𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 • (𝐝.𝐦.)

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

♔

I woke up with a start. I was in my bed at Hogwarts, and as I frantically looked around, I noticed Daphne was there. 

Everything was... normal. 

It was all a dream. A sick, twisted dream. 

I exhaled deeply, nearly shaking, and got up. I went into the bathroom to wash my face, reaching for the faucet. 

I turned it on, running the water for a bit to warm it up, and when it was done, I started to wash my face. The water felt nice on my cold skin and even better on my frozen fingers. 

My dorm got so cold at night, I was lucky I hadn't caught hypothermia. It was probably thanks to the fact we were submerged under the Black Lake. 

I went to turn off the running water when I was done, but something caught my eye. Wispy black lines on my left forearm were visible, and I jerked my head down to look at it. 

No. It couldn't be. 

The Dark Mark was there, right on my arm. 

I stumbled backward, panting, and beginning to sob. It was real, all of that was real. I felt the tears come down my face quickly and I started to hyperventilate. I held my chest, trying to stabilize my breathing as I sunk to the floor. 

This was no fucking dream. It was all real. That meant that Draco... Draco. 

I nearly jumped to my feet and scrambled back to my dorm. I threw on a hoodie to cover my arm and ran down the stairs to find him. Was he here too? Was he still at his house?

He wasn't in the common room, which was a long shot, so I did the only other rational thing. I ran upstairs into his dorm room, the one he shared with Blaise, and looked around frantically. I looked like a crazed maniac, but I didn't care. 

He was there too, sleeping peacefully in his bed. I let out a sigh of relief as I regained my breath. Blaise woke up due to the noise I had caused. 

"Maggie? What are you doing here?" He asked, noticing my frazzled expression. 

"I- I had to make sure... I had to check-" 

"Check on Draco? Why?" He asked, and I sniffed. I walked over to the side of Blaise's bed and got close to him. "You have to swear, Blaise, swear you won't tell another living soul what I am about to show you," I said, pleading with him. 

"You can trust me, Mags. You're my best friend, I wouldn't tell anyone," He said, and I smiled weakly, only slightly comforted by his words. 

I cautiously pulled my sleeve upwards to reveal the piercing, black tattoo that now resided on my forearm. His eyes widened and he sat up in bed to get a better look at what he was seeing. He grabbed hold of my arm, inspecting further and wearing a pained expression for me. 

"Who did this to you?" He asked as if he didn't already know. 

"You know who. Literally," I said, almost laughing at the irony of the statement. 

"I- I don't understand, why did they do this? I thought you were safe, I thought- Draco. What about Draco?" Blaise asked, and right on cue, almost as if scripted, Draco stirred. 

"What about me?" He asked groggily, but upon seeing me, he shot up in his bed as well. He threw his blankets to the side of him, revealing his shirtless body, and came over to where I stood. 

"Are you okay?" I gasped, reaching down for his arm as well and realizing that the Dark Mark was there too. "Oh god," I breathed, my head spinning.

Blaise then stood up, "I'm... I'm sorry," He said. He hugged me then, unexpectedly, but appreciated. "I'll let you two have some time alone to talk," He said sadly, leaving the room and going wherever else. 

I turned to Draco and sighed. "How did this happen?" I asked rhetorically. 

"I was so afraid they had hurt you. I thought you were dead," He anguished, pulling me close to his chest. I held onto him for dear life, my body drawn as close to his as possible. 

I took none of this time for granted. The last time I saw him, he was in pain. I hated seeing that. 

"What happened to you? Tell me everything," He demanded, and I shook my head. "The Dark Mark didn't react well with my blood. Something about my Veela abilities and blood made the branding feel so much worse than it should've," I said. 

"Merlin," Draco breathed, clearly aggravated. 

"It's fine. I'm fine now, we're okay," I said, not really believing my own words.  "We both know that isn't true. I knew this was my path, but they went against their word. He's a coward, he's a fucking coward. We made a deal you would be left out of this-" 

"Draco. He found out what I am," I said, cutting him off. 

"What?" 

"My dad. He turned me in, I guess. He wanted to save face for himself, so he offered me up and Voldemort chose to have me branded instead of killing me. This is not the worst thing that could've happened to me," I said. 

"But you don't deserve this at all! You- you've done nothing wrong, you're perfectly innocent-" 

"And you aren't?" 

"No. I'm not," Draco replied blatantly. 

"Don't sell yourself short. You've done nothing wrong either," I snapped. I was tired of him acting as if he owed this to someone. He did not have to answer to his father. He had no obligation to him. 

"I have to do this, or he'll kill me," He said. "He'll kill both of us."

"We can fight this, Draco. It sounds cliche, but we don't have to conform to this. Don't give up so easily," I protested. 

"Haven't I explained this to you? The Dark Lord won't exactly sympathize with the underdogs. He will kill you, and if you die I'll never be able to live with myself. I can't go on without you, Maggie, please just do as I say," He pleaded with me. 

I stepped closer to him and reached up for his jaw. I held his face in my hands and just stared into his piercing blue eyes. They were truly an ocean. They were so full of sadness, so close to overflowing and drowning him.

"Draco-" 

"Please. I can't lose you, Maggie, I-" He started, but stopped himself from going any further. "You what?" I asked, coaxing it out of him. My heart ached for him, he was so broken. 

The part that killed me was that I couldn't help him. I was just as broken as he was, and we were seemingly terrible for each other, but that's what made us stronger as one. 

"I can't lose you. I love you too much to be able to go on without you," He rushed out. 

I went still, every inch of me frozen before him. He took one of my hands into his own, lifting it off of his jaw and pressing his lips to it gently. 

I took a deep breath. There was no doubt in my mind that I loved him back, but saying it out loud would make it that much harder if I ever lost him. 

But I took a leap of faith. 

"I love you too, Draco," I said. 

He smiled a little, looking into my eyes affectionately, but he sighed deeply. "I only wish our circumstances were better," He said sadly. 

"We're destined to fail," I said, and he pressed a kiss to my temple before adding to my painful words. 

"We just have to ensure we aren't destined to die." 

♔

bro not me tearing up a little bit writing this. oh my goddddd. they're so emo for each other aw. not the point. anyway.