Desolation Row | A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction

Chapter 10

Buchanan and I made eye contact and I silently shooed him away, beginning to climb the stairs. Given that Draco had been a while ahead of me, I reached the Room of Requirement after he had gone in. As quietly as I could, I dodged my way through the clutter and junk adorning the room and hid somewhere that I was sure Draco wouldn't be able to see me. I stifled a gasp when Draco reached into his suit and pulled out a live bird, clutching the small animal tightly in his hand. It tweeted as Draco opened the cabinet and bent down to allow it to hot out of his grasp. Closing the door, Draco spoke the incantation: "Harmonia Nectere Passus."
I watched in silence, anticipating what was going to happen. Not much time passed before Draco pulled the cabinet back open and gazed down at the emptiness of it. It was just the same as what had happened with the apple. He closed it again and repeated the incantation. I swallowed. I was worried about the bird. Draco reached into the cabinet. I took a deep breath. He pulled out the bird he had earlier put in but this time it wasn't moving and I exhaled the breath I had been holding, silently. It wasn't that I was relieved, or even surprised, it was that I was worried for Draco, for whatever he was using this cabinet for. I hurried silently from the Room, wanting to get out before Draco and I only just managed, hurrying off to my next lesson before I could be seen. 

Later that night, I couldn't sleep. Patches of moonlight were being cast over me as I tossed and turned, unable to get to sleep. Thoughts were whizzing through my mind, mainly of Draco and what I had seen at break. How had we only been back at school three days and I was already worrying dreadfully about Draco, about his life? Buchanan jumped onto my bed and curled up next to me, sensing my worry.
"Wh-what d-do I do?" I asked my cat, whispering to him as I stroked his head. 
He meowed softly in response as I buried my head in his fur, finally slipping into a fitful sleep as  I made a decision - I would tell Draco tomorrow. 

The next day, Draco and I were heading out of our Defence Against The Dark Arts lesson that we had just had with Professor Snape. The bell rang loudly and shrilly, indicating that it was lunch time and Draco turned to head down towards the dungeons, back to our Common Room. 
"Dray, c-can we t-talk?" I asked tentatively, tugging gently at the sleeve of his robe. 
"Of course, Lia. What about?" he asked, stopping and turning to face me. 
I indicated an empty classroom on our left and we headed in together. 
"P-please do-don't be an-annoyed w-with me b-but..." I started, causing Draco's eyebrows to knit together in confusion. 
"Lia? What did you do?" he asked apprehensively, leaning towards me. 
"B-bef-efore Chr-christ-mas, I-I s-saw y-you h-heading in-into th-that R-room with th-the ap-apple and yes-yester-terday, w-with the bi-bird." I ventured, noticing Draco's eyes widen in worry as I stuttered on every word I spoke - he could hear how nervous I was. 
"The Room of Requirement," he whispered and I nodded, assuming that must be the name of the secret room I had seen Draco disappear into so many times.
"W-well I f-foll-followed y-you i-in."
Draco's face fell. 
"Ophelia, you what?"
"I-I'm s-sorry, D-draco, I-"
"SORRY?!" he burst, throwing his arms up into the air. "SORRY? Do you have no respect for my privacy, whatsoever? Don't you care about me at all?"
"Wh-what?" I questioned, my nerves dissipating a little. "No, Draco, I f-foll-followed y-you be-because I c-care."
"No, Ophelia, you don't get it do you? You don't make the rules, you cant just do whatever you want, regardless of how it affects anyone else! You keep just-"
"Draco!" I interrupted. "I h-heard y-you and Sn-snape."
He fell silent. 
"I..." he had gone even paler than normal. 
"Dray?"
He sighed and sunk down into the nearest chair, running a shaking hand through his blonde hair. 
"I guess you just want to know what I'm doing?" he asked quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. 
I shook my head: "I j-just wa-want to kn-know th-that y-you're okay."
He sighed again. 
"That cabinet, it's called a vanishing cabinet and it has a twin sister, in Borgin and Burkes. They create some sort of passageway but the one on this end is broken, meaning the passageway doesn't work quite yet. The reason I keep going into the Room of Requirement is to try and fix it, to fix the cabinet." 
I nodded slowly, understanding what Draco was saying. 
"B-but wh-why do y-you ne-need it?" I asked, a little confused. "To es-escape?"
He shook his head mournfully as if he didn't want to tell me what he was really going to use it for, as if he were ashamed. But he took a  deep breath in and told me anyway. 
"I'm bringing Death Eaters," he paused, sighed and took another deep breath in. "I'm bringing them to the school to help me."
I swallowed and my eyes widened. 
"D-death-"
"Shhh." Draco interrupted, standing up and wrapping his arms around me. "I'm sorry."
I buried my head in his chest and shook my head - I understood. Draco ran his hand through my hair and planted an affectionate, friendly kiss on my head. I smiled weakly as my mind raced. From what Draco had told me I knew that if I tried to interfere, tried to stop him, everything would go wrong. From what Draco had told me, I knew this was his only option; from what Draco had told me I knew that if he didn't do this he would die and there was no way I was letting that happen. 

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Hey guys!!

Sorry, it's been quite a while and that this quite a short chapter but I hope you enjoy it!! 

I'll try as hard as I can to update the next chapter very soon!!

I love you all and thank you so much for reading, it means a lot!!

- Izzy xx