(1) 𝐍𝐄𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐄 | d. m

Chapter fifty-five

I fell asleep in the comfort of Draco's embrace after having spent the majority of the night talking about everything and nothing. We were simply enjoying being in each other's company again. Al though a part of me knew something was terribly wrong with the way he had acted upon seeing me for the first time in months, I couldn't shy away from the fact that it felt good to be in his arms again. I wanted to spend my forever with him, and I wasn't ready to let that go.

"Draco?", I asked shyly after waking up in the middle of the night. We were laying in bed, I was resting my head on his chest, his fingers in my hair. I had fallen asleep while tracing my fingers over my growing belly. Al though I was only about four months along, I had already started to show.

Scared to come off as anything other than curious, I swallowed the lump beginning to form in my throat.

"Yes?". Draco's morning voice was somewhat darker than his normal one, and I couldn't help but crack a smile at how tousled his hair looked from sleeping on his back. "What is it?". He pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"Why did you say all those things? I mean—if you didn't mean them...—"

He sighed deeply, knowing exactly to what I was referring, without having to ask. "I had no other choice. My father... He was going to hurt you. He was going to hurt you, Laney, and I had the opportunity to put a stop to it". The heartbreak in his voice sent shivers running down my spine, and I nuzzled closer into his chest, feeling the warmth of his skin against mine.

"But why?", I questioned, letting a tear spill down my cheek. "Why would he want to hurt me?".

Perhaps it was a stupid thing to ask, because I knew very well that Lucius was one of Voldemort's most loyal followers, and his reasons for hurting me must've been to please his Lord. But I couldn't help wondering why he didn't just hand me over to him directly, instead of keeping me hostage like that.

"My father is many things — reasonable is not one of them. I believe he wanted me to stay away from you, he said he didn't want me 'fraternising with a half-blood'".

I wondered what would've happened if he knew of my pregnancy.

I scoffed, but felt my heart sinking from hearing those words. No one wanted us to be together. Not Lucius, not my friends, not the world.  It felt like it was railing against us.

My eyes were now stinging from the tears that threatened to continue spilling.

"I know — I think I always knew — that we would never make it through this". I sat up in bed, keeping my eyes away from his. I was afraid, that if my eyes bore into his in that moment — I wouldn't be able to say what I needed to say. I would simply get lost in the eternity within his eyes, and thus, loosing all of what was left of my sanity. Which to be frank, wasn't a whole lot.

"—Delaney...—".

"—No. Let me say this... It feels like everything we've ever done has transcended into chaos, and I've tried — I've really tried — to pretend like the entire world isn't against us being together, but it is. It's like there's this invisible force that keeps breaking us apart".

Draco put his hand on my chin, locking eyes with me and forcing my mouth shut. "I know that it feels like the world isn't rooting for us and that everything seems hopeless. Hell, there's been millions of times where I've considered just grabbing you by the arm and taking you away to some deserted island somewhere. But you know what I've realised in the months we've spent apart?".