kalon ~ d.m

{34} The darkest place

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR; THE DARKEST PLACE
ACT TWO FINALE

❝ i love you too. i love you so much-i do.❞

♫: 'if the whole world was watching id still dance with you.' ~niall horan, this town

"Today...we've lost a wonderful student to the darkness. Raven Emma Crawford was truly a bright girl. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family." Draco held her hand in comfort as she choked out a sob, burying her face deeper into his chest.

"What family..." She muttered bitterly, brokenly. He'd then decided to take her out of the Great Hall. They needed some peace and quiet.

They had to visit their place.

He was embracing her from behind, admiring the view over her shoulder, taking in a breath of fresh air.

"Do you want to talk about it, Leah?" Addressing her by her first name always meant that he wanted to have a serious, or heartfelt conversation. She shook her head and leant back into his embrace, sighing.

She didn't want to spend her last peaceful days, weeks, whatever, with Draco talking about death. They'd conversed about it enough to last them a lifetime. She would try to keep him as de-stressed as she could. Or at least make sure she wasn't adding any additional stress. Her boy had suffered enough.

But that didn't stop anymore suffering from coming his way.

[♚]

"But Andreah..." He mumbled sadly, looking at her.

"There is no other way, Richard. One day, promise me, you'll take her into your care. You need to protect her.." Richard Crawford sighed deeply, muttering something under his breath before looking at the ill-woman that laid in the neatly made bed.

"Of course. Anything, Andreah."

~

"No-Sybil you must be wrong...she's no-..no." Andreah Nightingale shook her head fiercely. "No." She repeated confidently.

"Your daughter has remarkable talents, Andreah. But none of those can save her from falling in love."

"She can't fall in love with an evil man- Her future self is much too bright to fall for someone she shouldn't."

"He won't be evil, nor a man." Sybil spoke gently, trying to ease her mind. "Simply a scared boy. He'll love her till the end of time. Though something tells me it'll be a rough journey towards happiness."

This gained her a chuckle from Andreah Nightingale, who smirked to herself.

"Like mother, like daughter, then."

[♚]

"Snowflake? Can I enter?" Her tone was gentle and kind, but more worried.

The only response she received, was a soft sob and a muffled whimper, to which she decided to enter, pacing towards where he stood, only to be pushed out of sight almost as soon as she reached him.

His jumper laid on the floor, and his face was struck with guilt.

"Draco what-"

"You hexed her, didn't you Malfoy?"

Harry bloody Potter.

His tone held nothing but disgust and accusation.

Leah Nightingale whimpered quietly in surprise when Draco threw the first curse at the Gryffindor boy. Muttering a string of profanities as she could not find her wand in its usual place. Getting in between the two duelling enemies wandless, was a suicide mission.

Their curses were completely destroying the bathroom, despite Myrtle's wails of protest.

"Guys-" She'd started, stepping in between the two boys to prevent any more curses from getting thrown around, regardless of being wandless, she was going to try to put an end to their fight. Draco dropped his wand at the sight of her, but the Boy-Who-Lived hadn't spotted her.

And he wouldn't before it was too late.

"SECTUMSEMPRA!" Leah didn't register what was happening on time to stop the curse.

All she felt was a blast backwards.

Excruciating pain followed.

And darkness.

Distant shouting, and crying.

But her eyes stayed closed.

The last thing she heard was a repeat of seven words, over, and over until whoever was speaking them, couldn't form words anymore when their sobs got too intense.

"Stay with me, I love you...please."

Even after Snape's desperate attempts to heal her, she did not respond.

Severus Snape was shouting in fury at the two boys whom were both kneeling beside the body of the heavily injured girl. The Slytherin Boy was whimpering in pain and clutching his arm as blood oozed out of the wounds the other had created.

He shook his head defiantly when Snape tried to pull him off of her bloody body.

"No. Leah...please.." He whimpered sadly.

"Draco out of my way." He pushed the boy aside with care, he started chanting the only spell that could somehow reverse the damage that had been done. And when he'd finished healing her as far as he could, he turned to the Malfoy Boy, who too had been hit by the curse.

[♚]

She awoke in a panic.

She was frantic.

She sat upright, paying no mind to the incredible sting it caused as she let her eyes search the room. Her yells of his name only increasing in volume as she could not spot him anywhere close. Her frame shook with fear as it flooded her body, invading her senses.

Please. Not him too.

"Miss Nightingale!" Madame Pomfrey had exclaimed, trying to calm down the girl that was way too injured to be throwing a fit like this one.

Draco Malfoy had stood up. Clutching his arm, which was bandaged, and walked over to the scene as quickly as he could. He saw his girl calm down the second he came into view, and embraced her as she continued to shake.

"Hear my heartbeat?-" He asked softly, holding her closely against him. "Focus on that, Starlet." She nodded slightly, as slowly but surely, she stopped shaking.

"I love you too." She whispered lowly, so just he could hear. "I love you so much- I do, Draco- I-" She stuttered, eliciting a smile from him. "I thought I would never be able to tell you.." He nodded, leaning down and kissing her forehead.

He had calmed her with such ease, it baffled even the Matron in the room.

There was no potion that could do that.

"You're not going to lose me, love. I'm okay, you're okay, we're okay." He continued to soothe her to the best of his abilities.

"Not for long..." She muttered into his chest sorrowfully.

And until the next time she woke up, she would not know how short that time truly had been.

She did not expect to wake up alone, a total of four full days later.

Somehow, within those four days, she'd ended up in the darkest place she'd ever found herself in.

And Draco wasn't there to help her out of it.

Not anymore.