Your Grief is My Grief [DM] sequel to Beauty and the Beast

Chapter Fourteen

Draco's POV:

I spent the night staring at the crack in my deep emerald bed hangings, asking myself how I got into the mess I was currently in and why I had to drag Liz into it with me. I care about her too much for her to get hurt - especially at my fault.

When the lake-filtered sunlight finally began to leak through the crack in my curtains and I heard one of the other boys in my dorm moving about, I decided that it was a decent time to get up. Sitting up, I pushed the curtains aside and placed my pale feet on the cold floor. I brought my hand up to my face and attempted to rub any sleep-deprivation from it. Knowing that I had failed at that small task, I stood up and slowly began to dress.

Once my robes were on my body, my teeth brushed, and my hair styled lazily, I walked down the hallway to the common room. Here, students were standing or sitting around speaking with their friends before heading to breakfast. The light in this room was brighter than in my dormitory seeing as the windows were much larger, giving more room for the entrance of light. With a quick glance through said windows, I noticed a group of phosphorescent fish swam by following a sleek mermaid.

I decided to wait for Liz on the black leather sofa in front of the crackling fire. The flames were licking up the black stone and casting the area in a warm green glow that brought back memories from younger years.

It was about twenty minutes before Lizzie came down and sat beside me, the lack of sleep evident on her face as well. Her tie was twisted hopelessly and her hair was tied up in a messy bun on top of her head, tendrils poking out at all angles.

"Didn't sleep well, either?" she asked quietly.

"Is it that obvious?" I chuckled, running a hand through my hand through my silky hair.

"A bit," she laughed.

"You're tie is all messed up," I stated, leaning forward and untying the green and silver tie that was knotted sideways somehow. My slim fingers easily pulled the fabric into a simple knot.

"I gave up this morning." She looked out one of the large windows beside us as my fingers worked. "I'm going to head straight to Potions," she said slowly.

"I'll come with you then," I replied, standing up and holding a hand out to her. She took my cold hand in her warm one and laced our fingers together. We walked hand in hand out of the Slytherin common room attracting no odd looks, which I thanked Merlin for. People had gotten so used to seeing us together that they had stopped staring quite a while ago.

When we arrived in the classroom where Slughorn taught, we were fairly early, so it was just the two of us in the room with Slughorn.

"Draco, Lizzie! How wonderful! Have an early breakfast I assume?" Slughorn called out to us from his desk at the front of the room.

"Yes sir," I replied respectfully. "We decided to come in early instead of staying in the Great Hall. It can get quite crowded sometimes."

"I must agree," Slughorn chortled, his mustache wiggling. Liz and I sat at a table towards the side of the room, not too close to Slughorn, yet not too far away.

"So Professor," I began, throwing a sideways glance at Liz to warn her, "What are your plans for the holidays?" I squeezed her hand under the table.

"Well, Gwenog Jones, of the Holyhead Harpies that is, invited me to have dinner with her team a few days before Christmas, so I'll be heading to Wales for a short time. After that, I think I'll come back to Hogwarts to prepare some more lessons. What do you two have planned?" Slughorn tidied up his workspace as he spoke. When we walked in, he had been brewing some potion that smelled of grass.