Title: She stayed
Author: Lilya
E-mail: lylalay@virgilio.it
Genre: Angst
Summary: "Drops of water wearing through the stone" sequel. Draco Malfoy was gone, but Victoria stayed. And this is what happened to her…
Main characters: Victoria Cross, Draco Malfoy
Pairing: Draco/OC (just a little bit)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Victoria is mine, Hogwarts belongs to J. K. Rowling.
Author's notes: I think I'll never stop thanking my wonderful beta-reader, Daughter of Olorin….THANK YOU!
I'm sorry if I made you wait for so long. I did my best…
SHE STAYED…The last school day I stood on the lake banks, alone, in the same place where Draco and I used to go. The weather was warm, but there was a nice breeze that here in Italy, at least today, you can't find…I can't remember what I was thinking about: maybe everything, maybe nothing. But I remember I didn't need to turn around to know he was there.
I was waiting for you, Potter. I knew you'd come to me sooner or later. I shook my head, but I didn't turn around to look at him So typically Gryffindor.
I… He didn't have time to finish his sentence.
If you're here to tell me you're sorry for Draco, spare me. I wouldn't believe you even if you swore on your parents' graves. it was a dirty trick, I know…but I am a Slytherin, or not? And then that day, sorry, since that day, I didn't feel like being kind to anyone. They made me definitely lose the will to be kind.
Well…I…I just wanted to know if you're okay.
Why? He hesitated. My question had caught him off guard. Why should you care if I'm okay or not? I'm just a Slytherin, or not? I'm one of the villains, or not?
You are? he asked me.
I turned to glare at him, caught between deadly offense and disgust. Do you want to be challenged to a duel?
He blushed and lowered his gazed, embarrassed. Forgive me…I thought…
…I was already a Death Eater because I was Draco's friend, didn't you think? Or did you think so because I'm a Slytherin? I didn't leave him time to answer You're just like everyone else, Potter. You Gryffindors are all the same.
You almost make it sound as an insult.
It is an insult, I icily replied.
We were silent for a while, then I spoke again. Do you know what? I was wondering if in the end you'd come …Good boys don't mix up with those heartless monsters, those Dark-Side-followers, those scum from Slytherin.
Nobody ever thought you were…
This was too much. I didn't let him finish. No? Wake up, Potter. In chase you didn't notice, for all the Wizardry World, you are the heroes and we are the villains…But it's not our fault.
It is. You could've…
Have what, Potter? Not everyone manage to save himself on his own, not when he has the whole world against him. I looked at his face. And remember, without us, you are nothing…Because to be a hero, you need an enemy to fight. A painful smile curled up my lips. Chase decided it has to be us…But remember that, at the very beginning, every House had the same probabilities to be labeled as a "Dark House," even your dear, infallible Gryffindor. Suddenly, I realized I was almost shouting.
Your founder… he started, but neither this time I let him go on.
What gives you right to believe our ideas are the same of an old arteriosclerotical wizard who lived God only knows how many years ago? Oh, except for your presumption. You're exactly like your founders, who preferred sending Salazar Slytherin away instead of trying to make him realize he was wrong. You've already decided we have his same beliefs because we belong to his House. And now tell, this is not being "arrogant and racist"?
He hung his head, but I wasn't done yet. Do you know what I hate about you and those like you, Potter? You're perceived as heroes, but you won't risk anything to help us coming out of the hell where you put us. For Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, you're ready to fight tooth and nails, but we are not worth the trouble.
Don't try to blame us for what happened to Malfoy.
Leave Draco out of this. Right now, he's not the matter.
Yes, he is. Why do you keep on looking at us like it was our fault?
Because it is your fault, I replied dryly. If you hadn't treated him like that…
He cut me off: His death was an accident. And what has the way we have treated him to do with all that happened?
It has a lot to do with that. Have you ever wondered why all these years he made your life a hell? Well, I'm going to tell you. He always caused troubles because that was his way to ask for help. He hoped someone could save him from the abyss he was destined to…But nobody understood. You didn't understood. And if you think you can shut your conscience up getting your own back on me, then fuck off. I stopped for a second before telling him what I thought of him. You are not a hero, Potter. You are not heroes, because you gave up on Draco and on us Slytherins without a fight. I decided it was a lost cause, a sentence without appeal, forgetting that in our trial, if ever there was one, you were judge and jury!
He didn't know what to say and I didn't leave him time to find the words. I passed him by, walking toward the castle. But after a few steps, I stopped and turned around to look at him.
You think so as well.
What? he asked bewildered, turning to me.
You think it was your fault for Draco's death as well, I told him calmly Or you wouldn't have come here to talk to me.
I walked away and I left him there, full of doubts.
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Next part coming soon!