sighed. "Very well, very well," he said, pouting in a flirtatiously disappointed way. "You're going to miss all the fun."

I could tell that her Malfoy mouth was longing to snap that she had quite a different idea of fun, and that it included his groin, her foot, kerosene and a match, but she said nothing. She merely gave him a withering look and glided away, winking at me on her way up the stairs.

She knew what to do. She was to pack her most important belongings only, and mine, and after a while or so of the Muggle baiting, I'd complain that my stomach was upset and I'd fly back to the Manor, and we'd fly away together, where, we did not know.

********

When I arrived, she was waiting for me. Without hesitation, she hurried out to meet me and began tying our things to the broom. I secured them with my wand.

"You're sure no one suspected you?" she asked as she climbed on.

"I'm sure. This plan is foolproof," I said cockily as I climbed on behind her. We were just about to kick off when there was a loud Crack! and Voldemort, our father, Macnair and the Lestranges appeared right next to us. They looked livid; my father was angry AND nervous, but the Dark Lord was boiling mad, I could see it in his face, though his expression was blank.

"Leaving?" he hissed dangerously. Danni was still holding her hat as she would have to keep it from flying off after take off.

"I'm sure. This plan is foolproof," she squeaked in sarcastic imitation of me.

"Well...I thought it was foolproof..." I began. But before anyone could say anything else, the Dark Lord bounded forward and at the same time she kicked of from the ground, hard, and we soared up, up and away. As our father, the Death Eaters, and my brother-in-law, Voldemort, became smaller and more distant, we heard his cry of fury, and she laughed.

"We're in this together, Danni," I whispered as I wrapped my arms tighter around her. "We're fugitives now; partners in crime," I teased, then more seriously, "But whatever happens, I won't betray you to anyone. I promise." And she assured me that she trusted me, but we needed to find a good hiding place, and could I please help her find one.

Of course, I was never one to keep my promises.

********

"Here?! They'll never take us!"

"Draco," said Danni, as if she were speaking to a very small child, "do you remember the party in July, when I saved the life of those two girls and those two boys by refusing to marry Thomas unless he let those four go?" Her use of his name startled me.

"Yes, but--"

"Well, when one wizard (or witch) saves the life of another wizard (or witch), aren't they kind of in debt to you?"

"Yes, but--"

"So, the Weasley boy and girl are in debt to me. Think about it," she said. "They'll never think to look here!"

This was an uncharacteristically diabolical plan on her part, so I agreed that we could stay here, if indeed the Weasleys would take us.

She knocked on the door, and I sulked in the background. It was Ron who answered the door.

When he saw her, he looked as though she were familiar but he couldn't remember exactly who she was. Then he saw me and he looked as though he'd vomit, and suddenly he remembered that she was the vixen who'd stopped Voldemort killing him. Still, he was wary, for I was with her.

"Malfoy," he spat, and she looked slightly taken aback. "What do you want?"

"Erm--" she began. Just then, Hermione came to the door, wearing just a large t-shirt. I became uncomfortably aware that it was three o'clock in the morning and Weasley was tousle-haired and wore nothing but a robe.

"What is it, Ron, Harry and I were--" she broke off at the sight of us. So my fears that we'd interrupted Ron and Hermione doing...things...were wrong. We'd interrupted Ron sleeping, and Harry and Hermione doing...things. Apparently Danni was thinking along the same lines.

"Ahm...sorry to bother you so late," she said apologetically, " or, rather, so early...we don't mean to...interrupt...erm...anything, but do you remember that time that I sort of--well, saved your carcasses from Voldemort while Draco stood and watched?"

Ron and Hermione exchanged looks.

"Yeah..." Ron started warily, but then a very mussed Potter in silky red and gold boxers appeared at Hermione's shoulder.

"Hey, where'd you go? I was just--Malfoy?"

"Yeah, that's right, Potter, I've come to engage in a fivesome with you, your girlfriend, my sister, and this red-headed sex god," I bit at him. Ron gagged. Danni smacked me. "Ouch," I said thoughtfully.

"What he means to say," my sister plunged bravely, "is that I'm married unwillingly to Lord Voldemort and we ran away and now they're looking for us and we don't want to be found and they'll never think to look for us here."

A ringing silence followed her words and as they stared at us--well, her, mainly--it began to snow. She just stood there for the longest time, staring at Ron, and Ron staring incredulously back, until the snow was in our hair and she was shivering.

"Oh--come in and get warm, you'll die out there!" exclaimed Hermione suddenly, and she grabbed a cloak off the wall hooks beside the door and draped it around Danni and ushered her inside.

Harry's brow was still furrowed and Ron's mouth still hung open as they watched the two girls hurry into the kitchen. They both turned to look at me.

"Merry Christmas," I said, and stepped gracefully past them, sneering, into the Burrow.

***********

The Dragon and the Dove: Volume One: The One Who Loved Me

Part Four: A Blossom in the Snow

Silence stared me in the face,

And I finally heard its voice.

--The Dixie Chicks

We sat in the Weasley's kitchen while all three of them stared at us.

"So you're saying that because you married Voldemort--Ron, don't be a puss--and he let us go that one time, we have to let you and Malfoy stay here?"

"Yes, Harry. And technically, I'm Malfoy, too." My sister was oh-so-polite to Potter's horrible manners. Ron, far from being a loud-mouthed rude-ass like Potter, was staring fixedly at my sister. So he was being a quiet rude-ass.

"Well, Charlie's in Romania, and Bill's in Egypt, they're both working over Christmas," he said slowly. "So I suppose you could have their rooms. If it's alright with Mum and Dad," he added hastily. I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair, sneering disdainfully at the tiny kitchen around me.

"I'm not sure I could ever get used to the horrible stink or the extreme smallness of this bin, Weasel King," I drawled. Ron's ears turned red. Danni shot me a towering look, and I shut my mouth. I didn't want her to sprout fangs again.

"But, Danni," Hermione protested, ignoring me as usual, "this is very unfair, to everyone. We hate your brother, and he hates us."

"Life isn't fair, Granger," I spat at her, "it's just fairer than death, that's all. And we don't want to die, which is why we're here."

"They wouldn't kill us, Draco, they'd actually lock you up in a cell and me in some room with a vibromatic velvet bed."

"Alright, let's weigh the pros and cons," said Hermione. "On one hand, we have someone we never met until today and someone we loathe sitting in the kitchen and demanding we let them stay with us so they can hide from V-Voldemort--oh, do grow up, Ron--, who, if he finds them here, will likely kill us all. On the other hand--"

"On the other hand, you've got different fingers," I pointed out.

"--On the other hand," she continued loudly as if she hadn't heard me, "Danni did save our hides back in July, and it was a kind of brave thing to do, and we are in her debt, we're bound by ancient magic, so we kind of have to help them, Harry." Harry had been trying to protest the whole time, but he fell silent. Ron was still staring at my sister, who was staring back.

"Well, let me show you to your rooms," he said resignedly.

"Thank you, Ron," Danni said in a small voice, and he led her up the stairs, and I could do nothing but follow. As I passed a door with peeling paint, a vibrantly red head peaked out.

"Ron, you guys, why are you thundering up and down the stairs, it's four in the morning, what are you do--" Ginny broke off at first the sight of me, and then my sister, still in our traveling things. She looked scandalized and started to say something angry to Ron, who held up a tired hand to silence her. With a last angry glance at me she slammed her door.

********

That night I couldn't sleep. My door stood ajar, and Danni's room was across the hall. Ron had shown me my room, explained where the bathroom was, and went across the hall to show Danni her room. Danni had shut the door behind him. He had yet to come out. I was steaming.

I had changed into my pajamas, but instead of going to bed, I sat in the desk chair that I'd pulled to beside the door. Weasley had to come out some time, and when he did--

Someone was coming down the hall....oh, it was just Percy heading for the bathroom. As I stared out into the hall, moodily jealous that there was a boy in my married sister's room, I slowly nodded off....

********

I awoke to find myself in the floor beside the chair. I stood and made my way cautiously down stairs. When I arrived in the kitchen, everyone looked up at me. Percy and Arthur Weasley were already at work; Molly Weasley was in the midst of piling toast onto Danni's plate; Hermione and Harry were sitting on one side of the table, and across from them were Ron and Danni, both of whom, I noticed with observant brother eyes, looked very tired. Those raucous twins were still asleep. My blonde hair fell in my eyes, and I brushed it away to no effect; it just fell right back. I sat down beside my sister warily; Immediately the babble broke out again as if nothing had happened and Mrs. Weasley began dolling out sausages to me.

"How do you like your eggs, dear?"

"Er," I said, confusedly. What were they playing at? Was she going to poison me?

Danni was being very quiet, as was Ron. "Erm, Danni, may I see you in the--erm--outside for a moment?" I said. She said "Excuse me a minute," and got up and followed me out onto the porch.

The Burrow wasn't so bad outside; the snow on all the plants and trees was a bit nice. "Danni," I said scoldingly, "What exactly did you and Ron Weasley do last night?"

At first she looked confused, and then scrutinized. "Draco! Think about what you are saying! I am a married woman!"

I snorted. "A married woman who is almost sixteen and plans an escape from your power-hungry husband and hides out in a house full of strange red headed men. I saw the way he was looking at you last night, and you're both really tired--"

"Well, we were up talking really late, and then the twins came in on us and demanded to know who I was--"

"Danni, my brother wants to talk to you," came a new voice. We both wheeled around. Ginny was standing there grudgingly.

"Okay, I'm coming, thanks Ginny." Danni shot me a disgusted look and followed Ginny Weasley inside. After a minute or so, I did the same, determinedly singing. As I stalked on past Ron, I sang louder.

Weasley was born in a bin,

He always lets the Quaffle in,

That's why Slytherins all sing,

Weasley is our King.

His ears went deepest scarlet.

********

On New Year's Eve, there was a small Party at the Burrow, including all nine Weasleys, Potter, Granger, Danni, and me. I wore a sweater so slate-colored that it made my eyes look light blue by comparison, and Danni wore a baby blue sweater and a silver skirt. Ron liked that skirt. Ron liked that sweater. Ron liked that Danni. I was not happy.

During the week or so that we had hidden out at the Burrow, Potter, Granger, Weasley and I had a sort of unspoken, grudging peace agreement. So we were friendly to each other, yet oddly formal. They were all much more comfortable with Danni, who hadn't ever said a word against any of them. Danni had these new friends and I was jealous.

During the entire party, Ron and Danni flirted more and more, and I pretended to be interested in what Charlie Weasley ( who found it interesting that I staying in his room and he and Bill and Bill's veela-ish girlfriend were using the living room) was saying about dragons while really I was keeping a watchful, jealous eye in the general Ron/Danni direction, until finally, at twelve, after everyone said "Happy New Year!" and I pulled a disgruntled cracker with Ginny, Ron and Danni clambered up the stairs and out of sight. They didn't come out of that room until morning.

At first I detested the idea of my sister, who was married to the Dark Lord, falling for this gangly red headed Weasley. But, over the span of about a month, as I watched them become closer and closer, and she got happier and happier (at this point I should tell you that the reason that the Weasleys and Potter and Granger weren't at Hogwarts was because Voldemort had become active. Everyone was too afraid to leave their houses, let alone venture to King's Cross, thinking he would kill them, while really he was searching for my sister and I). And I thought that maybe it wasn't such a bad thing. Sure, I had an evil black heart, but she didn't, and she needed someone nicer than Voldemort. Besides, deep down, I knew that she and Ron hadn't actually done...things...and I would rather my sweet sister be sheltered with a gentle boy of her own age instead of a powerful, evil wizard who was much older than she and much inclined to force her into doing...things. So I told them that I wouldn't look down on them, and I promised my precious sister, whom I loved above all else, that I loved her more than anything, even myself (at which Potter snorted and said "Yeah, right").

But I have never been good at keeping my word.

*******

On February 14, Valentine's Day, Ron said that he needed to go and pick up his gift for Danni. He said he'd be back in an hour.

Two and a half hours went by, and he wasn't home. Everyone was worried. His hand on that strange Weasley clock was spinning very fast, not stopping, as if it couldn't make up its mind.

Danni announced that she was going after him. I announced that No, she wasn't, it was too dangerous. She announced that I was not the boss of her. Before I could retort, Potter suggested that we both go with her. Hermione demanded she be allowed to come, too.

And so we were off, looking for Weasley, when, while walking past an alleyway, Danni and I were both grabbed and gagged. She put up quite a fight, aided by Potter and Granger, who were both seized. Whoever held my sister Stunned her. Then I was blindfolded and the four of us were brought--where else--to Voldemort.

****************

The Dragon and the Dove: Volume One: The One Who Loved Me

Part Five: And So it Begins

Oh who can tell,

save he whose heart hath tried.

--Lord Byron

*More Squiggly Misty Wavy Lines Indicating End of Flashback*

And so, as I stood there in the snowy cold of the February night, watching Ron's struggles to get free, Hermione watching helplessly and Harry looking as though he were trying to formulate a plan of action, she turned her set face away from that of her husband, my Master, at last.

She stared me directly in the eye. "Draco, don't just stand there, do something!"

"Yes Draco, either help her and defy me or step back into the circle where you belong," he hissed, his inky blue eyes dancing maliciously.

"Help you, Danni?"

"Draco, we can't let this happen. We're brother and sister. You have to come and take my wedding ring. We have to break it, grab our friends, and run. Help me, Draco!"

"What?"

"Draco, he's giving us our chance, and he doesn't think we can get away, but we can! We just have to break the wedding ring. Then I won't be bound to him any longer. Draco, why won't you help me? I love you!"

I have always been a coward.

"Help you, because you love me?" I said. "Because of love, I've been forced out of my comfortable, evil existence. I had to first change myself because you wouldn't let me stay the way I was. You just had to melt me!" My voice was shaking. "You and your love have forced me into swallowing my pride, going against my Master, and shamefully begging mercy and shelter from the scum of the Earth, a mudblood and a family of filthy blood traitors! And now you ask me to help you out of a marriage to the most powerful wizard in history, because you love me?" I spat the word out as if it were poison. "Well I'm sorry, Danni, I can't help you."

I looked at her, and she looked at me. Ron, Harry and Hermione looked at me. Even the Dark Lord was staring avidly at me, though I could not read his expression. And do you know what she did?

She cried. I felt so horrible. My clumsy, pretty, innocent, precious sister, once so strong, the only person who'd ever loved me, the only girl ever to melt my heart, was broken. I broke her. I was a monster.

And so, I watched helpless as he took her away. All was quiet. Then--

"AAAAAAAARRGH!"

Ron had bitten Macnair and ran off before anyone could catch him in the direction of Danni. I watched in great sadness, as though from a distance, as Harry and Hermione did the same and Hermione added a good slap in the face for Bellatrix for good measure and Harry did some of the fastest spellwork I've ever seen and followed Ron.

I did not follow as everyone, Pansy and Blaise and Crabbe and Goyle and their parents and everyone else followed after them. I sat on a rock and was haunted by the look in Danni's eyes as she visibly broke in two by my hand, or, rather, my mouth. And I realized, like a spark in the darkness as it began to rain down on me, what it was that was so different in her eyes upon our first meeting, that thing I couldn't put my finger on, and yet it was there so plainly--while my heart was shrunken, black, and made of ice, it cast coldness into my eyes. But the warm glow in her Malfoy eyes was this: her heart was made of glass. Beautiful and sturdy, but fragile, I had shattered it.

But glass can be melted and reborn, I thought to myself, or welded back together, so, in time, she may realize that belonging to the Dark Lord has its advantages, and she may forgive me.

But can I forgive myself?

********

He watched as her own brother turned her away and You-Know-Who led her away. Something switched inside him. In a surge of anger, he bit the man holding him and streaked after her, because he wasn't going to let it happen. If Draco wouldn't break the ring, then he would.

He heard thundering footfall behind him and knew that Harry and Hermione had gotten away, but they were being hightailed.

"Come on!" he screamed over his shoulder. He heard a squeal of pain and a grunt as Hermione tripped, fell, and was righted by Harry. He kept running, but looked behind him to see if his friends were all right. They, however, were looking right past him. Hermione screamed.

"Ron, look out!!!"

Mmmm...FREAK ENDING! I love a good cliffhanger, don't you? Ha ha, you have to come back and read the next one. I have hypnotized you into doing so by using the freaky POV switch and the cliffhanger itself. *Cackles insanely* Ha ha I sooo belong in Slytherin.... Cassandra Claire would be proud.

Well. I hope you liked it! Just to fill you in, this is the first of at least three volumes--one shots that go together. The entire series is called "The Dragon and the Dove". This is Volume one, The One Who Loved Me, and it has five parts. I do hope you liked it and the next volume is on the way!

Btw, how many people agree that Danni is not a terrible Mary Sue? I mean is there anyone who likes her and is not prejudice against her just because she's original? Anyone?

The song "In My Place" , sung by Draco, belongs to a very cool band called Coldplay.

The song "Que Me Quedes T'u", sung by Danni, belongs to the amazing Shakira.

The song "Weasley Is Our King", sung by Draco, belongs to, well, Draco...and his chorus of Slytherins. XD