Battle Scars {Draco Malfoy}

Chapter Twenty One

On the morning where Clara was supposed to go to Hogsmeade with Draco, it turned out to be one of the mornings where Clara wasn't feeling so great about herself. She had come up with the challenge to look in the mirror in the morning and name five things she liked about her appearance in hopes that it would boost her self esteems. Many mornings it worked, but that morning, it seemed Clara had run out of things to compliment about herself.

Abby walked into the girl's bathroom to find Clara standing before one of the mirrors, holding onto the sink tightly, trying to hold back any tears that threatened to fall.

"What's wrong, Clara?" Abby asked walking over to her.

Clara quickly wiped at her eyes and sniffed turning her head away. "It's nothing, I'm fine."

"Well, I know people cry for two reasons, because they feel pain or because they're really happy and those don't look like happy tears Clara."

"I'm fine really, Abby. Thank you though, I just need to finish getting ready."

Abby bit her lower lip before leaving the bathroom and heading over to her bed to slip her shoes on. Despite only wearing her pajamas, she left the Hufflepuff Common Room, which was thankfully very close to the Great Hall. She poked her head in and saw Draco sitting at the Slytherin table.

"Thank goodness." she sighed in relief before running over to him.

Draco was picking at some food on his plate when someone approached him. He glanced up to see Abby, who was also dressed in her duck pajamas.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked taking in her appearance.

"I'm talking to you." Abby said before sitting across from him.

"Right, but...you're wearing your pajamas."

"Do you have a problem with that?" Abby questioned him sharply.

"No." Draco answered quickly.

"Good." she smiled. "Anyways, I didn't come here to talk about my pajamas, I came here to talk to you about Clara."

"What about Clara?"

"She's not doing so well this morning."

Draco frowned. "Is she feeling sick?"

"Not physically, but mentally and emotionally...yes." Abby told him.

"I don't understand, she seemed really happy yesterday." Draco said confused.

"Yeah, well she has her good days and her bad days, just like you." Abby said as she tucked her legs under her. "You see, in the morning, Clara has this thing...wait...don't tell her I told you any of this!" Abby put her finger in his face.

"I won't!" he said. "I won't."

"Okay good. Anyways, she has this thing where in the morning she names five things that she likes about herself. I don't think she did so well this morning." Abby confided in him. 

"Oh." That was all Draco could bring himself to say.

"Oh? That's it? No, Draco, not oh...you need to compliment her today! You two are going to be in Hogsmeade all day today, so take advantage of that."

"How do I-"

"Come on Draco, it's not that compliment, don't you think Clara is pretty?"

"Well I-"

"Good, so just tell her why you think she's pretty, but don't make it super obvious, just slip in a compliment here and there. Trust me it'll make her day."

"But what...what do I say? I don't want to say the wrong thing!"

"If it sounds force than it's going to come across wrong, say what you honestly like about her! Don't mess this up!" she said flicking his forehead before running out of the Great Hall.

Draco rubbed his forehead for a moment as Abby managed to flick him really hard. He wondered if that was similar to the pain that Harry felt during the school years.

It was hard to believe that he didn't feel angry with Abby flicking him on the forehead, years before if a muggle-born even came close to him, he would be sure to curse them with the term "mudblood" or something offensive along the lines. 

But now he couldn't imagine where he would be if it weren't for her and Clara keeping him company and raising his spirits anytime they were around him.

It seemed it was he turn to return the favor for everything they had done to him.

Clara arrived to the Entrance Hall after deciding she wasn't all that hungry for breakfast. She found Draco waiting for her patiently as she walked over to him.

"Hey." she said with a small wave.

"Hey!" he quickly stood up to greet her.

"Ready to go?" she asked him.

"Yes, are you? Wait, that was stupid..I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize." she told him as she led the way behind some of the other students walking to head towards the village for the day.

Draco could see the difference in Clara's demeanor that day, the smile on her face seemed forced but she kept the smile on her face nonetheless.

"I like your jumper." he blurted out at one point as they were walking. Clara looked over at him with a raised brow before she let out a small laugh.

"What?"

"I mean...well...I do like your jumper." he mumbled.

"Oh well thank you." she said looking down at her pastel pink jumper that she had grabbed from her trunk that morning. "I like your...pants?"

The two exchanged a glance before they started laughing. "I'm sorry, that was terrible!" she said placing her hand over her face in embarrassment. "My mind isn't all there today."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I quite like these pants too." 

"I should hope so considering you're wearing the pants."

"So where do you want to head first?" Draco asked her tucking his hands into his pockets of his pants.

"I don't know." she shrugged. "I normally just like to walk around Hogsmeade."

"Really, you don't like to shop?"

"I'll browse through the windows a bit, but I've always just enjoyed walking around. I've never been big on shopping. I think I get it from my mum, she's never been one for shopping unless it was for something necessary. Now my dad on the other hand, he can go shopping all day everyday."

"So are you closer with your mum?" he asked curiously.

"Uh no, I like to think I'm equally close with the both of them. Although, the past few months have been pretty rough on our relationship. It's my fault really. Once I got home from St. Mungo's I didn't want to do anything, I just kept to myself for the majority of the summer. That wasn't fair to them I know, but...I don't know it was hard to face them. My mother cried a lot in the beginning, she could hardly bring herself to look me in the eyes and she still has problems with talking to me face to face. Not that I blame her."

"There's nothing wrong with your face." he said suddenly.

She glanced over at him through the corner of her eye. "I don't know if you haven't noticed Draco, but these scars-"

"I don't notice them." Draco said. "Because there's so much more to you."