Of Doves and Dragons

Chapter Twenty-three: The Monster Behind the Clouds

"There's no sunshine this impossible year. Only black days and sky grey and clouds full of fear. And storms full of sorrow that won't disappear."

-Panic! At the Disco, Impossible Year

He woke groggily from a dreamless sleep and reached blindly for Ember only to feel the coolness of the sheets. Panicking, he sat up, his bones creaking loudly. His eyes scanned the room quickly before settling on her figure sitting in front of the great windowed wall.

"Em," He called. She was silhouetted perfectly by the moonlight shimmering through the water of the Black Lake and the glass of the window. He thought that she might not have heard him, but a moment later she looked over her shoulder and met his eyes. He expected to see fear, confusion, hell even anger. Instead she just looked sad. Not the kind of sad that called for tears and sobs that wracked the body, but the kind of sad that you felt deep in your bones; a type of sadness that could only truly be distinguished by the only windows to the soul we possess.

She just looked at him, waiting to see if he would ask her a question. A quiet settled over the room and she returned her gaze to the glittering lake out the window.

Draco tossed his legs over the side of the bed and padded across the floor, only stopping to grab the soft throw that hung over the back of one of the chairs. When he reached her, he draped the blanket around her shoulders and sat silently on the floor beside her.

He didn't want to force her to talk about it, and honestly he didn't even know what to say. He was just grateful that she hadn't woken up scared and unaware.

Him sitting there beside her brought her comfort enough though. Her fingers curled around the soft blanket over her shoulders. She stared up where she could see the waning moon through the dark water as if it would give her any answers. "I'm sorry if I woke you," She whispered.

Draco shrugged. It had taken him a long time to feel comfortable enough to fall asleep. After he brought her back to their room and tucked her into bed, he had paced for a while, watched her dreamlessly sleep for a while, before deciding that she was drugged up enough for him to take a small nap. Apparently, he had been wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.

"Snape said that you knew. Why didn't you tell me?"

The question wasn't with a bite or an accusation. Pure curiosity dripped from her lips and he couldn't blame her questioning.

He sighed. "I wanted to. He thought that it would be worse for you mentally if it was intentionally catalyzed. He was afraid of causing any more damage. We both knew you'd figure it out eventually."

She nodded once, bringing the blanket around her shoulders just a bit closer to her chest.

"How...how are you?" He asked lamely.

She chuckled humorlessly. "My head hurts and my chest..." She sighed, not wanting to explain just how hollowed she felt. "I'm not crazy; if that's what the two of you thought."

He tisked tilting his head to the side. "You were acting a bit strange there for a minute." He chuckled lightly. He quickly noticed his attempt at joking was not well received and coughed. "I guess that's allowed though, it is a bit of a... shock. How did you figure it out?"

"I was with Luna. We were just talking but she was asking questions that I couldn't remember the answers to and then she mentioned my face..." Draco nodded, completely understanding the way her face would change when she was trying to recall something that just wasn't there. "I knew that if she was noticing something, you and Snape must have been noticing it as well and not telling me. I figured Snape could give me more answers so I went there...and he helped connect things for me."