Innocent | d. malfoy

- fifty eight -

Aria Rowen

I finished packing the rest of my belongings into the trunk that Draco and I had brought on vacation with us. It was our final day of spring break, and unfortunately we would have to resume classes the following day.

"—I think this is everything," Draco exited the bathroom, carrying a few toiletries that he dropped into the small trunk before turning to face me. "Are you sure that you don't want to go back into town? Maybe... they can explain things—"

I knew who 'they' were. He was referring to my parents, whom I wanted absolutely nothing to do with.

"No. I don't want to see them," I shook my head, and that was enough for Draco to drop the subject and return to packing. He shut the suitcase before dropping it to the floor and picking it up properly by its handle.

It was true. I could never forgive them for what they'd done, and I most certainly did not want to stay and hear them come up with more sad excuses as to why they left me and started a new family.

It hurt more and more every time I thought about it, but at the same time the situation was drifting further and further from my mind. It seemed to be that the longer I spent with Draco, the longer my attention was occupied and drawn away from my so-called 'parents'.

"Besides... weren't you the one who said that they didn't deserve for me to hear them out?"

Draco sighed. "I did, but I've been thinking," Of course he has. "—and maybe they had other reasons. Now, I'm not excusing what they did but maybe you should at least see them once more before we get on the train."

Truth is, I had been thinking about talking to them again. No matter how hard Draco had been trying over the past few days to keep the thoughts out of my head, I was never distracted for more than a short moment before the whole thing came flooding back into my memory.

"I— I still don't think I want to talk to them. Maybe one day though... maybe when I'm out of school," I spoke the words as I slipped my jacket on. It may have been spring but it was definitely still cold up here in the mountains.

He gave a short nod and I knew that he wouldn't press me about it if I didn't want to talk about it. "Alright then. Are you ready?"

I nodded at Draco's words and grabbed my smaller bag, draping it over my arm as I left our bedroom.

•••

"—I can't believe that we're already going back to school. Break didn't even feel that long!" Pansy crossed her arms and leaned her head against the door to our train compartment.

For me it felt more than long. Too much had happened and if I was being honest... I wanted to forget about it so that I could focus on finishing out my final year of school with no distractions.

"Well we've only got a few more weeks here before they finally let us eighth years finally go home," Blaise wrapped his arm around Dylan as Pansy gave a sigh of relief.

"Yes— it's about time..." Theo gave a roll of his eyes.

"Wait— what?" I looked around at Pansy, Theo, Blaise, Dylan, and even at Draco, who had been sitting beside me for the whole train ride so far.

"You didn't know? McGonagall said that all of the students who came for the returning year could take our exams before everyone else and get out of here almost a month early..." Pansy explained the situation and my heart began to sink.

That meant that Draco would get to leave... but I would still be here. We'd barely gotten to talk about what our relationship would look like when we left Hogwarts, and I didn't even know if I was ready to yet.

"Yeah. We'll all probably be gone by the end of the month— except for you and Hernandez of course," Theo reached forward and snatched a chocolate frog from the small table in front of us before popping it into his mouth.

They all seemed pretty happy, so of course I gave a weak smile to appear that I was happy for them too— and I was. I just didn't want to be... alone.

But I was being ridiculous. I had Dylan, Jenna, Indy... I would be fine. Wouldn't I?

I sat in silence for the next few minutes, pondering over what kind of events would be taking place within the next few months. Of course Draco would be studying for his exams if he was taking them early, and mine would follow in the upcoming weeks. If he was also due to leave soon then he would have to pack up all of his belongings. Maybe I could help with that.

"You alright?" Draco's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, making me look up. Everyone else had gone off into their own worlds while I was stuck in my thoughts.

Dylan's head was in a book as she listened to music through muggles headphones, and Pansy and Theo were both quietly arguing over something in a magazine. Blaise was asleep with his head against the back window of the train, which probably couldn't have been too comfortable.

"Um— yeah I'm fine," I didn't look up at him as I spoke, which probably didn't come off as a good sign to him.

He hesitated as if he didn't believe me, but he responded anyway. "Well we've got another hour or two before we're there... you should probably rest."

I gave a small nod, even though I wasn't paying attention to anything he was saying.

"Aria—"

"Hm?"

"Are you even listening?" He whispered his response back to me. "You've been so distracted lately..."

"I'm just— a little stressed," I wrapped my arms around my body, still refusing to meet his eyes.

He was silent for a few seconds, which made me look up. The others were still distracted, leaving Draco and I to ourselves.

"As I said... get a little rest before we get back..." Draco leaned back against his side of the compartment before placing his hands on my waist and pulling my body backwards so that I was lying against his chest.

My entire body immediately relaxed, recognizing his familiar and comforting hold. He wrapped one of his arms around my shoulder to hold onto me, and in return I laid my head against his chest.

He was so different from the Draco I'd met at the beginning of the year. I'd known of him before the war, but I didn't actually know him. The first time I officially met him was in the Slytherin dorm hall. I don't remember exactly what it was that I'd said, but it resulted in me being pinned against a wall.

Look where we were now...

•••

The six of us hopped off of the train, planting our feet firmly on the Hogwarts platform. Other students bustled past us, carrying their trunks full of belongings they'd taken home for spring break.

We'd gone ahead and sent our things back when we got to the first platform so that we wouldn't have to drag them on and off of the train.

I still couldn't believe that there was only a month left of learning before I'd have to go off into the real world— hell, I didn't even have a plan. It stressed me out whenever I thought about where I would live, whether or not I would get a job... I just wasn't good at planning those kinds of things— especially not ahead of time.

It would all work out in the end... hopefully.

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