Entranced (Draco Malfoy)

•twenty-seven•

Dove Taylor and Draco Malfoy sit in their compartment, on the way home for Christmas break. The two are exhausted, to put it plainly. They've spent the last few weeks going out of their Common Rooms after curfew with Dove's Sneakoscope to look for anything out of the ordinary.

It had proved unsuccessful. However, whenever they neared the Room of Requirement, it spinned faster than she'd ever imagined. After that, they did whatever they could to get into the Room of Requirement short of blasting it open, but it wouldn't work. 

"I'm glad to feel safe again," Draco murmurs, his head in her lap. 

"Me too," she agrees.

The compartment door slides open, and the two look up irritatedly, expecting Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, or Ron Weasley to be there. Instead, they're surprised with Blaise Zabini's presence. Dove looks behind him, but Pansy Parkinson is nowhere in sight.

"Hello," she greets, slightly suspicious.

Her Sneakoscope is in her bag, and she notices Draco edging towards it a little. Blaise enters without a word, shutting the compartment door. He takes out his wand, causing Draco to sit up hurriedly, his hand on his wand. 

"Muffliato," Blaise casts, putting his wand away after. "It's been awhile, huh?"

He looks tired. Dove's heart goes out to him at how tired he seems to be.

"We've missed you," she whispers. "Is everything okay?" 

"No," he laughs. "I've been trying so hard to make things okay, but they're not."

"What's going on?" The blond Slytherin dares to ask, putting his hand over his girlfriend's.

He squeezes, causing her to look over at her now-open bag. The Sneakoscope is spinning. She swallows heavily, squeezing his hand tightly. She can't help but feel terrified. Is Blaise the one who almost killed her? 

"You two shouldn't come back," Blaise utters, his voice suddenly choked up. 

"Why?" Dove questions, fear pounding her heart. 

"It's not safe at Hogwarts." He dabs his forehead with the back of his hand, sweating a little, "You weren't supposed to survive." He looks directly at her. "But I couldn't watch you die, Dove. Draco wasn't good before he starting dating you. And... I like you. I couldn't kill you."

"You--you're the one who's going to kill Dumbledore?" She whispers in fear.

"I'm afraid so," he laughs, switching back to being completely normal. "I don't have a choice. I have to kill both of you. Don't you understand, Dovelyn?" She cringes, shivering a bit. "I don't have a choice like your boyfriend did. I can't just run away. Draco, your mother died for you."

Her boyfriend gets very stiff, tightening his grip on her hand to the point of pain. She doesn't draw away. She too is in shock. She knew it was coming. She knew Narcissa would die for protecting her son, but she didn't think that it would be so soon. She definitely didn't think that it'd be at a time where the couple needed her most. 

"Blaise," Dove says sharply, "Go. You've done enough. Thank you for telling us, but right now, we need some time alone."

"I have to kill you, Dove!" He near shrieks, raising his wand directly at her. "I don't want too! But He will kill my mother and my sisters!" 

Draco rises, taking his wand out and pointing it at his former friend, "If you ever raise your wand at Dovelyn Taylor again, I will kill you," he says menacingly. 

There is no doubt in her mind that he won't do it. Dove stands, standing in the middle of the two with her hands raised.

"Both of you, stop," she says, voice cracking. "Blaise, I don't want to hurt you, but if you don't get out right now, I will."

"Don't come back," Blaise pleads, tears filling his eyes, "So I don't have to kill you both."

With that, he mutters the counter-spell to release the silence before hurrying out of the compartment. She shuts the door, locking it easily. She dares to glance at her boyfriend, finding him sitting, his eyes staring at nothing. There is so much pain all over him. 

"He could be lying," Dove whispers, sitting next to him. She doesn't try to reach out to him. "What can I do?"

He shakes his head, a tear rolling down his cheek. His hands cover his face, sobs wracking his strong shoulders. She swallows, trying to erase the lump in her own throat. Seeing her boyfriend like this is something she never thought she'd encounter. It breaks her heart to see him like this.

Cautiously, she wraps her arms around him, trying her best to help him through this even though she knows there's nothing she can do.

She has experience with this. When she lost Cedric, everything went black. Nothing helped. Nothing could ease her pain, make her happy, or help her through what she was dealing with. 

"How can she be dead?" Draco asks pleadingly.

She doesn't answer. She pulls him closer to her, holding him tightly as if that could mend his broken heart. She doesn't know what they can do or where they can go from here. If they leave Hogwarts and go on the run, does that help anything?

But if they go back to Hogwarts and stop Blaise from killing Dumbledore, what does that accomplish? She blinks, tears rolling down her cheeks and falling onto her boyfriend's shirt.

They know who the task holder is. But at what cost?