Ardenia | Draco Malfoy 18+

CHAPTER 56

He was still alone, sitting on the couch, with his eyes starting deeply towards the door and his wand gripped tightly around his palm.

The students were still in the great hall, and he was still placing his hand on her to make sure that the girl wasn't gone.

But when he saw her eyelids start to flutter, his hand quickly detached and shifted to his lap.

His dark hues stayed glued to the door, a candle being the only thing shining in the dark space around them.

And when a small hum came from behind him, he didn't turn his shoulder. Something he would've done to speak to her - but didn't want to.

The cushion underneath him was moving, meaning that she had got up and positioned herself beside him.

"You look exhausted." Her breathy voice ran trademarks in his mind, the way she sat crossed faced him, made her feel warm.

His eyes still turned towards the door, he never took one look at her after the last.

Because looking at her would bring him closer to being connected and almost making him soft by having her around.

"Mattheo..." The small smile on her face grew short after minutes of silence. Minutes of him avoiding her.

With the seconds that passed, Claude just spent her time tugging on the ring that was sealed around her finger.

It reminded her of its purpose, she knew it was making her grow weak by the days and seconds she spent alive.

But how weak would it make her? Until she's drained of her magic? Until she's dead?

Her eyes looked at the open space his limp arm made and flicked them back up to the back of his head, she smiled again.

Slowly, she lifted his arm, an odd expression growing on his face long before she threw his arm over her shoulder and snuggled her face in his neck.

"You don't have to keep watching, it's locked, isn't it?" She huffed, holding his shirt with a soft grip.

His body stiffened at her touch, having to bite the inside of his cheek to prevent him from uttering a single word.

But when it grew silent again, Claude frowned against his skin.

She wanted to talk to him but to her, it didn't seem like it. It made her feel like it was her that was the reason he wouldn't speak.

From the position she was in, she pressed her hands on his chest and looked up at his blank face.

His arm slipping away from her shoulder and onto her lower back made it hurt more.

And just like that, the girl turned her head back to where she slept. Her eyes turned back to his before she pushed onto his chest and turned her body.

But when he felt the girl move past him, he was going to hold her again, have her pressed against his body, and hear her heartbeat match with his.

Instead, he just sat still and heard the girl shuffle again, her eyes stinging with the idea of her doing something that made him upset.

Her body rests under the covers pulled up to her shoulders and bundled up in her hands to cover her face.

"I don't– I don't know what I did, but when you're ready to talk to me, tell me." She said tiredly, facing the cushions with her legs bending close to her stomach.

Seeming small on the large couch that she would start feeling her eyes blind her vision.

One look at him in the light of the candle, she wondered. That's all she did before she extended one leg to touch his thigh.