The Ultimatum ~ Draco Malfoy

Chapter 5

Saturday, September 12th, 1998

The next day, June woke up with a soreness around her throat. She leaped out of her bed and into the bathroom to examine herself in the mirror.

Her troat was brusied from where his rings had pressed harshly into her skin and, as she swallowed, a sharp pain emerged from her throat.

"Fuck," she croaked in discomfort.

She slid her fingers over the fresh, dark purple bruises that ached every time she pressed her fingers against them. They could almost pass as hickeys.

She thought about hiding them with a glamour charm, but decided against it. She wanted him to see them, maybe he'd feel bad about it then. Luckily, she didn't have to go to class that day, so no one else would really see. She pulled her hair over her shoulders to cover as much of her neck as possible, and stepped back into the bedroom.

Tracey was sitting up in her bed, wide awake, waiting for her. "So... Tell me, how was it?" she asked her, raising an eyebrow. It took June a moment to realise she was asking about her date with Cedric.

"It was..." she furrowed her brows, thinking of a suiting word to describe it with. She settled on "good".

"Good?" Tracey asked confusedly. "What do you mean, 'good'?" she added questioningly.

"It was good. I had fun, he was sweet, he told me I was gorgeous, a man spilled a drink on me, we walked back-" June blabbed.

"Hold up-" Tracey interrupted. "He called you gorgeous?" she gaped.

"I believe 'bloody gorgeous' were his exact words," June said and flicked her hair back over her shoulder playfully.

Tracey's eyes went wide.

"Oh, don't be so dramatic, it's really not a big deal..." June said as she watched her friend's reaction.

"No, June, that's not it..." she said, her gaze fixed on her neck.

"Oh," June snapped her hand up to cover her brusies, wincing at the contact.

"Don't tell me Cedric left those..." Tracey asked warily.

"No! God no," June exclaimed.

"Then who did?" Tracey asked suspiciously.

June went silent for a moment. She swallowed, quickly remembering how painful it was to do so, and groaned. "Malfoy," she said, looking down at the floor.

Tracey stood up and walked over to June, brushing her hair to the side to examine her bruises properly. "Malfoy did this?" she asked her again.

"Yes," June confirmed, biting back the pain as Tracey tapped her fingers gently against her sore troat.

Tracey quickly removed her hands from her neck as soon as she realised it was hurting her.

"Dear god, June!" she gasped and brought her hand up to cover her mouth in horror. "You've got to tell Dumbledore. He deserves to be expelled for this," Tracey said in a frustrated tone.

"I can't—I can't get him expelled. Don't you realise that? My father would kill me if I got him expelled," June said, her voice breaking, burying her head in her hands as she felt tears push against her corneas. "I'm supposed to fucking marry him," she sobbed.

"No. Forget about him. I won't let that happen. Do you hear me?" Traceys spoke soft in a soft, yet determined tone, laying a supportive hand on her friend's back.

June turned to her friend and buried her head in her chest. Tracey wrapped one of her arms around her, the other stroking her hair gently. "Shh...  I won't let any of them harm you anymore," she whispered in her ear.