The Boy I Once Loved (DM 18+)

Chapter 5 - DA

Bella's eyes fluttered open, hearing Draco's sobs.

'Draco?' she whispered, 'What happened?'

Draco immediately looked up and wiped away his tears immediately. 'Bella, I am so sorry for everything, I really am,'

Bella put her finger on Draco's lips, 'shhh, tell me what happened please. Why am I here? And why are you here?'

Her finger on his lips felt so nice, he sighed in relaxation. 'Okay,' he whispered, 'I'll tell you. I'm really sorry Bella, for everything, you may not like me after i tell you this. You probably never liked me anyway.'

Draco told Bella how he used the Cruciatis curse on her when they were dueling and she was in the hospital wing because of what he did. And how he felt really bad about it.

'But why did you do that?' asked Bella, getting angry and confused now.

'I... I don't know.' Draco stammered, not wanting Bella to know he is a death eater.

'You're not making any sense Draco,' she yawned, getting sleepy.

Next thing Draco knew, Bella was fast asleep. He gently kissed her forehead and left the hospital wing before dawn.

****

Bella woke up by the sound of Madame Pomfrey preparing the next dose of medicine for her.

After that she got dressed and headed out to the Great Hall.

She obviously remembered what happened last night, Draco was sitting beside her bed. But that was all a dream, she thought. The infamous Draco Malfoy would never apologise for anything, nor would he cry because she got injured.

Everyone turned to her as she walked down to her table. She sat next to Cho who was talking to Harper. 'I bet everyone knows what happened to me right?' Cho hugged her tight, 'Bell, we were all so worried about you. You were under the Cruciatis curse.'

What? Everything Draco told her last night was true. That meant it wasn't a dream, it was real. Draco had visited her last night and apologised for everything.

She stood up and scanned the room or Draco, but he wasn't there.

****

'Tell me right now, Draco. Why did you use the Cruciatis curse on Bella Whisps.' Snape questioned.

Malfoy and Snape were in his office. 'The Dark Lord commanded me to,' Draco sobbed. Snape looked surprised.

'Why?' he asked.

'I don't know, he said he has a plan for her. I don't know what that means but I..'

'That's all i need to know. You won't get punished for this Draco, i will speak to Dumbledore. Do not tell anyone we had a discussion in here. Go about to your classes like everything is normal,' Snape interrupted, 'you may be dismissed.'

****

When everyone was in the great hall for Breakfast, Harry approached Bella. 'Hey Bella, um, so,' he stammered. Hermione came up to them, 'Just get to the point Harry,' she said.

'So everyone knows Professor Umbridge, she works for the ministry and doesn't want any of us to learn the 5th year Defense against the dark arts curriculum. Since your family believe Dumbledore and me and you are undoubtedly the best dueler in our grade we would like you to join our club. A class really, where you can help me teach anyone who wants to learn real Defense against the dark arts, so,' He took a deep breath, 'What do you think?'

'I would be happy to' smiled Bella, 'But what are we going to call it?'

Hermione smiled at Bella, both young women so smart and strong. So determined.

'We'll call it Dumbledore's Army.'

****

Later on in the day the Weasley twins handed Bella a coin, to which they said it was for the DA. They could send messages on it to inform everyone where and when they were going to meet for the classes.

****

'Bella!' Blaise called as she ran up to her in the grounds. They shared a quick kiss and Blaise embraced her in a hug. 'Are you feeling better?' 'Yeah, much better,' she replied, looking down at her healed body. 'Madame Pomfrey really does her job.' she laughed lightly.

'I was so worried about you,' he said stroking though her hazel hair, 'But I came here to tell about our date on Saturday. Meet me in Honey dukes at 6pm, I know it sounds weird but trust me okay?'

****

Bella entered her last class of the day on Friday. Charms. Professor Flitwick was wary of Draco sitting next to Bella again but Dumbledore assured everything would be fine.

She plopped her bag down and took a seat next to Draco. It was very awkward as the last encounter they had was in the hospital wing when Draco was crying.

'Listen Bella,' Draco started.

'I forgive you Draco, I honestly don't know why you did it, but it's okay. You don't need to apologise. I just want things to be cool with us.'

Draco smiled and his cheeks turned a bright pink shade and he quickly looked away.

Bella laughed and nudged his arm playfully. She felt a bit more comfortable with Draco now, like she can be herself around him, because of the night before. Comparing Blaise with Draco, she felt safer with Draco. After all the years of him bullying her, she sort of knew...that deep down Draco was kind-hearted. That he just had to hide it for some reason.

Suddenly, a bright golden flash came out of Bella's pocket. It was the DA coin. She took it out and read the message inscribed on the coin.

Next meeting in the tallest tower on Monday afternoon.

'What's that Bella?' Draco asked curiously.

'Oh, it's nothing,' she lied, not wanting Draco to know.

'Right...' answered Draco suspiciously.

****