Against the Odds

hugs

I groan as I stretch awake. On the other side of my bed, I see Pansy, sound asleep. I slowly sit up and let out a deep breath. I rub my eyes, trying to differentiate what was a dream and what was real. I look down at my torso and lift up my shirt, revealing exactly where my mother hit me with the spell.

"You ok?" Pansy asks, bringing me back to reality. "I think so," I say shrugging. "Soo," I say looking over at her, "Did you?" She quickly shakes her head, "Oh no, after you left the Dark Lord decided that the girls could wait another year before pledging their lives." She says dramatically. "Oh how generous," I say, kicking my legs over the edge of the bed.

"Is Mattheo still here?" I ask, glancing back at her as I walk over to my closet. "No," She says sounding disappointed, "They left quickly after they were blessed with their marks." I can tell by her sarcastic tone that she's trying to make it sound much better than it was. "So why'd you guys spend the night?" I ask, flipping through my clothes. She shrugs, "My mom was having a rough night, I guess they had no idea what was going to happen at dinner, and I offered to stay and make sure you're alright."

"Did Theo spend the night too?" I ask, grabbing a black shirt and skirt, tossing them over onto my bed. "No," she says walking over to my closet, "His parents took him home with them." She sighs and grabs some clothes.

Dress code around the house is pretty similar to dress code at Hogwarts. Especially when we have any sort of company. That company would be my mother. I'm not sure how this "stay at home" is going to go.

"Does this look okay?" I ask, turning around to Pansy nervously once I'm dressed. She nods, "You always look amazing Clara," she says, walking over to me and wrapping her arms around me, "It'll be okay."

"You sure?" I ask, as she breaks the hugs, scrunching my nose. She shrugs and lets out a deep breath. "I can't promise anything but me and Draco will be here with you," she says grabbing my hands. "How long are you staying?" I ask, walking and sliding on my shoes. "Not sure," she says taking a seat on my bed, "My mother made it sound like we were all going to be going back to hogwarts like right after Christmas, maybe even before," she says, using very animated hands as she speaks, "I guess they have some important buisness they all have to do."

"Shall we head downstairs?" I suggest, trying to get off the topic of death eaters. "If we must," She says, forcing a smile. I open the door and see Draco's door cracked open. "Lemme check on him," I say looking back at her, "I'll meet you downstairs." Her jaw drops. "Clara you can't expect me to go down there by myself," she whispers. "You'll be okay, I just need to talk to him," I say, doing my best to reassure her. "Oh alright," she says folding her arms, "But be fast."

I nod and turn back to his door, lightly knocking. "Who is it?" he asks. "It's me," I say, pushing the door open and peeking through. His posture relaxes and he walks over to me, drowning me in a hug. "Clara how are you? Are you okay?" He asks, letting go of me after a few more seconds. "I'm feeling a lot better than I was yesterday, I'm a little sore and the curse left this nasty scar," I say, tracing where it is on my torso. "But hey how are you," I say, biting the inside of my cheek.

As the words leave my mouth you can see his eyes well up with tears. "There's nothing I could have done," he whispers as if sounding ashamed. "Hey I know I know," I say, trying to calm him down but it doesn't work. "I didn't want to but I knew my Father would have an aneurysm if not just one but two of the children that he helped raised both denied the Dark Lord. I mean he would have been so," he begins to ramble. "Hey hey hey," I say repeatedly, trying to get his attention. "Draco!" I say loudly, finally getting his attention.

His gaze returns to mine and I sigh. "You had no other choice, I know this, we all know this," I say, not breaking eye contact. He nods as I continue, "You've known since you were little that you were gonna have to do this, I pledged to myself that I would never turn out like my mom, I knew that I wasn't going to get that mark." He sighs and pulls me into another hug. "I don't know what I'd do without you Clara," He says, breaking the hug. I shrug and smile.