Star-Crossed Enemies (Draco Malfoy)

twenty five

ok wow i've been gone for a while...my apologies, i've missed writing this so i had to come back to it. for the few of you who read this, i love u. also i've made changes to the chapter names, forgive me. also enjoy :)
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I felt like I couldn't even trust the walls of my dormitory any longer. Was I still safe here? I no longer knew my new life from my old. The lines were blurring and I couldn't keep track.

A few hours passed and my head was spinning. Laying in my creaky bed watching the rain hit the window was comforting, but I was itching to get out. I grabbed dinner after the Dining Hall had emptied. I wanted to get out, but I didn't want to see anyone else. Back in my dorm, chicken and squash in hand, a package caught my eye. I set down the ceramic bowls who'd made little indents in my palms. Wrapped neatly on my desk was a little brown parcel with tweed string encompassing it. There was no letter, so finding the source of this mysterious package was fruitless.

I shut my door, assuming my first year roommate was with friends, getting into mischief. I unraveled the string, setting it aside and ripping up the paper. A book lay before me. The title read,

Romeo and Juliet
By William Shakespeare

How utterly inviting. I'd read the synopsis of the story sometime ago in the Muggle world. My mother loved stories and made sure I grew up the same. I thought of how poor Juliet daggered herself after finding her lover dead, a result of her own doing. A tragic tale of the wrong place at the wrong time. I thought of who could've sent this to me. Flipping open the book, I came to the conclusion that my mother wanted to surprise me with some light reading.

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun....

Arms make your last embrace! And lips, you are the doors of breath. Seal with a righteous kiss, the deal I have made with death forever.

I finished the darned thing in tears. Words have a way with themselves. They can seem so real, yet so faux. I closed my eyes at the thought and drifted off to sleep.

I awoke the next morning in a puddle of sweaty bedsheets. I'd had a dream. Or a nightmare. These days it was hard to define the two. I was back with Draco, in that eerie town we'd Apparated to in winter of last year. Only, it was summer, and I saw myself as a baby, and two people holding me, who weren't my parents. I recognized the girl, she was a Ravenclaw. Rowena's daughter, Helena. Which meant the man was Tom Riddle, and now Voldemort.

I shook the nightmarish dream from my thoughts and started off to classes, which were once again canceled, with the reason of Dark Business, as Dumbledore worded it. As long as I had no more encounters in the Forbidden Forest, I took this as an opportunity to recuperate. It's the least I deserved.

Midday was on the move and I met up with Harry and Hermoine in Hagrid's Hut. We were fed Wormwood sandwiches, needless to say Hagrid was better off sticking to animals, not herbs.

"Hagrid, Hogwarts is dangerous. With Dementors and now Death Eaters, how are we supposed to protect ourselves?" Harry croaked reluctantly. Hagrid set down his herb sandwich and ran his fingers through his beard. "I think it's best we all clear out 'fore they can get to us. Heard Dumbledore's talkin' to the professors now."

"But what about our OWLS?" Hermoine retorted. "I'm sorry but I've been studying for weeks and I can't just throw my work away." She crossed her arms annoyed. "This girl needa get her priorities straight, eh?" Hagrid laughed in mine and Harry's direction. Awkward silence filled the air and a knock at the door prompted Hagrid's answer.

He went outside to talk to the guest and minutes later, Draco Malfoy stepped into the muddy hut. Hermione and Harry shot each other disgusted glares. He nodded his head to me, motioning to the outside. I followed.

We sat on a rather large pumpkin Hagrid had been germinating. The rigid edges were anything but comfortable.

"How are you doing, Dela?"

"Don't call me that."

Tensions were high again. It went back and forth like that. Some days I was comfortable in Draco's presence, and others, we were cold as ice.

"Sorry. Did you get the gift I sent you?" He questioned shyly. "That was you?" I raised my eyebrows in shock. "I was expecting a better reaction, I must admit." He replied. A somber look crossed his face. "You're going to be okay. The Dark Lord won't kill you. He can't."

That's right Draco, because you have to.

I didn't say it out loud. The thought loomed in the air, as if we were both thinking it. It was ironic. It times of desperation, Draco was showing sympathy. Something I never saw before.

"Page 108. I hope you liked that one. Juliet has something good to say there." He eased out. The words came and went, and so did he. I watched him walk up the hill until he was nothing but a little black blob.

I hadn't noticed anything on that particular page and curiously, I opened the book. In between page 107 and 108, a third page was sewn in. I prodded it open and a note was enclosed.

I can save you before he comes after you. Room of Requirement. Tonight. Don't be late.

-D.M.

And with that, Draco Malfoy came one step closer to redemption.

Draco's POV
I grew hungrily impatient at the lack of Adela Grimm. Night was in full swing and she hadn't made her appearance. I had little time to help her. Soon enough, I'd be forced to kill her. The dark thoughts lingered and soon I saw her burst through the door. She met up with me and I let myself get lost in her eyes for nothing but a moment. A fleeting moment of forever.

I grabbed her hand abruptly, leading her to the back of the crowded room. Stacks of chairs and valuables passed us by. I stopped at a cloak and quickly pulled it off to reveal a cabinet.

"This is your ticket to safety." I began. I explained the rules of a Vanishing Cabinet. How I'd been originally mending it to bring Death Eaters to Hogwarts, but later realized I could use it to save Adela. I told her about it's sister, how it connected to Borgin and Burke's and how I'd be waiting there for her while the Death Eaters filed into Hogwarts. Her reaction was filled with relief. I took one look into her eyes, clinging to hope.

"If this works, Dela—"

She kissed me, cutting off my last sentence. Quickly, her hands took my cheeks, clutching onto my cold skin. My hands embraced her hips, holding her close to me. This girl was my guardian angel. And it was time for me to protect her.

The kiss ended, she regained her focus and thanked me again. With no further questions, we quietly left the room and parted ways. A glimmer of hope was planted in our hearts.