𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐅𝐚𝐝𝐞 || 𝐃.𝐌

Chapter 10 - The Yule Ball

*The next morning*

Draco's POV:

I didn't sleep. Not really. Ivory was still beside me when the sun began to rise, curled up under the covers, her breathing soft. I stayed still all night, wide awake, staring at the ceiling with the same three things echoing in my head:

He kissed her.
He touched her.
And she flinched because of me.

The moment her eyes fluttered open, I slipped out of bed. She looked up at me groggily, confused, and reached for my hand.

"Where are you going?"

I leaned down and kissed her forehead gently. "Stay here." And I left.

It wasn't hard to find him. Cedric Diggory was always where people could see him, walking through the courtyard like he owned it, laughing with his Hufflepuff fan club, pretending he wasn't a pathetic, two-faced bastard.

He didn't see me coming. I crossed the grass without a word, fists clenched, jaw tight, my blood roaring in my ears. He turned just in time for my hand to slam into his chest, shoving him hard against a stone pillar.

"You think you can put your hands on her and walk away just like that?" I snarled.

"Malfoy- what the hell!" he barely got the words out before I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him again.

"Don't play stupid!" I hissed. "You kissed her. She said no. You touched her without permission, and you're smiling about it?"

His expression changed instantly? he knew. I could see it in his eyes.

"Oh, so she told you?" he muttered.

That was it. I pulled my arm back, ready to hit him. One swing. Just one. He deserved it. But before my fist could connect, someone crashed into me from the side.

"Draco!"

Ivory. She threw herself between us, grabbing my arm, eyes wide with panic. Her voice was shaking, but she stood firm. "Stop! Don't do this. Please."

I froze. Breathing hard, hand still raised in the air, heart pounding like it was trying to escape my chest.

"I'm fine!" she said again, her hands gently moving to my chest, grounding me. "It's not worth it."

I looked down at her. The girl I scared last night. The girl I swore I'd always protect. And I lowered my arm. Cedric was still pressed against the pillar, stunned, rubbing the back of his neck. He looked at Ivory, not me, and muttered, "You didn't have to bring him into this."

She didn't answer. She didn't even look at him.
She was too focused on me, pulling me back, whispering something I couldn't quite hear over the sound of my pulse. I let her lead me away.
Because I didn't need to break Cedric's face right now to prove a point. I just needed to be better than the man I was becoming.

Ivory's POV:

After I pulled Draco away, I didn't speak until we were safely out of sight, just the two of us in an empty corridor near the Astronomy Tower. He hadn't said a word either. His breathing was still uneven, his fists trembling at his sides. He looked like he was ready to kill someone.

I stepped in front of him, placing my hand gently on his chest. His heart was hammering under my palm. "Draco," I said softly, "look at me."

He did, and I could see it all in his eyes. The rage, the regret, the helplessness. And beneath it all... fear. "I would've hurt him." he muttered, voice barely above a whisper. "If you hadn't stopped me... I don't know what I would've done."