Love the Darkness

Chapter 19

Hailey

Magic swirls around me, pulling me to do its bidding. No matter how much I attempt to pull back my magic, it refuses to give up the reins. As the flames grow higher, I get glimpses of the people around me. Panic rises inside me, the bond with Draco is still far too weak and I didn't know if I could get back to him.

The moment I spot Mattheo I want to shout at him to back up. We haven't tested what my flames would do to them, and I wouldn't survive if my magic was the one to hurt him. No matter how much I scream in my head I can't speak. All I can do is squeeze my eyes shut as his arms wrap around me. My magic instantly reacts to him and the control I fought so hard to regain slowly comes back to me. My flames begin dying out as I sag into his arms.

"I'm here, we are going to be ok." He whispers into my hair, and I realize I am crying. This had become far more than I had ever planned.

A sudden wave of magic has my body tensing and I pull away, turning to see what was happening. Tom and Dumbledore are standing not far, magic clashing as they duel. Mattheo pulls me farther away from them as Luna walks over to me.

"This is needed." She says simply and all I can do is nod. As their spells grow in power, I grit my teeth as magic thrums through the air. Their spells crash together, and I hold my breath as we wait to see how this finishes. I can see the strain on both of them, and I send up a prayer that Tom finishes this. We wouldn't be able to do what we need to do while Dumbledore is still around.

Mattheo

Everything in me demands I help my father, but I know that it will only distract him. As the two spells build in power, I pull Hailey closer. It vaguely registers that the fighting has stopped but I can't take my eyes off them.

The moment the spells break a shock wave is blasted out, causing me to cover my eyes and brace myself to keep on my feet. When I open my eyes, I see them on the ground and my breath catches. No, my father has to be ok. Every bit of energy drains as my father sits up. I couldn't take this emotional shit today.

"Go check on Draco, I will go to him." Luna says and while I didn't like the idea of leaving her here, I knew Hailey wouldn't completely calm down until she saw him. After a quick nod I apparate us to the manor.

The moment we walk into the infirmary I see a few of ours lying in beds. Narcissa spots us and comes over, a small smile on her lips.

"He is in the last bed. He is stable but it is going to take a few days for him to come to. Thankfully, you got him here when you did." She explains.

"We are going to go see him if anyone needs us." I say and lead Hailey over to his bed. She grabs his hand, turning to look at me.

"I could have lost both of you tonight." Her voice is soft, but I hear the pain.

"We are fine, Draco will heal."

"What if my magic would have hurt you?"

"It didn't, I refuse to lose you to your magic. Now stay with him and I will go check on everyone. Don't think I don't know you are drained." I tell her, she was barely able to stand on her own. She looks like she wants to argue but just nods as she curls up beside him. I walk over and kiss her forehead before going to get an update.

Hailey

I lay next to Draco as I attempt to reassure myself he was ok. The bond still felt far too weak, but Narcissa wouldn't have lied to us. I lay my hand on his chest and relax into the feel of his heartbeat. We had all known this wouldn't be easy, but I had never expected it to be like that. We still had so much more to do, and I just hope with Dumbledore out of the way we won't be in this situation again. While I had known this was war, but it never truly hit me the risks we were in. Part of me hates that I put my people through this, but I had offered them to stay. I just pray we didn't lose anyone.

"You are running your mind in circles." Narcissa says, coming over to check on us.

"It was just a lot." I say, trying to play it off. I can't afford to be weak.

"Well how about you take this. Take tonight to recover and we can all sit down tomorrow." She says handing over a dreamless sleep potion.

"How is Bellatrix?"

"Recovering, thankfully she seems to be mostly unharmed."

I nod and down the potion. At least she was ok. As the potion begins to kick in I lay my head on Draco's chest. As long as I could hear his heartbeat then I knew he was ok.

Narcissa

I stay next to them until her eyes close and her breathing evens out. Tonight had been hard on everyone, and I knew the aftermath of this would be hard on everyone. I was just happy that they had made it. When Mattheo had brought Draco in my first instinct was to panic before my training kicked in. I refused to watch my son die. Seeing them all safe and home lessened the fear I had. We would get through this just like everything else.

I walk around checking on everyone else. When I make it to Bellatrix's bed I smile as I see Neville reading her a book as Rodolphus sits off to the side just watching them. They had grown closer after Bellatrix had explained what happened and I had even seen Bella giving him private lessons to better his magic. They both deserved this and when Rodolphus spots me he smiles and I turn away, allowing them time alone.