Obliviate my Destiny {Book 5}

14. No place like home

The car started up and I held onto the seat, on the verge of a panic attack. What was I going to do now? I knew I'd see Draco again at Hogwarts the second Umbridge brought it up, but I wasn't prepared to see him now.

"Put your seatbelt on, you'll go flying from the window otherwise," Draco said, and still staring at him, I watched as he pulled the seat belt over me.

"Wouldn't be the worst thing in the world," I said, my voice hoarse.

He rolled his eyes. "Trust me; throwing yourself out a window will be beautiful compared to where we're heading."

The car drove on through central London, and I began waging a war with myself. Should I tell him who I was? Or should I just lay low until I could make sure he wasn't under control by any death eater?

But could I trust him with a secret. One phrase Lacey told me throughout the years drifited to mind: two can keep a secret if one of them is dead. I couldn't tell him. I trusted him, but I didn't trust others not to pick around in his head for information.

Something clicked in my mind. Glancing at him, I saw the tightness of his jaw and fading bruises on his neck. What had happened to him?

"What—what did you mean about Hogwarts?" I asked timidly, worried that anything I said could sound like me.

"Ha," he said under his breath. He turned to face me, and I almost melted under his serious look. Any malice he might have had in his features two years ago was vanished—he looked just like the boy only I saw. "Whatever your fancy cousins told you about Hogwarts isn't true anymore. It's a nightmare."

"I heard you were a nightmare, once." I said softly.

He turned to me, the ghost of a smile on his face. "Don't tell me, you met one of the wonderful Weasley children, didn't you?" he shook his head. "There's no point in being a dickhead when the world is already crappy enough. Sometimes, circumstances and people change you."

The car trundled on through England, and I highly suspected the car had some element of magic to it—no way would a usual car be able to fly over a herd of sheep on the M6 or get through Manchester traffic in less than ten minutes.

"What's your name again, Rena?" Draco said, seeming to want to talk. Pride burned in me for him. Years ago, he would have been so cruel to a stranger in distress, and now, he was acting like a proper human being.

Shaking my head, I lied: "No, it's Lena—Lena Stark."

He nodded. "I've always liked the name Lena, for my daughter if I ever have one. Break the tradition of the constellation names."

"You could always name a kid after the dolphin constellation." I said, and he actually gave a smile to me.

"You sound just like somebody I knew...." He trailed off, lowering his head. "She would have cracked a joke like that."

Not daring to hope, I whispered, "Was she important to you?"

"She was my girlfriend once," Draco said, his voice low so the driver couldn't hear, leaning over to me. His hand brushed mine, and I felt an urge to wrap my hand around his. "And despite everything, she loved me and now—I don't even know where she is."

"If somebody really loves you they'll find their way back, no matter what the cost." I said, accidently on purpose I brushed my thumb against his wrist, just to feel his pulse, that this moment wasn't a dream or some cruel nightmare that Umbridge had made for me.

Draco pulled his hand away, straightening up. "You must love somebody a lot to think like that."

We sat in silence for the rest of the journey, and a lump in my throat formed when I saw Hogsmeade flash past us. All of the good times I'd had there.... The sneaking out with Harry and Cole.... The dates with Draco.... The forming of the D.A....It was always so full of life, and now it was as dark and desolated as the rest of the world.