Adamantine - D.M.

Chapter 17 - Chirps & Confessions

The holidays passed uneventfully; well, as uneventfully as one could expect, given I'd joined a Pure Blood supremacy organization against my will, found out my parents were Death Eaters, and been tasked with helping kill the headmaster of my school. The burning sensation from the Dark Mark had faded a bit, but the sensation lingered whenever I moved my arm. The apprehension was worse.

I woke up at dawn on the first day of classes and made my way to the library early. I was reading a book in bed when Lavender entered the room; causing me to almost jump out of my skin. The book was titled 'Magical Furniture Repair', and I'd been deeply examining it, searching for a passage on vanishing cabinets. "Sorry-" she said, noticing my reaction "-Are you reading about furniture repair?". "Oh- um, yeah- my desk, um-" I stumbled over my words, trying to find a plausible lie. "Are you going to breakfast soon?" I redirected, hastily shutting the book and storing it in my book bag. She leaned on my bedpost, clearly unfazed by my strange behavior. "Do you think Ron likes the necklace I gave him?" She mused, twirling her hair and looking out the window. I felt briefly grateful, knowing my friends were far more enamored in their own personal lives to question mine.

It wasn't until potions that I saw Draco. He pretended not to notice me as he walked into the classroom; arguing loudly with Blaise Zabini about something. I saw him out of the corner of my eye throughout the lesson. He would occasionally steal a glance at me, looking slightly uneasy as he did so. Was he worried I'd said something? As Malfoy was not someone I'd been known to have a casual chat with, I spent the class concerned about when I would speak with him, rather than listening to Slughorn go on about antidotes and their origins. The bell rang almost unexpectedly, as I was staring off behind the professor, lost in thought. As I began packing up my books and quill, someone shoved me from behind. "Watch it" I snipped, before realizing it was Draco. He'd dropped a folded square of parchment onto my chair, and ignored me as he waltzed out of the room, back in conversation with Blaise.

"Room of Requirement, 6 o'clock" was written on the note in his untidy scrawl.

At 5:45 pm, I excused myself from dinner to go "ask Professor Trelawney about my planetary predictions" as an excuse to go to the 7th floor; where I knew the Room of Requirement was. As I climbed stairs past all of the portraits, a sense of trepidation set in, and I wasn't quite sure if the bundle of nerves in my stomach could be attributed to fixing the cabinet, or the boy I would be fixing it with. I walked past the blank wall 3 times, eyes shut tightly and repeating in my head "I need the room where Draco is". When I opened my eyes, a nondescript wooden door stood before me. Pushing it open hesitantly, I was greeted with a vaulted ceiling that seemed miles high; with just about every single item I could think of in the room. Piles and piles of old furniture, books.. jars of slimy animals, chests of drawers, swords, knives, old broomsticks... I was in awe at the size of the room. It seemed to stretch in every direction, teetering stacks of forgotten items threatening to topple onto each other. A chirping bird drew my attention to the right, and I wandered into the mess. The floor was dusty and laden with melted candles and book pages, strewn about as though someone had thrown things away in a hurry. It wasn't long until I saw the slender figure of Draco, staring up at a tall, dark cabinet. He turned around quickly in surprise when I approached, almost releasing the small bird he was holding. "Is this it?" I asked, still awestruck at the room of hidden treasures. Draco nodded in an exaggerated way and rolled his eyes as he did so, as if to say 'of course'. "I was just about to test it", he said, holding up the tiny chirping bird. He set the small bird gingerly into the cabinet, and shut the door slowly, repeating a few words under his breath as he did so. With his wand, he tapped the cabinet, muttering again a string of words that I couldn't decipher. The chittering of the bird stopped. I looked at him apprehensively as he took a deep breath, and began whispering the incantation once again, presumably to bring the bird back. With bated breath, he opened the wooden doors, and his face went white. The little bird lay on the bottom of the cabinet, dead.

Draco threw his head back in exasperation. "I've been at this all day," he said and began pacing. In his frustration, he kicked a chest of drawers, and a stack of junk that was piled on it crashed down onto the floor, scattering glass vials, books, and cracked crystal balls rolling in every direction. I grabbed his wrist in reassurance, but he ripped it from my grasp almost instantly. "Draco-" I was annoyed at his gesture "why did you ask me to come if you don't want me here?". He sucked his teeth in exasperation. "I didn't say I didn't want you here". Now it was my turn to roll my eyes; "oh, so now that your little vow is complete and I'm a fucking Death Eater, you suddenly want nothing to do with me?" He fixed an icy stare down at me, and shook his head. "So what do you want then? Your mother practically begged me to help you, and clearly you have no idea what you're doing" I gestured dramatically to the dead bird in the cabinet. He caught my arm while it was extended, and closed his hand around my wrist. His rings felt cold against my skin. "I don't want you here, because I don't want you to get hurt". He registered the look of utter confusion on my face and dropped my arm. I burst out laughing, despite the very serious look on his face. "Aw, you don't want me to get hurt?" I said in a mocking voice and lifted up my sleeve to show the Dark Mark. "Little late for that huh, Malfoy?". He looked cross, as I usually called him by his first name. "So what did you ask me here for then? I'd hate to waste my evening with a Slytherin prat if I can help it". His jaw clenched, and his cheeks flushed when I said this. "You really are a bitch, you know that right?" he sneered at me, finally done taking my verbal beating. "Oh, I'm so offended Malfoy". He took a deep, steadying breath; as he was clearly dangerously close to losing his temper. The fire behind his eyes scared me a little, but I didn't want him to know that. Draco sighed sharply. "I asked you to come here because I wanted to make sure you weren't getting involved. This is my job to do." I crossed my arms. "What's with the change of heart? I don't even want to help. I'm kind of being forced here if you haven't noticed" I argued. "I changed my mind" he replied combatively, dancing around the real reason he didn't want me involved. I scowled at him. "Fine! Fine. I don't want you here because I care about you. Okay? Is that what you wanted to hear? That I've liked you since I saw you on the fucking train first year? Shocking, I actually give a shit-" he ranted, but I had already started backing away at the mention of the word 'care'. Draco Malfoy, liked me? I was out of the room before he'd even finished his sentence. 

As I lay in bed that night, staring up at the ceiling, I couldn't decide what was more dumbfounding; finding out my parents were Death Eaters, or Draco Malfoy actually admitting he has feelings.