Disclaimer: I do not own the universe of Harry Potter or the characters with it; JKR does. All rights to her. No profit is being made from this whatsoever. No copyright intended. I only own the plot and the original characters.

Rating: T.

Warning/s: the same as the chapter before, this will be a common thing for the story.

Author's Note: Please don't forget to review, it would mean a lot to me!
Thank you to FountainOfStars for her incredibly encouraging review in the first chapter! It means a lot to me. – El x

Familiar Ties

Chapter Four

December 31st, 1996

The decorations for Christmas still adorned the walls, the only difference was that there was definitely less people at Hogwarts than there was on the twenty-fifth. Draco Malfoy was definitely sure that people had decided they'd spent the last day of the year with family and he half-wished he'd done the same thing. His mother was probably preparing her tea party for tonight. On New Year's Eve, Narcissa Malfoy would invite specific, influential people, to her tea party to discuss plans for the new year. She was always particularly good at those types of things and Draco vaguely wondered how she could enjoy the spotlight so much so despite her husband being held captive for his crimes against the Wizarding World.

He suspects it had a lot more to do with how relaxed his mother was, not having his father breathing down her neck at every given moment. Sometimes he silently hoped that this would be the end of their loveless marriage, but Draco knew otherwise.

Lucius Malfoy would be found innocent somehow and he'd come back to the Manor, as if nothing happened at all. He'd continue barking orders at his wife and son, until the sun came up and they knew their place in the world once more. Draco knew his place better than any before him; he was to make the Malfoy name proud and execute his mission without so much as a hitch. He had just a little over four months to prove the Malfoy worth to the Dark Lord and every time Draco takes a step closer to his future, he regrets it even more.

Amelia Scarlett had made him want to run away but in a beautiful, brilliant way that would earn them both a spot on the Dark Lord's death list.

A part of him wanted to rewrite his own life, to change the direction it was heading in. Her words terrified him in a way that made him want to cower. He wasn't strong enough to fight the desire to keep obeying the orders given to him. He wished he was as brave as the Gryffindor girl, making life what you wanted whenever you wanted.

He wasn't given the same luxuries in life.

Draco was destined to follow a dark path, until it earned him the death he so wished for by that point. He knew the actions he was going to take in June, that would cause a rift between the two – but he knew his place and she couldn't convince him otherwise. Their weirdly found friendship would have to end soon enough, and one forbidden mistake wouldn't change the choices he was going to make.

The choice he'd already made that were set in stone long before their drunken mistake on Christmas night.

It was obvious Amelia had brought him out that fateful night on October third in order to convince him to pick a new, lighter, path than the one he was dreading the eventual walk down. She had told him things – shown him things – to prove her point that the Dark Lord only had ill wishes, nothing good would ever come from his hatred of others. Draco knew what she was trying to say and the world that would be destroyed soon enough despite having no quarrel with their world.

Everybody was losing out with the genocide He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had planned.

Despite wanting, more than anything, to forget the mission given to him, he still knew his place. Amelia could never convince him otherwise. He had a feeling she'd continue trying and that made fear rise up inside of him. She had no place among his demons. She shouldn't have to suffer for the choice he was forced to make – in order to protect the mother he loved dearly.

He had come to that conclusion the morning after their mistake, that he would avoid her at all costs. If he didn't, he feared she'd stick her nose into places it would not be forgiven lightly. His darkness would consume her whole if he wasn't careful.

It had been a week and his body yearned for her touch once more, but he knew better than to give in once more. This was the real world. They weren't living in a fantasy one where their actions didn't have consequences. Their mistake would have consequences for the both of them if word got out. He had to keep his distance, to keep her at bay, even if it meant swallowing what left of the light he had inside of himself.

Choosing to lay with her would do neither of them any good.

It wouldn't stop the doom that approached them.

But as always, and expected, Amelia stubbornly refused to allow him to avoid her any longer. She'd snuck into his dormitory and demanded he acted as a man and explained his actions. Draco, half-dressed, spluttered out words in a manner that was incoherent. He was shocked and unsure how she'd managed to get into the Slytherin common room, let alone his dormitory.

It was a good thing all of his roommates were away for the holidays.

"What?"

"Don't what me, Malfoy. Why are you avoiding me?" Amelia asked, indignation evident in her voice. She stuck her nose up in a way to appear above her stature. Her body was rigid, unmoving, and she shot him a hard glare. She wouldn't take excuses and he knew it. He shouldn't have left in such a hurry, leaving her there. He knew he shouldn't have walked away every chance she took to approach him. He truly didn't have an excuse for the way he had been treating her the past seven days.

"How did you get in here," he asked, changing the subject tactlessly. He couldn't take her harsh glares and the unmoving stance of her body. She was pissed, and he was more than aware of that.

"It was easy," she snapped, gesturing around as if the Slytherins were far too dumb to have noticed her entrance. Draco scowled, "There are precautions, so these things don't happen," he said, rolling his eyes. He'd long forgotten the embarrassment he'd felt being underdressed and had regained a new sense of anger. It was directed at the beautifully angry brunette in front of him.

"Then maybe it's time to change the password."

"What do you want, Scarlett?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow. He took a seat on his bed, gesturing for her to explain once more. He knew why she was here, she'd said it enough times. He'd tried changing the subject which only angered him more, so he sighed in defeat, allowing her a chance to hurl the insults brimming at her tongue.

No matter what he said, she was still going to find a way to get under his skin.

Amelia took the bait as usual.

"You're such a jerk, Malfoy! How could you leave me there in the cold?"

"It was quite easy," he clipped back in an icy tone, leaving no room for an explanation on his part.

"Don't be a pompous dickhead," she responded, her words laced like a double-edged sword. She wasn't done insulting him, and he was making it far too easy to continue. Draco was more than aware she'd burn off some steam and then she'd talk like a rational human being. He deserved the insults, so he didn't stop them. He was a coward and he knew it.

He shouldn't have left her there, but he did, and he was ready to deal with the consequences.

The consequences came in the form of a seriously pissed of Gryffindor girl.

Amelia huffed, blowing the stray strands of her hair away from her eyes as she perched her hands on her hips, glaring daggers at the blonde boy. Draco could see right through her though despite her previous anger it was dwindling to a dying fire. Her brown eyes no longer sparked with fiery but with defeat. She wasn't forgiving him, but she was tired of yelling at him.

This was unusual for the two of them.

They always fought, and they never gave up. One of them just walked away after some time at passed and they didn't want to be berated for their actions any longer. The fire never burned out in either of their eyes but today it did. He was tired and so was she. Her anger had been for an entirely new reason and neither of them knew how to deal with that.

Draco could deal with her string of insults and angry outbursts, but he was new to her quiet, dwindling defeat. She never backed down from a fight and especially not with him. He feared it had a lot to do with the new situation they'd found themselves in. Neither had been prepared for their forbidden mistake on that hill and neither knew how to approach the situation at all.

This was new territory for the both of them.

"Draco," Amelia suddenly started, licking her dry lips as she stared down at him. He looked up at her, curiosity in his grey orbs. Her voice was soft and gentle, no more anger present. She sighed as she stepped closer to him, making him want to move away as fast as he could. He knew that whatever she was going to say wasn't going to be good for either of them.

"I get it," she whispered, taking a seat beside him. She lightly brushed her fingers against his, making him jerk his own ones away hurriedly. That was a rather intimidate gesture and not a passionate one at all. Them sleeping together had been raw passion, nothing more and he wasn't expecting any kind gestures from her. They weren't really friends and he knew not to kid himself with the thought alone. She was the enemy and he knew that.

He'd also slept with the enemy.

The world was turning upside down, way faster than Draco anticipated, and he didn't know how to stay grounded.

"You're scared," she murmured, as if terrified of voicing the words inside of her own mind. Draco's body instantly went rigid, feeling as if she'd found him out. Despite his drunkenness on Christmas night, he'd made sure she'd never actually taken his shirt off. He'd been very specific about it. He couldn't bare to let her see his darkest secret; the mark on his forearm. He'd thought he'd kept it pretty far from her eyes but maybe he'd been wrong.

Perhaps she knew all along that he was a Death Eater and she was too scared to voice what she already knew to be true.

It was too late – Draco was already one of them.

Darkness had already taken a hold of him.

There was nothing she could do now.

But instead of saying the words Draco feared, she said something entirely different.

"I don't know why but you are. This doesn't have to mean anything," she murmured. Draco's grey eyes sought out her soft, brown eyes in the darkness. The moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating her face in this weird way. She looked as beautiful as ever and he knew he should stop the next words from tumbling out of her mouth, but he couldn't.

He wouldn't.

"It's just some fun in a world full of crazy we've found ourselves apart of."

Her hushed whispers became throaty in a way, as if challenging him to deny the passion between them. They'd always had something despite their constant bickering. Their anger may have been present at all accounts but deep down inside, something bubbling inside unlike that of any anger.

Chemistry as plain as day.

Draco Malfoy couldn't deny his urges forever and she did have a point.

It was just fun.

It could only be that and nothing more.

It had to be hormones and being a teenager – because if it were to ever be more, they were both screwed in so many more ways than one.

"What do you say, Malfoy?"

Draco watched a smirk tug at her lips and he knew the answer without ever having to voice it.

Just as the clock stroke twelve, the answer came in the form of feverish kisses under the moonlight on the single bed.

Amelia Scarlett was a good lay after all – and he wasn't going to deny himself the pleasures of life anymore.