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'' Draco was like the sound of rain.''

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Amelie Avery.

'' Why is that?'' She smiled as she stumbled over the roots embedded into the soil, '' How come that after nearly ten years, you're still obsessed with that book?''

Theodore shot her annoyed glare as his hand stretched into the air, holding some branches out of the way for her to walk past him.

'' I don't know. I just like it.'' He hummed, taking a stride after her, '' Some things just stick with you, you know? Even if you like it or not.''

Amelie smiled again. Her hand tucked into a glove brushed a strand of hair out of her face. Her cheeks grew red by the minute of the late chilly autumn breeze,

'' Like you got stuck with me, you mean?'' She mocked him, her shoulder nudging his,

Theo's eyes rolled, his mouth pushed into a firm line not to laugh at what she just told,

'' Maybe.'' He taunted back, his arm slipped to intertwine with hers as they kept walking through the woods towards a place they both cherished,

'' Do you smell that?'' Theodore smiled cheekily. His veins flushed in warmth as he looked down at her, stumbling over the branches beside him,

'' Yes — it smells like rain, doesn't it?'' Amelie whispered as she remembered. She nearly halted in her tracks, to breathe in the scent of this,

The trees, the leaves, and the feeling of rain coming to seize her senses — all in a breathtaking fusion.

Theodore tilted his head, gazing down at his best friend, who stood almost mesmerized by the surroundings. He noticed the hat on her head had slipped down a little too far,

But he didn't bother telling her about it. She looked beautiful either way.

Her glove-covered hand reached up to her reddened nose, gently scratching it as she looked back up at him.

'' It does smell like rain.'' He mumbled before placing a hand on her back, gesturing for her to keep going.

'' Come on, we're almost there.''

_____

Draco Malfoy.

His head was placed in his hands as he rested on the last steps of the stairs.

He wanted to give up. He had looked everywhere imaginable for her, and even if he did what was right for her at the time when he asked her to leave,

He regretted it now.

Amelie would be so much safer with him. He knew that.

But nothing he did helped his urge to find her.

He had torn her room apart. He had ripped every book off its shelf, shredded every page in two to see if there were any way she would've saved something — something that could tell him where she could be hiding.

But once again, nothing.

Draco loved being in her room, even when she wasn't there. At night, when he sought to sleep but the nightmares woke him up at the hour of twilight,

He usually walked into her room. He slid down next to the door, with his knees hugged to his chest — in a way he knew she did.

And it brought him comfort, in all the unknown — it granted his haunted mind a spare of peace.

It was a well-needed rest of his mind. The energy and the focus he had put into searching Adrian's mind drained him. It took more of Draco than he would ever let on because as he searched every memory Adrian had of her,

As he looked through every flash of light to find her, he watched everything Adrian had put her through. Every word, every hard grip around her arm, every shoe he forced into her chest, every vein in her skin that burst out of exhaustion, every bruise, every cut,

Everything.

Everything a person shouldn't have to go through — she did, and that made his need to find her even graver.

Draco didn't fully understand why he had such a desire to help her fix the broken pieces of a puzzle within her, but he did.

He needed to help her, and in some unexplainable way — he believed her to need him too.

Perhaps it was the task he knew about, where she was held more than exposed.

Where the dark lord was on a witch hunt for her mother, and Amelie was the only human standing in his way.

It was almost time. The time where he was to see Voldemort again, where he had no choice but to come with the answer the dark lord craved,

He needed his father, and his mother lacked him more — but those weeks of holding Amelie here, in his home, made him realize that he could never do that to her.

He could never give her up for the dark lord's pleasure, even if it meant that he would lose his father.

She didn't deserve that. She didn't deserve anything he had put her through, and the anger with himself for coming to that realization too late caved his bones.

In some way, the dark lord would get to her; that was inevitable. She would have to face the figure of darkness himself,

But Draco would make sure to be there when she did. To spare her every ounce of harm that was coming her way.

He would always protect her. Even if he wasn't aware of doing it, he always would.

The grey eyes flickered out of the basement, watching every stone of the floor covered in blood before they settled on the boy,

The cruel, vile boy laying all crawled up in the corner of the room, exhausted of the torture he had put him through.

'' You know—'' Draco rose as he pushed himself off the stair he rested on. '' This could be much easier for you if you tell me where she is.''

Adrian signed out a huff that split in the hurt of his broken ribs, knowing that pieces of bone endangered the air in his lungs every time he sought to speak.

'' I told you—'' Adrian hewed himself off with a weak cough, the wind escaping his mouth brought blood to spill over the floor,

'' I don't know where she is.''

Draco felt his blood boiling, and the craving to kill the demon struggling on the floor almost turned overwhelming — even if he knew he shouldn't.

It triggered him. I brought out more than the worst of him.

''Then again, Pucey. Tell me someone who might know.''

'' I don't—''

'' Oh, but you do. You do know someone. I saw it in your head. You're keeping something from me, and I want to know what it—''

Draco's words faltered as they came to mind, as someone who knew where they could be circled his head.

He felt a shy curl on his lips as he let out a provoking chuckle, '' Never mind.'' He mumbled, turning in his shoes to walk up the stairs,

He brushed a strand of blonde hair off his forehead, '' I'm confident that Mr. Nott is willing to speak on this, more than you have been.''

The words fleeing his throat made Adrian shiver, knowing that the blonde boy would leave to find what he'd been hiding,

Knowing that Draco would find Amelie before he did, and the reality of Draco knowing where she was, meant that he had no use in keeping him here anymore.

_____

Amelie Avery.

'' It's just how I remembered,'' Amelie whispered to herself as they stepped out on the overgrown beach.

Masses of grass now covered the sand they used to play in as children; the trees that held no more than an inch taller than them years ago — had now grown majestic.

Theodore walked over the treeline, out on the sand mixed with grass as he turned around to look at her, and she couldn't do anything but smile at the boy in front of her,

In remembrance of how they used to play here all summer long before life got complicated, messy.

They used to sneak out of the cabin, just as dawn climbed the mountain tops before anyone else was awake — and they sprinted their way down through the woods, in nothing but their nightclothes, not even with shoes on their feet.

And they loved it. Every single second of it.

They loved making sandcastles. They loved putting the tips of their toes in the cold water as the sunrise welcomed a new day,

Amelie smiled again, her head tilted as her teeth showed. She loved it here.

'' Do you think the water is as cold as it used to be?'' Theodore shouted from further away. The heavy strokes of wind muffled his vocals,

He felt proud of himself for making her smile. That was the only reason why he took her here, to a place he knew she cherished.

She hadn't smiled much in the weeks they had spent together here, and he knew their time together in peace without another soul bothering them was about to run out,

He had to make the most of it. He had to.

Her head shook as she strolled after him, her shoes slightly sunk into the sand as she came closer to the shoreline. Amelie sat down, her knees all drawn up to her chest, in a way she always sat,

She watched Theodore as he pulled his glove off before carefully dipping his finger into the blue, darkened water,

He made a freezing sound, his shoulders tensed, his figure lightly shook as his teeth clasped together.

'' It's definitely just as cold.'' He muttered to himself before staking up to her, slipping down on the grass,

Theodore's eyes flickered up to hers with the hope that she had paid attention to what he was saying, but she wasn't.

Amelie never paid much attention to him anymore — he noticed.

Not that it bothered him. They had spent weeks together, and a person can only take so much of another,

But this was different. Amelie was different.

She was here, with him, yet her mind was far, far away — someplace where he could never go,

And deeply in his kind mind, he knew who she was thinking of, even if she never said it.

Theodore didn't want to push her, he didn't want to bother the calmness he believed she found herself in, yet he sought to think that she needed to talk about it,

To not bury her thoughts, to not go through her pain alone.

'' Do you—'' Theo rose, his head tipped to look at her, to watch as her head spun around to match his.

He swallowed, the crease in between his eyebrows scrunched together, '' Do you think of him?''

'' Of who?'' She nearly whispered, even if she knew who he was talking about. Amelie didn't want it to seem obvious. She almost felt ashamed that he asked her such a question,

'' Malfoy.'' He puffed out, his hands placed behind him for support as he stared out over the lake,

Amelie did the exact same thing. She looked out over the water in front of her,

"Sometimes.'' She whispered again, '' And sometimes not.''

'' He really hurt you, didn't he?''

She swallowed, and a gentle nod made a strand of hair fall over her shoulder, '' In some ways, he did, and in other ways, he didn't.''

'' What do you mean about that? That in some ways he did, and in other ways he didn't?'' Theodore met her eyes, watching how her lips pushed into a firm line, how she sought to hide the emotion inside of her,

'' Draco was...'' Amelie held her chin on her arms that hugged around her knees as she watched the world before her,

'' 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, like 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.''

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