UNKNOWN | D.M (UNRAVEL BOOK 4)

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Regardless, it didn't stop him from trying to make things right. Draco gulped, "Just... Listen to me," he beseeched firmly. His hand reached for Aine's as if preventing her from escaping. "Please," he pleaded. She needed to hear this from him, why he did what he had done and the purpose for joining hands with the person Aine had absolutely loathed. The person who had tormented her entire fourth year.

The grip on Aine's hand tightened and she looks at Draco, her expression softening when she realizes how conflicted the boy looked, the guilt on his face was genuine, almost as if didn't mean to hurt her. Which was true. Draco never wanted to hurt Aine but instead, protect her. She recomposes herself, calming her beating heart. "Why... Did you join the Inquisitorial Squad?" she asks him, this time, her words were more benign. "How could you join her? After what she's done..." her voice quavers, catching sight of the hideous scar on the back of her hand; reminding the girl of Umbridge's evilness.

Draco's eyes softens as he spoke carefully, choosing his words extremely wisely. "I had to. It was the only way I could think of that could be used for you. I wanted to protect you and keep you safe, Aine!" he said. 

"I don't need you to protect me! Do you think I'm not capable of protecting myself?" Aine retorts, not caring how childish she was acting.

"That's not what I meant, love... I know that you're more competent to be able to protect yourself. It's just that, I just... I just—" Draco stammers, fumbling over his words. He sighs loudly and tries again. "I... I just want you to be safe, without being hurt. I thought if I joined the Inquisitorial Squad, I could be even useful to you since I would know Umbridge's plans and gain information that could help you and your friends. That's the whole reason I infiltrated the group, it was to make sure that you won't be harmed," he explains.

Aine stifled a scoff, her brows knitted together in bewilderment. "Why does it matter to you that if I get hurt or not?" she questions. 

Draco takes a step closer to her, watching Aine's eyes slowly widen at the closing distance. "When you're hurt, it hurts me too. When you're suffering, it pains me to see you so. I hate seeing you being wounded. I loathed seeing you suffering when I could do nothing but watch. It made me feel so worthless, all the time I see that woman causing you misery. You have no idea how many times I wished she was gone..." he murmured to her, reaching to tuck the strand of hair covering her face behind her ear. If only he had a little more power, he could have protected Aine. Where else could he find it besides feigning allegiance to the very person who had absolute authority over this school? 

Silence draws tighter between them, the stillness making Draco even more nervous when there was no reply from Aine. The girl merely froze, her lips parted slightly before she looks down at her shoes, hiding the scarlet tint on her face. She grew smaller in the presence of Draco who watches her body tremble. "Why are you doing this to me..." she whispered lowly.

Flustered, he reaches for her petite frame cautiously, afraid to agitate her. "Aine..?"

All this time, she was wrong about him. All this time, her thoughts were running wildly and foolishly. Aine had thought that Draco's absence had something to do with how she treated him. Had she been too overboard during training? Had she hurt his feelings in ways she didn't know? Had he come to hate her because of it? Not knowing how much his presence had affected her mind, every time he was missing during the meetings in the Room of Requirement, Aine wondered if he was going to stop being her friend. As ridiculous as it sounds, she was afraid that they would go back to being strangers. Above all, she didn't want that. 

It felt like her heart was longing for him whenever he was out of her sight. It made her anxious because deep down, she had cared for him very much. "I thought I had done something to upset you. I thought you hated me. That's why you stopped coming to the meetings... I thought that you were done playing along with my foolish fantasies," she told him, dismissing the rushing heat in her cheeks. That was the thing about Aine: When the girl had cared for something deeply, even the slightest and smallest insignificant thing could rattle her mind, making her worry and nervous, thinking that she could lose what she care for forever.