"If you ever go near her again, I will cut your head off and put it on a stick." Draco seethed as he held Theodore against the wall of the empty corridor. "You hear that, Nott?" He spat, shoving him against the wall again while he held a blade against Theo's throat.
Blood trickled from the spot of pressure on his neck, surely leaving behind a scratch right beside the boy's throat.
Theo nodded his head slowly while his eyes barely held themselves open, blood dripping from his nose and his eyes already bruising from the beating Draco had given him. I could tell he couldn't breathe, just like I couldn't as I watched.
One of my books slipped from my clammy hands while I tried taking a step back, crashing to the floor with a loud thud. Both of the boys turned in my direction, Draco's locked jaw unclenching and his dark eyes dropping.
"Emmy," he whispered cautiously, but I was still backing away out of fear of the person I was watching him turn into.
He held onto Theo tightly while the wand in his hand transfigured back into its original form, the knife on the end of it disappearing. Theo took a gasp of fresh air when Draco's arm dropped from his neck.
"Emelia. Just wait right there for me." Draco said softly, trying to get me to calm down.
His knuckles were bruised and bloody. Sweat ran across his forehead. He had a crazy look in his eyes as he begged me to let him explain.
"I-" I whispered, my eyes prickling with tears and my breathing still caught in my throat. "I have to go." I panted, picking up my book and trying to escape, but Draco's hands were on my face and he was already kneeled in front of me.
"Please, don't touch me." I squeezed my eyes shut as I held still in front of him. I had heard Theo fall to the floor as he tried to manage his labored breathing.
"Emmy," Draco whispered, sounding so hurt as I leaned away from him. "I'm not going to hurt you." He tried to convince me.
"I don't care, I don't want to be anywhere near you."
—
"He got you some nice gifts for the holidays," Blaise said casually while we played each other in a game of chess in the common room. I nodded my head stiffly, not feeling up for these games today.
The boys had been trying for the last 2 weeks to get me to forgive Draco. Theo avoided me at all costs out of fear that he would be strangled to death. Draco even had Pansy, Becky, Cassie, and Ella in on his ploys, paying them almost every single day to leave me collections of flowers and sweets on my bed and desk from him, but I just kept avoiding him.
"Can we at least talk about it, Emmy?" Blaise asked quietly, making his next move on the board. "You two don't fight like this, and I don't think it's healthy that you two get cut off from each other cold Turkey." He tried joking, but only his laughter followed his jokes. I shrugged my shoulders carelessly and kept my mouth shut.
"Are you mad at him?" He pestered me some more. Shrug.
"He was just doing what he thought he needed to do to protect you from another boy, he wasn't thinking clearly. He has a horrible temper and he's territorial, you know how it goes." Sigh.
"Did you get him something for Christmas?" Nod. "A lot of things, or a few things?" He continued asking his annoying questions.
"A lot." I mumbled, the words coming out as more of a breath.
"Well, that's good. Means we're heading in the right direction." Shrug.
"Emelia, you knew what you were signing up for when you learned all about this and you chose not to leave him. You can't just shut him out now, you didn't even witness him do anything bad." Blaise said, and my eyes finally looked up at his from the game board.
"I'm scared of him. Is that what you want to hear me say?" I whispered to him. "He's threatened me before, sure. But I'm Emmy. He'd never hurt me like that and he never has. He never could. He always chickened out." I told him while my stomach grew more and more queasy as I saw the scene of him and Theodore replay in my head.
"But he doesn't stop himself when it's other people. He hurts people— and I think he enjoys it." I mumbled, pulling my feet up on to my chair and wrapping my arms around my bent knees.
"He doesn't enjoy it. But he gets his jobs done. Much better than anyone else I know." Blaise sighed, leaning back in his seat. "Tell you what— I have my dorm key right here. I think you should go up there while he's sulking in our dorm by himself and tell him how you feel. I'll take you out for ice cream later if you do." Blaise smiled, holding the small golden key out towards me. I looked down at it before my eyes moved back up to meet his again.
"What if I don't want to?" I asked him shortly. Blaise shrugged and tossed the key at me. "Then I can't say I didn't try." He told me, nodding his head towards the boy's corridor for me to go.
I picked up the key with a sigh and dragged my feet across the floor slowly. This was the last thing I wanted, but I couldn't say I didn't miss him just a teeny tiny little bit.
I stuck the key in the lock and clicked it before I pushed his door open. He sat comfortably on his bed in a pair of grey sweats with a book in his hands while he glanced at the door in confusion. He jumped from his position when he noticed it was me, but he stayed by his bed, not moving an inch.
"I- um, I wasn't expecting you." He said awkwardly with wide eyes. He reached one of his hands up and scratched the back of his hair. I nodded my head, but it felt like I had something stuck in my throat. I couldn't get myself to speak.
"Did you get my flowers?" He asked me, kicking his sock covered feet across the floor and folding his hands behind his back. I nodded my head once again. "That's good." He whispered. "I sent you some sweets too, in case you were running low. I know we haven't been to honeydukes together in a while, so I picked up your favorites for you the last time I went out." He breathed out.
I let the silence engulf us as I stared at him for a moment. He looked like the true definition of a death eater. Death was a good word to describe him.
Pale.
Dark eyes.
Thin face.
Emotionless.
But as I narrowed my eyes and stared at him more, there he was. Drake. Just like he always had been.
Handsome.
Stubborn.
Pretty.
Soft.
Warm.
He cleared his throat as he stared back at me, probably wondering what I was thinking about. He probably knew already. He was supposed to be the Dark Lord's second in command, after all. I couldn't put spells like legilimency past him.
"Um, do you want to sit down? I was just reading a book. You can come sit with me if you want," he offered, stepping aside so I could cross the room and get to his bed. "Or you don't have to. I just miss you." He said quickly, worried he would say the wrong thing to me.
I nodded slowly before I crossed the room and sat on the top of his bed, scooting over so he could sit with me. He sat down next to me carefully, picking his book back up and flipping it open while he leaned against the headrest of the bed. I glanced over his shoulder curiously and started following along, but it didn't help that I wasn't starting from the beginning.
Some of the lines on the page stood out to me as my eyes skimmed across the words.
Love is heavy and light, bright and dark, hot and cold, sick and healthy, asleep and awake- it's everything except what it is!
"I love you." Draco said anxiously while he held the book open. My eyes left the pages and glanced at him, but his lost eyes stayed on the faded pages. "If you don't ever speak to me again for the rest of my life, it's okay and I understand. But I love you." He croaked out, his jaw locking and I could see his eyes turning red as they avoided me. He took a deep breath through his nose and looked like he was keeping himself from blinking.
"I love you, and I didn't mean to hurt you if I did. I don't know how you feel. I don't know what you need. This is one of the first times in my life that I don't know, Emmy." He choked on his words while my eyes moved back down to the pages in his hands. His knuckles started to turn white and the edges of the pages wrinkled in his grasp.
"And I don't know where we stand anymore, and I'm scared that you're never going to come back to me because you're scared." He sighed, looking away from me and blinking his eyes rapidly. "This is why I don't like taking to you about it because I scare you and it fucking sucks." He whimpered, his lips sulking down into a frown.
I didn't address his tears that he tried avoiding to keep from embarrassing him. I didn't address the words he said to me to keep from upsetting him more.
I broke one of his cold hands away from the book before I climbed over his leg and sat between them. I laid my back against his chest and placed his hand back on his book so he held it it front of my face. His chin fell on top of my head, tilting down and kissing my hair before it returned to its previous position.
"What are we reading, anyway?" I asked him softly, flipping a page or two casually. I tilted my head back and looked up at him while my head laid on his shoulder.
Draco pressed his lips against mine quickly, dropping the book in my lap and moving one of his hands to cup my jaw. I kissed him back slowly, letting him put his passion into actions instead of words— it was always what he was best at.
"Romeo and Juliet." He mumbled as he finally pulled us apart. "Their shitty love story makes me feel a little bit better about ours." He sniffled, his eyes drying as I turned my head and he buried his face into my hair.
"I don't want to be scared." I admitted, making even his breathing fall silent. "I've told you before that you're like two different people, and the one I'm with right now doesn't scare me." I whispered, grabbing his hands and wrapping them around my torso.
"But," I started.
"There's always a but." He mumbled, giving up on trying to get my forgiveness.
"But, I think what you're doing right now is... important. For you to protect not only us, but everyone we love by doing your job. So don't worry about me. I think we should just lay low right now while you finish your work. Forever and ever, my Draco you'll be." I told him, picking up one of his hands and kissing his palm.
•
"So it worked? And you two made up?" Blaise asked cheerfully. The two of us were packing his trunk for the holiday break. Vincent and Gregory sat off in their own little world of mischief on the other side of the room, and Draco had left a short while ago to continue on with his work.
"Sort of. Not quite." I told him, folding one of Blaise's many jumpers for him and stuffing it down in his trunk. He paused what he was doing before he held a questionable finger in the air.
"What do you mean by that..?" He asked me slowly, not understanding that he wasn't the saving grace of all relationships like he truly thought he was.
I shrugged for what felt like the millionth time today and continued folding up Blaise's clothes. He scoffed once before he tossed his robes on his bed angrily.
"Emelia Jane! I demand you forgive him this instant! No ice cream for you!" Blaise shouted, crossing his arms over his muscular chest and flexing off his arms through his button up— that was growing to be a size too small.
All of the skinny little boys were outgrowing their shirts as they buffed up and left their boyish appearances in the past, but none quite like Blaise. Draco may have physically and mentally been the strongest, but he didn't look the part next to the chocolate boy that stood in front of me.
"You demand me?" I laughed, placing his clothes down on his bed to finish later. "What are you, my father?" I quirked a brow at him, my amused smile not going anywhere.
Blaise let out a long groan while he threw his head back. "Merlin, if you Gemini's weren't so stubborn, you and Draco would never argue over anything to begin with." He mumbled under his breath.
"I just feel like he needs to focus on himself right now, and it's okay for me to just leave him alone to do what he needs to do." I told Blaise honestly. "I love Draco more than I love anyone. But I just need a moment to get over the churning in my stomach that I feel when I think about the life he is living now that I saw him..." I said lowly, hating to admit it.
"I know it's hurting him, but I think that he needs to remember what his tasks are and not worry so much about caring for me. I'll be fine on my own until he's in a better headspace." I tried explaining to the baffled boy that stood before me.
Truly, how well do I think this will work out? Probably not at all.
Draco knows that I'm right, but he will deny it until he's blue in the face. I told him that a little space over Christmas break wouldn't hurt anything between us. If anything, it will help our relationship.
Draco has to stay behind to work for a while, but he agreed to come back home on Christmas and we can spend our entire day together as usual.
"You know where he is?" I asked Blaise while I put my slippers on. "I miss him." I said casually, making Blaise's lips curl up into a smirk.
"Sure," he laughed. "You'll be fine on your own." He made fun of me. "He's on prefect duty, just check the halls or something." He waved me off before he continued working on his trunk.
I grabbed Draco's extra large black jumper that he had for comfort that absolutely swallowed me up. It hung down to the middle of my thighs, hiding away my shorts completely. I pulled the door open carefully before I slipped out of the dorm.
The corridors were darker tonight while the rain beat against the windows. Not only did I find myself shivering in the chilly winter air that lingered through the halls, but from the sounds of thunder that rumbled around me every few minutes.
I couldn't find Draco anywhere, and hiding behind pillars from Filch and the ghosts of the castle was starting to get a bit old. I let out a screech when the floor under me shook with the entire castle, the black corridor lighting up with the lightening.
"At what age do you think you'll grow out of your silly fears, Princess?" Draco asked behind me, making me scream loudly as I jumped around. His palm planted itself over my mouth, gluing it shut.
"Shh shhhh shhhh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. There was no way to not scare you." He whispered quickly, pulling me closer. "What are you doing out here, love?" He whispered, but my scream turned into whimpers.
Which turned to soft sobs.
Which lead to hot tears.
"Baby, I didn't mean it." He said quickly, his own worries obvious in his voice as he spoke to me. "Fuck. Why the fuck do I always scare you?" He groaned, wrapping his arms around my neck and pulling me into his robes tightly.
"Drake-" I croaked out, my anxiety overwhelming my body and almost making my chest feel like it was full of concrete.
"Why are you out here alone, Emmy?" He whispered, running his hand over the back of my hair.
"I was looking for you because I missed you." I cried lightly, breaking my arms through his linked ones and wrapping them around his neck. My nose buried itself into the small crook in his collarbone and shoulder, the scratchy material of his robes making my nose itch.
"I'm right here. It's fine." He whispered, holding me with a more tender grasp than usual. He's so scared to hurt me it's almost laughable.
"I want to stay with you tonight," I told him, sniffling to try and clear my nose. "I don't want to stay alone. I'm scared." I mumbled. He chuckled and laughed before he finally spoke up again.
"You know it can't physically get you, right? You're in a bloody castle with a roof over your head." He teased me, but I pulled back from him with a glare. "I'm teasing. Please, stay with me." He gave me a sorry look from my annoyance and tried taking his jokes back.
I grabbed his hand and interlocked our fingers, pulling him away with me towards the dungeons. "I'm not done my shift, but I guess it's fine." He chuckled, but I shushed him quickly.
Prefect, second. Boyfriend, first.
He used his wand to open the entrance to the common room while I tugged him over towards the empty lounge area. Everyone was off packing and preparing to travel home the eject morning in the express. No one wasted their time in the common room this late.
Draco sat down on the couch with a huff and looked up at me like he were waiting for me to make the next move. I sat myself down on his lap, dangling my legs off of his and snuggling my face into the side of his neck.
"Ahhh, my favorite thing with my favorite girl. I've always loved it when you want a cuddle," he chuckled, wrapping his arms around my waist and readjusting me on his leg so he was comfortable as well.
"You're really warm tonight," I mumbled into his skin, earning another chuckle from his lips. I felt his fingers start playing with the hair on my scalp, gathering it up in his hand before he pulled a hair tie off of my wrist.
"Am I always cold or something?" He laughed, twisting my hair before he released it and fixed a few pieces of the bun he had just thrown the mop of caramel locks into.
"Not always, but sometimes." I whispered, grabbing one of his hands in mine and examining the silver rings he wore.
I softly closed my eyes and let the sound of the fireplace engulf the room, feeling so content now that he was here to protect me from the storm.
That could have more meanings than one...
•
"Write me as soon as you arrive home so I know you are safe." Draco told me in the middle of hogsmeade, his crisp breath showing in the harsh winter air. I squinted my eyes as I tried to keep the cold air from biting my skin any longer.
I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him close. His body loosened when I grabbed a hold of him, and he held me gently by the waist.
"I love you, Draco." I whispered, my arms starting to shiver under my coat. "I know I said we should take some space during the break so you could stay back here and do your thing, but please come see me. I'm going to miss you so much it's going to be unbearable." I told him. His hands rubbed up and down my arms, trying to create more friction and heat for me while we stood in the snow.
"I'll come see you as much as possible, and I'll write to you every chance I get." He agreed. "But I mean it. First letter as soon as you get home. I'm giving you an hour and a half tops, and if I don't hear from you I'm coming to look for you." He pushed me back by my shoulders slightly so he could see my face while he spoke. I nodded my head and puckered my lips, waiting for him to give me a soft kiss.
"I love you." He mumbled against my lips, taking his time to kiss me. He was making up for the 2 weeks he had lost, doing everything in his power to earn my forgiveness and make himself feel better as well.
"I love you, too." I giggled, moving my lips to his cold nose that I kissed lovingly. "I'll owl you." I smiled.
"When?" He asked like I was a little kid. I rolled my eyes before I picked up a pile of snow and launched it at him quickly.
"As soon as I get home!" I giggled while he wiped the slushy ice from his eyes.
"You think it's funny do you?" He asked coldly. I nodded rapidly before I tried picking up another handful.
"You..." he started as he ducked my hands full of snow and grabbed ahold of me. His face was an inch from mine while I giggled at how he looked. "Will be the death of me." He let out a laugh, pushing his lips against mine.
I smiled as I kissed him, my heart fluttering like it used to in my chest. "I can never stay mad at you, y'know." I told him between kisses.
"Good for me. Bad for you," he snickered, brushing my wild hair back with one of his hands. "You're going to freeze if we stay out here all day. Go home, sunshine. I'll come over tomorrow morning at the latest." He smirked, his grey eyes mesmerizing me as I looked into them.
"Okay," I sighed, "as soon as I get home..." I confirmed, making him nod contently.
I tipped my head and looked at Drake one last time as I took a step back before I reached in my bag for the small coin and port keyed myself to my manor. I landed on the front step, the sky much darker and gloomier in our little hallow of Wiltshire than it was in hogsmeade.
I opened the door and couldn't helped but notice how... quiet it was.
"Mother?!" I shouted, to which I received no response. "Father?!" I yelled.
Nothing.
I shook off the strange atmosphere before I climbed the stairs to my bedroom. Draco promised he'd bring my trunk back with him so I didn't have to carry it myself, and I obviously couldn't turn down such an offer.
I pushed my bedroom door open before I stopped in my tracks.
"Hi, sweetheart," Theodore said sweetly while he laid across the top of my bed. "I've been expecting you. You took much longer to get here than I imagined." He furrowed his brows as he sat up.
"Would you like to join me?" He asked, gesturing for me to lay next to him. My gut could tell this wasn't good. That something was wrong.
"Where's my mum and dad?" I asked him quietly, taking a step back from him. My back ran into something hard, my eyes widening and my breathing stopping.
"Hi, Emmy Jane." Lucius's cold voice rang behind me while his strong hands found their way to my shoulders. "Long time, no see, pumpkin." I let out a sigh of relief before I turned to face him.
"Thank Merlin you're here," I sighed, wrapping my arms around his torso and hugging him close. He smelled so similar to Draco, and their build was almost the same now that Draco was almost fully grown.
But I'd never be attracted to this man.
"Where are my parents?" I asked him while I slipped away.
"Your father is in the study. Your mother..." Lucius narrowed his eyes and stopped his words. "We'll talk about her another time." He said.
My face ran pale and my eyes pooled with stinging tears as I heard him.
"She left, Emmy. She's not dead... yet." He sighed. "She left you though. So it's nothing to cry over. She only cared for herself... pitiful witch." He shook his head.
Theo took some steps towards me behind my back, and I whipped around to look at him.
"Lucius, you have to get this creep away from me. He slipped me love potions all because I don't like him." I spat, the thought of Theodore leaving a bitter taste on my tongue.
"I know. We were hoping they'd finally keep you away from Draco." Lucius said behind me, his hands slowly laying themselves on my shoulders.
"What?" I whispered, turning to look at him again.
"Surely, you didn't think I'd like coming home and hearing that my boy picked someone for marriage the day he was receiving his mark." Lucius chuckled, twirling my hair on his finger.
"I scrambled his brain because of you, Emmy. I rewired his emotions because of you. I created something so powerful... hell, I even paid off the Nott boy to keep you occupied." He laughed, his eyes moving up to match Theodore's. I turned my head to look at him, and Theo met me with a small smirk.
"What have I always taught you kids, sunshine?" I grimaced as Lucius called me by my childhood nickname from Draco.
"Emotions get you nothing." I whispered, closing my eyes slowly.
"Obviously, you still have much to learn." Lucius said lowly. "So, here's what will happen. I am taking you somewhere far away for a few weeks. The Dark Lord is going to rewire Draco's brain. He's finally going to achieve his most recent task, and we'll be one step closer to completing this war." Lucius's voice evened itself as he explained his plan.
"Why do I have to leave?" I shook my head, growing more frantic as I thought of all the things he could do to me. He sure as hell didn't care about torturing his own son, let alone someone else's flesh and blood.
"Because you're ruining everything for him. For me." Lucius seethed quietly. "It's about time he learns to focus."