Her Protector (Draco Malfoy)

Chapter Five

The next day was the Third Task. When Harry came back screaming that Voldemort was back, I already knew Draco wouldn't be finding me on the train. My parents had taken me home from Hogwarts that very night. They'd come to watch the Third Task to support Hogwarts and see me, but when Cedric Diggory came back dead, they took me home.

Surprising myself, I waited for Draco to owl me all summer. He didn't. By the time I boarded the train and bid goodbye to my parents, I'd lost all hope.

The compartment door slides open, but I'm not fazed. I wait for Hermione to speak, knowing that she's going to tell me off as she always does for sitting alone and not finding her immediately.

"Hey."

I freeze, slowly looking at Draco Malfoy, "Malfoy?"

"I'm here."

"And?" I ask.

"He's back."

I slump into the seat, "I know." I don't let the silence reign for too long, instead moving on to what we'd both been waiting for, "Do you still want me?"

"I've wanted you since first year, Elaira Williams, come here," he murmurs, pulling me into a kiss that takes my breath away. We both linger in the kiss, but we both know it's futile. "I love you."

"But it's not enough," I whisper painfully, voice cracking. I pull away, feeling weak as a tear rolls down my cheek. "It'll never be enough."

"I have to go," he sighs, sounding more reluctant than I've ever heard him. "Promise me something." I look at him expectantly, not trusting my voice to speak. He reaches his hand up to my face, brushing a tear away with his thumb. "Stay out of trouble. Keep yourself safe."

There's an unspoken sentence underlying in his words: he won't be there to save me anymore. I swallow heavily, the underlying words hitting me like a rogue spell. I take a deep, shuddering breath before nodding, looking at my hands. We're truly done, then.

"I promise," I say. "Don't be such an ass this year."

A faint smile appears on his face, and he shakes his head at me, "I'm afraid that's impossible, love."

I roll my eyes, "So, we're going back to arguing all the time, then?"

"It appears so."

"Well, then, it's only in my nature to tell you to get the hell out of my compartment and go to your own friends," I say sweetly, winking at him.

"And it's in my nature to tell you to stop being such a sarcastic git," he replies, kissing my cheek before opening the compartment door. "This is the last time I'll say it, Williams, simply because it has to be the last words I speak to you when we're still in this state. I love you. I always have, and I always will."

He nods at me one last time before leaving. My lip wobbles, pain breaking through my chest as I begin to cry.

"I love you, too, Draco Malfoy," I murmur to myself, the first time ever speaking the words.

From then, I'd expected smooth sailing. We weren't dating, we were back to hating each other, and that meant I was free. Or so I thought. To my utter despair, Professor Snape, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Umbridge sat us next to each other. And, as expected, we argued the entire time. I remember when I walked into Potions for the first class of fifth year, and I really remember losing twenty house points during the first ten minutes.

I release Harry's arm to enter the Potions classroom, waiting dutifully for him to come in before we proceed to our seats. We'd devised a plan last night to sit together in all of our classes that way I can protect him from jerks who want to be mean to him for saying Voldemort is back and he can protect me from Draco bloody Malfoy.