mother of wands (d.m) part two

V

When I return to the kitchen, Draco sits patiently next to his mother, my blood boiling as she perks up when she hears my footsteps.

"So what did he want?" She asks, nervously placing a kettle of cold water on the burning stovetop.

Before I can speak, the cork shoots up as steam erupts from the spout, all of our attention diverted as it howls and wails.

"Funny," She says to herself. "I only just put that water in..."

Draco eyes me curiously, his brow furrowing as he tries to figure understand why I'm so on edge I'm making the tea boil.

Narcissa removes the pot from the flame but it still continues to whistle, her head tilting to the side in confusion.

"I don't understand?" She shouts over the noise.

I eye her angrily as Draco stands up and grabs my wrist, pulling me into the dining room, but releases his grip almost as soon as he touches me.

"Merlin!" He yells as I follow him into the dark room, the screeching from the kettle stopping as soon as I leave.

I shrug in annoyance, "I don't know why you keep doing that! This isn't the first time you've been burned, you should know better!"

"Hey," He says accusingly. "Don't make this about me right now! Besides, I'm just trying to help."

"Sorry," I retort, slumping into and large chair and rubbing the tension from my forehead.

He follows suit, "So... What the hell happened in there that has you this riled up?"

I shake my head, my eyes filling with tears, too embarrassed with my lies to the Dark Lord.

"Everett, you're scaring me, what happened?" He holds my shoulders cautiously, tapping them lightly to check the temperature before squeezing reassuringly. "He's not making you- You know, do anything is he?"

"No it's... I have-" I start, a sob escaping as I try to hold onto my composure. "I have something to tell you..."

His head cocks to the side as he anxiously waits for me to continue with bated breath.

"I... I saw my mom."

His brow furrows and his mouth falls open, "I know?"

"But The Dark Lord found out!" I whisper, moving us farther away his mothers nosy ears. "The rings, there's a third and it's a portkey. When I went through the vanishing cabinet I found it in Borgin and Burke's."

He stares at me in disbelief, "Everett, you've told me all of this already..."

"But Draco! He found out..." I say lowering my eyes. "And your mom...  She was the only I told when I came back besides you, she must have been the one that told him."

A single tear begins to roll down the apple of the cheek but stops as it reaches Draco's finger, delicately wiping it away.

I met his gaze, "You're... You don't seem mad at me?"

He lets out a snort, "Mad? Everett why would I be mad at you? We've already talked about this, you're allowed to do whatever you want, I don't care if Voldemort found out."

"You're not going to remind me that I put myself in danger?" I shake my head, his words not sinking in.

He pulls me into a tight hug, his arms wrapping around my neck so my face is buried in his jumper.

"Everett, of course you put yourself in danger." He starts, a slight laugh in his voice. "But you don't think I've learned by now that you can take care of yourself?"

I peer up at him through my eyelashes, "You really think I can?"

He chuckles, "I may not be smart enough to remember to back off when you're raging but I see how strong you are."

I shake my head into his chest, "Don't say that about yourself Draco, you're incredibly smart."

I feel him shrug, "Maybe before all of this got to my head but I was certainly never smart in the same way you are. You have 'people smarts' and I have 'textbook smarts.' It's not the same."

We stand there in silence for a moment just holding each other, a few peaceful minutes before returning to the chaos.

He seemed oddly calm, like he was expecting this conversation to happen before it was even a thought in my mind. No matter how deeply I buried myself in his chest, I knew Narcissa telling Voldemort wasn't my gut feeling.

She wasn't trying to sabotage me or throw me under the bus to save herself, she probably just mentioned it in passing and Voldemort held onto it because of the wand.

Finally, Draco stirs, kissing my forehead and breaking the embrace.

"Maybe it wasn't my mother, maybe it was Bellatrix, or someone else." He states, running a hand through his hair and furrowing his brow.

"Draco, no one else saw me come back... But it doesn't matter anymore, I was overreacting." I whisper.

He shakes his head, "No, no she wouldn't do that. She likes you- she... She told me she really enjoys your company, Everett."

I grad hold of his arms reassuringly, "And I'm sure she does, but not as much as she loves you and your father. No matter what, you two will always come before me."

"So..." He starts, searching for the words. "So what does this mean?"

I shrug, "Nothing, honestly. From now on I will just only tell her 'need to know information' and everything else will stay between you and I."

"Can I still talk to her?" He stutters out, his gazes fixed on the carpet beneath us.

"Of course you can still talk to her Draco," I cup his cheek. "Maybe just don't talk about me with her. The more she knows, the more she might feel like I'm a threat to your lives.

And we don't know what she'll do then."

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