sparks~drarry

Care for You: Part Three

Song: Guilty (remastered) by Al Jolson

Warnings: eating disorders, smuttiness, verbal abuse, and swearing

Notes: Sorry for not posting sooner, but I've been on a trip during the past week. Anyway, enjoy the last -- and long -- chapter in the Care for You mini series.

Length: 4.4k words

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Draco's POV

THE THAWING

Lately, my emotions have engulfed me. Strange ones. Whenever I catch Harry's gaze, those eyes the color of the forest that borders Malfoy Manor, my face goes hot, as if I have just been caught playing Peeping Tom. I always have to remind myself that that gaze is glass.

Lately, my icy heart has begun to thaw, but I have yet to realize why.

Beside me, my mother taps her foot repetitively against the marble floor. The sounds carries up to me, half igniting the flame of irritation in my chest, half making me warmly nostalgic for the days before the visits to the hospital. Before my father was never home. Before Harry.

Said robot sits on my other side, watching me out of the corner of its eye. I refuse to make eye contact, half to save me from humiliation, half because I have begun to also feel a sense of intense want whenever I see his -- its -- chiseled face. I have yet to discover what, exactly, my heart is yearning for.

For why we are sitting at the table, that is a mystery. My mother's stare drifts back to me.

"Draco, darling," she begins, her voice like sandpaper. "Your father is coming home in a week, and I expect you to have made visible improvement by the time he arrives."

Immediately, Harry cocks its head. "Mrs. Malfoy, that is not wise-"

"I do not care." she interjects. The group sits in silence before the CareBot raises its voice once again.

"I advise against such a request. The results could be devastating to Young M-Malfoy's body and mind, as gaining weight so rapidly is dangerous."

My mother ignores the stammer. "I will request another CareBot if you do not comply, Harry, as this is what I require. My son must look healthier. I cannot have my husband seeing him as the twisted, ugly wraith he is."

I flinch back at her remark, but dare not speak.

I half expect Harry to accept my mother's threat. Instead, it cocks its head once more, its frown deepening. "I will remain." Its voice is almost a mumble.

Then, without hesitating, it stands, casting a look towards me. "Well, Young Malfoy, I suggest we go walking in the garden. Such activities strengthen the body and the mind."

Desperate to escape the situation, I dart out of my chair while ignoring the pain in my muscles, leaving my mother behind in the quiet.

THE WANTING

The peculiar emotions return once we enter the serenity of the garden. Around us, the only noise is the song of a mockingbird and the careful buzz of bumblebees. We are immediately met by the aroma of jasmine. It billows around us like a sensual cloud, a drug. I close my eyes and inhale deeply before strolling to the maze.

The maze is a rather large series of hedges constructed by my aunt when I was only five. It writhes around the entirety of our land like a snake, the emerald hedges dotted with flowers such a bright yellow they remind me of the sun.

Harry seems to pause as we enter the maze, but I brush it off. As we walk, the cool shadows cast by the brush caress my shoulders, almost sexual in nature. The thought makes my stomach leap.