Beneath Her Skin

Chapter Fifteen

Alastriona ignored the stares and whispers of people leaving for class when she arrived to the entrance of the Great Hall and found her friends talking and half of the DA leaving the Great Hall, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, even Cho and Marietta were close by.

She set eyes on Draco, he'd been trying to calm Darcy down but left her side and came straight to her, gently kissing her forehead.
"It'll be all right, love." He said quietly, lips brushing against her skin. "Where've you been?"

"I was with Dumbledore, begging him to send someone to watch over my family." A shaky breath expelled from her lips. "I'm so scared, Draco."

He brushed rogue tears off her cheeks. "They'll be safe, I promise. Everything will be okay." He glanced over his shoulder. "But you've got to get this situation under control, okay?"

She nodded and turned around to stare back at all of her friends, she couldn't let go of Draco's hand. Theo wiping at his cheeks caught her eye. "Theo—"

marvelled"Don't, Alastriona." His voice trembling. "You—" He scoffed, wiping the wetness off his cheeks. "You've been lying this entire time, everything you said about loss, every time you comforted me!" He stepped closer, eyes darkened. "It was all lies!"

Alastriona went to apologise, she'd say sorry everyday for the rest of her life, but then Harry made a move forward and she didn't even have time to get the words out.
"Your mother..." He said lowly, "is a Death Eater, how could you not tell us?"

She stepped closer, Draco's grip tightened on her hand. "Harry, please, she's nothing to me, she didn't raise me, I don't even remember— she was never around!"

"Yeah!" Neville cried, "Because she was out torturing my parents!" He glared at Alastriona before walking off, eyes filled with tears.

"Neville!" She cried out but he just left, not wanting or willing to hear her out. She held tighter onto Draco's hand. "I'm not like her, Harry, please, you've got to believe me!"

Darcy scoffed, pushing past Blaise, "Why should he? Why should any of us believe you?" She cried, voice breaking, "You keep lying! About everything!"

"That's not true!" Alastriona cried, stepping closer to Darcy, not letting go of Draco's hand.

"You're always lying! You've been lying to Uncle Finn ever since you came to Hogwarts, never telling him the truth, always keeping him in the dark... You've lied to all of us, so much! Your nightmares, Cedric, your mother being alive!"

Alastriona flinched away from Darcy and stepped back into Draco's chest. "Darcy, please, just stop!" She begged her friend.

"What about Cedric, love? What's she talking about?" He asked quietly.

"I knew it!" Cho shouted from Harry's side. "I knew there was something between you and Cedric!" The accusation made Draco step back, he dropped her hand.

"There wasn't!" She tried so hard to defend herself, her heart thumped wildly in her chest, all eyes on her, all her friends stared at her with nothing but contempt as they began to see all her flaws, all her lies, on display.
Her eyes fixed on Draco. "There wasn't, Draco, I swear!"

"Stop lying!" Darcy yelled at her, "Why do you always lie?"

"Darcy—"

"Alastriona." She turned back to Draco. "What happened that night?" He asked calmly, ignoring the eyes on them.

"He—" She choked on her words. "Draco, it was—" She harshly wiped her own tears away. "He told me— He told me he loved me!"

Draco took a massive step back from her but schooled his features. "What did you say to him?"