Book 1: Of Thorns & Roses

34: A Sealed Fate

A/N: I think that this may be my favorite chapter because of the raw emotion and love that drives Draco and Grier to survive. I hope you agree (somewhat) (:

"Where were you, love," said Draco as he sat up from bed. His hair was a tangle of icy blonde, and those eyes shone, even in the darkness of the room.

I sat across from him on the bed, "I was repairing a few things."

He warily eyed me, "I won't ask." Kissing my forehead, he strode to the dresser to change.

I couldn't help but attempt to memorize him. The way his lips quirked up into a smile as he looked my way. The way his muscles moved as he reached to hold me.

Or how his eyes danced with mischief, love, and anxiousness, swirling to beam the grey that I cherished each dwindling day.

We were running out of time.

"Why are you looking at me like you just punched Parkinson again?" His lips displayed that uneven grin. A boyish charm that was locked away, only for me to see.

Laughing I shook my head, "She wouldn't dare piss me off again."

Flipping through my memory, I remembered when I first laid eyes on the curt boy standing in front of me. That was when the light broke through the field of endless clouds and mingled with a broken heart.

He fixed me one by one. Piece by piece.

And I feared that I would lose him forever.

That my body would tumble into the dry dirt at the hands of darkness and death incarnate. My lingering pain being the only hallmark in an unmarked grave.

"What's wrong?" His voice berraded my fears, and I looked up.

Plastering a smile onto my face I murmured, "I'm just excited about this so called date, Malfoy." A taunting challenge to cover up the fear that buried itself deep within me.

Taking my hand in his own, he whispered in my ear, "Come with me." His long fingers grazed the flushed skin of my cheek, which capered with the blossoming tint of red. "I love you, Grier Langston."

"And I you... more than you realize." I brushed my lips against his, "I guess you're stuck with me, aren't you?"

He chuckled, "You're unbearable."

Smirking, I whispered through the bond, I give you 4 out of 5 stars... but I would bang again.

****************

The darkness still lingered.

The haze in the sky mingled with the wandering souls of Hogsmeade, lost in a doomed world that preyed on the good of society. The greenish tint of my surroundings flared my scar to life as if to warn me of the future.

"Where should we go first, love?" Said Draco as we became wanderers of the streets ourselves.

A light breeze caressed my face, "Food... for sure." I tried disregarding the hint of unease that coiled in my stomach.

We headed for The Three Broomsticks, blending into the bustling crowd. His hand was tightly around my waist as we entered the busy tavern.

The smell of roasted turkey and butterbeer sent my senses into overload.

The dim lights flickered with the presence of the flames that danced in the ancient sconces. Natural light poured in through the metal gridded windows that faced the front of the tavern.

Those windows sent shivers down my spine. Identical to the ones in that nightmare, months ago.

Not a nightmare. A reality that tattooed its memory onto my body. A scar that wrapped itself around me, like a snake curled to strike its prey.

Draco led us to the back of the tavern where a private booth sat in swaying shadows.

Sliding into the area, I didn't have time to react as Draco grabbed my face, a desperate expression on his face. Like something buried deep inside him, peeked its head in a desperate feat to savor this last moment of peace.

"Grier, I know you feel it, too. My task must be fulfilled... soon."

There was a long pause, but our eyes never left each other, "I'm not sure what'll happen, but Merlin you are everything. You are the air that fills my lungs, willing me to breath. To stay alive. Not just to maintain a beating heat, but to live. To escape this darkness and drift into the sunlight where you become my wife and the mother of my children. Where our life is our own. Where your laughter fills the void that has been slowly repairing itself because you are everything, Grier. You ground me to see the world for the good that dances in the streets and hides within the shadows."

A panic set into his eyes. A panic that was identical to my own.

I hadn't noticed the warmth of tears flowing down my face, but I made no effort to wipe them away as I said, "To a world where we only follow the light and dance in the sun that chases away the shadows. To a life that is entirely our own. For eternity together, we will survive."

The silence that followed broke me in half because the words that had left our mouths were intertwined with raw, vulnerable love.

A love that could cleave in half if the Dark Lord deemed fit.

We embraced each other in the deafening silence. A silence that wrought the pain, dread, and deadly love of our lives, intertwining to make a masterpiece of inevitable despair.

But the murky future was an unknown that haunted my dreams and lingered in my consciousness.

"For love," I whispered.

Draco kissed the tip of my nose, "we will prevail."

And then the world turned upside down as the darkness suffocated the last of the glimmering light, and hope ceased to exist.

A/N: THOUGHTS??? Please let me know what you guys think! <3

Also, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 6K READS... makes this all worth it