|| Star-Crossed ||

58

Depression

DRACO MALFOY

The second the door shut her cries were silenced. I dragged Theo down the hall and into the empty room. I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall. "I told you not to fucking tell her!" I yelled. "Don't you think she deserves to know? If her brother dies, don't you think she deserves to know her future?" he yelled. "No! She doesn't. And we won't tell her!" I yelled. "Maybe you won't, but I will." he said. "If you try to tell her again, I will remove your magical signature from the wards and have you imprisoned for treason." I spat. His face dropped. "You would have me killed, your best friend?" he asked. "To protect Caroline, yes." I said. "Fine. Do it! But you can't change anything. Being The Dark Lord's seconds doesn't mean you can change his mind. If he wins, she will be-" he started. "Don't. Don't say it. I won't let it happen! I won't let them touch her, I won't let them-" I started. "You can't promise that," he said. "Yes, I can. I can protect her. Unlike you!" I spat. His face dropped. "What?" he said. "I told you to watch her. You knew about those fucking filthy muggle boys and they got her anyway. She was raped on your watch!" I said. "I tried. I did my- I tried." he stammered. "Not hard enough." I said. He glared at me. "Maybe if you weren't so busy being marked as a death eater, and trained to kill you could have protected her!" he spat back. "Maybe I was chosen instead of you because The Dark Lord knew you were weak!" I yelled. He shoved me off of him and punched me in the face. I tackled him to the ground and punched him back. "I've done everything I could to protect Caroline and I didn't have to become a fucking Death Eater to do it!" he yelled. "Do you think I wanted this? I just wanted to protect my friends. I wanted to protect Caroline and you!" I yelled back. "She wants to leave and you need to let her!" he said. I froze and pushed him off me. We both sat down and I took a breath. "What?" I said. "We need to let her go. We need to take her somewhere safe, the Order or her brother or the Weasleys. I don't know. But not here." he said. I shook my head. "No." I said sharply. "Draco, you don't understand-" he started. "No, you don't understand. I'm the one that's out in the war. Everyday I see the pain, and the death and the destruction. It's not safe for her out there. I would rather have her bored in a room than dead in a ditch." I said. "She isn't bored, she's depressed," he said. I looked at him in confusion. "You asked me to monitor her and I have. She rarely eats, she sleeps too much, she just stares out the window or she cries. Does that seem healthy to you?" he asked. I sighed and buried my face in my hands. "I know you love her mate, I know. The isolation and the lack of brain stimulation, she won't last. Her magic will deteriorate along with her mental state." he said. "So we bring her more books, bring her homework, make her write a fucking essay! I don't know, do something. Anything. We aren't letting her go." I said. 'I'm starting to question your intentions. Do you love her or are you obsessed with her?" he said. "Shut up!" I spat. "Do you want to protect her or do you want to own her?" he said. "Shut up!" I yelled. "Go see for yourself. Go see how broken she is. Just because you shut the door so you don't have to hear her sobs doesn't mean they aren't there. Go face the tears, the pain you caused. Go!" he spat. I stood up and started to walk down the hall when my mark started to burn. I was being summoned. I turned around and he looked at me. "I'll come back. I'll come back as soon as I can and I'll talk to her." I said. He scoffed. "Go run along to your master. I'll pick up the pieces of what you broke. Again." he snapped. He started to walk away and I grabbed his arm. "He was supposed to be your master too. Don't forget who saved you from that," I said. "Don't pretend you did that for me. You did that so I can take care of your hostage." he said. My face fell. "I did that because I love you and you're my best friend. I did that because I could never watch him torture you or destroy you the way he did me. I did that because I can't risk you making a mistake and having to watch him kill you. I protect Caroline but I also protect you." I said. He sighed. "I know," he said. My arm burned again and I winced. "Go, it's ok. I'll handle her." he said. I nodded. "Please, don't tell her. She's already scared and this will just make things worse." I said. He nodded. "I won't. I swear, I won't tell her." he said. "Thanks, I'll come back soon." I said. "Draco," he said. "What?" I asked. "It's her birthday tomorrow," he said. My heart sank as I remembered. "I know," I said. He nodded and I left.

THEO NOTT

I don't know what to do. Draco is my best mate in the whole world. Everything I've done was for him. But don't I also have a responsibility to Caroline. Draco only sees the war he's protecting her from, if he saw what I saw, the depression she was in, he would understand. But he won't see that. He'll never let her go. Not until the Dark Lord is dead. But what happens if he wins?