Please, Just Say I Love You

Please, Just Say I Love You (6)

Chapter 6

Draco

The first thing Draco heard the next morning were his parents talking- his father in a loud voice and his mother in a quiet whisper. What are they doing outside my room? He thought, groaning. Can't they shut up for once?

He moved his head to the side and winced as- what felt like a hammer- pound against his skull. He rubbed his hand against his forehead to soothe the pounding but it made it worse. What did I do last night? He tried to remember but everything remained completely blank.

His parent's voices stopped abruptly and he heard their footsteps coming towards him. He dropped his hand to his side and lay completely still, letting out steady puffs of air to fool his parents he was still asleep. The footsteps stopped and he felt his father's presence in front of him. Draco tried not to shift in his father's shadow.

Nothing happened for hour-long seconds then suddenly he was soaked in freezing cold water. The sudden change shocked him, and Draco jumped up from the sleeping position gasping and coughing.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" He demanded, wheezing. He glanced around the room and saw he was not in his room. Instead of his room, he was in the sitting room.

"Finally, you're up," came his father's cool drawl. Lucius Malfoy waved his wand and an empty pitcher floated and landed softly on the ground. Lucius again waved his wand and the bay window curtains split open and the room filled with sunlight, making Draco flinch away.

Draco's father's eyes were trained on him. Draco could feel Lucius's eyes wander up and down his body, taking in the muggle clothing and his disheveled appearance. Draco also looked down on himself and saw his shirt had vomited, alcohol, and a red blotch staining the front. Was that ketchup?

He noticed Lucius's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Get ready, Draco. We're going out." To Draco's relief, he didn't say anything about the no-drinking rule.

"I'm not going anywhere," Draco said, mustering up all the dignity he had left, "at least, nowhere with you." He managed to sound repulsed at the idea of going out in public with his parents.

Lucius's frown turned into a scowl as he stepped closer to Draco and Draco, in return, stood straighter, meeting his father's eyes. "Don't disrespect us, Draco," he said in a dangerously low voice. His finger inches away from Draco's nose, "We managed to persuade an Auror not to arrest you for not calling into the ministry last night after you got back from the Zambini Manor and not to mention you conversed with multiple muggles and nearly told them the existence of the wizarding world! Luckily for you, Draco. Your friend- oh, what's his name, oh yes, Blaise- followed you from his home and saved you from a lifetime in Azkaban. The only thing that should be harmed is your pride. That and your broomstick."

"M-my broomstick?" He scanned the room and in the corner, he saw a horribly broken broomstick. It looked like it had been smashed into bits by the Whomping Willow. Draco wanted to rush over to his broken friend and demand his parents to fix it, but he knew it would be fruitless. A broom and a wand were similar in many ways and once broken to the core, it would be forever broken no matter how many times they used a repairing spell on it.

"I'm sorry about your broom, Draco," His mother said, laying a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off.

"So what. It's just a broom," he heard himself saying. He was shocked at how indifferent he sounded toward the only thing he loved and cherished most of his life. It's not just a broom. It's so much more than a broom. It's my oldest friend, he thought silently. Draco tore his gaze away from the broom and bowed his head. The news of his broom left him hollow and his fight left him and he silently surrendered. "Where are we going?"

"Diagon Alley," Lucius said as he pulled out a letter from his pocket. Draco glanced up and immediately recognized it by its wax seal. His face had lost all color and he stepped back from it as if it was poisonous.

A shadow crossed over his father's face. "You have to, Draco, or else-" Lucius grabbed another letter from his pocket and opened it and started to read, "'Draco must return to Hogwarts for his final year to learn the correct instructions to use magic or suffer the punishment of being ripped from all magic."

Silence and tension filled the room. Draco felt his muscles tensing up and his head swimming either due to his hangover or the thought of going to Hogwarts again.

"That's a little much, isn't it, dear?" Narcissa said breaking up the silence, as she leaned over her husband's shoulder. "Why do they want him to go to Hogwarts so bad to threaten him?"

"To keep an eye on me," Draco replied resentfully. "This year is the last year of probation, remember? If I don't go this year then they won't be able to keep track of what I'm doing..." His mouth twitched at the thought of the last year he'd be required to stay in his childhood home. If only he could just stay out of Hogwarts then he could be free.

Don't be an idiot, Draco, His inner voice reprimanded him. You'll never be free. Not with those lives you've taken hanging over your head. His headache, now a dull ache, flared up again as the voice of the woman, the first life he'd ever taken, begged for her life. He didn't even know her name.

No one will ever trust you or love you again, Draco. No one loves the monster in stories and you are the Monster.

No, Draco argued with himself, I'm not a monster.

No, not a monster. The Monster. The distant scream of a different person echoed inside his mind, making him dizzy with pain.

"SHUT UP!"

Draco found himself sitting on the couch, his hands clenched over his ears, and he was sweating and shaking all over. His parents were staring at him, their eyes wide, and their mouths open in surprise.

"Draco, are you all right?" His mother asked.

They're going to take me away, Draco panicked. They think I'm insane. "Fine, I'll go to Hogwarts!" Draco exclaimed as he stood up. "Just... let me get ready."

He'd just had to wait one more year at Hogwarts until he was free.

Once that happened, no one would ever see Draco Lucius Malfoy again.