Bulletproof Heart | A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction | Sequel to Desolation Row

Chapter 2

It was a few days after mine and Draco's anniversary and my siblings' birthday was nearing. My mind had been racing with how I was supposed to get a gift to them - I didn't even know where they were. Were they back at Hogwarts? Were they out in hiding like I was? I had absolutely no idea. I missed Madeleine and Edward a lot, I hadn't seen them for nearly two months and I wasn't used to it. I didn't think I would ever get used to it. I had spent nearly 15 years with them living in my hair, my main worry about them usually being how could I get them to stop bothering me. But that had all changed now. Now, I worry about whether they can survive on their own without their older sister to annoy them and boss them about. I knew that they hated me sometimes - those days when our father would go out and leave me in charge. Those days when it was just the three of us because our father had to work late and I would make them go to bed on time so that they weren't tired in the mornings. We were siblings - it was natural for them to hate me sometimes. As I sat on the sofa, thinking about my siblings, I heard Draco descend the stairs.
"Lia?" he asked, causing me to raise my head towards him. "You know how after Scrimgeour died, Death Eaters infiltrated the Ministry?"
I nodded slightly as Draco sat down next to me. A lot had happened since August the 1st; a lot had happened since the Minister for Magic had been murdered.
"It's Umbridge, she's..." Draco took a deep breath before continuing. "she's started putting Muggleborns on trial."
I shook my head, only slightly. It was more a small movement that could contain my anger. I was seething. My father's best friend, Travis Lovell, was a muggle-born Auror. He had spent so much time with me and my siblings when we were younger, he was almost like an Uncle to me. He was a better Uncle to me than my mother's brother had ever been. Benson Marriott had never really been around. He had stopped associating himself with my mother when she married my father, meaning I never had much contact with him. Any contact had been completely severed when my mother died, meaning my siblings had never even met him. I sighed and looked at Draco. I had nothing to say, I didn't quite know how to react.
"Tr-Travis," I whispered, leaning into Draco's shoulder.
He stroked my hair and nodded, showing me that he understood. I sighed. I really wasn't sure how this day could get any worse. Just as the thought had run through my mind, I heard a loud crash from upstairs. Jumping up, I took the stairs two at a time, unsure of what had happened. As I drew closer, a loud meow echoed from the spare bedroom. I hurried in and gasped when I saw what had made the noise. Buchanan had attempted to jump up onto the bookcase, however a pile of books that were sitting on the side had fallen onto him, trapping him underneath them.
"Buck!" I trilled, rushing towards my injured cat who was continuing to meow relentlessly. "Oh b-baby, are y-y-you okay?"
I began lifting the books off of him, however, he began to meow even louder, arousing Draco's suspicion. My boyfriend appeared at the door just as I pulled the last book from on top of Buchanan.
"Is he okay?" asked Draco, worry lacing his voice.
I lifted Buchanan up into my arms, readjusting my grip when he mewed in pain. Waving my wand at the books now strewn across my floor, I watched them fly back into place before turning to face Draco.
"Bucky's l-leg is b-br-broken," I stated, shifting my gaze from Draco's worried countenance to my cat's injured limb.
Draco stared at Buchanan, who seemed to be glaring at him.
"Hey, it's not my fault!" defended Draco as our cat continued to stare at him. "This time, it was your own fault to be perfectly honest."
Buchanan hissed a little at Draco who took a step back and glared back at our cat.
"Don't you swear at me, Mister!"
I laughed before shaking my head.
"Draco, h-have we g-g-got any Skele-Gro?"
Draco seemed to think hard about my question before shaking his head.
"No. I'll go and get some. It'll be okay, I promise."
Draco added his second sentence after seeing the look on my face. He knew I wouldn't want him out on his own but at the same time I knew that we couldn't leave Buchanan alone. With a slow nod, I followed Draco out of the room and down the stairs. Duchess was laying on the sofa, her ears pricked -  she had been listening to us.
"He's o-okay," I assured my cat and she purred at me, although she had a slightly disgruntled look on her face.
Buchanan mewed at me in annoyance, clearly he was not okay and wanted me to know that I could not speak for him. Although I was sure Duchess was worried about Buchanan, I could also see a trace of 'I-don't-need-this-right-now' plastered across her face. It made me laugh. I sat down gently on the sofa with Buchanan, making sure I didn't knock his injury and put him in any more pain. Draco stood before the fireplace, a handful of Floo powder in his hand.
"I'll be back in ten minutes tops, okay?" said Draco reassuringly and I nodded, forcing my face into a smile.
I couldn't say I wasn't worried.

5 minutes had passed and I was worried, not severely so but it was there, at the back of my mind. Draco hadn't been gone for very long at all, I was trying to reassure myself that he was probably just caught up in the throng of Diagon Alley. But then again, who would want to go back to Diagon Alley after Bellatrix had attacked a few months ago. Duchess had fallen asleep next to me and Buchanan was fighting for sleep, the pain of his leg keeping his eyes wide open. Draco should be back soon.

10 minutes had passed and I was worried, more so now, my eyes glued to the clock. 10 minutes top, Draco had said. He should have been back.  I was now reassuring myself that he would be back any minute, that he was probably making his way back already, that he would appear through our fireplace any second. Duchess was still asleep beside my and Buchanan had found a comfortable position - well as comfortable as one can be with a broken leg. My eyes were now glued to the fireplace as I waited for my boyfriend to emerge. Draco should have been back.

15 minutes had passed and I was worried, terrified should I say. My heart was hammering against my chest as I paced around the room. Had we not been in the situation we are now, had anything about these passed few months gone differently, I perhaps wouldn't have been so worried. 5 minutes wasn't much, usually. But today was not usual. I had placed Buchanan down on the sofa, in a position that would bring him the least pain. Duchess slept on beside him. I watched the two of them, the gentle rise and fall of their chests, the way the fur that fell in front of their noses was disturbed as they slept. I watched them until I looked back at the clock, and then at the fireplace. Draco Malfoy was a criminal, a fugitive and he should have been home minutes ago.

20 minutes had passed and I was really beginning to panic. Nearly 10 minutes late, Draco was no where to be seen. Duchess was awake now, mewing in discomfort as her kittens pushed about inside her. Buchanan had fallen into a fitful sleep, waking up every now and then, the pain in his leg becoming unbearable. I held Duchess in my arms like a baby, rubbing her stomach as I continued to pace. I had no way of safely contacting Draco and that was what worried me above all else. The unknowing, the inability to know. There were so many people on the look out for Lucius Malfoy that would be sure to snatch up Draco as soon as they saw him. They would have no way of knowing his change of allegiance, they would have no way of knowing that he stood against his father, not with him. They wouldn't know anything and neither would I. If there was any chance that Draco was hurt or in danger, I wouldn't know and he should have been home by now.

It had been half an hour. There was no sign of Draco. Duchess and Buchanan had huddled up together, taking each other's pain away. My feet were numb from pacing, my eyes aching from blinking back tears. I had no idea where Draco was. It had been nearly 20 minutes since he should have been home but he wasn't. I had given up watching the fireplace, it was taunting me now, teasing me as I looked at it. No. My eyes stayed fixed on the clock. I watched each hand move, watched the second hand move around the circumferance and watching the minute hand as it slipped from 2:31 to 2:32. Silence rang through the empty house. I swung around to look at the clock on the opposite wall. It held four hands, each with a different face of the family on. I had been checking it, each time Draco's hand stayed firmly on 'Out', whereas mine, Duchess's and Buchanan's sat at 'Home'. This time, it was different. Draco's hand had moved. It no longer sat on 'Out.' Now, it was twitching, shifting in the space between 'Home' and... 'Lost'. I gasped. Draco was hurt, he couldn't get home. Why not? I couldn't take my eyes off of the clock. Nothing else mattered to me in that moment, nothing could tear my eyes away from the forged piece of metal that held the only information as to where the most important person in my life was. Nothing... not until a thud echoed around the room and a bottle of Skele-Gro rolled to a halt at my feet.

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Hey guys!!

I hope you liked this chapter because I loved writing it!! Sorry I haven't been updating regularly and it's kind of been all over the place but I'm hoping to slip into more of a pattern in the future.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading and I love you all!!

- Izzy xx