the girl with all of the choices

o n e h u n d r e d

5211 words

november first- a small number of slytherins

~ Addison ~

The process of sleeping on both Thursday and Friday night had not treated either of us kindly. Draco had insisted that he only needed Dreamless Sleep Potion for Wednesday night, so we both braved the elements for the first time the day after he had been cursed.

He was the one to have a nightmare first, not even half an hour after we had gone to bed. I had awoken to him panting and pacing, trying to stay quiet as to not wake me when his stumbles inevitably found him tumbling over everything. 

[thursday, the thirtieth of october- 11:58 pm]- I sat straight up in bed, instinctively reaching for my wand on my nightstand upon hearing the sound of footsteps and mumbling.

I stopped when I saw wide grey eyes and blond hair staring back at my from beyond the end of the bed. 

"I'm sorry," he agonized breathlessly, turning around so that he wasn't facing me as he spoke, his chest heaving and his body shuddering. "I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep."

Something was wrong. I threw the covers back and stalked over towards him, placing my face directly in front of his so that he couldn't ignore me. 

"Are you alright?" I asked, already knowing the answer as I ran my hands up his chest so that they could rest around his neck, playing with the hairs at the base of his skull to try to soothe him.

"I'm fine, go back to bed," he dismissed, trying to free himself from my hold as a few tears spilt over his lashes and onto his cheeks.

I didn't oblige his request, tightening my arms around him and pulling him down so that he could rest his head in the same spot I knew he always liked to occupy when he was distraught, his tears increasing their frenzied release as I did so.

"It's okay, Draco," I consoled, running one hand through his hair and allowing the other to caress his back as I held him. "You're safe. They're not here, they can't hurt you. It was just a nightmare."

He didn't lift his head when he said his next statement, one that effectively tore my heart into two. "It wasn't me they were hurting."

He had been through all of that, things that he hadn't told me about, and yet he was still worrying about me and my safety. 

"We're alright," I amended, tightening my hold on him as he did the same around my waist. "We're both alright. We're safe. They can't get us in here, I promise you."

"You promise?"

"I promise. Now let's go back to bed, love," I said, starting to turn us so that we could go back to bed. 

I had held him until we both fell back asleep. Not even three hours later, I was the one waking up, screaming and pleading with the Carrows to let him go, reliving those fateful moments in which his anguish was reverberating around the walls of the dungeon, his strength going towards holding himself together. 

He pulled me from my terrorful reverie and held me until we both fell asleep. It was the only way we could both sleep, with his arms around me, protecting both of us from the nightmares as if his body was a shield. All he needed to know to be okay was that I was in his arms. All I needed to know to be okay was that he was here with me and not chained up in the dungeons. No matter how desperately I longed to hold and comfort him, this was the only mutually beneficial way we could get through the night.