Damaged Goods by slytherin_after_dark

Chapter 35

- NOT MY STORY!! ALL CREDITS TO @slytherin_after_dark ON A03!!

When she woke up, Draco's bedroom door was already open. She walked downstairs and found him fully dressed in black robes. He headed towards the Floo when he spotted her, stopping him in his tracks.

"Good morning," she said.

"Morning."

He looked almost like nothing had happened. The dark circles underneath his eyes were gone and his skin color wasn't quite as pale as it had been last night.

"Help yourself to some breakfast," he said. "I don't have house elves anymore so it's nothing fancy, I'm afraid."

"Where are you headed off to?"

The implications were clear. Was he going to Scrimgeour? Was he once again being put under the spell?

"I got an assignment today in Ireland. They think a cell of her Death Eaters is there."

She sighed with relief. Suddenly his normal assassination assignments seemed a pleasant surprise compared to the imperius curse.

"Why didn't you tell me?" His voice sounded accusatory.

"Tell you about what?"

His eyes narrowed. "Don't play coy with me. You know what I'm talking about."

"Oh, you mean at Azkaban?"

She knew he would learn about it eventually. She had just hoped it would have been after today.

"Yes, the attack that left the prison in ruins," he said sarcastically. "You didn't think to mention that?"

"I didn't get injured. It turned out alright."

An exasperated scoff left his lips. "Ah, yes, the swarm of Dementors didn't kill you so no need to tell me about it?"

"You don't even want to let me do a diagnostics on you, nor go into details about what happened to you."

He took a quick step towards her. "Nothing happens to me. That's the difference here. I go out with a clear mission. Do you want me to tell you how many killing curses I've uttered over the last few days? Do you want me to detail how many I watched slowly die?"

She raised her head in defiance. "Yesterday something happened to you."

He went rigid. Like a statue frozen to the ground. The mere mention of the imperius curse, even if not by name, made him visibly uncomfortable.

"That wasn't you killing them," she continued. "It was him."

"Is that what you tell yourself? That I am not really a killer? Just so we're clear—that was the first time in months he used the curse on me. But do whatever you must to make yourself feel better about the situation."

He straightened his robes. "What were you doing in Scrimgeour's office?" He asked and his voice sounded dangerous. Like ice cracking slowly under your feet before you sink.

There was no denying it. "You know what I was doing."

His eyes darkened as he bit his teeth together. "Listen to me carefully," he said as he stepped even closer, towering over her. "I want you to stop. Do you understand me?"

There was a time when she would have been intimidated by his masklike face of fury; when those cold and vacant eyes would have scared her. Now, she looked up at them, meeting his stare head-on.

"Would you ever stop protecting me?" She asked.

He was silent. She had rendered him speechless for once. She could almost see him internally debating how to respond but he remained quiet.