Emerald - Draco Malfoy

39

As I entered the astronomy room, my breath blew clouds into the air.  

Man, it was cold up there.  

Through the fogged windows, I could see Draco standing by the railing of the balcony outside. 

Draco's voice whispered in my mind.

'I'd pitch myself off the astronomy, if I thought I had to continue for another two years.'

I quickly walked over, and out the door. 

I stood a few feet away from him.  

It had begun snowing outside.  

The white flakes danced in the night sky, as they slowly made their way to the ground. 

Draco didn't move a muscle.  

Draco stared blankly into the dark horizon. 
He had such a tight grip on the railing, his knuckles were turning white.  

"Why are you sitting here by your lonesome self?" I softly asked him, as I stared off into the distance. 

"I just like it up here, it's quite." Draco replied. 

He let go of the railing, and put his hands in his pocket.  

His eyes didn't leave the sky.  

"I suppose..... Draco?" I began to ask. 

I tucked my hands under my arms to keep them warm.  

"What?" Draco spoke quietly. 

"Why did you send me that letter, before school started? Did I do something wrong?" I swallowed hard. 

Draco breathed heavily, as he looked down at the ground, before stepping away from the railing. 

"No, it's just..." Draco trailed off as he looked at me.   "Come on, let's go inside.  It's cold out here."

Draco put his hand on my back, as he lead me inside the astronomy room. 

With the flick of his wand, he turned the small chair in the room into a couch.  

He lit the candles up as well. 

He lit a floating fire a few feet in front of the couch.  

I sat down on one side of the couch, and he sat down on the other.  

We both stared into the small fire. 

"Have you ever wonder why I go to Hogwarts, you know instead of Ilvermorny?" I asked Draco, as I turned to look at him.  

Draco's eyes watched the flames flicker, as his jaw tightened a bit.

"Yeah, I have." Draco simply said, as he continued to watched the fire flicker. 

"My parents don't approve of magic.  Them being muggles, and all my siblings being muggles, I'm the only one with magic. They've been angry at me, ever since they found out.    They didn't want me going to the American school, thinking that I would be too close to them.    The only other school that was offered to me at the time, was Hogwarts.   They finally decided to let me go there, hoping I wouldn't come back home one of these times. Every year that I come back, they get angrier.  They lock me in my room for the summer. They don't even speak to me at this point."
  
Draco turned his head to look at me.  

He had a concerned look on his face.

Draco moved closer to me by a few inches. 

"Just cause you can do magic? That seems ridiculous." Draco turned his head back too the fire. 

I sat up straight, and moved a few inches closer to him. 

"It's even worse over the summer.  They lock me in my room, and 'ground' me all summer. The only thing they say to me is 'why do you keep coming back?'.  I guess they are disappointed that I haven't died yet." I let out a nervous chuckle.  

Draco turned back, and looked at me.   
The small speckle of blue in his eyes grew a little bit.  

"I'm glad you haven't died yet." Draco moved right next to me, and put his arm around me. 

It was very comforting.  

"I'm glad you're not dead either, Draco.   Can you tell me why you haven't talked to me, or what that note was about?" I laid my head on his shoulder.  

"Not exactly.   There's a lot of stuff going on, I don't want you dragged into it. " Draco sighed.  

He played with the silver rings on his fingers. 

"Is it stuff with your dad?" I asked him. 

"Kind of... somewhat.  It's just a lot of things happening all at once. Too much to handle. I don't want you to get hurt.  I care about you too much, it's best if you didn't know what's going on. " Draco slowly stroked my arm, as he spoke.   

"I care about you too, I don't want you getting hurt.   It's gotta be pretty bad if you can't tell me, Draco." I said worriedly. 

"I'll be alright, don't worry about me." Draco kissed the top of my head softly.  

I looked up at Draco.  

He had dark bags under his eyes, like he hadn't been sleeping very well.

"I hate to remind you, but you're kind of a pussy." I said as, I began laughing.  

Draco smiled, as a soft laugh escaped his lips. 

"Shut up." Draco tried to contain his laughter.  

I hadn't seen Draco laugh, or smile in a while.  

It was nice to see.  

"For a moment I thought you were using me. After you sent that letter... leaving me to sit, and think... After we...." I trailed off. 

"I would never use you, darling.  I truly do care about you, I'm just trying to protect you." Draco kissed me softly. 

His kiss spread warmth across my body.   

Draco's kiss felt like home.

"Thanks, Draco." I replied.

I sat with Draco for a while.   

We didn't say anything, just took in each other's presence.  

There wasn't much to say anyway.  

After a while, I headed back to my room.  

It was getting late, I did tell Harry and Hermione I would meet them back there. 

Hermione was sleeping, and Harry was no where to be seen.