Draco's POV:

"I'm not sure if you heard earlier, but Mother brought some new books in that she thought you might like," I whispered, resting my forehead on the hard surface of Lizzie's cage and looking at her eyelids, just willing them to open and show me the beautiful grey color of her irises. For a moment, I thought I saw them move, but it wasn't the first time I had imagined it. "She brought Frankenstein, Phantom of the Opera, and Snow White.

"I remember reading Snow White once upon a time and I hate to say that I feel like I'm living her story, but this bloody thing won't let me kiss you," I sighed and closed my eyes. "Honestly, I don't even know if you'll ever wake up. You could be stuck in this bubble forever, and I would never again be able to see you roll your eyes at me. Even if you never wake up, I'll stay by your side for the rest of my life."

A tear rolled down my cheek and dropped onto the surface below me. I watched it trail down the side of the bubble before slipping onto the floor.

"Do you remember when we first met?" I asked, bringing the memory to the forefront of my mind. "Because I do. I think about it all the time and wonder what I could have possibly done to be blessed with you." I closed my eyes and took myself back in time. "I remember when you walked into that train compartment. Your hair was loads darker then. It was almost black. Your face was softer, still stuck with that chubby childhood innocence that I wish you could have held onto longer. You were so kind and so elegant that I didn't even question the idea of your blood. I had figured you were a pureblood. You acted just like one and I never would have guessed you were a halfblood had you not told me at that party.

"Oh," I sighed again, speaking quietly. "I'm so sorry about how I treated you when I found out. To be completely truthful, I didn't really care about your blood, I was more hurt by the fact that you had hid it from me.

"And then Pansy tried to kill you," I recalled with my eyes squeezed shut. I hated thinking about it. "I remember that night. We were eating dinner just down the table from each other and kept glaring at the other. You were eating that bloody sherry tart that you love so much, but then you just collapsed. It started with your eyes, which kind of just... drooped. At first I thought you were rolling your eyes at me like you tend to do. When you fell, you almost fell face first into your sherry tart, but I think your neck rolled the other way and you hit the floor.

"You looked like an angel lying there, even though you were poisoned. Your hair was all spread out and your face was so calm. It was a rare thing to see you look so emotionless because when you feel, you feel all in. You're never just a little happy or just a little angry. But you were calm and I wanted to stand there and watch you, just to see you like that some more, but then I realized what had happened.

"I was so scared for you. I knew that Snape was working on the antidote and it would be only a matter of days before you woke up, but I was terrified that you wouldn't. I guess that's how I feel right now. I know in my mind that you'll wake up, but I'm still terrified that something will go wrong and you'll be stuck in there.

"When you did wake up, I was happier than I ever had been. I remember thinking about how your state had changed so much, but your eyes were exactly the same.

"Honestly, I'm not sure there is anything in this world that I wouldn't trade to go back to those days. Life was so much simpler."

——

It was almost four full days before Lizzie woke up. The night before we were to board the Hogwarts Express, I had been reading Frankenstein to her, leaning my elbow on the bubble and holding the book in my other hand.

"'Elizabeth had caught the scarlet fever; her illness was severe, and she was in the greatest danger. During her illness, many arguments had been urged to persuade my mother to refrain from attending upon her. She had, at first, yielded to our entreaties; but when she heard that the life of her favourite was menaced, she could no longer control her anxiety,'" I read, resting my head on the hand of the arm that was resting on Lizzie's bubble.

As soon as I had discovered that Victor Frankenstein's love interest was named Elizabeth, I got an odd feeling in my stomach. I was scared that somehow whatever happened to Victor's Elizabeth would happen to my Lizzie, like their fates were intertwined - or they were the same person.

"'She left me [for the night], and I continued some time walking up and down the passages of the house, and inspecting every corner that might afford a retreat to my adversary. But I discovered no trace of him, and was beginning to conjecture that some fortunate chance had intervened to prevent the execution of his menaces, when suddenly I heard a shrill and dreadful scream. It came from the room into which Elizabeth had retired.'"

The warm blood coursing through my body suddenly froze at the words and I heard Lizzie screaming. The shrill sound vaulted through the air and slammed into my chest, knocking the air from my lungs. I stumbled backwards, almost tripping over my feet, and flashed my gaze around the room, expecting to see Lizzie in some horrible situation that would draw such a blood-curdling scream from her.

Voldemort torturing her.

A snatcher grabbing her by the neck.

Bellatrix carving a word into her arm.

Lucius battering her fiercely.

A green spell colliding with her stomach...

But no. Lizzie was not being tortured or killed. She was encased in a magical prison where I couldn't reach her.

Upon regaining my composure to the best of my ability, I read on. "'She was there, lifeless and inanimate, thrown across the bed, her head hanging down, and her pale and distorted features half covered by her hair. Everywhere I turn I see the same figure--her bloodless arms and relaxed form flung by the murderer on its bridal bier." My voice cracked as I read of dear Elizabeth's death and imagined Lizzie in her place, strewn across a bed, beaten and bloody, lifeless beyond reach.

It was too much for me.

I slammed the book shut and flung it across the room where it collided with one of Mother's Italian vases which fell to the floor and shattered into thousands of tiny, green pieces. I then collapsed into a chair and held my head in my hands, digging my knuckles into my eyes.

She'll be fine, Draco. She'll be fine.

"Merlin," I breathed, "I can't-"

My voice was cut off by a muffled gasp and a dull thump. I snapped my gaze up to the bubble to see that lifeless Lizzie was gone, replaced with my Lizzie. She was rubbing her forehead and breathing rapidly, as if she had woken from a nightmare and attempted to sit up, only to meet the solidity of her bubble.

I darted to her side and put my hands on the hard surface, looking down at her confused face with eyes blurred from tears. "Lizzie!" I cried, overjoyed to see her okay. "Lizzie, you're awake!"

She heard my voice and her confused expression turned to one of panic. "Draco?" she called, her voice muffled. She lifted her hands and put them on the inside of her bubble. Feeling the hard surface seemed to terrify her, for she began to pound on the surface. "Draco? Draco, what is this? Get me out!" she yelled, tears beginning to leak from her eyes as she thrashed around.

Knowing that no amount of physical or magical force could break this shield, I felt myself begin to panic as well.

What if Voldemort didn't return to release her? Would she suffocate?

It was the first and hopefully last time that I was begging for the vindictifully malevolent snake of a man to appear.

"Please!" she howled. "I want out! I need out!" Her breathing had escalated to the point of hyperventilation.

Despite myself, I began to pelt her cage as well, hoping against hope that the force of both of us combined would be enough to free her. The thuds of our fists resounded around the room, sounding dismally like a hammer driving nails into a wooden coffin.

My hands began to scream at me to stop. I ignored them, only caring about getting my love out of this prison.

"It's no- it's no use!" she weeped after the skin on both of our hands was peeling off and oozing scarlet blood from the force of our punches. "It's n-not working."

"No! I can't give up!" I gasped, looking around the room for something that could possibly be of use while Lizzie sobbed inside of the bubble. "Spells- chairs- What haven't we tried? What haven't we tried?"

I had tried Bombarda, Incendio, Confringo, Expulso, and just about every other spell that was in my brain.

I had tried using chairs, tables, my fists, my feet, rocks, and just about every other thing that I could reach.

Even though I knew what the result would be, I tried it all again, watching Lizzie flinch each time. Every time my next attempt failed, another piece of my heart chipped away.

Come on. What else could I do?

"It's no use, Draco," she said, pressing a hand to the inside of the shield that refused to be destroyed.

I pressed my forehead against the cool surface of her prison and licked my chapped lips. "I'm sorry," I whispered, looking directly into her eyes, which stared back into mine with a presence of resigned fright. "I'm so, so sorry."

Her mouth moved but with the barrier between us, I was unable to hear her voice, however, the shape of her lips formed the words, "I love you." I nodded against the glass-like surface.

"How touching," a slithery voice called from just beyond my shoulder, making me jump and draw my wand, pointing it to the source of the voice. "Put that away," he snapped. It was a set of willowy, black robes with a pallid, sallow skinned man. With reluctance, I lowered my wand but kept my eyes on the person standing in front of me and making sure to keep myself between Voldemort and Lizzie.

"Let her go," I croaked trying to be courageous but failing as my voice quivered. I guess that's why I wasn't sorted into Gryffindor.

Voldemort took a few timely steps towards me, closing the distance between us to two feet. I could see the wrinkles in his grey skin and smell the stench of a mixture of mud and rotting fruit. "Miss Samuels here lied to your father about Harry Potter's identity, costing us as a chance at his life. I should have taken her life as punishment, but because I am a merciful Lord, I decided that a few days under a Horror Somnum would teach her a very solid and valuable lesson: Lord Voldemort does not take well to lies."

I blanched at the name of the spell he used to incapacitate her, knowing what it's effects were. "Please, my Lord," I spoke, choking out the title. "Please free her."

"As I stated previously, I am a merciful Lord and I shall free her," he drawled with venom dripping from his voice, waving his wand to Lizzie's floating confinement, which disappeared, dropping her onto the floor where I caught her and cradled her in my arms.

"Thank you, my Lord," I grunted, looking down to Lizzie's pale face and brushing her brown locks from her face. She looked back up with an expression of love, terror, and relief.

"Let this be a lesson to the both of you," he hissed, before disapparating with a crack that did nothing to break the spell between the two of us.

"Merlin, Lizzie," I whispered, tears flowing freely down my face. "I thought I'd lost you."

She lifted a hand and brushed them away with cool fingers. "After all we've been through? You can't get rid of me that easily."

I laughed. "You're impossible."

"That's my job," she replied softly.

Slipping my arms under her knees and around her waist, I lifted her and pressed a kiss to her temple. "Let's get you upstairs." She wrapped her cold arms around my neck and rested her head on my chest.

Once in my bedroom, I laid Lizzie down on the bed, buried her in the blankets, and cast a warming spell on her to try and chase away the cold that was plaguing her. "I'm going to go get you something to eat and some tea, I'll-"

"No!" she jumped up and wrapped her hand around my wrist, preventing me from leaving. Her face was petrified as she looked up at me. "Please don't leave me," she begged quietly.

"I won't," I answered, placing a hand on her face and climbing into the bed beside her, wrapping my arms around her still-cold form. "Brace yourself," I whispered before calling a house elf up to retrieve some food and tea.

When they returned with my request, Lizzie picked at the food sparingly, a frown engraved onto her face. "Want to talk about it?" I asked, referencing her time under the Horror Somnum.

Horror Somnum was a spell designed for torture. The victim was locked under an unbreakable sleeping spell where they dreamt the most vivid of dreams that showed them all of their worst fears in situations that are designed to tear them apart.

She shook her head. "I just want to forget about it, but everytime I close my eyes, I see- I see." She was unable to finish her sentence and buried her face into my neck.

"Shhh, it's alright," I hummed, wrapping my arms her once again and gently petting her hair.

"It was you, Draco," she whispered into my skin. "I kept seeing you. You kept dying. You-Know-Who tortured you until your heart stopped. Harry's slicing spell in 6th year killed you. Pansy poisoned you instead of me. Bellatrix was angry at someone and killed you in her anger. You died over and over, Draco, and there was nothing I could do to stop it." I felt her warm breath tickle my hair and her tears drop onto my skin.

"I'm here, love," I said. "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere." She whimpered and squeezed me tighter.