CRUCIO // Draco Malfoy X Reader

Chapter 11 - Slytherin Common Room

The girl was back. 

You were standing in front of her like you had been earlier today, except the room around you wasn't the Dark Arts classroom. It was... somewhere else. You couldn't quite remember where though...

The girl blinked up at you, her face passive. 

You turned around, somehow knowing what was going to happen before it did.

A scream rang out through the room as the girl contorted and collapsed, overcome with intense pain. You clenched your hands into fists, reminding yourself that you hadn't done it. You weren't even holding your wand-

Your fingers closed around your wand.

Your hand shot open again, and your wand clattered to the floor. This wasn't your fault-

The girl was in front of you again.

You turned in the opposite direction, only to find her again, kneeling in front of you, crying and screaming. 

This wasn't your fault. You didn't do this. You squeezed your eyes shut tightly. You didn't do this. This wasn't your fault. It was Carrow's fault-

You gasped, eyes flying open as you were filled with a burning pain. You were on the floor, your muscles shivering and contracting as you gasped for relief. You knew you were screaming, but no sound left your throat. 

Standing above you, with her wand pointed down, was Lyre. 

You shot up  in bed, your eyes flying open and your hands clutched at the sheets around you. You could feel the sheen on sweat on your skin, and your chest heaving for breath. Your eyes slowly focused on the dorm room around you. 

A dream. It was a dream. You were okay.

You calmed down your breathing as you situated yourself on the bed, pulling your knees to your chest and hugging them tightly. Beside your pillow, Dinah stirred lightly, sighing in her sleep. You were surprised your fit hadn't woken her. You glanced around the room to see if your nightmare had woken any of your friends, but both of their curtains were still closed.

You looked back down at your own pillow, slightly damp with sweat. 

You weren't going back to sleep tonight. 

Or perhaps, a different setting would let you drift back off. And no one would be in the common room now.

Sliding out of bed, you padded across the dorm room, opening the door to the stairs quietly and letting it fall shut behind you with a gentle clank. The stairs were dark and empty, but you knew the steps well enough not to stumble. After all, you'd done this before.

This was how countless nights with Draco had begun. You still remembered the giddy feeling that would have bubbled up inside you, the feeling of his arms around your shoulders and his lips on yours. 

You walked into the common room and laid down on the couch, gazing at the dying embers in the fireplace. The common room felt significantly better than the dorm room had - the air flowed more freely here, and it didn't feel so small. You settled into the sofa more, closing your eyes and letting yourself fully calm down.

It had just been a bad dream. A nightmare caused by a really bad day. It was fine. You were fine.

The couch dipped near your feet and you opened your eyes, your gaze landing on a familiar shock of platinum blonde hair and pale skin.

Draco spared you a glance before leaning back against the back of the couch and looking at the glass ceiling and the lake swirling above it.

You curled into yourself more, just watching him.

"Just like old times." He said ruefully.

"It wasn't that long ago." You said. 

Draco shrugged. "What forced you up and out of bed?"

"Nightmare." You said simply.  

Draco nodded understandingly. He looked slightly conflicted for a moment before he asked, "If you don't mind, erm, what was it about?"

You breathed in and out slowly. "Carrow's class today."

"Yeah... I heard about that." Draco said. He looked at you for a moment, appraising. "You alright?"

You nodded. "I'm... okay. It was just a nightmare."

"They, uh, go away eventually." Draco said. "If you're tired enough." He sounded like he was speaking from experience. 

You nodded. 

A moment of silence passed between you and Draco. An ember popped in the grate before going out. Above you, you could see faint streaks of moonlight through the lake water. Something darted by the glass, just a shadow in the water.

"He made our group practice the cruciatus curse too." Draco said quietly. "It was a couple of Hufflepuff third years who got caught sneaking into the kitchens."

"Ours was Gryffindor first years." You said. 

Another stretch of silence passed through. 

You shifted on the sofa. "I couldn't do it right."

"The curse?" Draco asked, glancing over at you.

You nodded. "I couldn't mean it."

He nodded to himself. "Carrow didn't... demonstrate it on you, or-?

"No." You interrupted. "No, I'm fine."

Draco looked considerably relieved at that. For a moment, you were both quiet, just soaking up the quiet calm of the common room and each other's presence. When Draco next spoke, his voice was soft, barely above a raspy whisper.

"Just... be careful in his class, alright?" He said, looking at you meaningfully. He took a pause before finishing his thought. "I don't want you to get hurt."

You looked at him, searching through grey eyes for some sort of answer. He didn't want you to get hurt... then why would he purposefully have hurt you? Or maybe this was a change. Maybe...

Draco rose from his seat, his hands finding their way into his pockets. "I'm going back up to bed."

"Oh." You said softly, looking up at him. "Alright."

Draco smiled thinly. "'Night."

"Goodnight." You said, watching him disappear into the shadows of the stairs to the boys side of the dormitory. After a few seconds, you couldn't pick out the shine of his blonde hair in the darkness, and you knew he was truly gone. 

You leaned back onto the sofa, just looking back up at the ceiling. He didn't want you to get hurt. What did that even really mean, coming from him?

You wanted it to mean something it probably didn't.

Why did you want it to mean something it didn't?