A Beautiful and Terrible Truth

Chapter 1

When I was little, I expected the world. The only problem with that was I never got what I wanted. I just wanted my dad to stick around more, be there for me, but that was just a bust. I’ll never have that dream. My mother, oh my poor mother, has gotten herself in some deep shit. I wanted her to always be my best friend, but she always had dad on her mind. I guess that was  true even after the divorce, and I always wanted someone to feel close to before and after the divorce. Well, part of my wish came true.

Kamrynn came true.

Draco came true.

I just hoped that I would be able to hang on to both of them through the war. I knew that it would be more possible to hang on to Kam than Draco. It would break my heart if I couldn’t be with Draco anymore. My hand reached up and seized the ring that hung from the chain around my neck. It was the only thing that reminded me that everything that happened with Draco wasn’t just a dream. Our love was real. The battle was real. Dumbledore dying was real.

When I was little, I expected the world, and I guess I had been doing it again. I expected Draco to stay with me. I had expected our love to be unbreakable. I had expected me to be unbreakable. It was all a lie. A lie to myself just so I would keep it together, but I couldn’t possibly do that. A storm was raging outside the castle, and I was packing my trunk. The next day I was going home…but not for long.

“Courtney?” called Astoria from Lavender’s bed.

Astoria could’ve left with the deatheaters, but she didn’t. She said that she was going to stay with me because of what she had done. She was now a traitor, not that she had ever been branded, but she was a traitor all the same. Fighting Bellatrix for me was a big sacrifice in and of itself. She was a brave person, and one of my new best friends. I imagine how I ever got through anything without her, but then I remember that I have Kam, who is even more important to me now more than ever. She has been worrying about Blaise and the trip with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. She’s afraid that she doesn’t have what it takes to help bring down the darkest wizard of all time.

She’s dead wrong.

We all have something to bring to the table, even me. I didn’t do much at the battle, but I still believe in myself. I still remembered the pep talk that Dumbledore had given me that day in his office after Pansy had just ruined my reputation.

You are more important than you realize…

“Courtney?” Astoria said again as she sat next to me on my bed.

I sighed. “Just thinking.”

“About Draco?” she smirked.

I nodded. “Him and other things.”

“Well, it’s good for the mind,” she giggled.

I looked over at her and dropped the ring. “Why are you even here?”

“Do you not want me here?” she looked taken back just a little.

I shook my head with a laugh. “No, that’s not it at all. I mean, what are you doing here? You don’t have to be here, you know. You could be anywhere you want to be and not here with little old me. I’m nothing special.”

“You’re special to Draco,” she smiled at me. “That makes you special to me. Besides, if I’m going to see my life flash before my eyes one day, why not make it worth watching? And rebelling against You-Know-Who seems like a very good movie to me. Don’t you think?”

“Yes, yes it does,” I smiled back at her. “Can I ask why Draco is so important to you?”

She shrugged. “He just seems like he’s had a rough life. He deserves to have one good thing in his life, and if that one good thing is you, why not make sure he can have you? I mean, I have nothing else to do with my life. Might as well make sure his life is complete.”