THE SECRETS OF THE MANOR (Draco Malfoy x OC) *COMPLETE*

Tolerate it.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

"Tolerate it."

Malfoy Manor was darker than she had remembered. The flowers had gone uncared for and it was as though permanent storm clouds sat above the home. Lucius led her inside and not once did they speak to one another.

She didn't want to speak to anyone. She just wanted to be alone. To process everything. Although she wished she had brought the book with her, so she'd have something to remind her that it was real. That what she saw and what Sirius told her was real.

Up the stairs and to the left she went to Draco's bedroom which looked so different from the last time she had seen it. She sat on the bed which now had all black linens and all the posters he had on the wall were removed. He only had a few shelves with books and strange artifacts.

On his nightstand was a lamp that looked as though it was made from the skull of some type of animal. The teeth still sharp enough to cut and tear through flesh. Her hand slowly reached toward it when she heard footsteps passing the room. She sat frozen until she heard them walk past the room.

In Draco's drawer there was a bottle of whiskey, to which she helped herself to nearly half the bottle. Feeling as though the room was now spinning, she laid down and stared up at the ceiling. Numb. It was the only thing she felt.

The numbness is exactly what she had wanted. She didn't think about the pain of the lies she endured all her life. She didn't think about losing her daughter and she didn't even think about what went wrong with her relationship with Draco. She just felt empty and numb.

Tears began to slide down her face and she didn't even know why. Time passed and the window went from a dark night sky to a bright morning sun. Not once had she slept. She didn't know how to sleep in that room without Draco, in fact, she hardly knew how to sleep without him even though they had only slept side by side a few times, but never had she slept as good as she did when she was with him.

When she reached back for the bottle of whiskey, she heard steps coming toward the door again. She shoved the bottle into her bag and sat there, blank and emotionless.

The door opened and it was Severus, breathing deeply and heavily as though he had been worried about her and where she had gone.

"Aurora you can not just leave Hogwarts like that! You are lucky Dumbledore is forgiving-"

"You're not my father." She mumbled.

"Excuse me?" He responded, hurt filling his voice.

"I know the truth." She stared at him with her blank eyes. "I hate you, Severus Snape. I hate you."

"You don't-"

"Yes I do." She stood up and shoved him out of her way. "I hope you die, you and Petunia. Now excuse me, I'm going to go downstairs to find my real father."

"Aurora-"

Severus tried to stop her but it was too late. She bolted down the stairs, empty tears pouring from her eyes. She knew her words were poison and she knew she never should have said that to her father, he loved her more than anyone in this world and once again, she cursed at him and proved how awful of a child she was. Proved that she was the daughter of Tom Riddle.

As she turned the corner she stopped and stared at what was once the sitting room, where Grandfather Malfoy would drink his whiskey and tell the future that he'd seen in his visions. The fireplace looked as though it hadn't been touched in months and all that sat on the table was an empty glass and an empty bottle of whiskey, both growing dust on them.