Ink / Draco Malfoy (18+)

"Salvation."

"Salvation."

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2 weeks later

"No, you have to twist it-", George's fingers wrapped around his wand and twirled it around, just like he always did, "Like that, you see?"

My wand fell to the ground in another failed attempt as he let out a soft chuckle, "Come on, it's not that hard.",

"Shut up Weasley-", I mumbled with a smile growing on my lips, "I just can't do it.", my legs rested on his lap as I dropped my wand on the wooden surface of his nightstand and we both laughed softly.

After a few seconds filled with comfortable silence, I felt his fingers tapping my leg in a gentle way, "I talked to Fred earlier, and he wants to smoke on the astronomy tower tonight.", he raised an eyebrow at me as I took a deep breath and let my head fall back against the wall,

"Are we meeting up in the common room later?"

"Yeah, he planned on meeting after dinner,", George slowly shoved my legs off him before getting up and removing his shirt, revealing the muscles on his back. He sighed quietly, before grabbing a towel and turning around,

"But I wanna take a shower first.",

my eyes traveled down his toned chest and abs, making my mind wander back to that night, until our eyes met again and I realized that I had stared at his body a little too long. My eyes widened in panic as I realized, until I noticed his tongue pushing against the inside of his cheek,

"Like what you see?", he leaned forward, moving his thumb along my bottom lip, "Got some drool on your chin darling.", his voice became softer as he winked and turned around again.

I bit my lip for a second, before pulling myself together again.

Ever since we had talked about Draco in the library, he constantly checked up on me to make sure I was okay, and I was- as long as he was with me. The excitement and lightness in his voice, in his whole being, consumed me- and even though it wasn't much, it seemed to make it all more bearable.

The presence of his soul had the power to ease my pain. It saved me somehow.

"Are you gonna leave or will you join?", he muttered playfully, making me snap out of my thoughts and walk to the door immediately, "See you later, George.", I winked as I shook my head, mostly to myself.

___________

"Fuck, it's cold up here-", I whispered harshly as the freezing air hit the skin on my face, "I should've brought a jacket."

We walked over to the railing, internalizing the the black sky above- not a single star was there, nothing but emptiness. Fred's face flickered from the dimmed flame of the lighter he used, George and I stepped closer to him, preventing the tiny, fragile flame from suffocating.

He took a few drags of the joint in his hand, deeply inhaling the smoke, passing it on to George as the smoke escaped his lips. With each drag, my head felt more dizzy- and for a moment, I could breathe properly again.

"You okay?", George whispered gently after I had been silent for a while. I dragged the edges of my sleeves over my wrists to protect myself from the cold as I nodded softly,

"Yeah, this feels nice.", Fred's head shot up within a second, observing the gentle smile on my face,

"Why wouldn't you be?", he furrowed his brows in confusion, almost looking worried. George and I locked eyes for a second, until he looked down shyly and my eyes wandered back to Fred's.

"Did something happen?", he took another drag and inhaled deeply as I couldn't decide whether to tell him or not. It was still in my head, and in there it was safe, but I wasn't sure if I possessed the strength to talk about it.

I shook my head in denial, letting out a relaxed sigh, "Just- some love drama-", I got cut off by Fred releasing the breath he had held in for too long,

"nothing serious."

Fred coughed a few times and then looked at me with reddened eyes, until the corners of his mouth twitched, "Ah love-", his hand grasped the cold metal in front of him as he gave the stars one last chance to offer him their beauty,

"What is it even good for?", his voice was soft, nearly amused. The blonde haired boy popped up in my head the moment I heard the word 'love' slipping off his tongue.

I closed my eyes, embracing the warm feeling spreading in my chest as soon as I thought of him, how the tone of his voice- even after all- still felt like home. My mind wandered back to way we held each other at night,

how we became each other's shelter from this cruel world around us.

I blinked a few times, remembering the pain in his eyes, which I was only ever able to see when it was just us- in my head, it was always just us.

Because I still needed him, more than myself- and he still needed to be saved.

"I don't know-", George's raspy voice interrupted the silence as he took a step towards the edge, staring into the void just like the rest of us did.

"If there wasn't love,", I saw his fingers drawing tiny circles on the surface of the cold railing, "What kind of fucked up world would we live in?"

Fred and I both looked up to him, staring at his lips impatiently until they parted slowly again, "I think love is all we have.", I faced the black sky again as my heart ached from his words,

because I knew he was talking about me, even though the person his words made me think of was not him.

My eyelids shut again, remembering the pain I kept hidden so carefully, sometimes even from myself. I kept biting the inside of my cheeks, debatting whether to say something or not, but for me there was nothing to add. He was right- love was all we had in this world, and I couldn't give it to him.

"I don't need it,", Fred chuckled softly, letting the burned up joint fall to the ground, "it's too complicated-",

"But it can save you.", George cut him off, giving him a comforting look, making Fred shake his head softly as George looked down on his hands again,

"And don't we all need salvation?"

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Hi loves!! I hope you liked this chapter, get ready for the next one!

Love you all! <3