Ever since the start of your 6th year at Hogwarts, you noticed a shift in Draco. The boy who used to fill your days with his sharp wit and mischievous grin had become distant, quieter as if something heavy had settled on his shoulders. The once frequent strolls around the castle grounds, sneaking into secret corridors, and lounging in the Slytherin common room had slowly faded away. Your daily hangouts, once the highlight of your afternoons, gradually dwindled to nothing, leaving you feeling a strange emptiness. Even his meals became less frequent, and you often found yourself sitting at the Great Hall alone, scanning the Slytherin table, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. But most of the time, Draco wasn't there.
Nights were no different. You would glance up toward the boys' dormitory, knowing he was likely still awake, tossing and turning. Sleep eluded him, and the dark circles under his silver eyes deepened with each passing day. You knew something was wrong, but every time you pressed him for answers, he brushed you off with a vague excuse, muttering something about troubles with his father. At first, you accepted it, but deep down, you knew that wasn't the whole truth. Draco had always been complicated, and his relationship with Lucius had never been easy, but this... this was different.
And Draco knew it, too. His excuses wouldn't hold forever. Every time you asked, the guilt in his eyes flickered, as if he was holding back something too big, too dangerous to speak aloud. He was running out of time, and soon, he would have no choice but to come clean.
Soon enough, the cracks in your relationship with Draco began to widen, and it felt like your love was slipping away, piece by piece. What was once a romance filled with passion and tenderness had become a fragile shell of what it used to be. The moments you cherished—the stolen kisses between classes, the way he'd pull you close without a word, just to be near you—were now only memories. For an entire year, Draco had been everything to you. He had loved you in ways you thought no one else could, and there had been a time when you believed nothing could tear you apart. But now... now it felt like you were barely holding on.
You longed to fix it, to bring things back to the way they were. You would have given anything for one of those quiet nights where you'd both stay up late talking or for him to look at you the way he used to—with that soft intensity that made your heart race. But Draco seemed to have drifted into a world of his own, one that you couldn't reach. It was like he had forgotten you were even there. The boy who had once memorized every part of you, who knew every scar, every secret, every thought... was slipping away, as if the weight of whatever burden he carried had erased you from his mind.
Still, you waited. You didn't want to be the one to end things, no matter how much it hurt. Breaking up with Draco felt impossible. He was the one who had seen the real you, the person behind the masks everyone else saw. He knew your vulnerabilities, your fears, and yet he had loved you all the same. You couldn't walk away, not without hearing the truth from him. No matter how distant he had become, you needed to understand why. You needed him to tell you what was going on, to stop hiding. Only then could you decide what came next.
One morning, to your surprise, Draco was sitting at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. He wasn't avoiding the meal like he usually did, though he wasn't eating either. Instead, he sat there, absentmindedly pushing food around his plate, his fork scraping softly against the porcelain. You sighed, a mix of relief and worry swirling inside you, but you quickly replaced it with a smile as you walked over to him.
"Good morning, Draco," you said softly, leaning down to press a kiss against his cheek. Your lips lingered against his skin, savoring the familiar warmth, the softness you had missed.
"Morning," he mumbled in reply, his voice quiet, barely above a whisper, as his gaze remained fixed on his plate. He didn't look up, didn't meet your eyes. You sat down beside him, the weight of the silence pressing between you both. You hesitated, unsure of how to break through the distance that had grown between you.
