The Stars Aligned

Chapter 31

December 6, 1996

Torture. That is how Draco Malfoy would describe the days since October thirty-first.

Halloween night, Hermione Granger had disappeared without a trace. Despite his drunken state, Draco had searched the grounds desperately for her, only to collapse on the couch in the Slytherin common room at sunrise in exhaustion.

The school had broken into a frenzy the next morning, searching for the Gryffindor princess, with no luck. By the end of November first, Hermione Granger had been declared a missing person. Her friends, Slytherin and Gryffindor alike, were united by a collective worry for their friend. No matter how many search parties they organized, it wasn't enough.

Now, Draco Malfoy had a few things to consider. The Dark Lord Himself expected him to devise a plan to kill Dumbledore. So the young boy took a weak, desperate shot in his mission in order to prove to the dark wizard that he was truly trying. A cursed necklace, one that landed Katie Bell in the hospital, something that sparked so much guilt that it acted as a tipping point in his remaining sanity.

Regardless of his missing girlfriend, he was required to attend his classes. To his credit, he did. He even was the best in his class at Apparition by far, no doubt from experience. He had opted to take his Apparition test early and passed it with ease. But he was a shell of a person, a body with no soul.

He smoked frequently, in between classes and at mealtimes. He liked filling his body with smoke. It was empty, anyways.

The sole reason his body was still functioning was his friends, forcing him to eat at every meal. Without them, he would have rotted away to nothing.

Draco attended his classes every day. However, when the sun set, it was a different story.

Every night, Draco would follow the burning feeling in his ring, leading him south, blindly following the one connection he had to the girl he loves. He would do so all night, running and running and running, only slowing to a walk when his legs gave out. Hold on, Granger, Draco pleaded to her in his mind. I'm coming. I'll always find you. I promised.

When the sun began to wake, he would mark his stopping point and Apparate to right in front of the school. The next night, he would Apparate to where he left off and continue searching. Draco was lucky to get an hour or two of sleep. His friends had stopped asking where he went every night, because he never bothered to answer, and every morning he would wake with more purple under his eyes. He survived off of coffee and sheer will.

Draco was no fool. He knew it was likely that the girl was hurt, hurting, if not dead. That thought alone threatened to destroy him. He was supposed to keep his promises. He was supposed to protect her. I won't let anyone hurt you, he had vowed to her. It was quite a battle within him. He didn't know who he hated more, whoever took Hermione or himself.

He had been searching every night for over a month. Nothing prepared him for that amount of complete agony.

It was exceptionally lonely, being Draco Malfoy without Hermione Granger.
___

"I know what you did, Malfoy. You hexed her, didn't you?"

Draco's eyes shot open to find Harry in the reflection of the mirror, glaring, wand pointed. Draco's eyes were sunken in, his skin deathly pale and splotched with purple. Draco took one look at Harry's pointed wand and descended into a place of darkness, a place of pure nothingness, a place where Draco went in his mind to feel numb.

A duel began. Sinks exploded, bathroom stalls were shattered. Water quickly flooded the bathroom, swishing and swirling.

Draco landed hard on the wet floor, sliding and slipping, pulling him out of his trance. Things began to register, and he realized he was fighting the best friend of the girl he loves. Harry shot another hex from around the bend, and he barely dodged it.

"Please, Potter," Draco begged, trying to talk over the running water. "I... I can't do this without Granger. And in order to find her, it's cruci—"

"Sectumsempra!"

Draco was knocked back, landing flat on his back in the churning water and hitting his head, stars twinkling across vision. White hot pain burst through him, but he stared at the ceiling, too tired to scream. Thousands upon thousands of cuts appeared along his body, and the water turned red around him. Draco was surprised at that, that his blood colored the water so profusely. His life had lacked color since Halloween night. She took all the bright ones with her.

"Why would you do this?" Snape hissed, muttering incantations under his breath. The cuts began to close, but the scars would remain. I'll look like a shattered ceramic poorly glued back together, Draco thought emotionlessly.

"He.... he was going to use the Cruciatus Curse on me," came Harry's stunned voice.

Crucial, Draco thought wryly. I was trying to say it's crucial for us to work together. He opened his mouth to say it out loud but shut it again.

He was just so, so tired.
___

November 21, 1996

"Care for another bath in fire, girl?"

No.

"Talk."

Never.

But I was just so, so tired.
___

December 1, 1996

I thrashed in their arms as they carried me kicking and screaming towards the tub full of salt water. I did what I always did, using all my strength to turn to my right. A sob escaped my lips at the brief burning at my wrist, a reminder of him, my one moment of solace.

I love you, Draco. I'm such an idiot kid, for never saying those three stupid words.

What do we say? Something about the moon and dying happily. I should have said it straight up to you, at least once.

I love you, I love you, I love you. For infinity.

There's no one else. You're the only one. If not it's you, it's not anyone.

You're it for me. Always.

If only you could hear me.
___

December 4, 1996

Hold on.

I am holding on. For him.

Only for him.
___

December 11, 1996

Music in my head distracts me, I discovered.

Hey now, hey now.

More fire demolishes my skin. Keep singing.

Don't dream it's over.

Piano keys and soft hands. Draco played it for me on the piano once, I believe.

White hot agony. I forgot how to scream.

Hey now, hey now.
___

December 12, 1996

Everything is numb.

I'm drowning. The waves are tossing my body around. The salt water fills my lungs.

But I have an anchor, a tether. An image of a raging storm. His eyes. Quicksilver.

I don't let go. My hands are raw and blistering, but I hold on.
___

December 14, 1996

I'm burning.

The flames licking my skin leave a wasteland behind.

"Talk, bitch, it's been long enough. We want our money."

Kill me. Please just kill me. Please.

Just tell him I'm sorry.

Tell him that I'm sorry that we didn't have more time. I thought we had the rest of our lives. But that month we spent together, that month that I was his, I'm grateful for it. I don't regret it, not one second of it.

They can't hear you, you stupid girl. It's all in your head.

He's coming. He'll always find me. He promised.