Kaylina dropped the gun, a wave of relief flowing through her as she dropped to her knees and let out a pained, shuddering breath she didn't know she was holding in.
She was staining the floor with her blood, but she didn't even care.
Everything was hurting.
Her head, her arms, her legs, her whole body. Her eyes stung from her tears and blood splatters of her opponents blood.
"I did it," she whispered shakily to herself, her lip trembling.
She looked down at her hands, blood covered and shaking violently.
I did it, mum.
I did it, dad.
She heard a door open and she felt herself get grabbed by her arms. She let out a pained scream when her wounded arm got aggressively handled by hard hands.
Her eyes were fluttering open and close as she was being dragged down stone floors. She heard a door open and she got shoved into the same white room she woke up in only hours before.
Her body collided with the cold floor, a slight cry fleeing her lips at the pain of her unhealed wounds.
"Kaylina!" a voice that belonged to Fred called out worriedly.
~
Her eyes blinked open, her first view being a bright light blinding her eyes.
She sat up, wincing in the process. She was sitting on the floor with Fred and George, her head had been resting on Fred's lap.
"You did it," George spoke softly, almost a note of pity of what she had just been through.
"You survived," Fred whispered, a wan smile on his lips.
Kaylina let out an exasperated breath, a weak, pained smile. "I did it," she spoke hoarsely.
She turned her body, so she was leaning on the wall, her head instantly falling on George's shoulder. "How long have I been out?" she asked quietly.
"If I had to guess— I'd say twenty minutes or so," George mumbled to her, "You're okay now," he whispered, planting a sweet kiss on her head before his head rested on hers.
She was still bleeding, her wounds not healed. She scanned the room, some of her peers were staring at her, but looked away when her eyes landed on them.
Everyone was in the room except him.
Draco.
Kaylina's eyes widened at the realization, her heart suddenly racing in her chest as her veins ran ice cold.
Please, don't die.
Please, survive.
Please.
Please.
Please.
She prayed he would survive.
Her eyes landed on his friends. Pansy was sobbing in Theo's shoulder, her arms wrapped around his one arm.
Theo and Blaise had terrified expressions, but they were blank at the same time. Daphne was hugging herself, her face buried in her knees.
Kaylina saw Ginny, Ron, and Hermione sitting in the corner. Ginny was holding Hermione's hand and Hermione also held Ron's hand.
All of them looked done and exhausted, especially Ron.
The t.v flickered on, divided into six screens.
Kaylina's eyes snapped to the t.v, the double knot in her stomach at the thought of the blonde boy in there fighting for his life.
She knew how bad it was there, but she also knew it wasn't going to be the same for everyone.
It could be easier for some, harder for others. She didn't want to watch the blonde boy in the battlegrounds, but she couldn't peel her eyes off the t.v.
She saw a platinum-haired boy walking carelessly, but also carefully through one of the screens, he had a fucking machine gun in his hands.
She saw he had an ammo belt around his body and she saw knives around his waist, an extra pistol where they rested in a weapon belt.
Not a single scratch or stain of blood on his beautiful pale body.
She smiled softly to herself in relief.
Fucking Malfoy. Of course he's in the battlegrounds and surviving like the fucking supreme being he is.
"Fucking mate is owning that shit," Theo hollard, snickering with Blaise. The comment earned a chuckle from Pansy, sniffling through her tears.
~
The door swung open and Draco walked in, not shoved in by the cloaked men. He walked in with nothing else but a small cut on his cheek.
He had blood on him, but Kaylina knew it wasn't his blood. His hair was messy, his pale skin had a bit of dust here and there.
Pansy stood, throwing her arms around him as her face buried in his shoulder. Draco wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her back before she pulled away and cupped his face.
The green-eyed Slytherin examined his face, tears rolling down her cheeks. They were talking, Kaylina was unable to make out any of the words being exchanged.
She had the same pang of jealousy feeling in her chest, but she ignored it.
Pansy chuckled through her tears of relief, pressing a kiss on the blonde boy's cheek before they went to sit down. Pansy sat next to him, Theo and Blaise all patting him on the shoulder.
The second Draco sat, his piercing eyes met with Kaylina's brown ones. He grinned lazily at her, his head knocked back on the wall as he slid his tongue across the edge of his teeth.
She couldn't hide the small smile curling on her lips as she chuckled softly.
"What's so funny?" Fred murmured, so only she could hear.
"Nothing," she shook her head, flashing a small smile at the redhead.
~
A little more than half of the group had gone and so far, everyone had made it out.
Pansy had barely survived, she came back with several cuts and a few bruises, along with injuries from beatings.
Daphne had barely survived, she came back with cuts and bruises.
Ginny had gone, she came back with only a few cuts and scratches, she put up a good fight.
Hermione had barely survived, she came back with more cuts than Kaylina could count and a big cut on her side.
Blaise had gone, he came back with a few wounds.
The twins went, one after the other. They both came back in one piece with a few wounds and bruises.
Theo had gone, came back with a few cuts and a skimmed bullet wound like Kaylina had.
Luna had gone, she came back in the worst condition. She had several cuts, a skimmed bullet wound, a stab wound in her leg and bruises and blood dripping from her nose, along from her lip.
Everyone was covered in blood, a bit of everyone's.
Their opponents and their own.
Some of their clothes were torn and everyone was dirty.
Neville had just got taken away for his Assassination and Kaylina didn't dare to watch the t.v. She didn't want to watch her housemate fight for his life, it was too cruel.
Everyone was sitting on the floor, not like they had anywhere else to go. Fred ended up falling asleep, his head resting on Kaylina's lap as his face snuggled into the fabric of her blood stained clothes over her stomach.
He held her hand close to his chest as she ran her fingers through his hair with her free hand. She didn't bother to wake him up because when she saw him through the t.v on his turn, he looked more than exhausted.
Everyone looked more than exhausted because of what Kaylina assumed was lack of sleep, but it seemed as though Fred was the only one who actually had the ability to physically fall asleep in the white room they were locked in.
The pain in her wounds never went away, but she just grew to enjoy the pain. It stung like fucking hell, but she grew to find the smallest comfort in it. Her head rested on George's shoulder, his head resting on hers.
Kaylina's eyes had constantly locked with the pair that belonged to a platinum-haired boy. Her favourite colour had been the colour of his eyes.
It wasn't blue, but it wasn't silver.
It was a sweet mixture of both and the subtle specks of the different shades of blue only made her favourite the colour of his piercing eyes even more.
She could easily get lost in his eyes, his eyes were ones she could recognize anywhere.
Merlin— you're perfect, Draco Malfoy.
At this moment, her eyes were locked with his as her fingers laced in her best friend's messy ginger hair.
Draco's eyes were hooded, they swirled with rage and he looked tense. His jaw muscles were tense, his expression hardened as the brunette girl next to him rested her head on his shoulder.
Pansy's eyes were closed, she wasn't sleeping, just closing her eyes.
Kaylina's brows furrowed at the blonde boy, questioning him.
He scoffed under his breath, looking away from her as he rolled his tongue on the inside of his cheek before looking back at her. His head nodded towards the redhead sleeping on her lap, his eyes never leaving hers.
She scoffed under her breath, lifting a shoulder.
He rolled his eyes, a bitter smile on his lips as he rested his head on Pansy's.
Their eyes never left one another.
"What's your problem?" she mouthed to him.
"Nothing," he mouthed back, his expression remaining tense and almost hostile.
"Bullshit."
"Fuck off."
She rolled her eyes before looking down at the redhead sleeping on her lap. Fred looked so exhausted, scared. He was tense even in his sleep.
George lifted his head from hers, looking over at her and his twin brother. "He hasn't slept for a few days," he murmured, his voice deep and croaky.
"I can tell," Kaylina whispered back, "And you. Have you slept?" she questioned softly, looking over at the identical redhead.
He huffed a slight laugh, shaking his head, "Bot a blink."
She studied her best friend for a moment. "Are you alright?" she asked quietly, still keeping a soft tone.
He let out an exasperated noise, running a bloody hand through his red hair. "I've been better— but not much we can do about the circumstances we're in," he spoke seriously, but quietly.
"I know," she sighed heavily, "You did really good out there, Georgie," she smiled a wan smile at the redhead.
He chuckled faintly. "Thanks," he flashed a small smile of his own before pressing his lips to her temple.
Only seconds later, the door swung open. Everyone's head shot in the direction, hoping to see the Gryffindor boy.
He wasn't there.
Kaylina's veins iced, heart increased it's pace, her eyes widening as the redhead who slept in her lap shot up straight.
"Where is he?" Fred demanded, his voice dropped dangerously as he stormed to the door.
"Dare you speak to me!" one of the cloaked men scowled at Fred, whipping his wand out.
Kaylina rushed to her feet, limping to the enraged ginger to grab him by his arm. She slid her hand to his, entwining their fingers softly.
"Fred, please don't," she pleaded, pulling him in the direction of their spot once more.
Breathing ragged, enraged breaths, said boy allowed his best friend to escort him back to their spot. Kaylina saw Dean crying on Ginny's shoulder as Ginny comforted him. Luna was bawling her eyes out in the corner, not wanting anyone to be near her.
Kaylina sat Fred down before sliding down the wall herself, fingers still entwined. George was angry, she could tell, but behind the anger of the identical boys, Kaylina knew they were crushed.
Neville was a good friend of the twins and it was more than understandable why they were upset. The students in the other houses had pitiful expressions on their faces.
Kaylina's eyes watered and a few salty tears slipped from her eyes as she rubbed gentle circles on the back of Fred's hand.
~
After what felt like years, the Assassinations were finally over.
Padma and Neville didn't make it.
It ached Kaylina's heart, it really did.
But the damage is done and there's nothing anyone could do about it now. Everyone was forced out of the room to get healed by the Healers they had.
Once everyone was healed, they were fresh as daisies.
They got sent back to the underground shithole from before with a portkey and it only made Kaylina want to fucking rip her hair out.
After months of spending her nights and mornings down there, she's being forced to go back. They all went to the cafeteria and got served some dinner.
Everyone was quiet, not speaking, not even eating.
It's understandable considering what happened and what they just went through.
"I know I said you wouldn't need to come back here, but this time— I swear it's your last night," Joshua said sincerely, "I convinced the Dark Lord to give you this last night to rest and heal before your second task— so do yourselves a favour, eat up and sleep because you'll really need it," he said firmly, but kindly before leaving the room.
Well, shit.