Pawns | A Draco Malfoy Love Story

Better Than Leaves

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping.

I was groggy and out of it, thinking that the Malfoy cellar felt oddly breezy and loud. Even through my eyelids, I could see it was sunny and I almost mumbled to Olivander to ask him what was going on.

I opened one eye and was confused by the dusty grey rock that I saw before me.

And then I remembered that I was free.

I propped myself onto one elbow and rubbed my head, trying to fully awaken. I didn't see Draco sitting on the log like I had before shutting my eyes last night. The fire pit had been extinguished and I could see that the sun was out, poking through the leaves of the trees outside. It didn't feel too hot; it was a mild day with a light refreshing breeze. I wasn't sure where he'd gone, but I hoped it wasn't far.

I sat up and straightened my hair, combing my fingers through the ends that had now grown long. I stood up, keeping my head low while exiting the little cave.

"Morning," Draco called from behind me and I turned around, startled. He gave me a small smile.

"Morning,' I said back, but looked away just as quickly as I'd turned to face him. His shirt was off and he was ringing it out, the dripping water splashing the grass before him.

"Laundry day?" I mumbled, attempting a joke at the awkwardness I sensed coming on.

"Mhm," he said from behind me, agreeing. "You might wanna try that every now and again," he joked back.

Though I wasn't particularly amused. My clothes were obviously still stained. The blood I'd gotten on them was a dark brown by now and the memories of how they became bloody weren't very much fun.

"I'm gonna go clean up," I said, walking around the other side of the little cave, taking off my shirt. I reached into my pocket to grab my wand. And then I remembered I didn't have one.

"Here," I heard him call and heard his foot steps following me. "Let me get you some water - oop." He turned around again in an attempt to divert his eyes, not expecting me to have been undressed. I grit my teeth and looked up at the sky to silently complain.

"I was just gonna make uh, a puddle for you or something," he said. "But you can just, give it to me, since it's off."

I threw the shirt on his head rather hard, covering his eyes in my annoyance. I watched him spray it and ring it out the way he'd done for his.

"Here," he said tossing it back, still trying to avoid direct eye-contact. I caught it and put it my arms through it, irritated .

It was silent and uncomfortable. My stomach growled lightly and I spoke over the sound. "Did you happen to bring food for this little expedition?" I asked him. He shook his head in reply. "Well, I'm hungry," I professed.

"Yea me too. I'm starved," he said, nodding.

"Oh, I'm sure you are," I said sarcastically, irritated because I was the one who was literally starved.

But then I felt bad for being mad again - it was such an awful loop.

I was mad and then I wasn't, mad and then I wasn't. But what I wanted was for us to be on good terms. No, more than that - I wanted us to go back to how we were all those months ago. But I wasn't sure how possible it was for things to ever be like that again. Too much had happened and we weren't the same people. I guess I'd just have to deal with a the constant loop of contrasting emotions.

I think he caught himself, knowing he'd misspoke so I didn't harp on it anymore.

I looked around, knowing there wasn't many options for food. "You want some leaves?" I asked, in a serious tone, though I was joking.

"We can do better than that. Let's find some berries," he said, missing the humour and turning to walk away, probably feeling ashamed of his mistake.

I sighed and followed him at a few paces back. We walked in silence for about half an hour. My stomach was rumbling and I stepped loudly on sicks to mask the sound.

Draco kept his head down the whole time, his light hair falling into his eyes but he didn't brush it away once. I wasn't sure if he was lost in thought or just feeling awkward. Whichever it was, he was so absent minded that I was astounded he was navigating us anywhere at all.

The trees were somewhat thick here and I had to reach my hand out and clear the branches from my path as I walked. Draco was in front and I could tell he was trying to be careful not to have the branches he passed whip back and hit me. He slowed down his pace and was gentle when pushing them away, looking backwards slightly when releasing them.

Just then, I heard some rustling and my breath hitched in my throat. I head Draco take a sharp inhale as he stopped in his tracks, his hand reached out backwards to keep me behind him.

I peered from around his shoulder but released my breath when a small orange animal come into view. It was only a small fox and I saw Draco's shoulders relax. We were clearly expecting the worse, but there was no threat here.

I looked down to find his hand still on me, keeping me behind him still, and I raised my eyebrows at nobody, wondering when he'd remove it.

He looked behind himself to see if I was all right and did a confused double take at the expression on my face. His gaze settled on his hand, my face, then his hand again before pulling it back embarrassedly.

"Oh sorry," he said, taking a step back into the branches, one of which slapped the side of his face harshly but he pretended not to notice.

I sighed and just pushed him to proceed forward and we walked in silence again for around twenty minutes.

"Hey, are we at the edge of the forest?" I asked him eventually, noting that the trees were getting thinner up ahead.

"Yea, I think we might be," he said, moving his head side to side, trying to get a look between the thick tree trunks.

We walked a few minutes more before finally emerging from the tree line. We faced a hill that sloped upward slightly, the long green glass rustling in the wind. Dandelions that were strewn around released light feathers that glistened in the sunlight as they floated up to the sky.

I breathed in the fresh, crisp air and felt the warm sun hit my face. One step at a time, my tired legs climbed to the top. I could feel him trailing behind me now.

Once at the top, I let out a sigh and looked down at the view before us. It looked like a small Muggle village. I could see the tops of low houses and a town square. It was a very pretty sight and I was taken by the thought that Colin would have loved to take a picture of it.

"I found something better than leaves," I said, eyes still focused on the cute village when I felt his shoulder brush mine. "Let's go," I said, still looking.

He put his hand over his forehead to shied his eyes from the sun as he examined the view. "No, I don't think so," he said, squinting as he looked down.

"Huh? There's food and shelter. What do you mean no?" I asked, totally confused and irritated again.

"It's a Muggle village."

"Yea...and?"

"It's safer if we stay in unpopulated places."

"Yea but like you said, it's a Muggle place. How risky can it be. No one knows us."

"I have no experience," he said, looking annoyed now too. "I don't know what to expect there and I don't want to be blind sighted."

"And you have experience camping?" I asked sarcastically before letting out a huff. "Fine. Don't come if you don't want to, but I'm going," I said as I started to walk down the hill, the gravity pushing me quickly.

"Okay!" I heard him groan from behind me.

I could hear him following at a trot.