Liar. Harry Potter's sister ~ Book 2

chapter twenty-two

"Well I appreciate it," I say, honestly, picking up my quill and ink pot and pushing them to the other side of the desk, "I need somebody to distract me from all of this work. I've been ripping my hair out over here- quite literally." I motion to my hair and the strands that had fallen out of the bun it was held in and were hanging around loosely at my shoulders.

"Maybe you should take a break," He laughs, pushing the loose strands out of my face and behind my ears, "You look exhausted already. Did you even sleep last night?"

"Not much," I say, putting my head in my hands ana massaging my temples, letting out a huge sigh. "I couldn't get off for ages."

That wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't the complete truth, either. Last night I was petrified to go to sleep in the first place. Ever since seeing Mr Weasley get attacked by that snake, every night it was like a full on quest for me to be able to gather the courage to just fall asleep. I would just lie there for hours on end, turning in my bed, using my wand light to read through the textbooks in my trunk. When I finally managed to drift off to sleep, I visited that corridor again in my dreams. The one with the door at the end of it. Once again, I woke straight up before my fingers could even brush the door handle. When I woke from that dream my body decided to reject any trace of falling asleep I had left in me.

"Well maybe you should get to bed earlier tonight," He says, with a small smile.

"Yeah I'll try to," I say, "If I can finish all this homework in time." I stifle a laugh and pull a sheet of questions and a textbook towards me, wanting to get it done as quickly as possible.

"I didn't see you on the train the other day," Draco says, his forehead creased, looking at me with narrow eyes, "Where were you?"

I think for a second, my mind not completely cooperating properly, "Oh!" I say, when I realise, "We didn't go by the train. We came on the Knight Bus. Worst journey of my life, felt like I was going to throw up within the first thirty seconds."

"Oh, yeah I've never been on that thing, but it seems way too vigorous for me." He says, quietly.

"Yeah I definitely wouldn't recommend it, especially right after you've eaten breakfast." I say, stifling a laugh. I suck on the end of my quill and dip it into my pot of ink. I bring it to the surface of the parchment but I couldn't think of what to write. The ink drips from the end of my quill onto the parchment painfully slowly, soaking into the page as it does so.

"Are you alright?" Draco says, standing up and moving his chair so he was sitting directly beside me. I feel his arm hook around my shoulders and give me a reassuring hug with one arm. "You don't seem like yourself, again." He presses a gentle kiss to the side of my head.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me," I say, giving him a half-smile and attempting to rack my brain and focus on my homework, but my quill was pulled out of my hands.

"Olivia, look at me," Draco says quietly, placing my quill down on the table. I turn my head and my eyes meet his. There's a small crease in between his eyebrows and his eyes are glazed over with worry. He examines my face, as if he was trying to read it like a hook. "You're one of the only things I actually do spend time worrying about. And I don't think you understand how worried I am about you. You keep saying that you're fine but I can tell you aren't, really. You haven't been yourself at all since before Christmas, even in your letters, you've been acting off. I just want to help you." His hands find their way to mine. He cups them between his own and brings them to his mouth, pressing a kiss on them. I hesitate.

"I-" I begin. I look down into my lap. I don't even know where to begin. Everything is all messed up in my head and I can't keep track of what I'm feeling or when it happens. "The truth is, I don't know what I'm feeling."

"How do you mean?" he says, his grip tightening on my hands slightly.

"I've just been feeling way too much in such a small amount of time and I just can't keep up with my feelings. Everything is such a mess. Most of the time I feel so angry I just want to punch something but it could be switched off within a matter of seconds and I could be the happiest I've ever been or I feel the worst I've ever felt in years. I can't keep up with everything. And so much has happened and is happening and there's so much stress on me with these bloody O.W.L exams, and I'm terrified of literally falling to sleep in case I get one of those nightmares again see someone get attacked again. And Umbridge has detentions set for me and I just know she's going to interrogate me, again and- I just can't keep up with everything that's going on anymore." I say, barely taking any time to breathe. I yank my hands out of his grip and bury my face in them, feeling tears brewing behind my eyes, but not wanting him to see my cry, yet again.

I feel a pair of arms wrap around my body. He pulls me close to him and I put my head in the crook of his neck. I manage to blink away my tears, but my eyes still sting. I have to bite bite my lip to contain myself from crying. I sniff, my nostrils filling with the oh so comforting scent of his cologne. His hand finds the back of my neck. He traces my skin with the pads of his fingers, sending an electric like chill straight down my spine. Honestly, the only thing that had been keeping me going recently was the thought of him. Being able to talk to him, hug him, kiss him.

"It'll be ok, Olivia," He whispers, his mouth right next to my ear. I didn't have the energy to protest. I knew that it wasn't going to be ok. Voldemort was getting stronger everyday and my nightmares weren't getting any better. I knew he was only trying to help but I also knew that he couldn't be more wrong. "Listen, I know that everything seems hard at the moment, but it won't last forever, I know that for a fact. And there's something that I can promise you. I can promise you that I'll always be here for you, no matter what happens alright?"

I pull away from the hug and lock eyes with him. I wipe away the few stray tears that had managed to escape my eyes with my sleeve and give him a weak smile and a small nod.

"Umbridge wants me to supervise detentions with her, as well," he says, "so I'll be right there with you during yours and right there after if you need me." he says. He looks around the area where we were sitting for anybody watching, before cupping my face in his hands and placing a soft kiss on my lips. I give him a small smile.

"Thank you," I mutter, under my breath. I examine his face with narrowed eyes and reach up to flatten part of his hair that was sticking up.

"I have a little something for you," He says. I lean back as he fumbles in his robe pocket for a few seconds and pulls out a small, torn piece of parchment. He places it in the palm of my hands and I read it.

The upcoming trip to Hogsmeade village, will take place on Saturday 14th February for third year students and above.

"Valentines Day, that is," He says, leaning towards me and pointing his finger at the date the piece of parchment bore, "What do you say we go together?"

I look up to see his eyes sparkling. "What?" I begin, my mouth breaking out into a grin, "Like as a date?"

"Yeah," Draco says, giving me a small wink whilst smirking at me, "If you want, obviously. I just thought it might be nice, you know."

"Yeah, I'd like that," I say, chuckling, "I'd like that a lot."

"Great!" He says, with a grin, "So that's settled then? I'll meet you in the Entrance Hall on the day then?"

"Yeah that sounds good," I say, my spirits feeling way more uplifted than what they were a moment ago.

"Come here, you." He says, extending his arms and pulling me into his embrace. I laugh into him, as I put my head on his chest and wrap my own arms around him. He kisses the top of my head, lovingly and leans down to my ear, "And remember, I'm always here if you need me, darling."