Well by now I'm sure we all agree that my time keeping is frankly shocking and my excuses meanlingless. So I apologise briefly, and hope you enjoy.
Draco woke with a start, blinded by the bright white around him. He squinted drowsily, trying to make out where he was. His eyes slowly began to focus and he made out the outline of a white bed frame on its side. He was in the hospital wing. It took him a few seconds to realise his head was resting on the side of another bed and he was sitting in a chair. He began to prop himself up and instantly regretted it, groaning in agony as his head started throbbing relentlessly. The pain caused his vision to blur again and he strained to stay conscious and focused, pressing his hand against his head.
"What the-" he flattened his hand against his head and felt a thick layer of bandages wrapped around it. Draco's confusion grew. What caused him to have bandages on his head? He barely remembered anything from last night, no doubt a consequence of the ridiculous amounts of Firewhiskey he'd consumed. As he looked around, hoping for someone to tell him what happened; he finally noticed a tangled mess of blonde curls in the bed before him. But the sight that bode him knocked the breath out of his lungs. Luna lay in the hospital bed Draco had found himself leaning on. Her face was unnaturally pale, draining even the blush out of her lips. Her arm uncovered by the sheet was scattered with long, silvered scars. Some looked deeper and fresher, protruding slightly from the skin pinkly, others years old, almost invisible. Draco figured the rapid healing was down to Madame Pomfrey's nimble skill, as scars like that were too obvious to have never been noticed before; and he was a very observant person. As Draco looked closer at Luna's disfigured skin, he began to slowly pull up his own sleeve, dreading to recognise the scars on her skin on his own. Taking in a deep breath to calm his ever-increasing pulse, he took Luna's hand, feeling his heart beat in his throat as the undeniable pang of guilt swallowed him whole. Just then, another blinding headache overcame him, so much that every muscle in Draco's body tensed up. As he gripped his head in agony, unable to utter a breath, the white-hot pain overwhelmed him, and he collapsed to the ground.
When Draco came to, he was no longer in the hospital wing. He found himself standing down at the lake, where he usually came to gather his own thoughts. But something was different. Everything looked as though he was peering through a thin veil, and he squinted in an attempt to make it disappear, unsuccessfully. With a sigh he began to approach the large rock to sit down, only to stop in his tracks as he noticed it was already occupied. From behind he saw a slumped figure, obscured by the veil, appearing as more of a shadow silhouette than a person. Draco tried to attract its attention by calling to it, but the sound remained in his throat, so that only a strained breath escaped his mouth.
"Who are you?" His lips formed the words again, but to no avail. Frustrated, Draco crossed to stand in front of the figure. It didn't move. He tried waving his hands, but nothing happened. Finally, he'd had enough. As Draco advanced towards the figure, it slowly lifted its head. Its face was covered by tangled wisps of pale hair. And not until its gaze met Draco's, did he realise he was staring into his very own eyes. Then the familiar surge of pain washed over him once again, forcing him to his knees. He looked at the shadow, a plea in his eyes, begging for it to do something. For a moment, it remained were it was, watching Draco clench his jaw, grip his hair as he curled over. Then, slowly it stood up, stepped towards him, raising an arm, and placed its fingertips on his forehead. The touch was unbearably cold, and Draco couldn't hold in the scream any longer; it echoed through the tall treetops and spread far across the lake.
Then, suddenly, the pain was gone again. As he opened his eyes, he was now standing upright, looking down at the shadow, curled on the floor, its hands clasped on its head, before it disintegrated into a wisp of black smoke. With it, the silvery veil that clouded Draco's vision disappeared, but instead of becoming clear as he had expected, it shifted focus, as if he were crossing and uncrossing his eyes, and he felt himself sway lightly with lack of balance.
Suddenly completely indifferent to everything, he walked over to the edge of the water. He remained there gazing at the sky, rippling on the water's surface.
"Get lost." He slurred as he heard a gentle rustle of leaves behind him.
"You're drunk." A chime-like voice stated. At the sound of the voice, Draco turned around, a little too quickly, losing his balance for just a millisecond. Luna stood opposite him, her pale hair almost glowing in the moonlight.
"Oh; sorry Luna..." his noticed his voice was extraordinary nonchalant,"...thought you were somebody else." he mumbled as he stumbled slowly towards the large rock just up from the shore and letting himself drop onto it. Sitting down, Draco's head created the illusion as though everything around him was rotating both in slow motion and high speed at the same time, but in completely different directions. He felt his stomach contract in protest, and swallowed dryly to keep the bile down.
"I'm sorry about your girlfriend, Draco." He had almost forgotten Luna was still there and her voice startled him. She gently laid a hand on his shoulder, and he winced.
"Forget it, it's over and done." He snapped at her, and immediately regretted his harsh tone.
"I can leave, if you'd rather be alone." She said after a moment. Draco's nausea increased when he felt a sudden surge of anxious panic wash over him. As Luna got up to return to the castle, he instinctively grabbed her hand, his thoughts desperately searching for something appropriate to say.
"Don't." He blurted, feeling his throat close up while Luna blurred before him as he felt the tears fall uncontrollably down his cheeks. Ashamed to have acted so impulsively and needy, he quickly lowered his head and brushed a sleeve over his face, but did not withdraw his hand. Seconds later, he felt her arm weave through his and her weight on his right ride. Draco felt a warm, comforting sensation spread across his whole body, running all the way into his fingertips. He sighed contently, feeling the drowsiness of the alcohol fade through Luna's touch; it was as though she was draining it from him in her tranquil way.
The snap of a twig brought Draco out of peaceful daze and he instinctively scanned the darkness, his muscles tensing visibly.
"Draco, are you-"
"GET DOWN!" Draco grabbed Luna and threw her to the floor to avoid the flash of light hitting her. It cut its way across the darkness from the trees and had been aimed directly at her chest. His body curled over Luna's protectively, his hands clasped firmly on his own head, his face slamming into the dirt for a millisecond before he intuitively reached for his wand and pointed at his opponent.
"Astoria! What the-" His arm relaxed slightly as he found himself caught off guard by the realisation of who opposed him.
"I knew it; you're with that fucking slut! You bloody liar!" She flicked her wand and Draco barely had time to block the sparks that shot at him.
"Astoria, what the hell is wrong with you! You've lost your fucking mind!" Draco scrambled to his feet, never lowering his wand. His words unleashed a blind rage in her and she raised her wand in a grand ominous gesture, but this time Draco was more prepared. "Flipendo!" While she flew back and landed with a dull thud, Draco took hold of Luna, who was still on the ground, and pulled her roughly to her feet and started pushing her up the hill as quickly as he could manage and stumbled behind her. As he turned to glance over his shoulder her saw a mud covered, raging Astoria let out a piercing scream and point her wand in their direction once again. Draco raised his wand but she was quicker.
"SECTUMSEMPRA!" the light flashed past Draco, blinding him. He stopped in his tracks and blinked. Luna lay before him, deep incisions appearing all over her body, soaking her robes quickly in her own blood. Her grey eyes were open wide and her breath was shallow, desperately trying to take in oxygen. Her body shook uncontrollably with adrenaline as Draco collapsed at her side. His mind and heart were both racing, his hands hovering helplessly over her body, the panic in his eyes.
"Shit, shit, shit. Astoria, what the fuck have you done?" he turned to roar at her. Her face was puzzled, and the satisfied smile faded quickly when she got a glimpse of Luna's crimson streaked hair. It dawned on Draco that she clearly had had no idea how powerful that spell was.
More worried about the dying girl in front of him, Draco scooped up Luna as delicately as he could and raising her so her head rested on his chest instead of drooping lifelessly. Then he ran as fast as he could toward the dim lights flickering in the castle corridors.
With a forceful push, Draco felt himself being flung back hard onto stone floor. Everything was excessively bright around him and the nausea he had felt not long ago took over with a tenfold intensity that caused Draco to double over and empty his insides violently. When he felt the content of his stomach was all in front of him finally, he attempted to stand up, but found himself unable to control the ferocious shaking and sweating so much that he simply collapsed.
It's my entire fault. How could she be so stupid? She could have died. What if she never wakes up? What if she does die? If only I realised... if I hadn't drunk ... I could have...
Thoughts raced through his mind at extreme speed; incomprehensible, nonsensical, full of self-blame and guilt.
"Malfoy, what are you..." His head whipped round to catch the eyes of Hermione Granger. Her eyes were filled with disgust. Draco slowly pulled himself up, leaning heavily on an empty hospital bed.
"Granger... it's all my fault. I should have stopped her. I..." Hermione could see the self-hatred in his eyes, and her solid stare softened.
"Get cleaned up, you look awful and smell even more revolting." She paused; sighed. "I'm here now, and I'm going to sit with her, so go."
Draco didn't have the energy to stand up, let alone begin an argument. He nodded and made his toward the doors of the hospital wing, the whole way plagued by the voices screaming at him inside his head.
It's your entire fault.
So yeah, certain parts took me long to 'perfect', and your opinion means a great deal to me, so review/subscribe/favorite! :) x