White Otter || Dramione (Draco Malfoy)

38

Each morning I woke up, I felt it a little bit more.

I couldn't quite place my finger on it, but it was like a sadness... a loss, even.

I just didn't know what was causing it and it was sending me spiralling into a pit of despair.

"I need to get my memories back," I announced at breakfast to Ron and Harry one June morning. "It's been over two months now and I've still got no idea why they have been erased, and I know something sad happened to me because I can feel it in my heart. It's... broken."

Harry fidgeted in his seat but said nothing.

"Well, the only way to break a memory charm is through torture," Ron muttered, "and if you think Harry or I will put you through that just so you can find out what's depressing you, then you can think again."

"Do not talk to me about retrieving lost memories," Harry sulked as he aggressively buttered a piece of burnt toast, "I'm getting nowhere with Slughorn who refuses to admit he'd ever had a conversation with Tom Riddle in the first place, let alone one about Horcruxes. Bastard."

"I still don't understand why Dumbledore is making you do this?" I frowned, nibbling on a bit of bacon despite my broken heart. "If it's such a vital piece of information so important to saving the world then why can't Dumbledore just explain this to Slughorn himself?"

"Yeah," Ron agreed thickly through a mouthful of egg. "And is Slughorn seriously the only wizard in the world who knows what a Horcrux is? I thought Dumbledore was supposed to be the greatest wizard of all time, yet has to resort to getting a sixteen year old school boy to do some basic research for him."

Harry pulled a face. He didn't like it when we dissed his favourite teacher, no matter how crackpot crazy Dumbledore came across as.

"No. Dumbledore is relying on me and I won't let him down. Liquid luck is the only way to go."

"Dude, don't waste it on a teacher!" Ron implored, spraying bits of egg everywhere. "Take it on a night out and use it to get some girl action. Imagine... you could be the filling in a babe sandwich."

I looked at Ron, horrified. "And that's your idea of a lucky night, is it? Needing to satisfy not one but two women?"

"Who said anything about satisfying them?" Ron shrugged, winking at Harry. "It's our lucky night, we just sit back and let the women do all the work."

Ugh, and to think I used to want to kiss this jerk.

"What's the matter, 'Mione?" He asked when I sighed in disgust and pushed my unfinished plate of breakfast aside. "I'm just having a joke. You're not jealous are you?"

"No, quite the opposite, actually," I bit. Merlin, I was beginning to think I had outgrown these two morons.

I couldn't understand it, I was feeling angry, depressed, frustrated and irritable. I needed to get out of there, and I needed to get away from Ron and Harry.

Without even a goodbye, I got to my feet and stormed across the Great Hall, pushing past people who got in my way.

It was only when I drew level with the Slytherin table did I feel a pair of eyes on me.

I glanced up and froze. Draco Malfoy was staring at me, his gaze burning intensely into mine. My heart hammered, and rather than look away, I found myself staring back, a shiver running down my spine as his eyes continued to penetrate mine.

And I knew in that moment that something had happened between us. Something that made me feel drawn to him... connected, even.

My feet were moving before I could register what was happening - without thought or reason, I was going to him. My body seemed driven by a force of its own and there was no stopping this strange desire to be near him, to draw comfort from his presence.