𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘖𝘧 𝘚𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝄂︎ ☠︎︎ 𝄃︎ 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘗𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳

𝟺. 𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚖𝚜𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚊

Apparently, the Mead that Draco had given Dumbledore ended up with Slughorn. Which then had been given to Ron Weasley, ending up with him in the Hospital Wing.

Esme harped on Draco relentlessly over it. She really wasn't going to trust him with another plan after that.

They both grew distant. The heavy weight of their task weighing down on them like an elephant sitting on your chest.

Their classes were failing, they'd stopped quidditch, they'd even stopped talking to their closest friends. Blaise, Pansy, and Theo were the only ones to truly notice the change in the couple.

They'd tried to talk to them about it, but neither spoke up.

Esme spent most of her time in the Room of Requirement now. Focusing on the cabinet rather than killing her Headmaster.

She had an assortment of fruits with her to try and pass through it. Every fruit would come back minutes after casting the charm, rotten to the core.

When the latest apple came through, she yelled out in anger. "FUCKING DAMN IT!" She screamed as all the candles in the room extinguished. Darkness flowed from her hands, making the room pitch black. Which only made her more angry.

"Damn fucking cabinet! Stupid ass piece of wood!" She kicked the cabinet, it not shuffling even an inch. She grabbed her wand from the table, flicking it to make all the torches reignite to weed out the darkness she'd caused.

"Give up for today." A voice spoke. Draco's voice, of course, as he entered the room.

"If I give up. We die. You want that?!" She whipped around to face him, her eyes still pitch black.

He held his hands up in surrender. "You're going to black out the entire school if you keep making yourself angry. The torches in the hallway blew out before I walked in."

She took a few deep breaths. She hated when he was right. "Everything I send through this piece of shit comes back dead. Are we even sure they're connected?"

"Very certain." Draco put his hands in his pockets once he knew she had calmed down enough.

"Then why don't you send me inside? I'd need someone to cast it from the outside." She had suggested this before. But because everything came back dead, he'd never wanted to risk it.

"Fuck no." He responded simply. "Everything comes back dead. I'm not risking your life."

She groaned. "It's our last attempt, Draco! We're running out of time. He wants Dumbledore dead by the end of February. And guess what, It's February!"

"I'd rather have an alive wife than a dead one, thank you very much."

She rolled her eyes. "Look, what if we set a communication charm on something and I talk to you the entire time? If it seems like it's going to shit, you pull me out?"

He shook his head, standing his ground. "No."

She yelled out in anger once more. "Fine! Then it'll be your fault when the ruddy Dark Lord kills us and our parents!" She stormed past him and out of the RoR. Leaving Draco in that uncomfortable silence.

~~

Everything seemed to come to a head the next week. Draco and Esme weren't talking at all. Which was breaking both of them.

Esme's solution for her shit life?

Getting high at a Hufflepuff party. Because Hufflepuffs always had the best weed. Muggle and magical.

She was invited by Luna Lovegood, who always had a soft side for Esme. Then again, Luna loved everyone. She frequently told Esme about all the Wrackspurts that clouded her mind. Esme usually agreed.