CURSED: FROM THE BEGINNING [D.M]

-(88) with every breath of mine

DRACO grabs his wand from his sister's hand without a word and follows Archie into the woods. Pansy and Elara were already following him for their paths only split into two after two miles or so. This was his chance to talk to Pansy and apologize but she just pretended as if he didn't exist. She gave not one look or word in his direction. He himself knows he doesn't deserve that. Knowing that talking to a brick wall won't change anything, he remains silent as they tread through the thick woods, filled with all sorts of trees and verdure. Xena eventually slips into his pace and walks beside him, silently.

His mind is still caught up on Zilliah. Where she is, how she's doing, is she in danger- these questions haunt him a little too much. But he cannot help it, not when she is bearing the curse all on her own, not when she is far from his sight. He trusts Theo to take care of her, he does. But no one else's care will ever account to his own, not to her.

His eyes remain on Pansy who walks in front of him, seemingly not bothered by the branches sprawled out on the ground. It makes her trip over one, lurching forward to fall to the ground, face first. But she never does because, in an instant, Draco had grabbed hold of her backpack and then her shoulder, pulling her back before she hits the ground. A moment later, she recollects herself and spins on her feet to fix Draco with a glare that threatens to reduce him to ashes.

"Pans, I-", he makes to start but she pushes off his hands with a scoff and turns around, doubling her speed and walking away.

"What did you do?", Elara shakes her head at him, disappointment prevalent in her eyes. She doesn't know. Pansy hasn't told her. Or else, there would've been several more scars on his body, that's for sure. Elara doesn't wait for an answer as she too picks up her pace and catches up with Pansy. Knowing she wouldn't want Draco to do that, he continues walking even slower than before.

"You really fuck over everyone, don't you?", Xena chuckles from his left, trying to hide an amused smile.

"This is not funny", he grits out, kicking a small branch to the side and watching it get stuck between a blueberry bush.

Xena chuckles again, increasing the irritation in him. "Who is she to you?", she asks, fixing her eyes upon Pansy's back.

He hesitates for a second but then he answers her for some reason he cannot understand, "She's my best friend."

"Ah, I remember hearing that when I walked in on your fight last night", her voice is grave all of a sudden, all the humour washed away from her tone and features. "Something about how you let a him", she air quotes the last word, "pick her apart instead."

"The Dark Lord", the words slip out of his tongue without much thought. "I chose her to be my partner and by that, I pushed her into being a death eater. I had to or I put Zilliah in danger. There was no other way."

Xena seems to think his words over in her head for a moment. "You love her? Zilliah?"

"With every breath of mine."

"And Pansy?"

"I told you, she is my best friend. It ripped my heart out to make that decision."

There is a brief pause, where she seems to be thinking of his words again. "Do you regret it?", she asks after it, tilting her head to meet his face.

The muscles in his jaw harden at that question, sensing how she is prying at him. He knows that he is under no obligation to answer to her, especially after she just tried to murder him. But he finds his mouth speaking on its own accord. "Yes", he says. "Yes, I do regret pushing her into this. But no, I don't regret protecting Zilliah. I will never regret keeping her safe and away from the eyes of that vulture of a man. I would sacrifice everything and everyone if it meant she'd be okay."