Choose Me Instead II Draco Malfoy x Reader

Healing

He's just feeling a little down.

That's what Blaise or Theo said when someone asked about Draco. When they wanted to know why he hadn't left their room for three days now and when they wondered why he skipped meals again.

You know how it is.

Five words followed by a sigh and everyone understood. They all knew how it was. Most of them had probably gone through a similar episode at least once. When the Slytherins heard that sentence, they mostly nodded with a sympathetic look on their face and backed off. It effectively stopped them from asking any more questions. Well, most of them. Pansy and the Greengrass sisters were more than just worried about their friend and kept pressing on about what happened. However, to their frustration, Theo and Blaise didn't budge.

After being discharged from the hospital, Draco went to his room. He changed into a pair of pajamas, laid down – and that was it. He slept a lot during the three days but didn't seem to find any rest. He was being followed by wild dreams which caused him to wake up multiple times, sweaty and with a beating heart that almost jumped out of his chest. Theo got his sleeping medicine after the first day and it helped a little – at least during the night.

During the day, the nightmares came alive in a much more horrid way. He could barely recall the events in the bathroom, it was all a blur. Yet, he remembered the way he felt. Fear and pain and shame, all mixed together. You were there, holding him, turning pale at the sight of his mark and looking at it with disgust. There were tears rolling down your cheeks and he was left wondering if he had lost you.

You, the only good thing in his life at this moment.

Draco didn't look at his wound once during the three days. He wore a bandage. It itched occasionally, reminding him of what he had tried to do. It didn't work. Nothing would ever work. The mark would stay there until the day he died and probably even in his afterlife. It would be a constant reminder of his failure. Hate filled him when he thought of it.

"You have a visitor," Theo said on the first night.

Draco sat up, thinking for some stupid reason that it was you. His heart started beating faster and he looked at Theo with panic in his eyes. "I can't see her like this."

Theo frowned and needed a second to understand. "Oh no," he shook his head and smiled sadly. "It's Astoria. She brought you dinner."

Disappointment caused Draco to look down, his cheeks burning red. Of course. There was no reason you would want to see him. Not after you realized how weak he truly was.

Astoria walked inside, a bright smile on her face. She cheerfully started chattering and it irritated Draco. Later, Theo admitted to him that he instructed Astoria to not ask him anything about what happened. She tried to spark a conservation but Draco stayed quiet, his eyes fixated on the ceiling, only nodding occasionally. He didn't listen to her and truly, he didn't care what she had to say. She wasn't the one he wanted to see.

The next day, Astoria talked a little less, sensing that Draco wouldn't reply. She was right. By lunch on the second day, she simply put the plate on his nightstand and left the room again. Draco thanked Merlin for it.

"You have to get out of bed, man," Blaise announced on the morning of the third day, just before he left for class.

"I'm not feeling great," Draco answered and yawned.

"I know, Dray," his friend sighed. "But this isn't a solution. Have you changed your clothes once in the past days?"

"Or showered?", Theo added as he came out of the bathroom.