UNBREAK | D.M (UNRAVEL BOOK 5)

[ 26 ]

Draco stomps away from Slughorn's Christmas Party with Snape by his side, their footsteps heavy and angry. They ended up walking into an empty dark corridor where Snape finally confronted the younger boy about the Cursed Necklace, his voice stern and monotonous. 

"... Cannot afford mistakes, Draco. If you are expelled for committing such an atrocious act—" 

The younger lad scoffed at Snape, causing the head of Slytherin's house to shove him up against the wall. "Maybe I did hex that Bell girl. Maybe I didn't!" he retorted without giving a definite answer. A sneer spread across Draco's face when he saw how keenly his mentor was trying to get him to own up to the act. "That Bell girl must've had enemies surrounding her— Don't look at me like that! Why does it even matter to you?" he barked.

"I hope your words are true because if they aren't, you should know that you are already suspected of having a hand in it!" Snape reveals and catches the slightest panic that flickered past Draco's silver eyes. 

"Let me guess, Potter?" Draco rebuked, rolling his eyes. 

Of course... Who else would it be?

Having enough of Draco's antics, Snape clicks his tongue and pins the boy further backwards with his elbow on Draco's chest. "I swore to your mother that I would protect you! I made the Unbreakable Vow!" he hisses very softy, unbeknownst by the fact that Harry was eavesdropping on them.

Draco pushes Snape's arm away, fire in his eyes as he glares back at his professor. As much as he was shocked by the deal his mother had made with his teacher, he tries to let his agitation overshadow it. He argued back to prove himself that he didn't need any help, and definitely not needing Snape's aid too. "I don't need protection! If anyone is to need it, it's them!" Draco snaps back, referring to Aine and her brother, and his dear mother which Snape had already understood. 

His professor gave a pause, eyeing the boy who was huffing and puffing, his chest rising and deflating quickly as he fumed. He became provoked by the fact that Snape had thought he needed help, that he was unable to perform to the expectations of the Dark Lord. 

Was it because they had looked down on him? That he wasn't strong enough to complete the suicide mission and impossible task? His inferiority complex plods up on him again and he loses himself in the rage. "I was chosen for this! It's my job and I have a plan, and it's going to work! It's just taking longer than I thought it would!" he shot back.

Snape narrowed his eyes at him, trying to use Legilimency on the boy to figure out his plans but Draco was trained. Too well-trained by not just his mother, and his aunt but Aine too. "I don't know what all this means but do pray to tell me. I may be able to help you—"

"I don't need your help! I've got all the assistance that I need. We're not alone!" Draco stated, his fingers trembling under the presence of Snape but he won't let it show. He had all the help he needed, Aine was there for him even when she wasn't even chosen in the first place. It was because of him did the Dark Lord ordered her to join hands to take down Dumbledore. He had dragged her down with him and he needed to make sure he thrives to make it up to her.

"You're afraid, Draco. You attempt to conceal it but it's obvious," Snape jeers at him, making Draco even more distressed. "I can help you if you just say the word and stop being so utterly stubborn and foolish like a child!" he spat.

"NO! I was chosen, of all others— ME! I won't fail him as my father did!"

Silence befalls Snape and he exhales through his nose. What he saw in front of him wasn't a young adult who would take matters into his own hands, but a child quivering like a brittle leaf, attempting to last through the blaring winds. Simultaneously, he saw a fragment of himself in Draco. He could see how much Lucius's capture and imprisonment had affected Draco, and the fact that now he had endangered his mother and the Estoileons should he fail. It was driving him over the edge, and he was tipping over very dangerously at the end.