the boy who had no choice [d.m]

𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖞 𝖋𝖎𝖛𝖊

ELARA AVOIDED DRACO.

Not because she particularly wanted to but because the tension between them was just so confusing, it made her nauseous.

His words still echoed in her mind, even when she was knee-deep in school work or in a duel with both the Patil twins.

It didn't matter what she was doing or where she was. Draco seemed to be permanently engraved in her brain, a tattoo she wished would fade so she could actually form a proper, rational thought about him.

But all she could remember was his mouth on hers and his large hands and the ring she'd got him glinting in the starlight as he pushed her hair behind her ear as they lay entwined in bed.

"Hey, 'Mione." Elara flopped down next to Hermione in the library, Amelia trailing after her. "Studying?"

Hermione looked up from the book she was hunched over, her bushy hair pulled back into a tight ponytail to keep it out of her face. "Not really, no."

"Oh?" Elara asked as Amelia took a seat at the table, pulling out her Charms book. "What's up?"

Hermione glanced at Amelia and Elara took the hint. "Ames, why don't you start with your homework? I'll come join you in a bit and check if it's all correct."

Amelia nodded, sullenly, not too thrilled over her homework and pulled out her quill.

Hermione and Elara moved to a quieter side of the library, in one of the aisles.

Elara noticed Hermione's tense expression and her taut mouth. "Are you alright? You look super stressed."

"I am," Hermione sighed, heavily, clutching the book to her chest. "I just don't know how to go about any of this and it's so overwhelming and I don't want to be responsible for -" She cut herself off, inhaling a deep breath and looking up at the ceiling, as if she was holding back tears.

"Why don't you just tell me what's going on?" Elara asked, gently, reaching out to lay a hand on her friend's arm.

After a long moment of silence, Hermione spoke.

"Harry doesn't want to acknowledge the fact that... that if we come up against Voldemort, we really don't have a fighting chance," she said in a whisper as Elara leaned against one of the bookshelves. "Even with the amount of people we're recruiting into the DA. Death Eaters will always outnumber us and - and they're all adults."

Hermione stopped for a moment, looking down at the heavy book in her hands. "We're all just kids. We haven't been exposed to the battlefield. Even if we happened to outnumber Voldemort's army, we have so little experience that we'd still be defeated."

Elara nodded, slowly.

"And Harry -" Hermione shut her eyes and blew out a breath before opening them again. "Harry's been through so much. I don't want to put anything else on his shoulders but - but we have to have a backup plan. Right?"