the girl who lost it all [d.m]

twenty nine: sapor

sapor: savour, taste, relish

———

DRACO was awoken by screaming.

He'd just fallen asleep—hardly twenty minutes ago—when the shrieking started.

His hand found his wand immediately and he had crossed the room by the time Astoria bolted upright in bed, her eyes wide.

"What—" She gasped out but he'd already opened the door. The screaming grew louder.

Mother.

He was sprinting down the hallway then, feet and heart pounding as his mother's screaming grew in volume, so heart-wrenching it made his blood chill.

He all but skidded down the steps and raced to her wing of the house. She'd insisted she take a different wing than the one Astoria and Draco stayed in—likely to give them some privacy—so her room was some distance from theirs.

He could hear her sobs now, mixed with her blood-curdling screams and every cell in his body turned inward in panic.

Narcissa Malfoy was not an easy woman to shake. And yet, he'd never heard such terrified sounds.

The house elf, Mipsy, was standing just inside the threshold to his mother's room, wringing her bony hands. "Oh, dear, oh, dear, oh, dear—" Upon seeing Draco, her large luminous eyes lit up. "Master Draco! Mistress Narcissa is—"

"Get a Calming Draught," he said, sharply, before he stepped into his mother's bedroom.

She was writhing on the bed, her head thrashing, her mouth open in that endless scream. Her eyes stayed tightly shut, her entire body seizing everytime she let out a shriek.

"Mother." Draco was at her side in an instant. "Mother, wake up! It's just a dream!"

He seized her shoulders and shook her but she was unresponsive. Her pallid skin gleamed with sweat, her hair a tangled mess around her head as she shook her head again and again.

Draco gave her another shake but she only let out another sob, tears glistening on her cheeks. Her mouth began to move silently and Draco's heart pounded as he leaned down to catch what she was saying.

"Please...Not him...Not Draco...Please! Take anything else—not Draco, not Draco!"

His own eyes stung as he wrapped his mother up into a tight embrace, holding her to him as she tried to thrash in his grip, her voice rising.

"Not Draco! Anything else—please don't hurt him!"

Draco sucked in a much needed breath and held his mother's thin form to him, whispering that he was here, that nothing could hurt her.

Mipsy appeared with a loud pop, Astoria bursting into the room at the same time and Draco had her still Narcissa while he poured the vial of Calming Draught down her throat. She fought against it, gurgling screams escaping her in her sleep but he held her firm until she was forced to swallow it.