Black and White

34

The next morning, at breakfast, Katie Bell and Luna enter to the Great Hall, for the first time since they were cursed. Draco takes one look at them, and walks quickly out the door. I follow him, but he doesn't slow down.

"Draco, wait," I call. "Draco!"

"Just stay away!" he yells, walking faster.

I run to him, grabbing his arm, and he swings around to face me, pulling away.

"Draco, please, just talk to me," I beg. "What is going on?"

"You sure you wouldn't rather talk to Potter?" Draco hisses, but I can tell he's slipping, his breath quickening. He's not angry with me. Not really. "He's your best friend, isn't he? That's why you tell him everything."

"What are you talking about?" I ask, taking a step towards him. "Draco, you're my best friend. You always have been."

He steps away. "How could I be?" he questions, his eyes watery. "You don't know what I've done. What I'm going to do. I'm no one's friend. Not really."

"Draco," I try again, touching his sleeve. Frost blooms beneath my fingers, and I pull away. "Draco, please, I just want to help you."

Draco looks over my shoulder, then. "There's Potter now," he says.

He tries to leave again, but I have to talk to him, stopping him again.

"Enough, Lucida!" Draco shouts.

"Stop running," I say. "Talk to me, I can help you!"

"Flipendo!" Draco shouts, aiming his wand at me.

A brick wall seems to crash into me, sending me flying back as Draco runs for the nearest bathroom.

"Lucy, are you alright?" Harry asks quickly, stopping beside me.

"I'm fine," I mumble, rubbing my head.

Harry nods and runs into the bathroom after Draco. I hear the sounds of a fight from within, and running water. Then, the fighting stops. Snape walks past me, then, and into the bathroom. Seconds later, Harry rushes out, looking scared and stunned.

"Lucy," he says when he sees me. "Lucy, I'm sorry. I-I didn't know what that spell would do, I swear. I didn't know."

I push past him and run into the bathroom, splashing across the flooded floor, to see Draco laying in the water, his shirt bloody, tears streaking down his face. Snape kneels over him, muttering a spell I've never heard before. I fall to my knees beside my cousin, gently touching his shoulder. I go with them as Snape takes Draco to the hospital wing and sit by his bed as Madam Pomfrey gives him a potion to help him rest.

"Draco," I whisper once he's asleep, and we're alone in the hospital wing. "You really are my best friend. You've been there all my life. You comforted me when Bellatrix and your father would hurt me. You read to me when I had nightmares, you never let your friends pick on me. You hid me in your room when you knew your father was in a particularly bad mood. You pulled me from the lake when I jumped in. Dra, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here. I know you don't get along with my other friends, but it's only because you don't understand each other. You come from different worlds, with different experiences. But Draco, no one could ever replace you in my life. You should know that. You're my best friend, my cousin. And no matter what he makes you do, I love you, Draco."

I end up falling asleep leaning on the side of the bed. When I wake, Draco is tracing the frost on his blanket with his finger.

"Sorry," I say quickly, pulling away.

Draco shakes his head. "I know you haven't been sleeping well. There's bags under your eyes again."

"You haven't been sleeping well, either," I answer. "I hear you leaving the Common Room almost every night. And I heard you talking about the bird last night."

He closes his eyes for a moment, swallowing hard. "It was so small, so innocent. I thought I was ready to finish my mission. But I was wrong. The bird died. Because of me. Like how you almost fell off the Astronomy Tower, that night I pushed you."

"But I didn't," I answer. I reach for his hand, but pull away when I remember it could hurt, or even freeze, him. "I'm not going to die because of you, Draco. You're not a killer. The bird, whatever happened, it was an accident."

Draco looks away for a moment, then looks at the ring on my pinkie. "When are you going to tell me what that's about? And why you're so cold?"

Blushing, I tell him about the Burrow, from the kiss, to the burning, to Bellatrix's curse.

"How dare she call you a mudblood," Draco snaps.

I give a small smile. "My mother was Snape's sister, and they were half-bloods," I explain. "There is muggle blood in my family. But I don't care for blood-typing."

...

3rd Person POV
Astronomy Tower

"Have you ever considered that you ask too much, that you take too much for granted?" Severus asks, striding up to Dumbledore at the top of the Astronomy Tower. "Has it ever crossed your brilliant mind that I don't want to do this anymore? That I am tired of risking my life, my niece's life, for your plots? If I am found out, he will kill her."

"Whether it has or hasn't is irrelevant," Dumbledore answers. "I will not negotiate with you, Severus, you agreed. Nothing more to discuss."

With an angry snap of his robes, Severus strides away in his quick pace. Partway down the stairs, he freezes as he sees Harry Potter, the source of all his troubles. The one he promised to protect before he even realized what it might cost.

An odd look on his face, the professor goes around the boy and continues walking down the stairs.

Protecting a boy raised only so he could die. The irony was infuriating. Nevertheless, he couldn't very well badger Dumbledore about it while the arrogant teenager stood by. For now, the plan still had to remain a secret.