Chapter 3: Surprise

"Draco," gasped Narcissa, "your language!"

The boy sat upright, never taking his eyes from Gwynne. His brow furrowed deeply in disgust. "I don’t care, Mother. Father has completely lost his mind!" He stood and stalked over towards her, taking in her haphazard appearance. "If he even thinks that I would ever-"

"Draco." The cold voice of Lucius slithered out from behind Gwynne. When he stepped into the room, her body gave an involuntary shudder. "Draco," he repeated, "do sit down. This is no way to behave in front of our guest." Lucius stressed the word as if it were something of great importance. Draco straightened his posture and coolly faced his father.

"I won’t do it. You can’t make me."

"Oh, but I believe I can." Beside her, Lucius casually examined the end of his cane and spoke in a lofty murmur. "You see, each of our lives hang in a delicate balance due to certain...unforeseen circumstances." He met his son’s guilty eyes. "Yes," Lucius whispered, "I believe you will do anything I say now."

Gwynne watched the dispute with growing unease. Lucius’s ominous words made her blood run cold, and the expression on his son’s face was of little comfort. To what was the man referring? Why did his son feel so shocked to see her standing before him? She had never met him. Had she? Confusion clouded her already weakened mind.

Lucius broke the stare with Draco and extended a slender hand towards Gwynne. "But let us not forget our dear Miss Wallace." He took a step nearer and placed his hand on her shoulder. Gwynne got the distinct feeling that the devil himself was standing next to her, but she did nothing. Narcissa remained poised in her seat. "Let me introduce you, my dear, to my son."

Draco hesitated for a moment and then bowed, his eyes staying fixed on Lucius. The simple action radiated defiance. Gwynne swallowed nervously.

"Very good. And you’ve already met my wife?" Narcissa inclined her head gracefully. "Excellent. Now, as I rec-"

She stopped listening; a sharp pain pricked the fringes of her mind. As she stared at Draco, his outline gradually became fuzzy. The knife-like stab increased. She tilted her head to the side, willing the pain to cease. The images around her quickly began to loose focus, and the furniture seemed to be colliding into the fireplace while the floor rippled in waves. Gwynne suddenly felt something wet trickle down her face. She wiped her cheek with her fingertips only to find them stained bright red. Narcissa interrupted her husband’s mutterings with a loud gasp. It was blood.

* * *

Cheery sunlight bathed the room through the open window. A fresh breeze stirred the curtains and brushed the redhead’s hair across her brow. Gwynne lazily opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. With air and sunshine, the bedroom almost seemed cozy. She rolled over in bed and promptly released a startled cry.

"What are you doing here?!" Gwynne tried to sit up, but her head felt oddly heavy. She flopped back onto the pillows. Across from the four-poster bed sat a very bored, very disgruntled-looking Draco.

"I’m contemplating the one-hundred and one ways of murdering someone simply by staring at them," he answered casually. Gwynne shook her head to clear the grogginess.

"What?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Father instructed me to watch over you." His voice sang with disgust.

"How long have I-"

"Three days, five hours, and fifty-one minutes to be precise," he supplied. Gwynne faintly remembered seeing blood and collapsing on the Malfoys drawing room floor. Draco flicked a piece of nonexistent fuzz off the arm of the chair. "Three days, five hours, and fifty-one minutes I’ve had to watch and make sure you didn’t hurt yourself...like you were going to even lift a finger in that catatonic state." He sighed, seemingly distressed. She glanced up at him.

"If you don’t want to be here then I don’t want your company."

"Like I actually have a choice?" He sneered, an action that strongly resembled his father. "You obviously don’t know my father." Huffing and puffing, Draco slouched further in the chair and pouted as he stared out the open window. She rolled his eyes at his childish behavior.

The two of them sat in silence for several minutes with Draco staring out into the sunshine and Gwynne studying him. He was handsome, if you went for the pointed, gaunt, and sour look. His platinum hair was gelled back, and his skin was the same alabaster color as his mother’s. However, his most attractive feature had to be his eyes. Although they were same color as the elder Malfoy’s, Draco’s eyes seemed less threatening, and Gwynne felt that of the three Malfoys, his defiant (however arrogant) attitude was the most sincere.

Those same gray eyes flickered over in her direction. "What are you staring at?"

"Why do you despise me so much?" He scoffed at her as if the answer was obvious.

"Anyone with a Knut’s worth of brains knows that." His lips curled into a smirk. Gwynne simply raised one eyebrow. The smirk vanished from Draco’s face; in fact, his features suddenly bore no expression whatsoever. She gaped at him in alarm.

"Draco?" She spoke softly, afraid of his sudden change in attitude. The mention of his name seemed to draw him out of his stupor.

"You don’t know," he asked cautiously. "Do you?"

"Know what?"

"You don’t remember me?" She looked confused at his question.

"From the drawing room? Of course I remem-"

Draco shook his head irritably. "No...I mean from before. Do you remember me?" Gwynne gave him a long look.

"How could I? We’ve only just met three days ago." She studied his reaction. He inspected her closely, and Gwynne felt those gray eyes staring into the depths of her soul. Could he know something she did not? Hadn’t Lucius mentioned something about having seen her before?

She didn’t have a chance to ask. Without warning, there was a quick rap on the door and Lucius himself strode in. Draco immediately donned his bored expression and sat back in his chair. When she glanced back at him, the young blond appeared as if nothing had happened in the past ten minutes. His father approached her bedside.

"Awake? Good." The sound of his voice made her sink deeper into the safe confines of the bed. "Let’s hope there’ll be no more incidents. It isn’t good for your health." Behind him, Draco caught the fearful look in her eye and lifted his head in acknowledgement. However, the moment Lucius turned around, he was pouting again.

"Draco, sit up." The boy obliged grudgingly. "I believe your mother is in the dinning room having tea. You may go join her now." He stood quickly and exited the room without a further glance. Gwynne’s stomach lost its appetite as Draco left, leaving her alone with Lucius.