Bouquet of Knives Book One

Chapter Fourteen

Draco's POV

The days went by without Harry, everyone slowly finding the strength to speak again. It took a few more weeks before their will to truly try came back. And many, many months before laughter was heard. When we first heard laughter, it was foreign. We didn't know what to do, how to act. We looked at each other as if we had just disrespected Harry in some way. But eventually, the rest of us started to join. Until everything was back to normal. Well, as normal as it could be without Harry.

Of course, it's been two years now. I'm eighteen and have dedicated my learning of magic to Harry. That was the least I could do. I owe it to the bloke, after all. With it being two years after the fact, anytime anyone mentioned his name, if it was bad, they would be punished. Anytime someone spoke about him, it became rules to only speak good. No one had a problem with it and he's been mentioned many times already within the week. It was truly strange to look across the Gryffindor table and not see the spectacled man staring at me with hatred. But now, instead, Ron took his place. Of course, I would never fall in love with that weasel.

It was currently lunch but there were whispers being spread around. Once I heard that the witch was back, I froze in my seat. The lump in my throat grew until I was struggling to breathe. There had to be a mistake. I mean, Harry killed that hag, didn't he? I stare at the food on my plate, breathing quickly. There were loud explosions coming from outside and we all tumbled to the side from the wave. I snatch my wand from the table and march outside, intending on killing the witch myself.

"Draco, stop!" I hear students yell at me. I immediately ignore them, running down towards the witch. I fully intended on finishing her off. She killed someone I held dear, I'd be damned if I didn't get my revenge. How heroic, right? Wrong.

The witch spots me and flicks her wrist towards me. I flinch and immediately use a shield spell to block off the attack. I look for a spot to hide but she would see me run no matter where I go. I was completely screwed. The witch was going to kill me.

"Malfoy, get away!" I hear a familiar voice. I shake my head, thinking my mind was playing tricks on me again. Until I hear his voice again: "Malfoy!" I look up and see Harry holding off the witch with a spell. He looked completely different. He had stubble along his jaw, grew out more and gained some muscle. Though he appears to have found his glasses and had even repaired them.

"Right," I mumble and scramble away, ducking behind a pile of debris. I peek my head over the rocks and watch as Harry holds out his hands. "Woah..." he shoves the witch back with magic from his fingers. I've only heard about this type of magic. Only incredibly strong wizards can wield it because of how much energy it takes. But Harry seemed to be an expert at it.

"You!" The witch growls, gnashing her teeth as she stares at Harry with hate. "How did you survive that fall!? It should have killed you!"

"Well it didn't," Harry replies as he yells out a spell that causes the witch to scream as she's flown sideways. An arm bumps into mine and I yelp, thinking it was the witch's henchman but when I look into Hermione's shocked face, I immediately begin to blush. I shake it off and look back to the fight happening with a dead man. Or at least, a man that should be dead.

"Didn't you bring the wand back?" Hermione asks quietly as she looks out across the campus at the dueling wizards.

"Yep," I state. I look over at Hermione and see her eyes go wide as her mouth hangs open.

"So... He's gotten that powerful?" Her eyes were locked on Harry. For some reason I felt anger rise inside my chest, as if I was jealous. I didn't like how she looked at him in that adoring way. I'm sure it was just because she was impressed but I didn't like it. Even if I wasn't with him anymore, I still didn't want people to look at him like that. I look back to the fight to see Harry get thrown back, slamming against the wall. He falls onto his face, groaning as he struggles to get onto his hands and knees.

"Harry!" I yell and start to get up until his shout stops me.

"Stay there!" He gets up and holds up a hand, the witch unable to move. He keeps his hand up as he walks towards her. He disarms her, her wand flying out of her hand but her trap broken. She charges Harry, taking him down in one swift motion and pinning him down with her hands against his throat. Harry grabs onto her wrists, twisting and shoving her back. She screams as she's thrown off of him, Harry quickly getting to his feet until he's knocked down again.

"You're dead!" The witch shouts as her fingers glow green. I scream, instinctively running out and tackling her away from him before she could finish the spell. She shoves me off, saying a spell that sends me flying into the side of the building. The wind is knocked out of me and my senses all shut down for a couple of seconds before I slam into the hard ground. I grunt, coughing as I shakily hold myself up. I look up to see Harry and the witch with latched hands, keeping each other at bay. He shoves her back and she falls to the ground, yelling out a spell that seemed to put Harry in excruciating pain.

"No," I whisper out, unable to use my full voice as I lay on the ground. I watch as Harry stumbles back, gritting his teeth as he tried to bare the pain. The witch advances on him, a wicked smile on her face. As the witch comes closer, Harry shakily stands up. I could tell he was still in a lot of pain but he uses both hands as he says a spell, the woman freezing until she starts moving again. The witch latches onto Harry's throat, my scream cutting off as I watch his face turn. He moves his head back and slams it into the witch's, a move I've never seen. It shocked me to see but if it meant he was winning then I was fine with whatever.

"Leave us alone!" He uses another spell and the witch is suddenly gone. I didn't know what he used but it seemed to work. I struggle to get up, my body aching all over. Harry looks over at me and runs towards me, mumbling a healing spell. I feel my body heal completely and look down at Harry once I was able to stand up. He was incredibly beaten up and his hair was to his shoulders in slight waves. If I didn't see the scar and the eyes, I wouldn't have thought it was actually him. "Are you-" I cut him off with an intense kiss, holding his face in my hands. I pull away, a silent sob meeting my features.

"I can't believe it's you..." I say before he smiles, pulling me back down to his lips. He holds me to him once we break away, holding tightly. As though if we let go the other would wither away. As though if we let go I'd wake up and realize it was all a dream. He kisses me one last time before he's being called by Snape.

"I was wondering when you were going to come back," Snape speaks as he hands Harry his wand. Harry holds it in his hands, turning it over.

"You thought he died too!" I object, seeing Snape look at me with angry eyes.

"I did not, I knew Potter couldn't die from a simple witch," he states.

"But I saw you cry," he whips his head towards me with a look of pure rage but it turns into something else.

"I- well, I- Certainly it-" he stutters before mumbling and walking off. "Welcome back, Potter," he waves a hand behind his head as he walks off. Harry looks at me, smiling happily. He wraps me in a hug, soon joined by two more people I realized were Hermione and Ron. We stayed like that, all holding each other. Once we pull away, I look down at Harry. I was so incredibly happy he was back.

"That's a hug that will never happen again," Harry jokes. I look a the two friends, grimacing at Ron.

"That is very true," I state flatly. Harry was back. He was alive, OK and he was back home. And stronger than ever. Not to mention... He had muscles. I look at his hair, reaching out and running it through my fingers. "Your hair needs cutting."