Great Hall w/ Moodz and Ellie

I smiled grimly. "That is exactly what I said, Malfoy. I'm surprised you don't know that already. Well, I suppose I know because I'm in contact with the Inner Circle every Friday. You should really join us, it gets very exciting. Learn to become an animagus. But the point is that yes, the Dark Lord has... I should say personally... paired us together. The reason he did what was because of how much power our two family's hold over the Wizarding World." i shrugged, getting ready to move out the door and walk out into the rain. There was a distant crack, and I knew that someone nearby a tree was now cracked in half.

I listened warily as she described the time that she spent with my father's closest associates. I, personally, had always been a little scared of trying to become an Animagi; I was profoundly afraid that somehow, my animal form would manage to be a ferret. "Why haven't I been told about this? I know Father knows, and Snape as well."

"Of coarse they know. Your father knew all along, but Snape was just recently tuned into all the news. Oh, and about me slapping Pansy. My hand never touched her. The mark was square, remember? Not the shape of my hand." I said, holding my fingers up and wiggling them. I reached into a pocket in my robes, pulling out an old leather bound book.
"The Dark Lords diary. Or I should say... Journal. To be more respectful. All of his personal thoughts. Even the proof to prove what I have told you." Tossing the book to him, I continued. "Sorry if what I have told you is sickening, its just the way he meant it to be." I shrugged, getting ready to leave this all behind.

I stared down at the book she had placed in my hand. I knew that the Dark Lord had a tendency to keep his personal thought on paper, had since he was a young boy. But how had Cira gotten her hands on this? This was precious; it must either be stolen or she must really be trusted on the basis of her descendance. I looked up at her.
"I'm not disgusted, I'm confused. I should've been told. Father will not hear the end of this from me. Neither will that....Snivellus," I said, using the most derogatory name I'd ever applied to Professor Snape. I had heard that brat Potter talking about his blood traitor father calling Snape that, and at this moment it fit, because I was steaming mad. "Look, we'll talk about this tonight...I really have to go see Pansy."

I smiled, my upper lip pulling up slightly to form into a sneer. "But first, lemme show you something." I walked forward, opening the book while it was still in his hands and flipped to a page that I had memorized. I tapped the page. It was the passage that he had written down at my birth. "There is basically all that you need to know. Oh, and Pansy was faking it. I had hardly tapped her with this book. I must say, she is a very good actress. Got to give that girl her props."

"Yeah, she's a bit of a drama queen. It keeps her interesting most of the time, actually. The only thing she can't fake is any kind of hate for me." I glanced down at the page, intending to just skim it, but the from the very first sentence it held my attention.
June 17, 1980: Cira Mari Slytherin born under inexplicable circumstances. No one expected her to live. She has escaped the clutches of death so easily, in a way I am almost envious of. When I touched the girl's forehead to acknowledge her as a true follower, a future Death Eater, I knew at once that I had to speak with Lucius. The young Malfoy is concerned in this. We've decided it's in his best interest not to tell him, as he will think he's being forced. Malfoys are notoriously not accustomed to being forced into things. This girl's life is uncharted, but it is certain that she will either end in infamy or disgrace. Death or greatness are in store. I'll make it a point to preside over the wedding myself. LV

I stared down at the pages and then looked back into Cira's face. "Preside over....what?"

"The wedding. He has it all planed out, Malfoy. He just needs to return, he needs to deal with all of the traitors. Read the next page." I said, flipping to the Dark Lords next entry. The look of shock on Draco's face was almost amusing. The book was old, the pages crusted and ripping. But the dark black ink that was used on the page stood out brightly. I shuffled over to the table, plucking a grape from a tray and walking back to Draco.

I devoured the writing on the next page with even greater curiosity.
June 21, 1980. Lucius brought his wife and son when he attended the celebration thrown due to the continuous improvement of the young Slytherin girl. The boy was wailing as if he had been placed under the Cruciatus curse, but as soon as the girl was carried in he immediately clamped his mouth shut and smiled. Not sure if that's unusual for such a young infant, but I find myself convinced that it is reinforcement to the flash of comprehension I felt on the day of Slytherin's birth. There is now no doubt within me that the two shall marry, unless some sort of extenuating circumstances are unavoidable. I don't intend to lay them out here, as I don't want to take any chances, but I foresee a problem that may be unavoidable; however I am doing my best from this moment to avert it.
At the bottom of this entry, instead of LV, TMR had been scribbled and then hastily marked over with an x. Beside it was written in huge, swooping, arrogant writing, "I am Lord Voldemort." If I wasn't mistaken, the original signature had been the Dark Lord's original name, the one he had cast off. Something that day must have seriously unsettled him to cause such a lapse in memory.
I looked up at Cira as she bit into a grape, simply watching me in my apparent shock. I walked over to an empty edge of the table and sat, and she leaned and propped her elbows on the tabletop, smiling. "I don't know what to say," I said, looking up into her face, which looked much softer and expectant than usual.

I smiled and shook my head.
"Niether did I when I first read that." I said, waving my hand toward the book. Reaching back, I scratched at the swirling tattoo that curved around my neck, reaching to my law line, thinking. I quoted some of the Lords next entry.
"The girl was improving rapidly, and I could tell she would be a great follower. From the next passage. He wrote a lot about you and I, Malfoy. Mostly about me, with you just subdly woven through my lifes story. Oh, and I remember that day. You truly were screaming very loud. I thought that my ear drums were about to bust when I walked, or I should say, carried in." I laughed.

"You remember that?" I asked, but then shook away the disbelief. This was a Slytherin we were talking about here, and I seemed to keep forgetting that normal limitations weren't necessarily applicable. "Never mind that. Do you plan on trying to carry out all of this?" I asked, partially hopeful and partially nervous. Had my life been secretly guided until now, slowly trying to make my path converge with Cira's? It seemed plausible that the Dark Lord would attempt something like that, but if so, why had I grown up believing that I would marry Pansy Parkinson?
"Do you have any other memories of us together, after that? I think I might vaguely remember some things, but it's just been so long...Once we started school they just taper off and die."

I widened my eyes, trying to look even more inoccent then when I tripped him. I knew it probably won.
"It all depends at what you chose, Malfoy." I said in a sweet voice. "And I remeber all of it, thanks to Him. You were a cute little baby." I said, laughing again. "I remember one time, when we were about 5, you climbing up a tree and me having to help get you down. Your mother wasn't there at the time, and your father was dealing with something that slips my mind."

"What I choose? I haven't had much choice in any of my life so far, I doubt I'll have any choice in this. Even if I do marry Pansy, he'll probably be shipping you in on Saturday nights trying to get a Malfoy/Slytherin heir. Wouldn't that be amusing? It's always fun to get both ways." Her face twisted and I could tell she wasn't amused by the idea of sharing me. She was better than that, anyway. If this was for real, I would choose. Who I would choose? Well, all that seemed to playing out before my eyes, so making guesses was useless.
"So....you've known this all along? Why havent' you....you know, made a move or something?" I asked, feeling slightly childish. As a Pureblood I was raised knowing that the man always makes the moves, but that had been destroyed when I had met Pansy Parkinson. I guess I had gotten too expectant when it came to girls, especially since Cira was so different.

"Kind of hard when you have Parkinson clinging to you for dear life every waking moment." I replied, my face darkening. "I have already made my choice, Malfoy. Its time for you too, because every day He comes closer. You will never know when to expect him, that is, if your not in the Inner Circle like I am." I smirked. I rubbed my left wrist were my tattoo continued down my neck to my arm and stopping on my wrist. It was a weird tattoo, but I liked it.

I was getting a little agitated with her smug demeanor of being so in with the Death Eaters. Personally, Father had been offering to take me to meetings for about a year and a half now, but I'd shrank away from the idea originally. Surely I couldn't be worthy yet, and what was the point sitting around with all of that going on if I couldn't be a part of it, if I didn't have that mark that made me special? Speaking of marks...
"What's that there on your arm?" I asked reaching across to take Cira by the arm and pull her sleeve up.

I raised one eye brow at him as he stared at my tattoo. "Its just a tattoo, Malfoy. I have had it for I don't know how long." I said, shrugging as well as I could with my arm being in Draco's hand. I actually could remember how long that I have had it. Ever since I started to go to the meetings, some how this tattoo formed itself on me. I wondered who made it appear.

I glanced slowly over the markings, wondering how far up they went, because as far as I could see, they didn't end at where I was able to push her sleeve up to. I silently laughed at myself when I had a stray thought of getting the clothes off so I could see the whole of it, and then realized that this is Cira Slytherin I'm thinking about. Then again, I no longer think she'd rather die than be naked in front of me. Then again, what girl would think that? I'm a Malfoy, we're like magnets, for girls and (shudder) boys alike.
"Anyway...you say you've made your choice? How can you be sure? And is it because he wants it or...do you really want to?" I stiffened as I realized that my voice had softened almost imperceptibly on the last few words, knowing the Cira would notice. She had keen senses and things rarely got past her.

I stared at his face before answering.
"Both, I suppose." I said quitely. His eyes were glued to my tattoo, and that was understand able. I couldent stop looking at it when I first saw it. I pushed my hair over my shoulder. "It goes to my neck too." I continued, pointing to my jaw.

"It's....different. I think I like it but I'm not sure...kind of how I feel about you," I added, wondering if that had been wise to say. I carefully studied Cira's face and wondered if there could be feelings there that I didn't have for Pansy. Pansy and I were as close to friends as I came, and she was obviously head over heels for me, but there was something different about Cira; even the air around her seemed to change, to shape itself to fit her. Everywhere she showed up she seemed perfectly in place, as if she were made to be there. And now I'm told that she was made to be with me? It made sense in an awkward sort of way.
"So, if I decide yes....when will all of this happen?"

I made a little noise, thinking about that last one.
"I don't know. The DE's trust me, but they won't give to much information out about my future when I ask them about it." I rolled my eyes. "And its your choice, deciding weather you like me or not. I can forse you into anything." I re-thought that. "Actually, I could, but that would be taking away your free will."

"Since when do we Slytherins care about little things like free will?" I asked, chortling. I meant it as a joke, but inside it hurt. Choices weren't part of pureblood life, at least not mine. I had just made myself content with the life I was expected to follow. Now that that idea had been turned upside down, I wasn't sure if I had grown to love that idea of life or if I was simply afraid of change.
"If I say yes now, can I change my mind later?" I asked, smirking.

"Hmm. No. Because I wouldent let you go." I said, looking right into is eyes. I waited for his reaction. And sometimes even a person like me has to think of what's best for the people around me." I sighed, gently removing my arm from his cold hands and rolling my sleeve back down, trying to keep other people from staring. The last think that was needed was for people to over hear what Draco and I were saying.

"Oh, really?" I asked, grinning. She wasn't the first girl to claim that she would hold on forever, but I had a strong feeling that she meant it. She had to be attracted to me, any person with eyes ought to be, but I was starting to get the feeling that she really cared about me. "So, you say I have to decide soon? What's going to happen if I don't? I mean, what kind of rush are they in?" As I asked it, I actually considered the thought in my mind. It wasn't as if her biological sundial was shadowing on the wrong side yet, and I couldn't see any other reasons for our marriage to be urgent. Unless...no, it was ridiculous to think that I would ever hold any place of power among the Death Eaters, even if I was betrothed to a Slytherin.

I pursed my lips, thinking.
"I'm not sure..." I finally answered. "It's hard to understand what the DE's want from me. Really, sometimes its hard to understand what they just generaly want." I continued, picking up another grape and holdinig it bettween my index finger and my thumb. "Oh, when you see Pansy again, tell her that I said that I am... sorry. When people talk about me and my family a tad to much in a bad way... Sometimes I just crack." I finished, and when I said crack the grape was crushed from in bettween my fingers.

A smile bit of flying grape slashed against my neck, but I appreciated the gesture. I knew that she probably didn't have any real remorse behind the apology, but if she had enough compassion in her to at least keep up the front of being polite, I could sympathize. I looked her over for a long moment and tried to take in all of the things that had happened today. After the kiss, I had wished that everything would just go away. Instead, everything had multiplied in complications. I wasn't sure whether I was going to be able to keep up with all of this, my school activity, and the certain...extracurricular activities that I was usually worried about. Quidditch flashed through my mind as well, and I wondered whether everything would just eventually pile up and crush me. But no, I was a Malfoy; we don't crack under pressure, only show our strength and ability to manipulate a situation to our advantage. That was what I needed to do here.
"I'll be sure to convey your sincerest apologies," I said with a mocking tone in my voice. "Are we still on for tonight? I'll probably have to spend a little longer with Pansy than I had anticipated, but I still think we need to talk."

"Oh, I'll be there tonight. You can count on it. Besides, I have to leave tonight anyway." I told him, shaking my hand, trying to get the mushed grape off of my fingers. I finally settled on peeling the pieces off one by one. "I'll only be there for a few minutes. Just enough to annoy Pansy even more. Don't tell her I am coming though." I smiled slightly up at him, and started to spin my wand around my fingers again.