When We Fell: A Draco Malfoy Romance

Chapter 12- Darkest Kiss

Its breath is absolutely disgusting...like the worst thing I've ever smelt. Which, if you think about it, makes sense because dementors are like death incarnate.

I search its face, although face is a stretch considering it has no eyes, just two gaping eye sockets. This all happened within seconds, but time seemed to slow for me. Maybe when they say that you see your life flash before your eyes, this is what they meant. I mean, how can your entire life flash by in a span of one or two seconds? Maybe impending death slows down the clock to give you time to say goodbye.

My life doesn't flash by, but my loved ones do cross my mind. I think of my parents and how sad they would be if they knew where I was. I wonder if they regret pulling me into this life of darkness or if they'veve thought of me in their Azkaban cells. I see Draco and I sitting side by side in class, passing notes and sneaking glances. I see us sitting under our favorite tree, holding hands and curling into each other.

Weirdly enough, I also think about the Dark Lord. It's been many months since I've thought about him and his brutal demise at the hands of Harry Potter. I remember that day all over again, those words I said...Yes, My Lord.

At the time, I had no clue how those words would damn me, and here I am paying my price.

Finally, arriving at some sort of peace, the dementor opens his life-taking mouth and gives me the darkest kiss.

I'm immediately thrown back in time to some of my hardest moments, most of which involve my parents. It feels like a glaze slid over my eyes and transported me somewhere else; the present no longer existed. That dread that multiplies when dementors are near gets unbearable when you are being fed from.

The memories aren't complete and don't present themselves as you would watch a movie. It's more like a flash of each moment, but the pain from those events feels whole.

I see myself hiding in my childhood bedroom closet while "coworkers" visited my parents in the kitchen. I can hear the raised voices and threats being made around the dinner table from the terrifying visitors. As a little child, I never knew what these people were involved in, but I could feel their bad energy seeping off of them.

I see the first time that I was in the presence of Lord Voldemort, agreeing to his dark plans. I'll never forget the sadness in my parent's eyes even as they bargained me away.

I see myself fleeing the Azkaban dementors, my heart racing after committing a crime that led to many innocent lives being lost at the hands of those that I freed. I don't think that I ever felt clean or good after that night.

I see myself making it back home and collapsing on my bedroom floor, sobbing. I feel the same heartbreak as I did that day; my innocence lost at the hands of dark wizards. My chest felt like a bird was trying to break its way out, ripping my heart to shreds along the way.

Each of these memories came and went; I have no way of knowing how long each really lasted. But after every flash, a piece of my soul went with it, and I felt every second of it. There really isn't a way to describe your soul being ripped piece by piece. The best way to picture it is imagining every person you loved dying until there was no one left, until you have nothing left in you to give.

My last memory was the day the ministry came to take us away to Azkaban. That moment hurt more than the rest because I knew that I was losing the last good thing I had. After my parents were taken, Draco was the only thing left.

Just as the dementor suddenly took my sight, it gave it back just as unexpectedly. One moment I was face to face with the ministry, and now I am back in my dingy Azkaban cell.

The dementor slowly backs away, crossing my cell bars and disappearing down the hall. I watch him go and gently come back to my senses.

"Olliana," I hear Draco whisper with the weirdest tone.

I sluggishly turn my head towards him; I'm still feeling off-kilter and not quiet myself. When I look at Draco, I notice a dark shape standing in the hall and jump slightly, afraid of there being another dementor. But once my eyes acclimate, I find a man standing there, not a dementor.

"Ollie, this man is here to take you for your trial." Draco sounds sad and resigned, and my mind can't understand why. The room is spinning slightly now as if all my energy has been burned up, and my blood sugar is shot.

"Come on then," the stranger roughly says while unlocking my cell.

I shuffle towards the doors, "Stick out your hands," I do as the man says.

He binds my wrists with magic, and I make my way out into the hallway. Although my mind is a confusing place right now, I still twist to see Draco watching me through the bars.

"Why aren't you coming?"

"It's not my time; remember what we talked about, Ollie. This is your only chance, so stay strong."

I nod my head, not quite understanding what he's talking about. The unfamiliar man tugs me along, and we make our way down the hallway and out the doors.

We make our way to the elevator and walk past the front gate. I take one last look behind me at the towering prison, and for the third time today, my vision goes black.