Just Him {Draco Malfoy}

57 - Finding A Way To Each Other

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— THEY COULDN'T SLEEP  that night. Draco was aware that Ella was awake. Her back to him, her quick breaths and sudden body movements out of discomfort. He wondered if she was thinking the same things he did. About the kingdom that was slowly falling apart or about the war of which consequences nobody knew about. Or if she was thinking about the next time they were going to see each other again. Or about her marrying the Duke - nothing that made him more uncomfortable than the thought of her in somebody else's arms.

Draco came back from his thoughts and looked at the Princess once again. Someone so beautiful, kind and brave decided to help him out, trust him and love him for the person he was. He was just Draco - not the Death Eater. Just Draco. How could he be so lucky? A - what he thought - little crush that turned out to be someone he couldn't imagine his life without.

Ella was thinking about the same things he was thinking about. And she knew that he was awake too. His sighs gave it away. His mother's letter was the confirmation that the coronation was the right thing to do. She then would've written a letter to Duke Levies promising a marriage between them after the war. And everything would've been alright.

The next morning, immediately after breakfast, Ella found herself fixing the collar of Draco's coat. She made sure he wouldn't freeze in the cold. "I would like you to bring Sky with you. It would... Make me stress less, k-knowing she's with you.", she breathed out, looking down at her heels.

"Ella...", Draco spoke softly and with his finger gently raised her chin back up. "Look at me, love."

And she did, timidly. He took her hands and squeezed them for reassurance. "It'll be okay.", he said slowly as he looked at her, wanting to remember every little detail he possibly could.

"I'll try to stop them and you need to help your people."

"But you're one of them. You're one of my people.", Ella whispered and that's when she felt one little tear fall down her cheek. And if Draco's heart could possibly break more, it did just now.

"We are going to have time for each other... Maybe not now... Or in the next days... We always find a way to each other. We always do.", the tears kept falling no matter how reassuring her lover's words were. This meant goodbye, because how were they going to see each other?

Ella shook her head, looked down and bit her lip to prevent more tears from spilling. "You know we won't be able to.", but Draco hoped and wanted for her to be hopeful as well.

"Of course we will. We always—"

"But I'm gonna get married!", the Princess suddenly exclaimed, making the mistake to look in his eyes. The blue lighter than usual, the sadness and pain in them prevailing. She regretted the truth coming from her lips.

"I know.", he murmured. She was going to marry a stranger she didn't know. Someone she didn't love. Someone that wasn't him. Draco pulled her close to him, his arms wrapped around her body and hers around his. Salty tears gently fell on his coat and light cries escaped her lips.

"It's gonna be okay.", he kept reassuring her. But he was the first one who didn't believe in his own words. Ella pulled away to look at him, arms held each other. "I love you.", and she kissed him, hoping he'd catch onto her untold words. Tears now fell from Draco's eyes too.

This meant goodbye.

A knock startled them. Ella pulled away and cleared her throat. "Come in.", the door opened, revealing Chancellor Monro. He hid his hands behind his back and bowed quickly.

"The carriage is ready, Your Highness."

"And Sky?", Monro nodded at her question and with another bow, he disappeared in the gardens.

With another kiss and hug, Draco was off to the gardens too. Ella's tears couldn't seem to stop falling as now the pain invaded her chest as well. Her body moved towards the window, from which she caught a glimpse of the golden carriage and her trusty unicorn friend. Two minutes later, she spotted Draco who shook hands with the Chancellor and quickly got in the carriage. The saddest part was that she didn't know if she was ever going to him again.

Once Sky flew away and the Princess calmed down, she called in Ananya.

"We need to prepare all the knights. We can't be unprepared when they arrive.", Ella was sitting on the chair by her desk, writing down a speech she knew she had to do in honor of the Queen's death.

Ananya looked at her and sighed. "Ella, take things slowly."

"I can't. The kingdom needs me and if you haven't noticed, it's early autumn and the winter has arrived here too. I need to find a way to take care of this.", the fairy approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Stressing yourself out like that surely won't help your powers, Ella. ", the Princess didn't reply to her words. "I'll tell Monro to prepare the knights. Need anything else, darling?"

"Just writing... You know... The speech... Just tell him that this will be ready for this afternoon.", Ananya nodded at Ella's words and after giving her shoulder an encouraging squeeze, she walked out of her room. The young woman sighed and stood up. She found the key to her mother's bedroom and took with her the paper and the quill.

Once inside she looked at the piano that Draco and her had left untouched as well as the other books from her library. That green, velvet book on the piano gave her more to think about. Ella sat down on the chair by the piano and took it in her hands a second time. In a matter of seconds, she found the page her family was in. She remembered her sister's picture ripped off the page. Yet the small circle beside her own picture was there. The circular space was intact; no picture or glimpse of blonde hair.

That meant hope.

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"As many of you already know, Her Majesty the Queen passed away. You deserve to know why and how such thing happened. Lord Voldemort is the man that murdered my mother as she was hoping to change his mind on attacking France and its people.", Ella breathed out and with shaky hands extended the page. The Princess was outside at the town's main square, with her knights, Chancellor and Fairy Godmother. The entire kingdom showed up to hear the future sovereign's speech. Even children with their mothers.

"I, Ella Madden - Princess of France, Daughter of Rose the II and Donovan Madden, Granddaughter of Rose the I and Antoine Auguste, promise to do everything in my power to protect you from the evil and the war.

The war won't spare anybody, which is why I'm gonna kindly ask you to find home in another village for the next days. Or maybe weeks even. Everything will be provided by the knights and soldiers who are in duty. For everybody's safety, I'm forbidding everybody to get out of their homes; the markets and any outdoor hobbies are out of discussion as well.

I hope that you'll understand that behind this decision there was some serious thinking and as future Queen, this is what I imagined to be the best option. For the benefit of the kingdom.", the little words at the end were words Ella felt the need to add. Draco was the first one to mention them and they held a special meaning - she knew what all of this was for.

For the benefit of the kingdom.

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Hi, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. Just so you know, we're nearing the end, but we're not quite done yet ;) Leave a comment! <3

Leave a little star for support and good luck lol. Lots of love to you. xx

- belle. xx

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Written the 29th of August 2021
Published the 8th of September 2021