Collarbone Control

2

'So you're gonna tell Potter to back off and grow up?'

'Erm yeah?' Draco looked back towards his friend.

'Just like that after 7 years of fighting?' A painted expression of confusion sat on Blaise's face.

'Mhmm.'

'Well, by all means, go for it mate - don't think he's gonna like it.' Blaise looked at Draco with slight concern.

'Umm well, what better way to get at Potter than being the bigger man' Draco shrugged back in retort.

'That's true' agreed Blaise ' Potter always has to be the golden one, now he's gonna be outshined by his favorite Slytherin'

Blaise moved towards his friend and ruffled Draco's thin hair with a soft grin.

'Uhm, Draco,' Blaise paused with concern, 'are you a cat or something cus I think you're malting.'

A light nervous giggle erupted from Blaise's throat as Draco looked up and saw a clump of his own pale hair in Blaise's dark hand. Shit. Draco knew why, he just couldn't say. He knows what malnutrition does but that scared him. He could feel the fear in his throat rising to his eyes. He could feel his friend's concern burning into him, scorching his pale skin as he sat in place. Unmoving.

Questions. Questions were the worst and Draco was not in the right state of mind to answer any, he wasn't ready to receive that kind of torture. He simply stood up and charged towards the door legs aching in response, ignoring any of Blaise's shouts and questions. He pushed past Pansy on the way out of the common room.

'Hey!' she shouted after him 'Dray? where are you going?'

Again, he ignored her. He continued to block out any sounds in his angry race towards the grounds - immediately hit with a small chill from the autumn breeze, but the linger of the sun's heat was present, it was still warm in the evenings sometimes. Besides Draco knew spells to keep him warm since he was cold nearly all the time.

He reached a Beech tree he frequented and threw himself to the ground. His eyes blurred as this fast movement was too much for his fragile state and slight nausea struck his body. The sharp grass stabbing through his clothes attacking his thighs.

Stupid. Idiot. Draco. You fool. You class A fucking low life. Why are you like this? Why?

'Just EAT for God's sake.' he screamed out loud, frustration bubbling ready to spill over beneath his conscience. Then they came. The tears. An unstoppable force once he started. It all came into his head then. Flooding him until he couldn't breathe.

All the pain, all the suffering, it was always him.

Seeing Dumbledore die. Seeing his classmates killed before his eyes. What that monster did to his own teacher right before his eyes. What his father thought were fair punishments. How Bellatrix loved to show Draco how much Crucio can hurt.

His mind stung from the memories as they played over and over in his head, torturing him with what he knew he couldn't endure.

Unable to breathe from the emotional pain, he began to hyperventilate. His fingers began to tingle and his eyes went blurry. Dread filled his heart as he felt like would surely die. Head feeling heavy and soul feeling sucked dry of everything. He was shaking so hard he felt like vomiting for the second time tonight.

'MALFOY?' an unknown voice filtered through in the midst of his panic.

Draco had neither enough strength or energy to decipher who it was as his breathing continued at a rapid pace. He felt hands on his shoulders but couldn't open his eyes. His teeth felt like breaking and cracking under pressure due to how much he was clenching his jaw.