Draya Malfoy

37 - The Untouchable Headmaster

Harry stared down at the piece of parchment which the third year Hufflepuff had just delivered.

Come now. Your presence is required urgently. It is time.

It was unusual for Dumbledore to summon him with zero notice. It meant that this was not another lesson. It meant he was ready to begin the adventure.

If only Harry was in the mood though. It had been a week since he and Draya had parted ways. He missed her in a way that made him feel physically wounded. He longed to touch her, to hold her in his arms.

More than anything, he just longed to see her beautiful smile. The smile that made him feel happier than he'd ever thought possible, happier even than when he discovered Hogwarts existed.

But, to his dismay, she hid herself away, never showing up to mealtimes, once again skipping classes. When he did occasionally spy her in the corridor, he had been shocked at her appearance. Her eyes dead and faraway, her frame emancipated beneath her robes.

Did she miss him too? Or was it something else? Something Voldemort related.

He sighed, tiredly rubbing his hand over his face. If it was Voldemort, then he, Harry Potter, had to do his best to put an end to him. If she wouldn't save herself, then perhaps he could somehow do that for her?

Making a decision, he left Ron and Hermione with his map and Liquid Luck. They would need it more than him. He would, after all, be with Dumbledore.

The most untouchable wizard in history.

*****

Somehow the room seemed colder than usual. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself, my dress offering me little warmth.

The last time I'd worn this black dress was the night I became a Death Eater. It would be appropriate, my mother had advised in her last letter.

Personally, I thought it was nothing but inappropriate. I needed to wear something I could run the fuck away in. Because there would be running tonight, no doubt about that.

I knew that in the morning I would not be waking up in Hogwarts - if I were to wake up at all, that was. Well... someone wasn't going to see the light of another day, that was for sure.

I shivered again, suddenly overcome with fear. I wanted to turn and run, to run all the way to Harry and tell him that I choose him. I wanted him to hold me and reassure me that I was safe. Because he had made me feel safe. In that short time we'd been together, I felt the safest I had in ever.

But at what cost? The cost of my family - my family who admittedly were not the best people in the world, but I loved them, and I couldn't live with myself if my mother died because of me.

So, here I was: a small, lonely figure standing before a grand, looming, dark cabinet, getting ready to unleash hell.

I thought about my friends, who would all no doubt hate me come morning; about Pansy, Daphne, Millie and Tracy all tucked away fast asleep in the dormitory I rarely slept in.

I thought about Crabbe and Goyle, about Theo and Blaise, my heart twisting slightly as my mind settled on the latter.

I'd hurt Blaise by getting with Harry. Once, there might have been something between us, but nothing ever developed beyond friendship - not whilst Harry Potter was around, forever stealing my attention.

Harry. My chest ached just thinking about him. What would he think of me tomorrow? No doubt he would hate me too.

As he said that day on the train, looking me straight in the eye: he can tell the wrong sort for himself.