Henrietta Potter || Draco Malfoy

48 - Believe Me

So I guess Crabbe died. Not that sorry to be honest.

It turned out we had not needed to do anything to destroy the Horcrux. The diadem simply melted away all by itself thanks to Crabbe's cursed fire. So, all that time I could have just lured Crabbe into the room, yelled at him that his face looks uglier than the pope's backside suffering from a serious bout of haemorrhoids, and then shut the door without even ever having bothered to step inside.

Oh well.

Despite the continuing battle violently shaking the castle around us, an uncomfortable silence filled the corridor. No one seemed to know what to say now that the Horcrux had been dealt with.

Draco and I stood side by side, our arms brushing against one another, looking anywhere but at each other as though we were simply out on an awkward date rather than in the midst of a terrifying battle.

"So," Ron coughed, looking down at his shuffling his feet.

"Um, Ron," Hermione said, giving him a meaningful look, "do you think we should-"

"Oh look!" Ron cut in, pointing enthusiastically down the hallway, "there's Percy and Fred having a fight with a Death Eater. Let's go say hi."

And without further ado, he grabbed Hermione's arm and hurriedly dragged her away, leaving Draco and I alone with an unconscious Goyle slumped at our feet.

"Etta," Draco said breathlessly as soon as they were out of earshot, "about what happened in there, I'm so sorry-"

"What was your plan, Draco?" I asked, cutting him off, unable to keep the hurt out of my voice. "Were you going to hand me in to Voldemort yourself?"

"Never!" Draco answered immediately, his eyes widening in horror. "Etta, you have to believe me, I wanted to help you, but I couldn't shake those idiots off. Couldn't you tell?"

"You left me to fucking die!"

"I did not! As soon as I caught up with Crabbe and Goyle I realised what a coward I was being and went back for you, but by then it was too late!"

I just looked up at him, shaking my head disbelievingly, wanting to believe him but not knowing what to think.

"Please believe me, Etta," he implored, looking utterly pained as he drove his fingers through his hair. "It's been killing me not knowing where you've been this past year, not knowing whether you were dead or alive. I feel so fucking powerless to help you even though all I want to do is be there for you. No- actually I want to protect you, to take you away from all of this and keep you safe. But I know you, you are the most infuriatingly stubbornest person I've ever known, you always have been, and therefore I know you won't ever allow me to 'save' you. But please believe me when I say that I want to. I want to so fucking much."

He grabbed my hands, entwining his fingers with mine as he looked at me with such a searching, intense gaze. "Please, Etta, please believe me."

I looked up into his eyes, my heart racing as memories flashed in my mind; Draco lowering his wand on top of the Astronomy Tower, Draco holding my hand as I helplessly watched Dumbledore die; Draco refusing his aunt's orders to call Voldemort; Draco handing me three wands - his wand.

And I knew. I knew that he genuinely cared.

"I believe you, Draco," I whispered.

He emitted a huge sigh, relief flooding his features as he immediately pulled me to him, pressing cool lips against my forehead, soothing my stinging scar.

"Thank god, Etta," he murmured fiercely, his arms tightening protectively around me. Closing my eyes, I caught a faint waft of his cologne through the thick acrid stench of smoke, and it gave me the strange, yet wonderful feeling of coming home, making me feel, in that moment... safe.

And then shit happened.

One second I was blissfully standing in Draco's arms, and the next, I was flying through the air, desperately clutching my wand and shielding my head in my arms.

I ended up half buried under a pile of wreckage. Pain tore through me, but worst of all was the fear. I shakily stood up, pulling wood and other bits of debris off of me. I could feel blood trickling down my face, almost blinding me. It took me a moment to work out that the side of the castle had been blown away and the corridor that we had been stood in had been subjected to a terrible attack.

A loud terrible cry made me start - a cry that pulled at my insides, making me feel more frightened than I had ever been in my life.

"Draco?" I coughed, looking around at the wreckage surrounding me. But I failed to see him anywhere. Terror struck me so deep I thought I was going to pass out.

And then I saw Hermione up ahead, struggling up to her feet, so I made my way towards her, taking her hand as we staggered and stumbled over stone and wood.

"No - no - no!" someone was shouting. "No! Fred! No!"

And as the dust settled, my heart stopped as three red-headed men appeared, grouped on the ground where the wall had blasted apart.

Percy was shaking his brother, and Ron was kneeling beside them, and Fred's eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face.

Fuck this.

***