Annabella The Sidekick (Sequal To Defiance)

Chapter 17

On Christmas morning, I wake up to see a stack of presents at the foot of my bed. It's still quite early, so I head to the common room to sit. A boy with blonde hair sits on the couch. "Draco?" I ask cautiously. I can see him fighting to keep a glare, but his eyes soften. "Merry Christmas." He whispers. I sink down next to him. "Draco please! I'm begging you! Please tell me why!" I plead. He looks so guilty. "The World Cup. That's why. I thought they'd leave you be. Father and I thought if you weren't associated with us you'd be safe." He says, burying his face in his hands. "Draco. Lucius. He was out there, wasn't he?" I ask. Draco nods slowly. "Please don't do this anymore Draco. Please." I beg. He shakes his head. "You're safe now. It needs to stay that way Bells. It has to." He whispers, his voice breaking. "I sent you a present." I whisper. He nods, pulling the thin chain out from underneath his shirt. Attached to it is a circle of gold with a serpent on it. It opens up to reveal pictures and videos of us. "I'll never take it off. I sent you one as well." He says softly. "I love you." I whisper, hugging him. "I love you too Bells." He says.
Back in my room, my roommates are awake. We start to open presents. From Harry, I got a pretty ring that lights up dark places when you whisper the word light. It goes dark when you say dark. Fred got me a signed picture from the Weird Sisters. Remus got me a stuffed wolf, my mum and dad got me a new quaffle, and Draco got me a locket. It's shaped like a heart, and when I open it, it whispers a message. It says "Love you Bells." In Draco's voice. Inside are two pictures. One of my entire family, and then one of Draco and I.
That afternoon, we start getting ready. As I straighten Lila's hair with magic, Allie curls mine, and puts it in an elegant updo, leaving a few wispy pieces around my face. Next is makeup. We all do each other's, and I'm last, when they're finished, my face is creamy, and my lips are a bold red. My eyeshadow is a magnificent gold, with winged eyeliner. My eyeglasses are long and black. I look beautiful.
At seven forty-five, we go down to the entrance hall, where our dates are waiting. George sees me and his jaw literally drops. "You look absolutely amazing." He says. I sigh and look over at Jenna, who has a Durmstrang boy on her arm. "Jenna is radiant though." I say. Lila, who's date hasn't arrived yet, smiles. "You're both beautiful. Just different kinds. She's blonde and has blue eyes, so she's a light beauty. You have dark hair and beautiful grey eyes. You're darker than she is in looks. So you're both gorgeous, just differently." She says. "Thank you." I beam. "No problem." she replies.
At the ball, we eat first. The food is absolutely amazing. I eat spaghetti with chocolate cake. "It's so good." I say to George, who laughs and nods. We sit over dinner for a while, until after the champions dance. Although Harry dances beautifully with his date, I notice his eyes wandering over to Cho, who came with Cedric.
George and I dance for a bit, but he says he needs to use the bathroom and rushes off. I sit down and drink some punch, and wait for a few minutes. Five minutes pass, than ten, then fifteen. Fred comes and sits with me. "Have you seen Angelina?" He asks. "I can't find her." I shake my head. "George went to the bathroom and never came back. Maybe they got caught up talking. Let's go see." I say. Fred nods and gets up, looking nervous. "What's wrong?" I ask. "Nothing. Nothing at all." He says quickly.
We walk towards the bathroom, when I hear a noise. I look around a corner, and there's the worst thing I've ever seen in my life. George is snogging Angelina. "George?" I whisper. He looks up with a grin, as does Angelina. Then to my surprise, he laughs. "How could you snog her?" I ask. "How could you believe I loved you?" He asks. "What?" I ask. He laughs. "It was all a prank. A dare if you will. Lee promised to give me money for our Wheezes if I broke your heart in the cruelest way possible. How's that?" He asks. Tears cascade down my cheeks. He never loved me. He did it for a laugh. Fred stands rigid next to me, looking at the ground. "You knew!" I exclaim. "You led me here on purpose!" He looks up, not meeting my eyes. "He said I couldn't be part of the business if I didn't." He replies ashamed. I open my mouth to say something, but run away sobbing instead. I hear the laughs of the people I once thought friends behind me. Draco stands outside where the ball is being held, alone. "Bells? What's wrong?" He asks. I crash into him, not caring if he wants to protect me or not. "George..... Fred..... Prank!" It's all I can say with my sobs. "What did he do?" Draco asks. I take a deep breath and tell him what happened after George left the ball. His face grows angry. "Nobody hurts you and gets away with it!" He growls. He drags me inside, explains what happened to Harry, who's equally angry, and leaves me with Blaise Zabini, who he tells to watch me. "Are you okay Annabella? I've never seen Draco so angry." He says. "My ex boyfriend got dared to make me fall in love with him and break my heart cruelly." I say. He hands me a handkerchief from his lapel. I dab my eyes. "There. You're too pretty to be crying over someone like Weasley." He says. I blush and smile. "Thanks." I whisper.
Jenna comes rushing towards me. "Oh Bella! I heard Malfoy telling Harry what happened. It's okay." She says, hugging me. "Let's go find your roommates." She says. "Thank you for making me feel better, Blaise." I say with a small smile. "No problem. I know you just got your heart broken, but I'd like to hang out with you." He says. I nod. "I'll think about it."
My roommates bring their dates over to me. They all hug me, and I start sobbing again. "How could he?" I ask. "Because he's a jerk who doesn't deserve the dust off the bottom of your shoes." Alicia says. The rest of the girls nod. They try to comfort me for a while, but I'm still in hysterics. It's quite late already, so they decide to lead me to the dorms. We decide to take Jenna to hang out with us. On the way however, we stop to witness Draco and Harry beating up Fred, George, and Lee. "You're awful!" Draco shouts. "Do you know how giddy she was? How happy she was? You ruined it!"
While George and Lee fight back, Fred lays on the ground, taking it. At first I think he's been knocked out, but I see him flinch every time a fist comes down. "Why Fred?" Harry asks. "Just shut up and hit me. I deserve it." He says. "You're not going to give an excuse?" Harry asks. "George said he'd cut me out of Wizard Wheezes, but I should've let him. I care about Bella okay? She's my best friend." He says. Loudly I walk down the hall. "Go." I say, looking at Fred. "Bells-" He starts. "Just go." I say.
In our dorm, we all scrub off our makeup. Mine was ruined anyway. I was so excited. My dress was beautiful, as was my makeup. And I danced with a boy who never even loved me. Jenna goes back to her dorm around two.
I don't sleep. I decide to go into the common room and wait for Draco. A lot of people come in, but he doesn't. I already changed into my pajamas, so I decide to sneak through the hall to find him. Instead I find Fred, begging a Slytherin to come get me. I try to sneak past, but he sees me. "Bells!" He says. "Please just talk to me for a minute!" He pleads. I pull him over away from the door. While he thinks about what to say, I take in the damage. He has blood still dripping out of his nose, both his eyes are black, and he has a big purple bruise on his cheek.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. There's no excuses for what I did. I basically caused it tonight. I was just talking to Jenna, and she was telling me about how upset you were. I had to make sure you were okay." He says. "Well I'm not okay, thanks to you and your stupid twin!" I exclaim harshly. "Was that what our entire friendship was based off of? A dare?" I ask. He shakes his head quickly. "Not for me. I only found out about it a few weeks ago." He says. "A real friend would've told me." I whisper. "I'm sorry." He whispers. "I forgive you." I reply. He smiles. "But this doesn't change anything. I may forgive you, but I certainly don't trust you. How could you expect me to?" I ask. Fred nods. "I can accept that. I have to go. Jenna's waiting for me." He says. "Someone has a crush!" I tease. He winks and walks away.