The Protector

Not Alone

"Hey," I smiled.

"Hey."

"I'm so-"

"Why...why didn't you tell me?"

I set my bag on the steps. I walked over to the railing. "I was. Here. Now. But I couldn't hold it in anymore. She just got me so angry. And it was going to be hard to talk to you about."

"Bridge," Draco grabbed my hand and stood next to me. "You can speak to me about anything. You know that."

"It wasn't about the thing that happened," I took a deep breath. "It's about who was there. About who participated."

He looked at me with concern.

"Your father was there," I nodded. "I could tell he didn't want to. But he was loyal and faithful to Voldemort so he had to."

"Please don't say his name."

"Draco, I'm not scared of him. That only gives him more power," I squeezed his hand. "But I figured you should know that he was a part of it. And..." I took a deep breath, "And I figure there will be a time when this will happen to you."

He didn't say anything. I knew it was going to be hard to talk about. But I continued on, "I want you to know that I am here for you. If something happens, please let me know. We can work things out together. We've gotten this far."

He nodded, "Okay. But Bridge," he turned me towards him, "I will never hurt you. I will never cause you harm. I will never let any of my family hurt you. I promise I will keep you safe."

I smiled. For once, I felt safe. I felt secure. I didn't noticed our faces getting closer until our noses were touching. His lips collided with mine. It felt like the start of a lightning storm. It was the start of something that you weren't sure you'd make it out alive.

We stopped for a breath. He looked at me. A smile grew on his face, "You know, I've never noticed the three freckles on your nose." I giggled and nudged him.

He grabbed my bad hand. I winced and he looked at it, "Why didn't you tell me about this?"

"That just happened," I looked down. "Umbridge did it. I couldn't care less but I'm not sure if that's legal."

"I'll talk to my father about this."

"You don't have to do that," I shook my head.

"Well I'm going to," he pulled me into a hug. He held me with my head to his chest, "Nobody hurts my princess."

"Mr. Malfoy."

We both froze. I could hear Draco's heartbeat increase. Mine did too. We let go of each other. I turned. As I suspected, Snape was standing only a few feet away.

"Please don't tell my parents, Professor," Draco begged.

"I won't," Snape looked me up and down. "But I'm sending both of you to your dormitories immediately. You should be there anyways. You're lucky someone didn't get hurt."

"Yes sir," we both agreed and left. I walked into the common room a few minutes later. Hermione was sitting next to Harry, holding his wounded hand. 

"Took you a long time in the so called bathroom," Hermione interrogated.

"I actually went to speak with Dumbledore about this," I held up my hand. "He wasn't here though, so I told McGonagall."

"Wait, Dumbledore's not here? Why?"

"I don't know, Harry," I shrugged, falling on the couch next to him. "Hopefully nothing bad."