Under the Willow Tree | Draco Malfoy

chapter 72: ensnared in existence

Lorelei Jones

Bright, white light crashed down on Lorelei from all sides. It was thick and warm like a sweater fresh out of the dryer, but her mouth felt as if she'd accidentally taken in a mouthful of the dryer lint when pulling it on. Her tongue was thick in her mouth, and she wasn't sure she could remember how to speak.

Her eyelids fluttered for a moment before she managed to open them. Almost immediately, she had to raise a hand to shield against the blinding light. Her movement was jerky, unnatural, like learning how to move for the first time again.

However, even her vision adjusted to the overwhelming light, she was just as lost as she had been a moment before. She was lying on the ground, but she looked with eyes that were unseeing. The world was familiar and foreign all at once. A willow tree towered above her, but its dangling branches were bare. Only a moment ago, they'd had full green leaves creating a canopy overhead.

Her hands shifted clumsily underneath her torso, but she hardly had the strength to push herself up. It felt as though she'd aged decades in a single moment with the exhaustion dragging her to the white-dusted earth.

She paused at this, taking in the powdery snow between her fingers. To her astonishment, she couldn't feel the chill of it. She was numb, warm from the light and unfeeling to all else.

Goosebumps rose in droves across her arms, but she wasn't cold. And she didn't shiver.

Lorelei finally regained the necessary strength to drag herself to her feet. She stumbled a couple steps to the right, catching on the wide trunk of the willow tree to keep herself upright. Her vision swam, and the ground seemed to wobble underneath her feet.

Where was she? The thought haunted her. She felt sure she was forgetting something, something vital, but all she seemed to know right now was that her name was Lorelei, and the willow tree shouldn't have been bare.

Footsteps sounded behind Lorelei, and she whipped around nervously. The movement nearly made her lose her balance. The world tilted violently in response. Her fingers dug in tighter to the bark of the tree. It should have hurt, she thought absently.

She felt nothing.

Blinking back against the light, she managed to make out a figure coming closer. The second she recognized him, her legs finally gave out.

"Draco," she gasped, hot tears spilling down her face. "You're okay."

The words coming out of her mouth confused her. She knew Draco meant something to her, but the truth was as hazy as the blinding light around her. Why was she so moved by his presence? Why had she felt so relieved that he was okay?

He took a faltering step forward, but he stumbled slightly, his movement halted by something that seemed to frustrate him. Lorelei noticed how he seemed to be getting more hazy, more obscured in her vision.

The inexplicable crying continued, even as she lifted a hand to rub her knuckles into her eyes. Her clouded vision remained.

"How do I know you?" she managed to ask. Something fragile and easily broken splintered in her chest. Her hand flew up instinctively, pressing into her collar as if she could prevent it from shattering through force.

Draco said nothing. His face twisted in anguish. His mouth opened in a silent scream.

It was such a horrifying sight that Lorelei couldn't help but scramble back from him. Her head began to pound. Not ache, not like it did when she got a headache — had she ever gotten a headache before? — but a drumbeat thudded behind her temples. It seemed to be following a metronome that was set to get faster and faster for eternity.