daughter of wands (d.m)

XXXVII

"You're crazy..." He whispers under breath. His eyes barely meet mine through his tousled blonde hair, although I don't need to see them to know he's scowling at me.

I shrug lightly, "Maybe... But don't you think it's at least worth a try?"

He opens his mouth to speak, nothing coming up but a few mumbles, his mind gathering his thoughts. "How would we even... We couldn't... Could we?"

My eyes scan across his room, his boyish charm almost palpable on the walls. The green sheets that his mother still washed, the moving pictures of his sullen looking family on vacation, the newspaper clippings of his favorite quidditch team hung up with tape.

I remember my own room, peony yellow walls with pink posters of the Spice Girls and Britney Spears. My pastel blue and green duvet hanging over my fluffy mattress that sat below a beautiful canopy bed. Polaroids of my friends and I, Athena and others, danced above my vanity with things like 'New Years '95' and 'Nicole's B-Day' written in ink on the frames.

On the outside we were vastly different, but inside, we shared such similar lives.

We were still kids, and he was right, this wasn't fair. We should be excited about going back to school to see our friends, not thinking of ways to avoid having to kill our headmaster.

"I'm not sure yet," I say honestly, placing a hand on his warm back. "I just need some time to think."

"You don't have time," He says, his tone angrier than before. He sucks in a deep breath, his chest rising and falling as he runs his hand through his hair. "Sorry... I didn't mean to yell at you I just... I don't think we can do anything, we leave tomorrow."

I shrug, "It might be easier to come up with a plan once we're away from everyone. Maybe leaving is just what we need."

He ponders for a moment, his eyes lowering to the floor as he breathes deeply. Finally his head shakes, "We can't. It's too risky."

He stands quickly, his hands flattening out his green plaid pajama pants as he walks to his dresser and pulls out a pair of black slacks.

He quickly shimmies his pj's around his ankles before kicking them off to the side. I blush as he removes his shirt, my eyes boring a hole through his toned back.

He turns around and meets my eyes as I jerk my head away, pretending to be enthralled by the painting he has hung up next to the door.

"Sneaking a peak, are you?" He says with a smirk.

"What?" I say wistfully, acting like I didn't know what he was talking about.

He chuckles, "Cheeky."

I can't stop the smile forming on my lips as I stand, "No, it's not that I just... I was really... Intrigued by that painting over there."

"Were you?" He asked devilishly.

"Yeah its really beautiful," I say proudly. "Where did you find it?"

He laughs to himself, "So what's the painting of?"

My face suddenly becomes hot as I realize I didn't even look to see what it was. Without thinking I dart my head around to check, a dimly lit forest taking shape.

"Caught you," He says happily, throwing his new shirt on. "I don't mind being ogled at."

"Excuse me I was not ogling," I retort with a furrowed brow.

"Whatever you say," He shrugs while pulling me in for a quick kiss. "You should get ready too, we have a busy day ahead of us."

"Oh right..." I say, my mood instantly deflating as I remember my meetings with the Dark Lord have only just begun. With Draco and I leaving for Hogwarts tomorrow, I'm sure he has plenty to talk to us about.

Draco chuckles as he notices my frown, "You know you can get changed in here too, if you want. I won't look I'll just stare at that painting..."

I mock his laughter as the smirk across his lips tells me he's lying. I roll my eyes and head to the safety of the door, "Nice try but I think I'll change in my room for now."

"Alright," He says, perching on the edge of the bed and crossing his arms. "But if you change your mind you know where to find me."

"Very funny!" I shout as I round the corner and close heavy wood behind me.

Finally alone in the hallway, Draco's bold comments melt away as I look down at my left wrist, the tattoo still bubbling like a fresh wound. My head feels heavy as the room spins, my mind begging my feet to move down the corridor.

My legs listen, stumbling to my room, my hand gripping the knob for support and my lungs gasping for air. I slam the door and rest my back on the cool wood as I slide down till I'm sitting on the floor with my head between my knees.

Once I feel a little bit of my strength restore, I stand up and change my clothes as slowly as humanly possible. After I felt comfortable I made my way across the hall to the bathroom and checked myself out in the mirror.

The bags under my eyes were heavy and black as I tried to comb through my ratted auburn hair. As I was brushing, I caught sight of the dark mark and again my insides began to spin.

I grabbed a hold of the basin, my eyes welling with tears as the weight of the world suddenly felt like it was on shoulders.

I looked up at myself through messy strands of hair as I vowed never to let my guard down again.

Maybe Draco was too afraid to take his life back into his own hands, but I wasn't.

And right now I needed to be strong enough for the both of us.

****