14 July, 1997 (11:30p.m, Saturday)

Everyone had left the manor at eleven o'clock. Astoria went home with her parents, Theo went with his father, and Draco had gone to bed. Scarlett was laying in her bed reading a book. She was debating going to sleep but she really wanted to finish the last three chapters.

And she was. Well, she was going to until someone knocked on her door, "Come in!" She yelled.

Narcissa stepped in the room and shut the door behind her, "Well, was it everything you hoped for?" She asked, taking a seat at the edge of the bed.

Scarlett nodded, "It was amazing!"

"I take it you and Theo have made up?" Narcissa asked with a mischievous look in her eye.

Scarlett turned red, "I know you said not to kiss him anymore if I'm with Adrian because it's unladylike but technically he didn't show up to dance with me so it was over."

Narcissa raised her hands in defense, "I wasn't judging. I just want to know if you've made up."

Scarlett smiled, "Yeah we have. We're not telling Draco yet. I just want to make sure we'll work out first."

She nodded, "I see. Well, perhaps the hallway isn't the best place to make sure it works out." She teased.

Scarlett lifted her book up to cover her face, "Cissy, please, I cannot talk to you about that."

"Scarlet Isabella Malfoy! You can talk to me about anything! I'm always here to listen. I would rather you just tell me things then have to find out from someone random."

"Cissy, you find things out from the walls or floorboards or something like that, don't try and convince me someone's telling you." Scarlett joked.

Narcissa rolled her eyes, "Well, maybe if you learned where those spots are you'd learn to avoid them."

"I found a secret passageway today so I think you just travel through the passages and overhear things."

"Which one? The one that's in the library that leads to you and Draco's rooms?"

Scarlett nodded.

"Unfortunately, Astoria found that one before I did. She's already learning, it makes me so proud." Narcissa held her hand over her heart.

"So is that how you do it? You're just in the passageways at the wrong time?"

"I'll neither confirm nor deny."

Scarlett grinned, "You've revealed your secret."

Narcissa shrugged, "I have plenty more."

Scarlett frowned, "Not fair."

"Well, tell me, are you two planning on how to keep this big of a secret from Draco? You know, he and Theo are always together so it'll look suspicious if Theo just suddenly ditches him for you."

"I know. I haven't figured it out yet." She paused. "I have a question."

Narcissa looked up at her, nodding for her to continue.

"Did Bellatrix say anything about me after I left? I don't think she liked me."

Narcissa sighed, "Have I ever told you about Andromeda?"

Scarlett had a confused expression on her face, "Who is that?"

"My sister. She was the middle child and close with both of us. Slightly closer with Bellatrix, until she started seeing a Muggleborn. Bellatrix found out and got mad at her. I convinced her not to tell our parents, not yet anyway, I told her to give her time. They weren't serious, just seeing each other occasionally. She agreed hoping Andromeda would get over him soon. She didn't, once she finished school she married Ted. We didn't see her after that. Bella took it the hardest because they were so close. Andromeda and Cassie were also best friends so it's no surprise that she sees you as a blood traitor, you're just a reminder of something she doesn't want to be reminded of, but that's not your fault. We can't help who our parents are."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't know."

Narcissa shook her head, "I wouldn't have expected you to. No one talks about her."

"What was my mother like?" Scarlett couldn't help but blurt out. She'd wanted to know for years and it seemed like now was her opportunity to ask.

Narcissa looked up at the ceiling, "I didn't know her well but if Andromeda liked her then that tells me everything I need to know. She was a good person, 'Dromeda wouldn't have hung around her if she wasn't. I met her a few times before she left, she was always kind, she was more on the quiet side but that's to be expected when you're raised by Abraxas Malfoy. She didn't talk much, she was always reading, you remind me of her, especially when you're out lying in the garden with your books, she would do that too. You look exactly like her, same exact eye color, around the same height, you'd probably be mistaken as sisters by anyone that didn't know you. I think sometimes you scare Lucius when you laugh, if you're in the parlor laughing with Draco I'll catch him staring at the walls. I asked him one time why he does that, he says it's because your laugh sounds just like hers. I think he wishes that everything had gone down differently."

Scarlett wiped her eyes, blinking back her tears, "So Lucius and my mother weren't on good terms when she died?"

Narcissa shook her head, "No."

"I knew she didn't like him, she told me that once, but I figured they must have made up since I came to live with you."

"Honestly, I don't know why she picked us. She had it in her will that we were your only relatives and that she wanted you to come live here. We hadn't heard from her at all. We thought she'd died in the war. We didn't know about you either, it was a shock to us when Draco wrote home to tell us that there was a Malfoy girl that'd been sorted into Slytherin. He insisted that we come up there and fix it but right before we left to come meet you we learned that Cassie had died. After we met you we went to her house and shortly after met with her lawyer and adopted you."

"Thank you for doing that and for answering my questions."

"Of course, do you have anymore?"

Scarlett nodded, "Just one more. Does He know about me?" She was referring to Voldemort. She had overheard whispers from Pansy's father while walking past him. She assumed that he knew about her, she did live there for Merlin's sake.

Narcissa frowned, "Yes, he does know about you. To be honest, Scarlett, I want you to hear it from me and not some Death Eater's son at school, Bella thinks that He is going to kill you, but I want you to know that it's not true. Obviously, he has no use for you, you're just a girl, giving you the Mark would be stupid, but you're a Pureblood, and a Malfoy at that. He knows that it would be stupid to get rid of you. He's obsessed with blood purity, it'd be absurd to kill a Pureblood just because he didn't like her mother. Regardless, we wouldn't let that happen, we would never let him hurt you."

"Thank you, Cissy."

Narcissa pulled her into a hug, "There's nothing to thank me for. We promised to keep you safe and making sure you don't die is a part of that. Your mother would come back and haunt us if we did."

She laughed, "I can't see her doing that."

"Well I hope it doesn't come to that because there's enough ghosts in this Manor already."

Narcissa sat and talked for a little while longer before deciding she was tired and ready for bed. She finally got up and walked to the door, she told Scarlett goodnight and then shut her door.

Scarlett picked her book back up and opened it to her page, had she finished three pages before she heard taps at her window. She sighed and closed her book, it was probably just a bird, wait- but shouldn't birds be asleep at night? She thought to herself as she pulled the curtains apart. Oh. Looking back at her was Theo, not a bird.

She pulled the window up and walked over to her bedroom door, she locked it as Theo sat down on her bed. "Missed me already?" She teased.

He shrugged, "It's been two hours, I was bored and figured you were awake."

"So you're only here because you're bored?" She made a sad face at him.

"No, I'm here because I wanted to see the lovely girl that I kissed earlier."

She sat down beside him, "Is that so?"

"Yeah, I realized I forgot to kiss her goodnight so I had to come do that."

"Well do kiss me then." She replied, mocking his accent.

He rolled his eyes at her but leaned forward, he tilted his head down, even though they were sitting she was still a bit shorter than him.

She met him in the middle, noses touching. Neither of them moved for a moment, "Well, are you going to kiss me or not?" She finally asked.

"Way to ruin the moment." He murmured, connecting their lips.

Unlike their last kiss, this one was less rushed. Their last one seemed to be over in seconds because they'd been interrupted by Astoria. They had time now. Her door was locked, her curtains were closed, no one knew that he was there.

He lightly traced his fingers on her jaw, intertwining his free hand with her hand. She sighed into his mouth which he took as his sign to deepen the kiss. He moved his hand from her jaw and lightly tightened it around her throat, pulling her closer to him. She had her hands in his hair and was twisting pieces around her fingers. He could feel goosebumps on his arms, he moved his hand from her neck and pulled away from her lips, she made a noise of protest but quickly shut up when his lips made their way to her cheek, then her jaw, and then down to her neck. He kissed his way down to her collarbone before moving back up, sucking harder on her neck in some spots, "You're going to leave a mark." She whispered.

"That's kind of the point." He mumbled against her neck.

He continued to make his way back up before stopping at her ear, he nipped at her earlobe, she thought he was coming back to her lips but instead he whispered in her ear, "Tell me what you want and I'll do it. I promise I will."

She swallowed. She knew what she wanted. She wanted to have sex with him but she didn't think she was ready. They'd only established their feelings a few hours before. "Can we just kiss? I'm not ready for sex yet." She asked.

He nodded, "Of course, we'll go at your pace, this is about you, Scar."

She smiled and connected her lips back with his. She ran her hands down his back, only stopping when she had a slightly better idea, how she could get closer to him, "Can I get on top of you?" She asked as she pulled away from him.

He nodded, "Do whatever you want."

She crawled forward and straddled him, he placed his hands on either side of her waist and pulled her back to him, he kissed her neck gently and then rough, he was sure she'd have to glamour it tomorrow. She sighed in content and he moved back up to her lips, he bit her bottom lip which caused her to pull his hair. "Fuck." He groaned against her lips.

She smiled into their kiss, "Never did I ever expect to be doing this with you." She whispered.

He pulled back, leaning backwards onto his elbows, "And why is that?"

She shrugged, "Well for one, you've always been annoying and two, you're Draco's best friend, he'd kill you."

He pushed a piece of her hair out of her face, "Let's not talk about him right now."

She nodded, "Yeah." She was playing with the bottom of his shirt, twisting it around her fingers. He was watching her do it, she was so beautiful. How had he gone this long without her?

He looked up at her, "I have to leave soon. Draco is coming over first thing in the morning and as much as I want to stay, if I'm not there he'll be suspicious."

"Just a few more kisses?" She asked.

"It would be crazy for me to say no." He joked.

She laughed, leaning down to him, he'd moved positions earlier, she was still straddling him but he was laying down on his back. He put his hands back on her waist and let her take control. She bit his bottom lip, he felt a wave of pain, he'd briefly forgotten that Adrian had busted his lip. "Sorry." She mumbled.

He didn't respond, instead he lightly traced one hand up her back and tugged at her hair. She let out a soft moan. He smirked against her lips. She moved down to his neck, lightly sucking, if she was going to have to wake up early and glamour her neck then so would he. He realized what she was doing and pulled at her hair a little harder, "Not too hard." He whispered.

It wasn't long before she was back at his lips giving him one final peck, "You have to be up early and I'm exhausted." She had said.

He nodded, "Well then, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Obviously."

He smiled at her and then he stood up, crossing the room to the window, he lifted it open, she watched him from the bed, "Goodnight, Scar." He said to her as he put one leg out.

"Goodnight, Theo."

authors note:
i rewrote this five times ALSO
if you like this book you will 1000000%
love this one. which is why i'm telling
you now that you should go read it.

and if you have any doubts then i recommend
that you go watch my book trailer for it on tiktok @theonotts.wp YOU WILL LOVE IT!!!!