BREATHE -draco malfoy

twenty five.

Ana's eyes immediately dropped out of Draco's line of sight. At Snape's utterance of the horrible, unforgivable curse, Ana fell right onto the table, the sound of her body smacking against the hard surface resonating throughout the entire room. Draco flinched hard at the sound, his entire body jumping. Snape kept his wand pointed at Ana, forcing his face into a hard shell.

"AHHHHGGGGHHH!" Ana screamed out. The pain was all consuming, undeniable. It felt as if she was being stabbed on all sides by a white-hot fire poker, as if the agony was coming out through her skin from inside.

Draco watched in horror as she writhed on the shiny black table top. Ana was screaming such a guttural, terrible scream, that Draco closed his eyes tightly. He shuddered all over, then opened his eyes, drawing himself back to the present horror. Ana rolled onto her back, thrashing and twitching, as if her mind was no longer in control of her body. Snape didn't waver, and Draco felt her pain, all of it. It hit him right to the gut, and he couldn't breathe. Ana was dying, right before his eyes. She continued to scream and sob and thrash, her body convulsing. Draco watched as she squirmed, his eyes filling with horror-stricken tears. It was the worst thing he had ever seen, the most awful sounds he had ever heard. This girl that he loved, his pure, amazing, loving Ana, was in so much excruciating pain, that she was doubled over and every vein in her neck seemed to be strained, as if about to burst out of her skin.

Draco couldn't just watch this happen to her. He would do anything to stop it. He had no wand, but there must be something he could do. He started to shift a little, his heart wrenching and breaking and killing him from the inside. Her scream resonated within his very soul.

Lucius Malfoy gripped his son's neck hard, pushing him downwards from where he had started to get up, subconsciously. Draco, stunned, panted heavily as he watched Ana sob harder and harder and continue to fall apart, her screams never letting up. Draco felt his father's nails dig painfully into the back of his neck, but he could barely feel it. All he could feel was Ana.

"If you so much as move, I'll kill you myself," Lucius grunted feverishly into Draco's ear. Draco jerked away from him, but Lucius gripped his neck more firmly. Draco couldn't watch this anymore. Ana seemed to be inching closer, as she had fallen somewhere near the middle of the table and now she could not control her movements as the curse overtook her. Draco could see the sweat popping up on her brow, her mouth open in a strained position.

The curse had gone on too long. Draco knew that if she was exposed to it long enough, it would do irreparable damage to her mind. And the closer she got to him, the more Draco wanted to scream with her. He gripped the edge of the table hard, his knuckles turning as white as his face. He wanted so desperately to help her. And he would have, if not for the nails digging into the skin on his neck and the eyes of the Dark Lord, which were filled with humor and watching his reaction while making sure that Draco didn't lift a finger to save her. Draco felt hot bile rise up in his throat as he watched Ana throw her head back and let out a disgusting, ear splitting wail. Draco flinched hard, a tear falling unwillingly down his cheek. He knew that crying under the gaze of the Dark Lord was foolish, but it was a torture of it's own, watching her.

Suddenly, Snape eased up, whipping his wand upwards and stopping the curse. Ana's pain didn't stop though.

"AH!" she screamed out, the yell being short, as if it was an afterthought. She was turning over to lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling. Draco watched as her chest heaved up and down astronomically and her body let out twitch after terrible twitch, as if the curse was still lingering in her veins. Draco shifted again, recklessly reaching out to her.

"Do you think I am joking?!" Lucius whisper-screamed, his hand still clenched around the back of Draco's neck. Lucius had his wand out now, and was pointing it at Draco from under the table. His father wouldn't really kill him, would he?