Cora noticed that each day that passed by, Draco made her work harder and harder until she physically couldn't anymore.
They even went as far as cursing each other.
Draco had taught her what he would do whenever he would get cursed. The name of the person who cursed him never left his mouth, but she didn't need to hear a name in order to know who it was.
A few years ago, Cora saw with her own eyes Lucius physically harm the blonde boy after a Quidditch match. She would've done something about it, but Lucius had caught her looking at them and shut the door.
Even though she had managed to handle the pain of getting cursed, the pain was still there and it was excruciating, but not half as much as before.
All she needed to do was hold her breath and count to twenty. Not breathing was a very needed distraction that made her brain focus on her breathing instead of the pain happening all over her body.
Cora hid behind a tree and inhaled and exhaled rapidly, feeling herself run out of breath as she ran away from the blonde.
At the sound of a twig snap, Cora snapped her head towards the direction the noise came from and the corner of her eye caught certain blonde hair behind her.
Cora instantly pushed herself away from the tree and faced him — instantly flicking her wand at him.
"Expelliarmus." She said confidently and observed as the wand left his hand and flew away from him, the wand landing a few feet behind her.
He looked at her and nod his head approvingly before walking over to her.
Her eyes dropped down to his hands and observed as he flexed his hand, getting ready to throw his hand around her neck.
As his hand lifted up to the air, Cora's hand quickly flew up and blocked his hand by pushing it away from her and the moment she gripped his arm, her wand flew out of her grip.
She placed her dark eyes on his blue ones and from the corner of her eye caught his other arm flying over to her body — her hand quickly gripped onto his hand and pushed it away from her body.
The moment the boy smirked, all the confidence inside the brunette vanished.
Draco pulled her body towards his and turned her around, his right arm swiftly wrapping around her neck with a fair amount of pressure as her back pressed against his body.
Cora lifted her chin to release some of the pressure against her neck before tilting her head and looking at the blonde.
"You have to learn to fight without using a wand or non-verbal spells. Show me what you know." He said, his breath fanning against her collarbone as he spoke.
She nod her head briefly and looked to the front as she placed both her hands on his arm and forcefully pulled it down.
At the failed attempt of bringing his arm down, Cora breathed out and kept on trying pulling it down as she stepped forward and tried pushing herself off his grip.
As she continued, everything started reminding her of the first encounter she had with her father after not seeing him for years.
The way he cursed her, pinned her down to the ground and carved letters on her arm.
She felt trapped then and she felt trapped now.
Cora's breathing increased at the disturbing thought of her father being behind her instead of Draco. That her father was the one wrapping his arm around her neck and was going to apply more pressure, then eventually kill her by the loss of oxygen.
A rush of anxiety took over her and she briefly brought her head forward before vigorously bringing it back, the back of her head harshly hitting Draco's nose.
Draco groaned and released his grip on her, his hand instantly flying up to his nose which was immediately filled with blood.
The brunette swallowed hard and took a deep breath before turning her body around, her eyes landing on the injured boy who stood behind her.
"Holy shit," she whispered before rapidly walking over to Draco and stood before him. "Did I break your nose?"
He looked at her through his eyebrows and took a deep breath before nodding his head. "It feels like you did."
"I'm sorry, I — I thought you were my father and I panicked so I did whatever crossed my mind first." She replied, feeling instant guilt at what she had done to the boy standing before her.
"You should do that whenever anyone else attacks you. But for fucks sake, don't do it to me again." He looked at her one last time before walking over to the fallen tree.
Cora watched as the boy took a seat on the tree and applied pressure to his nose, not a muscle in his body moved at his action.
It seemed as if he were used to dealing with broken bones.
The brunette walked over to the boy and stood in front of him, both their wands in Cora's hand.
Draco's eyes left his bloody hand and placed them on the brunette, who pulled her arm out with his wand on her hand.
He nod his head, saying thank you without wording it, and pulled his wand out of her hand, placing it inside of his robe.
"Let me fix that for you." She looked down to find a space where she could comfortably stand at to heal his nose — she placed her eyes between his legs but slightly shook her head before placing herself beside his left leg.
Draco chuckled slightly at the uncomfortable looking position she was standing and brought his clean hand to her waist, guiding her between his legs and pulled her closer to him.
Cora looked away for a moment once she felt her cheeks heat up and placed her eyes on his nose before taking out her wand.
She slightly looked up and caught Draco observing her face, bringing a slight smile to her lips.
Cora brought her hand to the side of his neck and placed her thumb on his chin, slowly moving his head to the side with the guidance of her thumb.
She had never realized how perfect his side profile was until that very moment.
"Brackium Emendo." She said with a low voice as she pointed her wand at him, a bright light lighting up both their faces.
Once she finished, Cora moved Draco's head back to its current position and their eyes instantly landed on each other's.
"I'm really sorry for doing that to you." She said, a thin lipped, guilty smile on her lips.
At the sincerity of her voice, Draco's features slightly softened and he chuckled softly, Cora's eyebrows furrowing at the sight of him chuckling.
"You have a strong fucking head, Boswell." He admitted to which the brunette laughed and looked down as she shook her head.
With the corners of his mouth still turned up, Draco's lips slightly opened, revealing the whiteness and straightness of his teeth.
Cora's laughter slowly vanished at the sight of his smile and she closed her mouth, a smile still plastered on her face.
Draco Malfoy had just smiled at her without the meaning behind his smile being about something he had done to make her upset.
It was a genuine smile.
At the sound of Cora's laugh going away, Draco's eyebrows slightly furrowed and his lips sealed once again.
"Is something wrong?" He asked, thinking that he had done or said something to make the brunette stop laughing.
"No — nothing's wrong." She assured him and placed her eyes on her hand, which was placed on the side of his neck and slowly pulled her hand away.
Draco observed as the brunette pulled her hand away from him and he looked over to his hand — watching as his fingers unconsciously caressed her waist over her uniform.
He jerked his hand away from her and cleared his throat, his attention going back to Cora, who looked down at the hand he had jerked away from her body.
With a small sigh, Cora looked back up at him and stepped away from between his legs before taking a seat beside him.
"You're used to managing the pain of broken bones and curses, aren't you?" She asked with a soft voice, her head turned to Draco.
Draco took a deep breath at her question and briefly nod his head, all the memories of him getting cursed crossing his mind.
"Is your father the one who does those things to you?" She asked insecurely, unsure if it was the right thing to ask.
Draco's body tensed and Cora noticed it, her facial features slightly falling as he looked over to her.
The last thing he wanted to talk about in that moment was his father, but it was clear that the brunette knew it was his father who harmed him.
There was no harm if he simply confirmed her suspicions. He needed for her to trust him, so he would do whatever he could for her to do so.
"Yes," he responded briefly and placed his eyes on the tree standing feet away from them. "But I deserve each and every curse that comes my way. At the end of the day, it helps me become stronger."
His voice was strong and confident, no hesitation in the words he used.
"Draco," his name rolls out of her mouth perfectly and he turns to look at her, noticing that her expression was stern. "You don't deserve it."
In that moment, his instincts told him to grab her and kiss her until their lips physically couldn't anymore.
But his brain told him not to place a finger on the brunette.
So instead of following his instincts, he followed the orders of his brain and his expression hardened.
"You have no opinion on what I deserve or what I don't. Especially not when you have no idea what you deserve."
The brunette clenched her jaw and stood from the tree, her body facing Draco.
"I do know what I deserve, Malfoy." She stated and Draco nod his head before lifting his body from the tree, looking down at her.
"Enlighten me." He said, his voice harsh and she took a step back, not wanting to be near him.
That was when her father's words flooded her thoughts.
"I'm worthless." She said loud and firm as she held back tears, instantly feeling a sharp pain spread across her chest at her own words.
"Yes, you are. I want you to remind yourself of that whenever you think you could possibly be worth anyone's time or love. You're unlovable and I don't need to carve that word into your arm to remind you of it. You've known that for quite some time now, haven't you?"
"I deserve nothing," Her body was still and face was serious, no hesitation evident in her voice. "My mother, my father, and you have helped me realized that. All you all do is point out all the things in my life that have gone wrong and use it against me whenever you feel like it. And all the things you point out have helped me realize that at the end of the day — nothing and nobody sticks with me."
She swallowed hard and took a step forward, her face inches away from the blank looking boy.
"And you, Draco Malfoy, are not much different than me. I regret what I said earlier about you not deserving what your father does to you — because you do. You do deserve it."
Draco looked at her expressionless — his eyes relaxed and blue hues blank, giving the impression that her words didn't bother him.
She continued to look at him and once she was sure not a word was going to leave his mouth anytime soon, she slightly nod her head and turned her body around, her back facing him as she walked away.
Draco swallowed and observed as the brunette vanished from his sight, his expression slightly dropping as he recalled her words.
At the sound of a twig snap, Draco calmly turned around and watched as a tall figure walked between
the woods before apparating.
He heftily sighed and ran his hand through his hair as he took a deep breath. Draco turned around and walked back towards the direction he came from.
And there was one thought inside of Draco's head that he didn't want to admit.
No matter how different they were,
They were the same.
thoughts on the chapter??
last night i heard "wrong direction" by ms. hailee steinfield and omfg it reminds me so much of cora and draco's relationship/ soon to be relationship. it's such a good & underrated song.