Deliverance | Draco Malfoy

Seventeen

tw: This chapter contains mentions of suicidal thoughts or actions. Read with caution.

The air was crisp and fresh as I breathed it in through my nostrils. My mind was a puddle of foggy thoughts from lack of sleep, and depressing thoughts about my best friend that woke up so sick just a few hours prior that I thought all the veins in his neck were going to burst from how much force his muscles were using to throw up. Wind whipped through my tangled long hair that was over due for a cut, and I hugged my knees closer to my chest while I sat on that roof that welcomed me back each time I wanted a place to run away to.

The smell of my cigarette in the air was a pleasant change from the chimney smoke and pine needle scent that drifted through the winter skies. The air was slowly changing seasons into the dewy and earthy smell of spring, but not quick enough. Not fast enough to warm up this cold morning that had my best friend heaving up everything in his stomach, and not fast enough to warm those boys in that dorm that I was finding myself worrying for.

One boy was so clueless that it was painful to watch. It was all an act he put on, of course. That messy haired brunette boy was the class clown that used humor to hide his underlying issues. He flirted, teased, and taunted to pretend he wasn't afraid of his underlying feelings. It was so easy for him to wear a mask— until I slip up and he shows his true temper, like when I had mentioned Blaise's mother and his father a short while earlier.

The other was selfless. He'd give anyone the shirt off his back if they needed it. He enjoyed the thrill of the party life and a life of drugs and alcohol to slip away into a more peaceful world from the one we found ourselves in. His only soft spot had light green eyes, a head of black hair, and needed someone to take care of her the way she did everyone else. He needed her as his safe space, and he loved how much she needed him back because it gave him a sense of importance. He had always been overlooked compared to his friends, but not by his girl. He owed her the world. That's exactly what got him into this mess.

Then there was the third of the three stooges. The first boy I had ever felt something twinging under the surface of my flesh for without it being forced by someone else. He was a boy that had managed to capture my deepest desires because that's how the devil works. The bad guy is always the one you want so desperately, hence why I always ran back to Graham. He was someone that drove me absolutely mad, and I hated him more than anyone for how he is. But no matter how insane he made me every day of my life, he was swimming through my thoughts more than my own boyfriend seemed to do anymore. He relentlessly sucked the attention right out of me and left me feeling like a Dementor just drained me of any happiness because of the guilt that chilled me afterwards.

I hate him so fucking much.

And he hates me.

That was how this life was supposed to go, and I had been fine with that.

He was putting in a show last night. Trying to worm his way back in after everything he's done to me. That's what Malfoy does— it's how he was bred and raised.

He's a fucking snake. Cunning, witty, and willing to strike with enough venom to kill just to get ahead of anyone that stands in the way of what he desires to achieve. But with that came a realization that Graham pointed out at dinner just before he left last night. Draco hasn't been going on missions or working while Graham has— because Graham was desperate to see just how powerful Malfoy had grown to be outside these stone walls of the castle. The Dark Lord hasn't called for him, and now he's falling behind the others that joined the army just shortly after him.

He's just using me as his revenge from the failure he's starting to feel. Graham is out there with endless opportunities to get ahead, and Malfoy views me as the perfect plot to put an end to Graham's reign. This will all come back to blow up in my face again.