Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine.

Chapter 7 Letting Go

"What's French for fish and chips?" Katherine asked with a frown as she scanned the menu to the French restaurant Draco took her to for their third date.

"You can't read French?" Draco swore under his breath when her frown deepened at how surprised he sounded. She was going to think he was making fun of her.

Instead, Katherine laughed at his embarrassment as usual. "I'm joking. But no, I can't. Although some words look close to English."

"We should go." Draco snapped his menu shut and felt like an idiot. All of his friends and family spoke French, and he simply assumed that most people did too. Merlin, he was such a—

"I'm not as picky as I lead Sirius to believe." Katherine shut her own menu. "Just order for me. I'll eat it. But if I don't like it… Well I guess you'll ruin the evening."

"I can never tell if your joking or not," Draco muttered as he started scanning the menu again. What did Katherine like? Anything greasy, salty, and low on nutrition. Great.

Katherine's eyes widened, and she grabbed her menu again. "Do they have snails?! I don't know if I'll eat them, but I have to see them. And the frogs legs."

"Merlin, you're more uncultured than a Weasley." Okay. She was joking this time. Draco spotted an infuriating twinkle in her eyes. "I'm ordering you duck."

"Fair enough, since I almost killed you with those fries." Katherine glanced at an elderly couple holding hands a few tables away from them and smiled softly. "So… Today, Ron helped me fix up my wards. You can walk into the building now."

"Oh really?" Draco cleared his throat and tried to act like it was no big deal. "Perhaps I can stop by later."

"Perhaps," Katherine mimicked before hiding behind her menu like he was. The only difference is that he could see gleeful green eyes peeking out of it. He was sure his were a nervous grey.

They were kissing like mad. Kat was trying her best to be as close to him as possible and lead him backwards into her bedroom at the same time. For some reason, he wanted to stay put, and she didn't want to break away from him to say what she wanted. She didn't even want to stop kissing him to take breathless swallows of air.

"What are you doing?" he managed to gasp out between kisses. He smiled into her lips when she kissed him again.

Finally, she pulled away and smiled slowly. "My room."

"On the third date, Katherine?" Draco tried to laugh but moaned instead when she kissed his collar bone. "How scandalous."

"Why don't you call me Kat?" she asked as she tried to unbutton his shirt.

Draco grabbed her hands and laid them flat against his chest. "Because I like your full name. It's beautiful."

"How romantic." She halfheartedly tried to pull herself away. "Now let's go in my room."

"Not yet." Draco had a strange, reluctant firmness about him. "I'm not ready."

For a split second, Kat started to doubt herself, thinking that he thought she wasn't attractive or that she was dirty because she slept with a dozen men before him. But then she saw he was serious and almost said, Really?

"Can you sleep over?" Kat bit her lip. She did tell him that she was going to be more open with him… "I don't like to sleep alone. I have nightmares."

Draco blinked in surprise. Then, he put on a cocky smirk. "You won't take advantage of me while I'm sleeping, will you?"

Kat shook her head. "Hermione says I'm an extreme cuddler when I sleep, and it makes her uncomfortable. But she also said I snored in her ear, so she's probably a liar."

Draco pretended to be grossed out and wrinkled his nose in revulsion. "I guess I'll find out."

Kat kissed him again. "I will admit I'm a blanket hog though, so you'll need me to keep you warm."

Once she fell asleep, Draco actually wished Katherine snored. She cried out in her sleep a lot, so he made the mistake of touching her back to try to comfort her. As a reward, she rolled on top on him, and it felt like all her weight was on his chest. He wasn't sure whether to push her off or laugh.

When he managed to start falling asleep, she snored once, but so loud that he woke up with a start. He couldn't help but laugh that time. Her eyes opened for half a second, and she slowly sat her head up. Thinking that she was awake, Draco started to sit up to apologize, but she was out like a light and threw her head back down, causing her forehead to smack into his chin. Somehow, the pain didn't wake her up.

After that, Draco thought he could sleep through the morning. But long before noon, he heard arguing and forced his eyes open.

"It's none of your business who sleeps in my flat!" Katherine yelled.

"I told you I don't like it!" hollered a voice that Draco didn't recognize.

"Oh fucking well!"

There was a sound of breaking glass before the man continued his tirade. "Dan dies, and I've been calling you and calling you to find out what happened, and if you do answer, you fucking hang up on me! I thought something happened to you, you stupid bitch!"

That got Draco out of bed. This must be the Muggle. He started rushing out as Katherine yelled, "So you storm in here and start breaking my shit? Get out. I'm clearly busy."

He was into the living room just in time to see the Muggle shove Katherine so hard that she fell. She glared at the Muggle, and as she started to get up, he made to kick her. Draco lost it.

Before he knew it, he was across the room and punching the Muggle in the face until they both were on the ground. Katherine was screaming, but Draco didn't care. He didn't stop until he noticed that his fist was slick with blood.

"DRACO!" Katherine shoved him away and, to his horror, started fawning over the Muggle. "Baby? Can you get up? I'll drive you to the hospital."

The Muggle blinked, trying to stay conscious as she wiped some of the blood away so it wouldn't get into his eye. Draco felt like his heart stopped and jumped into his throat.

Katherine never looked at him like that. She cared about the Muggle more than him. That was why she didn't leave him when they started dating. As she helped the Muggle up, Draco apparated home.

Kat didn't expect Draco to be there when they got back from the hospital, but Lou did, she supposed, because he searched every room including the closets. She watched in silence, feeling lower than a slug. There was no excuse for this, but for some reason, she kept dragging out whatever it was she had with Lou. It wasn't fair to Draco. Hell, it wasn't even fair to her.

"It was because you pushed me, you know," Kat whispered so quietly she barely heard herself. "He didn't just start pounding on you out of the blue."

Lou stopped his search and stared at her like she was out of her mind. "I didn't push you. You fell."

Kat frowned. "No. I…" He pushed her. She knew it. Well, everything happened so fast… And Draco's Veela instincts drove him crazy. "I don't think…"

"Who are you going to believe?" Lou demanded. "Me? Or some idiot you've been fucking on the side?"

Kat rolled her eyes. "Don't act like I'm the only one you're sleeping with."

"Do you see them hanging around my flat?" Lou snapped. "Are they beating you so bad you need stitches?"

"Just go." Kat turned away from him. "I need to be alone."

"No. You need to stop acting like a piece of shit." Lou strode over to her and grabbed her by her shoulders, shaking her until she lifted her eyes to look at him. "I don't want you seeing him. I don't want you hanging around that bitch Hermione. And if your godfathers don't know about us, they obviously aren't important enough that you need to visit them so much."

Kat tried to shake herself out of his grasp, but his grip only tightened. She glared at him. It was too tempting to stomp on his foot. "Stop it."

"God." Lou threw her backwards, causing her to land on the couch. Kat got up and started backing towards the bathroom, preparing to lock herself in it. "You must not care about me at all. You surround yourself with people that don't believe in us. How can Hermione care about you and tell you that your boyfriend's scum?"

Kat threw her arms in the air, forgetting about hiding out in the bathroom. "Well maybe you shouldn't have punched me in the face for skipping out on yet another night of getting wasted!"

"You told her that?!" Lou advanced towards her and slammed her into the wall. "Why would you do that? Why would you tell her something that's between us?! I thought you loved me! You don't see me telling my friends about mistakes you make!"

"Mistakes?" Kat kneed him in the stomach to try to get him to back off. "You call that a mistake? What? Did you fist accidently collide with my mouth?"

Lou gripped her shoulders and threw her to the floor. "You called me a drunk. It's your fault!"

"It always is, isn't it?" Kat screamed. She got up, only to have him push her back down. She should run in the bathroom. She knew better than to keep pushing him like this. But she couldn't help it. He was pushing her too. "Is it my fault that you got arrested the other day too? For not paying child support? When were you going to tell me you have two kids?"

"That's none of your business!" Lou screamed. Veins were popping out of his neck, but Kat didn't care. It would be his business if it were the other way around.

"Well it's none of your business who I spend my time with!" Kat shot back. "Get the fuck out of my flat."

"I'll leave when I'm good and ready." Lou looked down on her, but this time let her get up. "When you learn to do what you're told."

Kat didn't care that he had stitches above his eye. He sounded too much like Uncle Vernon. She threw the first punch, right in the nose, and they fist fought until one of the neighbors called the police.

"Dragon! What happened?" Narcissa asked at lunch when she saw Draco putting his fist in a bowl of ice. Lucius frowned but said nothing.

Draco shook his head, and for a second, Narcissa thought he was going to cry. "He pushed her. She couldn't expect me to just sit there…"

"Oh Draco." Narcissa tried her best to sound surprised, but she thought things were going too good between her son and Katherine lately to be true. "Do you want me to—?"

"No." Draco looked away, and she could have sworn she saw his eyes glisten. "I don't want to see her for a while."

"She loves you, Draco. I can tell," Lucius surprised Narcissa by saying. He started eating and was acting like he was talking about something as simple as the weather. After a few bites of food, he started speaking again. "Just let her sort herself out."

Draco pressed his hand deeper into the ice. "I can't keep getting caught up in her mess."

"You don't have to, Draco. You have tell her how much she's hurting you." Narcissa brushed some hair out of his eyes. "In a few days. Tell her you can't do it anymore."

"I will," Draco mumbled. But they all knew it wasn't true. The Veela in him wouldn't let him leave her.

Sirius was reading Teddy a bedtime story when Remus heard a knock on the door. Only Kat would show up this late unless there was an emergency. Actually, he was still worried because Kat hardly visited anymore unless she wanted to see Teddy. The fact that she waited until she thought Teddy would be asleep unnerved him.

When he opened the door, his heart dropped to his feet. "Oh my God…"

Kat had a suitcase in her hands, and behind her, he could see her car parked out front. It was her appearance that made him speechless. Her face was bloated and red, even cut open in some places. One eye was swollen nearly shut, and the other was red. Before he could try to form words, she started rambling and fat tears started rolling out of her eyes.

"I-I thought I was better than-than, like, women on the telly," she sobbed. "Because-because I f-f-fought back and stuff. But-but I'm not. I'm worse because… Because I thought it was okay. That it was better. It's not. It's not, and I'm stupid and—"

"What happened?" Remus cried. "Was Draco…?"

Kat shook her head, only crying harder. "He-he tried to st-st-stop it."

"Come in." Remus tried to hurry her in but was afraid to touch her and hurt her further. "Come and… We'll get you cleaned up. And… We'll talk about it once you're comfortable."

Kat told them bits and pieces. Mostly what happened with Draco. But soon, she was crying so hard that they didn't want to press it further. Remus asked Kreacher to start her a hot bath, and afterwards, she fell asleep as soon as she hit the pillow. He wished he could do the same, but Sirius was ten times as upset as he was.

"I-I shouldn't have kicked her out." Sirius's voice shook as he paced, and he ran his hands through his long hair. "How could I do that?"

"You didn't kick her out, Padfoot," Remus said softly. "She was bringing random men into the house, and Teddy was only a baby."

Sirius sat on the bed and put his face in his hands. "I was so mean to her, Remus. What else could she do but leave?"

"You lost your temper," Remus admitted. "But she wasn't being safe, and we had an infant in the house. She couldn't even tell you more than a nickname of some of them."

"It doesn't matter." Sirius sat up and gestured weakly to the room next door where Kat was sleeping. "She's our goddaughter. And I just let her go. Didn't talk to her for nearly a month! Look at her, Remus!"

"I saw," Remus said firmly. "And we'll take care of it tomorrow."

"Like Malfoy did?" Sirius had to force himself to keep his voice down. "Because look how that turned out! She took him to the hospital and brought him back to her house to beat the crap out of her!"

Remus clenched his fists. "We're supposed keep her safe. We promised Lily and James—"

"Well we failed," Sirius yelled. "We failed since the day they died. We fucked up from day one. But not anymore! She's moving back in, and we're going to forget what happened. And everything will be perfect."

"Until she gets back together with him," Remus said bitterly.

"She's not going to—Remus!" Sirius was ignored, and Remus turned off the light. They both pretended to sleep and ended up staring at the ceiling all night.

Because misery loved company, Draco always went to Severus's apothecary when he wanted to sulk. Severus didn't care and ignored him half the time. Draco worked the register and dealt with customers. The few that showed up were happy, since Severus had poor customer service when he was in a good mood.

He didn't expect Lupin to show up and froze in horror at the sight of him. Lupin did the same, making Draco suspicious.

"Draco, ah, hello." Lupin wouldn't meet his eye. "I was looking for Severus, but obviously, he isn't here—"

"What is it Lupin?" Severus boomed from his laboratory behind the store. "Black get fleas again?"

"Never mind, Severus." Lupin started to back away and swore when the dour man emerged. "I-I just needed something. But I'll try Muggle remedies for now."

Severus raised his eyebrows. The only reason he had customers was because they were customers who had secrets that they didn't want out. Lupin must not want Draco to know his secret. "We're closing. So no other customers are coming in."

"I know." Lupin glanced around, just to make sure. "But, its private, Severus…"

"Oh? What did Katherine do know?" Severus sounded like he didn't care, but Draco felt his blood turn to ice. "It's not like I don't know her situation."

"Well, I didn't." Lupin gave him a strained smile. "And she didn't do anything, Severus."

"Very well." Severus gave up and already started heading back to his lab. "Good luck buying something for her elsewhere and not having it make papers."

"She was in a car accident," Lupin lied poorly. "Like last time."

Severus stopped and turned back around, never wanting to miss an opportunity to argue with Lupin, Draco supposed. "Was that what it was, last time?"

"Yes. Because Sirius bought her a new shiny deathtrap," Lupin ground out. "And I saw what was left of the original."

"You spoil the girl," Severus chided sarcastically.

Lupin gave him a sickly sweet smile. "Sorry, Severus. Sirius isn't here, so there will be no fights today."

"What the hell happened?" Draco yelled impatiently. He felt something happen yesterday but was too angry with Katherine to really focus on it. His eyes were bothering him, so he figured she was doing something with those Muggle things called contacts she raved about. Now not so much.

Lupin sighed and seemed to deflate as he did it. It was clear he hadn't slept a wink last night. "They fought. A neighbor called the police. She was in jail for a few hours before the domestic violence charges were dropped. Then she packed up her things and moved in with us."

"She was charged too?" Severus laughed darkly. "Oh this keeps getting better and better."

Draco was tempted to yell at his honorary uncle to shut up, but Lupin beat him to it. "So just give me the damn salves, Severus. I don't care how ridiculously overpriced it is this time. I just want her to feel better."

Severus rolled his eyes but went in the back to get what he was asking for. Draco stood in awkward silence with Lupin. Only when he realized that Severus was taking his sweet old time, did he decide to speak up. "How bad is it?"

"I don't know," Lupin said honestly. "She won't let anyone near her. But she won't pick up Teddy, which tells me she can't."

After returning, Severus mumbled a few complaints under his breath and snatched a scrap of parchment off the counter. He scribbled a few weights and coordinated them with dosages. "I'm not a member of the Potter Fan Cub, so I don't know how much she weighs, so there are some guidelines. That will be twenty five galleons."

Lupin gave him a tired smile but handed over the money. Draco could barely hear the sarcasm when he said softly, "A pleasure doing business with you as always, Severus."

Severus rewarded him with another eye roll and headed for his laboratory once more. Lupin started to leave, and for a moment, Draco felt rooted on the spot. As soon as he heard the bell from the door signaling that the other man was leaving, however, he ran away from the counter and chased after him.

"Wait!"

Lupin was just about to apparate and looked like he was hoping to leave before Draco caught him. His shoulders slumped, and he reluctantly turned around. "I don't think now it is a good time, Draco. She's humiliated."

"I need to see if she's alright." Draco winced when Lupin gave her a look that said, What about what she needs? He knew it was selfish, but he didn't care. "If she was at the Manor instead, don't act like you wouldn't be pounding on the door."

Lupin fidgeted with the bag of salves but eventually gave in. "I'm not stopping Sirius from kicking you out."

"Thank you." Draco almost felt relieved. But then he remembered what he couldn't stop remembering. Yesterday, Katherine chose the Muggle over him. Hopefully now she changed her mind.

"SIRIUS! Stop it! I have to go!"

Lupin opened the front door to see Katherine and Black wrestling over her car keys. Black had them in his hands while she was trying to pry his fingers open to get them. Edward was nowhere to be seen, so Draco assumed he was either taking a nap or not at the house.

"There's no fucking way I'm letting you drive to his flat!" Black shouted, grunting when Katherine yanked at his hand.

"He said he's going to kill himself! I can't just stay here and ignore him!" Katherine screamed. She grabbed a key chain and started pulling on it as hard as she could, but Black wouldn't budge.

"You bloody well can ignore him! He's lying!"

"And if he's not?!"

Lupin put two fingers between his lips and whistled loudly, causing them both to freeze. Black jumped back when Katherine finally let go and momentarily seemed ashamed of himself but put the keys behind his back anyway. Lupin frowned, probably trying to think of a solution. After half a minute, he held out his hand. "Let me see your phone, Katherine." She didn't move. "I'll give it back, I promise."

Katherine thought about it but must have realized that Black wasn't going to give up the keys and handed over a small device that Draco assumed was her phone. He remembered it from the hospital and tried to focus on that instead of the fact that she had yet to acknowledge him.

Lupin sighed and pressed a few buttons on the device. Draco tried to keep the surprise off his face when he put it against his ear and started talking to it. "Hello? London police department? Yes… I'm afraid my daughter's ex-boyfriend is threatening to commit suicide. Hold on. Katherine? What is his address?"

Katherine's eyes widened… or Draco assumed that was what she was trying to do. Merlin, she looked terrible. "But—"

"But if he's serious, then he needs professional help that you yourself can't provide," Lupin said darkly. "If he's not, then perhaps this will teach him not to make such threats."

"I…" Katherine's face scrunched up as if she were going to cry but was forcing herself not to. "He's in the Pinewood Apartment complex, number 312."

Lupin repeated the address to the phone, thanked them, and then pressed a button before handing it back to Katherine. As if disappointed, he glared at both her and Black. "I hope Teddy is at the neighbor's house."

"The girl next door got a new hamster," Katherine muttered, not meeting his eye.

That didn't seem to appease Lupin, and he handed her a bag. "I told Severus you were in another car accident. However, it seems he knows more about what's been going on than I did."

"What are you talking about…?" Katherine tensed and slowly turned to Draco, as if seeing him for the first time. "What did you do?"

Draco wasn't sure if he should be thankful or embarrassed as Lupin edged out of the room and forced Black to go with him. After a few stutters, he managed to speak. "I-I-he's like a father to me."

Katherine tossed the bag Lupin gave her on the sofa and ran a hand through her hair before sitting down. "If I didn't want you to know, what makes you think I'd want him to know?"

The bitterness was clear, but Draco wasn't sure if he should apologize or not. He stayed by the door, feeling a bit of the coldness from outside. He suddenly felt like he was trespassing and wished she would invite him to sit down and talk. "Why didn't you break up with him when you asked me on a date?"

Katherine snorted. "Oh? So now it's my fault?" He didn't take the bait and remained silent, but she still tried to push it. "I guess it is. Since I broke his nose and ripped his stitches out. And poor Draco got his feelings hurt."

Cold and blank. Malfoys were always supposed to be able to keep their composure. He could never stay calm around her though. It seemed like she either made him really happy or really angry. "Yeah, I'm hurt! I feel like you force yourself to be with me. Like I want to go Christmas shopping with you and Edward, and you want to drink yourself into an early grave with that filthy Muggle! I want to spend every moment with you—"

"Because you're a fucking Veela!"' Katherine snarled as she shot out of her seat. "If not, you'd be laughing over The Daily Prophet with Pansy Parkinson right now! Oh! Look at Potter! Not even a Muggle is happy around her! I mean I know she's ugly and all—"

"Stop it!" Draco screamed. "Why would you rather be miserable with him than happy with me?"

"Because he chooses to be with me! He loves me, and you have to be with me!" Katherine yelled, breathing heavily as if exhausting herself.

Draco let out a loud, fake laugh. "He loves you? Really? Is that how Muggles show love? I mean, I know they're animals and all—"

"And you wanted them all dead," Katherine accused. "Like Hermione's parents. I don't know how she can even look at you. You always called her the Mudblood. And you made fun of me because no one loved me—"

"What?" Draco had no idea what she was talking about. If she wasn't so beat up, he could read her face better and perhaps understand.

Katherine smiled sarcastically. "First year. You would make jokes about how I never got any letters and how I didn't go home for Christmas. Did you ever think of why? Or were you so impressed with yourself for thinking of a clever joke that you had to say it immediately? They hated me. From the second I was dumped on their doorstep before my parents' bodies were even cold."

At first, Draco didn't remember what she was talking about. That only made it ten times worse. He could barely remember something that still hurt her ten years later. There was nothing else he could say but a measly, "I'm sorry."

Katherine folded her arms over her chest but then winced and unfolded them. "Good for you."

His instincts were screaming at him to do whatever he could to make her feel better, but he forced himself to remain rooted on the spot. "Tell me. Tell me that you're happier with him than me. And I'll leave. Only see you when I have to so we don't die."

Katherine's lips became a thin line. For once, she must not be so willing to lie to him. Her Slytherin qualities popped up, and she slyly tried to change the subject. "Teddy's going to be home soon."

"Why then?" he asked. "Why are you trying to go back to him? We could have the perfect life together, and you want a life with someone I can bet anything will eventually kill you."

Katherine looked away, staring at Walburga Black's speck of a portrait. Her son magically shrunk it so that it was so small that it was barely seen and not at all heard. "I don't deserve it," she said so quietly that Draco had to take a few steps closer to properly hear her.

"Don't deserve it?" he repeated. "What? Us? Because I think we both do, considering how much work its taking for us to stay together at this point."

"Anything." Again, her voice was barely above a whisper.

"What are you talking about?" Draco started walk towards her but stopped when she turned away from him even more and seemed to being trying to shrink inward.

She sniffled and a few tears fell down her cheeks. "Tonks should be here. And Hermione's parents. And Fred. And everyone else. My parents."

"But not you?" Draco said in disbelief. She shook her head and hunched into herself more.

"Tonks would still be here. If I was there. I should have been there. When Remus went to go talk to Sirius, I should have been there to babysit Teddy. He's my godson." She choked back a sob. "But I was at Shell Cottage, and he took Teddy with him. If I had been there, I would have been awake with the Teddy and stopped the fire."

"Or you and Edward would have died in it." Draco had a hard time wrapping his head around this. So she blamed herself for every death in the War? Apparently because she continued.

"Fred and Colin Creevy and all those other people were at the Battle for me. Hermione's parents were a target because of me. My mum was only nineteen when she found out she was going to have me. Why would she keep me?" she sobbed.

"Because she loved you." Draco suddenly felt a sick, cold fear snaking its way around his heart. It sounded like she wanted to die.

"Well she shouldn't have!" Katherine's voice was rising with hysterics and resentment. "She should have taken a potion when I was just a little bundle of cells! Then I wouldn't be here."

I love you. Draco wanted to say it but knew it wouldn't make anything better. "Well I'm glad she didn't. And I'm not the only one."

"Because I'm already here," Katherine stated flippantly, like it didn't matter.

"Do you really think the Dark Lord would have left your parents, or anyone else, be because you weren't around?" Draco waited until he saw her looking at him out of the corner of her eye. She probably said this to herself a thousand times but never believed it. "Hermione's parents were a target because she's a Muggleborn. He would have gotten to them eventually. And everyone you love would have fought whether you were there or not. And who knows. Maybe they wouldn't have won."

"They would have," Katherine insisted, as if she absolutely had to believe her words. She probably did, since all her self-loathing depended on it. "Probably a lot sooner too."

"You're wrong." Draco growled to himself when she didn't respond. "And even if you weren't, I don't care. Call me selfish. But I… I don't want anyone else to be my mate."

Katherine's lips quirked into a smile, like she thought he was joking. "Thanks. Means a lot."

"I'm glad you told me this." Draco wasn't entirely sure if he was lying or not. He wanted to know, but he wanted more than anything for her not to feel like this. "I thought you didn't want… us."

"I want to be with you," she admitted. "But I don't deserve it. And you wouldn't care about me—"

"The Veela bond does not create false feelings," Draco snapped, flinching at his own tone. He felt like it was obvious and that she was consciously making herself believe otherwise. "It's like a magical match maker. But we could be close friends, and I wouldn't get sick. What I feel for you is real, so I'm glad it exists."

"I'm tired." Katherine picked up the bag from Severus and gestured to the stairs. She still wouldn't meet his eye, but he sensed a new calmness between them. "Will you stay with me? Like the other day."

Draco wanted to say no, that they needed some time apart. He wanted to take a break and start all over again in a few days. But it was too late for that. "Alright. But if Black flips out on me in the morning—"

"I'll tell him I'm pregnant, and we'll let him freak out and embarrass himself again." Katherine grabbed his hand and started leading him up the stairs. "I like waking up to you sleeping next to me."

Draco squeezed her hand and followed. Hopefully everything would be better in the morning.

It took Dudley three days to spend all the money from that blond man, and he was tired. Tired of losing everything. Tired of feeling empty. Tired of missing his dad.

He quit seeing the therapist Katherine set him up with. She meant well and made him appointments with the best one she could find, but Dudley wanted to go where he was comfortable, even if it wasn't "the best."

Only Dudley knew what the real problem was. Or maybe not. It was obvious that the competing forces of guilt from his childhood and grief over losing his father were what was eating him up inside. He figured he'd deal with the grief first. It was easier.

And so Dudley found himself in a support group for people who have lost loved ones. Everyone sat in a circle, and he was half afraid that the cheap fold up chairs they sitting in would break under him. He felt stupid and was just about to get up and leave when the group counselor came in.

"Hullo." Her hair was in a messy bun, and she threw an overstuffed backpack to the floor. "Sorry I'm late. I got held up at uni. My name is Cho Chang. I'm starting my doctorate in clinical counseling. I started this group because… Because I know how it feels. The emptiness. I still miss my boyfriend every day, and I want to help others cope with the every day."

She was the most beautiful woman that Dudley had ever seen. Needless to say, he stayed put.

Phew! That was intense! But, it had to be done so Draco and Kat could move forward. The next chapter will be a lot calmer. :)

gr8rockstarrox, thanks for reviewing! I might have given up if you hadn't started!