𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐒 | draco malfoy ✔️

104. the truth exposed

TRAINING WHEELS

THE TRUTH EXPOSED

15 November 1997

Draco's promise of their second Occlumency lesson was kept. Amora hated every second of it - the way she was helpless to him invading her memories, how it hurt her head and numbed her mind for hours afterwards. Occluding took a lot of energy out of her, and Draco didn't seem to care.

Their lessons went from every two days to every other, and then every single day. Amora was still useless at keeping Draco out completely. No matter how hard she tried, all she could do was defer his advances - she couldn't 'lock the library' altogether, as he always told her to do.

It got to the point where she dreaded seeing him every morning, knowing that he wanted to do nothing but build on her Occlumency. She understood the importance of it, but she was exhausted and, quite honestly, she had given up trying to get any better.

She hated that Draco got to see vulnerable parts of her. He saw through her head when Cedric had died, among other painful events in Amora's life. Like when she had woken up and found Draco missing from the bed, only to realise he had been lying to her all year. He had backed off when he saw that. That seemed to really hurt him, because he didn't stay to read that day.

That day being yesterday. And now Draco was back with her breakfast. More porridge and honey. Amora thought she loved it and could have it everyday, but she was getting sick of the routine. Sick of the sweet taste, sick of staring at the same four walls, sick of having nobody to talk to, sick of having no magic, and sick of not doing anything useful.

"We'll start in half an hour," Draco announced, opening her curtains for her as if he were her parent or something. "I see you are already washed and dressed."

"I woke up early," Amora murmured, pushing the porridge around with her spoon.

"What?" Draco's brows pinched together. "Not enough honey? I did the usual amount."

Amora briefly recognised that that meant he was making her breakfast rather than the house elves, and that shouldn't have made her feel so light and giddy, yet it did.

"I just..." Amora tried to find the right words as she put down the spoon. "Feel like I can't stomach it today. I don't know."

"Are you sick?" Draco demanded.

"Yes," Amora lied, "I have an awful migraine and a poorly tummy. It keeps twisting like I'll be sick, so I don't think we should practice today."

His small frown of concern seemed to diminish once the last words left her lips. Draco folded his arms against his broad chest, staring down at her knowingly.

"Tell me the truth," he said, "Or shall I look through your head and find out for myself?"

"No," Amora complained, sending him the fiercest glare she could muster. "I'm not lying and you can't look through my head."

"Then keep me out," Draco dared and took a step closer towards her.

"No!" Amora repeated furiously. "Leave it, Draco. Leave me alone!"

Draco looked almost as angry as her for a second. "Make me," he hissed and then there was an agonising pain in Amora's head.

She tried to push him out altogether, tried to get rid of him and stop him from looking through yet more of her memories, but she was still unable to completely detach herself emotionally. Amora could feel Draco looking for something in particular, what she did not know, but she knew when he had found it.