Hateful Love

Chapter Thirty-Seven

NOTE: I do not own any of the ideas or characters expressed in this story (except Cassie Jackson). All of these belong to J.K. Rowling.

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Draco P.O.V.

          It’s more difficult than it seems to change out of soaking wet clothes when your fingers are so numb they can’t even bend. The fabric keeps slipping out of my fingers, and I’m starting to get seriously frustrated. Blaise told me Snape wants me in his office as soon as possible, but I’m having difficulties just changing out of my wet clothes.

          I manage it somehow and start down the stairs of my dormitory to head all the way up to Snape’s office. I’m feeling a bit better now that I’ve got warm, dry clothes on, but only if I ignore the painful ache in my chest.

          With curfew over an hour away, some people are still out of their common rooms, and many notice me walking purposefully through the halls. I know I must look like a wreck with my reddened eyes and pale face, but to be honest, I don’t give a crap right now.

          By the time I reach Snape’s office, I’ve gotten more curious glances than I can count. I knock carefully on his door, but it swings open before I hear any sort of response from inside. I take a cautious step forward to see Severus Snape sitting in the ebony Headmaster’s desk. Dumbledore’s old desk. My head spins as the events from last year resurface, but I force them back down. Too much is happening today to possibly think about that.

          Snape looks up to see me standing there awkwardly in the doorway, and he gives my face a mildly curious glance. To his credit, Snape decides not to mention how awful I look as he drawls, “I’ll Apparate you to Malfoy Manor in a minute. Wait until I’ve finished.”

          I give a stiff nod, swallowing the snappy retort that I can indeed Apparate on my own, that I don’t need him to do it for me. I realize it’s best not to argue with Snape at the moment as I watch him frown over the papers, his worry-lined face looking much older than usual.

          As I watch him carefully, an intense surge of anger rises up inside me. It’s his fault, what’s happening to this school and everyone in it. He’s the one who hired the Carrows and made Hogwarts a living hell. I glare heatedly at the top of Snape’s head as he bends over the papers, trying desperately to contain myself. My mind feels frayed after…everything, so I’m not too far from losing it completely again.

          Snape puts down his quill suddenly and rises smoothly from his chair, effectively ending my furious thoughts. He steps away from the immense desk and strides to the center of the room without a glance in my direction. “Come here.”

          Trying not to be annoyed with his commanding tone, I reluctantly walk over to stand beside Snape, eyeing him carefully. He extends his arm to me, and I take a deep breath before accepting it.

         There’s a loud crack, and I have the familiar feeling of being sucked through a small tube, twisting this way and that until my feet finally hit solid ground. I only feel dizzy and sick for a few seconds, having Apparated so often this summer that I’ve gotten used to the side effects. I blink briefly and glance around half-heartedly to see the walls of the entrance hall at Malfoy Manor.

          Snape turns to me with a cold, expressionless face and says, “I’ll be leaving now. When you’ve finished speaking with Lucius and Narcissa, Apparate outside the gates of Hogwarts. I’ll send someone to let you in.”

          I nod after a moment, wondering why I couldn’t have just Apparated here from the gates instead of having Snape do it for me. The Headmaster takes a step back away from me just to be safe, but before he Apparates back to his office, Snape gives me the most unsettling look. He gazes down at me with pity and sadness shining in his eyes, then disappears with the usual crack. As he Disapparates, I come to the strange realization that Snape had given me the exact same look Blaise had earlier. What the hell is going on?