dislike ↠ draco malfoy

forty-one

Draco

The entire rest of the train ride, my heart seemed to be beating out of my chest. I was gripping the edge of my seat so tightly that my fingers had turned blue. I couldn't stop thinking about her, about Evangeline. Where had they taken her, and was she okay?

I should have done something.

I had just stood there and let them take her. God, I could be so stupid sometimes. But then again, if I had stood up to them, they would have gone running to my father, and god only knows what he would have done.

I need to find her.

"She'll probably be fine, mate," Blaise muttered to me.

I shook my head. "You don't know that..."

When the train ride was finally over, I immediately grabbed my trunk and hurried off of the train. I stepped out onto the platform. My parents wouldn't be coming, which was fine, I could just Apparate home.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ginny Weasley talking quietly with her parents. She looked incredibly distraught.

"I don't understand..." she said. "Why did they take them? Luna and Evangeline haven't done anything!"

"It'll be all right, dear," her mother replied. "Let's just go home now..."

Ginny's brown eyes caught my grey ones, and I immediately ripped them away. Before I could walk away, she called, "Malfoy!"

I spun around. "What?"

"I thought you—" she swallowed. "I thought you and Evangeline were friends. And you just—you just let them take her."

I stared at her. "You think I wanted them to take her?" I snapped. "No— I wanted to reach out and protect her, but I didn't really have a choice, did I?"

Ginny shook her head, her eyes watering. "There's always a choice."

I turned away from her. Guilt ran through me. Did I have a choice? I gripped the handle of my trunk tightly in my hand and walked away. I ran through the platform wall and out into King's Cross Station.

I sank back into a corner, watching a bustle of people walking around the platform. I closed my eyes and Disapparated. There was a popping noice and I appeared onto the driveway of the Malfoy Manor.

I didn't know where Evangeline was, but as soon as I had put my trunk away, I would go out and look for her.

"I'm home!" I called at the large iron-wrought gate in front of the manor.

The gate creaked open and my heart gave a leap when I saw that my mother was standing behind it. She looked a lot worse than she did when I had last seen her, but she still looked like my mother, my beautiful and kind mother.

She smiled and opened her arms. I rushed forward to embrace her.

"Draco," she said softly, reaching up to stroke my hair. "You're home."

"I missed you so much, mum," I muttered.

She released me and looked me up and down. "Oh, I think you got taller. You're getting so big!"