ZILLIAH is silently fuming as she stands at the entrance of the hospital wing, watching the whole of the Weasley family gathered around Bill Weasley who has been attacked by Fenrir Greyback, a death eater.
A death eater that had entered Hogwarts along with many others causing chaos and destruction because of Draco while she was put to sleep.
If she hadn't been too damn tired, she would've figured out that he was upto something the instant she had seen him in his suit at the middle of the night. But every last bone in her was aching. She had drawn in the fatigue from Draco two times over even when her own reigned within her, paining and suffocating her. And he had taken advantage of that, forcing the sleeping draught down her throat while she couldn't even keep herself up properly.
Keeping you safe.
The words echo through inside her mind.
"Do you think he would've done it?", Hermione speaks, seated on the bed nearest to the entrance, her eyes fixated as Fleur, Bill's fiancée, argues with Mrs. Weasley on how she still loves Bill despite the vicious scar on his face and that it doesn't change anything.
Turns out, Draco was tasked to let the death eaters into the castle and kill Dumbledore. That was what he had been hiding all this while. That was what he had been suffering from.
"No", Harry speaks from beside her, lifting his eyes onto Zilliah and locking them there. "No, he was lowering his wand. It was Snape. It was always Snape."
Zilliah takes in a deep breath, resolute and firm. "Excuse me, I need to be somewhere right now."
____________________
"What the fuck are you doing here?!", Draco whisper shouts at her, already pulling her away from the entrance of the Malfoy Manor to a nearby room. "It's not safe."
"Draco", his mother's voice is heard, calling out to him as her footsteps approach. "The wards have been triggered. Can you see who- oh?" She stops across the room the instant her eyes land on Zilliah.
Zilliah hears Draco cuss under his breath.
"You?", Mrs. Malfoy shakes herself out of the sudden shock and walks upto to the pair of them, a finger pointed at Zilliah. "What are you doing here, Ms. Emerson?"
"I-", Zilliah gulps uncomfortably and starts, but Draco saves her the trouble of having to find an excuse.
"How do you know her?"
Mrs. Malfoy lift her eyes up onto him, her eyes suddenly holding the slightest tinge of fear. "From the ball, of course."
"Don't be silly, mother", he scoffs. "You're the worst at remembering people and I'm pretty sure you didn't even notice her at the ball."
"Now, why would you say that?"
"Because I know you."
It's Mrs. Malfoy who scoffs this time. "Draco, you are the one being silly. Of course, I had noticed her."
"Oh yeah?", Draco turns to fully face his mother, crossing his arms across his chest as he does. "Then why weren't you in my face chattering away about how she could be a potential wife for me in the future. She is a pure blood afterall."
Mrs. Malfoy's mouth part as to say something but nothing comes out.
"How do you know her, mother?", his voice turns demanding.
She exhales lightly. "Listen, don't get angry. But I might or might not have asked her to help you with the task when I saw her at Severus' house last summer-"
"What?!", his eyes widen at it. He turns to Zilliah. "This is a joke, right?"
Zilliah shakes her head.
"So you knew?"
"No!", Zilliah responds instantly, remembering what she had been there for initially before the interruption. "She didn't tell me what the task was. And neither did you!" She lifts her hand and pushes him back by his chest. He stumbles back a couple of steps as his hands fall to his side. "You forced that potion down my throat and you just fucking left."
"I was just keeping you safe."
"I thought I told you not to-"
"Oh, really? We're going to talk about that again?"
"Ehm", Mrs. Malfoy fakes a small cough to get the attention of the pair which succeeds as they both spin on their heel to face her, in the midst of the building rage. "Yeah so I asked her to help you with the task last summer at Severus' house to which, if I remember correctly, and I'm quite sure I do, she said a solid no. And quote unquote that you were the most selfish person she knew. And from that, I was under the impression that she pretty much hated you." She raises her eyebrows, being the one to cross her arms across the chest now. "What is all this, then?"
Draco rakes a hand through his hair as Zilliah gulps again, the both of them visibly uncomfortable. She did not think this through.
"You kids aren't together?" Mrs. Malfoy squints her eyes down on the pair. "Are you?"
"Mother", Draco sighs and starts but gets interrupted by a loud shout from the entrance.
"Zilliah!", it calls and she knows exactly who that voice belongs to even without turning. It's Linden. "How dare you come here all by yourselves?"
"Father, calm it", another voice is heard, footsteps trying to keep up with the former and she knows it belongs to Ivan.
Zilliah doesn't want to turn back. She doesn't have to because Draco already pulls her into his chest, shielding her as he raises his wand.
"Leave her, son."
"I'm not your son and you're not taking her."
"Draco!", Mrs. Malfoy's voice is heard, scolding and concerned. "What are you doing?"
Zilliah squeezes her eyes shut and prepares for the worst, caving more into Draco, her pulse rate picking up.
"He is not taking Zilliah anywhere, mother."
"Who the fuck are you to say that?", Ivan's rage starts flowing through too.
"Someone who actually gives a damn about her."
A scoff echoes through the whole room. "Let her go, Malfoy", Ivan's voice turns deadly low. "Or I swear I'll tear you to shreds myself before taking her."
Draco's grip only tightens around her. "I don't intend on keeping her here where it's so unsafe but I'm not letting her go back to your home either. Not with him still there."
"What the hell are you talking about, kid?", Linden's voice pounds, the rage seething off of it instilling that fear in her- the same as she felt that night.
"You know perfectly what I'm talking about", Draco grits back.
"What is it?", Ivan is heard asking, unsure and angry and impatient.
"Draco, what are you doing? Let her go. That's her father!", Mrs. Malfoy hisses at him too.
"Let her go", Linden demands.
Zilliah's fear increases with every passing second, her mind starting to fall apart. But she has to keep herself in check. She has to. So she tries to shove those memories back to the deepest corners of her mind, hoping and willing them to stay there. But she can already feel the roots of it grabbing hold of her throat, slowly starting to suffocate her.
She had underestimated the exhaustion reigning within her. Not even an eight hour sleep could properly wash it all away. That, added with the stress and headache in her that was caused by the potion and from all that she had learnt as she woke, feels too much.
And she sees that she can't fight back. That she is hanging on by a loose thread.
"I'm not giving her to you", Draco hisses, his arm clutching her tightly and securely.
It should relieve her. His peppermint cologne and the firmness of his chest. It should offer her some comfort. But her mind is far too crumbled up that it only suffocates her further. "Draco", she tries to mumble, trying to push away for some air.
But he doesn't seem to notice her weak call in the midst of the rage battle and mutters on, "You can stop all this pretense now."
"What the bloody fuck are you talking about? Let her go, man", Ivan shouts again.
"Draco", Zilliah attempts to call again, her voice barely even coming out as her head starts to spin.
"I'm talking about how your bloody father tried to fucking rape her!"
The thread cuts. The memories rush to the surface.
And she can't control what comes next. No matter how much she wants to, she doesn't have it in her to fight.
What is bound to crumble will crumble down to a million pieces, no matter what.