This chapter contains emotional trauma. Please read with caution.

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'' I know a pair of soulmates when I see them.''

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Draco Malfoy.

'' What about overseas?'' Theodore asked, quietly from across the dining room table, '' What if he took her—''

'' He didn't,'' Draco shoot back, sounding annoyed, '' The Dark Lord would never let him take her across the borders. He wouldn't be able to keep track of Adrian if he did.''

'' Why would he—'' Theo rose again, his fingers grabbed the glass in front of him as he took a mere sip of his juice, '' I mean, why would he care about what Adrian is doing?''

'' Because he's unpredictable. Pucey has no limits. You haven't seen that side of him because it happened after he was granted the mark, but if you think what I am doing, how I choose to deal with things is much, Pucey is worse.''

Theodore nodded slowly as he placed the crystal back onto the table, '' And I suppose he's not letting him go too far either?''

'' Correct,'' Draco mumbled, '' He's here, somewhere, right underneath our noses, and I can feel him taunting me—''

'' Draco, dear.'' Narcissa called out for him, nodding towards the fork he was clenching tightly in his hand, as it was on edge to bend in his grip, '' Calm down, please.''

Malfoy's eyes rolled as he threw the fork across the table, and he forced his chair back in a rough move. He took long strides up to his mother as his hand placed on her shoulder, and he kissed her head, '' Thank you for dinner."

Her head snapped as he was on his way to walk out, '' But you barely ate—''

'' Don't,'' Theodore shook his head at her, smiling politely, '' It's to no use.''

Narcissa nodded, taking her napkin in her hands before wiping the corner of her mouth carefully, not to smudge her red lipstick, '' I'm worried about him, Theodore.'' She said, her note concerned, '' He's not himself.''

'' How can we expect him to be himself when he lost the one person who made him who he is these days?'' Theodore huffed, thinking about his missing best friend, '' I mean, how can any of us be ourselves, right now?''

'' I know, dear.'' Narcissa stretched her hand out, placing it upon his, '' He truly cares for her, doesn't he?''

'' He kills for her,'' Theodore mumbled, taking her hand in his, '' And I'm sure that he's about to get himself killed for her too, so that must count for something, doesn't it?''

She got visibly uncomfortable with what the brunet just spoke, and her lips pushed together into a firm line, '' It certainly does, but you'll keep an eye on him, will you?'' She asked him, thoughtfully, '' He doesn't speak to me much these days, and I would be lying if I said that I'm not worried for him.''

'' I will,'' A curve arched on his upper lip, '' I will always look out for the both of them.''

Narcissa smiled back, and she pulled her touch away, staring out over the set table, '' She truly changed him. When he first brought her here, all those months ago—''

She huffed to herself at the remembrance, '' I always knew that there was something between those two. You should've heard how he was talking about her, even before he was granted the task. He was always so... kind with his words about Amelie.''

Theodore's heart rushed in warmth as he thought of the same thing — how much his best friend had grown with Malfoy.

'' And then, you took her away, and I have never seen him so... lost before.'' She continued as she stood up, '' Amelie did great things for my son, and I hope we'll find her soon.''

Theo nodded again, standing up next to her to help her with the dishes, '' Your son did great things for Amelie too.'' He hushed down as Narcissa completely stopped in her actions.

'' That's why I have such high hopes that we'll get her back, Theodore. Soulmates usually and most likely find their way back to each other, in the right time and place.''

'' You think they are soulmates?'' He asked her, gripping the plates to carry them to the kitchen, '' It sounds a bit... much, don't you think?''

'' I know they are,'' She smiled, cheekily but still with flashes of hurt as it showed in her dark eyes, '' I know a pair of soulmates when I see them.''

'' Then I guess you're right, Mrs. Malfoy.'' He started to walk out of the room, '' I'll help you with the dishes, and then I'll go and check up on Draco.''

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Draco stood as frozen in the doorway to his room. He was terrified even to set a foot inside because he knew it would hurt too much, being here when Amelie wasn't.

Still, he needed to feel closer to her — to be with her in a way he had been already, and the only thing that clocked his mind was the bathtub.

He walked dubiously into the bathroom, and his eyes flickered over the interior. Draco watched himself in the reflection of the mirror, and it hurt — it pained more than he believed it would, to not have her standing in front of him, smiling at him for looking at her.

Malfoy swallowed as he locked the door behind him and his hand closed around the shower tap to let the water flow. He folded his suit jacket over the edge of the sink, but he couldn't undress more than that.

Not without her. He couldn't be more exposed than this without her.

So he slipped down in the tub, with his shirt and pants still on, and the warm water soaked him.

Draco's entire self shook violently as he leaned his back against the ceramics, and he tried with all strength he had left — to picture her, still being there with him.

How soft her skin felt as it brushed against his, and her small, nearly inaudible chuckles.

His eyes closed.

How stubborn Amelie was with cutting his hair and how she demanded that he had to cut hers after.

Malfoy's heart ached.

How he would — if he ever got her back, let her do anything she ever wanted. He would never pout or try to convince her not to. If she were to come back to him, he would let her have everything.

His jaws clenched at the burning sensation in his chest.

It wasn't working, and he forced himself up just as fast. The lights in the bathroom held dimmed as he stumbled across the tile floor, and his hands grabbed both ends of the sink.

Draco looked at himself in the mirror, and he hated what he saw.

He loathed himself, more than anything, because he lost her, yet again — he lost her.

When he finally got her back, in every way possible. When she finally trusted him enough, and he got to kiss her, in the way she deserved, when he got to praise her body, and all of the cuts, scars, and marks she had carved into her skin — just when she was his — he lost her.

Malfoy couldn't look at himself anymore. His face stoned at the sight of something so unworthy of her love. His fingers curled up, and without hesitation — he punched the mirror, over and over, until his knuckles bled.

He didn't know if it was to feel something again or if it simply was because he hated himself, but as the glass shattered, it cut his skin deeply, and he stumbled back.

The blond struck the wall on the other side of the bathroom and fell against it, blood stained his arms, his soaked clothes, everything — but he didn't care.

He didn't feel anything anymore.

'' Draco—'' Theodore knocked on the door, '' What was that Malfoy? Are you okay?''

Draco could feel the salty taste of his tears in the corner of his mouth as they rolled down his cheeks, '' Go away—'' His head tipped back, '' Just leave me alone."

''Alohomora,'' Theodore whispered, underneath his breath — scared to death that Draco would hurt himself in ways he couldn't possibly fix. Theo's breath hitched as he watched the mess Malfoy was placed in,

Glass from the shattered mirror spilled all over the bathroom, and stains of blood covered everything.

'' Oh God—'' Theodore kneeled beside the blond, and he took Draco's hand into the palm of his own, but the instant he did — Malfoy sought to pull away.

'' Don't fucking—'' Draco growled, attempting to push the brunet away, but Theodore wouldn't let go. He only held on tighter as Malfoy tried to move, to shove, to hit him.

'' It's alright, get it all out there,'' Theodore mumbled, '' Be angry Draco, be mad, it's only good that you feel it,''

He did. He was furious, but he didn't have the power to fight Theo more than he'd done, and after only a couple of minutes, he caved into the hold Theodore had of him.

'' There you go,'' Theo whispered, stretching over to close the running water of the bathtub, '' Let's see...'' He once again took Draco's hand in his, and he quietly studied the wounds covering his skin.

'' I think this will do the trick—'' He tugged his wand out of his back pocket before aiming it at the bruises and cuts, '' Here—''

''Ferula,'' Theodore whispered, and Draco gasped as his hand wrapped into a magical bandage, but the feeling of his skin healing and the cuts dragging together — caused him to feel something.

He wasn't foolish.

He wasn't a maniac as everyone believed him to be. He just missed her. He missed her so much that it burned his skin, and it stung in his chest. He missed her so much that his mouth felt dry and his knees weakened.

He wasn't crazy.

He just missed her.

'' Draco—'' Theodore mumbled, letting go of the blond as he stood tall beside him, '' If you'd just let me tell you what she—''

Malfoy shot up next to him. His face shunned coldly as he shouldered past him, out in his room again. His clothes still soaking wet and Draco — without thinking strode up to his closet.

The doors dragged open, and it was as if his lungs tightened.

He couldn't breathe the second he watched her clothes.

All of her dresses, skirts, sweaters — all of it.

It hit Draco again, forcefully as his eyes flickered over the dress he got her for Christmas, and all the thoughts he craved to suppress welled over him once more.

He couldn't look at them anymore. He didn't want them in here. He didn't deserve to have them in their room.

Their room.

He still felt like it was — since the night she stumbled in to him, crawling up beside him, and she comforted him.

It was their room.

And he didn't feel as if he deserved to share it with her.

Something inside the blond — snapped, a flicker of darkness in his head took over as Theodore watched him from the doorway into the bathroom.

'' Malfoy—'' Theo barely got out before Draco stormed off. He rushed down the stairs, leaving a wet trail of drops after him as he went, and he didn't stop until he was outside.

Draco stood outside in the early spring weather, with his whole self drenched in everything — water, sorrow, hurt, torture, love, hate.

He couldn't possibly describe it anymore, and he didn't know how to deal with it because Amelie was the reasonable one. She lead him right. She made him rational.

It was all her, and without her — he wasn't anything.

His bare feet stung upon the gravel ground, and his head tilted back.

Draco wanted to give up. It wasn't possible for him to do this anymore, not without a sign, not without something to go on, not without her, and as his hands grabbed the strands of his own hair — he shouted.

Draco screamed out in the gloomy surroundings. He had no strength. It all suffocated him. It broke every last piece of him as the thoughts of ending his own misery began to circle, and just as it did.

The instant, his features looked up at the darkened sky, and his knees weakened.

One single drop of nature scored his skin and then, another, and another, and another.

It started raining.

Malfoy felt his eyes closing, and his body caved into the pouring rain.

It would always be rain to them.

This was his sign, nearly as if she was there with him, and he would never stop searching for her.

'' Rain, yeah?'' Theodore muttered behind him, stepping out on the yard as well, '' Amelie said something about rain once.''

Draco didn't move a muscle. He simply stilled as it soaked him all over again.

'' We were on that beach, where she took you too, you know?'' Theodore peered around, '' She calls it her safe haven, and it was this day where I think she missed you quite a lot, and she drew this adorable parallel...'' Theo held.

He folded his arms around himself as his clothes stained by the drops, '' You being similar to rain, or something like that.''

It flickered in Theo's head, what she told him that day,

'' He was kind to me, not in a way you would've expected from someone with his reputation, but he was, and even if it was all an act at times, it still felt real. You know, as he meant it?''

Theodore nodded,

'' I don't know. It just... It felt safe with him.'' She sighed, burying her chin deeper in between her crossed arms. She felt the air tug at her cheeks, making them flush in color.

'' Draco was like the sound of rain. It comforts you when you are in need of it but still soaks you with all of its sorrows when you're not. You could listen to it all night, but despise it in the light of day, and you—''

Amelie swallowed the lump she felt growing in the back of her throat as Theodore's eyes stayed on her.

'' And you miss it terribly when it's not raining anymore.''

Even if this was hard for her, talking about Draco in the way she did — she couldn't help but smile at the thought of him.

'' He was my favorite feeling on my bad days, and I think I... I think I was all of his good days.''

Theodore kept looking at her, his sight was soft, sympathetic, but he didn't say a word. He let her speak her mind in a place he knew she was safe.

The thunder echoing over the mountains made her shiver as she held herself tighter, her eyes fell gently over the heavy clouds storming closer,

'' But that's the thing about rain, isn't it? Eventually, it stops pouring.'' She smiled again, holding onto the little piece of bravery left inside of her,

'' And God... I miss the sound of rain.''

For the first time in weeks, a tiny, nearly unnoticeable arch curved at the corner of Draco's mouth, '' She should be here.'' Malfoy stated, still facing the heavens, '' It's raining, Nott. She should be here.''

'' She will be,'' Theo said, encouraging, '' She will be here, Malfoy.''

Theodore never reflected much on his own pain through all of this. He felt so responsible for Hermione and Draco that he didn't have much time to feel what he actually felt — he missed her.

Teddy missed Amelie too, so much that if he was ever to give into that — if he would've let his mind cave into all of those haunting thoughts he held.

He would die.

Theodore stayed strong and helpful for his friends, but he was drowning too, more than it because it had always been them — ever since they were kids, he and Amelie were inseparable, and now,

Now he couldn't even let it hurt. He needed to be there, for Draco.

Theo couldn't possibly let it get to him because if it did — no.

It couldn't. It simply couldn't.

He needed to find her too. He needed her to be safe too. He needed to hold her and to tell her that he loved her too, but she didn't deserve to come back to Malfoy, torturing himself.

'' It's freezing,'' Theo mumbled, shivering as he nodded towards the manor, '' And you need to change, before your mother—''

'' Lucius!'' Narcissa called out, and her unexpected voice broke them out of their trance, '' Lucius, what are you doing here? If Dracos sees you—''

'' Are the boys inside?'' Lucius asked his wife. Draco gripped Theodore by his arm and dragged him over the yard, closer to where his parents were standing,

'' Good. Then he won't know I'm here.''

'' What are they—'' Theodore mumbled, hunching down behind a bush next to Malfoy, '' Oh god, what if they—''

Draco's hand collided with the back of Theodore's head, and he evilly eyed the brunet down, '' Shut up,''

Theo's eyes rolled as they focused on his parents again.

'' I can not give that to him, Lucius. Are you completely out of your mind?''

'' No, Narcissa, but he has to have it. You have no idea what plans the Dark Lord—''

'' He's your son, for God's sake! Give it to him yourself.''

'' I can't! Then the Dark Lord will know it's from me, and if that book comes from me—''

It turned quiet for a slight minute as Theodore and Draco gulped in the darkness they were being held in.

'' If the Dark Lord realizes that it's from me, the girl dies.''

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