Aching Hearts // Draco Malfoy fanfiction

58

-

Don't mistake innocence for kindness.
The two may look the same,
But one is sugar,
And one is salt.
One will leave a sweet aftertaste on your tongue,
While the other will burn if you get too much.
One can have both, and one can have none.
But you can mix as well,
Just like sugar and salt.

-

Just as I had expected him to, he left.
And I didn't see him for another two weeks.

I wondered where the blonde went off to in the meantime, and how he escaped classes so easily.
I thought after the night we shared, that he would turn back to somehow normal, but oh how I was wrong.
He became even more distant. Even more dead-looking.
And the Draco we all once knew, was nowhere to be seen.

The others were worried sick about me after that night.
I didn't want to talk about it, so I didn't. I could tell it was bothering them, but I thought by keeping it low-key, my trauma would suppress, therefore I would just forget about it.

Slughorn had invited me, Harry, and Hermione to his Christmas party.
We had a plus one invitation, meaning we could bring anyone we would like.

It was like a date invitation, but since my first thought was to bring Draco and he was nowhere to be seen, I brought Pansy instead. As a friend, of course.

Harry brought Luna, as a friend too, while Hermione brought Cormac of all people.
Hermione didn't know what had happened that night with Cormac, no one did apart from our friend group, but I'm sure if she knew she wouldn't even look at the boy.

I wore a short, navy blue dress. It had silver detailing as all the star signs, and its straps were thin and fragile.
Pansy wore her usual green silk dress, that she adored, and to say the least, I wasn't surprised.

When we entered the party, a bunch of nicely dressed people was scattered around, drinks in their hands as they greeted everyone.

I scanned the room for familiar faces and my eyes landed on Hermione and Cormac.
Hermione looked frustrated as she desperately tried to escape from the boy. I quietly used my powers on the dirty blonde and made his glass fall out of his hand, making it look like he had pissed himself.

"Nice one" Pansy yelled right when Neville approached us.

"Neville, hi!" I greeted, a playful smile on my lips.
The boy wasn't invited to the party, instead, he was a waiter.

"Drinks?" He asked, as his hands were shaking by the weight of the drinks he was carrying.
Pansy and I took a drink without hesitation, and one drink turned into four, then six, and so on.

As the alcohol started settling in our blood and our words became slurred, a loud noise broke the fun.

Mr filch dragged in a familiar tallboy, holding him tightly by his collar.
Draco looked frustrated as he tried to get out of the old man's grip.

"Take your hands off me, you filthy squib!" He hissed, which only made filch grab onto him tighter.

"Professor Slughorn, sir! I've just discovered this boy lurking in an upstairs corridor. He claims to have been invited to your party" Filch growled.

"Okay, okay, I was gate-crashing. Happy?" Draco admitted, his face scrunched up in anger. His eyes landed on me as I parted my lips slightly, surprised to see him here of all places.

Snape offered to escort him out which Draco gladly accepted.
I stood still for a minute or two before deciding to follow them out, without being caught, of course.

As I sneaked around in the different corridors, I heard their familiar voices.
I turned around a bit, finally seeing two silhouettes.
Draco was slumped against a wall in lazy insolence, while Snape was hovering over him.

"Maybe I did hex that Bell girl. Maybe I didn't. What's it to you?" Draco spat, making my heart skip a beat. I didn't want to believe he had hexed her, but he practically admitted to himself.

"I swore to protect you. I made the Unbreakable Vow!" Snape said lowly.
I didn't understand what he meant by unbreakable vow, but I didn't have time to think about it either before Draco spoke up again.

"I don't need protection. I was chosen for this! Out of all others. Me! And I won't fail him. I won't fail her" Draco said, his words almost becoming a whisper.

"You're afraid, Draco. You attempt to conceal it, but it's obvious. Love has made you a fool! Let me assist you" Snape tried to reason. I gulped at his words, my breath becoming hitched as I did so.

"No! I was chosen. This is my moment! And if I don't she will-" Draco started, but quickly stopped himself again.

"Nothing will happen to the girl" Snape said in his monotone voice.
Draco didn't answer, instead, he just exited, Snape doing the same.

I rested my head against the stone wall, trying to take in what I had just heard.
But no matter how much I thought about it, or how much I tried to be realistic, I just couldn't get it through my head that there was a possibility that Draco was a deatheater.

-

As we were on the train on our way back home to celebrate the holidays, Draco was still nowhere to be seen.
I suspected he chose to spend the holidays at Hogwarts, which wasn't like him, but I didn't blame him given the fact that his family was deatheaters.

I had a hard time sleeping after Slughorns Christmas party as Draco's words kept replaying in my head.

"What's up with you?" Theo asked, making me shift my attention from the window towards the brunette.
I let out a low sigh, not sure how I would handle this situation.

"I don't know" was all that came out. I scolded myself for my choice of words, but in the end, I didn't have the capability to say anything other than the famous "I don't know"

"You miss him, don't you?" Pansy softly asked.
I let out yet another low sigh, annoyed that she always knew what was on my mind.

"I do" I mumbled, making Pansy stroke my arm gently.

"He will get around" she tried to soothe me, but I wasn't so sure anymore.

"I don't know if he will anymore"

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