Damage - Draco Malfoy Fanfic

T H I R T Y-S E V E N

                                        ~Close~

Athea and Draco couldn't go home for the holidays. They were expected to stay at Hogwarts and continue their work on the difficult vanishing cabinet. This meant their Christmas would be at the school this year and Athea wasn't that upset with this - Christmas at Hogwarts was rather beautiful. The decorations, the magic, the happiness, the warmth and the comfort were blissful, it made you feel at home without being there...not that Athea knew what it was like to have a home. Although, it felt like Draco was her home, in some kind of way. Most of her friends were going back to their homes apart from Theo and Blaise, which meant her, and Draco spent a little more time with them as classes were off.

The holidays passed relatively quickly. With it already being Christmas eve Athea found herself burning with excitement at the thought of giving Draco her present. Draco had always been difficult to buy for, in addition he was rich, meaning that he could buy almost anything he wanted. So, she decided to search outside of the magical world and fetch him something made by muggles. She hoped he liked it.

Regarding the cabinet - they had made some progress. They had tested it using an apple, transporting it through the cabinet to the one in Borgin & Berks. After a minute it came back with a piece of it bitten out, meaning it had worked. Now all that was left was to try it on something alive.

Athea used to believe that once this task of killing Albus Dumbledore was over then her and Draco would be done - they could relax and distance themselves from the upcoming war. It took her a long time to realise that they would never be done, never be free. After the murder of Dumbledore, the person that would do it would become a criminal. They will be targeted and wanted for the crime. And even after that, they were still death-eaters. The both of them will still be expected to fight on the dark side, which they both truly did not want to do. But they had no choice. They were trapped in a life full of despair without any escape.

She wondered what their lives could be like in a different universe.

"Bloody hell, your dorm is a tip!" Theo exclaimed as he jumped over piles of clothes and accessories on the messy floor, cringing as he almost tripped over a box of make-up. "Why are girls so unorganised?"

Athea rolled her eyes as she dug through her draw. "Girls aren't unorganised, Theo. And plus, this is all Milas mess. I'm hardly in here." Her brows furrowed and she searched for a vile, grinning and lifting it up for Theo to see when she found it. "Ah-ha! Here it is!" She handed it to him. "That will last you about two weeks."

Theo looked at it curiously. "What do I do again?" He asked.

She closed her draw and turned to him. "Just pour it over the mark and it will ease the pain a little more, don't use too much of it though. You want it to last."

"Right." Theo mumbled as he stuffed it into his pockets. "You down to make me some more when I run out?"

Athea sighed. "I can't unfortunately. With the task taking up most my time I can barely make some for myself. But I can give you the potions book which has the instructions on how to make it if that's any help?" She went searching through the messy dorm on a hunt for it when he nodded.

"Got my Christmas present all wrapped up ready for me?" Theo asked with a smirk as he had a nosy around the room, picking up random things to inspect them. "I'm expecting greatness."

Athea laughed as she rummaged through the pile of books in the corner of the room. "Yes, I've got your present ready." She discovered the correct book and gave it to Theo. "And don't get your hopes up. I could have gotten you some sweets disguised as Ton-Tongue Toffees, and you would never know." She teased.