𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐓 𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐍

❃ regret

I turned on my feet, facing him.

"Potter? What do you want?" I asked, looking around the empty hallway. Nobody could see this interaction.

"Can I talk to you? It's about Malfoy," he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Um, sure?" I said, and he tugged me into an empty classroom, shutting the door.

"We are under the impression that Draco is a death eater," he said quickly.

"Excuse me?"

"We saw him at Borgin and Burkes before school started. He was acting weird, do you know anything?"

"Even if I did why would I tell you-" I shoved past him, but he caught my hand.

"Maybelle, please. Ginny saw the two of you at that Slytherin party last night, I just figured you might want to know before he- I don't know," he let go.

"You're crazy, Potter. He wouldn't do something as stupid as becoming a death eater," I rolled my eyes, leaving him alone in the empty classroom.

That's when I saw him, walking from an abandoned corridor.

And he watched Potter exit after me.

𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒐 𝑴𝒂𝒍𝒇𝒐𝒚

"I can't fucking do it," I slammed my fist on the door, the cabinet still not opening, Professor Snape standing behind me.

"It is at the request of The Dark Lord, Draco. You have until May. That is your deadline. May I remind you-"

"No distractions, yeah I got it," I grumbled.

"I expect you will not be late to our morning lessons again, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Professor," I seethed, turning my back as I walked out the door, leaving him alone in the room of requirement.

I despise the room of requirement. It smells like dust, junk accumulating in every corner, allowing only small pathways of floor space that are incredibly confusing to navigate.

Most importantly, my early morning lessons took me away from Flower. I didn't want to leave her when I woke up this morning, but I knew I'd put all of my friends and family's lives in jeopardy if I didn't do this.

That's when I saw her, walking from an empty classroom.

And Potter exited after her.

"Don't walk away from me Maybelle," I followed her down the hall, the use of her name forcing her to turn around and stare at me, allowing me to catch up to her.

"Don't walk away? Now who's the fucking hypocrite," she spat, staring at me as my hand wrapped around her neck, slamming her against the wall.

"Does Potter fuck you better than I do?" I seethed in her ear, her hands pinned at her sides.

"He was just telling me about how you're a fucking death eater," she muttered, not meeting my gaze.

"Look at me," I moved her chin upwards with one finger, "you're not seriously buying into that bullshit he's telling you, are you?"

"Maybe I am, or maybe I'm just bloody pissed at you for leaving me like that this morning, why the fuck would you do that?" she yelled, eyebrows furrowing as my grip around her neck tightened.

Why had I left? I was fixing a fucking cabinet at the hands of the most dangerous wizard in the world so he doesn't murder my family. Like I can say that to her fucking face.

So I came up with a lie.

"I regret it."

"You what?" she whispered, her anger softening into sadness.

"I regret sleeping with you. Don't make me repeat myself," I muttered.

"I fucking hate you. This is about your Father, isn't it? How he made you feel like nothing. I always thought you'd be better than him, you know that? I remember how fucking sweet you were when you were little, but no. He's hardened you. You've practically become him, and it makes me sick! I thought you wouldn't let him get to you, but you're too weak. I'm disappointed, Draco, I really am," she spat, my hand still around her neck.

"You really wanna play that game?" I whispered, fury igniting inside of my chest.

She stayed silent.

I should've dropped it.

I should've let her go.

I didn't see the hurt in her eyes until everything had poured out.

"Your Father was home, but he was never really there, yeah? He was out with whores all night and your Mother didn't know; you'd catch him coming through the front door with some chick at two in the morning, but you never told her because you didn't wanna hurt her feelings. Or did he pay you in cash? Up your allowance every mouth for you to keep your filthy little mouth shut?"

"Stop it," she looked at the ground.

"So you bought everything you wanted; cigarettes, weed, alcohol, things that'd take the pain away. You could've put that cash to good use, you know. Maybe try to help you out of the situation you were in. But instead you wasted it on shit that would help you forget hearing the cries of your Mother after he hit her over and over again, only for him to come upstairs and do the same thing to you."

"Draco stop-"

"Don't think I forgot about all the times you'd run a mile down the street at a mere seven years old to Theo's house so his Mother could console you, all those bruises on your body as you sobbed into her arms only for him to come and tear you away again. You were a fucking disappointment, Maybelle. And you still are,"

Silent tears streamed down her face as she stared at me in shock, fear filling her eyes.

The realization of what I'd just done punched me in the gut.

"You sound exactly like him."

She pushed me off her chest, swiftly walking down the corridor, wiping her tears with her robe sleeve.

"Fuck- Flower, I didn't mean it," I called after her, "please, please let me explain,"

"LEAVE ME ALONE," she screamed, students exiting from breakfast staring at the two of us in confusion, the golden trio included.

I watched as she stormed off into the darkness, off to God knows where.

I'm scared.

I'm scared for someone else to realize how truly amazing she is; for someone else to kiss her lips. For someone else to take my place. For someone else to sleep in her arms. For someone else to hold her heart.

Because I'd dropped it and broken it into a million pieces. Breaking her no longer gave me satisfaction.

Because deep down I knew that anyone, anyone, could treat her better than I could.

❃

𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓 𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒅𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 <3

~ 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝, 𝚒𝚕𝚢