Beauty and the Beast [Draco Malfoy]

Chapter Thirty-One

Draco's POV:

The notices had gone up all over the school overnight. Umbridge was Headmistress. Dumbledore had overcome two Aurors, the High Inquisitor, the Minister of Magic, and his Junior Minister before escaping the school unnoticed. The school seemed to have changed over night from happy and cheerful to somber, dark, and especially scared.

I awoke that morning with my arms wrapped tightly around Lizzie, who was snuggled up into my neck breathing deeply. Brushing her hair out of her hair, I kissed her forehead and gently shook her awake. "Time to get up, love," I yawned. "Gotta go get breakfast."

Liz groaned and nestled herself further into me, raising a chuckle from me. "No, come on. Let's go see the damage from last night." She yawned and pulled back from me, looking into my eyes. Her nose was bruised from being broken the night before, but other than that, she showed no signs of almost being expelled.

"Up," I commanded her quietly. She nodded tiredly and rubbed her eyes, struggling to stand. I wrapped my arm around her waist and helped her up. I cleaned her robes of blood and we both dressed for the day.

We made our way to the common room hand in hand. A crowd of students were standing in front of the announcement board, all chattering at the same time. I spotted Blaise at the edge of the group and asked him what was going on.

"Umbridge is Headmistress," he spoke excitedly. Liz's hand tightened around mine and I squeezed in return.

"Let's go," I muttered to Liz.

We journeyed to the Great Hall together silently, observing the students who were all discussing the same subject. Sitting down at the Slytherin table, we picked at our food, both knowing what Umbridge's appointment means.

"I'm sorry," Lizzie whispered beside me. I turned my head to look at her.

"What were you thinking?" I asked, quiet anger and betrayal rising into my voice. "You knew what would happen if you joined that club. You knew you would get caught eventually, and you still joined."

"You-Know-Who is back, Draco. We need to know how to defend ourselves because one of his number one targets is Hogwarts. He will do anything to get into this school and once he does, there will be a fight and we need to know how to fight back, because if we don't, we'll die." She whispered the last two words almost inaudibly.

"Who says he's even back?" I countered.

"You and I both know he's back, Draco," she said shortly.

"I know," I sighed in defeat. Turning my head to examine the other students in the Hall, I took in their appearances. They all looked terrified to say the least, but were trying their best to hide it seeing as Umbridge was sitting at the head table and looking down at everyone with an aura of authority. "What's going to happen now?"

"Nothing good, that's for sure," Liz replied lowly. "Can we just get out of here? I can't even stand being in the same room as her right now." I looked at her to see her staring with a horrified expression at Umbridge.

"Yeah, of course. Let's go," I replied, taking her hand and leading her from the room. "Do you want to go on a walk around the lake?" The weather had warmed up during the last few weeks of March, making it a beautiful time to go outside.

"Yeah," she replied.

Together we walked from the Entrance Hall and out the door. A gentle spring breeze met us bringing along with it the smell of blooming flowers. Liz took a deep breath and began walking forward.

"You know, on second thought, can we just sit down?" she asked, gesturing to a tree beside us. It's leaves were just beginning to bud.

"Sure," I agreed. We sat down on the new grass and stared out at the lake. The waves in created by the breeze against the water were lapping gently against the land. I was lulled into a nice feeling of peacefulness. Liz stared at the water as well as I.

"Do you really want a brother?" she asked me quietly.

"What?" I stuttered, caught off guard by her random question.

"When we read La Belle et La Bête at your house you said you wanted a brother," she explained, turning her head and looking at me.

"I mean, what only child doesn't dream of having a sibling?" I replied, still looking at the water.

"Sometimes when Grayson and I were growing up, I used to wish I was an only child when we had a row. I would get so angry and hide in my room, and wish with all my might that I was born an only child," she spoke, looking back to the lake.

"It's a very dull life to live. One without siblings, that is. I never had anyone to play with. Sure Mother would arrange play dates with other pure blooded children my age. Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, and Blaise became my friends, but I wanted a brother. Someone to fight with, to draw with, you know, but it never happened." I finished my story and Lizzie remained silent. Obviously lost in her thoughts.

The cool breeze blew my hair into my eyes, so I brushed it away with a gentle brush. When I placed my hand back on the ground beside me, I tangled it in the grass that was slowly, but steadily stretching towards the sky. It felt soft between my fingers, having not yet grown its rougher edges.

"Do you want kids?" Liz asked another random question.

"Merlin, what's with all of these questions?" I chuckled lightly.

"Sorry, just stuck in my mind," she muttered. She was often 'stuck in her mind' as she put it. Her thoughts would start to spin and they would snowball out of control until it was almost impossible to drag her out. When this happened, she would stare blankly into space and fidget with something, as she was doing now with the hem of her skirt.

"I want at least two. A boy and a girl," I replied after a few moments. Liz's head twisted towards me and I met her eyes with mine.

"What would you name them?" she whispered, not breaking the eye contact.

"Scorpius Hyperion and Cassiopeia May," I shared with her easily. This was something that I had thought over a few times at least.

"I love those names," she smiled at me. My hairs stood on end, but I couldn't figure out if it was from the chilly air or Lizzie's smile.