When we entered into the ballroom, I took in the beauty of it. The entire place was decorated elegantly with several green and red ribbons hanging from the massive, golden chandeliers, which dangled from the towering ceiling. The flooring was made of marble tile so clean you could almost see your reflection below your feet. Huge, dark green curtains were drawn back from their tall windows, showcasing the marvelous snowfall outside. A jazz band played classical Christmas music in the far corner, and the ballroom was bustling with hundreds of people dressed in their finest attire. Many of them were waltzing with a partner on the dance floor while others stood off to the side holding glasses of wine and chatting with fellow acquaintances.
"Do you know how to dance?" Draco questioned as he led me to the dance floor.
"I don't think I have tried," I admitted.
"It's not that hard," he told me. "It is simply the same as following a pattern."
I felt as one of Draco's hands slid down to my waist. His other hand rested on my bare shoulder, his silver ring cold against my skin. I was not sure where to place my hands, so I mirrored his hand placement with the opposite hands. We were able to follow in sync with the dance circle, and I proved to be better at dancing than I had anticipated. I was then secretly thankful I wore my flat, black boots instead of my heels, because we moved around quite a lot. At one point, everyone picked up their partner by their waist and spun them around in the air. Draco seemed to lift me effortlessly as if I were merely a feather, which was worth mentioning since last year at the Yule Ball Potter almost dropped me. However, Draco danced so flawlessly that he made even my calculated steps appear clumsy. Every twirl and every step seemed to slowly cause me to fall in love more and more. The night felt like a scene straight out of a fairytale.
What are we?
A few days after he had asked that question, I told him I needed time. Perhaps I did actually have an answer, but rather I needed time to just procrastinate. I really did love him, yet for some reason I never did feel ready. I know Potter was my boyfriend a year ago, but the heartbreak he made me feel was certainly unbearable. Was I truly ready to take on such a risky commitment again? Maybe I am truly the only thing holding me back. However, Draco has been more than understanding. He told me to take all the time I needed. I could not tell if he was irritated or just mildly disappointed in the moment, but he accepted my answer, nonetheless. I should have just given him a clear answer, but I suppose he simply caught me off guard. Still, he had every right to ask me that question. We could not keep acting like a couple while not actually being official. Now because so much time has passed since then, I am afraid he has lost feelings for me and does not care to take things further anymore. Maybe it is just all in my head, but I feel as if I missed my only opportunity.
Draco once feared of losing me, and now I fear I have lost him.
"Are you alright?"
I knew Draco could not read my mind, but it proposed to be that way. I started to wonder how he was able to read my emotions, yet I could hardly read his.
"Yeah, I was just deep in thought," I responded.
The songs were now much softer, and everyone switched to slow dancing. My arms were wrapped around Draco's neck, and his hands were firmly holding my waist.
"What were you thinking about?" he asked.
We swayed back and forth to the soothing music, and the night seemed to drown my thoughts away. I looked up at him, unable to answer his question.
"I can't remember anymore," I stated.
"Then it must not have been that important."
"I suppose not."
I then laid my head on his chest, and he pulled me closer as a result. The security I felt in his arms was so comforting that I dreaded ever letting go. I was suddenly aware of the warmth of his body against mine, the rising and falling of his chest. Just to think that the person who once hated me is now the person I am holding onto as if my life depended upon it truly sounded wrong, but everything about this moment was precious to me. Our relationship has been nothing but a rollercoaster of crazy events, but in the end, I was glad to be in the arms of Draco Malfoy.
It's not too late, I thought.
"Draco," I whispered in his ear.
"Hm?" he sounded, as if sinking in the feeling of the moment just like I was.
I pulled back in order to look him in the eyes, his gaze blue and vibrant.
"I know what we are," I spoke softly, the words barely escaping my lips.
His eyes seemed to light up at my words.
"Can I say something?" he asked.
"Please."
We stopped swaying completely, the music and chatter around us steadily becoming a distant melody.
"I love you," he began. "I need you. I want you."
His eyes were saying more than his words, wanting and longing.
He continued. "Without you, I am incomplete. Without you, I am nothing. Without you-"
He stopped, trying to find his words.
"I would have told you how I felt way sooner had I not been too prideful and gullible to realize I never deserved you."
I can see just by looking back how Draco has matured as a person. I can also see how the course of events which have taken place over these past few years have shaped him into a better person. The words he was confessing to me now were evidence of this fact.
"Please- I cannot settle with just being friends," he added. "Please let me be more for you. Please be mine."
He let all those words free as if he had been bottling that up inside of him for a while. I knew he meant every word, the weight of it all too heavy to carry. His words seemed to heal a small part of me that was once unfixable.
I could not hesitate any longer.
"Yes," I uttered, almost breathless.
I had once imagined that this would be the end of our story in another universe. Yet, I never imagined it would be in this lifetime. However, our ending only marked a new beginning.
Out of nowhere, a loud bang sounded from above, and the ceiling began to shake. Everyone in the room then grew dead silent as the surrounding walls began to tremble and as the ceiling began to violently shake even more aggressively. One of the chandeliers fell to the floor, shattering to several pieces. Everyone began to freak out, screaming and panicking in their wake. No one knew what was going on and what was causing this, uncertainty resting in the spirit of everyone in the room.
Lara and Kasper abruptly came barging towards me and Draco. They appeared frantic and white as a ghost, as if they had just witnessed something traumatizing.
"What's happening?" I demanded, utterly terrified.
This was not an earthquake or some natural disaster of some sort.
We were being attacked.
"Death Eaters," was the only word Kasper managed to get out before all of the glass windows burst open, glass shards flying everywhere. Death Eaters then began to fly in through the shattered windows and pile into the room in the form of black smoke. More shouts and cries of terror erupted from the people, and a battle began to unfold in the ballroom.
"Take my hand!" Kasper shouted.
In a flash, all of the screams and flying spells and Death Eaters whisked away from view, and Draco, Kasper, Lara, and I were now standing outside in the frigid snow. Somehow our breathing could be heard over the loud, ear-splitting commotion sounding behind us in the distance.
"Follow me," Draco instructed us, the darkness suffocating us.
As the four of us struggled to sprint away from the danger at hand, I was suddenly made aware of a terrible, sharp pain in my right shoulder. When I winced at the pain and glared at my shoulder, I was horrified to discover a large, sharp piece of glass stuck in my skin. I still continued to trudge through the snow, the numbing cold steadily gnawing at my exposed skin. However, I was so disturbed and stunned from the previous upheaval that I hardly paid much attention to my current condition. Adrenaline was rushing through my body, subsiding the pain in my shoulder a little bit, but my arm did hurt to move. I just had to keep pushing. All I could think about was getting me and my friends and- my boyfriend to safety.
Eventually, we made it to an old, abandoned garden shed a far off but still on the Malfoy Manor property. It was then to my and everyone else's dismay that all of us left our wands at the manor. By the time we piled inside the small shed, we were all shaking violently from the cold and from the terror which flooded our bodies. For a moment, I believed I was going to pass out, but I felt Kasper firmly grip my right arm just when I felt myself swaying. I let out a painful wail as I now felt the full agony of the glass piercing into my skin. When Kasper removed his hand, his fingertips were covered in my blood since it was steadily running down my arm.
"Merlin's beard" Kasper rasped, seeing my injured arm.
"Holly!" Lara gasped.
"We need to crouch down and wait for them to leave," Draco ordered, removing his suit jacket from himself and crouching down next to my injured shoulder.
"This is going to hurt," he warned me as his hand hovered over the glass stabbing my arm.
We all sat down on the dirt floor of the shed, though Draco had made sure to push a large crate up against the door for safety measures. Kasper had also found an old lantern that was powered by magic, and which emitted a soft, golden glow throughout the space. We were well hidden way out into the woods, but none of us had any idea when this would be over.
A few minutes ago, I wished that the night would have lasted forever. Now I want it to end.
I squeezed Lara's hand and prepared myself for the pain. Draco then slowly removed the glass from my skin, and it took everything in me to bite back my scream. Last thing we needed was a Death Eater to find our hiding spot. Instead, I threw my head up against the wall, breathing quick and heavy. More blood oozed down my arm, the sight of it making my head spin. Draco then pressed his jacket against the open wound, attempting to stop the bleeding without the aid of magic. I squeezed Lara's hand tighter, tears running cold against my cheeks.
"I wish one of us had our wands," Draco mentioned. "I could have easily mended this."
In just a few seconds, a dance turned into a nightmare. Why were Death Eaters even invading Malfoy Manor on Christmas Eve? Why here? Why now?
I glanced over towards Lara, who appeared like she was going to throw up any minute. Something about witnessing Lara in her disheveled and panic-stricken state really messed with me since she is always so calm and collected. Now here she was trying to comfort me through my torment, consternation plastered upon her own face.
The garden shed we were all crammed inside in had very little space. It was full of broken shovels and cracked watering cans. There were even rows of shelves that were crammed with dusty boxes and more rusty garden tools.
It was now oddly quiet where we were, horror plain on all of our faces. I had such terrible chills perhaps from the frosty air, but mostly from the terror which paralyzed my body.
"We left Blaise," Kasper realized, a pang of regret piercing his heart.
"I'm sure he is okay," Lara attempted to comfort him, but with our lives suddenly at stake, nothing she was to say could have made the situation any better.
"What happened?" I asked. "I mean- how did you know that Death Eaters were coming?"
Kasper sat in front of me towards my left where Lara sat. His knees were pulled up to his chest, huddling in a ball-like position. He rested his chin on his knees, staring down at his fancy dress shoes now covered in dirt and snow.
"I saw her," he choked out, his voice quivering as if reminiscing over old memories.
"Who?" Draco asked.
I feared I already knew the answer.
"My mother," Kasper muttered.
Lara's breath hitched. "That was your mother?"
He nodded his head then sunk his face into his knees, shutting his eyes as if to wake up from this horrible nightmare. I could hardly blame him either.
Kasper's POV:
Please just be a dream. Please just be a dream. Please just be a dream.
No, this was a nightmare, and I was living in it.
Lara and I had mutually agreed to slip out of the ballroom, since I could tell the large crowd was overwhelming her. She has always been of a timid nature, and I was the same way though I never liked to fully admit it. I then decided I would lead her to a place where I knew no one would bother us. This would also mean revealing one of my biggest secrets.
Behind one of my bookcases in my bedroom, I had found a secret door when I first moved in. I later discovered that the door would bring you to a winding stone staircase, which would lead you to the rooftop of Malfoy Manor. Lucius and Narcissa probably knew it was there,yet did not think to tell me or perhaps forgot about it. I used to go onto the rooftop frequently during the summer after work for peace and quiet. I would also lock my bedroom door so no one would suspect where I was. When I was not journaling in my room, I was on the roof, scribbling away or simply watching the stars above. It was a private space for me to be alone in my thoughts; however, I brought Lara up there with me. She thought it was fascinating, the view from the rooftop really capturing her attention. When you looked out, all you could see for miles was rows of trees covered in snow and a beautiful lake which had been frozen over with a thick layer of glittering ice.
We sat upon the roof for a while, each of us wrapped in a blanket to protect ourselves from the icy weather. A spell had been casted over the blankets which made them resistant to the cold and made them constantly warm. I recalled the way her cheeks grew pink from the cold, and the way bits of snow had fallen onto her lashes. We talked. We talked for a very long time. I told Lara some things– rather personal things. About my life growing up, about how none of my other family members remember me, about my parents- it were as if I summoned them.
Across the sky, we saw several whirls of black smoke. Lara and I stared at it at first, trying to decipher what we were seeing. Then the black cloud dissipated a little to reveal a person concealed beneath its smoky aroma. She stared back at us, eyes wide and cruel. I had stopped breathing for a moment when I realized that the flying smoke lady was my mother.
My dad had not been there at that moment. Just her.
I immediately took Lara's hand and sprinted down the secret staircase back to my bedroom, dropping our blankets on the roof. We were both shaken with uncontrollable fear. Lara had seen the Dark Mark. I had seen the woman I recognized as the devil.
I explained this to Holly and Draco. Holly appeared to hold a glare of surprised shock and uneasiness. I could not really read Draco's expression other than it seemed like he was in a state of disquietude.
"For months, I have been trying to look toward the more positive side of things," I confessed, "but it seems like everything in my life always goes wrong."
I hated being sad. I hated showing emotions. I hated feeling so vulnerable. I wanted to be anyone except myself in that very moment. Yet here I am a locked in a deteriorating garden shed just a few paces away from tragedy, from my parents. Why would it matter what I confessed?
Deep down, I wished my parents had been brainwashed to make the decisions they have been making all these years, but I also knew deep down that it simply wasn't true.
In the distance, we heard footsteps.