In His Shadow (Draco Malfoy X Reader) MOVED

Chapter 73: Just Say It, Harry

Third Person POV:

By the time winter break had ended, Epona turned slightly bitter. Her headaches were getting worse, and she found herself snapping at people more often. The only thing that calmed her now was Draco Malfoy, and sometimes he can't keep her down.

Partly because he doesn't want to. Draco likes the chaos he and Epona can cause together. Especially if it makes Harry crazy. Which is why when Umbridge called them in, she request Blaise and him to stay behind.

"You two are close to Epona Potter, correct?" She asked them, still smiling.

Draco frowned and narrowed his eyes. Blaise nudged him and forced a smile, "Yeah, we are, Professor."

"I want you both to watch the Potter twins carefully, and report back to me at the end of the day." She said, and Draco stepped up.

"Why?" His steel grey eyes stared into Umbridge's dead ones and she just smiled.

"Think of it as extra credit for your extra credit." And that was the end of the conversation.

Blaise walked out with Draco and looked at him, his brows furrowed, "What do you think she wants with Effie?"

Draco was silent for a moment, "No matter what you see or hear, you will not tell Umbridge that Epona is unstable in any way, do you understand? With hold as much information on the subject as possible."

Blaise gave him a worried look, "I love Effie too, in a different way of course, but is it really smart to keep that information away? I mean, if Umbridge has a plan-"

Draco's head swiftly turned to Blaise, and he leaned over him. His eyes were filled with anger and hatred, "Because I am going to fix her. And no one will get in my way of fixing the person who saved me."

Blaise nodded, "You got it, Draco."

Epona hummed as she walked through the halls. She smiled and waved when she saw the Golden Trio. Her friends had come back. Harry waved them off to keep walking and approached her.

"Hey, Effie." He said, smiling.

"HI!" She replied, a little too enthusiastically, "How was your break?"

"I-It was fine...." Harry looked at her, "Are you okay?"

She reached out to touch his shoulder and he flinched. Her eyes widened.

"You're scared of me..." Her eyes widened, and tears pooled, "Why? After everything we've been through together..."

Harry grimaced, his eyes widening, "N-No, Effie-"

Her face darkened, "You're just like the rest of them. Scared of me because I'm some sort of crazy fire lady who's dating the worst Slytherin?"

"Effie, I'm scared for you. You...You need help. You keep talking about some woman in your head, and your black outs are getting more frequent and..." He reached out for her, and she lunged backwards, her eyes wide with anger.

"NO! DON'T TOUCH ME! JUST SAY IT, HARRY! YOU THINK I'M A MONSTER!" She yelled at him, crying, "If you all want me to be a monster," She looked him in the eyes, her emerald ones glowing with resentment and apathy, "Then I'll be a monster."

Harry's face became even more worried. Part of him felt guilty. That maybe if he had been supportive of her when she first woke up, when she met his friends, that things would be different. Another part of him felt judgmental. If their parents were still alive, what would they think of her? Would they see her as a monster like everyone else does? Even Harry had to admit something was very off. 

But there was something very very small inside him, something he could barely feel that felt...relieved. Like everything is going into it's place. That his sister being mentally unstable is the way things are supposed to be. How it makes him look better, but again, like a plan going perfectly. Luckily though, Harry couldn't really hear that voice.

He didn't want to. Especially not as he watched his sister walk away from him, burn marks on the floor from each of her steps. There was one thing the twins felt in common though.

The feeling of being watched.

Blaise dipped from around the corner, rushing to Umbridge's office. When he arrived, she smiled at him.

"The Potter's are no longer working together, Professor." He said, making sure to tell her the truth, but also following Draco's orders. 

"Good." She smiled, standing up, "Now bring Malfoy in. I have a new job for him."

Draco hated it. He hated everything that he had been told to do by Umbridge. She had ordered him to get Epona to rat out her friends. Even if she got in a fight with Harry, if there's one thing Epona isn't, it's a snitch.

Fuck, why couldn't shit just be easy for once? Why can't he just have a normal relationship with the girl he'd kill everyone around him for. He'd kill himself if she told him to. So why can't they just be...normal. But like everything in his life, it has to be shit.

He spied her walking down the hallway, and he snaked up behind her. His arms wrapped around her body, and her buried his head in her neck.

"Hello, Darling." He purred, and she hummed.

"Hello, Malfoy. What may I do for you this lovely evening?" She asked, smiling at him. But something was different. She was...off. Like a a dimmer. 

Epona was getting worse. 

Draco buried his head further, "I love you."

She tilted her head, "I love you too, Draco. But what's with the sudden show of affection?" 

He smirked, "Do you no longer like it when I show you're mine in front of others? I love watching the others jealous stares."

She laughed a bit, "You know I love it. Well, I have to get to class now. I'll see you at dinner, 'kay?"

He nodded, and Epona walked off. His mind flashed back to what Blaise had said when Draco said he would fix her.

"And what makes you think you can fix her?" Blaise asked, his brown eyes meeting intense grey ones.

Draco stared back.

"Because someone wise told me that if I can fix her, there's hope for me to be saved." He smiled slightly, "And we're both something worth saving, don't you think?"