𝐔𝐍𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐇𝐘; Draco Malfoy

XV

And there she was. His beautiful, darling El he'd fallen in love with was still the same, possibly even more gorgeous. A corner of his mouth lifted, looking at her face like he'd never seen her before. It was her, it was real— all of it was real.

"It's okay, my love. I'm gonna take you home.." Draco whispered, picking her up in bridal style. He held her frozen body close to him, his steps creaking in the snow as he walked away from the body, away from the person who ruined his life.

His eyes barely left her face. The walk was only five minutes before he reached his home, entering the cottage and turning very few lights on. Draco held her body with one arm, pulling his key out of his pocket with the other. He unlocked the basement door, walking down the steps.

The basement wasn't cold, damp or remotely terrifying. Draco had made it look like a regular bedroom, only a bit bigger than usual. There was also a couch, a bookshelf and a door that led to the bathroom. He had to make sure that all of it would look normal if not tolerable.

He went over to the bed in the middle of the room, placing Elena down on her back, on top of the black silk sheets. Draco knew it would take a little while for her to wake up, there was really no rush to tie her already. So he sat down on the side of the bed, taking his time to look at her.

He knew this day would come, yet it felt unreal to have her here, in his house. He'd never have to wake up another day without her by his side. It took a little bit more effort, but he had what he wanted now. He could make her happy again.

Draco brushed a few strands of her hair out of her face, stroking his fingers over her soft cheek. His hand tingled at the touch, furrowing his brows in relief. He knew that once she'd wake up, everything would be a chaos. Elena'd be screaming, crying, cursing at him and freaking out. But he had a little moment of peace for now.

Though, he did not really care what she'd do. She could throw things at his head, even. All he wanted was to have her with him. Angry or not.

He opened the top drawer of the nightstand, taking out the ropes he'd put there the night before. Draco grabbed her by her waist and slowly rolled her over onto her right side, tying her wrists together before tying them to the headboard. He didn't want to hurt her, but he had to take precautions.

Draco then tied her ankles together, also tying that to the edge of the bed. His heart jumped when he realized she could wake up any minute now. Draco wanted to hear her voice— even wanted to see her cry and beg him to let her go.

She made soft noises, her eyes fluttering a little and her fingers starting to move. He sat down in the armchair next to the bed to give her space, spreading his legs comfortably while watching her wake up. Draco wouldn't be able to take his eyes off her ever again. It was addicting to look at her.

A throbbing headache started to bring her back to consciousness. She blinked hard, furrowing her brows and trying to come back to her senses. When she opened her eyes, she wished she'd never woken up in the first place.

Elena's heart dropped into her stomach, as painful as a rock. She met eyes with Draco, her throat immediately closing up. She couldn't move— her wrists and ankles were tied up and he was just there, just sitting there and observing her. This wasn't the Draco she knew. He was worse.

He'd changed, that was one of the first things she noticed. The look in his eyes was darker, almost as if all the life had been drained from him. There was something about the energy in the room that made her believe that death was near. That death was him. She'd been so terribly wrong.

A shattered sob left her mouth, looking at her wrists and her body starting to tremble. Elio was dead. Draco killed him and she should've known. She should've known he wouldn't stop, he fucking told her that himself all those years back.