CHAPTER 25
It had been a couple days since the beginning of the year. Everything was still a little messy, but everyone thought McGonagall was doing quite good during her first days as Headmistress. Throughout the last months, Hogwarts had been faithfully reconstructed to repair the damages the battle had caused, but some parts of the building were still being remodelled, which made the whole moving-between-classes thing a little chaotic, but everyone managed to keep the pace quite well. Lola felt relieved to be back at Hogwarts. A little discipline sounded like heaven to her, now that everyone had lost control of the situation. Hogwarts forced them to stay focused on something, and therefore, their pain was easier to bear. Lola still felt uneasy in Potions class: Professor Slughorn was, indeed, an excellent Potions master, obviously much nicer than Snape had ever been. He was, unfortunately, quite old, and the weight of seven grades suffocated him a little bit. For so many years he had been working with such complicated subjects that now the students from the first grades found it rather difficult to follow his explanations. He seemed quite pleased with Lola and Draco: they were the best ones in his class. It was after a class with Slughorn that Lola stayed behind to ask him some questions about a concrete Potion. Draco told her he was late for Charms and left, receiving a smile from the old Professor. Once Lola had satisfied her curiosity, she too walked out of the class, and walked all the way out of the dungeons. The corridors were empty now, and she could hear the sound of her feet shuffling on the carpet. Suddenly, a strange sound startled her. As she turned the corner, she gasped. She only knew the name of one of them: Zabini. He had been one of Draco's minions during the past year. Ironically enough, he was now the one holding his arms behind his back.
The impact of the fist against Draco's stomach made a dull sound. As he bent over in pain, Zabini held him up forcefully with a scornful grin on his graceful face. The other two, Lola didn't know. Not like she gave a fuck.
-Back off!! –she screamed at them, her wand ready to attack.
The three of them turned their heads quickly, startled by her voice. Once they saw who it was, though, their arrogant smirks faded away: she was no longer mocked by the Slytherins; everyone knew about what she had done to Lestrange. She usually hated the fearsome effect she had on other students, but right now, she started thinking it could actually come in handy. The two boys she didn't know backed away from her, and gave Zabini a nervous look. He was still holding Draco up, staring at Lola's wand with wide eyes.
-Get your slimy hands off him –she hissed, with a guttural voice.
He did, and Draco slid to the floor softly, where he laid in a foetal position, his arms and legs limp. Zabini walked backwards, keeping his eyes on Lola's wand the whole time, until he was far enough to turn around and start running. Just for the fun of it, she shot a burning spell at him. She heard him shriek and smiled to herself, imagining his butt in flames. Draco winced when she knelt by his side, but his eyes were tightly closed, as if he was expecting another blow on his stomach. She whispered his name to calm him down a little bit. His grey eyes shot open in anguish and he unexpectedly grabbed her by the arm with his bony left hand. The pressure he put on her arm started to hurt, but Lola didn't say anything as she waited for Draco's breath to stabilize.
-I have to take you to the nursery. Will you be able to walk? –she ran her fingers through his longish hair and he seemed to relax a tiny bit.
-No, do it yourself –his voice sounded hoarse-. I don't want to go to the nursery.
-Draco, Madam Pomfrey would do a much better job…
-No, you do it. You know how, just do it.
Lola sighed, frustrated. What the hell had happened to Draco? The one in front of her was a different Malfoy; actually, he was not a Malfoy anymore, and even if that had its good points, it was also unbelievably grotesque. She helped him up, resignedly, and even though he was much taller than her, she had to look down at him. As she led him to the Gryffindor common room, which was the closest one, Draco seemed about to faint. She helped him lay on one of the sofas and lit the fireplace with one of her spells, at which Draco smiled.
-I used to do that a lot on the streets.
Lola sat by his side and placed her hands on his abdomen to see where he was hurt. When she ran her hand across his ribcage, he cursed. She shook her head.
-You've got a fractured rib, I'm not gonna touch that.
-I told you, I'm not going to the nursery! –he grunted.
-Why not? –Lola's voice was higher-pitched than usual.
-Because then they'll start asking, okay!
As he tensed his muscles, a painful expression appeared on his face and he fell back, panting. She checked on the time and nodded at him.
-Alright, here's what we'll do: I'll take you to my room, you can rest for a little while and then I'll go get Hermione.
-Granger? –there it was: the old Malfoy stink-eye. She couldn't help to smirk at this.
-Yes, Granger –she mocked him-. You know she wants to work at St. Mungo's, she knows a lot more about this stuff than both you and I do. And she'll keep her mouth closed.
-Fine –he groaned.
Hermione was quite busy when Lola found her. She made a face when she saw her friend slurping on Ron's face. Not that she was not happy for them, but they were actually a little too sticky for her taste. Lately, any public displays of eternal love made her stomach hurl. After apologizing for the interruption she explained in Hermione's ear what was happening, and Ron was left quite unsatisfied. When they walked into their bedroom, Draco was trying to stand up. Lola lectured him immediately and he rolled his eyes like a kid would. Hermione watched the whole scene, as surprised as amused by them.
-You better not fuck up, Granger –he said, rather harshly.
Lola smiled, earning a very weird look from Hermione. She knew it was not nice of him to be so rude to the one who was supposed to heal him, but at least that proved that there was still some of the old Draco left inside of him.
-Shut up, Malfoy –his last name on her lips usually sounded like a profanity.
As Hermione unzipped his hoodie, he tensed up. Now he understood that it was not her blood status what made him cringe, it was pure hatred. There were too many years in his memory, too many embarrassments caused by the smartest witch at Hogwarts. Too many punches on the mouth. Still though, he let her put her hands on top of him and press all over his ribs to see which ones were broken.
-It's not that bad, only this one –she pointed at one, softly- is broken. You're gonna have to be careful for a while, though, you'll probably be sore.
-Fine, just get it fixed.
She did. With a few muttered spells, Draco's face had already changed, and now his forehead was much more relaxed.
-Not a word about this, Granger.
-Don't worry, I won't tell anyone you got beat up by your so-called friends.
-Hn.
They stared at each other for a moment, probably wondering if they should say anything else. In the end, Draco nodded slightly, as if he was trying to thank her without vomiting. She thought it was sufficient, though, since she smirked and said goodbye to Lola before leaving the room.
-Well… How are you feeling? –she asked him.
-Better –he admitted-, don't tell her, but she's gonna make one hell of a healer at St. Mungo's.
Lola laughed softly at his comment. He sat up to start zipping his hoodie up. It was still the same rotten one he had worn the first day of school, although it had, obviously, been cleaned thoroughly. Draco did, indeed, look a little better, now that he had been properly fed, but he was still too skinny, and the marks under his eyes were too dark. Lola blushed vaguely when she thought that he still looked very attractive. Draco smirked as if he had guessed her thoughts.
-You alright?
-Yeah.
-Stupid question, right?
Lola smiled sadly at him, as she played with the hem of her shirt. He sighed at how lost she looked and wondered who she was thinking of. Although he was aware of the fact it was probably Snape.
-You know he had to do it.
Lola's big hazel eyes shot straight up to meet his. As she realized he knew everything that was going on in her mind, the clutch on her stomach started tightening even more. She nodded, while swallowing saliva, and looked away from him.
-It's still easier than when I thought he had murdered Dumbledore.
-Really? –he raised his eyebrows, puzzled.
-Yeah. At least now I can try to convince myself that it was worth it.
-Was it, though?
-I don't know. Was it? I believe so. He was. He was worth it.
-Definitely –Draco nodded, thinking about how much more of a real father than Lucius he had been.
-So, what can I say? Of course it hurts, like a bitch, but do I regret it? Not really.
-He never really spoke about you –Draco said-. That's how I guessed there was something between you two.
-There was never –she said, with sorrow in her tone- anything between us.
-Yes, there was. Probably not what you would have wanted, but there was. I just have one question, though.
-What? –Lola tilted her head aside.
-How the fuck could you kiss the man without having one eye poked out? –he frowned.
Lola blinked a couple times and opened her mouth, without an answer ready in her brain. Draco waited for her reaction, unsure of what to expect. Slowly, the girl started laughing until her head was thrown back, and Draco watched her with delight. It was actually very satisfactory when he made her laugh; it didn't happen very often, but it was definitely worth the wait.
-Draco, why won't you fight back? –she asked him, once they both had calmed down.
-What?
-When those idiots were beating you, why didn't you do anything? Don't bother telling me they were three, because I've seen you do pretty powerful stuff with your wand.
-It's… It's hard to explain –he looked away, embarrassed.
-Well, could you try? –Lola insisted.
-Look, I… I used to fight back at every little thing, okay? That's what my father taught me, ever since I was a little kid. Not to take shit from anyone. And look how he ended up. I don't want to end up like my father, Lola.
-That's got nothing to do with it, Draco! I cannot protect you every time you walk out of class!
-I don't bloody want you to! –he snapped- This is my problem, I'll solve it myself.
Draco ran one hand through his smooth hair, and in the process he uncovered the scar that ran down his face. She stared at it unconsciously.
-Yeah, I know. I look like a freak.
-What are you talking about? It's just a scar –she shook her head.
-Yeah, a fucking huge scar right on my face. Now I know how Potter-boy feels.
-How ironic –she said, without a trace of mockery in her voice.
He didn't answer. There were too many thoughts in his mind at the moment. Actually, the scar did not really bother him that much, he'd grown kind of used to it; it was useful to keep people away, and he could certainly use the tranquillity. There was only one person he wanted to be close to, although it seemed there was nothing he could do to make her understand.
-You okay? –she interrupted his stream of thoughts.
-I'm cold… -he muttered.
Lola observed him for a second: how perplexed he seemed at the cold he was now feeling, as if never before he had been uncomfortable in that temperature. Draco crossed his arms and rubbed them vigorously with his bony, yet elegant fingers. The girl moved to grab a blanket and covered Draco with it. One of his hands escaped the cover, though, and held hers suddenly. She lowered her gaze to watch both hands together: Draco quite bigger than hers, even if scrawny. His fingers closed around her fist and eventually found the way to entangle themselves with hers. Lola was actually surprised at how warm the sensation was.