_____

''Thank you for saving me...again.''

_____

''Nott, what are you—'' Draco frowned, feeling as the panic rose within him and his hand immediately snatched Amelie by the arm to stop her from taking another step forward, not to let her fall as helplessly to the floor as Theodore had done.

''Draco,'' She gasped, staring vacantly at the hold he kept of her wrist, but he didn't loosen it. He refused to as his fingers tightly held on to her, ''Draco, let me go—''

Even if he felt Amelie's constant yanks to free herself from the grip he kept her in, he disallowed it. Malfoy couldn't know if this was a trap. Suppose someone used Theodore to bring Amelie close to him — to trick her from stepping away from him.

Upsetting the girl more than she'd like to admit, but Draco refused to a leap in the dark when it came to her, and he declined to ever so put her on a harmful display again.

Sighing out loudly, Draco growled, ''Certainly not, I'm not going to—'' He kept her steady next to him, shooting Theodore's unconscious body a swift look, ''I'm not going to let you run into some sort of—''

''What on God's earth is going on here?'' Narcissa stormed out of the kitchen, gasping the very moment her sigh lowered onto Theodore. Her curls bounced off her shoulders, and she halted in her heels, ''Oh dear.''

Her dark eyes lingered where Theodore was lying, noticing the blood pooling around the boy and his clothes stained in the crimson color. Eventually snapping her hues to stare emptily at her son, who merely nodded towards the front door, signaling for his mom to close it.

She did exactly that — catching onto his movements quickly.

Amelie's brows knitted. Her pulse stressed beyond explanation as her breaths began to rag. Looking up in skepticism as she met the grey eyes, and her limbs instantly softened, letting him hold her back from leaving.

She understood that this has nothing to do with Teddy to him.

This was her, and the fact that he'd lost her more times than either of them were capable of counting. She knew him to be scared — not wishing anything to happen to her best friend either.

''It's alright, Draco,'' Her voice thin, pleadingly as she let her hand brush over the spine of his, comforting him and his haunted mind, ''I'm right here, I just want to look at him and see—''

''No one is here,'' Narcissa bowed her head, closing the door with a slam, and she stepped away, ''He came alone.''

The very second Narcissa spoke those words, Draco's hand slipped off her arm, making her veins ache with the loss of his touch. She'd just gotten him back too, and never was she anywhere ready for him to let her go as he just did.

Narrowing his eyes in hers and an iced look climbed him. He muttered, ''He needs you.''

Amelie fell to her knees next to her best friend. Her bones crushed against the hard tile floor, but she didn't feel any pain. She didn't budge. Not once did she make a tiny change in her expression.

She stayed impassive. Her hands fiddling with his shirt, ''Teddy,'' She breathed as the side of her head tilted, pushing into his slightly exposed chest.

Amelie listened with her ear, allowing her whole body to follow, just as Teddy had told her.

This is how you do it.

Her fingers moved over his skin, adding pressure upon his neck to find his beating pulse and the flushing blood through his veins.

Pinching her eyes shut, focusing on his breathing. He was breathing, she could sense that tiny rising and falling of his chest as his lungs filled with air, and she bent back.

Her hands grasped at his jaws, tipping his head back to clear his airway. It didn't sound good. It heard as if his breaths held too shallow, not massive, powerful as he'd taught her to listen for.

It wasn't a good sign. He'd helped her master that.

''What happened?'' She caught Narcissa speak, their voices kept low not to disturb her, ''What is she—?''

''Let her do what she's doing,'' Draco mumbled back, folding his arms over his chest as he studied her act. His eyes snapping to what she was doing, catching every inaudible noise she sought to make, ''He taught her well.''

Looking around, her neck moved, and the panic bolting through her nerves ached. She tried so hard not to let this affect her. To do what Theodore had told her — showed her when someone seemed to be in need.

She simply never believed it to be him.

Amelie and Theodore had practiced this — numerous times, day in and day out, she'd been sweating, crying, bleeding from learning how to do all this, for mastering the power of healing along with him.

Not once did she think she'd do it without him.

Amelie shifted down, tucking her hands around his unconscious body as she peered over the floor. Her fingers grasping, sensing their way across his numb self.

''His wand...'' Her note on a bare cracking, sounding desperate, ''I need his—''

''Here,'' Draco called out as he strode up to her, seeing the blood-drenched wand on the far edge of the floor. It had rolled away when Theodore fell, ''What do you need?''

Amelie didn't answer. She took his wand in between her fingers, pinching her eyes shut, and she began humming. Establishing small, inaudible sounds.

Draco recognized them in a heartbeat — it was the same humming Theodore had done for her.

This was the hardest part for her.

The part she wasn't sure about.

She hadn't practiced her own magic in the ways she used to for over a year. She was timid, to say at least.

Amelie searched his wand in the loss of her own.

He always made her do that back in school, to learn how to recognize spells she was too frail to rule yet — he performed them and let her cast around the magic.

It did great things for her, learning in that way. Theodore always seemed to know what was best for her, how to help her and make her feel a part of things, even when she wasn't.

He taught her the world, and now it was her turn to use all the strength and power to fix him.

''No, Teddy. I can't do that yet. You know that.'' Amelie shook her head, staring blankly at the wand in her hand as if she feared it, almost, ''I'll curse things, you know I will—''

''Amelie,'' Theodore strode forward over the wooden floor in her room at Hogwarts, halting feet away, ''You didn't even try.''

''I don't—'' Her fingers shook, and her eyes flickered in doubt, ''I don't want to mess this up.''

''Love...'' He closed in on her, placing his hands on each one of her shoulders, ''You're in Ravenclaw for a reason, and that's not because you can't perform a spell.''

She still resisted, fighting the true capabilities of her mind. Amelie truly didn't believe herself to be strong enough to handle magic as simple as this one.

It wasn't her fault. She couldn't do a thing to help this.

Amelie was so deeply buried underneath the manipulation of Adrian that she didn't believe she'd be capable of magic, and nothing could free her from that.

''I know, and that's why I can't do this anymore!'' Her voice crackled in hurt as she threw her wand across the room, ''I can't do this. All I hear is how worthless I am with this—''

Theodore gawked, wide-eyed as she stumbled back with the wind in her lungs stuck in her throat.

''Amelie...'' He mumbled softly as she slipped down the wall, hugging herself on the ground, ''Don't say that.''

She frowned, doing the most she could to suppress the tears stinging in her eyes, ''Why? Everyone else keeps saying it.''

It hurt. A loop of blasting ache tore through his chest as he sat down next to her, his arm crossed her shoulders, and he tugged her as close as he could.

''Here—'' Theodore pushed his mouth against her head. Her skin tickled by the thick locks of his hair. He hummed, a melody of words before the edge of his wand brightened in a sharp, icing light.

His Patronus.

She'd seen it before, but now — it was more sparkling. The tension his magic brought earned the air around them to breeze, and her hair danced along with it.

Amelie let out a small huff, tilting her head to his shoulder as they watched the light of a dolphin swirl around them.

It was a beautiful animal. The same his mother had carried, and she always hoped for Teddy to earn the same one.

Trust. Loyalty. Spirit of friendship.

It was all Teddy to her.

''Now...'' Theodore's fingers stroke over her arm, ''Now it's your turn to do it.''

''No...'' Amelie looked up at Draco from below, still resting on her knees, ''Why would he do this? Did you get hurt?''

Malfoy let out a huff. He didn't sympathize with what she asked, ''What? No, not now, not in weeks—''

''Then why?'' Her jaws gritted. Her mind clouded, ''The blood isn't his, and he's been...'' She paused, swallowing the doubt she felt as it crossed her talking, ''He's been healing someone, a lot.''

''Is he alright?'' Draco hunched next to her, his hand grabbed her thigh, and her eyes flickered to watch it, the veins popping out caught her attention again,

''Perhaps it's from when he—''

''He will be,'' Amelie whispered, hewing Draco off before he had the chance to speak about that night again, ''It's recent, and he's been draining himself in a lot of darkness, but he'll be okay.''

Amelie didn't speak more. She helped Draco as he carried Theodore up to his room, and she stayed with him for hours. Her head on his chest to hear him breathing.

It hurt her tremendously that Theo had failed to be honest with her — that he didn't give her a chance to understand before he kept her in the dark. He could've told her. He could've said what he was up to, and she wouldn't have pushed him.

That was what they did. No matter what happened, they were always honest with one another until he wasn't.

He shut her out, and she didn't know what to do to help him. Teddy was usually the one with the bright answers and the reasonable arguments. He took care of her, always, and now she didn't know how to return the favor.

Her neck arched, staring over him for a slight minute. She'd missed him a lot. The messy curls over his forehead and the dimples embedded in his cheeks took all her pain away every time.

Her fingers tensed around his wand, and she traced it up over them as she whispered silently and flicked it. The tip of it illuminated with the cooly light, and the tiny birds started chirping.

Amelie smiled to herself.

''Like that, exactly,'' Theodore held her hands in the larger palms of his, ''Now, close your eyes and focus on it.''

She nodded, allowing her lashes to flutter before she felt Theodore's touch slowly drag away. Her mind sought to stay on that.

On Theodore.

Even if her wand finally let out that soft, pearly light she'd been trying so hard to manage — he'd always shine brightest in her life.

''Yes!'' Theodore yelled out, making her take a step back, ''Finally, oh my god, Amelie!''

He clapped his hands, nearly jumping up and down as she hesitantly peeled her eyes open.

There it was.

Her own Patronus.

She'd been living with Theodore's for so long, but here it was out the purity of her strength, her very own.

Perhaps she was worthy of it after all.

''They are beautiful...'' She whispered to herself, studying the six small birds that flew around her, chirping smoothly.

Theodore walked up to her, wrapping his arms around her fully as he lifted her out of the joy. She did it after years of trying. She did it, and he always knew she would.

It was only five birds now, and she felt a string of doubt as she thought about it.

Watching as the five birds swirled around them, making the air slightly breeze as his wand lingered, slowly shifting it in the air, ''These are for you, Teddy.'' She whispered as she placed her head on his chest again.

''I heard what you said,'' Her voice ceased of misgiving, and it thinly sounded through the room, ''I heard everything all of you said when I was...asleep.''

Amelie's head was heavy upon his lightly breathing chest as she folded her arm over his torso, bringing herself closer, ''I heard what you said. I heard what Draco said, and Narcissa and I want you to know that I see you, Teddy.''

It pained her, knowing that he thought he was alone when he was far from it. She'd been occupied with Malfoy indeed, but she never stopped being with Theodore.

She would always see him, always notice how he was doing even when he didn't show it.

''I love you for what you've done. I know I don't say it enough, but I do see you, and you're never alone with me,'' She was speaking out of honesty. A tear of hurt shredded in her chest.

It had always been them. Amelie and Teddy, but now it was Draco too. She never cleared that it could make Theodore feel out of place, that he wasn't as important as anyone, because he was.

He was so worthy to her, he'd always been, and she couldn't help but resist herself a bit for making him feel as if he wasn't.

''It's you and me, Teddy,'' She mumbled, tucking her face into the side of his chest.

It was there again, that scent of honey.

He always scented like honey.

''I'm back now because you saved me, so let me save you. Let me help you with what you've been doing.''

Amelie couldn't begin to imagine what he was up to, what he'd been doing behind her back to cause him to be this exhausted. She understood that healing took a lot of a person to constantly drain yourself of magic to pull another together.

He talked about it a lot — that it was much for someone to learn and master as much as he did, but he also made it certain that he could handle it. That he wasn't a fragile soul and that he was made for this.

She believed it. He truly was one of the most forceful people she knew — he had brought her back to life from nothing.

He had for weeks, watched and healed her body when there was barely a thing to save, and here she was, back.

Amelie was here. She was okay because of him.

''Thank you,'' She whispered, propping herself up on her elbow to settle a kiss on his nose, ''Thank you for saving me...again,'' She smiled, a curve played on her face at the thought of it.

''And thank you for saving Draco. I don't know what he'd do without you.''

Adorable was how she'd describe it. How their relationship had blossomed in the lack of her, how they found shelter in one another, and how they protected their friendship.

They truly cared for each other, and that made Amelie believe that it all could turn out more than okay after all, even if her life were far from harmless.

The dreams she'd imagined in her rest haunted her.

She tried to play it off, to not seem grave about it to Draco, but it was, and she knew exactly what it meant. Amelie had seen her mother a lot when she was sleeping, different scenarios of the same scene, over and over.

One thing, in particular, caught her attention, and that was the child she saw. A little boy, someone who looked just like her. Someone she believed to recognize even when she didn't.

Perhaps it was her head, and the truth of her going through more than a person should do in a lifetime at the bare age of nineteen, toying with her. Still, it felt so real, so true in ways she couldn't explain — she simply felt it.

Narcissa had joined Amelie in the loneliness of waiting for her friend to wake up, convincing the girl to go downstairs and to eat something while she'd watch over his resting body.

Unwillingly, Amelie agreed.

On her way downstairs, she couldn't help but peer around more than she'd done these past days. She didn't want to be nosey when she was held in a loss of her memories, but this — in her current mind, had turned out to be her home.

She'd spent more time here during the last year than she'd done in her own home, back when her father was still alive, and now — now her childhood home stood empty.

It was time to go back there, to clear it of everything, and to let that part of her life go, but it was hard for her to do so. Even if her father had been nothing but a monster, he left her everything.

Every last piece of everything he owned, he left her.

Amelie felt responsible for that, for taking it upon herself and let his soul rest in peace even if that was the last thing he granted her.

She still wanted to show Draco where she grew up, where she and her mother had the most precious of times, and where she lost it all when her mother decided to falsify her death and leave Amelie in this cruel excuse of a world.

Amelie leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen, tilting her head as she watched the blond stand bent over a counter. His fingers bored into the wood as his head had sunken down.

Draco didn't hear her come in, and he flinched the very instant she wrapped her arms around him from behind, ''Hi you,'' She mumbled into the fabric of his shirt.

Malfoy felt a smile as it climbed over him. He could get used to his.

''Hi, you.'' He muttered back, folding his arms over hers as they rested around him, ''Did he wake up?''

Her head shook, ''Not yet, but soon, I think.'' Her forehead tilted against his spine, ''He's strong, so he'll pull through this, but we need to keep an eye on him... he's lonely, Draco.''

Malfoy nodded, turning around in her arms. His back felt heavy on the counter, ''I know. I've tried, but it's—''

Amelie noticed how upset it made him. He'd been trying hard to be there for Theodore even when his own world was crumbling around him, in his own ways.

Draco wasn't a loving person — he wasn't warm like them, he wasn't kind and caring. He was raised to be cold and fair, not to let the power of emotion get the better of him. He was taught to be smart, clever and not to allow other human beings to use his strength.

He was different now.

They, Amelie and Theodore, had turned him into someone that cared, someone that listened while they were talking and tried to understand the meaning behind their words.

He tried.

He truly did, but it wasn't always easy for him — managing to stay in touch with his feelings when the gravest source to them was constantly ripped from him.

''I know, Draco,'' Her hands brushed over his back as she let her head rest against his chest, ''I know you're trying, and I love you for that. For taking care of him when I couldn't.''

It rocked within, receiving the confirmation he wasn't prepared for. No one ever did that for him, thanked him.

''He's been a real—''

''Draco,'' Amelie's eyes flickered to his, smiling shyly at his mockery, ''Don't taunt him.''

He only groaned at her words, holding her tighter, ''Fine,'' He muttered, displeasingly, ''I won't.''

''Thank you,'' Her mind battled the thought of going back to her own house again. She didn't know if it was wise — a rightful place to be at this time, ''I want to ask you something.''

He leaned back, looking curiously at her, ''What?'' His sight studied hers.

''I'd like for you to...'' She hesitated again, sucking her bottom lip in between her teeth, and her eyes squeezed shut against his shirt, ''I want to go home, to my father's house, and I'd like for you to go with me.''

Draco froze. His breaths hitched for a moment, ''What—''

Amelie's head shook as she pushed herself off him, ''You don't have to, it's stupid, I know—'' She blurted, aiming to turn around, ''I'm sorry, forget that I asked—''

''Stop,'' Draco growled, sighing loudly, ''I didn't say no.''

She stared at him from a distance now.

''I didn't say no. I just don't understand why you want to go back there after everything he did to you,'' Draco's jaws gritted at the thought, how her own father had carved marks into her fragile skin.

''If this is about the house, I can send help to clear it for you—''

''I don't—'' Amelie quieted, her sight grounded as her cheeks drained of its rosy color, ''I want to do it myself. I want to get some of my mother's things, and then I have to look for another house—''

''What?'' Draco snapped, cutting her sentence short, ''What did you say?''

Amelie gulped, standing in the middle of the kitchen as his spine still rested against the counter, ''That I have to look for a new house—''

''And why would you say that?'' His voice grew impatient, disappointed of what she was speaking, ''Why would you even think about getting another house?''

A shy curl on her lips as her head tipped to the side. Her eyes matched his, ''You and Narcissa have been kind enough to us, but I feel like it's—''

''Not an option.''

''Draco—''

''No.''

His hands gripped the edges of the wood. His knuckles paled of how hard he was grasping at it. Everything not to lose his tamed temper, ''You live here.''

Amelie gasped, blinking rapidly, ''I don't want to be a burden for you, and it's not a problem, Draco. I am fully capable of—''

Draco's head threw back as he cursed underneath his breath, ''Are you completely out of your damn mind?'' He yelled out, not looking at her anymore, ''Did you lose your fucking mind again?''

He knew it was harsh. A truly mean thing to say, but he couldn't believe what she was implying — that after everything, she'd suggest that they move out.

Amelie's face fell. Her eyes shredded in tears by his shouting, ''Draco—'' She exhaled in disbelief, agony tore right through her, ''Don't say that—''

''Why?'' He seethed, ''Why shouldn't I say that? I just got you back, and for what? If you're leaving me again? What is it all for, when you're constantly—''

''Draco!'' Amelie cut right through his darkened embrace, his eyes flickered to hers, ''Don't say that. I didn't mean—''

''You didn't mean what? To leave me again? To get yourself fucking kidnapped and hurt for months? Or to kill yourself?''

His words shattered her.

Malfoy didn't think of what he was saying, in the total awe of being without her again — he couldn't control himself.

He'd slaughtered to find her. He had ripped the magical world apart, risking every life he held dear, including hers, all to find her again. All to have her here, with him, and to never be apart from her again.

''I just got you back, today and you want to fucking leave?'' He hissed, out of control, ''Then leave. Fucking leave, Amelie. It would be so much easier if you just took all of your shit and fucking left.''

Her lips parted.

He needed to get it all out there. He'd been keeping it in for so long.

''Don't say that—'' Amelie choked out and that soft whimper, falling off her lips, shot right through him.

Draco clocked back to reality.

Her voice broke, and he could see, as she was standing in front of him in that beautiful dress of hers, on the edge of tears, how much he'd hurt her by speaking the terms he did.

It broke his heart. His pupils suffered all the dark thoughts he'd held.

''Damn it, Amelie,'' He mumbled, pushing himself off the table, ''I didn't mean that.''

She was shaking violently as she stepped back, not wishing for him to touch her.

''Amelie—''

''No.'' Her lower lip trembled as he noticed.

''I didn't mean that.''

It turned silent, a suffocating quietness mounted them as they emptily stared at each other.

''I didn't—'' Draco pleaded. His eyes in total agony, ''I didn't think—'' He closed in on her as her head shook, ''I'm sorry, Amelie. I didn't mean it.''

She knew he didn't.

She knew that Draco wouldn't say those things to her in despise. He'd never hurt her. She knew that — yet, he did.

''I didn't—'' He sighed, so loud that it tore through her ears, ''You're not leaving me, not again. You live here now. You live with me because you're mine.''

Amelie refused to look at him.

''You're mine, Amelie. Mine, mine, and only mine. Don't ever think of leaving me. If you want another house, then we'll get another house, but we'll do it,"

He was standing near, ''It's you and me now, and you're not getting rid of me when I have done all of this — to get you back.''

She stopped. She didn't back away anymore.

''I love you, and you're mine.''

She nodded, slowly and she could feel his breaths on her skin again. He didn't hesitate as he let his hands cup her cheeks, bending her head back so that he could see her clearly, ''I didn't mean that.''

Amelie's eyelids fluttered, and she finally looked back at him, painfully by the hurt bolting through him, ''I know,'' She whispered, ''I know you didn't.''

Malfoy swallowed thickly. His thumbs brushed over her skin as he gazed over her, ''You are mine, Amelie, and I'm never letting you go again.''

She couldn't do anything else but melt into him. She had missed him too much.

''I know,'' Her voice breathy, ''I'm sorry. I wasn't planning to leave you, I just—'' Amelie blinked the tears away, ''I don't know. I'm sorry.''

Draco let his nose graze along with hers. He connected their lips, holding her jaws steady as he kissed her, ''No,'' He spoke, gently against her lips, ''I'm sorry.''

She smiled bravingly before kissing him back, her hands upon his.

''My apologies—'' Narcissa cleared her throat behind them, making Amelie turn around, shakingly to face the lady. Her cheeks burning red.

''For fucks sake. What can it possibly be now?" Draco muttered, annoyed never to have a moment in peace with the girl standing in front of him, "Yes mother?"

''I don't want to interrupt this very special moment, but—'' Narcissa's hands tangled together behind her back, ''But someone would like to see you.''

_____