The Bracelet (Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

Chapter 29

Hey guys! This chapter won't be very eventful. It's kind of a transition from all the crazy stuff that's been happening. But stick with me! It'll speed up again in no time. Hope you enjoy! NOT EDITED!

***

Jennifer's POV -

Although I expect my pain to dissolve with a few days time, it doesn't.

It's a grief that comes in waves, unforgiving, stealing appetite and sleep alike. It's a shard in my guts that never leaves, though perhaps in time the edges will dull.

What was once whole is shattered; where once was peace is emptiness, echoes of a person I put my everything into.

I try to forget Draco, but it only takes me a day or two to give up on that, mostly because I fail miserably at it. It's hard to forget someone who gave you so much to remember.

And by that, I mean everything that ever happened between us, from him bumping into me on the platform and being a complete asshole about it, to everything at Hogwarts itself, to just a few days ago. It all felt so right, and so true. To me, he felt real.

I try to convince myself that his words were lies. His actions in the months before them seemed to speak for themselves. Even the night before it happened, he'd held me in his arms like he cared the world about me. But the conversation that followed just doesn't seem real, any of it.

I remember how he looked me in the eyes, and said what he did with emotion absent from his voice. Maybe, perhaps, he did like me, at one point. Maybe he simply changed, deciding one night that perhaps I was just too much to handle.

But the memories I have of him are something that he can't change, and never will.

"Jennifer?" I hear the voice of my best friend whisper gently, as she sits next to me, rubbing my back. I'm drawn back from my thoughts to the awful surface that is my reality.

I've told both Kelsie and Josefina everything that happened. Although I've left out some of the details that I'd prefer to keep between Draco and I, they know of everything else, including the torture.

"God, next time I see him, I'm gonna kill him." Josefina spouts angrily, pacing back and forth rapidly across our empty dorm.

"You can say I told you so." I mumble shamefully, recalling all of the times they had warned me about him. God, I should've listened.

Josefina looks at me in disbelief, along with Kelsie. "You're kidding, right?" It's silent for a moment.

"We're not going to do that." Kelsie whispers from beside me, her voice but a breath of air.

"I know." I say, suddenly hit with the realization that my suggestion was ridiculous.

I thumb my charm bracelet gently. The bird that Draco gave me still remains hanging from it, and I don't know why, but I can't bring myself to remove it.

***

"Hey." I sigh, as I plop down next to Neville, Ginny, and Luna beside the lake on the frosted grass. I pull my scarf tighter around my neck. Although it's frigid out, I don't mind being out here, as long as I'm with them.

"Hi, Jen." Neville responds cheerfully, "How're you doing?"

I stare out across the iced black lake mindlessly, deciding that I don't want to bother them with my issues.