Chapter 21
Draco and Lorelei packed the picnic and ran on the shore of the Black Lake.
They spent the afternoon laughing and throwing sand at each other until they were too tired to run anymore.
A thought Lorelei had for months crossed her mind. She needed to know the truth, at least before he left.
''Draco, I've heard a lot of bad rumours about you and I can't help but wonder why you didn't just hate me like you did to every other Muggle-born.''
Ginny often told her how mean Draco was to Muggle-borns. So did Hermione. And Harry, Ron, Luna, Neville, Seamus, Dean and pretty much every other Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw she came across.
She saw a flash of uncertainty on Draco's pale, handsome face.
She finally decided to talk about it. Before it's too late.
It hurt her too much, more than the fact that he was going away.
''Why didn't you just insult me or push me away when I thanked you for saving my life?'' Lorelei interrogated, feeling like she was kept from a big secret about her that everyone else knew about.
''After you saved me, I thanked you and you accepted this in a mannerly way and - '' she recalled.
She didn't realise how angry she was.
''Draco. Why did you help me that day?'' she questioned, her anger rising.
She was getting bad ideas of the possible truth.
He stared dumbly at her, lost for words. His bottom lip trembled a little. He looked like he had stolen a large amount of cash from the bank and was hiding this secret from Lorelei.
''I - well, - I wanted to do something good for once. I thought you wouldn't notice it was me if you were choking or something.'' Draco replied, his answer sounding extremely false, judging by his typical personality.
''I wanted to know how it felt to do something good.'' he summarised.
She stared at him for a while, her almond-shape eyes showing genuine disbelief.
Lorelei scowled.
It was a weird feeling, scowling. She didn't do it often. Well, she did now more than ever.
''...No... I'm a joke, aren't I? You and your little Slytherin friends have a joke on me, don't you? So the whole school can think I'm gullible enough to believe you - Draco Malfoy - could trick me into thinking you loved me?'' she said quickly.
''No! I do honestly love you, Lorelei!'' Draco said desperately.
She stalked up the steps, after grabbing her things. He followed her.
''I know it sounds suspicious, but I never genuinely believed in what my parents said. When I was little, my father was my role model; my idol, someone to look up to and follow. I did what he told me. When I was old enough, I figured out that if I ever disobeyed him, I'd be done for. You know, it's hard? Being in family of control-freaks and having Bellatrix LeStrange, You-Know-Who and Snape as family friends or relatives? It's hard. I can't describe the fear and pain I feel everyday or every time I go home...if you can call my house a home. All this pressure, it's killing me. That's why I have to leave. That's why I can't be with you. They wanted me to do something really bad. Please believe me.'' he said, very quickly.
Lorelei was listening to what he said. She wasn't ready to be fooled again.
She turned around quickly and looked him in the eye.
Draco had bags under his eyes. He looked stressed.
''What was it then? What did they want you to do?''
Lorelei glared at him, her teeth gritted.
''...They wanted me to kill someone.''
Her glare disappeared, but she hid her new expression well.
''Who?'' she demanded, her eyes still fixed on his, as if looking for a trace of dishonesty.
''...Dumbledore.''
Her expression stayed mutual.
''Did you?''
It shook Draco to think that Lorelei didn't believe him.
''No. I couldn't. I wouldn't. If I did, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I wouldn't have come back to talk to you if I killed him. You-Know-Who would have taken me away and turned me into a Death Eater, just like that.''
Lorelei searched his eyes once more.
''You know who killed Dumbledore, don't you?''
'Girls are psychic.' Draco thought, irrelevantly.
''No.'' he lied.
''Yes, you do.'' She stared at him, sternly.
''...but it's your choice to tell me.'' she concluded, realising the pressure on Draco.
She knew she would only be making it worse. Lorelei really didn't want to know who killed Dumbledore right now.
Lorelei asked for an explanation when they reached the castle.
''There was all this pressure on me, that I nearly couldn't take. Father pressured me to be a Muggle-born hater and a supporter of You-Know-Who. Mother and Bellatrix wanted me to kill Dumbledore. It was all too much. I felt as bad as I would have if I killed Dumbledore, simply by being associated with You-Know-Who. So when I was given the chance to do something small, but good, for someone, I did. And it was the best decision in my life. It felt great to have helped someone, so I felt that the least I could do was be nice to the one person who didn't immediately hate me for being me.'' Draco explained, rushing.
She stared into his eyes again; it was her way of finding out if the person was lying. But Draco's eyes only said that he felt frustrated, lonely, pressured and apologetic.
''...I didn't know. Oh, bloody hell, I'm so sorry.'' Lorelei apologised.
''I want to be with you...but you have to leave, no matter what.'' she told him.
''...No...When I'm with you, I feel like I have never done anything bad in my life - ever.''
''You have to. You know you do. They'll kill you. Voldemort will kill you if you run away with me.''