Healing Heart ✧ Draco x Reader Mini-Series PART 9
PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6 | PART 7 | PART 8
Summary: (NOT THE LAST CHAPTER) PART 9 ! of Draco accidentally falling in love with reader during his sixth year (HBP) and going into the start of the battle of Hogwarts hoping to have reader by his side at the end of it.
Warnings: ANGST, crying, omg i think i dropped an f bomb, mentions of; blood, torture, abuse, war, death, murder, trauma basically
A/N: some things are off from the movies and books & at this point im just making my own timeline bc why not ! also can never decide to choose either the scene from the book or the movie so sometimes i’ll make it up or just choose randomlyyyy teehee BUT OMG I HOPE THIS IS GOOD !! I APOLOGIZE IF ITS EHHH
When morning came and you had trudged back inside the beach house and fell asleep on one of the long sofas with tear-stained cheeks and a puffy face, there was noise surrounding you of hushed voices and the faint clinking of pans as they were being moved around the kitchen with the day’s breakfast.
You kept your eyes closed as uneasiness rushed through you like a cold frozen river of tension when you realized in your half-dozed state that the group sitting scattered in the far part of the living room were talking fervently to each other about something called Horcruxes and your name somewhere thrown in the middle mixed in with ‘trust’ and ‘Draco.’ You knew they didn’t want you there and you knew that you were on thin ice with them already for your relationship with the young Death Eater and your relationship alone.
“We can’t trust her,” Ron spat quietly, glancing over at you rushedly to see if you had heard him but you were still playing the part of being asleep. “How do we know she’s not a part of them too?”
“I don’t know,” Harry said. “I’m not siding with Malfoy, but I don’t think he would purposefully put her through whatever she went through. He wanted her out of there.”
“Just give her a chance, Ron,” Hermione suggests softly.
“Fine, but if we get found out because of Malfoy and his bloody girlfriend who’s daft enough to be with someone like him, I’m blaming you.”
Maybe it was the disrespect, or the frustration, or the sadness that forced your eyes open with angry unruly tears and a spew of unspoken retorts sitting on your tongue, but you hastily sat up in your spot and turned towards the unnoticing trio ready to unleash the irritation that was bubbling inside you.
“You’re not the only ones who are targets in this battle, you know.” You scowl, eyeing all of them tactfully, Ron specifically. “Have you even seen or heard of the way things are at Hogwarts now? How badly everyone is suffering through this? I’ve nearly been killed, I’ve been tortured, and all in the span of you three’s disappearance. You don’t know me, or Draco, and what we’ve been through or what type of person I am.”
With their mouths still agape, shocked that you had overheard them and shocked that you felt moved enough to say something, you turned hot on your heel and made a beeline straight towards the small front door while ignoring the side-eye glances you were getting from Charlie and Fleur in the kitchen.
“Oh and one more thing,” you quip, suddenly remembering a key factor for everyone’s safety as you turned around to face them again with a firm grip on the brass door handle. “Let’s not pretend like it wasn’t Malfoy who saved you all yesterday when he recognized Harry and still didn’t turn him into Bellatrix with the rest of you.”
You hurried out of the bright stuffy beach house forgetting the fact that you left your shoes inside and were now struggling to storm off in the sand. You finally gave up after feeling the thousands of tiny uncomfortable grains that had slipped inside of the fabric of your socks, stopping with a hand holding you steady against a rock as you briskly slipped them off. The sand was warm underneath you and smoother than what it felt like through your socks. It began getting squishy and muddy when you reached the water, the puddles in your steps becoming a safe spot for you to plant yourself in them and let your mind roam free.
‘Was I wrong for blowing up on them?’ You kept wondering.
Draco wasn’t a saint, that you knew. Words from Luna the night before came rushing back to you, where she mentioned the rivalry between the four being much deeper than what could possibly be repaired. The fallen Prince of Slytherin, no matter how broken, was still as cunning as ever and you knew that when he saved Harry - it wasn’t out of the kindness of his heart. He had too much to lose, too much to weigh out as the two stared at each other. You saw the gears turning in his head in the momentary glimpses you were able to get of him as he contemplated what move he was going to make next. You weren’t sure what exactly was his reason, but it was clear to you that whatever it was; he made it for himself, or as you like to think, the greater good.
All you wanted was to leave this place, to see Draco and tell him all the thoughts and feelings you had of him that he needed to know. You didn’t know what could possibly be happening to him, you didn’t know if you’d see him soon, you didn’t know anything. Devastating was the only way to describe things at the moment. There was so much unclear, so much hope, yet so little. Everything was beginning to move in a daze of pain and disheartening interactions and there was nothing to stop or slow the chain of events that were moving faster than what you could comprehend.
The distant rustling of plants and faint talking broke you out of your sulking, turning around slightly to see the Golden Trio coming through some greenery with tentative steps the closer they got to you. You let out a huff of air as you prepared yourself to speak to them again, deciding to meet them halfway and waiting patiently for them to meet you at the shoreline where the sand stops meeting the ocean’s currents.
It was awkward when they finally stood in front of you with their hands in their pockets, looking everywhere but your eyes. Hermione shifted uncomfortably, elbowing Ron in the side and clearing her throat quietly before Ron let out a sigh and finally met your gaze.
“I’m sorry for what I said about you,” he genuinely says. “I don’t think you’re daft or untrustworthy, I just can’t stand that bloo-” Hermione smacked his arm before he could finish to which he rolled his eyes to. “That..individual. It’s been a hard year and Malfoy and us don’t exactly get along, especially now since he’s on their side.”
“I know you don’t,” you nod, wholeheartedly agreeing with him. “Everyone with a brain knows that. But that’s your business with him, so don’t take it out on me. And, I’m not going to speak for him, but he’s not entirely on their side.”
“I know,” Ron begrudgingly admits.
“And we’re also sorry if we’ve been cold to you in any way,” Hermione adds suddenly with sad furrowed eyebrows.
You didn’t know how to respond, your voice getting caught in your throat with so many different ways of responding but none translated. Although they apologized, there was still a small leftover tension of edge as everyone shifted on their feet quietly. You appreciated their efforts and their willingness to apologize, but deep down you knew if there was ever a future where you encountered them, it probably wouldn’t go further than polite nods and friendly smiles if it ever came down to it. There was a fleeting thought and wish that passed through your head of reporting the conversation back to Draco and you would laugh with him when he would raise a vexed brow and make a snide comment about one of them in a utopian universe where there was no Dark Lord business, one where the two of you could gossip freely like teens and laugh about it with each other - but that wasn’t your reality and it left a hollow feeling for a moment as your brain made intrusive remarks about how interactions like those might never be able to come to light.
Though your inner brooding felt neverending, only a few seconds had passed in silence with the trio. “Thank you, for all that. I appreciate it.”
They all nodded with tight grins and as they turned to leave, you felt an urge to say something else to them. In the morning, when you overheard them, there was a word that stuck out to you that you’ve heard before. After the crushing loss of Dobby and not being able to help, you felt like you needed to say this so you swallowed your pride and timidness and spoke out.
“Wait,” Harry turns around first with a puzzled face and then Hermione and Ron with equally confused expressions. You figured they were thinking what more could be said. “Earlier, I heard you guys talking about Horcruxes? I don’t mean to eavesdrop and I don’t know what they are but when Bellatrix had me in and out of consciousness I heard her mention something about a Horcrux in the vault to someone if that means anything.”
It was as if a light was shone in Hermione’s face, her eyes widening and mouth going slightly agape as she hurriedly faced Harry.
“Her vault! We should have known,” she exclaims with a hand going through her hair. “If she was going to keep the sword in the vault, she must be keeping other valuables in there. We have her wand, I think I have a strand of her hair for a Polyjuice potion.”
“Brilliant! I’ll go talk to the goblin,” Harry says rushedly before turning towards you. “Thank you, Y/N.”
And he was off, Ron and Hermione scurrying frantically behind him with a new plan set forth leaving you in a dusted trail of their abrupt and spontaneous vigilance with no idea of what it would entail.
“How could you be so careless!”
“Lucius,” Narcissa puts a calming hand on her husband’s shoulder, “just leave him be.”
Draco sat on the plump sofa with his head in his hands, ends of his disheveled white hair hanging over his eyes from how much he was running his fingers through it. He felt sickly, nauseous, and weak from the inside out with a sense of dread to go along with it - like he was falling down a long well with no end in sight.
