For The Greater Good (A Draco Malfoy Story)

Consequences

        Absolutely ridiculous.

I should have those words branded into my forehead, bright red and glaring.

"Absolutely ridiculous," I whispered to myself as I leaned against the rough wall of the back of the coffee shop. I probably should've gone to the loo like I told Draco and Gabriel but I needed the fresh chill of the Scottish air to pierce my lungs and sting my face. Breathing in deeply, I exhaled a harsh laugh and kept my head up, watching passerby scurry past, their noses and cheeks and more often than not, their hair, glowed bright red.

Besides, I'm not your responsibility.

"Absolutely fucking ridiculous." And it was, for me to be hung up over five stupid words. There were more important things to worry about like Death Eaters, the war, my friends, not to mention the fucking slaughter and relocation of anyone less than a pure blood. There wasn't any time for teenage drama and broken hearts, so why was I making such a fuss? Damn me for building a future in my head, or hell, a present, that didn't and wouldn't exist. Draco Malfoy was not my responsibility, he was right.

And I was not his.

"'Scuse me, Miss?" A scraggly looking man asked with a cockney voice. Everything about him looked bristled and prickly -- his unshaven face, his harsh buzzcut and his dark jumper. He smiled a yellow-toothed smile and extended his gnarled hands, a cigarette dangling between his fingers. "Got a light?"

I should've been aware of the buzzing, should've seen danger in every mask it disguised itself in. But I let my troubles cloud and addle my brain and so when I turned to the man and opened my mouth to politely answer him, I didn't see the colors.

Didn't see the black swirling around him.

Before I could register the situation, I heard a loud crack! and pain reverberated through my skull, sending the darkness to creep into my vision and send me into the waiting hands of unconsciousness.

Draco.

I knew it was a mistake as soon as I felt her hand tense in mine. I watched with defeat as she abruptly stood up and walked to the back of the cafe, her hands clenching and unclenching and her back as straight as a rod. "Bloody idiot," I sighed to myself, rubbing my cold hands over my face.

"You're damn right you are," Gabriel spoke up from the booth behind me. I turned to the side in my seat and groaned, leaning my head back against the large window.

"I just meant that she doesn't have to watch over me and worry herself sick. I'm not worth it."

Gabriel scoffed. "Oh shut up, you brooding arsehole. If you haven't figured it out by now, then you've got to be the daftest prick I've ever had the misfortune to lay my eyes upon."

"Figure what out, Alvers?" I scowled at him, not liking his tone. What was there to figure out? He and Rose weren't together because Rose deserved better. She deserved someone good and kind-hearted, someone named Steven who liked to do normal stuff like watch the telly and wear jumpers. Someone who would feel sympathy for the homeless instead of discomfort. Someone who had ten siblings and a home that was never without laughter. Someone good.

Gabriel gave me the fiercest glare I thought he was capable of as he rounded towards me. "You're worth every bloody thing in this god awful world to her."

"But I'm--"

"Oh, everyone's fucked up, alright?" Gabriel huffed with annoyance getting heated by the second. "You're not the only one who's made bad choices and hurt people. And yet she cares for you just the same, you canary-headed douchemonger."

There was a pause as I tried to digest what he just said. I didn't know whether the disbelief spinning my head was because of the fact that Rose might just feel as fiercely for me as I do her or that Gabriel just called me a canary-headed douchemonger. What did that even mean? Before I could reply, however, Gabriel shot out of his seat with a cry, clutching his head.

"Alvers?" I moved out of the booth and watched as he let out another pained cry before dropping his hands abruptly and turning towards me. Panic made me the white spaces of his eyes glow. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Rose," was all he said before running to the back of the cafe. Dread froze the blood in my veins but before I could follow him, I heard a gasp from behind me. I turned to see the brunette waitress from before watching with horror as a girl was dragged by three men across the street to the police station.

Rose.

Every instinct in my body told me to run, to fight, to do something, but I stood there paralyzed with the enormity of the situation. They had her.

A flash of black caught my attention and I looked through the window to see Gabriel running like his shoes were on fire. Before I could even make a decision, my feet were propelling me out of the cafe and towards Gabriel and I tackled him to the ground, the hard impact of both our bodies hitting the gravel nearly knocking the wind out of me.

"Get the fuck off my, Malfoy! They have her!" he snarled at me eerily like a tiger, but I held his body down.

"Listen-Listen to me!" I seethed back, grabbing hold of the front of his shirt. "What the fuck do you think you can do? You're going to run in there and then what? Then they have both of you and soon me! Think with your fucking brain, Alvers. We can get her back but not without a plan."

He continued to shake down to his bones with fury but when he looked at me, his dilated eyes only served to drown me in his fear. He was scared shitless and so was I. Steadying the racing of my heart, I stood and pulled him up with me, pushing him towards the cafe. We went back inside, sat back down in our former seats and tried to ignore the stares of the other patrons in the cafe.

"What do we do?" Gabriel's hands shook around the mug of tea. Rose's tea.

"We're Slytherins. We'll figure it out," I found myself saying as I looked back at the police station across the street. At least, I hope we will, I thought to myself.