𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 '𝟗𝟔 ; 𝐝. 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲 ✓

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

7:04 am
May 2, 1998
Estelle's POV

The remaining students all sat in the destructed courtyard, in utter silence, besides the fire, which had somewhat decreased now. Draco held me in his loving arms, slowing grazing my shoulder with his hand. I was still jittery and disturbed, my tears still not ceasing. He kissed my cheek softly, running his fingers through my long hair.

The remaining army waited, and waited, and waited.

Just as we concluded that the war had ended, and all was done for, a blood-curdling shriek was heard coming from the front courtyard, with rapid footsteps following it. It was a Ravenclaw girl, Cho Chang. She sprinted into the courtyard we were located in and wailed. Everyone rose immediately, and the chaos had returned.

"The Dark Lord casted Imperious on Ron! He's coming up the bridge right now, and he's accompanied! Like 50 Death Eaters are following behind him!" Cho shrieked as she sprinted through the courtyard we were situated in.

Havoc broke out amongst the army once again. Draco, Pansy, Goyle, Blaise and I all rose speedily, and were wishy-washy about what exactly to do. As the chaos broke out once again, the fire fueled, spreading much more rapidly now that the environment was stressed and hectic.

Draco perked up.

"Room of Requirement."

We sternly nodded, shuffling past the falling stones and sprinting through the blazing flames. The smoke rose more and more, stuffing into our lungs with every tiny breath. Draco fell to the wall and violently coughed, his face turning a bright purple.

"Draco!" I screeched, yanking his bicep. "You have to run! It hurts like hell, I know it does, but please!"

Draco squeezed his eyes tightly shut, and coughed a few more times. He weakly stumbled over to me and continued to sprint. I could tell he was getting dizzy as his eyes became watery and trailed weakly along the rising flames. The smoke filled all five of our senses as we raced against time through the roaring flames.

Abruptly, Draco's eyes became heavy and he collapsed to the ground.

"Draco!" I shrieked, collapsing next to him.

Pansy, Blaise and Goyle all noticed we weren't sprinting behind them anymore, and they viewed us on the ground, me bawling as I shook my love, trying to wake him up.

"Fuck!" Pansy swore, shoving Blaise and Goyle back around and beginning to race back to Draco and I.

Goyle whipped out his wand and casted a shield around us, defending us from the deadly flames. The three scurried up to Draco and I, while I sobbed as I tried to awake the beautiful blond.

"He's unconscious!" I wailed over the roaring flames.

His skin was coated with dark ashes and blood. The beautiful blond hair he had was an absolute wreck. I pushed it hair back to give him some air while Pansy approached to save him.

"Aguamenti!" Pansy bellowed. With the soft flick of her wand, water began trickling out of it. I gently dropped Draco's chin as Pansy poured the stream of water into his mouth. Soon enough, he was back.

"Shit!" He coughed as he gained his consciousness back. We rolled him over so he could throw up the water, which descended out of his mouth with plenty of ashes he had swallowed.

I assisted him to his feet, seizing his shaky, boiling hand as Goyle bravely broke the barrier he had created, the fire scorching our faces as we began to sprint again. After a great deal of wheezing, sprinting, and bawling we finally entered the corridor in which the Room of Requirements was located. The five of us shuffled past the long corridor three times, thinking about our necessity to open it. The door slowly opened, and started immediately closing as soon as it opened.

"GUYS RUN!!" Blaise boomed , sprinting as fast as he could to the closing doors.

The other four raced in front of me, Draco attempting to stretch his hand back to pull me into him. I grabbed for his hand, the flames still roaring at my heels, but it was impossible for me to keep up with him. He was sprinting far too quickly.

"Estelle! Grab my goddamn hand!" He wheezed, barely audible over the roaring flames.

Our hands connected for a split second, but his pace was much greater than mine, for I lost my grasp and face-planted right into the crumbled floor below me.

Fuck.

Draco was so fixated on his momentum that it didn't even phase him that I wiped out. He twisted around in the frame of the closing doors with the other three. His face grew from a grimace of relief, to a terrified expression.

"Fuck! Estelle run! Run like you're being chased by fucking fire!"

My legs pumped as fast as they could conceivably go, but it still wasn't enough to make it through. The doors closed right as I reached them, painfully slamming into them with my small, exhausted body.

"DRACO! DRACO HELP ME!!" I wheezed, banging on the doors with as much force as I could.

I could hear his muffled shrieks between the door over the roaring flames. The others didn't realize that the Room Of Requirement was also erupted into flames too due to the creeping fire. From the inside of the room, the wall that had the door was scorching with flames because they had creeped in from outside the door. Draco, Pansy, Goyle and Blaise were completely stuck.

"Estelle! Listen to me!" He howled through the doors. "Please, save yourself. Get out of the castle and run like you've never ran before. I love you so much, my star. I'll see you on the other side."

"NO!" I screamed back, the flames now just below my feet. "You're not gonna die, Draco! I won't let you fucking die!"

I sunk to the deteriorated floor beneath my feat and sobbed against the boiling hot door. My agonized screams filled the corridor.

"You guys are all I have!!"

"Estelle, please! There's no saving us. Save yourself." Pansy shrilled back.

My distressing sobs intensified as I knew this was simply the only option. Still, faith burned in my heart.

Then, I recalled how Draco had entered the castle.

And knew that he could get out the same way.

"Draco! Listen to me! Hold onto Blaise, Pansy, and Goyle and morph into the black cloud of smoke, shatter the windows in there and meet me in the front courtyard!!"

"O-Okay, I will." Draco called back through the door. "I love you so much Estelle."

"And I love you more, Draco Malfoy."