A Child Changes Everything. (A Draco Malfoy Story)

A Child Changes Everything. [I Need To Quit You]

“This is where I played Quidditch.” Draco said as they entered the empty stadium. Kelly stared up at the stands excitedly.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“It’s a sport. And you ride around in the air on broomsticks.”

“You do not!” she said disbelievingly.

“We do too!”

Kelly shook her head stubbornly. It was understandable, since before today Quidditch was non-existant. Draco ran to the entrance of the locker rooms. A tall wooden cabinet stretched along the wall. He saw that it was padlocked.

“Alohomora!” he said, flicking his wand. The lock popped off and the doors swung open to reveal twenty or so brooms. They were the ancient ones that were used to train first years in flying. Draco grabbed one and ran to meet Kelly. She looked at the old broom with disgust. You laughed and sat down on a bench that was set against the stadium wall, watching the two of them.

“It’s dirty.”

“It’s vintage.” He said. Then he picked her up in his arms and got on the broom. “Hold on tight, okay?”

She nodded and with that he kicked off of the ground and zoomed up into the air, Kelly secured in one arm. She squealed in fear and excitement as they got higher and higher. You saw them land in the stands, and he pointed out over the grounds for her to look. You tightened your jacket around you, feeling chilly. The sun had disappeared behind some dark ominous looking clouds.

“Draco!” you yelled, waving for him to come back down. They landed a moment later, Kelly’s hair windswept and wild.

“Again! Again!” she yelled happily.

“Maybe later. It looks like rain.” You said, holding your hand out. A water droplet fell onto your palm, confirming your thoughts.

“When’s the last time you’ve been a broom, Kris?” he asked, eyeing you playfully.

“That would be six years ago. And it’s going to stay that way.” You said.

“With me?” he asked.

“Yes.” You said shortly. “Why is that surprising?”

“I don’t know. I just figured with Harry…”

“Yeah well, not a lot of opportunity. C’mon Kelly!” you said quickly. Again the mention of Harry made your stomach do somersaults. You felt so guilty, like it was eating you alive. After some convincing, you managed to get Kelly to take a break from the adventures the castle had to offer to eat. You went back up to the Room of Requirement, since the Great Hall wasn’t open when school wasn’t in session. And honestly, you missed cooking. As strange as that sounds. You reached the stretch of wall and stopped in your tracks. The door was already sitting there, which meant that someone was inside.

“UNCLE HARRY!” Kelly screamed, running from behind your legs when she spotted Harry in the sitting room waiting. His face lit up at the sight of her, and he twirled in a great big hug.

“I missed you, Kelly Belly!” he said. Then he knelt down to her and took out a small bag of Jelly Belly’s from his pocket. She took them happily and raced away to her room to hide them. You rolled your eyes. Jelly Bellies have always been her favorite, but you limited her candy intake so strictly that she hardly ever got to eat them. When Harry did get them for her, she always ran to hide them so you wouldn’t see. It used to make you mad, but now you just thought it was cute. Harry watched her go and then his sparkling green eyes turned to meet yours.

“I’m just going to see what she’s up to.” Draco said, setting his coat over a chair. He excused himself and then it was just you two. Harry wrapped his arms around you.

“I missed you. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there when all this happened. Truly.” He said sincerely, taking your hands in his.

“It’s fine, really. We’ve been okay. We had—“

“Draco. Yeah.” He said. You bit your lip as an awkward silence settled in. Harry looked down at your hands in his and confusion settled on his face.

“Where’s your ring?” You looked down at your empty ring finger and cursed yourself. Why had you taken it off? That was stupid.

“Oh… It’s here. In the bedroom.”

“Which brings me to my next question. Why only one bedroom?” he asked, dropping your hands. The warmness that was in his expression was gone now. He was accusatory. You would be angry, but unfortunately he had have every right to be.

“Draco wanted to sleep out here. To protect us.”

“Did he?” he asked shortly. You held your breath. You felt completely overwhelmed at his inquisition. Technically, he did sleep out there, but he slept with you too. You saw Harry’s pleading eyes, desperate for the truth. You couldn’t lie to him.

“He did… for a few hours.”

“And the rest of the time?”

“Harry…” you couldn’t bring yourself to say it. But you didn’t have to. He already knew. He sat down, silent. It scared you but you sat next to him and waited for him to say something. Anything.

“I knew it…” he said, wringing his hands and standing up abruptly.

“Harry, please!”

“NO!” he yelled, then regretted it, eyeing Kelly’s bedroom. “No, Kris. Not this time. You want to know something? There was no mission. No assignment. I made it up!”

“W-What?!” you asked, shocked.

“I’ve been at Ron and Hermione’s this whole time.” Your heart raced. None of this made sense. He continued, obviously furious. “I knew that if I left, this would happen. So I did. And it did.”

He turned away from you, scratching the back of his head and obviously unsure of what to do at this point. You got up and tried to take his hand, but he tore it away angrily. 

“Harry, please don’t do this.” You said, tears spilling from your eyes. To your surprise, he turned to face you. He looked hurt, and you hugged him to you, weeping on his shoulder. To your even greater surprise, he returned the hug. Then he pulled away from you and you saw the tears in his eyes as well.

“I’ve got a theory.” He said. You sniffed, wiping your nose and nodding for him to continue. “I’ve read up a lot on addiction since I’ve known you. I’ve read about drug addiction, alcohol addiction, tobacco addiction… and then I wondered something. I wondered if you could be addicted to a person. It turns out, you can.” 

“Harry, I’m not addicted to Draco!” you defended.

“I’m not talking about you and Draco. I’m talking about you and me.” He sighed, his pain evident in his voice. “I am addicted to you. I keep coming back, even when I’ve been hurt. Because without you, I feel like I’m drowning. And then I need my fix, and I come back to you. But right now, I acknowledge that you aren’t good for me. And I need to quit you.” 

It literally felt like a dagger to your heart, hearing him say these things. Sure, Harry wasn’t who you wanted to spend your life with romantically. But you couldn’t imagine him not being in your life at all. He has always been your best friend. And Kelly needed him! You both did. Maybe it was selfish, but you couldn’t let him leave your life. You grabbed his arm when he brushed past you, your fingers clutching on for dear life.

“H-H-Harry, you can’t go!” you cried. You were desperate now as he looked down at you, begging for him to stay. His eyes became so distant. You found yourself wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him to you. You kissed him, trying desperately to make him stay. His hands felt up your back, his lips moving with yours, his tongue entering your mouth. Then his fingers gasped your shoulders firmly and he pushed you away from him. He pulled you off of him and left, leaving the door open behind him.

“HARRY!” you screamed, running out into the hallway. But he didn’t look back at you. You fell to your knees, crying into your hands violently. You felt it when he left. He wouldn’t be back. You just lost your best friend forever.