five hours with draco malfoy; pt.2

Part three

DRACO WAS UNABLE to articulate a word, he couldn't believe who was in front of his eyes.  He even thought it was a dream, one of so many nightmares he had with her when he couldn't beat the sleep.  He was looking at the girl in front of him  —who was now quite a woman— unable to say anything.  His heart was racing so fast he could feel it trying to get out of his chest, his body trembling slightly from shock, nerves, not undestanding absolutely what was happening.

She was looking at him with a shy, almost invisible smile, unsure of what to say.  After all, it had been five years since they last saw each other.  She had imagined this moment in her head a million times, but when push came to shove, everything was different. Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself to speak.

"I—read about your father in the Daily  Prophet."  She finally said, sadness in her voice as she slowly moved closer to Draco.  His heart raced even more, not still  understanding what was happening, not understanding the situation yet, totally confused. He looked puzzled at the woman in front of him, with his eyes widened "I'm so sorry." She added in a whisper.

Annelisse was looking worriedly at the man in front of him. She watched him, analyzing every feature of him.  She saw him differently, saw his eyes broken, lost.  He had aged and was somewhat disheveled,  but still, she thought that he was as attractive as ever, in his way.  She saw a very different Draco than the one she remembered and had imagined in her mind all these years.

Draco thought the same, he looked at the girl he had seen in his dreams and she was different, he saw a much older Annelisse.  In her essence she was the same, but he believed she was more beautiful than in his dreams — still believing he was in one of those.

"When I found out, I had to come." She added and finished approaching, staying in front of him "I can't imagine what you must be going through." Annelisse twisted the corner of her lips.

Draco took a deep breath at the sight of her so close to him, making it difficult for him to even breathe.  After all these years, she was in front of him. He had dreamed of this moment since she disappeared from his life without warning, without leaving a single letter, a single address, a single sign of life.  He sometimes told himself that she had died and preferred to believe that instead of thinking that one day Annelisse stopped loving him and left him.

"Please, say something."  She pleaded with some anguish after several seconds not speaking, her brow furrowing.

Draco did not know what to do in such a situation and his mind betrayed him, or so he thought. Every single night he didn't sleep crying for her, missing her without knowing absolutely nothing about her, all those songs heard that seemed made for her, all those memories of her, all the nightmares he had with her — All of that, flashed through Draco's mind, causing anger to drive the situation.

"You have no right to be here."  Not even Draco understood why he had said it, but he did.  The anger of all these years came to the fore, the anger that Annelisse provoked in him, the emptiness that she left.  Draco was angry and even though he wished he had hugged her, he could not help it "Please, go—" He said closing his eyes for a second "—NOW!"

Annelisse swallowed hard at those words, hurt by them.  She understood perfectly that Draco had spoken to her like that. After all, she left without leaving a single clue as to her whereabouts.  She continued to look at Draco even though he had his head lowered, avoiding looking at her.  He was not able to look into those eyes again.

After a few seconds in silence, she gave up.  Annelisse swallowed once more, trying to undo the lump in her throat and started to walk towards the door.  Just as she arrived, paused for a second, looking at him "I'm so sorry, Draco. I never wanted things to be this way. I—"  She said sadly, but could not finish, letting out a hard sigh.