Everlasting 2 (Draco Malfoy x Reader)

Nowhere to be Seen

It all happened so quickly. The cackle, the pits of fire, the spells being thrown back and forth. No window at Hogwarts was in place anymore; all were shattered along with the hope within the eyes of everyone around. All the students had prepared for this, with their wands in hand, already battling who they could. But they were just kids. Those fighting - they were just children battling those of pure evil. How could such kids, full of innocence and joy and hope for a better world, defeat of those of cruelty? Battle was the comfort place of those of evil; they melted into it perfectly, into their own, as though they were one. But children - they were not formed for this evil. How, then, were the students of Hogwarts to win against all the Death Eaters?

"Where is she?" 

"I don't know," Draco said quickly, gulping as his eyes shot around. "She said ... she said she'd be here. That she'd be here ready ... ready for us."

"She's nowhere around, Draco. We cannot keep her safe." 

"She can keep herself safe," Draco answered, perhaps attempting to convince himself just as much as Snape. 

The laughter of Bellatrix's laughter filled the castle as her wand began to shoot out spells back and forth. There was no counting how many students she'd attacked already. 

"If [F/n] doesn't get here soon," Snape whispered, his voice trailing off. 

"She'll get here."

Draco's eyes caught the eyes of Padma Patil as her wand remained fixed in hand, shooting spells back and forth towards the Death Eaters, fighting painfully. She did not keep her eyes on him for very long, for she became busied with the fight of her life. He could see her breathing heavily, inhaling, exhaling. Breathing did not seem to be in her nature anymore; it was a kind of forced thing that, when pushed through, appears exaggerated and unnatural. There, he caught the sight of her fingers and the grip tight on her wand, the trembling nature of her existence. But she could feel it. Padma Patil could feel it before it came, for her eyes built up in tears which soon began to shed down her cheeks. The tears, even they seemed more natural than her breathing. She could feel it, she could feel it. The heavy breathing, the final resistance as she gritted her teeth behind those shivering lips of hers. There is only so much one can do. Those young, soft fingers of hers, those once hopeful eyes of a child, of a student at Hogwarts who once dreamed of the world, of changing the world and fixing its issues. Draco knew her eyes, he'd seen her eyes everyday for the past seven years. He knew this girl, this young girl. She was a classmate, a survivor, a fellow, a friend, in an unspoken language. But he knew, too. He knew, and she knew. 

The scream of Parvati Patil filled the room. The suffering of losing a twin, one cannot comprehend unless they experience it. The manner in which Parvati's knees crumbled to the floor against her sister's body, holding her wand in her shaking hand and throwing the spells she possibly could whilst protecting her sister's lifeless corpse against the ground. 

How can simple children win in the home of cruelty? 

Draco's eyes blurred as, for a moment, his head swung around. He could not quite comprehend where he was in the moment, or whether he was himself. Somehow, the world appeared from a distant point of view, as though he were watching a movie, distant from the situation, distant from the world he was in. Draco had distanced himself from his own life as he gazed upon the streaming tears of Parvati and the pleading yells being released from her. He felt the sadness elsewhere - not within his eyes, his mind, his heart. He'd distanced himself from the pain he knew he ought to be feeling. 

And when he wished to escape further by turning away from the cruelty which he was a part of, his eyes caught the struggle of Luna Lovegood as she struggled against the grip of a Death Eater holding her by her throat from behind, pulling her away. Her struggle was in pits of weak cries, soft as Luna was known to be, and her gentle attempts at kicking and punching away. Yet, her wand was gone. Her power as a witch was far from her, somewhere on the ground, snapped and rotting away. She knew she'd have to get herself a new wand. If she could afford it. If she would make it. 

Because children weren't made to fight. 

"Get a hold of yourself," a voice from behind Draco instructed, as a forceful hand held him up by his upper arm. "You look like you're about to faint."

"One of the Patil sisters is dead," Draco whispered, the reality hitting him upon the aggressive tone of his father. 

"Soon, they all will be. Isn't this what you wanted, Draco? With all the past few weeks that you've been with us?" 

Draco could find no reply within himself, his lips trembling weakly, as he turned to the side to the sound of a petrifying scream, only to catch Neville Longbottom fighting off one of the Death Eaters, using his spells weakly before attempting to charge off, only to be confronted by another Death Eater by the exit. There was no way out. There was no way out of this building, out of this situation, out of this fortune. 

"We're finally winning, Draco," Lucius spat out slyly, rubbing Draco's shoulder, "It won't be long until we find her and kill her too. She's made you suffer with all that manipulation and all those lies she fed you. The Potters are like that. They all have such god complexes. It ends today, Draco. Don't you worry. He'll be here soon. He'll deal with both of them. Especially her."

"Especially her," Draco whispered, staring ahead of himself upon the daunting realisation that more Death Eaters were coming, chaos was already happening, death was approaching, victories and losses were around the corner and [F/n] Potter ...

[F/n] Potter was nowhere to be seen.