This chapter contains spoilers for my other book, Cursed. So when Amelie is mentioned, scroll down a bit if you haven't read it. <3.

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Isla stared out of the window.

She was sitting on the sill of it, with her knees dragged up to her chest and her arms tightly wrapped around herself.

The sun glimmered from the spotless sky. She couldn't see one single cloud stain the perfect shade of blue. She'd barely thought about it, how she'd missed the real world while being lost in her own.

It was summer, one of the last days of June.

She hadn't paid any attention to the fact that spring had gone by right in front of her, and she hardly noticed. The trees were crowded in green leaves, thickly so. The breeze dancing through the crowns of them was warm, soothing.

Summer was here, yet it had never felt colder.

Leo left.

After the night he said goodbye to Mila, and Theodore took her memories away — he left with nothing but a backpack and the things Draco had put in order for him.

Muggle passports with several names, money so that he could live without working a day in his life, and a sheet of different addresses that made sure that he wouldn't run out of places to live.

Isla cried as she hugged him goodbye. She cried when he left. She cried when Theo took Mila back to her grandmother's house. She cried that entire night, wrapped up in Malfoy's arms.

He didn't let go of her once, and even when he tried to move, she wouldn't let him.

"I'm sorry," He said. "I'm sorry for doing this to you."

Isla just shook her head when he tried to apologize. She didn't want to hear it. She just wanted him to be there. She wanted them both to be there because it was going to be over.

They were going to be over, all three of them.

When Draco tried to move away as Theodore returned and went down to sleep on the couch, Isla stopped him. She told him to stay. She didn't want to be mad anymore. She would always hate what he did, but she could never hate him for it.

He kissed her as he laid down next to her again, and he let her nestle up against him.

Isla smiled as she thought about it.

''Hi, you.''

Her head snapped at the raspy voice, and she smiled even broader at the look of Theodore, standing in the doorway, watching her.

''Hi, you,'' She whispered. Turning around, her legs fell off the window sill.

Theodore shyly grinned, and he dragged a hand through his curls before walking up to her, striving between her legs. He settled his chin on the top of her head as she wrapped her arms around him.

''Did something happen?'' Isla asked. Worry settled in her tone, ''You seem upset.''

''I'm not,'' Theo mumbled, holding her tight against him, ''I just need to leave for a little while.''

''Where?'' Pushing her palms into his chest, she leaned back and looked up at him, ''The hospital?''

He nodded. Her heart ached.

''I've been putting it off for days to be here with you, but I need to be there today,'' He said. He let his fingers run over her face, tucking a wave behind her ear, ''I'll be back soon. It won't take long, I promise.''

Isla swallowed something thick, nearly gulping on her own words before she dared to speak them, ''Can I...'' She hesitated, ''Can I come with you?''

Theodore raised his brows.

''I mean... I don't want you to go alone, and I don't want to be away from you more than I have to, so if I'm allowed, can I please come with you?''

Smiling slightly, Theodore mumbled, ''Of course, you can, but what about Malfoy? He'll be suspicious if we both leave without him.''

''He's not...'' Isla dropped her gaze to the floor, feeling a fist clamping around her heart, ''He's not here.''

Wincing back, Theodore scowled, ''What? Where is he? I swear I saw him this morning—''

Isla rolled her eyes and grinned at him, ''You slept in the same bed too, Theo. Remember?'' She mocked his lack of memory before she sighed, ''He needed to take care of something, but he'll be back this afternoon.''

''Did he take Golden with him?''

She nodded, ''He did.''

''Mhm,'' Theodore smirked, somewhat shaking his head, ''And he didn't want a dog, yeah?''

''He didn't want me either in the beginning,'' Isla twisted a bit as she scooted closer to the edge of the sill she was sitting on, ''I guess he comes around after a while.''

''He sleeps in the same bed as me, and he got a dog because you wanted one,'' Theodore grumbled as he placed his hands on her waist to help her down, ''There's nothing he wouldn't do for you at this point.''

She stood tall with his arms still wrapped around her, leaning her forehead to his chest. Isla didn't want to sneak around the subject Theo managed to avoid every time, ''I still wish you told him about this.''

''What?''

''About you being sick. He deserves to know.'' Isla whispered, ''You know about his parents. It's not fair.''

''I know it's not fair,'' Theodore let his hands slither up her spine, all the way to her neck, and he bent her head back, making her look at him, ''Nothing is fair, but you need to understand Isla, that if I tell him about me — I have to tell him about everything else.''

She frowned.

''I need to tell him about what my parents did to me, what I did to them, who my parents are now... I need to tell him about the Ministry and what they failed to do to protect me. He's already a target for the Minister. He burnt Azkaban down.''

Isla blinked as she slowly nodded, ''I know he did, and I'm scared for him, Theo. I don't think he knows what it means. I don't think he understands that there will be consequences for Azkaban.''

Theodore sighed, heavily and he tangled his fingers into her soft strands, ''Not necessarily.''

A crease showed between her brows as she furrowed them, ''What do you mean not necessarily? He killed people Theodore. Innocent and guilty.''

''Not the innocents.''

Isla had never been more confused in her life. Stepping back, she looked at him with so much doubt on her face, ''Theo, what are you on about?''

''Just like you said. He didn't hesitate to kill everyone, good and bad.'' Theodore scratched the back of his neck, ''That's because he knows that every innocent soul that dies in Azkaban is brought back to life.''

''What?'' Isla's lips fell parted, not understanding a word of what he said, ''What do you mean? How is that possible?''

''I... I thought about that too, how he killed innocents when he burnt it down. Draco wouldn't hurt people like that, so I read about it, and I found this book.''

Isla took a step closer to him, crossing her arms over her chest.

''There was this girl, long before our time, she burnt it down, just like Malfoy did.''

Pinching her eyes shut, she exhaled a frustrating breath, ''What? How is that... That's not possible. Draco burnt it down.''

''He burnt the recent Azkaban down. There was one long before our time. I know it sounds crazy, but I read about it, and there was this girl. She burnt it down, and she thought she lost someone that didn't deserve to go down with it. So when the war was over, and the Ministry wanted to restore Azkaban, she and her husband made them create this law. It states that all innocent souls that lose their lives in Azkaban will be brought back to life.''

Isla stared blankly at him. Her arms dropped to her sides as her heart began pacing. The thought of a way out for Draco when it came to that meant everything to her, ''And this girl, she wasn't charged with anything? She walked away after burning Azkaban down?''

''She walked away. She wasn't convicted for anything,'' Theodore had a shy arch in the corner of his mouth as he spoke, feeling the same relief she did, ''It's pretty amazing, isn't it? How she thought she lost someone and that she never wanted anyone else to experience that?''

''That is amazing...'' Isla whispered. The clamp of her heart slightly loosened, ''Who was she?''

''Her name was Amelie.''

Isla was frowning again, trying to make the pieces fit, ''But how does Draco know that? If it was long before our time? He wouldn't just come across it, right?''

''Her name was Amelie Avery Malfoy, Isla.'' He said, ''She was married to his ancestor.''

''So that's how he knows...'' Isla shook her head, trying to understand the meaning of this, ''Because his family was responsible for that?''

Theodore shrugged, ''He must have read about it because there's no way he'd kill all those good people.''

''Do you still have it? The book?'' She urged, wishing to read it herself. If there was a chance that Draco could be excused for what he'd done, she wanted to do everything she could to make that happen.

He nodded, pointing at his bookshelf, ''Yeah, it's called Cursed. All the founding pureblood families have one. It was that girl, Amelie, she wrote it herself, and their daughter fought to keep it in all of our families, through all generations. From theirs to ours, and it's not just a history book... It's this love story happening in the middle of all of it. For example, do you know why they named their daughter Talia?''

Isla shook her head with a smile. She adored this about him, that he got so lost in details. Even when they spoke about something so serious, he managed to fall lost.

''Because these two soulmates, there was some beautiful parallel between them and the rain... No matter what happened, the rain would always pour over them. It was their thing. So they named their daughter after it. Talia apparently means Rain.'' He sounded so excited, ''But the end makes you a bit sad, I won't lie. You get so attached to the idea of rain, and then it just stopped pouring...''

His smile faded, and he sighed, ''I don't know. They remind me a bit of us, I think, all three of us. You should read it.''

''I promise I will. It sounds beautiful, Theo. But can we focus, please? Do you think he'll be okay?'' Isla began to calm down. Her pulse slowed, ''We can use their case to argue ours if we need to?''

Theodore took her shaking body in his arms, and he pressed a kiss to her temple, ''I don't think they'll come after him for killing the innocent people, but I don't know, Isla. The Ministry seems to be out for us, so it wouldn't surprise me if they do. Besides, Malfoy would go after the Minister himself if he finds out what they failed to protect me from.''

''And that's why you don't want to tell him about your blood-curse... because you think he'll go after the Ministry.'' She mumbled against him.

''If he finds out that the Ministry knew about what my parents did to me and that they did nothing to interfere — I know he'll go after the Ministry.''

Isla closed her eyes, and she felt pain as it ached through her veins.

She loved Draco for that, for the fact that he'd risk his life to avenge Theodore's. He had done the same with her. Malfoy put his whole being on the line when he leveled Azkaban with the ground, only because she got hurt. Isla would never stop being surprised by what Draco did for the people he loved.

Like a cloud staining a blue sky, he was so perfectly flawed to her.

She felt a shade of warmth spreading across her cheeks as she thought about that blond boy and everything he'd ever done for her, good and bad. She loved him just the same no matter what he did.

''We need to protect him from that,'' Isla kept her tone low, ''And I understand why you don't want to tell him. I think you're right.''

''It's not about protecting myself. It's about protecting him from himself. I know he'll hate me for lying, but I'd rather have him hate me than put himself in harm's way for something that happened years ago. We can't change the past.'' Theodore tightened his hold of her, ''You need to promise me not to tell him, Isla. I know you said you wouldn't, but he can't know.''

Isla lifted her hands and placed them on his chest before she tangled her fingers into his shirt, ''I hate lying to him, Theo... but I won't tell him, only because I want to protect him.''

''I love you,'' He said and pressed another kiss onto her forehead, ''I love that you put him above everything.''

''I love you.'' Her words faded as the silence took over, and they remained there, in their room, holding each other at what was about to come.

_____

Isla followed Theodore to the hospital, and she sat next to the bed they put him on. She held his hand as they placed needles in his arms. He said that he didn't feel it. She could tell that he did.

There was a twitch on his brows every time a new needle was inserted, and she held onto him when she saw how it hurt him. He looked at her as they drew blood from him, tube following tube was filled with it.

Her fingers ran over his forehead, and she smiled at how long his curls had gotten. He smiled because she did. She whispered that she loved him and kissed him as often as she could.

Isla just wanted to be there for him, take his mind off what he constantly had to go through, and perhaps take some of his pain away. She did. Theodore had never gone through his treatment with such ease, and it was all because of her.

She sat there, bent over his bed with her chin on his chest as she fiddled with his fingers, trying to distract him. Isla spoke about all kinds of things, and he listened with a smile. He told her what they were doing, why they drew his blood, and what they were planning to do with it. She was the one who listened when he explained it.

She nodded and furrowed her brows as she tried to understand all the medical terms he overwhelmed her with. He hushed when he saw that she got worried. He told her not to be scared, to see what they were doing for him to be healthy instead.

She kissed him. He kissed her. They kissed a lot as they spent hour after hour at that hospital, and the doctors tried making her promise to come back with him for his next session. He'd never done so well as he did with her there.

Both of them looked away when his doctor said that. Both of them knew that there might be a chance that she wouldn't because she had to choose.

Theo used the last of his strength to apparate them back home. Isla would've helped him if it weren't for the fact that Draco broke her wand and robbed her of her magic.

He was so tired, and he could barely stand as they landed on his property. Isla wrapped her arms around him as she helped him move forward.

''You need to rest,'' She whispered, closing in on the house, ''I'll come upstairs with you.''

Theodore shot a look ahead of them, and it landed on the blond boy sitting on the stairs with Golden rolling around next to him.

''Talk to him,'' Theo pressed a kiss to her head before he let go and took a step back, ''I need to rest like you said. I'll be upstairs if you need me.''

Isla watched how Golden tripped after him inside, and she breathed out a faint breath. When she felt brave enough, she turned to Malfoy, still sitting on the porch.

''I missed you today,'' She quietly said, ''Where were you?''

''None of your business,'' Draco muttered, pushing himself off the stairs he'd been sitting on, ''Where were you? I thought I told you not to leave without telling me.''

She huffed, softly looking at him, ''It's a little hard to do so when you're not here.''

Draco strolled past her, out on the grass of Theo's front yard, ''You could've left a note.''

Isla looked down at the ground, spinning around to follow him. He stopped at the edge of the forest surrounding the Nott property with his hands tucked into his suit pockets.

''I could've,'' She said, standing next to him, ''I was with Theo, so I didn't think it would count.''

''When you're not with me, I want to know where you are.''

Isla nodded. She crossed her legs and hunched to the grass. She reached for his hand, and she pulled him down with her. He grimaced when she climbed onto his lap, and he groaned as she repositioned herself at least ten times before she found a position he let her stay in.

Her back rested against his chest, sitting between his legs. Isla felt how his hands landed in her lap, tangling their fingers together.

There was an aching silence taking over. Both of them had so much to say but not enough courage to speak it.

''I won't leave you, Draco.'' She whispered in his silence, ''I know you think I will, but I won't.''

''How do you expect me to believe that?'' He muttered, tightening his fingers around hers, ''You've done nothing but lie to me.''

''I know I have,'' Isla was quick to answer, feeling her heart pounding, ''And I deserve to be held accountable for that. I tried to leave you, and you're allowed to be upset about that.''

''Believe me—'' He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, ''I'll never forgive you for it.''

''Even if you did the same thing?''

''Even if I did the same thing.''

Isla hummed silently before asking, ''Are you scared?'' She propped herself up as she turned around in his arms, ''For when I have to choose?''

Draco drowned in the shade of blue her eyes were shaded in. It was his heaven, raising him from his very own hell.

''I am,'' He admitted, ''Who wouldn't be?''

The tips of her fingers brushed over his jaw, up along the shape of his cheekbone. Her touch tickled below his eyes.

''Do you ever think about it?'' She continued, "It's not a bad idea."

''Do I think about what? And all your ideas are bad."

''What if we ran?'' She whispered, keeping her tone low and looking at him, ''I mean, what if all three of us do what I planned to do myself?''

Draco gritted his jaw, and he brushed his fingers over her waist. ''I don't like when you speak about it.'' He sternly said, ''I don't like the idea of you still thinking about running. With or without us.''

Isla let her head fall to his forehead, and she huffed out, ''Then what do you expect me to do? I'm not choosing.''

''The hell you are,'' Draco wrapped his arms around her, mumbling his words against her lips, ''I won't risk you. The minister will come after you if you don't choose, and I refuse that. You'll choose, Clarke, whether you like it or not.''

''I hate you,'' She frowned, arching back to place a tiny peck on his nose, ''It's like you're choosing for me when you say that.''

''I don't care,'' Draco felt a slight arch threatening in the corner of his lips at her small kisses on his face, ''Hate me all you want, that doesn't change the fact that you'll be choosing.''

Isla pouted, ''Do you hate me?''

Draco sucked his inner cheek in, ''More than you know, Clarke.''

She smiled. He did too, and they rested on the grass for minutes in silence. They were just looking at each other. His arms around her, her fingers fiddling the blond strands of his hair.

''You saw it,'' She continued, knowing that it might upset him, but she didn't know what else to do. She couldn't choose. She didn't want to. ''You saw the little town I found.''

''So?''

''So...'' Her words fanned his lips, ''What if we do it? What if we run?''

''Clarke—'' Draco let his hands fall off her waist, and he settled them on the grass, tilting back to see her properly, ''I'm done having this conversation. You'll choose, and that's the fucking end of it.''

''But just think about it,'' She inched herself closer, ''We could run, Draco. All of us. You, Theo, Golden, and me. We'll abandon all magic so they can't trace it back to us, and we'll leave.''

''And then what?'' He gritted his jaw, ''I just share you with him for the rest of my life? I just settle for the fact that I won't have you for myself?''

Her shoulders slightly sunk, and pain was back on her face.

''Yeah,'' Draco kept going, ''This little thing we have going on, it works for now, because I know it will be over soon, but I don't want to share you, Clarke. I want you all to myself, and if I can't have that—''

Isla bucked herself back a bit, feeling his words burning inside. She didn't know he felt that way. She didn't know that he wasn't dreaming of the same thing she did.

''What?'' Draco scoffed, ''Don't tell me that you thought I would be alright with this? I don't think Nott like the idea of sharing you forever either. We are doing this because we know you have to choose, but it's no bloody way to live a life.''

Isla looked down at the ground. Her hair fell over her shoulders, ''I just... I just thought...''

''You thought what? That like the fact that I can't kiss you in the mornings, because he's already awake? That I want to hear him fuck you? That I can't be with you whenever I want because you're his too? That I haven't fucked you in a bed for weeks? That all we have to do is sneak off to a closet? Or the shower, not to hurt his feelings?''

Draco looked away now too, ''I... I did this for you, and I did this for him, but I can't live my life knowing that you're not mine. I can't live with the fact that you're ours.''

Her body was flaming. She didn't know how to function at that moment. Not that it came as a surprise to her, some of it didn't. Draco was never the one to share, and he'd shown his jealousy multiple times, but she truly believed that he wanted this as much as she did.

''Even if it's the only way we can be together?'' She dared to look up at him, ''You would rather give me up than share me with him?''

''Yes.''

It was such a simple answer. She said that word several times a day, but it had never hurt as much as it did now.

Isla closed her eyes, and she inhaled sharply before she pushed herself off of him. She stood up hastily, ''I'm sorry to hear that.'' She said.

''Why?'' Draco wasn't slow to follow. He shot up just as quickly as she'd done, ''Because that's the only way I could be with you? Because it would be so fucking unreasonable to choose me?''

Isla glared at him, ''I didn't say that, don't put words in my mouth. I'm allowed to ask you a question.''

He shook his head, clicking his tongue, ''Sure as hell sounds like it.''

''No, Draco.'' She stepped back, feeling her own throat tightening, ''You just said that you'd rather give me up than live with the both of us. You don't get to turn this on me.''

''Can you blame me?'' He raised his voice, ''I want you to myself. I don't want to share you, and I'll be damned if I ever apologized for that. Playing house with Nott has been fun, but let's be fucking real, shall we?''

''Draco—''

''I don't want him to be a part of us. I'm in this for you because it's you I want. I love Theodore, and there might have been a time when I wanted something else, but I don't anymore. I want you, and if I can't have you to myself, I don't want it.''

Isla had tears in her eyes as he stepped closer to her, and he took her jaws in his hands, angling her face up.

Draco's frustration softened at the look of her, how the pearls of sorrow rimmed in the corner of her eyes, ''I can't lie to you, Clarke. I want you to be mine and mine only. You will choose, do you understand? You'll choose, and I will live with the choice you make. If you choose him, that's fine. I can live with that, but I won't share you.''

Isla yanked her head out of his grip, and the pain staining her eyes was replaced with betrayal, something so full of treachery that she felt like she might rupture.

''Clarke, what the—''

''You say that you want me to choose and that it's my choice. Not yours, not his, but mine," She said without looking at him, defensively wrapping her arms around herself, ''So why does it sound like you already made that choice for me?''

''Clarke!''

Draco tried to shout after her as she turned around and walked away. She didn't stop. Isla didn't want to stop. She just wanted to disappear again.

She didn't understand. Didn't want to understand. She just wanted to hide from the world. Hide from the reality that was crashing down from above them.

Somewhere, she knew what Draco meant, and he had all right to feel that way. A part of her always knew he wanted her to himself. He didn't want to share her, and she couldn't be mad at him for that.

It still hurt her, hearing how he didn't want to be with them. Knowing that he'd rather give her up than share her.

Isla didn't stop until she'd slipped under the covers next to Theodore in their bed, feeling how his warm body weighted hers down the second he felt her. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his head.

She cried again.

Two days.

That was all she had left with the both of them.

_____