Unnatural | D.M.

Chapter Eight

This one's long just letting you know. I don't own any of the rights to the characters or script, I just used parts to keep the storyline solid. Comment!
xoxo
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Delia
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Soon enough, the snow started to stick to everything and everyone. I'd started to get a cold but I wasn't going to miss the Hogsmeade trip by any means. Getting off the grounds was a blessing, considering how Malfoy was acting towards me. He hadn't looked my way in the week and a half since he basically told me to piss off. I'd completely stopped following him to the Room of Requirement but I ached for him. It scared me that someone who treated me the way he did had gotten under my skin so fast with little to no interaction.  I sniffled and wiped my nose, reading a chapter from Herbology we'd been assigned. I moved off the couch across from the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room to sit closer to the flames.
"Really Delia, I think you should stay." Hermione sat on the couch and I shook my head.
"No way. I need to get out of here. I'll be fine." She sighed and Harry came in with Ron.
"Delia, don't forget to send Lupin and Tonks a letter. You keep forgetting." Harry reminded me, looking at my complexion.
"You need rest."
"I'm fine, honestly. Look, I'll go to bed early tonight, alright? I'm going to the owlery."  I got up and ran a hand through my hair, exiting the common room.  I cursed at myself for not going up to my dormitory for a scarf because although the owlery wasn't far, it was fucking cold.

Once I got finished with my letter, my hands were shaking so bad I could barely write their names on the front of the parchment. I gave it to a small brown owl with a white patch on its chest. It flew out and I was walking towards the stairs when I almost ran into Malfoy. Shit. I didn't look him in the eyes as we passed each other until he said something.
"Edwards. You know where the Shrieking Shack is in Hogsmeade?" He looked down at the floor with his back to me. I hesitated before answering and he turned to look me in the eyes for the first time in weeks.
"No I don't." He furrowed his brows and nodded.
"Find it. Meet me there as soon as we get there. Make sure no one follows you."
"Are you seriously-" Malfoy turned his whole body to face me and took a few steps towards me. My body shook from the cold and partially from him being so damn close to me. He must've noticed because he took a small step back.
"Don't tell anyone. Make sure Potter isn't following you."
"Alright." I said breathlessly. He gave me a curt nod and turned to walk into the owlery. My throat felt dry all of a sudden and I walked down the stairs. He doesn't speak to me for weeks and now he wants to get all chatty in some shack? I shook my head and rubbed my hands together in a feeble attempt to warm them up.
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The next day I woke up late and barely had time to get ready before the group left for Hogsmeade. I'd forgotten a fucking scarf again but I was grateful to at least have a hat and gloves to keep me somewhat warm. I rubbed my arms and followed everyone to Hogsmeade. It seemed to be even colder here and my stomach turned at the thought of meeting Malfoy in the Shrieking Shack. Thankfully I'd been able to ask where it was without Harry getting suspicious.
"I'll meet you guys at the 3 Broomsticks in a while. I want to walk around a bit." I said, shoving my hands into the pockets of my coat.
"Yeah meet us in an hour. Don't get lost Delia." Harry smiled and I rolled my eyes. I turned and walked in the direction of the Shrieking Shack, looking over my shoulder about a million times.

The floorboards creaked with every step I took and it was setting my teeth on edge. What a lovely place to meet someone. I rolled my eyes and shivered, not used to this weather since I'd grown accustomed to 54 degree winters in the last two years. I could see my breath in front of me and pulled my hat over my ears. I heard a noise upstairs and my heartbeat quickened. Idiot. It's probably Malfoy. I stepped gingerly up the steps and saw him pacing, looking at the floor. He looked up when I entered the room and then looked back at the floor. I sat down on an old rug in an attempt to keep my pants somewhat clean since dust covered the floor. Malfoy kept pacing for another 10 minutes and it was driving me insane.
"Fucking hell, Malfoy. Why are we here?" I asked, annoyed. He took his hands out of his black coat pockets and I noticed he wasn't wearing gloves. Was everybody numb to this weather except me?
"Have you ever been forced to do something? Something you never asked for or wanted?" He finally said.
"Yeah. Sirius sent me to the U.S after he got out of Azkaban in an attempt to keep me safe. But really it was pointless because..." My eyes watered and I cleared my throat.
"He wanted the best for me. He was the only family I had that actually gave a shit about me." Malfoy looked at me confused but kept pacing.
"What about your parents?" He asked.
"They're dead." Silence filled the room and I took off my hat, running a hand through my red hair.
"I didn't know. Sorry." He sat next to me on the rug and laid his back against the wall. Fiddling with the end of his black scarf, he turned slightly towards me. I looked away from him, my heart in my throat.
"It's fine. Anyways, I don't know if anyone is really forced to do anything. There's always a choice."
"But what if there isn't? I mean.... What if you would be basically sentencing not only yourself but your parents to death by not doing it?" I looked at him but he refused to meet my eyes.
"Christ, what've you gotten yourself into?" Malfoy looked at me and stayed quiet for another few minutes, putting his face in his hands. He sat back against the wall and looked at the floor again.
"What if there was a way to make what you were forced to do a little more bearable? Would you- I mean...would you do it?" His eyes pleaded with me and I automatically reached for his pale hand. I could feel how cold his skin was through my gloves and he looked at our hands.
"If it makes your life a bit more bearable and keeps your family safe, do it. There's always a choice." He nodded and we sat there for a little while longer before Malfoy got up.
"Whatever you hear, just know I didn't want any part of this."
"Why does it matter what I think of you, Malfoy? You've been ignoring me for nearly two weeks." I got up and he took steps towards me, my back pressed up against the wall. Our bodies were almost touching each other and my breath shakily left my lips. He placed his cold hand softly on my cheek and rubbed his thumb against my skin. His usually indifferent grey eyes seemed filled with something that was reminiscent of affection. I leaned in and our noses grazed each other, my nose filling with the scent of his cologne and the spearmint from his breath.  Draco pulled me closer and my sweater rode up slightly above the hem of my pants. He put his hand on the bare skin of my hip and I gripped the sweater under his black coat. His lips brushed mine for a millisecond before he backed up from me and turned his head away.
"I can't involve you, Delia. It's better this way." Malfoy walked out leaving me breathless and head spinning.  He walked back into the room and placed his scarf around my neck.
"You need it more than I do." I heard the door close behind him and lifted my hair up from under the scarf. His cologne filled my nose again from his scarf and I pressed my lips together.

I walked back to the 3 Broomsticks and saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione talking to Professor Slughorn.
"Good to see you, Wallenby." I stifled a laugh as Professor Slughorn walked away, giving me a smile as he passed me.
"Delia we got you a butterbeer." Harry motioned for me to sit next to Hermione.
"Thanks. How's it going Wallenby?" I smirked and Ron pouted.
"What was that about anyways?" Hermione asked.
"Dumbledore's asked me to get to know him."
"Why?"
"No idea. Let's get out of here, it's bloody stuffy in this place." Harry got up and I quickly downed the rest of my butterbeer. We had only walked for a little while in the snow when it happened. An ear deafening scream came from in front of us and I looked to see a girl who I knew to be Leanne standing next to Katie Bell.
"I warned her not to touch it!" She cried hysterically. I gripped Harry's arm as Katie's body flung around in the snow before finally she was finally thrown upwards into the air. Her mouth was open as if she were screaming but no sound came out and she suddenly plummeted back into the ground. I moved to go towards her twitching body when I heard a loud voice boom.
"Don't get any closer. Get back, all of you!" Hagrid came between us and picked her up. Harry moved towards the package I assumed Katie had been carrying and saw a necklace lying in the snow.
"Do not touch that except by the wrappings. Do you understand?"

Back at the castle, Katie was taken to the infirmary where she would later be transferred and we were to be questioned by Professor McGonagall. She asked Leanne about the package and who it was to be delivered to.
"To professor Dumbledore." Leanne said and McGonagall's face turned pale.
"Very well. Thank you Leanne, you may go." Leanne left and she turned to us with a concerned look.
"Why is it that when something happens it is ALWAYS you three? And now you've brought someone else into it as well?"
"Believe me professor, I've been asking myself that question for 6 years." Ron said weakly. Snape came in and Professor McGonagall watched as he inspected the dark object. My palms began to sweat and I bit my lip nervously. How could this have happened?
"What do you think, Severus?"
"I think Miss Bell is lucky to be alive." Harry shifted in his stance and I looked at him, anger in his eyes.
"She was cursed wasn't she? I know Katie. Off the quidditch pitch she wouldn't hurt a fly. If she was delivering the package she wasn't doing it knowingly."
"Yes, she was cursed."
"It was Malfoy." My head spin around to look at him just as Hermione did the same followed by Ron. What? Malfoy could never.
"That is a very serious accusation, Potter." McGonagall said. I felt as if the world stopped and I searched my mind for any indications of Malfoy possibly being behind this, tuning the conversation out.

Whatever you hear, just know I didn't want any part of this.

Could he have meant this? I couldn't wrap my head around the possibility of Malfoy doing this to anyone but truthfully, I wasn't 100% sure. A hand on my shoulder brought me out of my thoughts.
"What?"
"Let's go, Delia." I nodded and followed Harry to the common room.
"You okay, Delia? You look a bit pale."
"Of course she does, Ronald. First trip to Hogsmeade and something terrible like this happens?" Hermione squeezed my shoulder and I nodded. She had no idea how right she was and how horrible I felt since I could've very well been the person who gave Malfoy the go to do this.