A/N: And we hit Chapter 7. After the general weirdness of Chapter 6 (I think I scared a few people away with that one.) this is one is actually sounds sane and normal - in comparison to the preceeding chapter... Thank God for small favors.
Clover Brooke - I'm sooo sorry for not finding your review before I posted the sixth chapter! Please, forgive me! Here, have a cookie. Anyway, I'm really happy you like the story.
Chapter 7 - Forsaken Girl
Rhiannon hit the floor, hard. When her sight cleared she could make out the Slytherin common room. The faux icicles glittered in the dim light of the fire in the fireplace.
"Are you all right?"
Rhiannon raised her head and saw Draco sprawled in an armchair. He had a serious face but not a concerned one. Nor did he stand up and come to her to help her up as he would usually do. After all he had been taught to be polite to girls.
"Draco... what happened?"
"Probably the same thing that happened to you. I was swept away to Avalon and told to complete some insane person's mission."
"Yes," whispered Rhiannon. "I was too." She stood up and brushed some dust off of her skirt. While doing so the thoughts raced through her mind. Why was Draco behaving so indifferently? Was it because of something she had done?
"Did you meet Salazar?" Rhiannon asked finally.
"Yeah," muttered Draco. He turned his head away when Rhiannon sat down in an armchair opposite of him.
"I met Rowena Ravenclaw."
"I thought so."
"She told me to vanquish Voldemort."
"Now, really?"
"Because he was ruining the balance."
"Good luck."
Rhiannon said nothing for a while and just looked at the boy she loved. Didn't he realize how much his words and behaviour were hurting her? She curled her hands into fists and she could feel tears welling up in her eyes.
"Draco..." she said in a choked voice. "Please... please look at me."
He didn't turn his head, just looked at her out from the corner of his eyes.
"What happened, Draco?" Rhiannon whispered. She felt her fingernails digging into her palms, but she ignored the physical pain. The pain Draco was causing to her heart was far greater. "Why don't you face me? Why... why aren't you telling me what the hell happened?!"
A grim silence hung over the room.
"Rhiannon," Draco said finally, when the silence got too hard to bear. "Go to your dorm."
"What?!"
"You heard me. Go to your dorm. Remember when you told me I could do anything I pleased with you for a day? The time's not up yet. So I'm sending you away. Now go."
Rhiannon just stood there in shock for a few seconds before she spun around on her heel and ran from the room.
Rhiannon slammed the door of her dorm shut and leaned against it with her back. She breathed heavily. That was it - their relationship was over.
'I will not cry,' she thought firmly. 'I will not cry. I will not cry. I... will not...'
It was no use. She slid down on the floor and hugged her legs to her chest. A sob escaped her throat. And then she let her tears run freely over her face, sobbing for all it was worth. Right now, all she wanted was to curl up into a little ball and die.
She felt sick. And void of any other emotion than sadness.
Just a mere hour ago he told her he loved her. He had finally admitted it. She'd wanted him to say these words to her since he had led her to the Astronomy Tower on her first day at Hogwarts.
And now he didn't even look at her properly.
She cried out loud. It was unfair! She'd done nothing and he ignored her. And he didn't even tell her why.
Rhiannon got to her feet and walked over to her bed with some difficulty. Her legs didn't feel like they were still a part of her body. She let herself fall onto her bedcovers and pulled a drawer of her bedside table open. She started rummaging through it without looking; her vision was still obscured by tears.
She found what she searched for and wiped her tears away. Then she took one glance at the thing and the tears started flowing again, so did the sobbing that had degraded to a coarse whimpering a minute ago.
The thing was a photo of Draco and her. Some Gryffindor sixth year had taken it at the Gryffindor Halloween Ball. Rhiannon's photo-self was dancing with Draco and she looked up to him with adoring eyes. Draco's photo-self also looked adoringly at photo-Rhiannon as he led her through the dance.
In this photo the world was still okay. And this only reminded Rhiannon of her current misery. Draco was the sole reason she had existed for the past sixteen years. She didn't know what she would have lived for hadn't she already been promised to Draco. And now, over the course of the last three months, he had become the most important thing in her life. She truly cared about him.
Last year she'd always thought she would just marry Draco one day and then would continue her usual life style that included doing nothing useful and a lot of reading and shopping to occupy her mind. She had only lived because others told her so. Now that she knew what it was like to love and be loved in return she couldn't think of going back that. She had finally found a purpose in this world, even if it was just to lend someone else her strength.
And love was a feeling she wouldn't want to miss for all in the world, now that she knew what it felt like.
The next morning Rhiannon awoke with a headache and still clutching the photo tightly to her chest. She didn't feel any better. In addition to the emotional chaos that reigned supreme in her soul she felt her empty stomach cry out for a big breakfast.
Rhiannon rolled down from her bed and made herself presentable as much as possible. There was no need to show everyone how weak she could be - even if Pansy was not around. Then she dragged herself up to the Great Hall. Her worst thing about it was that Draco sat there at the table, calmly eating his cereals.
He didn't even look at Rhiannon when she sat down next to him.
Rhiannon felt tears well up in her eyes again. She pulled a jar of jam close to her and spread it on a bit of toast. For the rest of breakfast Rhiannon kept her eyes on her plate, sneaking an occasional glance to her right - at Draco. But every time she looked he was seemingly more interested in his cereals or other things on or at the table.
When he was finished he stood up and went away without a word. Rhiannon waited for a bit. Dignity forbid her to run after him or ask him to reconsider his decision. She had to find another way to let him know about her feelings.
When Draco came back to his room after his visit to the library (where he had gone after breakfast) he found a piece of parchment that someone must have slipped through under his door while he was away.
He could very well imagine who that someone was. As he unfolded it, the elegant handwriting and tear stains on the parchment only confirmed his thoughts.
Dear Draco,
I'm finding this very hard to write but I have to let you know that my feelings for you haven't changed since yesterday night. What I was not able to tell you is that I love you. You are more important to me than anything else, even my own life.
If you feel it was necessary to break up with me, I won't try to change your mind. But you can be sure that I will love you forever, for you are the only person that I've ever felt about this way.
I won't give up hope that you will realize that the two of us will be together again one day.
Love,
Rhiannon
After he had finished the short letter Draco cried for the first time in fourteen years.