Battle Scars {Draco Malfoy}

Chapter Thirty Seven

Christmas morning came about and Clara awoke to a letter resting  at the end of her bed. She grabbed it and ripped it open to find a Christmas card from her parents. Immediately, the guilt began to settle in as she thought about leaving her parents alone for the holidays. She knew they meant well, but she found it so hard to face them when it came to inability to control their emotions when she was around them. She could see the dried watermarks on the card, making it obvious that one of them or both of them had been crying while writing their Christmas greetings to her.

She sighed and placed the card down on the small nightstand near her bed before falling back onto her pillow with a loud sigh. Her eyes focused up on the ceiling before she closed them, and took a deep breath.

"Everything is going to be okay, Clara. Just write them a letter and let them know that you love them dearly. Everything is going to be alright."

After giving herself a motivational speech, she pushed herself out of bed and decided to get ready to give Abby a great first Christmas at Hogwarts.

She showered and got dressed before heading downstairs to the common room while Abby snored lightly in her own bed.

She waited in the common room near the Christmas tree for Abby to wake up. She glanced out the window to see that a fresh blanket of snow covered the castle grounds and the Forbidden Forest. She leaned against the window looking out, catching a slight reflection of her scars in the window. As she looked over the scars, she couldn't help but noticed she didn't really feel sad in the moment. She hadn't thought about her scars for awhile, her mind had been too busy thinking of Abby and Draco.

A small smile drew across her lips as she realized that her scars didn't bother her as much anymore. 

"Clara! Clara! IT'S CHRISTMAS!" 

Abby came racing down the stairs only to trip on the last step and fall onto the ground.

"Abby!" Clara jumped up from where she was sitting and ran over to where Abby was on the ground giggling. "Are you okay?"

Abby was back on her feet in no time." I'm fine!" she brushed herself off. "Did you hear me, it's Christmas!"

"I know!" Clara laughed. "Are you ready to open presents?"

"Are we going to open presents here?" Abby asked.

"Well...that was the plan."

"But what about Draco?" Abby said. "Don't you want to open presents with him? Come on!"

Draco awoke in a cold sweat in his bed, gripping at his chest as he tried to steady his breathing. He coughed to the side as he felt short of breath, but as he rolled, he rolled out of bed completely falling to the floor. One of the other boys sharing the dorm with him, stirred from his sleep and glanced over at him.

"You alright there?" he called out.

Draco held his hand up to signal that he was okay. He quickly got up and left to the bathroom. Once he collected himself, he splashed some cold water onto his face, trying to get rid of the haunting images that kept flashing before him as he closed his eyes. Unfortunately,even in the spirit of Christmas, Draco's memories weren't in the cheery mood.

He had relived the time where the Dark Lord had lived under the same room at him, and even just the thought of it had left him feeling completely nauseous.

After getting a grip, Draco dressed himself before heading to the Great Hall hoping to find Clara. He was hurrying down the corridor when he caught sight of Abby along with Clara walking towards the Great Hall. Abby was running while Clara was carrying a bag in her hands. She caught sight of him as well, and he saw the frown develop on her face. She called to Abby and had her take the bag to bring into the Great Hall.

With Abby distracted, Clara walked over to him with a concerned look.

"Draco..are you okay?"

Clara didn't receive a verbal answer but she didn't need one either as Draco's arms suddenly wrapped around her. He held onto her with his head resting on her shoulder. Her body was stiff at first as he had caught her off guard with the sudden hug, but she quickly loosened up and hugged him in return.

"Draco, what's wrong?"

The expression on his face had been as if he had been faced with his darkest fear in the recent moments. His face pale, bags under his eyes, his skin clammy and cold. 

"Come here..." she instructed him leading him over to one of the window seats. "Sit down."

He did as he was told but he still didn't speak.

"Are you feeling sick?" she asked raising a hand to his forehead. "I don't feel a fever...but we can bring you to the hospital wing."

He quickly shook his head no.

"Did you sleep at all last night?"

He shrugged.

She wasn't going to get a verbal answer out of him, she was sure of that.

"Do you want to go in the Great Hall-"

He shook his head again.

"Okay, well...we can sit out here for as long as you like, but Abby's bound to come here sooner or later. She wanted you to be around when she opened her presents."

He looked up at her with a surprised expression.

"And well..so do I." she added. "But I can wait. Take as long as you like."