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Unhinged 2: Til the Flame Burns Out	By : nikki13088 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Ginny Views: 3348 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 29
- 30
- 31
A/N: So sorry this chapter took so long, as you all know things have been crazy. There will be one more chapter after this and then an Epilogue. I can't believe this story will be coming to an end.
I do want to take a moment and just thank everyone who has commented and supported me throughout this story. It means so much to me, more than any of you know! So thank you!
Enjoy!
"Is everything ok? When you never showed up I thought something happened with Ember." Hermione explained as she met Draco halfway down the hall of the Ministry.
"Sorry, Ember needed me." He said, shooting her a quick look.
She nodded that she understood and then watched Draco's eyes travel over to the room behind her to see Scorpius, Aurora, Ellie, and Riley sitting down. "They wanted to come and as you know it's not easy to talk them out of things."
"Can we take these fuckin things off yet?" he asked as he rubbed his wrist where his bracelet sat. "Or has nothing changed, and we can continue to live like felons?" he drawled.
"Dad, how's Ember?" Scorpius asked, not caring to interrupt his conversation with his aunt.
Draco's eyes fell on the concerned look on his son's face and walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "She's..." he paused.
"What?"
Draco couldn't stop thinking how awful she looked and how she was not in a good mental state right now. "She's fighting off a bit of an infection right now but she's going to pull through."
Scorpius just looked at him and gave a small nod.
"It's everything else I'm not sure how she'll handle." He said softly, lowering his head a bit.
Scorpius let out a long sigh.
"She'll be fine," Draco added at the sound of his son's uncertainty. He gave Scorpius a hard pat on his shoulder before turning back to Hermione. "So, any news?"
"Kingsley was able to get everyone on board to have a small meeting... well more like a small hearing; everyone has a lot of questions and concerns. It won't be for a few days though and until then I think Eve and Noah might have to sit in Azkaban." She explained.
"Fuck that!" Scorpius shouted. "This is insane! Does anyone around this fuckin place have a brain!"
Draco put his hand up to stop Scorpius from completely blowing up. "Scorpius let me handle this. Take your sisters and head home."
"But Dad-"
"I SAID... take your sisters and head home... now." He said firmly giving his son a stern look.
Scorpius wanted to fight him further but he had forgotten how intimidating his father could be and so he stayed quiet and did as he was told.
Draco turned back to Hermione and saw her give Scorpius a sad look before he headed out with his sisters. "I just don't want him to say something that's going to put us in any more trouble. I feel like they're looking for any reason to lock us all up." Draco said with a sneer.
"You couldn't be further from the truth." Came a voice from behind them.
Draco turned to see Matthew. "Oh yeah? Then take these fuckin shackles off us." He spat as he held up the device around his wrist.
Matthew stared at him for a moment. "Alright." He said before taking his wand out and removing the bracelet. "Now that your bracelet is off you'll be able to remove the others. I'm sure I don't have to caution you on what you shouldn't do while we are still figuring this all out?"
"You mean have me and my family go around terrorizing the world with our powers? Aw, well now you went and ruined my weekend plans." Draco drawled. "Why the sudden change?"
"Come with me. It will be a few before the Minister can see you both."
Hermione and Draco exchanged a quick look before following Matthew. They walked down to the floor below and went down the same hallway Draco knew they were keeping Ginny and he hoped that's where Matthew was taking them. His heart started racing when they stopped outside of her room and Draco wasn't sure how to feel. He was hopeful she was at least a little saner since he felt the stone still warm since last night, but he was also afraid if she was sane how long would it last.
Hermione watched Draco just stare at the doorknob in front of him before she cleared her throat. "Um, I'm going to go down and talk to Eve and Noah." She said softly, giving Draco a slight nudge as Matthew escorted her down to the holding cells.
Draco put his hand on the doorknob and let out a shaky breath before opening the door. His eyes immediately fell on her across the room as she turned to him.
"Draco?" she choked out in disbelief before running to him.
Draco was so shocked at how normal she looked he couldn't even comprehend that she had called his name. She looked like nothing had ever happened, her eyes back to their honey brown color and her fiery hair was as vibrant as he had ever seen it before. She looked the most beautiful he thought he had ever seen her and as soon as her arms wrapped around him he snapped out of it.
He hugged her so tightly she was hardly able to keep her feet on the floor as he buried his face deep into her hair. The feel of her body against his and her scent that he hungrily took in made him suddenly start to fall apart. He missed her so much, he wasn't sure if he would ever have his Ginny back and he didn't want to ever let her go. Her arms around him made everything ok, it made everything they had gone through easier to deal with. He immediately found strength within the few seconds she had her arms around him.
He pulled back a bit to look at her face. "I missed you so much." His voice breaking as he watched a tear slide down her face.
Ginny's heart just broke when she saw Draco's eyes fill with tears and pull her to him again. She didn't think he would ever let her go with how tight of a grip he had on her. She could feel all the hurt and pain he was holding in as he broke down in her arms. It was very rare for her to see Draco so emotional and every time he showed his vulnerability to her it just made her love him so much more.
After a few minutes of just holding her, she finally felt him pull back once more and just stare into her eyes. It was only minutes ago that she wondered if everything would still be the same between her and Draco after everything that happened. She could see though that in the way he looked at her that he loved her more than ever and it gave her the same butterflies in her stomach that she felt eighteen years ago.
She watched his eyes travel down to her lips and she swore her heart stopped. It seemed like a lifetime had passed since he kissed her, and she forgot just how much her body ached for his touch now that she was in his arms. Her breath caught in her throat when he cupped her face with both hands; one of his thumbs wiping a stray tear from her face and the other running over one of her lips. She swore she would melt right then and there if he didn't kiss her and just as she felt her knees grow weak he pulled her to him and pressed his lips to hers.
She expected Draco's kiss to be hard and fast, but it was soft and sweet and one of the most passionate kisses she received from him. Draco must have picked up on her wobbly legs as he moved one of his hands to the small of her back and pushed her closer to him. Everything seemed better now, all doubt and all fear she had of not knowing what her future held with Draco and her family was gone as he kissed her.
She felt his hand slide from the small of her back to the front of her stomach and pulled back from the kiss to rest his forehead against hers. He slipped his hand under her shirt and rest it softly over the small bump of their unborn child.
"Please tell me you're back for good. It scares me how I don't know how to live without you." He said to her.
She nodded against his head. "I hope so. I look and feel normal again... I mean..." she trailed off and pulled back from him a bit. "I feel like those powers are gone but I then sometimes I think they may just be somewhere deep down."
She went on to tell Draco about last night when Eve came to her room. She watched his eyes light up when she described how in control of her own powers she was. Draco also told her about Ember and the condition she was in right now. She hated that she wasn't by her daughter's side and she hoped that today was the day the Ministry would see that none of them were a threat and that she could go home to her family.
"Draco... Ginny?" came Hermione's voice from the doorway after she gave a small knock. "Kingsley is ready to talk with us now."
Draco took Ginny's hand and pulled her along with him, shooting Matthew a quick glare before he could object to her coming. His hand remained laced with hers the entire way to Kingsley's office, afraid that she would fade from his grasp at any moment. He walked into the office and saw Harry and Luna there already.
"Ginny?" Harry said in surprise when she walked into the room and immediately hugged her tightly.
"Harry, how's James?" she asked as she became teary-eyed by the question.
Harry just nodded. "Better, a lot better." He said with a small smile.
"Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, please have a seat," Kingsley said as he took a seat behind his desk.
Draco took in the few other Ministry officials in the room who he assumed were also going to have a say so in any of the decisions being made today as well as the answers to the many questions he had.
"When can Ginny come home? She's not a danger anymore." Draco stated firmly.
"Listen, I know there's a lot of tension with everything going on, but-"
"But nothing." Draco cut Kingsley off. "You know the Ministry thinks that we're the ones who are dangerous or can't be trusted when really it's the Ministry who can't be trusted."
He heard a few of the officials want to object or was offended by his comment, but he didn't care and kept talking.
"I didn't see anyone complaining eighteen years ago when we stopped my father using our powers. Which by the way, you're welcome, and what about Harry? I mean I get if the Ministry doesn't trust me, but Harry? He already stopped Voldemort, then helped end my father and now? What about Ginny? What about Hermione? These are people that have done nothing but help save the Wizarding world and this is the Ministry's way of repaying them? It's the Ministry that can't be trusted. Every time things have gone south in the Wizarding world; the Ministry is the first place to turn against us. They've never had our backs."
"That's not true, it was the Ministry who got you out of Adwell labs." Said one of the men in the room.
"Bullshit, my kids got us out of there. Do you think you would have had any chance of getting into Adwell Labs if our children didn't fight their way to the bottom of that hellhole and get us to the top? You wouldn't have made it past the first floor." Draco spat.
"And Eve and Noah helped... they are the main reason they were even able to make it as far as they did. You guys stepped in last minute after a whole lot of convincing on Neville's part." Harry chimed in. "If you all weren't so blind in the first place and saw through Beckett or Adwell like the rest of us did then a lot of this could have been avoided."
"And let's not forget that there were Ministry officials that stood by Adwell this whole time and helped hunt down and try to kill our children," Ginny added. "When will the Ministry stick up for us for once?"
The room fell silent and then there was a lot of whispering and mumbled words exchanged amongst the officials in the room. Kingsley couldn't help the small smirk that tugged at his lips at the argument the group in front him gave. He leaned into the group of men next to him and said something that none of them could make out.
"Are you sure about that Minister?" asked one of the men.
Kingsley paused and looked at Draco and then to Harry and the rest of them. "Yes."
"Very well, I will go ahead and trust you on this matter then." One of the men said.
Kingsley paused once more before looking at Draco and Ginny again and then spoke. "I will allow Mrs. Malfoy to return home today, however, as a precaution, she is to report here daily to our Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes and see someone who could monitor her powers."
Draco went to object to that when he felt Hermione tug his sleeve to keep quiet.
Kingsley picked up on his disapproval of the idea. "I know its not ideal, but for now I think Ginny should be home with her family rather than stuck here at the Ministry, but that is the only way I will approve it until we know for certain her powers are controlled. Can you agree to that?"
"Yes," Ginny said right away, making Draco shoot her a surprised look. She turned to face him and took his hands in hers. "Draco, I know things seem normal right now, but I don't want to hurt anybody and if I can go home and be with you and the kids and just come here for monitoring... I'm perfectly ok with that."
Draco wasn't sure why, but he looked at Hermione for approval on the matter and when she gave him a small smile and nodded he felt more comfortable with the idea.
"Fine." He said through clenched teeth.
"Wonderful."
"Do I dare ask if we still have a job with the Ministry?" Harry asked, motioning to himself, Draco and Hermione.
"Of course. The sooner you all feel you can return the better." Kingsley said.
"Now what about Eve and Noah? I don't want them going to Azkaban until the hearing." Draco stated.
"Eve and Noah need to be under the watch of a Ministry official and-"
"Perfect, I still work here, they can stay with me until the hearing." Draco quickly cut Matthew off.
Everyone in the room looked at him, even Harry and Hermione.
"Mr. Malfoy, I don't think you've thought this through," Matthew suggested.
"I have, there's nothing to think about. I know who they are and I know what they've done... I will keep watch over them until the hearing."
Kingsley got up and walked over to Draco and Ginny and leaned in between them. "Are you both sure about this? Having everyone under the same roof?"
Ginny met Draco's gaze and gave him a small smile. "Yes, we're sure." She said.
"And if there are any issues they can stay with Luna and me," Harry said.
"Ron and I as well," Hermione added.
Kingsley took a few steps back from the group of them and thought for a moment about the idea. After a few seconds, he started to slowly nod. "Alright, I will allow this, however, Matthew will also drop by for a quick check-in." He turned back to Matthew and the other Ministry officials. "You're all excused. I need a private word with the rest of them." He said as he motioned for them to leave his office.
Once Kingsley was the only one left in the room with them he sat back down behind his desk. "Draco... Ginny, you must make sure everyone is on their best behavior. I wouldn't even use any sort of powers until this whole mess is behind us. I have been by your side from day one, but I need to keep the other officials calm. So, if playing it safe is what's going to keep you both together and Noah and Eve out of Azkaban for the time being then this is the path we will take. Please just be careful, the Ministry is looking for anything to put those two behind bars with their father."
They both nodded before finally leaving his office.
Noah kept pacing around the small cell for the last thirty minutes since they had been informed they were being sent to Azkaban until the hearing. He wasn't necessarily worried himself about being sent there, he felt whatever horror awaited would be too good for him. It was Eve he worried about more because he knew how much of the world she hadn't been exposed to. He glanced over to her sitting in the corner on the floor and he thought about how much he actually cared for her.
He kept scratching his wrist where the bracelet he wore kept digging into his skin. He never thought he'd have to wear something like this. He stuck his hand in his pocket in an attempt to leave it alone and felt his fingers graze something.
"Ah, I almost forgot." He said out loud as he walked over to Eve and squatted down in front of her. "I managed to snatch this up amongst the chaos at the lab." He explained as he pulled out the necklace Scorpius made for her.
Her eyes fell on the small stone hanging at the end and a small smile crossed her lips before she took it from him. "Thank you." She softly spoke as her voice started to break.
He took a seat beside her and felt like he should try to say something encouraging to her. "Listen-"
"Tell me about our mother." She suddenly said.
He just looked at her. "What?"
"Our mother... can you tell me about her?" she asked with hopeful eyes.
He quickly shifted his eyes to the floor. "No."
"No? Why not?"
He just shook his head. "Because... I barely knew her."
Eve felt her heart sink at his words.
"Father always kept her at the lab, occasionally I would see her at father's office at the Ministry, once in a while at home even, but it was always a quick encounter. I don't think I've ever even hugged her. Looking back now it was obvious that Father didn't want her to have a relationship with us."
Eve just hung her head.
"Eve, I never knew about you... I didn't even know about Crystal until a few years ago and I only knew about Lucy being our sister and dying at the lab a few months ago. I..." he trailed off making her look back up at him.
"You don't have to explain Noah, I'm sure there was a lot of things you were in the dark about. Our father is good at putting up quite the facade."
Even with the bracelet on, Eve could hear and feel everything her brother thought and felt... it was a very dark and lonely feeling. He must have picked up on her reading him because he looked over at her and shook his head.
"I really did think that what he was doing was great. That he was helping witches and wizards like Draco and Ginny develop their powers and understand them. That's why I thought I could help Ember... and it just ended up being the biggest mistake I ever made. Once I mentioned Ember's powers to Father is when things started to change. I mean, I guess nothing really changed... I just became exposed to a lot more and with that came... he just wanted me to be..."
He trailed off once more, unable to find the right words. He wasn't always a stuck-up rich kid but when he knew his father had big plans for him and his future he felt he had a part to play. He wasn't trying to defend his behavior or say that none of it was real because after a while of being an asshole it started to come naturally. He felt pressure from his father to follow on a certain path and he thought that was what he wanted too, but after his first visit to Adwell labs and his father showing him some of the experiments he was working on, everything changed.
He would also be lying If he said he wasn't the least bit afraid that his father would turn to him for his next experiment if he didn't follow through on the task he was given. At the time that was to get Ember to the lab but his feelings for her had to be buried deep down for him to do anything like that. He just kept thinking if his father was evil enough to experiment on his mother and end up killing her, then turning to him as his next guinea pig was more than likely. It was fear that made it so easy for him to turn cold and in the end, he ended up under his father's knife anyway.
"Alright you two, we'll be transporting you to Azkaban in just a few." Said one of the Aurors as he flipped through one of their files in his hand.
Eve released a shaky breath before getting up. "It's hopefully just for a few days right?" she asked Noah.
He gave her a sad look before giving a small nod.
"Actually; I'll be taking those files, Mr. Reed."
Eve and Noah snapped their heads up to see Draco and Harry walking into the room. It was quite different seeing Draco more in his Malfoy state than being trapped inside some glass box. It made them both feel quite small, especially Eve and she felt very much out of place. As for Noah, he had no idea where he stood with anyone at this moment. The only thing he felt he could do was just accept whatever fate awaited him.
"Mr. Malfoy... Mr. Potter, these two are to be sent to Azkaban until-"
"The hearing, yes, but Kingsley has agreed to leave them out of prison as long as they're under the watch of a Ministry official," Draco explained, his eyes falling on Eve and Noah.
"Is it Matthew?" Eve asked.
"No... you'll both be staying with me." He said as he gauged their reactions.
He could see they were both relieved, but he also saw the hesitancy on their faces. There was a lot of tension and unspoken words between a lot of them, but at the end of the day, he knew neither of them deserved to sit in Azkaban.
"MUM!"
Ginny felt Harper slam into her so hard she almost fell over as she tightly hugged her. It wasn't long before she found herself surrounded by the embrace of her children and drenched in her own tears. It felt like years since she had been home and able to hug and kiss her kids. She didn't want to let any of them go, she swore she could hold them all like this forever if they would let her. Her eyes met Draco's through the crowd of arms around her and she smiled back at him. There was a lot to still sort through, but she was overcome with joy right now that none of that seemed to matter.
"You came home just in time, Aurora said she was making dinner again." Harper teased as she pretended to hurl at the thought of her cooking.
"Hey!" Aurora snapped. "It's not that bad."
Ginny just gave a soft giggle. "How about I get settled in and then we'll make a big dinner together?"
Harper gave a quick nod at the offer.
"I can't believe she's home," Draco stated as he watched her across the room, before looking at Scorpius standing beside him. "So, about Eve and Noah..."
"They were sent to Azkaban?" Scorpius asked, his heart sinking.
"Not quite," Draco responded as he walked over to the front door and pulled it open. "They'll be staying with us until then."
"Eve!" Scorpius exclaimed with a smile before running up to her and grabbing her into a hug.
What he really wanted to do was grab her and kiss her but after the way they left things when he last kissed her he thought better. He wasn't even sure if they were on the same page as far as feelings go, in fact, he wondered if hugging her right now was a mistake, but he couldn't help how happy he was to see her.
Eve was relieved when she felt Scorpius grab her into a hug. After everything that was being said about her and Noah and what went down at Adwell labs, she wasn't sure where anyone's head was at. She was just thankful that Scorpius was still kind to her because she definitely felt a certain type of way about him.
"Are you sure this is alright? Noah and I understand If any of you aren't comfortable with us staying here." Eve asked.
"Are you kidding? This is awesome." Ellie said with a wide smile. "Come on Eve, I'll show you to your room." She said excitedly as she motioned for Eve to follow her.
Eve exchanged a small smile with Scorpius before following Ellie upstairs.
"Scorpius? Can I trust you to show Noah to his room without either of you trying to kill each other?" Draco asked.
"No promises." Scorpius shrugged before waving Noah over to follow him, who smirked at his comment.
Scorpius led him upstairs to one of the guest bedrooms and watched him walk into the room and glanced around it for a moment before turning back to him.
"How's Ember?"
Scorpius met his gaze for a moment before Noah broke his and looked at the floor. "She's hanging in there. She's awake."
"She is?" Noah asked, his eyes snapping back up to his to see if he was serious. "That's great..." he trailed off a bit.
Scorpius just nodded before watching Noah take a seat on one of the chairs in the room. He watched the internal struggle he was having, and it just made the tension and awkwardness of it all that much worse.
"Listen Noah..." he walked into the room and sat in one of the other chairs across from him. "Sorry I almost killed you."
Noah just stared at him for a moment, surprised by his words.
"Now, I don't apologize for what I did... I'm glad it was quite painful because you deserved it. I'm just sorry that it almost cost you your life." Scorpius added with a smirk.
Noah just scoffed at his words before a slight smirk also crossed his lips. "Well, you're right... it was well deserved."
"And look at us now... living under the same roof. Now just wait until Ember comes home and things will be really fuckin awkward." He sarcastically teased before giving Noah a hard slap on the back and leaving the room.
Draco gave a quick hard knock on Riley's door and opened it after not receiving an answer.
"Riley?"
He gave a quick glance around the room before finding her curled in a ball sitting by the window. She was so deep in thought that she jumped when she felt Draco gently touch her arm to get her attention.
"Dad, sorry, I didn't hear you." She explained, her heart racing from how startled she was.
"It's fine, are you ok?" he said with a small smile at how hard she jumped.
She quickly nodded.
He sat down beside her, guilt filling his heart as he thought back to how he acted the past two days and wasn't there for her. "I'm sorry Riley... I'm sorry I wasn't-"
"It's ok. Please don't apologize Dad." She cut him off before looking up at him with tear-filled eyes. "I understand."
Hearing Riley tell him that she understood what he was going through killed him inside. He always hoped his children would never feel or experience anything like what he had gone through both when he was younger and even now. It was the hardest thing physically, emotionally, and mentally he had ever endured and to know that Riley and the rest of his children had been through hell the past few weeks made him feel like a failure as a father.
He pulled her tightly into a hug and hoped that any emotion he was feeling wouldn't slip out. He wanted to be strong for her... for all of them. "Here, let me take that off for you." He said as he gestured to the device on her wrist and went to reach for it.
She quickly pulled her hand back. "No!" she shouted, fear filling her eyes.
Draco paused and just stared at her, his eyes taking in the burns on her hands and wrists. He slowly reached out his hand for hers. "Let me see." He said softly.
Her lips trembled and her watery eyes finally spilled the tears they had been holding in. She hesitantly placed her shaking hand in his palm before she felt him gently wrap his fingers around it.
"I'm afraid Dad." She whispered through her breaking voice. "I don't want them to surface. I wasn't ready for them... they forced them out..." she trailed off as she started to cry. "It hurts so bad. They just kept putting me under that curse... it was so painful..." she started sobbing uncontrollably at this point.
Draco felt frozen in place, he didn't expect Riley to open up to him like this and she was letting it all out. He wasn't sure if he himself would be able to hear her talk about it or if he was ready to face it. He almost felt like getting up and running from the room, but when he felt her trembling hand in his and heard her agonizing cries reach his ears he snapped out of it and pulled her to him.
"It's ok, you're safe now." Draco choked out. "You're going to be ok." He reassured her. After he heard her cries die down he pulled back and grabbed her small face in his hands and kissed the top of her head. "Go wash up and head down to dinner in a bit...ok?" he said with a small smile.
She wiped the remainder of her tears aside before making her way into the bathroom. Once Draco was sure she was out of sight he released this emotional sigh and felt the lump in his throat grow. He quickly left her room and made his way towards his. He burst through the doors to his bedroom so abruptly that he almost slammed right into Ginny.
"Hey you." She said with a wide smile.
He barely looked at her as he turned away and kept walking towards the bathroom. Ginny quickly grabbed his arm before he could get any further and pulled him back towards her.
"What's wrong?" she asked as she tried to get a look at his face, but he kept it down. "Draco?" she called his name, her voice so soft and filled with love as she placed a hand on each side of his face. "Look at me."
He kept his eyes closed, hoping his tears would stay in, but her gentle touch and sweet voice made it so easy for him to be vulnerable. He opened them and looked at her. "Riley... she... she was telling me some of the stuff she had to go through in that place..." he shook his head at how horrible it must have been for her.
He roughly rubbed his face and let out a frustrating growl and he turned away from her again. "I just hate that I wasn't able to-"
"Draco, stop that." She demanded as she grabbed his face again, this time more firmly. "I hate that our children had to endure something so horrific, but I am so proud of them and us because they were able to survive this. Stop feeling like a failure as a parent, stop feeling pathetic every time your emotions surface... we are human. I like to think our children survived out there because of how we raised them. You saw them back there... how amazing they were." She said with a tearful smile when he looked back up at her. "We're doing pretty damn good I think." She said with a nod so that he would agree with her and after a moment he nodded as well.
"They are pretty badass." He said with a smirk.
She gave a small giggle before she felt Draco grab her hand and look at her wrist.
"The bracelet... you're still wearing it? Riley won't take hers off either."
She slowly pulled her wrist back from his grip. "I'm sorry Draco, I just want to be sure I'm in control before I take it off."
"But you won't know if you keep it on."
"True, but I thought I would follow the Ministry's direction for now. Eve is staying with us right now too so I thought she could help me again... she could probably help Riley too."
Draco tried to understand her way of thinking, but he didn't want to see anything holding Ginny back or making her doubt herself.
"Hey, don't overthink it Draco. You realize where we were just a couple of days ago and where we are now? I am so happy to be home with my family and Ember will be home soon too. Leaving a measly bracelet on for a while longer is more than ok with me than being locked up and experimented on. Don't you think?" she asked with the slightest bit of amusement in her voice.
He finally smiled at her and agreed.
Eve wrapped her fingers around the stone attached to the necklace in her hand. She looked at the metal bracelet laying on her side table that Draco took off her. It was a great feeling to know he trusted her enough to not wear it, but she still struggled a bit with how quickly her powers could grow. She felt comfort in wearing the necklace Scorpius made her and laid it out on her dresser to try and fix.
She heard a knock and gave a small sigh before walking over and opening the door.
"I brought you something to eat," Scorpius said, holding out a plate of food for her. "You know you and Noah could've joined us for dinner."
"Thank you." She said, her voice timid. "Well, it was your mum's first night back and I thought you'd all want to be together as a family. I just don't want to intrude... and Noah wouldn't have gone down to dinner whether I was there or not," she said, her voice turning sad.
Scorpius just studied her face for a moment as she spoke, her eyes fixed on the plate of food in her hands. She walked over and placed it down beside the necklace.
"Do you want me to fix that for you?" he asked as he noticed the broken chain.
"If you don't mind, then sure."
He pointed his wand at the chain and repaired it before tapping the stone, making it turn to a purple color. "There, now it will match your eyes when your powers surface."
Her eyes met his at the small gesture and she suddenly forgot how to breathe.
"Here, I'll put it on for you." He said and leaned forward wrapping his arms around her neck to clasp the chain.
Eve let out a shaky breath as she felt his hand graze her skin and his scent fill her nose. She couldn't help the goosebumps that covered her body when she felt his breath hit her neck. She felt silly for thinking if what she felt whenever Scorpius was around her was normal or something more.
She felt him gently pull her hair through the chain before centering the stone on her neck. "There... perfect."
She wanted him to kiss her but then kept thinking about how he had only originally kissed her as a favor. She was pretty sure when they shared a more intense kiss that he felt something like what she felt for him but these kinds of emotions and feelings were new to her so she wasn't sure if she should trust them.
"How's Raven?" she suddenly asked. "Have you seen her since..."
He finally lowered his gaze and shook his head. "No... I wasn't sure what to say to her."
They were both quiet for a moment.
"You should go see her if you're able to... offer your condolences." She suggested.
He nodded before they both grew quiet again.
"Eve?"
She felt her heart race at the sound of her name leaving his mouth. "Y-yes?"
He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it again as he seemed to rethink what he was about to say. "I'm just really glad you're here and not in Azkaban." He said in a bit of a rush; it was obvious that wasn't what he originally intended to say.
"Me too." She said.
He reached forward and hugged her tightly, the feel of his hands holding her made her want to cry. It was a feeling she never felt before but didn't realize she had been missing all this time. She loved how Scorpius made her feel, she felt like a person, like she deserved happiness and kindness from others. He just made her feel alive and a little more confident in herself and she loved that feeling. She never had anyone make her feel like she was worth anything more than a test subject or a servant.
She hugged him back this time and she was fine if he wanted to stay like this forever. "Thank you, Scorpius."
He pulled back a bit to look at her. "For what?"
"For being kind to me."
She saw his eyes travel down to her lips and she felt her body start to ache for him. She wanted to read his mind and hear what he was thinking, but for some reason, she couldn't concentrate enough to hear a damn thing.
His eyes snapped back up to hers. "See, it does match your eyes." He said with a smirk as he took in her purple pupils.
She pulled away from him and quickly gripped the stone in her hands to calm herself. "I think I'm going to head to bed. Thank you for fixing my necklace." She quickly said as she broke all eye contact with him and opened the door for him to leave.
He walked past her and stopped in the doorway. "Goodnight Eve."
She just stared at him again but speechless this time and watched him walk down the hall. Once he was gone she closed the door and rested her body against it before sliding to the floor and letting out a loud groan.
"Finally got Ava to fall asleep again," Ginny said as she quietly closed the bedroom door behind her and walked over to the vanity. "She's getting sassy that one." She shook her head with a slight smirk.
"Yeah because she takes after her mother." Draco teased as he watched Ginny grab the lotion off the table and start rubbing some on her hands and arms.
He forgot how much he missed just watching her. Sometimes he still couldn't believe she was his.
"Blame me all you want, but it's that Malfoy sense of entitlement and arrogance that turns all our children." She said with a small giggle.
She went to shake her lotion bottle in an attempt to get some more out to rub on her legs when she felt Draco grab it from behind her. She turned in her chair to him as he squatted down in front of her. She watched him squeeze some out into his hand and toss the bottle aside before his eyes locked with hers. She felt his hand pull back her silk robe before he rubbed his hands together and then ran them up one of her legs. She felt her breath catch in her throat as he massaged her leg up to her inner thigh, his eyes never leaving hers.
He slid his hand down the length of her leg once more and then back up, this time slipping it under her nightgown. He grabbed her ass and pushed her towards him while grabbing her other leg and dragging her and the chair closer to him. Each of his hands slid to the small of her back and then up her spine sending a shiver throughout her body. As her body trembled beneath his touch and she arched her head back a bit, she felt his lips on her neck. The sudden contact of his lips on her skin made her release a small gasp making him move his lips to hers. He hungrily kissed her so roughly she thought she would fall back off the chair.
She could hardly control herself at this point as she reached forward to release his throbbing erection from his pants. She felt Draco yank her up from the chair and kick it aside before he pinned her against her vanity table. Neither of them cared when half of the bottles of perfume, lotion, and other miscellaneous objects were knocked off onto the floor. She felt his mouth cover her now exposed breast as her nightgown barely covered her. She ran her fingers through his hair and grabbed a fistful when two of his fingers slid inside her.
She let out a pleasurable growl as she pulled his head up to look at her and crashed her lips to his. She felt his hips push between her legs as she propped herself up on the vanity table behind her and felt the cold mirror against her exposed back. She dug her fingers into his back as she begged him to enter her and when he finally did she swore her entire body was going to melt into this pleasurable puddle in his arms.
She felt the mirror behind her suddenly crack but it didn't stop either of them from continuing. At one point there was a noticeably loud cracking sound coming from the table beneath them that Draco was savagely fucking her against. Ginny placed a hand on the table at an attempt to adjust herself from slipping off the edge when she felt the table turn cold beneath her.
She thought it was Draco's powers but when she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up she pulled back from the fierce kiss they were sharing. She picked her hands up to look at them and went to place them on Draco's exposed chest when he gave a small hiss as a small shock formed as she touched him.
He just looked at her and watched strands of her hair start to stand up. His fingers and palms started to tingle as he held her close to him and they both jumped when one of the lights in the room gave a loud pop. His eyes searched hers to make sure she was still herself and in a good mental state. He was relieved to see she still had those beautiful amber eyes staring at him, but they were filled with some fear. He didn't want her to be afraid of her powers, especially since she was going to have to learn how to control them.
He could tell she was more scared because she thought they were gone for good but by the feeling of electricity that still ran through her body and taking in the table beneath her that turned to metal, he could see that wasn't the case. He was also a bit alarmed at the fact that her powers were so strong even when she still wore the bracelet.
"Are you ok?" he asked her, his heavy breaths hitting her face.
After a moment she nodded then felt Draco getting ready to pull away, but she grabbed him and had her lips on him once more. She could feel his hesitancy and she pulled back and just stared into his eyes before a wide smile stretched across her face.
"I love you." She softly spoke, her hand gently caressing his cheek.
He could feel tiny tingling sensations beneath each of her fingertips on his skin and it just made him want her even more. His eyes were completely locked on hers and all he could hear was the sound of his breathing ringing in his ears as her words swallowed him. He adjusted to her surfacing powers and covered his lips with her again, this time his kisses were strong and powerful as he continued thrusting into her. He was so lost in the moment with her he didn't care if it killed him to keep her close to him.
The amount of passion and pleasure between the two of them made the world around them completely disappear. Every time she felt Draco push harder and faster into her she could feel her mind want to wander, but just as much as he made her lose control he also helped her regain it.
Her grip on him tightened as he felt her release around him. The sound of the rest of the lights in the room popping made him pull her closer until the room and house went completely black as his thrusts finally slowed down. He kept his arms around her and just held her there, listening to her heavy breaths get lighter.
She could see his mercury eyes staring at her through the dark room and she could tell he was smiling at her. The sound of a loud knock on the door pulled them both from the trance they found themselves in as they got lost in each other's eyes.
"Can you two stop doing it so we have the lights back!" called Ellie through the door.
Draco felt Ginny's body start to shake with laughter as she tried to stifle her giggles. "What do you mean? We're not doing anything in here. We're just sleeping!" he called back out to her.
"Yeah, yeah!" Ellie called back out as she made her way back to her room.
Once they heard Ellie walking away they both started laughing out loud before Ginny walked over to the lamp beside her bed and touched it with her finger. In a matter of seconds, the whole Manor was lit up again.
"By the way," Ginny said as she walked back over to Draco. "You didn't put lotion on my other leg," she said with a smirk before he scooped her up into his arms and threw her on the bed.
The next morning things around the manor seemed almost completely back to normal. Draco could definitely feel a difference as he walked through the halls down to breakfast. Between the smell of food filling the air and the sound of his children bickering from the dining room he felt like everything was as it should be now. He was excited to bring Ember home from the hospital today and decided she would finish her healing here at home and have a MediWizard come to the manor. He just hated the thought of her lying alone in some hospital bed while they were all at home together. As excited he was to have his daughter coming home, he was unsure of her mental state.
He was passing Noah's room on his way down and saw the door was still closed. He knew Noah hadn't left it since he and Eve arrived yesterday. He lifted his fist to knock and hesitated for a moment, unsure if he himself even knew what he was going to say to him. After another moment of hesitation, he finally gave a light knock. It was a few seconds later when Noah opened the door.
"Draco? I mean... Mr. Malfoy-"
"Draco is fine." Draco cut him off. "Uh, what are you doing? Why don't you head downstairs for breakfast?" he suggested.
Noah just looked at him before turning and walked back over to the couch and plopped down on it. "I'm not hungry." He simply said with a shrug.
Draco just watched him for a moment, his mind going back to the day in the lab when Noah frantically begged him for help. The fear in Noah's eyes and the look on his face wasn't something Draco would soon forget.
"Well, since I get to be your babysitter for the next few days I insist that you come down for breakfast."
Noah just stared at him for a moment to see if he could pass on breakfast once more, but the look on Draco's face made him just shake his head and make his way downstairs. It was awkward silence most of the way down until Noah broke it.
"Uh, do you think..." he trailed off as he thought about his question.
"What?" Draco asked.
After a moment Noah continued. "Do you think I might be able to stop at my house later and grab a few things?"
The question was hard for him to ask for two reasons, first, he didn't want to inconvenience Draco and his family any more than they already were with him and Eve being there but second because he was anxious about returning home. There were a lot of not so fond memories there and after everything that happened to him at the lab, he thought of his home a lot differently now.
Draco was surprised at his question and he couldn't help but feel for Noah. He could relate to everything Noah had gone through his entire life and even what he was going through now. He was in no way defending his actions or the way he treated his daughter, but he knew what it was like to feel pressured into walking a certain path. He also knew too well the consequences of not following it.
"Of course, we'll head over there this evening."
Scorpius stood outside of the Zabini household and listened to the sound of the doorbell ring out before taking a step back and letting out a hard sigh. Seeing Raven again after everything that happened was making a lot of emotions surface for him. It had only been a few days since he saw her last but now here he was with a focus only on her which was forcing him to have to deal with all those feelings.
"You must be Scorpius." Came a woman's voice, pulling Scorpius from his thoughts and looking up at her.
"Oh, uh-"
"I'm Raven's mother, Iris." She said stiffly as she held out her hand to shake his.
"Oh, n-nice to meet you." He quickly stumbled for words before taking her hand.
He had never met Raven's mother and didn't expect to see her greeting him. She was wearing a slight smirk as she glanced over him from head to toe.
"Raven's upstairs in her room packing if you'd like to say goodbye." She said before turning away.
"Goodbye?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
She turned back to him. "Yes, Raven will be moving in with me."
He just looked at her for a moment before finally stepping into the house and looking up the flight of stairs to where he knew Raven's room to be. He couldn't help but feel for her right now even though she had hurt him like she had. He knew how hard it must be for her to see her mother again after the way she left her and her father. He also knew it must be killing her to have to live with her mother now after she had caused them so much heartache.
He finally came to her bedroom and saw her packing a suitcase through her cracked door.
"Raven?" He softly called before giving a light knock and pushing the door open bit.
She snapped her head up at him. "Scorpius? Uh, what are you doing here?" she quickly asked as she wiped the tears from her already puffy eyes.
He just stared at her, his heart aching for her and the pain she must be feeling right now. "I wanted to see how you were holding up."
Her lips trembled as she tried to hold herself together, but she lost control of her emotions and broke down in front of him. His instinct was to hug, and he did; he couldn't just watch her cry and not try to comfort her. As angry as he was and hurt at what she had done to him, he still had a lot of history with Raven and in some ways still cared about her.
"I'm sorry Raven, I know how much this must be killing you."
"She has hardly acknowledged his death... how could she be so cold? They were together for so long." She cried into his chest.
He let her cry for as long as needed until she finally calmed down a bit and looked up at him. The look she gave him made him pull away and take a step back.
"Maybe your mother just doesn't know how to handle it right now." He suggested.
She just shook her head at his words in disagreement. After a few moments of silence between them, she finally looked at him once more. "You were right Scorpius."
"About what?"
"About me... I'm just like my mother... "
"No-"
"I am... I think we both need help right now. Maybe my mum and I being together again is what's best?"
"Maybe."
Her eyes met his as they welled with fresh tears. "I'm going to miss you and... I'm so sorry I hurt you."
He hugged her tightly once more before placing a kiss on her forehead and pulled away once more. He reached up to tuck a piece of her hair behind her ear and wipe away some of her tears.
"Goodbye, Raven."
Ringing... it was the only thing that was filling her ears right now as she stared into the foyer of the manor. She wanted to be happy to be standing in her home again, but everything seemed so much different now... so unfamiliar.
"Ember?"
The sound of her mother's voice cut through the loud ringing in her ears and made her turn her head towards Ginny.
"Come on, let's get you into bed so you can rest," Ginny said as she stood beside her to help escort her there.
Ember looked at the crutch she had placed under one of her arms and just found herself staring at it for a moment. Her eyes traveled over to the sling her arm was in and felt herself go numb. She felt her mother try to guide her inside when she didn't move or answer her, but she soon realized the crutch wasn't helping her much as she winced in pain.
She didn't want to verbally admit defeat as she realized she wouldn't be able to get to her room on her own. Instead, she just stood there as she felt her mother's eyes on her. She soon realized her father was beside her and felt him gently scoop her up into his arms and carry her to her room.
She noticed her sisters making their way down to her, but she buried her face into her father's chest in an effort to avoid them. There was just no way she could face them right now. She felt like facing them would make her have to face what she had been through and that was something she was nowhere ready to deal with yet.
She lifted her head a bit when she realized her father was carrying her to one of the guest rooms downstairs instead. Draco sensed her confusion as he carried her into the room and placed her on the bed.
"Your mother and I thought it best if you were on the first floor. This way you can be a little more independent and get to the kitchen and join us for meals... stuff like that. I think the stairs are going to be your biggest enemy right now." Draco said with a small smirk.
She hardly reacted to what he said.
"If you want I can bring you upstairs, I just thought-"
"It's fine." She barely whispered.
"You sure, Sweetie?" Ginny asked.
Ember gave a small nod before letting her mother help her lay back on some propped-up pillows.
"Uh, Ember... there is one thing I need to tell you." Draco started as he watched her lock eyes with him. "And it's completely ok if you're not comfortable with it."
She continued to stare at him.
"Eve and Noah are going to be staying with us for a few days... at least until the hearing."
He and Ginny waited for her reaction to what he had told her, but there wasn't any. Instead, she just looked down at her fingers playing with the hem of her shirt.
"We were trying to avoid them having to sit in Azkaban and the only-"
"It's fine... I understand." She said in a small frail voice. "I'm tired, I think I'm going to rest if that's alright." She said as she started to cover herself with the blankets.
"Oh, of course," Ginny said as she helped Ember get comfortable. She turned and exchanged a concerned look with Draco before turning back to her and placing a kiss on her forehead. "I'll check up on you in an hour or so." Ginny softly said before she and Draco left the bedroom.
They both stood in the hallway for a moment outside of the door and exchanged a sad look before Ginny shook her head. She knew this was going to be a hard recovery for Ember, physically, emotionally and mentally.
Eve stared at the oversized house before her; her eyes taking in every detail of it as she searched her mind for any memory of it. She felt a lump form in her throat as she followed Draco and Noah to the front door.
"Are you sure you want to come in?" Noah asked her.
Eve quickly nodded. She knew seeing the house her parents lived in without her would be difficult, but she felt like she needed to do this. She followed them into the foyer and watched Noah stop for a moment and take in his surroundings.
"What's wrong?" Draco asked.
"Just... reminiscing." He said sarcastically as he looked at the spot where he laid beaten half to death by Scorpius last time he was here.
Draco seemed to pick up on this and cleared his throat. "Go get what you need."
Noah made his way upstairs while Eve continued to look around the house; her attention falling on a few pictures above the fireplace. Her gaze locked onto a picture of her mother, father, and Noah... all of them together. The picture was awkward, not a normal family picture where you can see how happy everyone was. It was apparent there was very little family atmosphere... she could see and feel it in the picture. Although it wasn't the most warming photo of her family, she still felt angry that she wasn't in it. She didn't think she could hate her father any more than she already did, but looking at that framed photo made her blood boil.
A large crack formed across the frame before it shattered, and the pieces fell to the floor.
"Are you ok?" Draco asked her as he joined her by the fireplace.
She made the photo float over to her before she took it in her hands. After studying it for a moment she ripped her father's face from the picture and threw it aside.
"I'm fine." She quickly said before folding the picture and pocketing it.
Draco knew she very well wasn't fine, but he nodded at her response while she kept browsing the pictures. His attention went to a door across the room which he had an inkling was Adwell's study. He walked over to it as his curiosity grew and went to turn the knob when he realized it was locked. He mumbled a quick spell to unlock it but found it was useless as he jiggled the handle again.
He quickly snatched his hand back as he felt the door start to shake and then suddenly rip from the doorway and fly across the room. The door slammed into a shelf where there were many figurines, books, and some more photos, making most of them shatter and fall to the ground.
Draco turned to Eve. "So graceful... Thanks," he said to her as he walked into the office.
He knew how upset Eve was, especially after her elaborate assistance with unlocking the office door. She followed him inside as they both browsed around, and Draco could tell right away why Adwell had kept his office secured. The office reminded him more of one of the rooms back at the lab. There were multiple x-rays and medical records scattered about his office as well as pictures of some of the test subjects he had worked on.
Draco walked over to the wall and pulled down a picture of Ember. He felt his anger grow at the thought of Adwell having her picture up on the wall along with every other person's life he ruined. He watched the picture ice over before he crushed it into a pile of icy dust.
"Draco... isn't this your...?" Eve's question trailed off as she picked up a picture from her father's desk and showed it to him.
Draco grabbed the photo from her and felt his lip curl. "Yeah, that's my father." He whispered before he looked down at Adwell's desk.
He started looking for anything with either him or his father's name on it. Sure, he figured his father and Adwell must have been acquaintances back in the day seeing as though they both worked at the Ministry, but seeing a picture of Adwell and his father together made him think they were more than that.
"Draco... look."
Draco looked at the one of the files Eve was rummaging through and his eyes went wide. There were more than just photos of Ember, but of his whole family, even Harry's. His eyes quickly scanned the notes throughout the file and some of the pictures.
"These notes... these go all the way back to when Ginny and I first discovered our powers." He said more to himself. "And these pictures... these aren't all recent, there are pictures of our families from years ago."
"What business would your father have had with mine? What would he have wanted?" Eve asked.
Draco was in deep thought at the question. "A long time ago when everything with my father was going on, during one of our missions Harry and I were captured. We were almost killed... we were tortured and beaten within an inch of death. I remember my father saying something about my powers being a waste and that "we" could've been unstoppable. My father wasn't a stupid man... if he wanted something he only needed to find the right person to go to in order to get it. I would bet anything he thought Adwell would be able to help him somehow harvest my powers."
As much as he was surprised to find his father was doing business with Adwell as far back as when he first discovered his powers, it wasn't hard for him to believe. It only added to the hatred he had for him and made it that much easier to deal with his death.
Eve was quiet. She wasn't sure what to say, the whole situation was sickening.
"You guys ready?" came Noah's voice from the doorway.
They both nodded.
Noah walked over to one of the x-rays on the wall and stared at it. He saw his name in the corner of it and felt his fist tighten. "Anything else you guys want from in here?" he asked before clearing his throat.
They both shook their heads and headed out of the front door.
"This is a lot of stuff," Draco stated as he saw the numerous bags Noah had.
"Yeah, I wanted to make sure I got everything out." He explained before he brought his wand up and pointed it at the house. "Incendio." He said with a sneer as he watched his spell fill the house with flames.
"Whoa, Noah what the hell are you doing!" yelled Draco as he grabbed him by the shirt. "Are you crazy!"
Noah shoved him back. "I DON'T CARE! I RATHER THIS PLACE BURN TO THE GROUND THAN EVER STEP FOOT IN IT AGAIN!" he screamed in his face.
Draco backed off at his words, each word he yelled filled with pain and fear. He could see the yellow in his watery eyes surface as anger filled the young man before him. Draco turned back to the now burning house that was engulfed in flames. He finally nodded at his words and glanced over to Eve who was on Noah's side. She had tears of her own silently fall down her face.
"Come on, let's get out of here," Draco said as he led the way down the driveway.
Noah felt Eve lace her fingers with his as they walked a few feet behind Draco.
"Will you help me with something?" Eve asked him suddenly.
He turned to her. "With what?"
She locked eyes with him before moving in closer. "I'm going to kill Father... will you help me?"
He stared at her for a moment before looking back at the burning house. "Gladly."
A/N: So there you go, what did you all think? Comments or any feedback of any kind is always appreciated <3
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Unhinged 2: Til the Flame Burns Out