The Girl Who Lived

Serenity

March 15th, 1996.
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Draco Malfoy was sitting on the railing and for a second, it looked like he was debating whether or not to jump.

Elena hoped he wouldn't. It would be a shame to have to scrape him off the pavement. Never would she admit it though.

She took a small step forward. Small steps would lead to big things.

"How is it that every time I am having a marvelous day, you must always come and ruin it?" His voice asked. Elena looks up and sees his head turned over his shoulder. His eyes wandered across her, searching and analyzing.

Always analyzing.

Elena sighed, a hint of amusement drowning her voice. "I like to believe that I make your day better, Malfoy." His shoulder sagged just an inch and then straightening again.

Like he didn't want me to see, Elena realized.

Her hands were covered in flame still, dancing like little spirits. Draco noticed the white fire and something came over his face. Draco's eyes watched Elena's magic swirl around her fingertips that were stained red.

"What happened to your fingers?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. The girl approaching covered her hands and was next to him before he could blink. Elena climbed onto the railing and sat next to him, their shoulders barely brushing together.

Elena stared out towards the lake and forest, holding her breath. She wondered how long the snow would last this year or how long Draco had been sitting here. "Don't know what you're talking about, Malfoy."

A small wave of confusion washed over him. Why had she lied? Draco continued to play with his fingers, glancing between the forest and the girl next to him.

Draco noticed her, more than others did. Especially now. He saw how her collarbone jutted out against her skin, her skin that had gone too pale and lost most of its color. The bags under her eyes, her gaunt face. She had become dead while walking. Even her eyes held no fire. No shadows, nothing.

Blood rutting hell, Draco said in his mind, Why had nobody helped her? Did people see how dead she looked?

"I told them," Elena said. She let her shoulders sag. "I told everyone in the D.A what happened in the graveyard when Cedric died." Draco turned to her.

He knew what the D.A was, what they stood for. He had only an ounce of respect for Elena- for fighting against someone who would stop at nothing to see her dead. She had fought before, why not now?

Draco didn't show anything, even if the sound of her voice made his body relax too. "Why would you do that?" She had barely even told Draco what happened and doing that had seemed like it was killing her.

"Because," She sighed, revealing her hands again. "I'm so tired."

He paused, knowing she was tired. He saw it in her face every time she so much as took a small breath. He could see it every time she let the flames of her magic surge just a little higher. He was tired too.

"I'm so tired, Malfoy. So fucking tired." Her body screamed at her. Everything screamed at her, drowning her, making her miserable.

She was so tired, tired of waking up and knowing she would die. Tired of having to see her friends near death, of playing pretend. But most of all, Elena Clairmont was tired of feeling alone.

He knew how it felt. Everything that must've been running through her head, killing her slowly. Draco knew it better than she did, he understood it. "I'm tired of it all too, Clairmont." His hand twitched and she saw, for a second believing that he would touch her. He didn't.