Chapter 8: Eight Last Breaths

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The day of the final quidditch game had arrived. Draco was trying to get his adrenaline going, when he found himself face-to face with Harry Potter.

"Potter, we're going to need you to take a step back. We don't have enough room for your ego over here." His teammates got a kick out of that. "Last time I checked, you were the one with the ego, Malfoy." Draco's face formed into a sneer. Then he heard the most angelic voice. "Draco! Come here, I have to tell you something." Draco looked for the voice's source. He knew it was Apple, but he lost her in the sea of green Slytherin supporters. "Who's that?" Asked that nosy Potter. "That's my wife, Biotch." Answered Draco in a voice that distinctly sounded like Druna's accent. "Draco." Said Apple, much closer than before. Nova was holding her right next to him. "Here you go." She said, handing him Apple and scurrying back to Druna. "Your wife is Nova Hart?" "AW HELL NAW! HIS WIFE IS THE ONE AND ONLY APPLE MALFOY! And he needs to talk to her in some privacy, so if you would excuse us." Draco walked to a lonely coner of the pitch. "Hey. What's up?" "Draco, it's wonderful, really wonderful. I'm pregnant."

Draco's expression suddenly grew stupid happy. "I'm gonna be a daddy?" He squealed as he put his hads over his mouth and bounced up and down. He was beginning to run and tell everyone when he was stopped. "Wait," Said Apple. "Don't tell them yet. It's best if we don't." Draco was a tad disappointed, but that could  not limit his excitement. So he ran back anyway.

He did what he was told. He did not tell. Instead, he let out his happiness in a different manor. "Hey guys. I just had the weirdest idea. What if people were made out of bread. Like, muggles are whole wheat, and wizards are white bread." "Why?" asked an insignificant Slytherin. "Because everyone knows white is better." Blaise stepped up, a bit alarmed. "What is better?"

"White bread!" Answered Draco. "Just think, bread, plus people, equals mind blown." Draco was the  only one even slightly enthusiastic about the concept. "What's up with this lunatic?" Whispered Blaise. "We don't know," Said another Slytherin. "But we think we might murder him." Blaise looked at them horifically, and slowly backed toward the exit.

A few minutes later, the players were aboar their brooms as usual, and playing as if nothing happened. But it did.

"And Katie Bell chucks the... quaffle in the... right hand... hoop. The, ten? Ten? Ten. TEN- TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR. The game went smoothly, although the commentary was pretty crappy in Draco's opinion. "Ooh! Ooh! I THINK THE GOLDEN SNITCH HAS BEEN SPOTTED! Yep, I know what that is, finally. Mhm. Druna's got it goin' on. And bothe seekers are after it. It's gotten quite close. I see Theo grabbing a club. He seems to be helping out his  seeker- or - oh - Wha-" Theo had grabbed a club and he was nailing a seeker right in the head, but it was Draco who he was hitting, and the impact was too much to handle. He fell from a great height. "Arresto Momento!" Shouted Dumbledore. "What the FU-!" The rest of the girls' phrase faded out of the speakers as they ran after their falling friend.

The last thing Draco remembered was Nova's green eyes, filled with worry, look oover him, horrified. Then everything went black.

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Draco woke up in the hospital wing with Apple by his side. He heard Madam Pomfrey fuzzily. She was telling something to his freinds, that must have been tragic, from what he could see of their reactions. He didn't need to hear what she was saying to know the news. He could see that Apple was turning brown. He was dying.

He propped himself up on the bed and tried to see more clearly. "So, I never expected that I would die from a harsh beatdownduring a quidditch match. How 'bout you?" Nova let out a small laugh, but it was just a gateway of sobs. Draco put his hand on her shoulder as she leaned over with her head in her hands. She looked up and he smiled at her. "I'll be okay." He said gently. She hugged him tightly. You would expect it to be over after a moment, but it wasn't. Truthfully, they would've liked to stay there forever. They pulled each other closer.

When they finally convinced themselves to let go, Apple was only a shriveled up apple core. She had gone from sadness mostly, but also from the point that Draco didn't need her any longer. He found someone else to love.

Druna picked up the core and plucked out a seed. "Oh, Scorpius." She breathed. Nova then took the core and folded her palm around it. She hoped Draco did not have the same fate, but she knew in the back of her mind that he did.

A tear dropped from her eye. She looked back to Draco and repeated a line from a letter she had written to him at the end of summer, one that he completely misread. "I'm in love with you dragon boy, why can't you see?"

He was so happy to hear that. No words were neeed for the mutual agreement on the next action. They leaned in and pressed their lips together. Sadly, the kiss ended quicker than either of them would've liked. His right hand was on her cheek, and when they seperated, it stayed there. "Don't you dare tell my father about this." He smiled, and stayed that way.

His hand dropped, and all life drained from his body.

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The great hall was surprisingly dark on the last day. The remaining friends sat together. Dumbledore let all the houses sit anywhere. He even gave a speech honoring Draco, Apple, and Heaven.

"This year we have lost three beautiful beings." Said Dumbledore. "Heaven Bullocks: Friend to all," Nova and Druna smiled at each other. "Apple Malfoy: A shining star in disguise." Nova looked down to her wrinkly likeness in her hand. "And Draco Malfoy-" "YEE-HAW!" Shouted the frineds. "A truly good person." Blaise squeezed Nova's hand as if to say "I'm so sorry." And she held it back to say "Thank you." "You will be missed." Finished Dumbledore.

And they would indeed.

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After school let out, the group decided to have a memorial service for Draco. So Blaise, Luna, Shane, Nova, and Druna met at Nova's house.

They gathered in her back yard and told stories about their friend. They got up, one by one, and shared how Draco had changed their lives. Druna was first, talking about all the amazing things that Draco did, and how wonderful he was.

Shane shared a few stories, he shared one where Draco had been the first to find out about his depression. He had to cut the story short because he bagan to cry.

Luna told about the Draco and Apple's wedding, and how Draco and Luna talked about things that everyone else tormented them for.

Blaise shared this:

"Draco was my best friend. We both came from abusive households and had evil parents. His father despised him, my father left me. We connected through our 'daddy issues'" He spat out those words, it disgusted him that people joked about that sort of thing. "Draco was there for me for everything. In the thick, thin, rough, smooth. Anything that I'd go through, he'd be there for me. I wish I could say the same, but I can't. I tried to help Draco, but sometimes I gave up. It was so much easier to just let him break than to fix him. I blame myself for so much, because I know I could have helped him. But then he was broken. And even then, when he was a completely shattered, shell of a human, he was there for me. I'll never forget Draco. I'll never forget what he's done for me." By then everyone was crying.

Nova spoke next. "Draco was my love, if only for a short moment. He was truly amazing. He deserved a much longer life. He deserved to be happy! His is truly a tragic story. One that should never be forgotten. I have high hopes that Draco's soul will forever be shown in his son. That is all I have to say. Remember Draco Malfoy."

Nova cried on Druna's shoulder. They were all very sad, but they were slightly uplifted by each other.

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After Druna went home, she planted an apple seed in her back yard. About nine months later, a baby boy came out. He was named Scorpius Malfoy. "Hello Scorpius." Said Druna. "Call me mommy."

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