Safe

Chapter 12: Endings

The crowd had gotten so big, with everyone trying to enter the castle and all, that Draco lost her. She was somewhere in the swarm of the growing audience, and Draco had to find her. He had promised her and himself that he wouldn't leave her, and look what he'd done! Draco roared, but his shouts were drowned out by the screams of other people searching for their friends. Finally, Draco was able to push through the people rushing into Hogwarts, and rested against the wall; however, he was only there for a second, because a blast of magic flew right by his head.

"Draco!" yelled an angry voice.

He looked up and saw Lucius standing just ten feet away, with his wand out, obviously being the one who shot a spell at him. Draco aimed his own wand towards his father, the idea of hesitating to kill Lucius not even crossing his mind. Lucius had turned him away from Granger for so long - for too long - and Draco hated that. When he realized that he had feelings for Granger - I'm not even going to hide it anymore - he had tried to shut them down, trying to remind himself that she was just a Mudblood, and that she wasn't worth his thoughts... but she is worth every second of his mind's thoughts! Every damn thought was worth it!

"You saved the Mudblood, didn't you?" Lucius hissed. "When we were all on the floor from the chandelier's crash, you saved it before the rest of us!"

"It? She has a name!" Draco yelled. "Her name is Hermione Granger." When Lucius refused to say anything, Draco shouted louder. "Just say her name, Lucius! She is not an it. Granger is a witch, the best bloody witch I've ever seen!"

"Watch your mouth!"

"Since when do you care?" Draco retorted, feeling himself go mental. He was surely going to end up losing his mind if Lucius insulted Granger one more time. "You never cared about me, so why start now? Yes, I saved Granger! Do you know why?"

Lucius stayed quiet.

"Because I hate this life you placed on me! I have to be this perfect son, produce a pureblood heir, and a Death Eater son you can be proud of!"

"I never wanted-"

"But guess what? I'm not doing any of that anymore! I am going to be the worst son you could ever wish for, I'm going to produce a half-blood heir, and fight for the Order!" Draco's chest was heaving by the end of his rant, never hating his father so much. He almost laughed when he said that he was going to marry a muggle-born, obviously the one in mind being Granger.

"Did you think that this was easy for me, Draco?" screamed Lucius. "Watching you get this Mark because I failed you? Did you think that I wanted this life for you? Yes, I want the Malfoy line to continue-"

"With purebloods! Who gives a damn about blood? It doesn't matter who someone is descended from, Father, it's the talent they bring to the wizarding world. Granger has Muggle parents, but do you know what? She's topped me in everything, despite my efforts to put her in second!"

"The Mudblood has nothing to do with this!"

"She's everything to do with it!" yelled Draco, throwing his arms up. "I love her!"

Lucius' lips opened as though he was about to curse Draco, but he closed his mouth, swished his cloak, and strode away. Draco collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily. He rubbed his eyes, which were threatening to release tears, and begged that someone kill Lucius. He did not want his father alive any longer, no matter how much Draco thought Lucius was right in the past. He didn't care if Lucius wanted to switch sides at the last second. He didn't care if Lucius apologized and promised to "get used to" having Granger around for supper. He didn't care if Lucius told Draco that he loved him.