𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐒 | draco malfoy ✔️

62. in the open

TRAINING WHEELS
in the open

062

The world was crumbling around Amora. It was destroying everything that kept her grounded and mutilating every ounce of respect and friendship she had earned in the past five years of being at Hogwarts. Her skeleton felt like metal weighing her down, her heart just as heavy, and her breaths were as laboured as the last time she'd had a panic attack. If there was ever an image of someone who had just lost everything, then this was it.

Amora remained in a state of shock as she left the Room of Requirement, her feet barely lifting from the cold floor, just shuffling along. Her brown eyes were wide, her hand held her heart, her robes feeling bigger yet more suffocating than ever on her small, shaking frame. Amora's throat felt clogged and her eyes stung like a thousand needles were slowly being pressed into them, but she couldn't do anything now.

The damage had already been done and Amora was terrified that it was irreversible.

Her first instinct was to go to Cedric - he always knew what to do when she had small fall outs with Leon. But Amora knew that even if Cedric was alive to be able to listen to her problems, there wasn't a thing he could say or a spell he could cast that would make all of this go away.

Amora wasn't sure when exactly she had made it down all of the flights of stairs, but the next thing she knew, she was back on the ground floor.

Her mind was whirling at a thousand thoughts per second. Of what class would be like in the morning, of what Draco would say, how she was going to get herself out of this mess...

Amora suddenly felt like, after this, she couldn't even see herself at Hogwarts anymore. Not if everybody she cared about viewed her as a traitor and a liar, not when she had been so humiliated in front of everybody by her ex-best friend.

She wanted out. She wanted fucking out right now.

Suddenly that was all she could think about. She turned, moving to head to her mother's chambers and tell her that she couldn't stay here anymore. That she'd ruined everything - that nothing would ever be the same again and she couldn't handle the sudden hatred everybody felt for her.

But the thought of packing her bag, the idea of never coming back to this home sent her into a frenzy of panic.

She wanted Cedric. She wanted out. She wanted Draco. She just wanted to feel like somebody didn't absolutely despise her right now.

"Amora!"

She glanced up, finding Theo running towards her. It was always Theo lurking the corridors past curfew - probably because of his Ravenclaw girlfriend. The shaggy-haired brunet reached out and grabbed her shoulders, straightening her up from where she'd been about to collapse against the wall. Her breathing was heavy again, her chest heaving for air.

"Amora, calm down," Theo warned her, "I think you're having a panic attack."

Amora looked up at him and shook her head frantically. "I can't do it, Theo. I can't do it. I can't be here anymore."

Theo wasn't sure if she was talking about Hogwarts or her life in general, but either way, it wasn't good. His hands slid up from her arms to her shoulders and he gripped her even tighter, shaking her a little as if he hoped it would bring her back. Amora's hands clung to his wrists and she tried to pry him away weakly, but to no avail. Her forehead pressed to his shoulder as she wept despite being exhausted.

"Amora, what happened?" Theo demanded, concern dripping from his tone.

Amora forced herself to look into his eyes and her face crumbled. "They know," she whimpered, watching as Theo's face fell further in realisation. "Everybody knows."