When Twins Strike Back | Draco Malfoy [3]

Chapter 1 ~ Seeing Him

It was around three in the morning when I heard something. This was something that I had never heard before during my stay at the Malfoys. Nothing unusual happened when I was there. Just the same old things. This was probably the worst summer yet.

Until I saw him.

I was still having nightmares about Cedric's death. There were times where I would wake up, screaming at the top of my lungs. Of course, Lucius didn't take it well. As I was in my bed, awake from all the nightmares, I heard something. I felt the presence of someone in the room with me when a chill went down my spine and goosebumps covered my arms.

"Max..."

I didn't know what it was. So I tried to fall asleep. I heard it again.

"Max..."

This time, I sat up from my bed. I looked around the room and saw no one. I laid back down in bed and closed my eyes.

"Max..."

I opened my eyes and saw Cedric standing there. I gasped as I saw his ghost standing before me. "Cedric?"

He floated to the doors that led to the balcony and went through it. I jumped out of bed and went out on the balcony. I saw no one there. I looked around to see if he was hiding anywhere, but I saw nothing. Instead of going back to bed, I just stood out there, waiting for him to come back.

"Cedric?" I called out. "No, I wasn't dreaming. There's no way. He was here, right here..."

"Potterette?" I turned around to see Malfoy standing by my bed, startling me a bit, as I didn't hear him come inside my bedroom. "What are you doing out here?"

"I thought I saw him," I replied.

"You thought you saw who?"

"Cedric."

He came out and looked around like I did. "There's no one here. It's just us."

"No, I saw him. He was right here." He grabbed me by the arms gently and put me back into bed. "I'm not crazy," I whispered. "Do you think I'm crazy, Malfoy?"

"No, I don't," he whispered back, his honesty clear in his voice.. "It's grief. We all feel it at some point."

I felt my heart ache as I stared at him. "You'd think I would be numb to the pain at this point. I've dealt with this for a while now, death and trauma."

"It's not that simple, really," he replied, sitting down beside me. "It takes time to heal, you know, especially with death."

I chuckled. "Nothing is ever simple for me. Maybe it's because of who I am and what I've dealt with all of my life."

He smiled a bit. "That is something we can definitely agree on. Besides, you don't make it simple."

"Yeah, I guess it's one of the many things I'm good at." I sighed and held my eyes on him a little bit longer, twirling my hands on the bed close to his fingers. I felt a sense of comfort during this moment, one that seemed to last a long time, and I wondered if he felt that, too. "You know, it's kind of odd, seeing you being nice to me like this."

He rolled his eyes, but it was still playful in a way. "Don't push your luck. I didn't want you to fall off the balcony on my watch. I'm sure your brother would've accused me of pushing you."

"At least you somewhat care," I replied, grinning.

"Sure. We'll put it that way." He got up from the bed. "Get some sleep. Try not to get out of bed this time."

"No promises," I joked.

He snorted. "I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Potterette."

"Goodnight, Malfoy," I said.

After he left the room, I drifted off to sleep. I didn't hear any more voices that night.

*******

"You're so stupid, Potter! You can't even make toast properly!"

"Sorry," I mumbled.

Lucius smacked me across my cheek and made it bleed. "Well, try again, then."

"Right," I muttered. As I picked up his plate, I saw another hand reach out to mine. It was a ghost-like hand. I gasped and pulled away from grabbing Lucius' plate.

Now he was mad. "What has gotten into you, Potter?!"

"Nothing," I lied.

"Then get on with my toast, you stupid girl!"

I quickly grabbed the plate and headed back to the kitchen. Suddenly, I heard voices. It wasn't Cedric's voice. I started feeling a sharp pain in my neck.

Maxine Potter. Who could ever love you?

I gasped again and dropped the plate on the floor. I felt my hands shaking as I bent over to clean up the mess. I was putting the remainders of the plate in the trash when I heard footsteps.

Malfoy came in after I dropped the plate. "What the hell is going on here?!"

I inhaled deeply, trying to calm down. "Nothing, Malfoy. Just leave me alone so I can make this toast." I went back to making it until he came to me and grabbed my arm.

"Go upstairs, Potterette. Just go to your room and stay there."

"But--"

"It's obvious that you haven't gotten any sleep in the past few days. You and I both know that, especially after last night."

I sighed. "I know, I just..." I closed my eyes, but I began to resist the urge to fall asleep. "I'm sorry."

"Potterette, please go back to your room and rest."

"What about your father?"

"I'll handle him. Just go upstairs and rest."

I did as I was told and snuck back upstairs into my room. That voice. I remembered it so well. I didn't feel like resting. I wanted to stay awake. I wanted to see if Cedric would come back. He never did. But something else came. It was another side of me that I never knew I had.

My bad side was rising, the dark side I never wanted to have, and by that, I meant the very fucked up side of me.

A/N: Ohhhhh that's right. I dropped the f bomb. Get over it.

So yeah here's the new chapter! I hope I started out good. :) Hopefully it won't take me as long to write this book. I want it to be done by February. Hopefully that's enough time.

So what do you think of Max now? Do you think she'll be as crazy as Harry? Let me know in the comments.

Comment, vote, and enjoy BOOK 3 of the Double Trouble Series. Bye for now!

-A