"Why did you shrug away from me before?" Lindsey asked, causing Draco to sigh desperately.
"No reason," he muttered, finding some new interest in the shelf by the door. He placed his hand on it, gently sweeping his fingers across it's flat surface, tracing the swirly designs that were carved into it.
"I don't understand," Lindsey said, confused by why he would choose suffering over relief.
"Of course you don't," he said, a dark chuckle following his words, "You're young."
That hit Lindsey hard, and she didn't say anything else for a while, trying to regain the speech she had lost.
"I do believe you were thirteen too," she said, trying hard not to sound snappy, like she often did when spoken to as if she simply a little girl. If she had snapped, Draco didn't seem to take any notice.
"Yeah, and I didn't understand then either," he said meekly before adding, "I'm just saying, it's harder to understand when you're younger."
"Obviously, you didn't understand that if you walk up to a hippogriff than you'll most likely be attacked!" Lindsey said, her irritation showing through quite clearly. Draco flinched at the mentioning of the incident.
"My point exactly," he said, his voice softer than it was before. Draco was looking down at the ground, remembering how foolish he was back then, and how he would give almost everything to change his actions.
Lindsey didn't respond, attempting to calm down before she spoke again.
"Don't apologize," Draco said as Lindsey opened her mouth to do so, "You didn't do anything I haven't deserved." Lindsey felt like reaching out to him, where she was sure that his mark had started burning him again, and tell him that wasn't true. Instead, she said something else, not nearly as obliging.
"How long are you going to do this?" she asked, her voice barely audible. Draco kept his mouth shut, trying hard himself not to yell at her.
"You're sulking," Lindsey said before he could say anything, "You're not eating, and you're blaming yourself for something that's not your fault."
"You don't underst…" Draco shouted back before having Lindsey cut him off.
"Draco, I'm thirteen, not stupid. Stop treating me like I am! I may not fully understand everything you're trying to tell me, but I understand enough!"
Draco didn't have anything else to say, and stared at her in shock, no longer interested in the not-so-fancy woodwork. He was used to be yelled at by his father, his teachers, his peers, Lord Voldemort, but not Lindsey. It hurt him, like something had stabbed him in the heart.
"I have the pizza," Malinda said, entering the shockingly silent room. She looked from Lindsey to Draco, and could almost see the tension between them.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, clearly missing something. Lindsey and Draco both replied at the same time with a solid, "No," and sat down at the little table. Sitting in the middle was one medium pepperoni pizza, usually Lindsey's favorite.
Today, however, she simply took one piece of pizza and picked the pepperoni off the cheese one at a time. When she had finished with that, Lindsey started picking at the cheese absently.
Draco sat at the table, his arms folded, not wanting to touch the pizza, he surely couldn't keep that down.
"Don't you want some?" Malinda asked, curious as to why Draco wasn't eating. Draco didn't even bother looking at her as he responded.
"No, I'm not hungry," he said, glowering down at the table, tracing the white plastic top with his eyes.
"Yeah Mom, didn't I tell you? Draco doesn't eat anymore. Something about his oh-so-great image," Lindsey said, laughing darkly. Draco looked up at her, his head somewhat light-headed as anger boiled up inside of him.
Malinda stared, bewildered, as Lindsey got up, left her pizza on the table, and left the room. Draco sat there, unmoving, as Malinda turned to him
"I didn't do anything," Draco explained, before Malinda could utter a word, "I guess she just has an anger problem she never told you about." With this being said, Draco stood up, excusing himself from the table, leaving Malinda sitting there with nearly an entire un-eaten pizza.
Lindsey kept on walking, not knowing where she was going exactly. She had tried to keep all of her emotions from flowing out, but after letting one emotion out, she couldn't hold back the others.
Night was near; faraway stars were glowing against the dark blue sky. Lindsey kept walking around until she found the outdoor pool. No one was out here, as it was getting chilly, and she sat down on the ledge, watching moths gather around the street light across from her.
As Draco let his anger fade away, he felt terrible about what he'd done. He knew she was already on the verge of a breakdown, and yet he still caused her more pain. Was that all he was, a pain-giver? Like the rest of the Death Eaters? The feelings of guilt and pain swirled around his head as he sat down outside the hotel entrance, leaning against the wall.
For the first time in months, Lindsey let tears escape her eyes, slowly falling down her face. She didn't love Harry like her mom had, and more often than not she found herself annoyed with the way he spoke to her. He never really understood her, always (jokingly) saying that Lindsey was wasting her time on her beloved hobbies.
But having him die, having Harry die, had hurt her. Her mom was a mess, maybe even in a state of depression. Lindsey's family was slowly being taken away form her. First her grandparents, then her dog, now Harry. Her dad surely had no intention of seeing her again after their last meeting. Lindsey wasn't able to do anything else but cry; she cried for her grandparents, she cried for her dad, she cried for Harry, and most importantly: she cried for herself.
Draco waited outside until he saw Malinda walk towards the car, and then headed back to their room. Closing the bathroom door behind him, he looked into the mirror the second time that day to see nothing more than what he knew he would: a monster. Draco's face was pale, all of the healthy color that had been in it lost. His blond locks had lost their shine, grease and dirt coating most of it. He slowly looked at the feature he knew would scare him the most, his eyes. The same crystal blue eyes that had once been lively and cheerful, were turned ice cold, sad. It was as if a cloud had been settling on his pupils.
Hating the creature that he saw, Draco tried pathetically to destroy his image. Without thinking, he bunched his hand into a fist and, with all his might, smashed the mirror. He knew it was wrong as soon as he had done it, and hastily grabbed his wand from his robes, muttering "Reparo".
The mirror didn't react very well to his weak spell, and only the largest chunks of the mirror flew back into their proper place. Draco started gasping as pain surged through his hands, and looked down to find blood blanketing it. Not knowing what to do, Draco ran off, leaving the little shards of glass behind with a pool of blood.
Malinda had returned from her little trip, in which she had gotten a box of cigarettes. After having a few, she returned into her room and lied down on the comfortable bed, not noticing the little specks of blood that stained the dark gray carpet below her feet. Picking up the remote, she flickered through random channels, figuring Draco was probably with her daughter, safe and sound.
Lindsey had finally stopped crying, and was wiping away her tears, ready to go back to her room and face Draco and her mom. Carefully, she stood up, making sure she was capable of walking, and then paced casually to her room as if nothing had ever happened.
"Hey Mom," Lindsey said, entering the room, looking around to see where Draco could possibly be, "Sorry about earlier. Do you know where Draco is?" Malinda turned her head from the TV and stared at her daughter.
"He wasn't with you?" Malinda asked. Lindsey shook her head.
"No, wasn't he in here?"
"He left right after you did. I figured he was with you!" Lindsey shook her head and went into the bathroom as if he would jump out at her from behind a door as a sick, twisted, joke. As she entered, he wasn't there, but the broken mirror caught her attention.
"Draco," she whispered, staring at the blood and glass that had scattered the floor in front of her. Her eyes widened, tears filling her eyes again, and went back into the main room.
"What's wrong?" asked Malinda, seeing that her daughter was crying.
"Draco, we have to find Draco," Lindsey said, not wanting to frighten her mother any more with the bathroom incident. Malinda nodded, grabbed her black coat, and went out into the hallway with her daughter.
Draco was curled up, once again using the wall as support. He clutched his hand and arm, unable to bare anymore of the pain. His blood had already created another pool below him and it soaked through his jacket. The Dark Mark had started burning again, causing Draco little to no comfort or relief. He started, uncontrollably, mumbling and weeping, his eyes shut tight from the pain.
"Draco?" Lindsey called desperately, rounding corner after corner, trying to find Draco. Malinda had decided to search the building while Lindsey searched outside.
Lindsey had begun to loose hope of finding him when she saw heard a muffled cry not to far away. Thinking it was probably Draco, she ran towards it, feeling dizzy with worry. Sure enough, he was there, lying on the cold grass holding his hand to his chest.
"Draco," she whispered rushing over to his side, "What happened?" Draco couldn't reply through the pain, and it took all of his strength to even be able to hear her.
Lindsey sat down next to him, her jeans and shoes soaking up the blood that was suffocating the grass. Hastily, Lindsey took off the blue and white jacket she had been wearing and wrapped it around Draco's arm to slow the bleeding. It didn't work for long however, and the bleeding simply went right through the thin jacket and onto Lindsey's hands.
"Tell me what happened," Lindsey said, gently letting her fingers touch the Dark Mark on his left forearm. Draco gasped once, but tried to calm down.
"I'm sorry…the mirror…horrible…" he said weakly, his voice barely more than a whisper. Lindsey's hand was getting coated with red blood, but she didn't worry about it as she supported Draco's body. Cautiously, she pulled him up into a sitting position, careful not to move his blood-covered hand too much.
"You broke the mirror, I figured that out, but I need to know why," Lindsey said, gently gripping his arm, her eyes filled with worry and tears.
"I…" he gasped, his words slurring into his cries, "Monster…smashed it…" Lindsey watched helplessly as Draco continued whimpering, his troubled cries piercing the night sky around them.
Draco could barely feel his body anymore, and struggled to get feeling back in his arm so he could feel Lindsey with him. 'So this is what it's like to die ,' he thought to himself as his train of thought slowly disappeared.
"No…Draco…please…" cried Lindsey, a new guilt rising in her chest, "Stay with me…please…we need you…"
He hadn't heard what she had said, loosing what little consciousness he had left.
Draco's body was merely ninety-three pounds, a very unhealthy weight for someone who's seventeen years old, and wouldn't last much longer if he kept loosing blood. Lindsey knew that he was dying, but was unsure of how to help him other than her simple, useless comforts.
"Lindsey?" Malinda called, rounding the corner at the sound of her frantic daughter. She broke her stride as she saw Draco, his arm and clothes blotched in ruby-red blood.
Before Lindsey was able to explain to her mom what had happened, Malinda backed away, running away from the scene, probably rushing to get help. Lindsey sighed miserably as she continued to hold Draco up, still easing the pain on his Dark Mark.
Draco could feel himself slipping away, his heart pumping slowly. He felt a faint dizziness, but it wasn't necessarily unpleasant. More of an enlightenment actually. Somehow, his last thoughts were directed towards his long time arch-enemy, Harry Potter.
He could see his stupid, messy black hair sticking up in odd places. It was almost as if Potter was actually in front of him, wherever it was he was standing. The background was simply a white, glowing light, deprived of any shadows.
"Draco?" Harry asked, his voice almost as surprised as Draco felt.
"What are you doing here?" Draco asked, his voice weak, "This is my death!"
"What are you talking about? This is my dream!" Harry exclaimed, staring at Draco. Draco shook his head.
"No. No, I'm dying. This isn't your dream!" replied Draco, his eyes dazed as they argued.
"It is my dream, and I would like to know why my dream involves you dying!" Potter said, his face reflecting all of Draco's confusion.
"This is, to both of you, a meeting," said a quiet voice from the background. Draco knew, instantly, who it was. It was the same, white-haired, spectacled, bearded, old man that had been headmaster at his time at Hogwarts. The same man Draco had been ordered to kill no more than a year ago, Albus Dumbledore.
Draco and Harry both gawked at Dumbledore, questioning themselves and their subconscious minds.
"Harry, you need to wake up and need to get to Draco," Dumbledore explained, his voice calm. Draco made a face.
"No. I want to die. I don't want to wake up again," Draco said, his voice going back to it's Slytherin flare.
"Draco, that is not true," Dumbledore said, his eyes concerned.
"Yes it is!" hissed Draco angrily, "I'll just be killed anyway! There's no reason for me to keep living anymore!"
"Oh really?" Dumbledore asked, a bemused expression on his face, "Not even to save two other lives? Malinda and…Lindsey's?" Draco, even in what he believed to be his death, felt himself pale.
"I'll take that as a no, you no longer wish to die," said Dumbledore, a gentle smile on his face. He turned towards Harry before speaking again. "Harry, you need to get your friends and get to Draco as quick as possible. Do not hesitate!"
After Dumbledore's words, both Potter and Draco blurred away into the light, Harry waking up from his sleep and Draco returning to the very verge of his life-line.
"Draco? Can you hear me?" Lindsey asked, knowing the answer already. His face had turned, although it didn't seem to be possible, even paler, bringing out every mark on his body.
"Draco!" squealed a high-pitched voice from behind her. Lindsey turned her head to see a girl with brown hair, a few strands of red intertwined in it. Her face was shocked, fearful even, as she saw Draco's body lying next to Lindsey.
"Bloody Hell," said another voice, coming from a boy around Draco's age with orange-red hair. He was staring at Draco, his eyes terrified.
"Dumbledore was right," Potter muttered, watching Draco in awe.
"What happened to him?" asked the girl, Hermione, kneeling next to Lindsey.
"He…glass," Lindsey responded, not quite sure herself what he was doing. Ron, the red-haired boy, was right at Hermione's side, his eyes no longer fearful, but concerned.
"Glass?" Harry asked, still staring down at Draco. Lindsey nodded and continued.
"I don't know what happened exactly. The mirror in the bathroom was broken. It looked like he tried to fix it," she explained, worry obvious in her expression, "He…never mind." She didn't want to tell them about Draco saying that he was a monster, she would try to deal with that later.
Hermione had already started muttering a spell under her breath, and slowly, the wound stopped bleeding. Ron had his arm wrapped around Hermione as she attempted to heal Draco.
"How were you…" Harry started asking Lindsey, remembering what Dumbledore had said about two other lives. He struggled to remember the names, but Lindsey spoke first.
"Bellatrix. They were gathering people for Lord Voldemort. Bellatrix tried to capture us, but went to go talk to Voldemort first. And I guess I sort of convinced Draco to leave with us," she said, purposefully not mentioning the other events that had happened.
"You actually said Voldemort," said Harry, a, albeit, weak smile on his face. Lindsey turned to him and returned his feeble smile.
Draco's wounds were almost completely healed, but he had still lost a lot of blood, and they weren't sure if he would make it, even with proper care.
"I'd give anything to know what the bloody hell he was thinking," Ron said, shaking his head as Hermione finished.
"If we're lucky, maybe we can find out. But we need to get him back to London as soon as possible," Hermione said, standing up. Ron and Lindsey followed shortly after, Lindsey's clothed splotted with blood.
"What about her," Ron said, nodding his head towards Lindsey. Hermione and Harry exchanged a quick, nervous glance before grabbing their wands from their pockets, ready to erase Lindsey's minds of these events.
I hope this'll last until at least Sunday. I have a lot going on with my friends who all asked to hang out within a day of each other. -_-U Oh well, cause I'll just suffer the pain of being away fomr this fanfic for a few day. ^^U Enjoy, and please review!