A Malfoy

9

~ Chapter Nine: The Final Battle ~

      I paced, thinking. Of all places, Draco had gone home first. I am in the basement of Malfoy Manor and it's only been a half hour. It is hard to keep track of time, but I am pretty sure I've been stuck here around thirty minutes.

      Usually my intuition is right. I knew because of that that I was going to get caught. It was a chance I had to take. So I did, escaping Hogwarts, under Snape and the Carrow's watch. I knew I had to find a way to get to Hogsmeade, one way or the other.

       Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ollivander, a goblin, and Luna Lovegood were taken here. The trio was taken here just a week ago and Harry had disarmed Draco. As much as I care for Draco, I hate his aunt with an undying passion. Bellatrix is a bitch who tortured my best friend. She is the person who has made me more angry than I have ever been.

       It went quiet upstairs momentarily and then I heard footsteps going down the stairs. I heard his voice which made my heart thump louder. He told Greyback that he was needed else where and then a different sound of feet went up the stairs.

       "Em," his voice sounded pained but close.

     "Here," I holler weakly. It had been only a few days since I had seen him but tears formed in my eyes when he appeared in front of the bars.

     "I found your wand; it wasn't hidden well," Draco said, holding my wand.

     "Alohomora," he whispers, unlocking the door.

      I flung my arms around him and tried not to sob. I hadn't been tortured the way Hermione had, but everything about this was awful.

     "Don't cry, Em, don't cry. We'll be okay. I'm going to get you out of here. We have to get to the school. It's our safest bet, even under the watch. It's crawling there, with evil, but it's a chance we'll have to take. I'm going to get you to safety, but I'll have to come back." He tells me.

      We stand together, looking at each other. I don't want to lie to him. "Draco, why are you coming back?"

     "The war is painful, we know that. You know spells, powerful ones too. I know if I leave you there, you'll be able to defend yourself. I have to come back here, to my parents. I just can't leave them."

      Feet thud down the stairs. Draco takes my hands and we Disapperate back into Hogwarts. The enchantments were taken down when Dumbledore died, at the hands of Severus Snape. I remembered that though he was mean, he was still a good teacher. I believed everyone had some good. That belief disappeared that night, when it was me and the trio on the balcony.

       We land in the room and I become dizzy. "Draco," I say, reaching out my hand to touch his arm. My hand is pale with a scar from the Carrow's. They made the students curse the first years and a few of us refused and we were harmed.

      He looks away. He isn't the same as he was, even a year ago when he stood against Dumbledore. He seems to have aged mentally, and the thoughts seem to be tearing him down. I can't stand the thought of him beating himself up the way he is. It makes my heart ache, the pressure his family places on him, all because of stupid Voldemort.

      I imagine I don't look amazing either. My hair was still a straight and boring brown but it had grown, and had small curls in the front, from many braids. I didn't take much time to try to make myself look good anymore. It wouldn't matter anyways. I didn't know why Draco cared for me. I was just glad he did.