Crystal
AlwaysPadfoot

"Can I be? Was I there?
It felt so crystal in the air.
I still want to drown whenever you leave;
Please teach me gently how to breathe."
- Shelter, the xx

Daphne Greengrass lay silently in the arms of Draco, the blanket was twisted around her waist and she was pressed against his warm skin. After a whole summer apart, she finally felt safe back with him, despite the war now raging on outside the wards of Hogwarts.

He was still asleep, his chest rising and falling in time with hers. When her eyes fell to the dark mark on his arm, it served as a reminder of how stupid she was being. Daphne's family had always served as a grey Pureblood family neither supporting You-Know-Who or Albus Dumbledore, and whilst she knew Draco had been forced into the dark by his family, it would seem to everybody else that she was actively supporting the dark. Of course, Draco and Daphne's relationship was non-existent to everyone else, but every moment they spent together put her family in jepody.

"Are you out of your mind?" Daphne whispered to herself as she contemplated getting dressed and leaving right there and then. The summer without Draco had been a long torturous six weeks, but their relationship was like crystal, so fragile that it could become ruins in mere seconds.

Daphne couldn't even imagine what would happen if her father were to find out. Lucius Malfoy and her father, Jason Greengrass were near-enemies when it came to political standing. Every policy that they were asked to consider in the ministry, they had conflicting opinions on and consequently every time they met, there was heaps of tension.

She sat up, pushing her hair back and letting the blanket slide from around her. The stresses of her every waking thought wouldn't allow her to remain lay still any longer. Daphne knew she had to leave, but she couldn't physically bring herself to get changed and go. Her movement had disturbed Draco, who leaned across and brought his hand around her, caressing her left breast. She bit her lip and sighed quietly as he did, her head filled with every moment from the last few hours.

"Going somewhere?" He asked. Daphne turned, hearing the smirk in his voice and he leant up to kiss her softly.

"No," she replied automatically against his lips, but then her hands traced down across his dark mark and he flinched harshly. There was a beat of silence before he got up from the bed, his eyes not meeting hers. Daphne knew at that moment she'd made the wrong choice to stay.

"I can't do this Daph," Draco muttered.

Her expression turned cold, she refused to beg him to stay and now she knew he was going to leave, she couldn't allow herself to react like she wanted to.

"That whole summer, you let believe this was going to work," she sneered.

They'd been together since fourth year, after Pansy had started having sex with near enough anyone who would and Draco knew he was stupid to be with her. But two years clearly wasn't enough, not to get past this.

"Don't do that Daph, please," Draco warned, "Just let me leave and forget about me. Don't let me fuck up your life."

"Once you leave, don't come back," Daphne said turning away from Draco, "Try not to let the door hit you on the way out."

Surprisingly, he said nothing more, he simply got changed in silence and left the dorm. Daphne clutched the sheets to her body, staring at the wall infront of her, the ache in her chest swelling painfully as she sat mulling over their final moments. She should have gone when she had the chance, she shouldn't have let him walk away fom her because it wouldn't of hurt so bad if Daphne had been the one doing the walking away.

Right at the moment she wanted to cry, there was a knock at the dormitory door and Theo stuck his head inside, "Hey Daph, I saw Malfoy leave, are you -?"

Theo stopped abruptly when he saw her and then crossed over to her, sitting down beside her and looping his arm round her.

"He's gone, Theo," she said, her voice cracked ever so slightly, "I should have left, because everytime he leaves life goes to shit."

"It's okay, Daph, you can let it all out," he repsonded, waving his wand at the dorm door, "No one else is here."

"It's not even like it's summer," Daphne continued, "I'm going to have to see him every day that we're in this fucking castle, knowing that he was smart enough to leave before I could."

Annoyed she stood up, knocking Theo away and pulling on her underwear, shirt and skirt, not caring that he was even in the room. Then she stopped, her hands frozen over the buttons on her shirt as she stood infront of her mirror. Daphne blinked, her eyes all blurry with tears and she dropped her head in shame. Theo immediately appeared at her side and guided her to sit down once again.

"C'mon Daph, you can do this," he encouraged, "You're still Slytherin's Ice Queen and a girl that could hex anyone she wanted into next week. He'll be back."

Daphne shakily smiled, clasping her hands around her, "I'm not sure I want him back, because I don't know what I'd do if he left again."

Theo didn't say a word as his friend collapsed into his arms, tears staining his nice clean shirt, he crinkled his nose and remained still, holding Daphne close. He hadn't seen his friend like this since the beginning of Summer, since she found out about Draco becoming a Death Eater.

Daphne was so grateful that she could confide in someone tha wasn't Tracy. Whilst she knew Tracy would try and make her laugh and cheer her up, Theo would simply sit with her until she could start thinking properly again. With him she could collect her thoughts and figure out what exactly to do so that she didn't seem fragile or weak. Theo taught her how to breath again.

It was because of Theo that the weeks that followed allowed her to remain just as she was normally; the Ice-Queen of Hogwarts. Even so Daphne felt hollow, lost, broken. It was almost Draco had stomped on everything they'd built, kicked it down without even a dash of regret and inadvertently rolled in her anguish as he did. She wondered why her every second thought revolved around him, like he could possibly mean anything to her anymore, but she supposed that wouldn't stop anytime in the near future.

Despite Daphne's lack of enthusiasm for anything and overwhelming pessimism, Theo managed to keep her on track. Not only did he provide an outlet for any mental breakdown, but he also allowed her, if only for a moment, to forget about Draco Malfoy. Theo asked for nothing in return, only that she helped him with Transfiguration and Daphne reckoned that was a fair deal, all things considering.

Maybe, some time soon, Daphne would go more than a day without thinking about Draco Malfoy and the darkness that was soon to shroud the Wizarding World.

Written for about ten million things.

Prompts: castle, 'don't come back', a blanket, Theo Nott

Prompts: smart, castle, ruins, 'Are you out of your mind?', reminder, Angst.

Prompts: Lyrics at top.

Ami x