Of Doves and Dragons

Chapter Eleven: The Hope of Lighter Days

"I spent a long time watering a plant made out of plastic, and I cursed the ground for growing green."

-Halsey, Forever...(is a long time)

Now that it was done and she was married, it seemed to be the least of her worries. It almost seemed natural having Draco around all the time. He was the one who taught her, he was the one who calmed her, he was the one who was always there whether he tried to be or not. He was all she had. She knew that it wasn't going to be sunshine and rainbows moving forward but she relaxed in the idea that since they had gone through such a traumatic experience together that their relationship, whatever it would be labeled, was stronger.

Not even this was awkward, waking up next to him, sharing his warmth underneath the covers. She adored the way that his face would scrunch up in a pout whenever he drifted back towards consciousness. He was always so grumpy in the mornings. She imagined that it took him awhile to take everything in in the mornings, almost as if he had to re-download and update what his life would be each day. It didn't happen often that she woke up before him, but when she did she liked to gaze at him unabashedly. She had to remember that as much as her life had changed this summer, so had his.

He hadn't truly snapped at her since before You-Know-Who appeared the first time. In fact, they had gotten along swimmingly since then. Perhaps it was the tension that surrounded them, or that mutual hardships made one re-sort their priorities, but she liked to think that the more he told her about the magical world, the more he understood how dull her life had been and why she was the way she was.

The situation wasn't ideal, more often than not she was terrified, but when it was just her and Draco she felt like she could breathe. Even when he was in a bad mood, she felt comfort in having him by her side. She had been unprepared for what this summer had brought her but at the moment she felt as if maybe things would begin to lighten.

For the first time, she was out from under her parent's control. Of course, who controlled her now was a much more malicious being but Ember adapted the thought process that if he wasn't within screaming distance she was safe. Foolish as it may be, she was still new to all of this and figured that whatever kept her sane was the best path to follow for the time being.

He shifted beside her, that pout ever present, as his eyes blinked open. It took him a moment to realize that she had been staring at him and in response he simply raised an eyebrow and said, "Well you seemed to wake up on the right side of the metaphorical bed this morning," before closing his eyes and shifting so that he was on his back.

"I'm excited." She whispered as if it was meant to be kept secret.

After a moment, he smirked, his eyes still closed, and sighed heavily, "As you should be."

"You'll be able to do magic when we get there?" She asked softly. The idea that he wasn't allowed to do magic outside of school, that no child was, had unsettled her greatly when everyone that surrounded them could curse them at any moment.

"Mhmm," He breathed out with eyes still closed.

Ember took that as a sign that he was still waking up and fell silent.

~

Draco had balked when she stated that she had never been on a train as they boarded the Hogwarts Express. She didn't like the way he looked at her, as if she was entirely ridiculous. She honestly couldn't even remember what a train theoretically was when she was told that was how they were getting to Scotland. It was like the word had fallen out of her head.