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 38 - Wedding
Ashleigh automatically fell to her knees when she entered the room. Taking a deep breath to clam her nerves, she barely had a moment to think before the Dark Lord bid her to rise.
The Dark Lord considered her for a moment before a grotesque smile outlined his features.
“The beauty of a true Pureblood bride. I must say, if you were around when I was young Malfoy’s age I don’t think I’d have given you back to him.” He said, his eyes appraising her slowly.
“Thank you My Lord.” She replied, holding in her shudder…and her vomit.
“I have a wedding gift for you my dear. I thought you’d like to know who your birth parents are.”
Ashleigh’s head snapped up at this.
“Yes My Lord, I’d very much like to know if you’d be willing to tell me.”
The Dark Lord seemed pleased by what she said. After a moment he spoke again.
“Because it is your wedding day and only because it is your wedding day, I will tell you this information without expecting anything from you at this moment. Do you understand?” He asked, his eyes piercing hers.
“Yes My Lord.” She answered. Oh she understood all right. He wasn’t expecting anything right now. He would however, expect a favor in the future. She chose not to think of what kinds of ‘Favors’ he might ask.
The Dark Lord held out an envelope sealed in green wax.
“Happy wedding day, Ashleigh.”
Ashleigh carefully stepped forward and gently took the envelope from the Dark Lord, thanking him as she stepped into a bow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ashleigh sat in her room alone, flipping the envelope over in her fingers. She was afraid to open it. After all this time that she had hoped, had dreamed to find out who her birth parents are and here she sits, scared.
She didn’t really know why she was scared either. Was it that once she knew it still wouldn’t make any difference? Or was it the silent promise of the Dark Lord now that she has the information she has most wanted all her life…That he provided her?
Heaving a great sigh, she quickly tore the wax seal and took out the parchment that was inside. The parchment held five lines:
Father
Henry Jacoby
Mother
Leanne Mitchell
You’re Welcome
Ashleigh’s heart rate had sky rocketed as she opened the envelope and now that she had, it plummeted. She now knew her parents names. She really didn’t know how she felt. Nothing had really changed. She knew their names now and she also knew that she owed the Dark Lord. Suddenly knowing her parents names didn’t quite matter anymore.
Stowing the parchment in the top drawer of her dresser, she turned just as Narcissa knocked and poked her head in the door.
“It’s time.”
Ashleigh walked to the door and followed Narcissa out. It was time for her to get married, well…She hoped not.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There were people everywhere, many more than Ashleigh had been anticipating. When Narcissa said two hundred she really hadn’t thought about what a large number that was.
Peering out of the window she spied Draco standing at the altar waiting for her. He looked extremely handsome in his black wedding robes. The only thing that was really missing, she thought, was Harry standing by his side.
The music started and as everyone stood from their seats and turned toward the door she would emerge from, she pulled away from the window. Discreetly patting her thigh, she made sure her wand was fastened securely in her holster.
On her cue the doors opened on their own and she started her assent up the aisle that was of white silk. Keeping her eyes on Draco and a smile on her face she made her way to the alter to stand by the man who would hopefully not become her husband on this day.
Once she reached him, he gave her a reassuring smile and whispered “Are you ready?”
Ashleigh nodded once and they turned to the wizard presiding over their ceremony.
The tension in the air is palpable. Ashleigh couldn’t concentrate on what the wizard in front of her was saying. She had forgotten, while walking down the aisle, to look for where the Dark Lord was sitting. There came a time however, that she and Draco were supposed to face each other and when Draco tugged on her hand letting her know she needed to turn, she was finally able to see his location.
The Dark Lord was sitting in the first row on the groom’s side next to Draco’s parents. She used her peripheral vision to keep an eye on him, trying to decipher if he suspected anything.
The ceremony was almost complete and nothing had happened yet. The bonding was next. If they went through with the bonding there was no going back. They would be married on this day.
What was Harry waiting for? Had he fallen asleep?
Ashleigh and Draco grasped each other’s wrists in preparation for the bonding. Just as the wizard raised his wand to perform the bonding, a loud shout of “AVADA KADAVRA” rang out.
The crowd started screaming and running in different directions, not sure of where the curse came from or who it was directed at.
Ashleigh could not see the Dark Lord with all the people running so she and Draco played their parts and clung together with surprised and worried expressions on their faces “looking” for a place to hide.
Together, they sank down to the ground behind the altar and carefully peaked out from behind. The crowd was starting to thin. The Death Eaters held their wands aloft, trying to find where the curse came from and the unlucky person lying on the ground dead.
A moment later a very loud, frustrated growl came from their left. They spied Bellatrix running over to the Dark Lord looking frantic.
“Do you think it worked?” Ashleigh whispered to Draco.
“In one way or another if that noise that came from him was any indication. We won’t be able to tell until more people leave though.” Draco whispered back.
Within the next five minutes the crowd had dissipated completely. The only people left were the Dark Lord, the Death Eaters, the Malfoy’s and the hidden Order members. The only real surprise was how many Death Eaters stayed behind. Only eleven that Ashleigh could see at the moment which was a fraction of what they were expecting. Things were looking up.
The moment the Dark Lord was visible Ashleigh and Draco both gasped in surprise at what they saw. The Dark Lord’s beady pupils are no more. It’s as if his eyes had rolled to the back of his head and had a permanent sticking charm placed upon them.
The Dark Lord was flailing around like a fish screaming at his followers to do something.
Bellatrix was kneeling beside him trying to calm her master while the others were trying to figure out how this happened.
Ashleigh and Draco listened closely.
“Must have been a diversion.”
“A silent spell could have done it.”
“Who could have done it? You’d think the person who did it would want to stick around to see that they succeeded.”
“BRING ME A HEALER! I MUST HAVE MY SIGHT BACK, I MUST!” The Dark Lord yelled in frustration.
Ashleigh and Draco just stared at each other, slow smiles spreading across their faces. It had worked!
With that admission made from the Dark Lord, the Order members took their cue and while, staying hidden, started firing hexes at the Death Eaters.
The Death Eaters were once again taken by surprise and since they couldn’t tell where the attacks were coming from, were on the defensive.
Ashleigh and Draco stayed hidden, as per the plan, and watched everything unfold. It was brutal to see the Death Eaters go down. Some were simply stupified while others were torn to shreds with a Sectumsempra or blown to bits with a powerful Diffindo.
The carnage was enough to make anyone with a weak stomach sick, a fact proven by a Death Eater whom Draco did not know.
Soon enough the Death Eaters were down to one as Lucius and Narcissa had ducked back into the house after forcing two of the others to drink Polyjuice with their hair in it. It was the perfect alibi, especially since those two Death Eaters were dead and were now permanently stuck looking like Lucius and Narcissa respectively.
Bellatrix was the only one left standing to try and protect her master and suddenly every one of the Order members except for Harry dropped their disillusionment spells and jumped out of their hiding spaces.
Ashleigh could tell that there had definitely been some casualties. Remus and Tonks were nowhere to be found. George had a massive abrasion on his chest but it looked like he was able to heal it to some extent since he stood proudly next to Fred. The other members looked as if they caught a few stray spells but nothing serious as far as she could tell.
“Finally come out to play have you?” Bellatrix asked, chuckling shrilly.
The members of the Order didn’t respond with words. They all simultaneously started throwing hexes at her.
Bellatrix shrieked as she attempted to protect herself from the onslaught of spells. It was Molly’s curse however, that brought her down.
Bellatrix looked as if she was in extreme pain. She stood rigidly, arms and legs held straight and away from her body. Slowly, she began to cave into herself as she hit the ground. Moments later there was nothing left of Bellatrix LeStrange except for the black corset and dress that she had always worn.
Apparently the Dark Lord could feel when his most loyal Death Eater had met her end. He screamed in rage and something like pain. At that point he knew he was beat and tried to Disapparate. Failing miserably, he screamed in frustration.
“Trying to escape Tom? I never thought I’d see the day that you would run away from a fight that didn’t include Dumbledore.”
“Potter!” The Dark Lord seemed surprised and confounded all at once.
“Do you like our variation of the Avada Kadavra? Ashleigh was the one who realized that it is indeed the intent with that spell. I couldn’t kill you with it but I can apparently kill your eyesight with it. She really is quite brilliant isn’t she?” Harry taunted as he moved in a wide circle around the Dark Lord so that he couldn’t tell which direction his voice was coming from.
Voldemort started throwing out AK’s randomly and everyone took cover. That’s when Harry decided to take final action so that no one else would be killed.
He aimed straight and shot the silent spell that Dumbledore had him working on secretly at the Dark Lord’s chest.
The Dark Lord howled in pain and glowed a vivid gold before be burst into ash.
Joy erupted throughout the garden. Members of the order surged forward to congratulate and thank Harry, hoisting him on their shoulders as if he’d won the Quidditch World Cup. The celebrations had lasted only a few minutes before Harry heard a heart wrenching scream for his cousin.
Jumping down from Fred and George’s shoulders he ran over to the dais to find Draco bent over in agony. Knowing this is where Draco and Ashleigh were hiding, he immediately feared that something had happened to Ashleigh since she was not here.
“Where is she Draco?”
Draco looked up at Harry with pain in his eyes.
“She’s gone! She disappeared just as the Dark Lord died.” He said as he looked once again at the rings she’d left behind.
While AFF and its agents attempt to remove all illegal works from the site as quickly and thoroughly as possible, there is always the possibility that some submissions may be overlooked or dismissed in error. The AFF system includes a rigorous and complex abuse control system in order to prevent improper use of the AFF service, and we hope that its deployment indicates a good-faith effort to eliminate any illegal material on the site in a fair and unbiased manner. This abuse control system is run in accordance with the strict guidelines specified above.
All works displayed here, whether pictorial or literary, are the property of their owners and not Adult-FanFiction.org. Opinions stated in profiles of users may not reflect the opinions or views of Adult-FanFiction.org or any of its owners, agents, or related entities.
Website Domain ©2002-2017 by Apollo. PHP scripting, CSS style sheets, Database layout & Original artwork ©2005-2017 C. Kennington. Restructured Database & Forum skins ©2007-2017 J. Salva. Images, coding, and any other potentially liftable content may not be used without express written permission from their respective creator(s). Thank you for visiting!
Powered by Fiction Portal 2.0
Modifications © Manta2g, DemonGoddess
Site Owner - Apollo