This Bitter Earth

SIX

A/N: So this is a long chapter, but I had to get a few things out of the way so certain long awaited things can start happening. I am writing the chapters as I update them and I am REALLY REALLY hoping I can get the next one out fast.

As always, seeing your comments and reviews mean so much to me and inspire me to keep going when I hit blocks in my writing. I want to thank EVERYONE who takes the time out to read and comment or talk to me on twitter and put up with me being crazy in between updates.

I didn't edit this one as much as I normally do, so if you find a typo, congrats! You get a cookie!

Soundtrack- "Monster (Under My Bed)" by Call Me Karizma

SIX

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This was the last place in the fucking world Draco wanted to be right now.

The large gates were closed and the winged boars stood like sentinels on either side. He swore their tusks had gotten larger since the last time he was here.

When he ran past the apparition barrier at the edge of the Hogwarts grounds and left Granger behind. He had almost splinched himself doing that.

Draco had never had any problems apparating before, but that night, when he was squeezed through time and space, a part of him had faltered, had tried to turn back. When he landed his boot was gone. The one he had pressed into Granger's chest. His bare foot hurt as it slammed into the pavement and he tried to balance himself. He had fallen to his knees in a second, gasping for air that would not fill his chest.

His empty, open, fucking chest. The hole Granger had been burning in him had melted through his cold stone and everything in him had fallen out. And for a moment, he wondered if he had left his heart, his actual beating, bleeding heart, back there with Granger and his missing boot.

But when Bellatrix dug her sharpened nails into his arm and shoved him towards Snape, he felt the cold constricting around the bloody muscle inside his ribcage and knew that it was still there. And she wasn't.

Draco glowered up at the boars and heard the creaking of the gates as they began to move. Snape was making his way down the path, black robes billowing behind him. Did he charm them to swell with each step? Draco was sure he had. No one else's robes were that... poofy.

Must be a Halfblood thing, trying to make themselves big and important.

"Professor," Draco drawled in mock respect.

Snape stopped in front of him, black eyes sharp. "Headmaster now actually."

Draco gave him a cruel smile and stepped inside the gates, feeling his heart give an extra thump. "Still have you greeting people at the gates though."

"I was not aware you were arriving this morning," Snape answered in a cool tone.

Draco smirked. "Not in the loop anymore?"

Snape's lip curled and shuddered. "I did not receive your owl with the confirmation."

Cocking a brow up Draco stepped inside the gates. "Were the Dark Lord's orders not enough for you then? I'll have to let him know you need more reassurance."

The truth was Draco had no idea where the fuck his bird had gone off to. Calix was spending more and more time out of his room now that her cat was there. His owl would be gone for days, soaring back in at strange times and hooting until Draco put a silencing charm on the pillow and buried his head underneath it.