Painkiller - A Drarry Fanfiction

Part 016

Dark. Everything is dark.

And from the dark, an even darker dark emerges. Like smoke, perhaps shadow, or maybe even living, the darkest dark slithers towards me. Closer, and closer, dark approaches, never seeming to slow or stop.

So I run. Run, run, and run. The darkness is never ending, the fear is overwhelming, and the pain is mind-numbing. My lungs fill painfully with frozen mist. My veins throb and burn down to every limb. My eyes well and overflow, thick drops falling in chains down my face.

Then, something warm emerges. Like sunbeams, perhaps cozy flames, or maybe even living, the lightest light slithers through my fingers. Tighter, and tighter, light wraps around my wrist, climbing across my skin until the dark doesn't seem so dark anymore.

So I stop. I breathe, breathe, and breathe. The darkness is limited, the fear is only in my head, and the pain is bearable. Everything is... okay.

/////

I jump to turn off the alarm clock before it gets to its third beep.

Everything wakes. I notice that my mind is less foggy, less half-rested than usual. And as if playing along to my well-slept state, I hear buzzing cicadas instead of thundering rain, I see the soft morning sun hit my sheets through the window, and...

I feel something next to me.

Careful to minimize the creaks of my mattress, I sit up. And there, on the floor, slumped over my bed and asleep with his face buried in the fold of his arm, is Draco. I swallow, feeling very wide awake.

His clothes are the same as when he sat at my desk last night. On his fingers laying delicately over my blanket, there are purple black stains, probably of the ink left uncapped on my desk. And beside his curled up legs is his wand.

I shrink towards the wall, trying to take up the least amount of space I can manage. Attempting to even breathe quieter, I don't do anything but watch. I watch his ribs rise with every sleepy snore, the curve of his spine under his pale skin athis neck, and every strand of his silver blonde hair shimmer in the sunlight. I can't do anything but watch—I don't know what else to do.

However long after, I blink away from Draco, my eyes flickering to his wand instead. It sits right by him and I wonder why he brought it into my room, why he had to pull it out. It's just there as if he put it down after use. I wonder if he really used it, what he used it for. And I wonder why he's here, sleeping on the floor in the most regrettable position possible.

The more I wonder, the more anxious I become. Did he use magic on me while I was asleep? Could it have had to do with whatever turn my usual nightmare took? Does that mean he can fix me with his wizard-tricks? Did he actually spend the whole night here watching me?

I find my thumb tracing over my once-cut finger—my now perfectly healed finger. The skin is perfectly untouched where a scar should've eventually been. I glance at the wand again.

Draco sucks in a sudden sharp breath. My heart jumps at the break of stillness, my gaze snapping back to him. He squirms a little until he pauses and stays for a second. I can imagine memories coming back to him, his mind waking and finding himself. Slowly, he raises his head, his eyes landing on mine.

"Were you really here all night?" I say.

He pushes away from my bed almost too quickly, wincing at what must be the pain he signed up for by sit-sleeping. "How long have you been staring at me?" he says. The lowness of his morning voice catches me off guard.

"You can't answer a question with a question," I say. "And before you shift the blame to me, I definitely did not tell you to sleep on the floor."

"I'm not going to blame you for having nightmares," he says, rubbing his hands over his sleep-filled, yet somehow well-rested face. How could he be well-rested? Is this another magical wizard thing?

I climb out to the edge of my bed. "So you're asking me how long I've been staring at you when you've stared at me, too—presumably for longer?"

He sighs. "I did it because you were in pain, you did it because you're... just weird, I guess."

Something returns to my brain. Did you use magic on me? I shrug it off. "It's weirder to just watch someone suffer."

"You're still weird," he says to my slight disappointment, "The fact that you get up at six to cook for Vernon and Petunia is also weird."

I chuckle. "You started calling them by their first name."

"Yeah—they never deserved my respect." He gets up, frowning at more aches. "Let's go for a walk. We could get breakfast on the way back."

"Uh, no. Let's get you in bed for real sleep. How about that?"

He scoffs, bending down to pick up his wand. "I'm fine, thanks for asking."

I get up, too. "I take back asking. Let's get you in bed, period."

Wand in hand, he stands straight again. His face is close to mine. "Is this you feeling sorry that I slept on the floor?" His words come from a smirk and land on my neck. I don't think he even notices it. He just woke up, I suppose.

All I can do is step around him and away, ignoring the odd shiver in my chest, ignoring the part of me considering if his accusation is right. "Are wizards usually this full of themselves?" I say, heading for the door.

The bastard follows me out of my room. "I'd say I'm pretty modest—"

I snap around, facing him. How did we end up so close again? "Fine. Make it a deal—a real one this time."

He's smiling innocently. "Go on."

I sigh and take a half step back. "You sleep and I won't cook. Deal?"

"Isn't it beneficial for you to not cook?"

"You wanted me not to—the deal works."

"How about we scrap the deal and go out for breakfast? You don't care about my sleep anyway—the deal is pointless."

"What—ugh."

And then, for some reason, my eyes land on the wand in Draco's hand.

The cut on my finger. The car accident. Last night's nightmare.

I swallow, my eyes stuck on the wand in Draco's hand.

He tilts his head, attempting to see what I see. "Pointless, it is?" he says.

"You sleep, I won't cook," I say, my heart in my throat. "When you wake up, I'll try the... the magic thing."

The pause is long. Very long. "What— Are you— Do you really—" Draco attempts.

I don't look at him. "Deal?"

"I— Yes, deal!" he rushes to say. He tries to hide the mix of surprise and excitement, but it doesn't work, at all. "But... I mean, I'm glad you— But I just—"

"Deal, it is."