Delicate {𝔻𝕣𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕪}

Chapter 22

TW cutting (Towards the end of the chapter)

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After dinner at in the great Hall ended, Harry was dragged from the room by Ginny, seeming to still be dazed. He turned around just before he left and made eye contact with the blond who was watching him intently. He seemed to freeze as he looked into those familiar mercury eyes, a frown forming on his face. At the hesitance, Draco immediately went to stand, encouraged by Harry's reaction.

However, after Ginny noticed Harry's pause, she tugged harshly on his arm and seemed to whisper something to him. At once Harry's expression clouded over into one of serenity as he followed the ginger from the room, leaving a downtrodden Draco in their wake.

Draco, blinded by the hurt and confusion he was feeling, failed to see past his pain and barely recognised the telltale signs of something being wrong. His heart was slowly breaking as he thought more and more about the possibility of the previous months being a practical joke.

His subconscious was screaming at him, trying to remind him that Harry would never do something like that, and honestly, he probably wasn't capable. He knew deep down that something wasn't right, and that he needed to focus, but as everyone has experienced, sometimes it's easier to just wallow in self-pity, than take charge and fix things.

Despite Draco's clear reluctance to do anything, Hermione was never one to be underestimated. The girl had watched the exchange with her usual hawk-like stare, watching for anything to provide an explanation to her best friend's behaviour. She was not blind with rage and pain, and so immediately picked up on Harry's lack of awareness towards his surroundings.

She also noticed his silence, which, although common in previous years, was definitely new recently. After he and Draco had become close, he had opened up more and had talked to everyone a lot more loudly and boisterously, finally feeling secure enough in himself to put himself out there on his own terms, rather than be shoved into the limelight without his consent.

She was incredibly worried, knowing that whatever was happening had to be to do with the youngest Weasley and that her other best friend, who sat to her right, was not going to be much help. The one she was basically accusing was his sister. So, with Draco out of action from his dramatics, and Ron our for the count due to his familial ties, Hermione turned to the two other Slytherins in their little group. The two were already looking at her, the matching smirks adorning their faces told her they already knew what was about to happen.

Sending them a determined look, she sighed to herself. This was not going to be easy, but there was no way she wasn't getting to the bottom of this.

ʕ•ᴥ•ʔʕ•ᴥ•ʔʕ•ᴥ•ʔʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

Ginny grinned to herself, incredibly proud of her achievement. Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived and Saviour of the Wizarding World, was on her arm, walking with her and smiling lovingly at her. Of course, this was all against his will, but to Ginny, that wasn't all that important. A minor blip in her plan.

As long as Draco Malfoy, she snarled just at the thought of him, hated Harry, no matter what happened, Harry would come crawling back to her for comfort. She smiled up at the boy beside her, pleased that her plan had already been set in motion.

When she saw Harry and Draco kiss on the top of the astronomy tower, she was disgusted, and almost interrupted them immediately to shove Malfoy from the top. However, she controlled herself, realising that despite Harry being manipulated into liking the blond boy, he still did like him, unfortunately. So the only option would be to get Draco to hate Harry so that she could have him without him resenting her for hurting Draco.

She was disappointed that Harry couldn't be with her while aware of his actions, but she was conscious of his love for the blond Slytherin and she didn't want to risk anything. While she was at it, she may as well have some fun, she thought to herself as she compelled the raven to come closer to her. She leaned up and kissed him, glad there was no resistance. When the boy didn't reciprocate her kiss, she pulled away and frowned, confused. She looked up at Harry, standing only slightly taller than her. His eyes were clouded over and slightly glossy at the bottom.

When she kissed him again, he still didn't return the affection and so she gave up for the time being, choosing to wait until her control was better before trying again.

While Ginny schemed, even more, trying to find the perfect solution, she was unaware of the inner turmoil Harry was battling. The girl was aware that Harry could quite easily throw off the imperious curse, and that Amortentia alone wasn't very reliable, so after much research, she found a way to combine the two. Unfortunately, Ginny was unaware of any side effects.

Harry was very much conscious, his mind having fought off the base layer of the imperious curse, causing him to thank Barty crouch Jr. Ironically, that man aided him in his training. However, due to the combination of potion and spell, Harry was still forced to obey Ginny's every whim, while completely conscious and aware of his actions. No matter how hard he fought her compulsions, there was very little he could do to oppose her.

The hardest part was seeing Draco. At first, when he walked into the Great Hall and spotted Draco, he had been so relieved, trusting that the boy would recognise immediately that his actions were not his own. He was disappointed when the boy merely looked down at his plate and continued to eat as if Harry was not there. Harry realised he was able to do a few things himself. Ginny clearly wasn't thinking like a proper witch. She hadn't explicitly made Harry eat, or told him he couldn't so the boy could do what he wanted.

Harry was disgusted with himself, horrified that he let himself get put in this position and angry that he was hurting Draco. So, Harry didn't touch his food and decided he wouldn't eat until he could find his way back to his love. He and Draco had only become official boyfriends a week before, and Harry would be damned if he let that be thrown away. Ginny also only told him to got get ready for bed, not speak to anyone or tell anyone what was happening and then go to sleep.

The girl hadn't given any other direct orders, and so Harry took as many liberties as he could. The boy entered the bathroom off to the side of his shared dorm and locked the door. Removing his glamours and staring down at his scarred arms, he noticed that they were all healed nicely, having not done anything in weeks. However as he felt his life spiralling out of control and everything he loved slipping from his grasp, Harry needed something to ground him.

And so, the young raven took out his wand and whispered the familiar incantation, watching with a broken smile and tears streaming down his cheeks, as more lines joined those from before.

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I would say I'm sorry, but I'm really not. I feel bad for Harry cuz like, he's suffered a lot already but... ✨a n g s t✨

Lila out 💜