Draco POV
Previously…
Refusing to let go of Briar, I hold her to my chest with her back flush against it. My hands rest around her waist and I can feel a smile tug at my lips as her small hands rest against mine lightly. However, hearing my mother's question has the raging jealousy fire up in my veins again and my arms tighten around her possessively.
"Who is your protector?"
Waiting a few moments for Briar's answer, I can feel her shoulders shrug slightly. Raising my eyebrow curiously, I glance down at the top of her head.
"I don't know," she answers indifferently. "Well, I won't know until Draco goes back to school since my task technically is supposed to start sixth year. I would've rather to do it at Hogwarts, but with my death, that isn't possible."
"Of course," I scoff. I wrap my arms around her tighter and can feel my mother's piercing gaze on the side of my face. Turning my head, I look at her arrogantly. "What? You don't find it convenient that this protector of hers isn't going to be in the picture until I'm gone? We don't even know who he is," I sneer defensively. I can feel Briar stiffen in my arms, but I'm not ready for the two women in front of me to start laughing together.
Briar's laughter vibrates against my chest and I look to my mother bewildered as she clutches at her stomach. After a few minutes of me looking at them like they've lost their minds, my mother stands up, wipes a tear from her eye, and stops laughing enough to address the still giggling woman in my arms.
"Oh, Briar. I'm so sorry! I had no idea I had raised an overprotective Neanderthal of a son," she teases. I let out a huff of annoyance and slight embarrassment and feel Briar's hand leave mine to wipe at a tear off her face like my mother had before.
"It's alright, Narcissa. He's kind of cute when he's jealous and overprotective," I hear her tease before I'm met with gleaming emerald eyes. Rolling my eyes in mock irritation, I feel and hear both of them chuckle again.
"Whatever," I mumble and lower my face to hide my flushed cheeks.
"If you need anything, please come find me. I spoke with Severus before you two came downstairs and he agreed you could stay here until Draco has to leave for school in two weeks so make yourself at home," my mother tells Briar. I hear her say a quick "thank you" in response before my mother walks out of the room. Now that we're alone, I decide to ask the question I wanted to.
"All those months ago, you said Snape had been teaching you to use your healing abilities on others, but he was helping you tolerate pain. You kind of alluded to it before as well when you mentioned training was mental, physical, and emotion. What didn't you tell me that day?" With a sigh, she grabs my hand and pulls me so I'm seated on the couch in front of her. Crouching down in front of me, she grasps my hands in hers and looks at our joint hands.
"Before I tell you anything, I need you to promise to keep your temper in check. I don't want to fight you, Dray. You may not like what I have to say, but in the long run, it helped me become a strong fighter." Seeing the hesitancy on her face forces me to nod my head in agreement, but her stern look has me rolling my eyes before verbally agreeing.
"I promise to try to keep my temper in check," I grumble. With a nod of her head, she begins her explanation.
"Snape tortured me with the Cruciatus Curse," she says before giving me a harsh look when I open my mouth to yell. Closing my mouth, I see her let out a relived sigh before she continues. "During training, I had been able to withstand him trying to get into my mind for hours successfully so we moved to less pleasant forms of teaching. It's part of the reason why your aunt wasn't able to get me to crumble when she tortured me. The only reason it had an effect was because she caught me off guard in the beginning, but I was able to push the pain away. Well, until she sliced me open," she mumbles. "After I completed being tortured for a…certain number of hours, I moved to other training on how to harness my healing powers since I was able to push the pain aside more effectively."
Letting all of that information sink in was a task since I was trying to push down my raising anger. While I understand the thought process behind her being tortured, it didn't mean I had to like the fact that she was tortured. One thing was bothering me though.
"How many hours?" I look to her clenched jaw and I can tell she doesn't want to tell me. "We agreed no secrets, Briar. How many hours did he torture you?" Her shoulders slump slightly at my words and I can feel one of her hands leave my hand. Glancing down, I see her hand has rested on her arm and is rubbing it slightly like she's having a phantom pain.
"Four consecutive hours, but there were times when we took breaks in between so he could simulate a hostage situation so my body could get accustomed to unexpected bouts of pain in case I'm ever in a situation like that," she says wearily.
"You mean, in case you're captured by the Dark Lord and tortured after he kills Potter," I sneer. She nods her head minutely and she rubs her arm a little harder. Pushing my anger down, I grasp her hand and gently pull her towards me. With widened eyes, I tug again lightly and she crawls into my lap hesitantly. Leaning against the back of the couch, I let her rest settle between my legs with her own thrown over one thigh while the other supports the small of her back as she leans into my chest.
Cradling her head against my shoulder, I rest my lips against her forehead and just breathe her in. With my arms wrapped around her and hers lightly grasping the t-shirt I threw on before we came downstairs; I can feel my anger melt away causing her to sigh against my neck.
"You don't seem angry," she whispers. I let out a low chuckle and watch the tiny hairs by her hairline blow back softly at my exhale.
"I'm furious you were tortured for practice and by my aunt, but I do get the thought process. I can't change what you had to go through in practice, but I'll be damned if I don't have a say on what you have to go through going forward. I'll be speaking with my god father the next time I see him," I growl. I feel her shake her head against my shoulder in dispute.
"Draco, he knows what he's doing. You can't protect me from pain, especially not with a war coming. Although, I will admit that you trying your hardest to protect me makes me love you so much more than I already do," she whispers and places a kiss gently to the side of my neck before settling back into my shoulder. I press a kiss to her forehead before focusing on next steps.
"What am I supposed to do while you're not at Hogwarts? Staying away for two months while you were in the coma was torture, but a whole half a year before break and then for the rest of term? Not to mention if I'll even be able to see you during break depending on who's frequenting the Manor," I murmur sadly.
"You have to kill Dumbledore. Or at least, you have to make it seem like you're trying to. Your mother mentioned Snape will be taking the Unbreakable Vow to help you so listen to him and confide in him. I know you're going to fall into the whole arrogant persona that school things you are, but please don't refuse his help just because of your pride. It will only hurt you in the end," she concludes and I have to admit she has a point. That's exactly what I planned on doing; pushing away Snape's help so there was no chance of the Dark Lord getting mad I needed help, but how would he know? As long as the task was done or actively being worked on, I could keep him off my back long enough for Potter to do whatever it is Potter needs to do.
"What's Potter supposed to be doing during all of this?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you, Draco. I took an oath to Dumbledore as Harry's protector to not reveal his tasks." I nod my head in understanding and cradle her closer when I feel her yawn. Pressing another kiss to her forehead, I start to rub her back and I can feel her body getting heavier against mine. Before she can give into sleep, I suddenly get an idea and nudge her a little to wake her up slightly.
"Come with me, I want to take you somewhere," I whisper. She looks at me in confusion, but she must see my excitement because she quickly follows my lead and gets up. Once I'm off the couch, I grab her hand and pull her out the side door that leads to our patio and into my mother's garden. I hear her gasp as she sees the number of flowers have doubled since the last time she was here around Christmas time.
"They're beautiful, Draco!" With a grin, I take a look at her smiling face. She's so fixated on them that she doesn't see me sneakily pluck a white daisy from the bush. When I take a step towards her again, her eyes meet mine and are drawn to the delicate daisy in my hand. With a smile, she lets me place it behind her ear after I brush her hair out of the way. Now sporting the daisy, she meets my eyes with a bright blush scattered over both of her cheeks as I rest my hand on the side of her neck.
"You're beautiful," I whisper. I lean forward and press a lingering a kiss to her waiting lips, but before she can deepen it, I pull back to which she groans in protest. Pulling back, I chuckle at the pout that's on her lips and reach down to take her hand again. Tugging her after me, I pull her into the woods and follow the trail I know like the back of my hand. After a few minutes, she starts to get antsy and starts asking questions.
"Dray, where in the world are we going?" Stumbling on a rock, I catch myself and continue walking while her giggle filters through the air behind me.
"It's a surprise," I tease while glancing over my shoulder to send her a wink. Smiling, she looks down and follows silently the rest of the way. Once I see the clearing, I pull Briar in front of me and lean her against a tree so that I can look down at her. Bracing my hands on either side of, I lean forward so I can see get closer to her eyes that are bright green as the sun shines on them periodically through the trees around us.
"Almost a year ago, my father brought me on a hunting trip. He shoved me behind this very tree and made me watch him murder two muggles, but then, right over behind that tree," I point to the tree on my right a few feet away and watch her eyes follow my finger, "I saw a flash of rainbow." Her eyes snap to mine and I see recognition shine brightly in her emerald eyes. "On that day, I saw a doe and it let me touch its face like it trusted me not to be the boy my father was trying to raise that day; the one who murders without a thought. Then, when I got to Hogwarts, I saw that flash of rainbow again in class when a beautiful girl tried to keep herself from murdering Dolores Umbridge for saying her half brother's death was a tragic accident," I tease. She lets out a giggle at my mention of her trying to kill Umbridge.
"She would've deserved it," she grumbles teasingly. I let out a loud laugh that fills my entire body with lightness and happiness. The same feeling the woman in front of me always gives me.
"She would've," I agree with another chuckle. Reaching up to graze her cheek with my finger, she leans her head towards my touch before I flatten my palm to rest on her cheek. "Almost a year ago, I had met the girl that would change me for the better and I didn't even know it. Watching you in that coma," I pause and can feel my smile slip slightly causing her to hold my wrist of the hand cupping her cheek in encouragement. Taking a deep breath, I push out the rest of the sentence. "Watching you in that coma made me feel like I couldn't breathe. Like my will to live had been sucked out of my body. I don't even want to be apart from you again, Briar Griffin. This year at school without you, and possibly next year too depending on what happens; is my worst fear. I'm scared I'm going to go to school and never see you again or something will happen and I won't be able to protect you. I've already failed at protecting you," I reason glumly. Her hand squeezes my wrist in reassurance.
"Love, we've talked about that. There was nothing you could've…" I cut her off.
"There was something I could've done! I could've been there. I let my father and aunt put your life in danger. I knew you were going into a dangerous situation and I let you go. I shouldn't have let you go" I realize softly. Hearing Briar sigh, I look up at her questioningly and see her staring at me with a displeased look.
"Draco, in all the time you've known me, do you really think it would've been a good idea to tell me I couldn't do something? You're smarter than that," she berates gently. Nodding my head despondently, I realize she's right.
"I still could've done something to protect you," I mutter sorrowfully. I was disappointed with myself for not protecting her and I knew it wasn't fair to get this upset about something we couldn't change, but this was the first time we've truly had time to process her almost death. She has only been awake for two days, but I had a lot of time to agonize over what I could've done differently for two months.
"My dragon, you're the reason I'm alive. Your necklace and your love saved me, remember? I told you that when I entered your mind that night," she whispers. Looking in her eyes, I realize she doesn't blame me for what happened, but I had wallowed in guilt for two months while she laid in a coma. I couldn't let myself off that easily. Could I…?
"Yeah, but if the necklace hadn't…" Now it's her turn to cut me off.
"Don't you dare wallow in what ifs, Draco Malfoy. I'm alive because of you and I won't hear anything different so you might as well go back to be uncharacteristically sappy and continue telling me how much I changed your life for the good," she teases.
"Hey! I wasn't being uncharacteristically sappy! I'm the normal amount of sappy," I pout. She giggles and kisses my pouting lips.
"There he is," she whispers before leaning in to kiss me again. Melting into the kiss, I forget all about why I brought her here in the first place.
Why was I here, again?