ethereal - draco malfoy

jack

"Alright, time for skin to skin contact problem thing whatever." Beth said as she stood up from her leather chair. A small smile tugged at my lips. Who knew therapy wouldn't be an absolute waste of time?

I stood up with her and followed her to the empty space in the room. When we where standing in front of each other, she put her hands on my face. My bruise wasn't fully healed, so the contact made me wince.

Beth furrowed her brows and stood there, staring at my face for a second. "Cynthia, I'm going to grab your chin now." she announced. I was about to question her when she grabbed my chin and made me face the opened window. She rotated my head for a few seconds before bringing it back to face her.

"Cynthia. Why is there a charm on your face?" she asked in a low tone. I met her gaze to see that she looked furious. It was weird seeing her upset; she always seemed so happy around me. The kind of person who sees only the good in the world. I flicked my gaze back down to the floor before responding.

"Oh, I was walking down the stairs at home and fell. I'm super clumsy." I lied through my teeth. She used her wand to undo the charm on my face, and small gasp escaped her lips when she saw the bruise.

"You've been wincing when you move in a certain position. Your turtleneck usually cover half of your neck, this time it covers your entire neck. Your mother beat you again, didn't she?" she concluded.

It amazed me how she knew me so well after two sessions. I gulped and looked up at her with a sigh. "She told me not to say anything to you, or she would punish me for it." I admitted.

She sighed and ran her fingers through her brown curly hair. "Well, what she doesn't know won't hurt her." she said with a small smile.

-

After we got done with my skin to skin contact problem thing whatever, she stopped me while I was gathering my things.

"You have homework." she chimed happily. I craned my neck to face her while putting my Potions book in my bad. "What are you on about?" I asked, looking back down at my bag.

"I need you to make skin to skin contact with someone; anyone. And no, I don't mean fighting. I mean a hug or hold hands with a friend. Then we'll talk about it during our next session." she explained. I nodded my head once before standing up straight and exhaling loudly.

"Anything else?" I asked as I pulled my bag up over my shoulder. She nodded before replying. "Yes, actually. I want you to write in your journal about your day every night, instead of only when you're angry." she elaborated.

I scoffed quietly. "Beth, I think we both know that I'm not doing that. It's too sappy." I said in a bored tone. I then changed my voice to make it sound high pitched, since my natural voice was raspy.

"Dear Diary, everything sucks and I just want to cry about it. I'm going to punch a wall to make myself feel better and then ask for pity from my friends" I mocked in the high pitched voice. Beth crossed her arms and sent me an unamused look.

"Cynthia, I'm serious. If you don't, I'll tell Dumbledore." she threatened. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, shifting all of my weight onto my left side. Who did she think she was? Telling me to write in my bloody journal every bloody night about my stupid day. "Whatever." I scoffed before shoving past her and walking into the corridor.

-

Later that night, Jack and I sat in the common room and talked. Everyone had gone to bed and Cedric went back to his common room, but Jack insisted that I tell him what was wrong.

"So, you're mad because you have to write in a journal?" he asked in utter confusion. I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose. "No. I'm mad because she's making me do stupid shite, and because she threatened me with Dumbledore." I said with a huff.

The room got quiet and we sat in silence, staring at the fire crackling in the fireplace. "Wanna help me with my homework?" I blurted. Jack shot me a confused look and I sighed before elaborating.

"I have to make skin to skin contact with a mate. Like a hug or whatever it was that she said." I explained while looking at the burning fire. I glanced over to Jack, who still looked confused.

"You want me to hug you?" he queried. "For your homework?" he added. I nodded my head once. He smiled and nodded, "Alright."

He stood up and extended his arms. "Bring it in." he said with a big smile. The light of the fireplace created shadows on his soft skin and his big brown eyes had a natural glimmer in them. I sighed before getting up and standing in front of him.

"Right." I mumbled. I took a deep breath trying to prepare myself. It's not that I was nervous to hug him, it's just that hugs make me severely uncomfortable. The incident started with a hug...

No. I can't think about that. That's in the past.

"Just, be careful. Please?" I asked him quietly. He shot me a sad look and his brows furrowed. "I would never hurt you, Cyn." he said warmly. I gave him a small smile before leaning in and wrapping my arms softly around his torso. He cautiously wrapped his harms around my neck and rubbed my back slowly.

We hugged for a few seconds before he pulled away and stared down at me. "Give me your hand." he instructed. I gave him a confused look, but reluctantly gave him my hand.

He took it in his own hand slowly, like he was observing my nails. His hands were only a tad bit bigger than mine, and they were extremely soft and warm. I gazed into his eyes as he brought my hand up to his face with his own, and planted a small kiss on my middle knuckle.

His lips were just like his hands; soft and warm. His lips barely brushed up against my knuckle, yet I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. I was suddenly extremely grateful that the common room was dark.

He used his thumb to graze over the same knuckle he had kissed before letting go of my hand. He sent me a cheeky grin before putting his face next to my ear. His warm breath brushed up against my neck, sending shivers down my spine. "Goodnight, Cynthia. Sleep well." he whispered softly into my ear before brushing past me and heading towards his dorm.

I stood there in the common room, dumbfounded and shocked. Although that was slightly uncomfortable, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I swallowed thickly before trudging up to my dorm to go to sleep.