[A/N: hi all, I'm here with the last chapter for a while (sad, I know - but I am now back at work and have 2 assignments I need to do for my degree). I couldn't end my last update on a sad note, so here's a little filler to keep you busy! Updating will resume soon, with the last few GoF chapters coming shortly. Enjoy and stay safe!]
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DAISY HAD avoided Draco since his birthday party. She was hurt. Hurt that he had said something she didn't think he meant. They never tested his broom together, doing all the fun things they had planned. Daisy spent most of her time eating with Harry and preparing for the last task. He never got to help her through the preparation. He was hurt. The task was now two weeks away, then it would be the end of the school year. He had to apologise soon.
"Something is clearly up with you two, can't you just talk about it?" Pansy sighed as she spoke to Draco. Daisy was sat at the very far end of the common room, completing some potions homework on her own. She wasn't paying attention to them, she had no reason to. Draco sat with Pansy and Blaise, also completing their homework.
"I've tried. It's all my fault." He shrugged, flicking through the pages of his book. He hadn't even started his homework, feeling sad over what he had done.
"What did you do?" She questioned. He hesitated, thinking about exactly what he had done.
"Something happened at my party, do you not remember?" She shook her head at him.
"I was far too out of it. Was it bad?" He nodded. "Oh, Draco. Please just go and talk to her. I hate her being so distant with us." The girl sighed, looking over to her friend again. Daisy didn't look herself. She looked tired, she looked stressed. She looked hurt. "There's still an hour until dinner, just try and sort things out." He nodded, trying to give a smile.
"Thanks Pans, I'll try." He had wanted to mend things for the past five days, trying to give her space. But it was becoming hard for him. He needed her around. He felt awful. Since remembering what happened, Draco knew what he had said to her. In that state. He knew, deep down that he meant it. Draco stood up, walking towards the girl in the corner of the room. He frowned as he got closer to her, seeing how distressed she was. "Daisy?" He spoke softly, sitting on the chair opposite.
"What do you want, Draco? I'm trying to do my homework." She huffed, not removing her eyes from the book she was studying from. He frowned again. She was hurting more than he realised.
"I want to talk." He said simply, feeling rather guilty.
"There's nothing to talk about." She shrugged, finally looking at him. Her eyes were red, puffy, the way they went after she had been crying. He knew this from before. He had caused this. It was all him.
"There is, Daisy. There's so much to talk about. Please, can we just go somewhere and talk?" He wanted to say so much to her, to apologise, to say it with feeling. She sighed loudly, putting down her book as she nodded.
"Fine." He didn't say anything else in that moment, he waited for her to put her things away and return her homework to her room, before they left the common room finding a spot to talk. He had taken her to her favourite spot. The clearing by the lake, under the big oak tree. They sat down, thankful that nobody was around them. The sun was setting in the distance.
Draco hesitated looking at the girl, his lip trembled as he tried to form some words, but instead he had let it out. He let out the tears he had been holding for the last few days. He never cried in front of anyone. He felt exactly what he had done. He knew. Those three little words were so important to her, the three words he had said to her at a time where she felt they didn't mean anything, empty words. He didn't say them with feeling, he had let his mind speak.
"Draco?" Daisy panicked, seeing him cry uncontrollably. "Oh my god, I've been an idiot." Her face dropped, realising she had pushed him away to the point he felt the need to cry. This was very unlike him. He had never cried in front of her before. Never.
"Don't you dare apologise for this, it's all my fault." She shook her head. She hadn't talked to him in days because she thought he didn't mean it, he just said it because he could. She didn't like that. She wanted the first time they said it to mean something.
"No it's not, I pushed you away when we could have dealt with this so much sooner." She hesitated, but took the sleeve of her robe, wiping away the tears that ran down his soft, pale skin, dripping from his chin and onto his shirt.
"No, I said something in the moment that I meant, but without the feeling I had wanted to express it with. Those three words are special and I ruined it." He frowned, not looking at the girl. He was embarrassed that he had let himself cry in front of the girl.
"I felt like you didn't mean it. I took it the wrong way." He shook his head, taking her hand. "I'm sorry." She sighed.
"You don't need to apologise. I meant it. And I wish I had said it with more feeling. Because I do, I love you. I love you in a way that's different to everyone else. I don't regret saying it one bit because it is true, but I regret saying it in the moment I did because it hurt you. And hurting you is the last thing I wanted to do." She tried to form a sentence, but couldn't. She had been so stupid. "You don't need to respond. I just wanted to tell you exactly that. I don't ever expect you to say it back now, I understand if you wanted to end things between us." She shook her head, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.
"I'm not going to end things with you over something like this, Malfoy. Don't be stupid. I shouldn't have pushed you away. I've seen you cry, something I was hoping that I would never have to see. Truth is, I also love you, exactly in that way. I wanted the first time I said it to be special, to be a day that I remembered. I never pictured it being under a tree at school, whilst you was crying. Don't ever let me push you away like that again." He knew that right now, actions were louder than words. He moved closer, pulling her in as close as possible, brining her in for a tight embrace. He never wanted her to drift away again. He needed her. His arms rested on her back, stroking her hair with his fingers. She rested her head in his chest, hearing the sound of his breathing. He felt safe because of her.
"You are worth fighting for, always." Draco spoke, planting a delicate kiss on top of her forehead. Daisy smiled against him.
"Always?" She whispered, moving slightly so she could place his fingers in between hers. They fit just like matching puzzle pieces.
"Always, Daisy Snape." He spoke softly into her ear. He was always going to fight for her, no matter how long that battle took, and no matter who that battle was with.
