LIGHT ━ draco malfoy

026

! chapter twenty-six !

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HAVEN FLIPPED THE PAGE of the book in her hands, her eyes scanning the words in front of her as she read. The room was dark and quiet, the only light was from the dim candle placed on the nightstand next to her. She suppressed a yawn, and forced herself to keep reading. If she were being honest, Transfiguration class was the last thing on her mind, but she needed to get caught up. Suddenly, the bed shifted from below her, and Haven casted her gaze upward to meet Draco's grey eyes. She'd been sitting with him all afternoon, but this had been the first time he woke up.

Haven offered him a small smile, although she didn't feel happy at all to see his pale face staring right back at her. It was then she realized the bags under his eyes, even though he had been asleep almost all day, he still had them. "How are you feeling?"

"Do you really want to know the answer to that?"

"What? Like pain-wise, or am-I-just-being-nice-and-don't-actually-care-wise?"

"The second one."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his cluelessness. "I told you before, Draco, I do care about you."

"I attacked your brother," he reminded her in a sharp tone, but she didn't flinch. Instead, she gave him a pointed look, and he raised a brow at her expression.

"Yeah," she shrugged. "He had it coming. He's an asshole and he almost killed you." Draco looked like he wanted to say something, but he decided against it. The two fell into a silence that surprisingly didn't seem to bother Haven. Just like last time, the silence was actually bearable.

"Why do you always do that?" Draco randomly asked, and her brows pinched together in confusion.

"Do what?"

"You'll stand up for everyone else but yourself. I heard what your brother said, but instead of retorting you stayed silent. You did it with my father and Umbridge, too. Why?"

"You keeping tabs on me now?" She questioned teasingly, but Draco didn't seem amused. Finally, Haven shrugged. "I don't know. I've always been like that. I guess I feel like I don't deserve to be defended."

Draco inclined his head back onto the pillow, his eyes sparkled with interest. "Why is that?"

"Look at all of these people who have died for me. My mum, dad. Sirius. Who knows who else? I feel like maybe this is my punishment for their sacrifices. And Harry is right, you know. He's the Chosen One. I'm the sibling who's left in the dark, the one no one talks about. Which is fine, I suppose, I really don't mind, but I know our parents would be disappointed in me. After all, what have I even accomplished?" She abruptly stopped herself once she realized she'd been rambling, but Draco didn't look annoyed, which surprised her. Hesitantly, Haven swallowed before speaking again. "Did...did you actually hex Katie?"

Draco averted his eyes, staring at the ceiling, and Haven's heart dropped once she realized the answer. She abruptly pushed herself up, her chair scraping against the floor as she attempted to leave, but his cold hand on her wrist stopped Haven from going anywhere. "Let me explain."

"There's no good explanation for you trying to hex an innocent girl."

She pulled out of his grasp, and made it about five feet away from his cot before what he said made Haven stop in her tracks. "He threatened to kill you."

Slowly, Haven turned around and warily approached the blonde. "He?" She repeated, and when he didn't reply, she understood immediately. Haven carefully sat onto the edge of the bed next to him, still warily of his injuries. She breathed a heavy sigh, gently taking his hand and interlocking their fingers together. "I don't want you to put yourself through that for the sake of my wellbeing. Let me die, I don't care. I don't want any blood on your hands, okay?"

"If I did that, you'd just be another person I failed. I wasn't about to let...I wasn't going to let you die, okay? I'm not proud of it, but what's done is done."

Haven swallowed thickly, and nodded, before standing up. "I think I'm gonna let you get some more rest. Snape said you lost a lot of blood. You're lucky to be alive. That spell almost..." Haven cut herself off, threw her bag over her shoulder, and began to make her way out of the hospital wing.

"Wait," he weakly called out, and she glanced back to look at him, confused. "Are we—is what we have over now?"

His question felt like a punch in the gut. "Is that what you want?"

"Of course not."

Haven's stomach erupted into butterflies, and she struggled to keep her voice even. "Then no."

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Haven took a bite out of a chicken wing before pushing her plate off to the side. She stared at the half-written essay in front of her, taking in her lip between her teeth as she thought of words to put down. Finally, when something came to her, she quickly jotted them down before she could forget. By the time she was done, the page was filled to the very last line. The bench shifted from next to her, and Haven glanced up to meet Malory's gaze.

"Hermione told me she forced Harry to get rid of the book," is what she said, and Haven held back a scoff.

"Good. He almost killed Draco. God, Mal, you should've seen him. Harry has never acted that way before, I almost felt this sort of like...darkness take over when he casted that spell."

"He's really upset, too, you know. You should talk to him."

"Look," Haven started sharply, turning to face her. "I'm glad you and my brother are a thing or whatever, really. I am. You guys are made for each other. But just because you guys are dating doesn't give you the right to barge into our business. So stay out of it." Malory reeled back at her tone, her face falling slightly, and Haven's hand flew to her mouth once she realized what she'd said. "I'm—"

"No, it's fine," Malory cut her off, nodding. "I get it. Just another day of me being left out of the friend group." She huffed, and pushed herself upward, before walking out of the room. Haven made a move to go after her, until Luna's soft voice spoke out.

"Don't," she commanded. "It's rare she gets angry, but when she does she usually likes to be alone."

Haven sluggishly fell back into her seat. "You know, I feel like I should know that. She's my best friend, and yet I don't know jack-shit about her. And I've never made any effort to get to know her more either. God, I'm such a bitch."

"Haven—" Luna started, but she'd already begun to pack her stuff up.

"Don't worry about me. I just need some air."

Quickly slinging her bag over her shoulder, Haven began to walk down the row in between tables. She studiously kept her gaze forward as she walked past Harry, ignoring his calls, and she made her way into the hallway before she let out a giant sigh. Haven swallowed, and straightened herself out as she started to walk towards her next class.

She really didn't know what was going on with her. It was like she was completely blinded with anger, and by the time she registered what she was saying or doing, it was already too late. Haven was struck with a sudden thought, and before she realized it, she was already running towards the headmaster's office.

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— AUTHORS NOTE

i keep trying to shift but it's not working 👊🏼😔 heart been broke so many times

also here's your daily reminder to NOT BE A GHOST READER omfg it gets me so heated i literally had a person ask me yesterday to update and they hadn't left me any feedback on the previous chapters???? at LEAST vote i'm gonna lose my mind