Emerald - Draco Malfoy

58

Draco got one of his shirts, and a pair of his pajama pants for me to wear. 

He kicked off his pants and buttoned up his shirt, before we laid down on the bed.

"Why didn't you take your shirt off?" I questioned him. 

I laid my head on his chest, and played with one of the buttons on his shirt. 

"I.... It's just better if I kept it on." Draco sighed deeply as he spoke. 

"I don't mean to upset you by asking, you just always take it off." I spoke softly to him. 

"It's alright, darling," Draco began running his finger tips through my hair softly, "you didn't upset me.  It's just one of those things...."

Draco trailed off as his voice began to shake. 

I pulled away from him, laying on my back next to Draco.  

We both stared at the ceiling, as the darkness of the room surrounded us.

You could hear the party still going on through the walls. 

"Another one of those things you can't tell me?" I replied. 

"Yeah, it is.  It's just better if you didn't get in the middle of it." Draco whispered, as he took my hand. 

Every time Draco spoke about this thing that he couldn't tell me, his voice was sorrowful. 

Like what ever it was, was weighing down his heart. 

"You still haven't told me how your Christmas was." Draco broke the small silence that grew in the room.

"You still thinking about that?" I chuckled. 

"I am generally curious." Draco replied. 

My chuckles came to a halt, as that night relived in my memory. 

"Deatheaters tried to kill us, they lit the Weasley's house on fire." I spoke in a serious tone. 

"But..... I t-... I'm glad you're ok." Draco's voice was full of worry.

I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. 

"I met your mom, kind of." I smiled to myself as I spoke. 

"You what?! When?" Draco's head snapped towards my direction. 

"Diagon Alley, when we came back. I was looking through one of the windows, she appeared next to me." I said. 

"Oh, bloody hell." Draco groaned, turning back toward the ceiling. 

"I was looking into the window at Twilfitt And Tatting's," I started," She approached me.  She seemed lovely, and sweet."

"What did she say?" Draco asked quickly, he seemed nervous. 

"She didn't say much, she mentioned that you talk about me, how I look.   I've never met her before, the only knew it was her... because Hermione told me afterwards." I chuckled

"Of course, she would say that." Draco brought his free hand up to his forehead, and rubbed the sides of his head. 

"So, what do you tell her about me?" I jokingly asked. 

"Shut up, she's so embarrassing." Draco let out a nervous chuckle. 

"I also enjoyed meeting Dobby, your old house elf. I didn't appreciate him standing at the foot of my hospital bed, waking me up in the middle of the night.  He is a cute little thing."

"I used to play with him a lot when I was younger, he served my family for a long time." Draco chuckled. 

"He's adorable, he's like a child in that way."

"He makes a good delivery boy."

I smacked his chest playfully, because of his comment. 

"It makes me feel guilty, the stuff I can't tell you.   I don't know how to explain it.  It's like I'm stuck between a rock, and a hard place.  And despite everything, you my breath of relief.  My break from reality." Draco's fingers played with the ring on my thumb, as he spoke. 

His tone was much more serious now.

His remorseful voice danced in the night air as he spoke. 

"Is it something I've done?" I asked him softly.

"No, it's nothing to do with you.   People always have choices, you see, between what's right and what's not.  It seems that I have no choice."

"I don't really understand, draco." I quietly replied. 

"I don't expect you to understand. I just want you to know, I'm doing everything I can.  Please don't forget our promise, it's all I got left."

"I made that promise for a reason, Draco. As long as those rings are on our fingers, I am here for you." I reassured him.  

Whatever this thing was, it seemed to be eating at him from the inside out.  

It was tearing Draco apart. 

"I truly care about you, I'm just trying to keep you safe.   Don't forget it." Draco whispered. 

The room soon fell silent. 

The party seemed to end at once, I could hear the footsteps of others as they left. 

Draco quickly fell asleep. 

I laid in Draco's bed with him for a long time. 

I stared at the ceiling, as a horrible feeling grew in my chest.  

I was constantly reminded of the sobering fact, that whatever was happening with Draco that he couldn't tell me, was going to be terrible. 

The haunting feeling that something horrible was going to happen, ached in every inch in my body. 

Everything was going to get a whole lot worse, and it did.

...

Months later, after that terrible feeling occupied my body for what seemed like forever, I found out what it was hinting at.  

My body was trying to warn me. 

After the snow had melted, I found myself standing against the railing of the astronomy tower.