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  SEVEN WOKE UP SCREAMING. And despite the light pouring from between the curtains, she found no solace in waking.

  She still felt the hands, closing like manacles around her throat, only this time they were her own as she fought to free herself. The absence of air scorched her lungs and she struggled for every gasping breath.

  "What are they about?"

  She flew back against the headboard; terrified and scarcely able to see through the tears. Instinctively, her fingers went to her wand, but then she saw him. When she spoke, her voice was not as steady as she hoped it to be, "What?"

  Draco watched her from across the room, studying her flushed face as if it was the remedy to every malady he'd ever known. "—The nightmares."

  The images flashed before her once more and for a moment she was blinded by her grief.
  —A sickly sweet smile. One thousand tongues twisted by jealousy. The cutting cold of silver against her forearm.

  She shook her head, "I'm not even sure myself."

  Seven wanted to hate the devilish dreams that plagued her nights, but in some sick way she found herself longing for them. They were the only time she got to see fragments of her previous life, even if fractured and distorted by fear.

  The bronze light caught him in a way she'd never seen before as he eyed her, but not in the greedy way a man usually looks at a woman, —instead he seemed to be reading her from the inside out. All her secrets lay barren before him. "You talk in your sleep, you know."

  Seven lied, "So I've been told." In truth she never had, but was embarrassed by the thought, what if in sleep she'd said all the things her waking mind wouldn't permit. "Why, did I say something?"

  "Lots." He shot her a devilish wink, suddenly jovial, and her heart skipped a beat. "You know they say a drunk man's words are a sober man's thoughts."

  "Well I'm not a man and I'm certainly not drunk." Seven snapped, rising from the bed and slamming the bathroom door behind her. That man had a way of working her up like no other, she thought distastefully.

  She couldn't help but start at the sight of the stranger in the mirror, the red hair still foreign to her, and she'd yet to come accustomed to the change.

  The moment Seven had set foot into the foyer of the Siren's Rest she had felt out of place. Face smeared with dirt, clothes wrinkled and her jacket torn at the cuff. After days on edge, running  from the Crawlers, and falling headfirst into Echo's secret compound they both looked far from their best.

  So when she finally stepped beneath the shower stream she let out a soft moan of bliss, —and there she stayed beneath the surge for what felt like years. Until the water fled the last traces of the day and the ache from her weary bones. She scrubbed her skin raw, using every ounce of scented body wash the hotel had to offer.
She brushed her teeth, and began teasing a restless night's worth of knots from her cherry hair before rummaging through her bag for fresh clothes.

  Seven dressed smart, donning a sleek black backless dress, and paired with a plunging cowl neckline that cut down to her sternum; showing off, —what in many districts would be considered, a borderline scandalous amount of cleavage. Her accessories were her raven clutch and a necklace she'd stolen some time last year when she'd passed through the Pride district. It was a pretty string of pearls, though even as she watched the way the light refracted from it she couldn't bear the thought of taking her usual necklace off. —Something about it just didn't seem right, almost as if she didn't feel whole without it.

  She put the pearls aside and after checking her hair one last time exited the bathroom, but her partner was nowhere to be seen. The hotel room felt strangely cold without his presence.

Though he had left no note, Seven knew he'd left with out her to go to down to the main hall, and she felt a spike of anger prickle through her.
—But it only lasted a second before she swallowed the bitter taste on her tongue and made her own way down, until she found herself back in the foyer.

  She was greeted by a rather handsome young concierge, probably only a year or two younger than herself. He shot her a dazzling smile and extended his arm, "May I escort you to the dining hall, Madame? Your fiancé is waiting for you."

Seven swallowed her pride and nodded; taking his hand, warm and firm. The dining hall was one of the most marvellous things Seven had ever seen. The ceiling was a colossal glass dome, enchanted with visions of birds, periwinkle clouds and tangerine skies. Thick vines climbed the marble pillars, coiling like snakes to kiss the clouds, intermittently pierced by strange flowers that Seven didn't recognise, and seemed to shift in hue the closer she got.

She was too busy taking in her surroundings to notice the neatly arranged breakfast tables, covered in linen and lined in lace, each adorned with more food than Seven could ever possibly eat.

There was a strange silence that had taken over the hall despite the at least fifty patrons present. All eyes were on her, and she damn well knew it.

Only, Seven didn't cower beneath their stares, —instead she grew taller. Head held high with every jealous whisper, a new sway finding her hips as she was lead by the concierge towards the only glare that mattered.

He stared her down; jaw clenched, face like thunder.
  Seven couldn't help but feel like it only made him look all the more devastating, in his crisp black suite, an emerald tie fastened at his throat.

The concierge pulled her chair out for her and Seven took it with grace, tossing him a winning smile, burying her forbidden feelings; she'd never let him see the effect he had on her. "Thank you, darling.

Draco waited a moment until he was out of earshot before he turned on her. "What the fuck are you wearing?" He snarled, struggling to keep his voice down.

"A dress?" Seven frowned, feigning innocence, "Why, don't you like it?

—But not for one second did Draco fall for her facade, he leaned forwards slightly; voice low, dangerous. "You're lucky there's people around."

"Oh yes," She raised an eyebrow coyly, "—And why exactly is that?"

His fingers flexed, as if envisioning themselves tangled in the material. "—Because otherwise I'd tear it off you."

There were no words to describe the tsunami of feelings that welled up within Seven at that moment, even she herself didn't know them, only that they threatened to soon suffocate her, breath hitching in her throat as she clawed to surface amidst the shore of sinful thoughts.

He looked nothing far from hellish, in the most devilishly divine way possible. Yet terrifying beyond belief; so much so that not for a second did Seven doubt that God himself would fall before this man in prayer.

She cleared her throat, unable to meet his eye through the undying half-flush in her cheeks, "—You know, in future you should probably tell your fiancé where you're going before disappearing off."

"You're right." He dropped his tone, "So you let me know when you find her."

  "I'm serious, Draco. We need to pull this off."

  "So am I." He said, raising his glass to his lips before gesturing around at the hall. "You seriously think anyone here believes you're my fiancé without a ring?"

  Seven's chagrin had long gone now, as she stared him down with an unspoken challenge on the edge of her lips. "So do something about it."

  Little did she know that Draco had an affinity for challenges, a slightly dangerous one in fact, a flame that if so recklessly left unattended, may cause them all to burn.

In one fluid movement, he pulled his wand from his inside pocket, and removed one one of the fine silver rings from his fingers, he muttered a spell Seven did not recognise and the precious metal shifted; shrinking slightly.

"Give me your hand." He ordered and by instinct she obliged. His hands were warm, firmly, certain, as he slipped the ring onto her left hand. "...Now everyone will know you're mine."

  The moment the words left his lips Seven knew she'd made a grave mistake, just in that moment, she couldn't yet tell how.

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QOTD-What do you think will happen next? -TFOA