The Untold Story Of Draco Malfoy

Chapter 8

Harry recounted the story yet again, "..... And then I got the bezoar down his throat, and his breathing eased up a bit, Slughorn ran for help, McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey turned up....".

I wasn't listening. I was too busy thinking of the horrifying possibilities that could have happened if Harry didn't find the bezoar, or didn't even think of it. Thank the Wizard God that he did. And thank the Wizard God that the Half-Blood Prince fellow gave him the idea. Some birthday Ron was having.

Hermione gave an almost inaudible sniff. I looked at her, suddenly seeing her perspective. Imagine being in love with a man you're fighting with, and having that man nearly die without telling him how you feel, or even making up. My heart went out to her.

The doors flew open and Hagrid walked in. My attention was all over the place, I've been very tired lately. Then my head suddenly snapped up as Hermione said, "but I think there's a connection between the attacks."

"How'd you work that out?" Fred asked, at least, I thought it was Fred.

"Well, for one thing, they both ought to have been fatal and weren't, although that was pure luck. And for another, neither the poison or the necklace seems to have reached the person who was supposed to be killed. Of course, that makes the person behind this even more dangerous, in a way, because they don't seem to care how many people they finish off before they actually reach their victim."

We all sat in silence, knowing that what Hermione said was right. We had some sort of failed murderer on the lose.








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Harry, Hagrid, Hermione and I were all ushered out of the Infirmary by Madam Pomfrey soon after Mr and Mrs Weasley arrived.

I walked slower, absorbed in my thoughts. The events of today made me angry, not at the fact that Ron nearly died, but at a person. I felt like my brain knew who planned this attack, but that brick wall inside my head prevented me from placing a finger on who.

Before I could think of the matter any more, a hand popped out and grabbed my arm, another landed on my mouth, and dragged me into a nearby classroom. I screamed, but it sounded small and muffled by the unknown hand. After the door of the classroom was shut, a familiar voice whispered by my ear, "Calm down Taylor, I'm not kidnapping you, I just need to talk to you, and I'm not going to let go until you've calmed down."

Malfoy.

I took a deep breath and steadied my heartbeat. As soon as Malfoy's hands let go, I spun around and elbowed him in the stomach. He grunted as he staggered from the force of the elbow. My father used to make me take some muggle fighting sport called Taek-Won Do with my muggle cousins when I was younger. I thought it was a waste of time, but hey, it had its uses, like now. Most wizards didn't know anything about muggle fighting. I don't know why, but being in the position of hitting Malfoy seemed really familiar to me.

"What was that for?" Malfoy said, sounding playfully hurt, as he righted himself.

"Are you INSANE?" I snarled, "First you practically kidnap me, giving me the fright of my life, then you tell me that you aren't kidnapping me, then after all that, you say that you just want to talk to me, and you didn't expect me to do something?"

"I only wanted to talk," Malfoy said simply.

I glared.

"How's Weasley?" Malfoy asked. I almost didn't believe my ears. A Slytherin, the sworn enemy of the Gryffindors, was asking how a Gryffindor student was, one that this particular Slytherin especially hated.

"Um.....He's fine, he just has to stay in the Infirmary for a week or two," I answered, not sure of what I was supposed to say. "Can I go now?" I continued.

"I only want to talk," Malfoy repeated again.

"What do you want?" I snarled. This was weird. My brain is wired to be angry at this guy today, I don't know why. But his calmness made me uneasy, it was usually him that was snarling and sneering. To tell you the truth, he looked so sick that he didn't seem to have the energy to be himself today.

"What's wrong Malfoy?" I asked, softer. He still wasn't answering, he was staring at my hand. I glanced down. I saw that my gold bracelet, the one from the anonymous sender, was visible. I've worn it since Christmas, and it was March now, I don't know why I was so attached to it. He stared, his face showing no emotion. I felt like I was staring at a blank canvas.

"Draco?" I asked again, stepping closer to him.

He snapped out of his reverie. "Come on, I want to show you something." He took my hand and pulled me out of the classroom. I followed, my heart beating wildly.









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After a couple of stairs and even more corridors, I realised that we walked through the same corridor one, twice, three times now. I looked up at Malfoy, he had a determined look on his face, his hand still gripping mine. I looked around, we were on the seventh floor.

It clicked.

He was taking me to the Room of Requirement.

Why?

Before I could contemplate the answer, Malfoy suddenly stopped, facing a door that wasn't there a few seconds ago.

"Seeing as you're not freaking out or surprised by the fact that a door just materialised in front of you, I'm guessing that you already know about the Room of Requirement?" Malfoy asked, looking at me, with a smile so disarming that my heart started beating loudly. What was up with me and this guy? One second, I want to throttle him, and the next, my heart is speeding because of him.

I nodded mutely, my mind was racing. Was he going to show me what he was been planning and working on? No, he's not an idiot. Then what was he doing?

Malfoy pushed the door open and stood aside, saying, "Ladies First," reminding me of the first time we talked.

"You're not going to jump ahead of me as I walk forwards and say 'but men just before', are you?" I asked, smiling at the memory.

"Dang, you ruined my big moment " Malfoy smiled, not a leer, not a snarl, an actual smile, before placing his hand on my back and ushering me in. That soft slight touch was enough to send shivers through me.

I seemed to walk in on some outdoor greenhouse of some sort, which was weird, because I knew for a fact that we just walked into a room. There was a balcony on the far side of the room. Beautiful flowers of every kind grew all over the place. Malfoy is stressing over a garden?

I look up at Malfoy, questioningly, only to realise that he was already looking down at me. I looked away quickly, blushing.

"You know, all these flowers combined aren't half as beautiful are you are," Malfoy said simply, as if merely stating a fact.

My heart stopped. Malfoy was complimenting me? Did he get hit over the head too?

He led me to a table that was bathed in the afternoon sunlight, which made no sense, as I knew that it was evening.

"Now," Malfoy said, sitting opposite me. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Me? If I can recall correctly, you were the one who kidnapped me! You've got a lot of explaining to do!" I replied.











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DRACOS P.O.V.

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I watched her as she spoke, the sunlight dancing on all her features. I really wanted to reach out and touch her, just to make sure that she was real, that she was here alone, with me, a Slytherin, her mortal enemy. I had long given up my plan to ignore her, I couldn't concentrate on anything else anymore. So I decided to get to know her, properly, without any plan-spilling incidents. I didn't want to take her memory away again.

"So, tell me about yourself," I said, ignoring her last question, staring at her eyes that matched the sky above us. The gold bracelet that she wore sparkled like the sun.

"Um... What do you want to know?" She asked, looking at me weirdly. I probably sounded weird too, but I didn't care. I was in her company, alone. I was able to stare at her without worrying about being seen.

"Everything," I said, which probably added fuel to the fire that I was weird. I didn't care, I honestly didn't anymore.










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"I'm adopted," Skyler said. "My real mom and dad, who were both Aurors, were killed by Voldemort when I was five. Frank and Rebecca, who are my parents now, were my godparents, as well as my parents' best friends. They took me in and raised me as their own," Skyler explained, blinking the tears out of her eyes. We were sitting on a grassy meadow, which appeared after I wished for one to appear. I loved the Room Of Requirement.

Voldemort. He was always ruining lives, wasn't he? He killed Skyler's parents, making her live with her adoptive ones. Just watching Skyler choke back tears made me want to hurt Voldemort for being who he was, what he was. I wished, for the millionth time, that I wasn't branded with the Dark Mark. But I never had a choice, ever. I itched my inner left forearm, where the Dark Mark was permanently tattooed on my skin.

"Don't get me wrong," Skyler sniffled, "mum and dad are great, they love and give me everything and all, but I just wish that I knew my real parents. I've seen loads of pictures of them, as children, teenagers and adults." Skyler continued.

"I'm sorry that the Dark Lord killed your parents," I said automatically, not realising my mistake.

"Did you just call Voldemort the 'Dark Lord'? I've only heard Death Eaters call him that that...." Skyler said softly.

I froze. "I guess being around my dad left his scars on me," I said lightly.

Skyler looked at me. "How's your dad? Is he ok in Azkaban? I know that I said that he deserved it before, but no one, nothing deserves those Dementors." She whispered quickly, her eyes wide.

I sighed. The subject of my being a Death Eater is not unavoidable forever, but I don't want it to take place now. "He's fine."










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SKYLERS P.O.V.

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Malfoy began bombarding me with a lot of questions. The first one was about my parents, which I sniffled through, but the rest were just random, normal, but slightly weird questions, all about me. He must have lost a bet if he was willing to spend two hours with me alone.

Two hours.

Oh no.

I looked at my watch.

10 o'clock.

I was one hour late for curfew.

Malfoy understood my panic and helped me up.

"I guess I'll see you around Ms. Taylor," he said, walking me to the door.

"Bye Malfoy," I said, my arms raising of their own accord and I found myself giving him a hug. He smelled like soap and cologne. He froze for a while, not expecting it, then he hugged me back. I was just below his shoulders.

I pulled away suddenly, and was about to open the door, before a question struck me.

"Draco?" I asked, turning around, "did u see anyone?"

I thought I saw his smile falter. "See anyone? What do you mean Skyler?" He said, sounding overly cheerful.

"When you found me unconscious, did you see anyone around the school?" I urged.

There was no doubt about it, his smile definitely faltered. He tried to make his facial expression into a confused look. "Um... No, unless you count Ms. Norris, why Skyler?" He asked.

"No reason," I said quickly, opening the door. Before it swung close, I glanced back at Malfoy, to see that his face was a blank canvas again.







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DRACOS P.O.V.

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She knows. She knows it was me, or that I had something to do with it.

But how?

Ok, maybe trying to get to know her wasn't the best idea I've ever had, I thought, as the door swung shut.








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SKYLERS P.O.V.

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I stayed up all night in my bed, thinking. What was Draco not telling me? What was there to hide?

But there was something else that worried me.

When I hugged Draco, I thought I saw something gold through his white shirt.

I thought I saw the other half of the heart on my charm, being worn as a necklace.