The Bracelet (Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

Chapter 69

Hey guys! I'm sorry it's taking a long time for me to update now. School has started again and I am taking two college level classes that give me at least two hours of homework every night. I am also on exec board, various committees, and have extracurriculars so you can see how I'm definitely very busy! 

I'm glad to be able to get this chapter up for you though and I hope you enjoy it! PS - at the end of the final chapter (next chapter), I will have a very important and exciting announcement that I need ALL of you to read! 

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Draco's POV -

In the days after the night of Dumbledore's death, minutes go by like hours.

The death eaters are now on the run, trying desperately to escape the ministry and reach the Dark Lord at the same time. Fear no longer lives in their hearts, for his greatest ally has been slaughtered. Naturally, I'm forced to follow along, because they think that I'm working for them. They think that I'm one of them.

The further away we get from the Hogwarts castle, the heavier the dread in my chest becomes. I feel like a hopeless being, and all I can think about is Jennifer. I've been asked before whether not knowing anything or knowing everything hurts worse. Confidently, I can say that the former brings one hundred times as much pain as the latter. I don't know if she woke up. I don't know if she hasn't. I do know that whatever happens, the blame will fall upon my shoulders.

The death eaters and I spend our days traveling, and our nights hiding in unknown corners of the earth - the damp mouths of caves, ledges at the peaks of uncivilized mountains. They speak in hushed voices, but I can tell they are excited. They've taken out Dumbledore, and conquering the rest of the wizarding world should be no harder. I keep to myself, silent, my mind on the girl back in the hospital wing at Hogwarts.

It only takes one week before I decide that I have to go back and see her.

I don't care if she is asleep when I go, or if she sees me at all in return. I just need to see her, and to know that she's okay. Then, I'll be able to move forward, and do what I must in order to get through the death and destruction that's about to take over the wizarding world.

I wait for what seems like forever. Waiting for the perfect time to sneak away, waiting until the death eaters are so exhausted with focus that they won't notice my absence. I grow even more quiet, more statue-like, so when I leave, it won't be as noticeable.

Days go by, and the right time doesn't come.

But I'll wait years if it means that I'll see her again.

***

Jennifer's POV -

When I wake up, there's one glorious moment in which I don't remember anything that's happened in the past nine months.

It's as though for just one second, I am still the same home-dwelling, ordinary girl that I was before last September struck. And then, it all comes rushing back.

Coming to Hogwarts and facing a world of death, lies, tears, and deception. Things much darker than that, even. And Draco, of course.

It's the middle of the night, and I begin to cry.

I remember him, gazing over at me as though I was something that had descended from heaven one day and telling me he didn't have time for me the next. I don't believe it. He can't have been telling the truth - we'd gone through too much for that to be how he honestly felt. I know him - I'd spent the last nine months getting to do so and at some point along the way, I'd broken past his hard exterior and seen what was truly inside. Many chose not to believe me when I told them what I saw in him, but it didn't matter to me. What mattered was that I knew.

My friends come to me, their tongues saturated with apology not long after I wake. Neville, Josefina, Kelsie. I forgive them for believing that I murdered two people, though it's clear to me that our friendship will never quite be the same as it was before. 

Dumbledore's funeral occurs not long after his death. It's a bleak affair. Students, professors, and all other creatures that inhabit the Hogwarts Castle weep with grief at the sight of his casket. There's a certain feeling of abandonment that can't be pushed aside, as though Dumbledore has died and left us alone just as the wizarding world descends into a hellstorm of chaos and death, and Voldemort rises from beneath it. And so, the mourning is not the worst part. It's the dread - that sense that inevitable doom is creeping up upon us all. 

And yet, I still find myself thinking about Draco. 

I long for him in ways I've never longed for anything before. I spend countless hours wondering where he is, if he's okay. I try to picture him in my head, to remember the exact shade of grey that his eyes were and the way his hair fell in the morning. I fear that one day, my vision of him will grow foggy. 

I hope that it doesn't. 

***

"Talk to you tomorrow?" 

I nod my head, offering a slight smile to the girl who I once called my best friend. Josefina returns the gesture before leaving. The awkward barrier between us is still tense and thick, but it'll chip away over time. I'm still not sure if things will ever return to the way they used to be, though. Even Josefina seems like a different person now. The girl who once was so fiery seems to have burnt out. Even the most lively of spirits can be broken down by war. 

The hospital wing is empty, though many students and staff aren't leaving at the time they had in previous years for summer holiday. The last of those who were injured in the attack on Hogwarts were discharged a few days ago. Pomfrey has me on suicide watch, and refuses to let me leave until she's seen "dramatic psychological improvement". 

When she calls to tell me that she's turning in for the night and ask me if there's anything I need, I say no. It's not the truth, but I say it anyways. 

Sleep is easy, because I work my mind to a point of exhaustion each and every day. Where is Draco, what happens next, what is Voldemort planning? I know I didn't kill him. It's impossible, because many of his horcruxes have yet to be destroyed. But between all that, I somehow manage to find rest. 

That night, I dream of being chased. I am on some sort of distorted shoreline, where normally earthly colors are stark and sucked of life. I am running, and I keep running and running, from something behind me. I don't know what it is, don't bother to look. I just know that I must keep running. But the faster I go, the more the sand begins to swallow my feet and the harsh wind fights me backwards. It is only when finally, ravaged by exhaustion, I fall forwards into the foaming waters that I rise to consciousness again. 

I wake in a cold sweat, my sheets constricting me like a reptilian predator. The hospital wing is quiet, the world having gone to sleep for the night. My vision is clouded with black patches, my lungs shrunken, and at first glance, it seems as though nothing has changed. 

The beds surrounding me are still vacant - empty shells containing memories of pain and agony. The desk beside my bed is still littered with oddly shaped tubes and canisters, filled with foreign creams and pills that I must apply generously three times a day, or take two of after every meal. And, in the chair placed directly left of my bed sits none other than Draco Malfoy, wide awake, alert, and staring right at me. 

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Well guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know it was short but it was supposed to be a chapter that exhibited the downfall/falling action after Dumbledore's death and Jennifer's attempt to end her own life. What do you think about Draco showing up, and what do you think will happen in the very last chapter?

Thank you so much for reading, and remember to watch for my very important announcement at the end of the next chapter and in my author's note!