𝒜𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓂𝒶𝓉𝒽 | 𝒟.𝑀.

62 | ﴾ Erised ﴿

The morning after Draco was finally returned to me I awoke after hardly sleeping behind closed eyelids. My forced break up with him had been Earth shattering, and I'd spent essentially the entire night crying relentlessly into my pillow to mask my sorrows. For hours I could smell cigarette smoke through my cracked window, indicating that he was equally as heartbroken and troubled.

There was only one small consolation, and that was his suspicion that I had agreed to a deal with Nott. He'd seemed to play along with respect to the dangerous possibilities, leaving my ring on the fireplace and dismissing himself in moderate silence.

I dressed forlornly for work in a bright yellow dress, later exiting the floo network with my skin burning from sleep deprivation. I rubbed at my face as I walked, feeling horrendous and guilty. Everywhere I looked I expected to see Theodore, my "latest boyfriend" although it was ridiculous; I was still married, even if I didn't wear the ring.

As I rounded the luxurious fountain I just about dropped my bag when I caught a glimpse of Harry Potter speaking with Draco. 

The idea that they had actually grown civically close was hysterical and unexpected from all angles. 

Harry stood in his flowing black Aurors robes, Draco in a dapper dark suit as usual that boasted his incredible physique. Neither of them had noticed me yet, and I crept as close as possible to eavesdrop.

Harry's voice spewed into the air clipped and aggravated, "We can't just leave them there, it doesn't matter how sound of mind they are." 

Draco looked down at his dress shoes with a loathsome sneer and his hands in his pockets, "You know how the island works, Potter. Good luck." The island? I wondered.

"I thought we were past the last names," Harry's face contorted in contempt. "We went there to find you, but Nott threatened us on land that he would kill you if we didn't leave. I did get your message, but unfortunately Madeleine was already victimized by Nott."

"He's controlling her somehow, through vows, or something worse. She feels like she can't talk to me," Draco's voice was dark and depressed.

Harry caught sight of me dwelling by the nearby water feature, leaning his glasses around Draco's shoulder, and they both turned to stare at me in awe. Harry reached out and grabbed Draco's arm with wise anticipation when he reactively took a step towards me.

I raised my chin and walked briskly, but made an effort to offer a hint. Dragging my fingers over my dress, and without turning my head to them, I discreetly pointed at my side in the exact location that Draco's sword wound was. Theodore had taken advantage of the site of the injury to place the terrifying implant of whatever monstrous invention he had come up this time.

"There you are," I heard Theodore purr as I distractedly ran head first into his jacket. He didn't give me a moment to adjust, wrapping his arms around my waist to pull me into him in a humiliating display in front of the two boys. I begrudgingly and limply hugged him back.

He smirked down at me, and I could see his eyes flickering between myself and Draco who was only meters away. "I want to call on that second Unbreakable Vow, right now," he raised his eyebrows, his dastardly handsome features smiling at me as if he were the most innocent prince on the planet.

I shut my eyes, "Right now?" I could feel Draco's frosty gaze stuck on the display. Harry was also still standing there drinking in the scene with horror.

"Like you mean it," Theo winked at me, brushing my hair behind my ear as if we were having an intimate conversation.

I wanted to turn inside out. It was comply, or watch Draco die.