Sixth Year
Another school year. Another year to be disappointed by Draco Malfoy. Day after day, she was met with the site of Pansy Parkinson sitting next to him, practically on his lap.
Emmeline was jealous; she knew it. Emmy had been infatuated with Draco for years, however reluctant she was to admit it. It was Draco that captivated her attention. Her friends knew it too, even though she would not admit it to them. Day after day, she was getting closer to the edge of falling for him; all she needed was a tiny push to send her flying.
"Did you miss Ben this summer?" he asked with a smirk on his face as he sat down across from her in the library as she flipped through a book.
"I'm surprised you remembered. Didn't think you usually paid attention to conversations that weren't about you." Before he had a chance to respond, Emmeline spoke again, desperate to wipe the smirk off his face, "But no, I didn't. I was too busy have a good time with Harry."
She smiled to herself as the smirk dropped off his face.
"Good to know you enjoy spending time with people below your station, Emmy." Draco recovered quickly.
"Same to you, Draco."
Draco raised his eyebrows. "And who is that, exactly?"
"Parkinson is hardly on your level, Malfoy. Though, I can't imagine you mind since she's always busy stroking your ego." Emmeline stood up to place the book back on the shelf. As Draco gathered a response, she gathered her bag to leave.
He grabbed her hand as she passed him by. "You sound jealous." he whispered as he stared into her eyes.
Looking into his clear grey eyes, she decided to be honest. "I am."
Not needing any more encouragement, he pulled her to him and kissed her as he had wanted to do for such a long time.
She dropped her bag and wrapped her arms around his neck. She was falling now as their lips met and clashed together again and again. Pulling around for just a moment, he told her he knew a place they could go to be alone. Hardly wanting to waste time talking, she kissed him again as her heart thumped.
Loving Draco Malfoy would kill her, she was sure of it.
The sunlight streaming through the windows woke her gently. The silky black sheets that covered her naked form were not hers. And she was not alone. His warm arm lay over her waist and anchored firmly against him. Almost protectively.
Memories from the night before came flooding into her mind. A flush ran across her face.
"I love it when you blush," he murmured quietly, placing a kiss on the nape of her neck, sending chills down her spine. It had been months since their first kiss in the library and things had only escalated—escalated to the point that she found herself clothes-less in bed with an equally naked Draco Malfoy.
"Hi." she whispered, flipping so that they were face to face.
"Hey," he smirked. He reached out with his left arm and tucked a curl behind her ear.
"Last night was—" her eyes widened in shock as her glance ran across his forearm. "Oh my god." she said faintly, barely able to think coherently as she stumbled to get out of bed as soon as possible. He knew instantly what she had seen and cursed himself in his mind. He was so incredibly stupid.
"Emmy, calm down—" he said as he sat up in bed with the sheet around his waist.
"Stop! Don't come near me!" she hissed with a trembling voice as she slipped into her uniform. Draco rushed to do the same thing so that he could stop her from running away.
Without a word, she advanced quickly toward the door only to be stopped as he pulled her back into him.
"Let me go!" she screamed
"Em, wait—" he didn't know what to tell her to make her stay.
"I can't believe I trusted you! How could I be so stupid?" she said as she wrenched out of his grip and moved toward the door.
"Calm down! I can explain—" he insisted as he pulled her to him again tightly.
"The Dark Mark is burned onto your arm; what is there to explain?" she hissed as she pushed and shoved against him, trying to get away.
"Let me try, Emmeline." he insisted, growing more nervous when she refused to listen. He couldn't lose her.
"No!" Growing tired of her thrashing, he pushed her hard and held her up against the nearest wall to slow her movement.
Each warm hand held a wrist tightly against the brick and his body pressed close against her to make her stay. She tried twice to move but found she could not. Emmeline relaxed in his grip but still trembled with anger and pain.
"I didn't have a choice." he swore into her ear. His warm breath caused a shiver to run down her spine. His scent was overpowering her senses as it had last night but she had to fight through to keep her head clear. She could not give in to him again. Not again.
"Yes, you did." she whimpered sadly, "You could've gone to Dumbledore—"
Draco shook his head, "He would have killed my mother."
"Dumbledore could've protected her!" Emmeline insisted, not comprehending how he could have betrayed her like this.
"Dumbledore can't do anything! It's too late—"
"Now it is!" she snapped as his warm grip felt like it was burning her skin. "Because you took his mark."
He tried to explain, "It was for—"
"Yourself! Because you wanted power! And you wanted influence! You wanted to be respected! But with him, you'll only be feared! He only picked you because your father messed up—"
"Shut up Emmy." he hissed. "You will never understand what it's like. I had no one to trust."
"You had people to turn to!" she felt like she was drowning. She had to get away from him.
"No I didn't—" he shook his head.
"You had me." she whispered, "And I would've done anything to help you. They told me…from the beginning. I should've listened." Tears began to well up in her eyes as she realized the truth. Everyone was right about him from the start.
"Emmy, no—" She was slipping from him. She was sealing herself off from him; and he couldn't stop her.
"And all along I believed that you weren't like them. That you were more than your House. I thought you were better. I thought you knew that." she whispered.
"It's for protection—" he tried fruitlessly to explain but it was like his words did not ever phase her. She just kept speaking lowly—with wide eyes—as if she were in a trance.
"I wish you could've seen what you had." she whispered. "I wish you could've seen that you had people to turn to."
He shook his head and pleaded with her, "I didn't have anyone."
"You had me!" his hands slipped from her wrists as he leaned back to look at her. "I was damn near in love with you and I would've helped you. I would have done anything for you. I would've given up everything to help you. I could've stopped you from this if you had just trusted me but…but now it's too late."
"No, Emmy—"
"You were right." He did not like the apathetic tone to her voice. It was indifferent and showed none of her personality that endeared him to her day after day.
"About what?" he croaked out; his chest was throbbing at the thought of losing her—at the thought of always having been so close to having her and then losing her after finally getting her.
"First year." she shrugged, "You said we shouldn't be friends because you're a Slytherin and I'm a Gryffindor and that just doesn't work out. I never believed you. But I see it now."
He didn't want to be right. "No. Emmy—"
She slid away from him and would not look at him. "I thought I knew you. But you're just a stranger."
The door closed loudly behind her.
She found him in the common room.
"You were right." she murmured as she wiped a few traitorous tears off her face. He did not deserve them.
"Right about what?" he asked in confused as he dropped his parchment and quill to the side.
"Draco." she whispered as more tears fell from her eyes. "You were right. He's not…"
"Emmy, is he a Death Eater?" Harry asked, looking into her eyes.
She paused for a moment, trying to decide if she should tell the truth about him. "I…I don't know. I just…he's just like you said he is though. All along, you've been right about him. I just…I thought I knew him." she whispered sadly.
Harry wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder. Draco had betrayed her in a way she never thought he would. He was everything she never wanted to believe he was.
But she still couldn't bring herself to tell Harry the truth about him. She still protected him.
The months passed. Every time she saw him, she ran away. Emmeline could not face him. That night it had seemed like everything was perfect. She thought he cared. But she was wrong. She had been stupid enough to fall for him. And she had to deal with the consequences of that.
Which she did, by running away. Every time she glimpsed him in the corridors, class, or at meals, he looked pale and ill with dark bags under his eyes. Emmeline did not speak to him again. Not until that night on the grounds.
It didn't seem possible. Emmeline knew the mark was burned onto his arm, but she did not think he would do this. And yet, there he was. Standing before a defenseless and tired Dumbledore with his wand outstretched. He was going to kill him.
"Draco, you can't!" she screamed, frozen in place—paralyzed by the thought that he was about to become a murderer.
His head snapped in her direction at her voice. She hadn't spoken to him in months; the sound was nearly foreign to him.
"Emmy," his voice trembled, "You have to get out of here."
"W-what are you doing?" she asked with a quiver in her voice as she approached him.
The door to the battlement banged open as two Death Eaters burst through the door. One shot a spell at Emmy, forcing her to duck as Draco yelled her name.
The other, Snape, brushed past Draco to deliver the Killing Curse to Dumbledore. Meanwhile, Draco began to move toward Emmy, only to be pulled away from her by Snape before he could get to her.
Seventh Year
A year passed and had hardened every sense and feeling she had. It was war and feelings could not get in the way.
But now it was over and he was standing before her with memories and a mark on his arm as reminders of his deeds.
"What do you want from me?" she asked quietly. He had left his family in the Great Hall where the celebrating continued and pulled her away to the quiet of an empty corridor.
He only stared at her, as if he had thought he would never have a chance to see her again.
When he didn't speak, she took the opportunity to. "I trusted you. They told me you would only hurt me. Harry said—"
Draco was incensed, "Who cares what rubbish Potter said!" He was sick of her always listening to him.
"You're right." That cold indifferent was in her tone again, "I should only care about what you do."
'Emmy—" he certainly did not like where she was going.
"You stole Neville's Rememberall. You called Hermione a mudblood. You almost got Buckbeak executed. You were going to curse Harry when his back was turned. You were part of that god-awful Inquisitorial Squad. You lied to me, you took his mark. You slept with me and made me believe you were different, Draco." she hissed. "You were going to kill Dumbledore."
"Em—"
"You could've told me. We've been friends for years. And for years, I've thought of you as more than just a friend…but apparently, I'm not someone you could trust. I'm not someone you can turn to." she trembled as she realized what was going to become of them—she realized what was inevitable.
"Emmeline," he had to make her understand. He couldn't lose her. "My father had failed him. He….I was chosen and if I failed, he would've kill me and my mother. I couldn't go to Dumbledore, he would've known. And I couldn't tell you because then he'd kill you too and because…you'd never look at me the same way. I knew it'd make you look at you the way you are now. I…Emmeline, I didn't want to hurt you—"
"You can say whatever you want, Draco. It's not going to change the things you've done. I can't trust you. Never again. I won't let you hurt me."
"Emmeline, I'm in love with you." He pleaded desperately.
"No!" she shook her head as tears welled in her eyes, "I was in love with you. I was the one who cared in this relationship. Not you. You aren't capable of caring about anyone but yourself, Draco. I swear, if you just only had a heart…" she bit and shook her head. There was nothing else to say. She turned her back to him and started to walk away. Emmeline had to stop, however, at the sound of his voice.
"What does that mean? You've…you've been saying that to me my whole life and I don't understand." he asked pitifully.
She sighed heavily and let the breath leave her body as if cleansing herself of her memories with him. Emmeline turned and looked him in the eyes for last time. "It means that if you had a heart, if you cared about anyone or anything other than reputation or power or influence, I could have stayed. If you weren't heartless, I could have believed the words that just came out of your mouth.
"Maybe I could have seen past the mark on your arm. If I were to believe you when you say you love me, I'd be resigning myself to a life with someone who will only ever care about himself. I deserve more than that. If you had a heart, Draco, I would kiss you right now and I would want to marry you. I would want to spend the rest of my life with you. But you don't," she sighed deeply again, "So I can't."
She turned from him and left him alone in the cold, empty corridor.
Because he did not have a heart and he did not care about anyone except himself, he lost her.