|| Star-Crossed ||

14

The Whole Story

DRACO MALFOY

"Was that really necessary?" I asked. Max was glaring at me and I glared back. "Yes. I won't let you hurt her anymore than she already has been." he said. "I won't hurt her." I said. "You are going to break her heart and she doesn't need that. Not after the Dursleys-" he started. "I know what happened." I said. "Not everything." he said. I stared at him strangely. "Ask her. Ask her to tell you the whole story. If she does tell you everything and you still think this is a good idea, then I'll support it. I'll talk to Harry too. But I really want you to think if having her is worth the risk of hurting her." he said. I just nodded. "Fine. I'll ask her. Ok?" I asked. "Don't be selfish, Malfoy. If you really love her the way you say you do, you'll let her go before you cause anymore pain." he said. I didn't respond and he just left.

CAROLINE POTTER

"Caroline!" Draco shouted. I just kept running. "Line, wait!" he yelled. I stopped and he ran over. "I just lost everyone." I choked out. He pulled me into his arms and I cried into his chest. "It's ok, it'll be ok," he whispered. "They hate me," I said. "No, they don't." he replied. He held my hand and we started walking. "Come on, let's go to my dorm," he said. I just nodded and followed him.

We got to the Slytherin dorms and went inside. We almost made it to the stairs when I heard an annoying voice. "Draco, what is that thing doing here?" Pansy shouted. We both stopped and turned around. "Back off Parkinson, she's with me." Draco said. "With you? So you're fucking this slag?!" she shouted. Suddenly, Draco shoved her back and she hit the floor. He drew his wand and pointed it at her as she towered over her body. "Don't ever fucking call her that again. Do you understand me?" he spat. She stared at him in shock. "Did you understand me?" he shouted as he slammed his fist against the wall. I flinched at the sudden movement and loud noise. "Yes." Pansy said. "Now apologize to Caroline..." he said. Pansy scoffed. "I mean it Parkinson. Apologize to her or I will make your life a living hell." he said. "I'm sorry, Potter." she mumbled. Now I stared in shock. Draco nodded. "Let's go, Line." he said. Then we went inside his dorm. He shut the door and I stood there, trying to process everything. Draco sat me down on his bed and then sat next to me. "I'm sorry about Pansy. She's a bit of a bitch." he said. I nodded. He looked at me and I knew he had a question to ask. "What is it?" I asked.

"I know this is a lot to ask, but I want to know what happened with the muggle people you grew up with. I want to know the whole story." he said. I sighed. "Did Max put you up to this?" I asked. He nodded. "I need to know, please." he said. I nodded. "Fine." I said. I took a breath and began.

FLASHBACK: 3 Years Ago

It was the summer before our second year at Hogwarts. We live with our Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley. It was Dudley's 16th birthday. Harry and I had to prepare for it. I was baking his cake and Harry was wrapping the presents. Then Dudley and 3 of his friends came back to the house. We served them dinner and cake and then while Dudley opened his gifts, Harry and I went to the park. We were just playing on the playground but it got cold. Harry ran back home to get our jackets. I should have gone with him. I was sitting on the slide, reading my potions book from last year when Dudley and his friends came back...

"Ah look Dudley, it's your freak of a cousin." one of them said. "Where's the other one?" another asked. "I'll just go." I said. I stood up to leave but the boy pushed me to the ground. "Where are you going?" Dudley said. "We just want to have some fun." his friend said with a laugh. "Harry will be back any second." I said to Dudley. He just rolled his eyes. "You know Dudley, your cousin looks like less of a freak and more of a slag nowadays, don't you think?" he said. "I don't know. Maybe." Dudley said with a shrug. I crawled backwards and I felt a pit in my stomach. I prayed that Harry would come back. "Just please- please leave me alone." I said as I stood up. "We're just getting started." the tallest boy said. There was this look in his eye and I was scared. I tried to run but he grabbed me. They held my arms and dragged me, kicking and screaming, into the field of tall grass. I saw kids from my grade school and I begged them to help. But they they didn't. They watched. They stared at me, with blank looks. Dudley was a bully and told everyone that we were freaks so Harry and I didn't have anyone but each other. I just screamed for my brother until one boy tied a bandanna in my mouth. We got so deep in the field that the grass was almost as tall as me. I kicked one of the boys in the side and that's when they got mad. They threw me to the ground and I landed in the mud. Then I felt a punch to my face. Then there was hit after hit and kick after kick. I just curled up in a ball to try and protect as much of me as possible as I cried. Then they tied me to the wooden posts that the scarecrow hung from. One of the boys ripped my dress open down the middle and wrote Freak on my chest. "The freak has a good body." the boy said. He reached out and dragged his hand down my body. I tried to pull away but I couldn't. I kept trying to scream too but the bandanna muffled it. They just left me there and didn't come back. I stayed there all night, crying and shaking. I thought I was delusional when I saw a flying car circling around the area. Then it landed on the street. A few minutes later, Harry, Ron, Fred and George found me. "Caroline!" Harry exclaimed. "Bloody hell" Ron said in shock. The twins got me down and Fred carried me to the car. We went straight to the Burrow and Mrs. Wealsey took care of me. I had bruises and cuts all over my body, rope burns, broken ribs, a black eye and pneumonia from the cold. The worst part of the whole thing was people saw Dudley and his friends take me. But they didn't do anything. They didn't help or anything. It's all because everyone thinks Harry and I are freaks. And that's all they care about.

When I finished telling Draco the story, he looked ill. "Do you know their names?" he asked. "What?" I asked. "Their names," he said sharply. "Um, yeah. I do now. Why?" I asked. "I need to know who I'm going to make suffer." he said. "Draco, you can't-" I started. "Caroline, You can tell me their names or I can go hunt them down myself. Either way it's going to happen. Somehow, someday, I will make them suffer." he said. "Dudley Dursley, Ricky Chapman, Kevin Welsh, Brody Fletcher." I said. He wrote them down on a piece of parchment and tucked it in his dresser. "What are you going to do?" I asked. He just smiled and spoke calmly.

"The less you know the better."...