Second Chances (Drarry)

Concrete

After a while, Draco was starting to feel restless. Since Theo had told him to stop helping him, Draco felt like he'd disappointed him, like he'd failed, like he would continue to fail. For a couple days, Draco caught himself scheming in his head, brainstorming impossible ideas until he'd remind himself that he was just in class and his help wasn't asked for. It was like he'd shovelled himself a grave. One filled with wet concrete. His feet got stuck in the wet cement when he'd tried to jump into it and there was no getting out.

Not that any of what Theo said would stop him from at least TRYING to get them all out of this mess but the day the answer letter from the Weasley twins arrived, Draco already knew it was pointless. In a surprisingly neat font, it read:

To our dearest ferret,
Harry says 'no'.

Sincerely,

Forge and Gred Weasley

Draco didn't know HOW they found out it was him who had written the letter but this was a definite 'no' to the polyjuice potion. And suddenly the concrete was no longer wet but full on solid. Draco could no longer move, his options thinned out and all plans had completely evaporated. Draco was stuck, once and for all and it was both a weight off of his shoulders, and felt like the walls were closing in. More specifically, the walls of the manor that had made him feel exactly like this. The only difference was that he knew, for once, that the screaming voices he heard at night weren't real.

Draco was back at the beginning of this adventure with the realisation that there was no going back and no moving forward. There were no choices he could make, and no plans he could follow. Draco balled his hands to fists. He needed to do something. No matter what, he'd be fine with anything at this point. He could just fling himself out a window and pretend he'd died, maybe then he could infiltrate the manor again. Maybe he could still find a way to open the door to the storage room in the dungeons. Snape would notice and absolutely hate him for it, but Draco needed to-

"What are you doing?!"

Neville. Draco's eyes widened as he took in the sight of the confused teen. Draco hadn't seen Neville while he had been pacing in the empty dorm room. He seemed to notice people less and less. Draco didn't know whether that was a good or a bad thing. Not letting his inner conflict show, Draco suddenly noticed Neville's tired expression. In fact, Neville had shadows under his eyes that matched Draco's own and now that he thought about it, Neville seemed to wake even earlier than Draco these days.
It took Draco a moment to process the question. "Nothing." Draco answered maybe a tad bit too late because Neville frowned and stepped closer towards him.

"This isn't about you and Harry coming out as a couple, is it?" With 'this', Neville gestured to Draco's nervous fidgeting.

"Eh... yes. I'm just -" Draco stopped himself. Was he just about to lie? Hadn't he promised NOT to lie?

Neville seemed to have noticed, because he suddenly stood before Draco and wordlessly motioned him to sit. "I think we should talk."

Why did Draco have the feeling that Neville knew far more than he let on?

"Talk about what?" Draco was beginning to sweat.

Neville sat down heavily on the opposite bed, weight dipping the mattress slightly. "Do you remember the beginning of last year when you asked me to help you? For moral guidance and stuff?"

Draco blinked. "Of course I do -"

"You haven't been doing that. Ever since you returned from the manor, you've been exhausted, depressed, and all riled up. Like, all the time. I would have expected you to ask for help more often, instead it's become less." Neville let the words sit between them for a while. They sank in like a heavy stone. There was a question there - an almost obvious question, really.