Draco Malfoy's Perspective

Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Violet stared at him. "Draco...what's happened to you? You look terrible."

She raised her hand to his cheek, but he caught it and held tightly to her wrist. "How dare you."

"Excuse me?" She dropped her hand and he released.

"How dare you desecrate her grave like this." His voice was dark, holding back a storm of anger. "How dare you stand in front of me, pretending to be someone you're not."

"What are you talking about?" She frowned. "Draco, it's me. I'm alright. I'm not dead."

"You look like her, but you are not her. She's dead. And you've ruined her."

"Polyjuice...?" she said quietly. Then a light chuckle passed her lips. "No, you've got it wrong. I truly am Violet Ramsey. How else would I have been able to get you to come? I never wrote down any of my music, yet it played. No one but us knew we came back here, yet I wrote that poem."

"She's dead!" He pushed her against the boulder and held her there by her shoulders. "What do you expect from me now? I have nothing! I died with her that day! Kill me if you wish, but do not torture me any longer."

Something passed over her face. Her heart cracked a little. "Is that why you haven't been eating or sleeping?" She put her hand on his wrist and gently pushed him back so she could stand. "Look me in the eye, and tell me I'm not her. I am the same girl who stood with you in the Astronomy Tower, who followed you into the Room of Requirement. I handed you back my ring because I thought you wanted it back."

"Liar!" He pulled his wand up and pointed it at her, his arm trembling. "I knew her better than to believe that. Violet would only have given up on me if she didn't love me. She would never have thought that I didn't want her."

"I did. Do." She pushed her hair back, but it was so short that it didn't do much. "I betrayed you by staying with the others that day. I thought that would make you hate me."

"I don't believe you."

She sighed. "What can I say? I love you, Draco. My brother's name is Vincent. My parents hate me. I moved from Gryffindor to Slytherin in year five. We were in a fight because you wouldn't leave your parents for me, which was a completely stupid argument." Then she snapped her fingers. "You thought I was a Muggleborn until I told you otherwise right here after you dragged me out of bed. You read books on Muggleborns and I took them out of your memory. When I was helping you fix the vanishing cabinet, I nearly splinched myself and you jumped when I screamed."

She kept going, talking about her music and the conversations that they held when they were alone. Draco took a step back. How could this person know any of this? Only he and Violet knew it! But she was dead.

Finally he interrupted her. "Violet?"

She smiled. "Yes."

He covered his face with his hands. All those sleepless nights, all the lost appetites, it was pointless. She was alive. Violet was alive.

"Draco?" She put her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry. I understand if you want me to go."

He dropped his hands and stared at her. How had he forgotten? She was gorgeous. Stunning. Her hair was shorter, and she was dressed in clothes befitting a banker, but he could see her figure. Her face. She was the same.

"Don't."

"Alright. If you're sure."

"Very. And I never wanted you to leave. I was prepared to stay with you and fight for Hogwarts."