Limerence; Draco Malfoy

Chapter Six: No remorse

Three hours later...

The time on my watch read 1 AM, and the dormitory was still. Silent, except for the low howling cries of the wind. Dark, except for the faint, emerald glow which gleamed in from the lake.

I basked in this natural light, staring out at the murky green waters; -- stubbornly ignoring the stiffness in my neck which had come from the act of sitting motionless on the stiff window seat for too long.

I didn't know why I was still sat here. It was only making my homesickness worse. Only making my thoughts worse. But sleep seemed impossible. How could I? How could I even consider resting after all of today's chaotic events? My mind was still throbbing over them - over him.

My left ankle was throbbing quite a bit as well. The more I focussed on the pain, the more helpless and ashamed I felt.

Reader, I don't want to go into details about what happened after Mr. Arrogant fired that hex at me, because to be perfectly honest, the whole ordeal felt and still feels humiliating. I had been defeated. Yes, I had knocked him to the ground first, but he had got the last shot in, the last word and the last laugh.

The second the sparks from his wand hit me, the world went tipping sideways and my shoulder hit the stone floor with a sharp thud. Everyone went silent. Stunned. There was a series of low gasps, followed by laughter, followed by a half-hearted "What the hell Malfoy! You could've killed her!" followed by "You can't hex a girl, Malfoy!"

By that point my ankle was aching something awful, but my pride was still stronger than any pain I'd ever felt. I pushed against the ground with my hands, my vision splotchy; feeling incredibly determined not to faint. That'd really be the icing on the cake - fainting after one knock down.

Then a shadow clouded over me, and two strong arms had lifted me up. I staggered a little as I regained my balance, blinking as I looked up in surprise to find a pair of hazel eyes watching me carefully. A boy of my age - if not older - who I'd never seen before, had helped me up. He ran a hand through his hair as he pointed a finger between me and Draco, warning for us to stop.

Draco, who by this point had lowered his wand, was edging backward towards the fireplace. He wasn't glaring at me anymore. Oh no.

He was smirking with devilish pride.

"Stop it!" The boy who had helped me up yelled between us both. "Both of you! Are you out of your minds? You'll end up killing one another?!"

Draco had shoved his hands lazily into the pockets of his robes, before sending a loathing scowl in the boy's direction.

"That's like, the whole point." Finally -- something we could agree on.

"I-" The boy sighed. "Cut it out now! You've taken it to far! She's injured-"

"-I'm not injured in the slightest!" I insisted breathlessly, keeping my wand gripped tight in my hand.

Sometimes, most times, maybe even all the time, the stupidity in me manages to take over.

And there was nothing I could do but stand back and bask in the consequences of it - those of which I only had myself to thank for. Draco went to take a step forward, suddenly glaring again; but one of his friends, a boy this time, tugged on his shoulder. Draco didn't resist - but he didn't hold back from giving me one last malicious full body scan.

Rage bubbled in my chest, and it felt like magma in a volcano readying to errupt again; his glare was intense enough to make my blood molten. Intense enough to make my legs weaken and the room sway.

"Say one more word Lockwood, and the next shot I'll aim straight at your face. Go on."

I raised my wand.

The boy standing next to me seized me by the arm, and crushed it in a grip so strong I hissed out in pain. "Let go of me!"

"No! I'm putting an end to this. Do you want us both to lose house points?"

"I couldn't care less about this stupid house." I huffed, tearing my arm from his grasp and taking a step back. Pain shot up through my foot but I forced myself to stand up straight, although I was sure everyone could tell I was wincing.

"And this house couldn't care less about you."

That finale comment came from the smirking mouth of the raven-haired girl. She was standing almost protectively beside Draco, her hands folded across her chest. For some stupid reason, her comment flicked a switch inside of me, and with that, my rage simmered away. Instead replacing itself with a heavy, lonely weight in my chest. Something was pressing at the back of my eyes--

But I didn't care for public displays of emotion. Not like this.

Which is why I turned sharply on my heel and marched out of that room, muttering a "Whatever" under my breath, which I hoped sounded careless. Sure, I wanted to stay and make him suffer. Hex him into tiny little pieces. But I wasn't going to risk letting anyone see me cry either.

As soon as I'd stepped one foot away from the main crowd, my ears sought out their thrilled discussion.

"Draco! You could've killed her! You basically stunned her!"

"You did tell me to, Pansy. Can't blame a guy for taking orders now, can we?"

A girlish giggle.

"The ugly bitch deserved it. You still won though, obviously. Did she hurt you when she knocked you to the ground?"

"Pffft. No. The little freak barely even gave me a scratch. Neither did I to her, really. No use getting myself expelled over that."

"Oh, but you did hurt her. Did you see the way she was limping? What if you'd have accidentally knocked her out?" More shrill laughter. "Although that'd been hilarious."

"If bloody Blaise hadn't stepped in trying to play the hero I would've." I heard Draco mutter. "I don't give a damn if I hurt her or not - if anything, it would bring me great joy to see Violet Lockwood burned to the stake. Just like how it would give me immense pleasure to see that scar head Potter have the life sucked out of him as well."

The sounds of his cruel laughter and the crackling of the dying fire were the last things I heard before I shut the door to the empty dormitory, where I then ran inside the bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror for a long, long time.

Wondering - mournfully so - how the hell a day which was supposed to be fun, had turned into such a nightmare.