Last Words Should Always Be I Love You ~ A Draco Malfoy Love Story

Chapter 3

At noon the next day, Draco lay sprawled out on his bed sheets, body bare apart from his underwear, face squashed between two pillows, breathing deep and methodical. The Dormitory was empty, and sunlight was streaming in through the window high at the top of the room, although Draco was completely unaware, hidden behind the thick curtains of his bed.

Far below him, lessons were taking place, many of his teachers wondering where he was. 

Footsteps echoed distantly in Draco's mind, before a harsh, commanding tone woke him from his empty slumber.

"Draco!" Professor Snape snapped, ripping the curtains open so Draco yelped, rolling onto his back and flinching away from the sun, temporarily blinded. Snape stared at him disapprovingly, eyes lingering  on his pale torso in the bright sunlight. "Malfoy, where on earth have you been for the whole morning? Fourth period is about to begin-"

"I'm so sorry," Draco began to babble, heaving himself into a sitting position and running a hand through his hair, blinking hard so his eyes would adjust to the sunlight. "I don't know what happened, I just had a really strange night-"

"It may seem so." Snape interrupted, raising his eyebrows and once again glancing at Draco's naked chest and legs. Draco too looked down, pausing for a moment to comprehend what Snape was saying, eyes trained on his slender legs, dusted with fine golden hair like pollen. When he finally reached realization, his mouth formed a surprised "Oh"  and he looked back into the dark eyes of Professor Snape.

"Oh No, Sir, Not like that-"

"I assumed Draco. I was teasing. Now continue your excuse."

Draco looked back down at his stomach, he himself trying to understand what had happened. He remembered the wash of panic coming over him as he tried to picture his future love interest, and then racing back here to the dormitories, and then the slash.

"Draco, what on earth has happened to your arm!" Snape exclaimed in shock, and waking from his daydream, Draco looked down at his right arm where the painful sensation had occurred the previous night. A thick, ugly gash ran down his forearm, dried blood encrusted round the tender red skin of the wound. He hadn't noticed until then, but a hot wave of pain ran through him, as if someone had put the tip of their wand against the wound and cast a hex. 

It was so intensely painful that Draco grabbed his upper arm and tumbled out of the bed, a white hot electric feeling buzzing through the whole right side of his pale body.  Snape quickly dropped to his knees as Draco writhed on the floor, hot tears welling in his eyes, groaning.

"Hush Draco... Pull on your robes and we'll go to my office... I must have some elixir for this-" Snape muttered, both to himself and to the helpless, agonized figure of Draco hunched up on the floor, twitching.

Snape quickly retrieved Draco's robes from the trunk on the end of his bed, helped the boy into them by hoisting him up and supporting him around the torso, and began to heave him down the dormitory stair case, into the bustling common room.

"Draco!" Pansy Parkinson squealed as they stumbled blindly amongst the people, pointing and staring. "Draco, what's wrong-"

"OUT OF THE WAY PARKINSON." Snape yelled, and Pansy leaped out of the way, quivering. A few feet  away from the door, Draco slipped from Snape's firm grip and slumped with a thud against the floor, covered in a cold, clammy sweat. Pansy swooped in like a vulture, crooning and petting Draco as he was about to lose consciousness. Snape muttered a cuss word, before shooing Pansy, frustrated, out of the way and hoisting Draco into his arms, swamped by his billowing black robes.

"What on earth has happened to his arm?!" Pansy shrieked, but Snape ignored her fussing completely, and stormed down the corridor, Draco's limp arms and legs dangling in Snape's grip as he lost consciousness.

~

The first thing Draco was aware of was how soft his robes felt against his skin. The velvet caressed every inch of him, making him feel light and airy, sort of like a feather. He stirred slightly, loving the way the material glided over his bare skin underneath the robes. Then he noticed the intense warmth smothering his feet and legs, snapping at his cold body like wild hounds. Then of the way his hair tickled his nose and eyes, then the constant beating of his heart and the soft flutter of his eyelashes.

In the distance, he heard liquid trickling into a glass, and the crackling of a fire, and quiet mumbling. Next, a glass was pressed against his lips, and tipped-

Foul liquid exploded in his mouth, making him sit up and splutter, coughing and attempting to rid his taste buds of the hideously peppery and fiery taste. 

"There we go." Snape muttered, and Draco opened his watery eyes, witnessing the blurred figures of Snape and Umbridge standing at the opposite of the room. They were brightly contrasted, Snape all black and white, Umbridge being fuchsia pink and peach. They'd make an odd couple. 

"Draco," Umbridge clucked, laying a wet cloth on his forehead so water trickled into his eyes and down his robes, the water making them stick to his clammy body. Draco fidgeted in discomfort as Umbridge smothered him in blankets, forcing him to lie back down on the small bed crammed into the corner of the room. "You stay here and rest, and Snape is going to look after you for the rest of the night, if you're well enough you may return to lesson tomorrow-"

"What's the time?" Draco croaked, and Umbridge gave him a disapproving look.

"It is rude to interrupt, Draco, but in answer to your question, the time is 10pm."

"I've been asleep ten hours?!"

"Yes Draco, now rest." Umbridge commanded,ending the conversation with her firm tone, turning on her heel and marching from the room, bidding a scowling Snape goodbye with a curt nod.

Draco stayed silent until sure Umbridge was well out of earshot.

"Sir, where's Dumbledore?"

Snape turned on the pale, sweaty face of Draco and raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"Dumbledore is not here, I'm afraid. Away on recruiting business-"

"He can't be, I heard him, maybe in a dream-"

"Exactly. In a dream. Not really."

"But sir. He was talking to you, or someone who sounded like you, about that she'll be okay-"

"So you're a girl now, Draco?"

Draco blushed furiously, realizing how foolish he must sound. 

"Professor Snape... Can I talk to you about something?"

Snape, who was on reasonably good terms with the Malfoy's, felt compelled to listen.

"Last night, I was in the prefect's bathroom, and I don't know why, but I started thinking about true love. And as I was thinking of her, I suddenly got really panicky. So I rushed up here, when I felt a pain on my arm-"

"So that's why you were naked."

"Sir! But, when I was asleep, I was cold, like, really cold, and I heard... Wolves..."

Snape turned to face Draco full on, eyes narrowed with curiosity.

"But, whenever I think of true love, I always seem to feel things that aren't happening to me."

Snape considered this for a moment, before straightening up and turning back to his pestle and mortar which was grinding some type of silvery plant.

"Sounds like you have a vessel, Malfoy."

"A vessel?"

"Something that occurs when you are mentally intact with your one true love."

"So she's real?" Draco inquired, nervously and excitedly.

"Maybe... And considering you heard Dumbledore in your dream, I have a fair idea of who it is."

"Who?!" Draco begged, but Snape simply smiled, and turned away.