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A Matter of Time	By : AdaraB Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Het - Male/Female Views: 7796 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns everything in the Harry Potter universe. I own nothing and I make no profit off of this story.

Chapter List
- 35
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- 37
Chapter 36 - Proposal

“When do you think she’ll wake?”

“It’s hard to tell. She’s in shock. The comatose state she is in is self induced to protect herself. She’ll come out of it when she is ready.”

Ashleigh could hear the chatter around her but could only place the voice of Lucius. Although she couldn’t fathom why he would ask a question like he did, the answer that swiftly followed clarified quite a bit for her. Everything made more sense. She knew that these lovely purple clouds and paper flowers couldn’t possibly be real even though they seemed very real. Even the magenta sky seemed to vibrate with life. Now, she was certain that none of it was reality. She recognized this place as a hideaway within her mind and she didn’t want to leave. Not after what happened.

After listening to the two men talk for a while silence finally fell upon her. It seems she has all the time in the world to just enjoy her hideaway and come to terms with what happened to her even though she knew deep down that she needed to return to her reality. She didn’t like it but she knew that she had to do it anyway. So with the conscious decision to come out of her hideaway, Ashleigh opened her eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An alarm rang loudly throughout the manor alerting the Malfoy’s to the fact that Ashleigh had finally awoken. Draco ran from the library and didn’t stop until he reached Ashleigh’s room. Taking a calming breath he slowly opened the door so as not to scare her. What he found however, was enough to scare the shit out of him.

Ashleigh stood with tears in her eyes as she pointed her wand at her head. She had gotten out as ‘Obli’ before Draco disarmed her.

Ashleigh whipped her head around to find Draco with her wand in hand. Wiping her tears from her face she stormed over to Draco.

“Give me my wand Draco!” Ashleigh demanded forcefully.

“What in the bloody hell do you think you are doing? What made you decide that obliviating yourself is a good idea? Why would you do that?”

“BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO REMEMBER ANYMORE!” She screamed at him.

“I don’t want to remember.” She said again in a whisper as she fell to the floor sobbing.

Draco knelt down and pulled her into his arms while she cried. Every so often she would let out a scream of agony that caused tears to pool in Draco’s eyes that he couldn’t seem to stop.

When she started begging Draco to obliviate her he sent a Patronis to his father for help. He had no idea what to do for her at this point and he was afraid that she would try to wrestle her wand away from him to perform the spell herself.

Lucius arrived moments later and instructed Draco to lay her back on the bed.

After doing so, Draco attempted to pull away but Ashleigh’s vice like grip on him had him lying down next to her.

“Obliviate me, please!” She pleaded again in a strangled cry.

Draco just looked up at his father, asking him what he should do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ashleigh remained in an almost vacant state for the next two days. She spoke very little to anyone except the mind healer they brought in to attempt the process of moving on from such an abhorrent event.

The healer insisted that Ashleigh was no longer considering obliviating herself and that she recognized it was a stupid and careless thing to try to do to herself or try talking others into performing for her. What Draco wanted to know was if Ashleigh had finally forgiven herself for what happened.

Draco knew that that was where all of this was rooted. Ashleigh blamed herself for her abduction which led her to believe that her rape was her fault as well. When Ashleigh was able to finally see that none of those events were her fault she would finally be able to move on. Hopefully she would be able to do it soon because the Dark Lord was expecting news in four days on their impending nuptials.

Yes, that’s right. The Dark Lord expected him to MARRY Ashleigh before the month was out. Draco just about laughed at the absurdity of it when Lucius told him that the Dark Lord approved of their union and looked forward to their wedding. This coming from the THING that ordered Ashleigh’s rape.

He had yet to tell Ashleigh of these plans or to propose for that matter. She’d barely spoken five words to him since they’d called for the healer. The healer said she was making progress much faster than he thought she would but Draco had yet to see any of it. If he asked her how her sessions were going she’d give him a sharp ‘fine’ and that would be the end of it. He missed her. He missed how she used to be and he wondered if she’d ever be that person again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco needed advise. He needed advise and there was only one person he could really go to in his current situation. Potter was grating on his last nerve. They agreed at first, well he and his father agreed that it wouldn’t bode well for Harry to see Ashleigh in the shape she was in. A few days later he broached the subject with Ashleigh. She claimed she wasn’t up to seeing any visitors so he sent word to their Gryffindor friends for her since correspondence wasn’t something she could bring herself to do.

Now Harry was sending hourly owls inquiring about her wellbeing. It was grating on Draco’s last nerve but he didn’t want to upset Ashleigh by inviting them over when she wasn’t ready to receive visitors.

Stopping outside of his father’s office, he paused a moment before the door opened. Draco gaped like a fish at the sight of a seemingly smiling and happy Ashleigh look back at his father as she opened the door.

“Thank you again.”

“It was my pleasure.” Lucius noticed Draco standing there and nodded his head toward him which brought Ashleigh’s attention to him.

Smiling widely, Ashleigh hugged him with a force to which Draco had no comparison. All he knew was that she was smiling and she was back in his arms where she belonged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ashleigh pulled a still stunned Draco into the library where she sat them down on a leather sofa. Turning toward him and seeing that he still wasn’t fully understanding her change in attitude, she started to explain.

“The sessions with the healer really did help. He assured me that I didn’t have to talk about anything that I wasn’t ready to. That’s why I wasn’t talking to anyone other than him. I wasn’t ready to talk about what happened to me with those who knew me best. I was afraid to be judged.”

“We would never judge you!” Draco insisted.

“I know that now. I know it’s also a little too late but I felt differently at the time. I felt that I would be judged because I judged myself. And believe me, the thoughts I had about myself weren’t pretty or encouraging. I’m not going to go into detail but I will tell you that I was raped twice.” Ashleigh said before taking a deep breath.

Draco took a few minutes to process this information. He’d already known that she had been raped and beaten by Blaise but to hear those words leave her lips tore a new hole in his heart. When he looked back up at her with sad eyes she continued.

“The Dark Lord didn’t mark me which is a relief but I have a feeling its coming soon, possibly the day of our wedding.”

“Father told you about that?”

“Yes well, the Dark Lord expects to hear good news by tomorrow and I wasn’t exactly in the mood to be proposed to this last week. Your father agrees that this wedding will also serve as an induction into his inner circle for the both of us. It’s our best opportunity to end this war. There will be so many people there that Harry can easily be disguised and go on the offensive.”

“You discussed this with my father?”

“Yes. When he told me about the ‘Wedding of the Century’ as he put it, he suggested that it may be the most opportune time to attack and have the Dark Lord off his guard. After all, he thinks the only people attending this wedding are going to be Death Eaters or supporters of the dark. He is contacting the Order at this very moment to alert them to the situation.”

“That leaves less than a month to prepare.”

“Yes. I do know the date that the Dark Lord settled on for our wedding, would you like me to tell you or would you like to guess?”

“Oh let me take a stab at it. Could it possibly be July 31^st?”

“How ever did you guess?” Ashleigh asked sarcastically.

“The Dark Lord is a sadistic bastard who thinks dates important to someone else will magically become fruitful for him, that’s how.”

Ashleigh chuckled as she leant her head on his shoulder. They stayed curled up like that for what seemed like forever before Draco broke the silence.

“I am sorry about one thing though.”

“Oh, what’s that?” Ashleigh asked as she looked up at him.

“That I wasn’t able to give you the proposal that you deserve.”

Ashleigh sat on that for a moment before responding.

“Well if things go our way and this wedding doesn’t end up happening I’ll fully expect an amazing proposal with an outrageously expensive ring because I know you wouldn’t do it any other way. Deal?”

“Deal. Although if this wedding does happen I’ll still ask you to marry me the proper way and have a wedding the way it should have happened the first time.”

Ashleigh just smiled at him and snuggled in closer, not believing how lucky she got.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco wandered around the gardens outside of Malfoy Manor with his hands in his pockets thinking about how he was going to apologize to Ashleigh for his actions during their past argument. He never had the opportunity to tell her how sorry he was and he needed to do it soon. He’d intended to tell her last night but she had fallen asleep against him in the library so he had carried her to bed without waking her.

He decided just telling her without all the fanfare would be best since that was what she wanted in the first place. He needed to get this out of the way so that they were once again the most united they could be. They had to meet the Dark Lord in two hours to announce their engagement and they needed to put on a good show.

He also didn’t want Harry to be any angrier at him than he already was. He’d not yet been allowed to see Ashleigh and Draco knew that he was chomping at the bit. Harry said he had some news about their attempts to change the Avada Kadavra but he hadn’t said if it was good news or bad. He had no idea what to expect but he really hoped that Harry would say it worked like a charm.

Just as Draco rounded a corner he saw Ashleigh walk out into the garden headed toward him. She wore the outfit that she had been wearing when his father brought her home. Even though he hated seeing her in something so dark, literally and figuratively, he had to admit she looked dead sexy. That corset did amazing things to her breasts and wondered how it would look without the dress underneath.

Shaking the thoughts of dominatrix Ashleigh from his mind, he met her half way.

“You don’t look too happy?”

“I’m not. I was hoping I’d never have to see these things again but I guess I knew that wasn’t going to happen with having to see the Dark Lord again.” Ashleigh said as she pulled her skirt out with a snap of her wrist.

“We’ll hopefully this will all be over soon and you won’t ever have to see let alone wear anything of the sort again.”

Ashleigh smiled and hugged him for a moment before pulling away.

“Thank you for carrying me to bed last night. I didn’t realize how tired I was.”

“I’d do anything for you, which brings me to my next topic. I’m so sorry for how I treated you. You were right; I should have known you would only want a simple apology rather than all of those gifts. You’ve proven time and time again that things don’t matter to you and I just ignored it.”

Ashleigh could tell that he was sincere in his apology and forgave him immediately. She couldn’t hold a grudge against him; she loved him too much for that.

“Forgiven and forgotten.”

“Now that we are past that, I do have something for you.”

Ashleigh groaned and rolled her eyes.

“Oh don’t get so upset. I think an engagement ring is in order since we are about to announce our engagement don’t you?” Draco asked as he pulled a ring box from his pocket. Opening the box, he presented her with a platinum ring set with an emerald cut diamond that was flanked on either side by smaller diamonds that were also emerald cut. It was incredibly beautiful and huge but it isn’t something that Ashleigh would have ever picked out. She knew instantly why Draco picked it. It was something that the Dark Lord would expect him to choose. It wasn’t something that stood for the love between them. As real as those diamonds were, it was fake.

“This isn’t the one that I really want to give you. I’m saving that for your real proposal.” Draco said as he took the ring out of its box and slipped it on her finger.

“It's appropriate for what the occasion calls for.” Ashleigh said as she looked down at her left hand.

“My thoughts exactly.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ashleigh, along with Draco, Lucius and Narcissa were currently groveling on the floor waiting for permission to rise. When he finally granted it, they stood without a word.

The Dark Lord held out his right hand and ‘asked’ Ashleigh to come forward. She did so with no hesitancy and placed her left hand in his. Inwardly she cringed at the feeling of his cold, scaly like skin.

“A Malfoy heirloom I presume?” He asked.

“Yes, my Lord.”

“Befitting of the next Lady Malfoy.” He said as he released her hand.

“Thank you my Lord.” Ashleigh replied graciously as she stepped back with a slight bow.

“I assume preparations have begun Narcissa?”

“Yes my Lord. The wedding and reception will be held at Malfoy Manor and all of your requests are being met.”

“Make sure they are. This wedding will be the beginning of a new era. It must go as planned.”

Ashleigh was wondering what the Dark Lord meant by that last statement when he dismissed them.

On their way out of the Zabini’s residence they were stopped in their tracks by Blaise. On his face he wore a sneer that would make the Dark Lord proud.

“I’m glad there are no lasting impressions from our time together Ashleigh. I’ll have to make some adjustments for next time. I didn’t get nearly enough time to enjoy all of your…assets.” Blaise said as he stared blatantly at her breasts.

Draco threaded his arm around Ashleigh’s waist and pulled her to him tightly.

“If you even come close to my fiancé I’ll not hesitate in killing you. Your only saving grace is that the Dark Lord is in the next room and would not appreciate me killing one of his followers. However, if you even LOOK at her assets again I will exact my vengeance in a most fitting way.”

Blaise just smirked at him again and turned back to Ashleigh.

“You should really tell him how much you liked being my whore. How much you liked sucking my cock.”

Ashleigh was already fuming inside but when he started telling everyone about how he raped her she lost control.

Pushing Draco away from her she swiftly walked over to Blaise and punched him in the face. She then kneed him in the groin, and when he fell on the floor kicked him in the stomach twice before Draco pulled her away.

“If you EVER come near me again I won’t just use my fist to hurt you. My wand will be next and you won’t live to see the break of day!” Ashleigh told him in a deadly voice.

“Draco, take Ashleigh outside. Narcissa please go with them, I need to talk to the young Zabini for a moment.”

After the three were out of hearing distance Lucius honed in on Blaise, backing him into a corner.

“You would do well to remember that come the end of the month Ashleigh will officially become part of my family, although I already consider her family. As you well know I am fully capable of protecting my family. In the instance of your interference in my son’s and his fiancé’s life I am prepared with information that I am sure you and your father would rather not see come to light. Am I making myself clear?”

“You don’t have anything on us!”

“Would you like to bet on that? I can guarantee that I would win that bet and that you and your family would lose, well…everything.”

“I got your point.”

“Good. Now, I would advise you to not make an appearance at my son’s wedding. I wouldn’t want you to be overcome by my future daughter in-law’s…assets.” Lucius said and turned sharply to exit the house.

“Everything okay?” Ashleigh asked when she saw Lucius approaching.

“Everything is as it should be.”
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A Matter of Time