Come Find Me | Dramione

Chapter 31: Shattered

*TW*
blood, injury, character death

She should have been there by now.

Draco paced in the sand, the salty ocean wind blowing around him, looking at his watch every other second.

Five minutes. Ten. Fifteen.

"We have to go back," he blurted, facing Theo and Blaise, unable to wait a moment longer.

"Draco, we can't go back. You heard Potter yesterday. He doesn't believe you. He'll have his men haul you off to Azkaban without a second thought," Theo said, looking up from where he sat, his knees tucked into his chest. "You beat the bloody shit out of the man with the entire DMLE department a hall away. They are bound to have already found him."

Blaise was standing behind him, rubbing his palms together to fight the cold night breeze as he said, "We're scared for her too. But we have to trust her."

Draco's heart had been hammering in his chest since the moment they landed on his and Granger's beach. Blaise had had to hold him back from Theo as he screamed at his friend for leaving her.

He had known that Weasley hurt her, but seeing it firsthand...the way Granger had screamed when he grabbed her arm...

Gods above, Draco had lost it. A sense of cruel calm took over as he ripped Weasley away from her. If Theo hadn't been there, Draco wouldn't have stopped until he was dead.

The monster deserved worse than death.

He had been walking up and down that beach, trying to figure out what came next, where they would go. He didn't care how far they had to go, as long as she was safe and they were together. He'd give up his name, his career, his money if it meant they could run together.

More minutes passed. He listened for the familiar sound of Apparation.

It never came.

"Something isn't right, Theo. I know it. I won't just stand here if she's in trouble—if she's hurt."

"But Potter—"

"I don't care that Potter is a useless piece of shit. My freedom is not worth her life, and if you don't give me that fucking rock so that I can find her, I swear to Merlin, I will never forgive you, Theo."

Blaise put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Mate—"

"No, he's right," Theo interrupted, getting to his feet and dusting sand off his suit trousers. "It's been too long."

Draco almost sagged with relief. "Thank you."

"We're coming with you."

"You don't have—"

Theo shut him up with a look that said he wasn't taking no as an answer. "We're coming with you," he repeated. "She's family."

The three men gathered together, silently praying that they were wrong. That they would find her safe and ready to run.

Theo outstretched a hand, the Apparation stone gripped tight in the other. With a deep breath, Draco and Blaise took hold.

A moment later, they were gone.

***

They landed on the grassy lawn of a small cottage in the countryside, the moon high in the night sky. It had to be Granger's place, but he couldn't know for sure.

As they crept closer, each holding their breath, the cottage grew clearer. Every window was broken, glass shards hanging dangerously from the panes.

With his wand held tight in his hand, Draco ran up the front stairs and through the wooden door. Glass broke under his feet, crunching and cracking with each step he took. It littered every inch of the floor.