and I stand with you

sixteen

When we got back to the house, I was physically and emotionally drained of energy.
"I think you should stay with me tonight." Draco said, pulling back his duvet.
"Alright." I agreed, yawning into the sleeve of the jumper Draco had given me. It smelled of wood, spearmint, and vanilla.
"Don't look." I told him, as I pulled the sweatpants off and let them sit on the floor. I climbed under the comforter with him, pulling it up to my chest. I felt his feet next to me and immediately started laughing.
"You sleep with socks on?"
"Don't judge me." He scoffed, rolling his eyes at me.
"You're such a dork." I told him, yawning again. I never heard what he said next before I fell asleep once more.

It was no surprise to me or Draco when I woke up screaming again. It was a surprise to me, however, when I woke up with my arm around him and his around me.
"Hey, it's okay, just breathe." Draco rubbed my back, and I calmed down more quickly than I ever had.
"I'm sorry." I mumbled into his chest, trying to get my breathing back to normal. He ran his long fingers through my hair, humming soft tunes to coax me back to sleep.

When we finally woke up in the morning, there was a bird whistling outside Dracos window. He was already awake before me, watching tv as I laid in his arms. His fingers, once again, ran through my hair, but this time while he thought I was asleep. Draco Malfoy did have a soft side.

And it was me.

I listened to the tv with my eyes closed, cuddling deeper into his body as if I was still sleeping. I stayed there for a while, enjoying the calmness and peace.
"Are you awake yet, Via?" Draco whispered, in case I was still sleeping.
"Mhm." I said into his chest, still keeping my eyes closed.
"Octavia." He said with a somber tone, and I sat up to look at him.
"He wants to have a meeting with us." He frowned, playing with my fingers.
"When?" I sigh.
"As soon as you're ready. I was letting you sleep as much as you could before I woke you." He kicked his feet off the bed, pulling another sweater on.
"You can have this one back, Draco." I said, pointing to the one I was wearing.
"Keep it." He hummed, pulling me off his bed.
"Draco, what are you doing?" I asked, as he pulled me out the door. He only laughed in response.
"Draco! Stop! I'm not wearing pants!" This made him turn around and look down at my legs, quickly covering me with his body as a house elf walked by us. He hurriedly pulled me into my room, shutting the door behind us.
"Well?" He said as I stood in front of him not moving.
"Put on some pants then!" He laughed at me, and I rolled my eyes. He looked away as I got changed into my usual skirt, tights, black turtleneck outfit.
"You look good." Draco told me when he turned around.
"Thank you." I blushed, and we walked together to the meeting.

Per usual, Draco and I were stunned after meeting that was filled with threats and actual murder. I was becoming too desensitized to the Dark Lords actions.
"When are you going shopping for school supplies?" He asked me once we were back in my room.
"Later today, with Fred." I told him. He looked down, and I couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness that I was hurting him. But I couldn't do that to Fred.
"You and I could go tomorrow, if you'd like." I added, and this got a smile.
"Definitely."

Shopping with Fred for school, a school that I would have a hand in destroying, was more difficult than I could imagine. He would be so hurt and would feel so betrayed when he found out.
"You alright?" He asked, as I looked around at books.
"Yes! I'm fine." I lied, kissing him on the cheek. He smiled warily at me before looking around for his items. I stared hesitantly at a silver bracelet with a monogram in tiny letters of the word "amasiunculus", which I knew was Latin but I was unsure of the translation. It reminded me of Draco, and it looked like something he might wear. My head told me to take it. Take it, my brain teased, and I went against my morals and shoved it into my pocket. I looked around quickly and moved on.

"I don't want you to leave." Fred whined, caressing the side of my face.
"I'm sorry, Fred. We go back to school in like two days. Only two more days." I assured him, before backing up to aparate.
"I love you." He kissed me quickly, and I gave him a quick nod before twisting and disappearing.

I sighed a deep breath when I was back in my room, closing the door behind me and sliding down the cold wood to the floor.
"Vi?" Draco was sitting on my bed, watching tv, and I assumed he had been waiting for me.
"I'm so tired." I put my head in my hands, bringing my knees to my chest.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He rushed to my side, taking a seat next to me.
"Everything." I sighed, leaning on his shoulder.
"Want to watch tv and eat our feelings?" He nudged me, wrapping a warm arm around me.
"Yes please." I nodded, and we climbed on my bed to turn on a muggle show.
"You like this show don't you?" I pushed him, and we laughed together.
"Don't judge me." He scoffed, pushing me back.
"Fine, fine." I shook my head with a smile, "I like it too." I added. He smiled back at me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.
"I got you something." I remembered, pulling the bracelet out of my pocket.
"You got me a bracelet?" He stuck out his arm and I clasped it, and he looked down at the monogram.
"Amasiunculus. It's Latin." He picked up on, looking at it with wide eyes.
"Do you know what it means?" He looked back up at me, eyes still wide.
"No, but it looked like something you might like." I touched the cold metal against his wrist.

Faster than I could even blink, Draco had his hand on my cheek, and was leaning into me. I couldn't breathe as he got closer and closer, his minty breath tingling my skin.
"Draco." I whispered, closing my eyes and looking down.
"Octavia." He whispered back, making me look at him. The light glistened in his grey eyes as he looked me up and down.
"What are you doing?" I asked, pulling away from him.
"Don't pull away from me." His fingers danced on my thigh, daring to go further.
"I can't, Draco." I watched as he traced shapes into my skin.
"Don't think about it." He leaned into me once more, placing a soft kiss on my jawline.
"Draco." I gasped as his kisses led to my neck and I melted into the bed.
"If you're not going to kiss me back, the least I can do is make you feel good." He mumbled, unbuttoning my shirt as he climbed on top of me. My body carved into his, much to my dismay, as his touch was familiar and comforting.
"Draco." I moaned his name as he pulled my top under my shoulders.
"Say my name again." He demanded, kissing down my chest. I couldn't help myself as I ran my fingers through his hair as he made his way down my body. When he reached the hemline of my skirt, he looked up at me with his soft eyes.
"Draco, stop." I finally was able to push him away, tears stinging my eyes.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He stopped, trying to comfort me with his touch. I stumbled out of my bed and away from him, buttoning up my shirt with shaky hands.
"Octavia." He begged for my attention and I didn't look. Instead, I pulled on my boots and ran to the front door, aparating away when I get outside.