lovely // draco malfoy

The Half-Blood Prince (6)

Everyone gathered in the great hall for dinner on a particularly gloomy and rainy day. I walked through the doors and saw Draco already seated at the table across from Crabbe and Goyle. I made my way over and took a seat next to him. He didn't seem to notice my entrance, so I leaned over, kissed him on the cheek, and brushed his hair back with my fingers. I was the only person he allowed to touch his hair. He had his head resting on his hand again, elbow on the table, staring at nothing. He seemed to do a lot of that lately.

He'd been acting off since year 6 started. I had asked him about it many times throughout the school year, but it always erupted into us arguing somehow and him storming out of the room out of anger. I eventually decided it was best to leave it alone until he was ready to come and talk to me about it, however long it took. My theory? Lucius was cracking down on him this year, and harder. Whenever Draco had been frustrated in the past, it was usually because of Lucius or some other family issue. Although this year, something was different.

**FIVE MONTHS EARLIER**

-Slytherin Common Room-

"Draco" I called out for the third time, as I finished up my report for DADA on the chair next to him. He looked up at me from the fireplace that he'd been staring at for the past hour. "Wanna sneak into the kitchen for a midnight snack? Or go for a walk or something?" By the time I had finished my question he had already gone back to staring at the crackling fire, returning to his original train of thought. This happened constantly. I sighed, got up from my chair, and sat next to him on the couch. I took his face with one hand and turned his head to look at me.

"What is going on?" I asked in a serious tone. I was smart enough to know it had nothing to do with me. We'd been together for basically 2 years now, and friends for even longer, so I'm an expert at detecting the sulky body language he gives when he's upset with me. This was not that. "You've been acting strange since the term started."

"Just leave it alone, I don't feel like talking about it." He replied, annoyed, as he stood up and began walking towards the stairs for the boys dorm.

"Draco, stop!" I stood up and yelled, without a doubt loud enough to wake the other students up. He stopped and turned around to face me again with a heated expression on his face. "Please talk to me." I pleaded gently in defeat. I could see a glint of weakness in his eyes, which disappeared almost instantly.

"I said leave it the fuck alone."

****

"You okay?" I smiled softly. He looked at me vacantly and nodded, moving a tiny piece of my hair away from my face. He rested his head back on his hand.

"Got your heart broken by Potter again, Malfoy?" Crabbe laughed. Goyle chimed in "Maybe daddy's just cracking the whip too hard again." They both laughed. I shook my head at them in disapproval.

"Shut up, you twats." I said. Their laughter subsided. Draco didn't seem to hear the conversation that was going on about him. His eyes were fixated on something else. I followed his gaze and saw that he was looking at Katie and Harry. He started shifting in his seat and I could see his expression become more and more anxious. "Draco..?" I said worriedly. He got up suddenly and ran out of the great hall. I looked at Crabbe and Goyle and they shrugged.

I got up and ran towards the door, Harry following along. I put out my hand to stop him.

"Harry, stay here okay? I got this." He nodded hesitantly. I followed Draco all the way to the boys bathroom. I walked in slowly to see him leaning over the sink, hyperventilating. He ripped off his grey sweater vest leaving him in his white dress shirt and house tie. I had never seen him so distressed. It was a rare occurrence that he would be seen as anything but his usual boastful, confident self.

He finally noticed that I was in there with him when we made eye contact through the mirror, and with that, he surrendered and began to cry. He turned around and lifted up his sleeve and showed me the dark mark that laid upon his forearm. He didn't make eye contact with me out of shame and guilt. Tears began to form in my eyes as I tried to comprehend what I was seeing. He fell to his knees and I sat beside him. He sunk into my arms and rested his head on my chest, with his arms wrapped around me, and I held him. I just held him as he cried. I tried to be strong for him, but I couldn't help but cry too.

"It's okay," I did my best to comfort him. "I love you. It'll be okay."

"I'm sorry" He cried. "I wanted to tell you, I just-"

"Shh" My heart was shattered into pieces. Footsteps were heard across the bathroom. We both looked up to see Harry slowly stepping closer towards us. Draco immediately stood up and stopped crying, in a poor attempt to change his facial expression to disgust.

"What the hell are you doing here, Potter?" I could still hear the quiver in his voice. Harry noticed Draco's dark mark and pulled out his wand, but before he could do anything Draco disarmed him. "Amethyst, stand back."

"Boys stop it! Harry please leave, I told you I have it handled." I tried to reason with him but he didn't appear to have heard me. They began to duel, calling out different spells. A stunning spell almost hit me but I dodged it and hid behind one of the walls. I peeked around the corner.

"Sectumsempra!" Harry yelled. I saw the spell hit Draco and he fell onto his back. I rushed over and knelt down over him. There was blood everywhere, huge wounds all over his upper and lower torso. The water spilling out from the broken sinks onto the floor were turning into a large red puddle. His breathing was slow, but harsh as he gasped for air. Harry walked slowly towards us.

"No, no, no, no. Draco," Tears stung my eyes. "Harry what did you do?! Fix it Harry! Fix it please!" I screamed in anguish. Harry just stood there in shock, unsure of what to do. It became clear he didn't know a counter-curse. "Do something! Don't just stand there!" I wailed between sobs. I pulled out my wand. "Reparifors," I incanted. Deep down I knew it wouldn't work, but I didn't know what else to do. Nothing happened.

I grabbed Draco and propped him up on my knee, his head in the crook of my arm. I tried applying pressure to his torso, his breathing slowing down with every second that passed. I could see the agony, fear, and anxiety of it all in his eyes as they were locked onto mine. "It's okay, you're gonna be okay, baby, just look at me." Draco's body fell limp as he became unconscious. My cries could probably be heard from a mile away. I looked at Harry and saw his guilty facial expression at what he had done.

Snape entered the bathroom. "Get out, Potter," He said blandly. Harry stood still. "I said - go." Harry ran out of the bathroom, his feet splashing against the pools of water on the floor. Snape looked at me as if he were about to tell me to leave too. I shook my head and he understood that I wasn't going anywhere.

"Vulnera Sanentur" He muttered. He repeated it multiple times. Draco's wounds began to slowly diminish, the blood with it. With his body still on my lap, I gently caressed his cheek while the spell took effect. He was brought into the hospital wing minutes after.