I sit there, in complete silence, my eyes empty... Just as empty as my head. I can't think, never mind talk. I've been hit with some strange form of paralysis. My parents will just have to take me to St. Mungo's and pray to Merlin that there's some Healer that can bring me back from this state.

My mind won't turn back on. The only thing I can feel or hear is my heartbeat. And it's not comforting because it's like a fanatic maniac, banging hard against my ribs.

I can't breathe! I'm choking on air! This isn't normal. But I can't help the feeling of suffocation. This is it, I'm going to die one hell of a slow and painful death!

'Arranged marriage,' that's the first thing that my minds manages to come up with. I wish it had come up with something less unsettling, like "the sky's blue", but I'm relieved that it's working. At least it's forming some sort of sentence. However, the reminder is not welcomed and, if anything, my heart just speeds up a notch. I'm going to enter heart failure soon enough.

I blink and my eyes stings. I wonder how long it's been since I last blinked. I blink a few more times, and attempt to regain my focus. I can see my mother's - Ariana Belby - brown eyes watching me carefully. I want to scream and yell and punch the table, but I've only just regained the ability to think and blink. I should probably wait a little longer before pushing my limits.

My head slowly turns to my father, Falco Belby. He seems rather calm, but his grey eyes are just as unsettling as my mother's. 'Now, Eva,' he calls slowly 'perhaps you could attempt to form a sentence.'

Oh, I want to murder them both, in the spot! Marriage, they want me to have an arranged marriage! Their only child, their baby, who is barely twenty... I thought the father's role is to hold on to their baby girls and not want to let them go ever! And here he is, my father, talking about arranged marriage!

'Marriage,' I utter in a low hoarse sound.

'I was going for a sentence,' says my father 'but a word will do.'

I am going to get him sent to Azkaban! I wonder if there's still a copy of the Constitution somewhere in the house. Perhaps there's something in there about parents NOT being able to just send their daughter into a stranger's arms.

'Falco,' my mother hisses 'now is not the time for jokes.'

A joke... That's what all of this must be, one big fat terrible joke! But I know it isn't. My father's wearing that expression he has every time he's talking business which, of course, only infuriates me further. My marriage shouldn't be a business contract, but I know it is.

I get up from my seat. We're all in the dinning room, seated and have just had lunch. Of course they fed me first. I would be a savage had they told me this before. However, suddenly I feel nausea. I walk towards the window. Our Manor has a great view. From here I can see nothing but green and, right at the end, I can see the begriming of the meadow. I wish I could just run out the front door and head there, like I did as a child.

But I'm not a child anymore and soon - too soon - I won't be able to go to meadow. I'll be living in some other place - some place I don't know and that is certainly NOT home - with a stranger that I'll have to call husband.

I run a hand through my wavy black hair. This can't be happening to me! Of all the things I'd never expect an arranged marriage. Yes, my family is one of the oldest pureblood families there are, but my parents were never traditional. Their marriage was not an arranged one, although it was approved by both parts. My parents were Aurors and had none of those prejudices most pureblood families had. This didn't make sense, no sense at all!

I could see my parents watching me carefully through the window. My grey eyes were much darker than I'd expect. Probably just the dark side of me reflecting, as I plot my parents assassination.

I turn around. My parents are very serious and my mother is trying to hide her fear. She's nothing like me. Or rather, I'm nothing alike my mother. I've taken after my father in every way possible. Our hair, our eyes, our face features and pale skin. Even our personalities are very much alike. I believe the one thing I've inherited from my mother would be her hourglass figure and, for that, I'm thankful.

'I'm twenty,' the words leave my mouth as if they're an explanation of some sort.

'We're well aware of your age, sweetheart,' my mother tries to pull of a smile. Her smiles are normally the most beautiful thing anyone's ever seen, but right now, under the weight of her fear, it's a little awkward.

'No, I mean I'm twenty,' I repeat, and then shake my head. I need to articulate better than this if we're going to start discussing it. 'I'm young, too young.'

'You were always far more mature than your years.' My farther's words aren't said in a flattery manner. Instead, they sound very matter-of-factly.

I want to cry. I feel rejected, as if I'm some toy that's been played with far too many times and may now be passed down for someone else to play with.

'Why do you want to marry me off?' I ask, and I can't help keep away the bitterness in my voice.

'Marry you off,' repeats my mother, her brown eyes still a little scared. 'Honey, you make it sound as if-'

'You're getting rid of me,' I suggest. 'Well, isn't that what you're doing?'

'Eva, we are your parents, you're our only child, of course we don't want to get rid of you,' my father tells me and he's looking at me as if what I'm accusing him of is extremely stupid.

'Well, that's sure what it feels like,' I can't keep the hurt from my voice and it seems to take an effect on my father. My mother, however, is completely oblivious.

'Sweetheart,' I want to snort. She wants to marry me off and can still manage to call me that with all the love in the world hanging in her voice. 'Your father and I,' she hesitates 'we owe someone. There were... circumstances and we swore, were they ever to need our assistance, we should provide them our help.'

I don't get a single word this woman's saying. She's speaking in code. She does that when she's scared, she channels her inner business woman.

'When your grandfather passed away he left us a tremendous debt to pay,' she tells me. Finally, something I can understand. 'Your father and I had just become Aurors. Our income was steady, but not enough to pay off the debt. Sooner or later we'd lose everything; Your Godfather stepped in. He offered your father thirty five percent of the companies. It increased our income a great deal and, in a matter of five years, we had solved that problem.'

I'd heard of this story... Many times actually. The tale of how the Malfoys saved our necks. We would've ended up in the streets were it not for them. And Lucius Malfoy - my Godfather - had taken a big leap of faith in my father by simply handing him over that many shares. Not to mention most of the board was against it, making Lucius a target.

Most people thought of the Malfoys as cold beings. I could hardly blame them for doing so. They sure knew how to pull off the act of not caring in public. But behind closed doors they were something else. A typical family that cares for one another. I guess that's why it's so hard for everyone to understand. They just can't understand how the same people who claim to have risked it all for family, can go around acting so cold. But there's a reason "Xixi" was my first word (It was meant to be Cissy, which is what my mother calls Narcissa, my Godmother).

And then it hit me, why we were speaking of the Malfoys, why this was related to my arranged marriage. The pieces were starting to fit and I was slowly starting to understand. My fiancé, my future husband, the stranger I'd be sharing a roof with was, after all, not that much of a stranger. I was meant to marry Draco Malfoy.

'But- How' I pause, trying to get a grip on myself. I need to articulate. Come on, Eva! 'How do I help?'

'You've been all over the Prophet lately with Ron Weasley and Harry Potter,' my mother reminds me. Yeah, like I need a reminder. I constantly find my picture in the front page. 'You've been pinned down as their new best friend. Not to mention all the compliments you get regarding you latest work. If you marry Draco you'll show the wizarding community that indeed it is possible to understand and forgive his actions and, who knows, maybe he'll even be praised for them, like Severus Snape.'

Oh, now I was really going to get sick. Harry and Ron would go off the roof when I got to work later today and told them; Ron more than Harry. My mother was right, of course. After the Battle all students that had participated were given instant permission to become Aurors. Most took on the offer, but dropped out the first week. By the end of the first year there were only fifteen of us. But I suppose our third year was the worst. Neville left because he wanted to pursue something in Herbology and Ginny was invited to join a female Quidditch team. Hermione Granger had never joined us to begin with. She'd return to Hogwarts, having set her mind on a nice steady job at the Ministry. I don't blame her; the girl's had enough excitement to last five lifetimes. It was like watching flies drop. Every other week someone left - or began thinking about it - and there were even bets. I was on the top 5 most likely to leave next, but never did. I think only Luna and Harry truly believed I'd stay.

It's been four and a half years. Luna's announced that she's leaving this week and, for some reason, it's been particularly hard to let that one sink in. When she goes, I'll be the only girl left on the field. Harry and Ron usually team up, but whenever I can tag along, I'm more than happy to do so.

I can see it now, Ron's ears turning red as I tell him that I'm about to marry a boy he despises. Harry will understand, eventually. Perhaps George might swing by, make a couple jokes at my expense, lighten the mood.

My father's been pacing around. I wonder if the guilt's finally sink in. And when I catch a glimpse of his eyes, I know it has.

'Fuck it,' he hisses and he marches up to my mother. 'We can't do this,' he tells my mother. 'We married for love. We can't keep her from doing the same.'

His words hit my mum like a ton of bricks. They were lucky. They found love among purebloods. They pleased their parents and found love, all in one go. My mum's eyes have nothing but regret and guilt splashed all over her. And I can feel her compassion.

I'm too busy to take notice of them now. They've managed to make my mind focus on him again. I'd tried so hard over the years to get over this and yet, it always came back to bite me in the ass when I least expected. It was like the universe was determined to have me hold on to something that even I didn't understand. And I find myself remembering the last time I saw him.

Flashback - May 5th, 1998

We've been at this for hours. The sun has set a while and it's completely dark now. Do this Death Eaters need no sleep?

I run down the hallway, anticipating Bellatrix's attack on Ginny. Ginny soon catches up and manages to battle the witch. As we glance at each other, neither really willing to kill someone, Molly Weasley appears and soon Bellatrix's body falls to the ground lifeless. I have gained a whole lot more of respect for this family (if that were even possible at this point).

'Have you seen Neville?' I ask Ginny. She shakes her head before a red light catches our eye. There are duels happening all around us. Death Eaters VS us. I have no idea who's winning at this point. We're just trying to make sure no one dies.

I tell Ginny that perhaps we should leave the Great Hall. McGonagall, Mrs. Weasley and Slughorn are kicking ass here, so we might as well help those who do not have the upper hand.

I push Ginny to the ground the minute we arrive at the fourth floor. I felt it before I even saw it, the blue light coming our way. The hex came from one very ugly looking wizard, who's tall and skinny. He has crooked teeth and grins at us in a way that sends shivers down my spine.

Ginny barely has time to send a hex his way before five more appear. We know we probably won't make it out of this without at least an injury, but we'll bring down as many as we can before they get the satisfaction.

Hex after hex we manage to make them all collapse. We high-five each other but we've left our guard down far too soon. There's more coming. We embrace ourselves for yet another battle, but it never comes. I pull Ginny by her sleeve and we return to the third floor.

'Traitor,' I've never seen this one before, but he's definately one of them. He has red hair and teeth far too big for his mouth. There's a horrible cut on his cheek, which is obviously a result of a curse, because it has all sorts of weird stuff coming out of it. 'You were never one of us. Always one of them... Always on Dumbledore's side.'

'I'd rather die than be one of you!' blows the voice of whomever the redhaired's talking to. Only I know perfectly well who's talking. I'd know his voice anywhere.

'Well, if you insist,' the red haired Death Eater grins in an evil way. I don't know what made me do it. But I released Ginny, who attempted to catch me again, and jumped right in front of the Death Eater's wand.

'Confringo!' I don't usually use this one; it causes anything that the spell meets to explode in flames. So you can imagine what happens next: the Death Eater begins to burn, and I feel no compassion. It's Ginny who turns the fire out, removing the wand from his hand.

I turn to Draco, my wide grey eyes searching for any signs of injury. There are none. He looks at me slowly, a line in between his eyebrows, a result from the frown he know wears.

'Eva!' Ginny calls. 'Eva, we've got to go!'

I don't want to go. In fact, I'd really appreciate it if she could just turn Draco and I into stone, so that we could stay here forever. But she won't do that and I'm needed somewhere else. I hold his stare a second more before joining Ginny.

End of flashback

My father's hand rests on my mother's shoulder and she covers it with her own. They've both given me a choice. I take a deep breath in. I know I'll regret this in a few hours, when I tell Harry and Ron all about what's going on and Ron starts to plot a way to hunt down Draco Malfoy.

'I'll do it,' I announce. My parents eyes grow wide. Of course they're shocked. They had dreaded this moment; the moment when they'd give me these news. They'd expected a fit and a few yells. But I knew what I had to do. I knew that Lucius had done all he could have done for my family. It was only fair I did the same for them. I knew there was something unfinished between Draco Malfoy and I, although I would have probably thought of another way of approaching the matter. And having Narcissa and Lucius as parents-in-law was far better than some old cow and grumpy old man. 'I'll marry Draco Malfoy,' I say firmly.