Draco's Hufflepuff

Fifty Two

When Draco walked in the room, his eyes were glossy. He kept his gaze on the floor and shut the door behind himself slowly.

I got up and ran over to him and squeezed him tightly.

"You're ok.!"

He didn't move or say anything for a moment.

"You have to leave."

I looked up at his face.

"What?"

"He's here Amelia. I..."

When he looked into my eyes all I could see was paranoia. He'd seen or heard something awful. He didn't seem hurt, but he was traumatized for sure.

"I don't have anywhere to go.. I can't risk getting my parents involved in this."

"Go back to the school. Your brother can protect you better than I can."

"That's not true. And besides, he hates me now."

"No. He doesn't hate you. He hates me."

His shaky hands cupped my face.

"God's sake, you know bloody well that this is the worst place for you to be. You're too vulnerable here."

"Am I any safer at Hogwarts?"

He swallowed and looked away.

"I hate to admit it but.. yes, at least for now. I can maybe talk to Snape.. tell him to keep you all safe for as long as possible."

"No. Don't risk that. I'll just have to get everyone out."

"How?"

"I don't know. But everyone there is strong. I know they won't give up."

"It doesn't matter how resilient they are. Can they fight?"

"Yes."

"I guess we'll see when the time comes.. but you need to leave now, as soon as possible."

I wanted to argue, but what was the point? I hugged him again and we stood in silence for a while. What I would give to be back in a boring potions lesson with him cursing me and me trying to get on his last nerve. Everything had changed so fast with no warning. 

I savored his scent not knowing when or if I'd ever smell it again. His heart beat against my cheek fast and loud. Like a porcelain doll, he could break at any second. I felt his hand barely against the small of my back. Feeling him be so gentle made my heart shatter. 

"Mil... go." 

Before we could react, the door swung open and Lucius was standing in the doorway. We looked over and Draco took his hands away from me. He stood confidently but it didn't show on his face.

Lucius looked from him to me and gave me a once over. He didn't bother to hide his sneer. He looked back at Draco with the same disapproving look though. Draco shifted his eyes from his father to the doorway where his mom stood. 

"Draco come, we must talk through some things.." Lucius said. 

I was surprised when Draco took my hand and shook his head.

"It's not safe here for her. I need to get her out."

In a hushed whisper Lucius replied.

"They're monitoring every exit. There's no way out unless you go through him. You have to face him."

The squeeze on my hand made me realize we were both thinking the same thing. There was no way in hell I was going to do that. The muggle-hater would see right through me. I barely made it past the Malfoy's.