The Deeper you Dig, The Darker it Gets

50.

Song of the Chapter: R.I.P. 2 My Youth by The Neighbourhood

Draco's POV

       I don't even remember falling asleep last night. So when I wake up on the floor of my Professor's house, I'm a little confused. But that feeling goes away the second I see Mal sleeping peacefully next to me.

                       "Mal." I whisper while moving the hair out of her face.

      She slowly opens her eyes and blinks multiple times before sitting upright beside me. Her first instinct is to get up and start cleaning the sitting area but I stop her for a kiss. It takes her by surprise but she doesn't try to pull away.

                  "Not what I wanted to wake up to." Blaise mumbles.

      Malory rolls her eyes and moves over to the tea table where a small piece of parchment sits. After she reads it a few times she quietly hands the note to me.

            "The meeting is today." She tells Aary and Blaise.

      They both straighten their posture in sync.

                 "So...you have to leave?" Aary asks.

      Malory doesn't respond so I nod. The look on both Aary and Blaise's face turns defeated and as badly as I want to make them feel better, I can't.

          "Hopefully it will be quick," Malory says. "And besides, you two deserve some alone time."

       They give each other quick glances and shrug. I'm not going to lie, I wanted alone time too. Even just a night. It seems like all Mal and I are ever doing together is trying to fix the cabinet or find other ways to complete my task.

             "I'm going to get changed." Mal says to the three of us before getting up and heading to the lavatory.

     I dig around in my trunk for something that would be acceptable for the meeting but nothing seems right. I've not been to many, maybe one or two. But this one is about my task, meaning the light is on me.

      Malory returns soon after in an all-black outfit, pretty similar to the other things I've seen her wear at meetings. I asked her once why she chooses the outfits she does but I guess her dad picks them, not her. That explains why her hair is always tied back when we see him as well.

       Blaise and Aary end up disappearing into the kitchen and I continue with trying to find something to wear. I can feel Mal's eyes on me as I do so, which makes me feel more on edge.

               "What's wrong?" She asks me.

            "I don't want to wear the wrong thing."

      She lets out a heavy sigh and crouches down beside me and my trunk. One hand rests on my shoulder and the other starts carefully pulling through my clothes. She picks up my black suit and hands it to me.

           "This is perfect." She smiles.

          "Are you sure? He's already going to be upset with me for not finishing the cabinet yet and I don't want there to be another thing that-"

            "Hey," She stops me. "It's okay."

      I know she's trying to soothe me in hopes of calming herself down but that makes my stomach hurt. This meeting could go so many different ways and each of them ends badly. The worst part of it all is that he can't know about Mal and I's relationship, meaning if he tries to hurt her I can't show it affects me.