and I stand with you

twenty-eight

Weeks passed, and the death eaters terrorized the school, and especially the students who spoke differently about them. Neville showed it on his face, through the countless fights he picked with the Carrows. Draco, however, was never phased by any of it, which made me more comfortable. He liked to pull me into empty classrooms and closets when he hadn't seen much of me in the day, just to kiss me or tease me. I felt things with him I had never felt before, and it was like he had become a permanent part of my life. Everywhere I was, he followed, and vice versa.

He followed me wordlessly as I skipped down the trail to the black lake, hand in my own as he hummed a tune I never recognized unless it came from him.
"Aren't you cold?" He asked, and I shook my head and looked at him wildly before looking at the water. It was a lie. Goosebumps covered my legs, shivers crawled up my spine, and he noticed.
"Come on, let's go back. They've probably already started studying." He rolled his eyes and tugged my hand and I followed quietly. Leaves crunched beneath our feet as he hurried back to our common room. The studying was in deed happening, as kids sat squished together at the round table looking down at their books. We barely looked at them before he pulled me into his dorm, sighing once the door was shut. My fingers tingled, slightly numb on the tips, and I stretched them out to get rid of the feeling.
"You okay?" He sat on the edge of his bed.
"Do you hear that?" I heard the ringing once more, high pitched and twinging my ear drums every second it continued.
"Hear what?" He pulled me into him, but I pushed myself away.
"That stupid ringing!" I covered my ears, sinking in the wall, trying to get rid of the sound.
"Octavia." The ringing stopped, and I looked up to see Draco kneeling in front of me. Something about me felt off. Completely wrong, in fact.
"Draco?" I questioned, unsure if I was in reality. It felt like a dream, like I had a hazy view and an intoxicated feeling in my stomach.
"Hey, it's alright." His voice trailed me back to my head, and I snapped into it again.
"That's so weird." I mumbled, looking down at my hands. I felt a sort of electricity in my skin, but shook it off as I focused on Draco in front of me.

"I'm telling you, Draco, something is wrong." I whispered, as we walked through the empty hall together to get to dinner.
"Octavia, I'm sure-" but he winced his eyes closed and stopped talking, covering his ears. I grabbed his face with both my hands, trying to give him some sort of grounding. He blinked fast, like he was trying to stop seeing double.
"That's what I mean! This is the first time it's happened to you?" I quickly ask. He nodded in confusion, looking at his own hands this time.
"This is real. Right here, this right now, this is reality." I assured him, and he let out a breath neither of us knew he was holding.

We spent the next few days avoiding others, keeping to ourselves, and not talking as much as we knew what was coming. When it came- excuse me- when Voldemort and his army came, it was a crisp fall night. The sky was starry, beautiful and still, as Draco stood in front of me with frantic eyes.
"Please don't leave my side. I'm going to get you out of here." He gripped my hand tightly, pulling me through the hallway. Spells were being sent off in all directions, breaking down the building around us. One after another, students and teachers dropped with flashes of green light. Pieces of stone crumbled around us, drops of blood led down every step we took, and everyone was running in all directions. I spotted a Hufflepuff first year, lifeless on the ground next to Draco and I, and I looked away in horror. Something began to bubble inside of me, and it was like my senses were switched to an insane height as I chose my steps behind Draco carefully. Molly, the woman who was a mother to me when I didn't have one, shot at Bellatrix for coming after Ginny, and she exploded into a million pieces. Percy shot a joke at Fred about quitting the ministry out of the corner of my eye, and I stopped to look, just to make sure he was safe.

That's when I spotted the familiar chain around his neck, the one I had given him. His eyes locked with mine from across the room, and he gave me the slightest smile. My eyes darted to his hand to see the ring still tightly on his ring finger, glistening as you could see lights reflect off the shiny surface. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to run to his side, to bring him with Draco and I away from all of us. To safety.

It took me years to realize some things are never meant to be. People enter your life at the wrong time, even if they might be the right person. It took me even longer to realize that life was never fair. Life was a game, and you had to be completely focused on the end in order to win.

Just as the same night in the ministry, Fred's gaze lingered just a fleeting second too long, and I saw my dad in him. I saw his bravery, his courage. And most of all, I saw love.

And then, all I heard was my piercing scream echoing through the room as a shot of green light ripped into his chest, and he slumped over sideways. Draco grabbed my waist, pulling me away as I fought back. Memories flooded my head, each more painful than the last. Him first talking to me, to kissing me, to telling me how in love with me he was. The more painful ones played in my mind, where I hurt him over and over again.

This was how Harry felt.

The night I lost my dad, I didn't take into account that Harry had lost someone close to him as well. I thought about only myself, and what Sirius meant to me.

He meant so much more than that, to so many more people than just me: his silly daughter.

I ripped from Dracos grasp and pointed my wand directly at who was standing in front of Fred's dead body. Something I never thought I would ever say shot out of my mouth before I even had time to register was I was saying.
"Avada Kedavra!"