promise

ii. the beginning & the end

For the first time in her life, Elara doesn't feel the nausea.

She's still laughing when their feet touch solid ground once more, the resounding crack of Apparition echoing against stone.

"We're married," she says, half-gasping, unable to keep the giddy grin off her face as she spins to look up at Draco. "We're married!"

She can't help the bubbly feeling of joy that rushes to the surface, warming her cheeks and making her heart race. She couldn't have asked for a more perfect wedding.

"Can you believe it?" She tugs at the lapels of Draco's suit jacket, smiling up at him. "We're—"

Her grin fades immediately upon registering his face, the tightness to his jaw, the raw emotion in the silver of his eyes. "What's wrong?"

He's not even looking at her, his gaze somewhere above her head — and that's when she realises they're not at their little home in Edinburgh where they were supposed to pack before their honeymoon.

Elara turns — and comes face to face with a life she lived long ago.

A gasp rips from her throat at the sensations that flood through her body. Apprehension, fear bordering on terror, a flare of annoyance. Then, cautious trust, a brush of a hand, the slight curve of a smirk. Stolen looks and flushed cheeks. Kisses and rough fingers tangled in her hair, hard planes of a warm body pressed up against her like they can somehow become one. And then agony — betrayal and rage, followed by a pain so intense, she nearly falls to the floor. Dark swirls of magic flash in her mind's eye, coursing through her blood, tearing through her veins.

The Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has not changed.

Draco twists her back around as she struggles for her next breath and she doesn't know why he's apologising but he is, gripping the sides of her face and saying it over and over again. She can barely hear him but she feels the familiar tug in her stomach and through the haze, realises he's Apparating them away.

"Wait!" On instinct, she shoves him back, stumbling a step or two to put distance between them, her heart in her throat.

He freezes immediately, eyes fixed on her and the rawness of his gaze chafes against her.

"Wait," she says, softer, gentler and his shoulders relax. She sees him release an exhale, fingers trembling as they rub across his jaw, eyes skating over their surroundings. "Why did you—"

She stops, breathes in and rephrases the question before he can take it the wrong way. "Was this an accident?"

Draco's gaze snaps back to hers — and there's such raw emotion in them that her heart skips a beat. "I...No."

She swallows and then nods, hands bunching up her dress before she turns, taking in the high rafters, the enormous globe in the corner moving in sync with the actual Earth, depicting it's journey through the Solar System.

A starry breeze coasts through, picking up strands of her curls as she makes her way towards the railing and the view beyond it. A view she's seen millions of times before.

"We don't have to..." Draco's voice trails off from behind her as she wraps her hands around the railing, her gaze focused outward.

It looks the same — the tall, thick trees of the Forbidden Forest stretching out as far as the eye could see with the Black Lake off to the right, moonlight richocheting off the inky black waves.

There's still so much beauty here — although she can't help feeling that most of it is tainted.

Elara wonders how many times she's stood here. Different versions of herself. A wide-eyed first year, too cautious to take those last few steps to the edge. A defiant, wild-haired fourth year, scowling out at the grounds when she didn't get the highest grade in class. A determined fool of a sixth-year, standing beside Draco, thinking it meant something.