𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏 𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐄𝐏 | 𝐝.𝐦 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

-11-

I got to Black's house in less than twenty minutes and, as Draco commanded, told Kreacher to keep out any unwanted guests and be on guard for the time being. I also took my own advice seriously and kept myself awake for the rest of the night that followed. I didn't budge or feel sleepy. The thought of Draco being well and alive wouldn't simply let me drift off to sleep. I kept my wand in my hand, looking around the room every now and then, and checked the house every 20 minutes.

I didn't even want to know what had happened to Draco. The last time he left me hanging like this, I ended up not seeing him or hearing from him for months. From that period of time, I truly understood what kind of impact and power Draco truly held over me. Without him around, I lost all sense of what was important or who I could truly trust in dark times like these. I wound up trusting those who didn't trust me back, so, I was left with no one to hand on for most of the time I had spent in Hogwarts. It seemed like Draco was the only one who could get ahold of me and keep me in check.

Depending on one person and relying on them to solve all your problems and distract you from reality was embarrassing enough for me. I didn't like being not independent. I have always been the opposite. But that's what maybe attracted me to Draco the most. He was understanding and sympathetic towards all my worries. He was the only person I could trust. He was the only one who'd willingly stay up all night for me to goof around. All in all, he was the only one I loved and felt loved by. So the thought of losing him for another couple of months or even forever was torturing me.

Trying to shake the thoughts from my mind, I decided to take a round tour around the house one last time before I could rest easy for good for the night. I took a big sigh and got up to check the kitchen first. Nothing seemed to be out of place or missing, so I moved on to check the rest of the ground floor.

The ground floor was clear and sturdy, so I moved on to the upper floor. I checked all the rooms. I went to Regulus Black's room. I was yet again fascinated by the beautiful interior it held in it. It was so antique and unique to see a room like this in this day and age. I took a long time admiring and examining all the books that were all around the room one by one to see anything that would be intriguing enough for me to read in the future. However, most of these books were familiar to me from either class I took at Hogwarts, or read in the Restricted Section. As I picked up the same History of Magic book I had seen the first day of my stay in this memorable house, I heard a wood crack behind the door. Panic and adrenaline rushing through my veins, I turned around, immediately pointing my wand at the door, which was half open. My breathing got heavier, I could hear my heart pounding against my chest loud and clear. But alas, I decided to check out whatever was behind that door.

I carefully and slowly started approaching the door, taking each step with caution with my hand clenching on my wand pointing at the door. The closer I got, the more frightening was the idea of what was going to be behind that door. A Death Eater? Snape? A monster that would want to taste my flesh? Or a creature who was craving human brains? Nevertheless, I was ready for anything. I finally got to the door. I raised up my other hand, trying to open it wide enough to see what was behind it. But suddenly I was greeted by a familiar face.

"Bloody hell, Kreacher," I exclaimed, clenching my chest and catching my breath, "You scared the living crap out of me."

"I could say the same for you, L/N," Kreacher responded with his creepy voice, "Anyway, what in the love of Merlin are you doing in Master Regulus's room?"

"I was just looking around the house for security, that's all," I replied, looking behind Kreacher to spot any suspicious activities.

"There is no need for your snooping around in these rooms. If anything happened on this floor, I'd be the first to know," Kreacher said rudely.