Broken: a Draco Malfoy Love Story

Chapter 9 - Betrayal of the Best Friend & Boyfriend

Alexia's head was pounding and her throat felt like sandpaper. It took a while for her eyes to adjust to the green tinge of light from the lake, streaming in through the small glass window. But when they finally did focus, the first thing she saw was Pansy Parkinson. Words that Blaise had spoken last night, echoed in her head. She vaguely remembered what had happened and what he had told her, but she knew that Pansy, the girl she thought was her best friend, had betrayed her.

Alexia leapt from her bed like a leopard and stumbled out of her dormitory and into the Common Room, desperately wanting to get away from Pansy. It was much brighter here and the light pierced Alexia's eyes. Her body ached; it felt like a million knives were searing through her skin.

"Alexia!" Someone called. The voice sounded like it was coming from a hundred miles away and it echoed in her head. She felt her knees giving in, and then, she was falling to the ground. She caught the wall just in time, breaking her fall, but as she weakly attempted to hold herself up, her body became heavier and heavier and she collapsed.

"Get Malfoy!" The same echoing voiced remarked. She felt a cold hand touch her scorching face, instantly giving her ease. Light seemed to drift further away, and a trail of sweat trickled down her forehead. Or was it blood? She didn't know.

There were footsteps becoming louder and a new voice shouting out her name, "Alexia!" She recognised the voice, "We need to get her out of here. People can't see her like this!"

"Where do we take her?" The other voice asked.

"The Prefect Bathroom. Come on, hurry!"

Someone had taken hold of her in their arms and she was lifted and carried out of the Common Room. It felt like forever before she was put down again. She was dizzy and hot and sweating like mad. The cool tiles in the Prefect Bathroom felt absolutely wonderful against her skin, as if they were water putting out a blazing fire.

"You two go tell anyone who saw her an excuse. Tell them it wasn't her or something. I'll give them money if it comes to that. We can't have this getting out of school!" Someone said from beside her. Followed by footsteps on the tiles and a creak of the door. "Al? Alexia, can you hear me?" The voice from beside her asked. Each word reverberated painfully at the back of her head. She knew she should answer, but her voice seemed to have disappear. Never the less, she tried her hardest to speak but all that came out was a weird mumbling sound.

Focused on getting up, Alexia forced her heavy and aching arm up to her face and rubbed her eyes. Slowly, she opened them and squinted at the light, blinding her. She recognised Draco looking over her from above. He looked serious and worried, but still managed to give Alexia a relieved smile.

"Hey, let's get you sitting up." He said placing a hand under Alexia's back and gently helping her up so she was sitting, supported by the wall.

Alexia's stomach lurched inside of her, and within minutes she was up and stumbling into a toilet cubicle and...

"Oh Merlin," Draco mumbled through coughs and splatters. He waited a few minutes, then heard a flush. "Are you alright Alexia?"

This time, Alexia was able to speak clearly, in fact she felt suddenly a lot better, "Yeah," She replied, carefully and slowly walking from the toilet to the taps.

Draco watched her, ready to catch her incase she fell any minute. He hadn't seen his friend like this for a long, long time. Alexia's stared horrified at her appearance she saw in the mirror. She took some soap from the asortment of shampoos, soaps and bathsalts on the side of the sink, and washed her hands and face. The steam from the water became infused with a strong lavender smell that spread throughout the bathroom.