Rose Thorn ❖ (Draco Malfoy - Harry Potter Series)

5.04

There was a room. A room that held whatever you wanted it to hold. It was named the Room of Requirement. Not many people knew where it was in Hogwarts, but Camille knew. She knew all the secrets of the castle...the Weasley twins had once whispered them to her. Camille sat in the cold, lonely room where nothing but a crystal ball sat atop a small iron pillar.

      She concentrated on the ball, watching the swirls of dark, misting shadows dance around as if they were swimming in thick water. Only when she looked away did it return to that deep, glowing turquoise that bled throughout the dark, stone room.

     The sword. She was looking for the Sword of Darkness.

     She lifted her hands, placing the tips of her fingers against the freezing, glass orb watching as her mind fell into the depths of its sphere.

      She was standing on a rock. Waves crashed around her as she caught her misting breath against the ferocious cold. She turned around, there stood another. He was tall, dressed in all black if not for the slightest tint of rich green shine. Inky strands of hair fell over his face, eyes a tormented, dark brown. His skin was pale against the dark features. He held a hand to her, sword in its grasp. There it was, the sword, held by someone she'd never seen before. She did not even know his name.

     She looked down at herself, her chest heavy by the weight of some piece of metal. Around her neck was an octagonal amulet...a locket. The front was glistening in a translucent lime and beneath it twirled the dark imprint of a serpent.

     When she looked up at the boy before her, he was gone.

      Instead, there was a female. 

      Hair scraggly, teeth crooked and cracked, her eyes like a madman's. This woman was there the night her mother died. She cackled at Camille. "You look into the ball and you seek the reflection of your soul. You look into the mirror and see a lie. You look into your heart and you see a pit of emptiness. What are you?"

     Camille gasped, her mind sucking her out of the ocean breeze and back into the dark room, not a single glow of light. Her eyes tried to adjust. Her breaths were unsteady. Everything felt so real. Her clothes were damp, the water of the ocean had hit her...everything was real then.

     She stared at the crystal ball before her, realising the light had gone out.

     The crystal ball had shattered.

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"I've been looking for you." Draco called from behind the girl. She was standing on the astronomy tower, staring at the vast openness. He placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her into a hug as he kissed her temple. "I've been worried about you the moment you left the classroom, where did you go?"

      She smiled a little, pulling back to see his face. He quickly pecked her lips before she answered, "Just detention. Apparently disappearing in the middle of class is an offense."

     Draco laughed lightly, kissing her forehead, his arm tightly wrapped around the back of her neck. "Well, if it weren't, I'm sure everybody would be disappearing from class. I know I would."

      She sighed. "People look at me as if I'm fragile."

      He examined her as she did with him. She hadn't seen him over the break. She hadn't seen anyone. He was getting older, that's for sure. There was a harshness to his features, the paleness hard amidst his stone-grey eyes. She wondered if anyone ever saw warmth in them the way she saw his eyes glow. His voice, deeper still, spoke, "You're allowed to mourn, Milly. You loved him."

     "He liked you." Camille softly whispered. "My brother thought you were the one for me."

      Draco smirked a little. "A match made by the stars."

      They looked up, staring at the night sky. It'd been a ritual of theirs now, stargazing. Draco planted his chin of her head, his voice vibrating against her as he said, pointing up at the brightest star of the night, "That one there...that's Cedric and he's watching over you...always."

      That was it.

      Those words undid her.

     Camille sobbed hard into Draco's chest, the first time she'd let herself cry since her brother had died. The only person she'd let herself be weak before.

      Draco held her. "I promised him I'd take care of you. I'll keep that promise until death parts us both..." –he lowered his lips to her ear, whispering— "...not even death would make me stop loving you."

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loved writing this chapter.