In His Shadow (Draco Malfoy X Reader) MOVED

Chapter 26: I'm Sorry

Epona's POV:

I felt the grip around my hands tighten and just enough light lit the hall for me to recognize who it was. Phineas. 

I gulped, "P-Phineas?"

He growled, "What the fuck are you planning, Effie? Having your Slytherin friends keep me from you all day? Purposefully doing shit to get me away from you."

"I-I do-don't know what you're talking about!" I whimpered, the pain in my wrists increasing.

"You know how lucky you are that I even consider you? Anyone else would've hit you by now." 

"I-I know..." I kept my eyes low, staring at my feet as tears formed.

"Don't start fucking crying. I haven't asked for anything from you, and this is how you treat me? Like some sort of plague?" He growled, getting closer to me, his expression still furious.

I felt tears pool at my eyes, but I forced them back, biting my lip, "I-I know...I pro-promise I don't know what you're talking about."

He let go of my wrists as he heard footsteps approaching, and he whispered, "Don't try this shit again, babe."

I rubbed my wrists, then quickly moved into the shadows where Filch's lamp didn't reach. Luckily I inherited the light foot gene, and I could sneak around the castle effortlessly.

I wasn't good enough for him. He deserves much better than me. I'm just some low-life nobody... I looked at my wrists in new light, and saw the purple and brown bruises cover them. Quickly, I made sure that my jacket covered them and I went up to  bed. 

Soon enough it was morning, and nobody bothered to wake me up. I swiftly threw my hair up in a messy bun, halfway falling down, and put on my uniform, making sure the sleeves were rolled down and I had a hoodie on top. I decided to leave Draco's hoodie with him, mainly because I wanted to make sure that it still smells nice, and two, I feel guilty having it.

What if it upset Phineas if he knew I had Draco's hoodie?

It was one of the reasons why I had been avoiding talking to him. Or being near him. He was just too tempting to be around, and by that I mean I feel like I could tell him everything. But Phineas wasn't comfortable with it, so I wasn't either. Because he wouldn't lie to me. Would he?

Again, I could feel the piercing cold eyes of Draco Malfoy on my back, and other Slytherins. Though, it made me wonder about what Phineas had said last night. Why were the Slytherins keeping him away from me? Was it on purpose? Or was it coincidental that he was their new target, along with Harry, but at this point Harry's just a given.

Maybe it had nothing to do with me. Gosh, I should stop being so self centered.

I woke  up Monday morning, my wrists still sore and purple. I didn't want to go to Madam Pomfrey, seeing as she would probably ask me about what happened. Instead, I went back to what I typically did. I started sketching. Except it hurt to do that too. 

I don't know how I was going to make it through the school day with the pain. Though in a way it was comforting. After all, if I cause others pain, it's only fair that I'm put through pain too, right? I wanted to comfort Harry, because tomorrow was the day of the first task. 

I went and talked to the Weasley twins, who agreed to sneak into the kitchen and get the house elves to make dragon shaped cookies. I thanked them and brought them to Harry. Or more so the Gryffindor common room, where I remembered the password.

"Balderdash?" I said, though it came out as more of a question.

The Fat Lady looked me up and down, "You're a Slytherin."

"Yes."

"But you're a nice Slytherin."

I tugged at my collar awkwardly and she continued, "I think you fit in quite well with these Gryffindors. Shame they have you with those heathens. But I guess someone has to keep them under control."

She swung open and I entered the common room. I noticed people staring out of the corner of my eye when one voice spoke up.

"How'd you get the password?" I recognized Ron's voice from anywhere. 

I gave him a sad look. He looked horrible. He had bags under his eyes and his hair was a mess. He also had a red spot on his head like someone had thrown something at him.

"It was given to me. I thought I would comfort my brother and surprise him. So I brought it up in conversation. Very smoothly."

Ron yawned and rolled his eyes, "Whatever, Potter."

When he said Potter it made my heart pang with sadness. It was like there was supposed to be venom behind it, but he had given up all effort and he was just sad now. 

I exhaled and walked upstairs to the boys dormitories. I knocked on Harry's door, and only heard a grunt. I pushed open the door and walked inside, seeing Harry looking just as bad as Ron. Maybe worse. I shuttered. 

There's a difference between the messy aesthetic, and being a mess. Harry seemed like he was trying to play it off as an aesthetic, but he was trying to hard and just made himself worse and show how badly of a mess he actually is.

I held out the plate of cookies, "I got you some cookies."

He looked at them, then back at me, "They look like dragons."

I nodded, a grin on my face, "You know, 'cause of the first task. I'd figured you'd want something sweet to cheer you up. And I thought, what better than cookies shaped like certain death would cheer you up? Now you can pretend that you're beating the dragon with every bite you take."

Harry snorted, and I cracked a smile. It felt like forever since the two of us had just a sibling moment. 

I had to get to class, so I took off and made my way to Potions. Since Draco was my partner, I figured it would be hard to ignore him during lessons. Luckily, though, Snape wanted the room completely quiet as we studied the ingredients for antidotes.

But after was a different story. Draco had pulled me aside, into a corner where no one else was.

"Now look who's avoiding who." He remarked, his blonde hair falling messily in his face.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I lied, and I felt my fist tighten around the hem of my skirt, and I pushed my sleeve further down my arm.

"You're a terrible liar when it comes to this." He then lifted my arm, and pulled up my sleeve, revealing the purple bruises.

Draco stared at them wide eyed for a moment, then his expression turned dark, "What happened?" His voice was unreadable; I can't tell what's behind it

I gulped, "N-Nothing. I was just working too hard and slammed my wrists against the table." I nervously laughed.

His expression stayed dark and he looked me in the eyes, his gaze frighteningly threatening, "Let me rephrase that."

"Who did this?"