This chapter contains scenes of emotional trauma. Please read with caution.

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Leiah Riddle,

'' Get off me, Malfoy—,'' I nearly shouted, pushing him back with force, '' What are you—,'' I breathed out as he stumbled, the beaten look on his face hewed me off. Draco Malfoy never looked at me this way; he barely spared me a glare, but now?

Now his eyes glistered in tears, his entire face fallen, the crease of anger in his forehead faded out in sorrow, hurt,

I could hear him swallow, eyes widening before snapping his neck to Blaise standing behind me, blue hues narrowed in Blaise's brown ones, '' When?'' Draco questioned, sternly, the upper lip curving, '' When did—,'' His eyes flickered to mine as he slightly nodded towards me,

'' When did this happen?''

I peered over my shoulder, my face twisted in confusion, '' Two weeks ago,'' Blaise stuttered, his courage fell at the act of the blonde boy, '' Draco, you need to understand—,'' He rose as Draco raised a finger towards him, making him shut up,

The blonde one splintered eyes back to mine, trying to hide his breaking self, taking a boot back, '' What is—,'' He aired, '' What happens to be the last thing you remember of me?'' He asked, his lips pressed together, his jaws clenching by the look of me,

I lightly shook my head, still incomplete confusion to what the two best friends talked about, '' What do you mean—,'' I had felt, during the past weeks, that Blaise avoided the subject of his best friend, that every time I tried speaking about Draco, he shut down, he changed his tells,

'' What. is. the. last. thing. you. remember. of. me?'' He vocalized every word, threatening as he tended to be with me, always managing to be the boy I despised more than anything on this earth,

I felt Blaise's hand stroke my shoulder, squeezing it. Draco's eyes burned in anger, nostrils flaring, making me insecure by the tension they both brought, '' I—,'' I stammered, chewing my bottom lip,

'' Fucking stop that—,'' Draco hissed, his teeth clasping together as he rose a brow, his eyes stabbing through mine, '' Don't do that with your—,'' He held, his shoulders sunk, '' Don't do that with your lips," The words quieted, his bravery lost,

His words left me speechless, the audacity he seemed to have caused my blood to boil. I turned on the last step of stairs, clutching Blaise's hand in mine, " You don't get to tell me what to do, Draco—," I stated, my heart heavily pounded, " If you'll excuse us, Blaise and I have somewhere to be,"

I tried to walk past him, but the second I did, a cold hand wrapped around my wrist, yanking me into his chest, and without a word, he gawked deeply into my eyes, the blue eyes prickled in tears, his breaths ragged,

The seconds felt as if they were hours, the look in his eyes made me mousy, his breaths fanning on my skin; before he stepped back, his hand squeezed around mine, nearly as if he needed to touch me, to feel my skin on his, and then — he let go, storming up the stairs, leaving both Blaise and me clueless,

My eyes matched Blaise's as he looked after Draco, " I need to—," He mumbled before he rushed after his best friend, and in a blink of an eye — I stood alone, my mind swirled in question to what just had passed,

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Draco Malfoy,

I slammed my door shut, the aching feeling in my chest tore without mercy, my heart completely shattered. She did this — she chose to forget about me, she chose to leave me, and then she dared to stand before me and chew on that fucking lip —

— my fucking lip. She's mine, everything about her belongs to me, and even is she doesn't remember that I'll remember for her, '' Fuck—,'' I shouted, my breaths stuck in my throat as I did everything possible not to cry,

My fists repeatedly colliding with the wall, blood-stained everywhere, the craving to feel something else than the ache of her consumed me. I flinched back as my door flung open, brown eyes bored through mine, closing the door behind him,

'' Get out—,'' I tried to warn, but Blaise didn't move a muscle, he simply stood before me, his face shifted in worry, the look of him made me furious because he was here, he could've stopped her from doing the worst possible thing, '' Fucking leave, Zabini,''

'' No—,'' He mumbled, his hand rushed over his head, scratching his head after, '' You don't get to do this, Malfoy — You don't get to disappear for six months only shout at me when you're back,''

I stared at my best friend, my knees weakened, my eyes pooled, '' Who did this?'' I growled, my fingers twitching, '' Who did this to her, because there is no way that she decided to do this on her own,'' I nearly broke, my bravery lacking me,

'' She wouldn't do this to me—,'' - the tears I fought missed, streaming down my cheeks, '' She—,'' I sobbed, trying to muffle the whining noises escaping my throat,

I felt his hand on my shoulder, gently pinching it, his face turned soft, his eyes calm as he shyly nodded,'' I need to tell you something Draco—,''

I glared at the boy, breaths hitched utterly,'' I—, I did it, but you weren't—,'' He sucked in a harsh breath, scared to admit that he did this, that he took her from me,

'' I obliviated her, ''

The words leaving his lips burst through the misery, my mind swirled, pushing my curled up fists into his chest, making his back roughly slam against the wooden door, a whimper left his lips as he tried to stand tall on his feet,

But the look of him, standing before, knowing what he'd done, what he'd taken from me, made my blood fume, eyes furiously darkened, my hands flew to his throat, fingers dug into the tanned skin with force,

'' You did this—,'' I hissed, teeth gritted, '' You fucking did this?'' His eyes almost rolled back as the need of air ceased, hands tried to pry mine off, and after moments of tries, he forced me away, making me flounder back,

Both of us breathing hard, all four hands clenched in fists, ready to fight each other, but his face soothed, his chest hunched forward, trying to catch his missing breath, '' You have no idea—,'' He coughed, clearing his throat as he straightened his spine, raising both hands in surrender, '' You don't know what you did to her—,''

'' Don't you think I fucking know that?'' I spat, my voice tore through the room, making him shut up, '' Don't you think I know what I did? I left her, Blaise. I—,''

'' No, you don't, Malfoy—,'' His vocals loud, his temper failing him, '' You don't fucking know because you weren't here.''

''You weren't here when another nightmare woke her up in the middle of the night. You didn't hear her scream for you. You didn't hear her voice breaking in pain, Draco—, ''

'' You weren't here when she was so bloody broken that, she couldn't speak, all she did was sleep, because all she wanted to do, was to dream of you—, ''

'' You weren't here when she tried to jump off that fucking tower, or when I found her right here, in your bathroom, trying to hurt herself, when she begged me on her bare knees to take the pain away—,''

'' I know that this is hard on you, but imagine how hard this was for her. Luna died, you left, there wasn't anything here for her anymore—, '' He breathed out, his chest slowing, his hands frustratingly thrown in the air, '' You weren't here, Draco. She was drowning and believe me when I say that it was the hardest thing I have ever watched because it wasn't her anymore—,''

'' The Leiah you left behind, that brave girl you walked out on—, she died the day you left, and none of us could watch her turn into—,''

'' She needed this Draco,''

I stood frozen; his every word cut right through me, the thought of my selfishness caved my bones. I had only recognized my own pain, my own torture, the feeling of me missing her, but I never once kept it in mind that she was hurting too, perhaps more than I did. This was my fault, not his, not hers — mine,

I was the one who left, and just like she said, in her eyes, I never looked back,

My sight flickered back to his, feeling every bone in my body crumble by the truth, " What does she remember?" I asked, quietly, ashamed of how I treated him,

He once again scratched the back of his head, eyes grounding as he became visibly uncomfortable, " I took away every memory of you since the night we fought in the common room, when you found us in my room," My breaths ragged, the blood flushing in my veins iced, " And I haven't told her anything following that,"

Everything, every memory, good and bad, had left her mind, every last piece of happiness we felt, every fight, everything was gone,

The words stuck in my throat, my ability to speak left me as the tears flooded, '' Is there —,'' My vocals airy in stutters, '' Do you know if there's any chance—,'' Blaise shook his head, leaning against the door, arms crossed over his chest,

'' I don't know, we didn't think—,'' He halted, swallowing the rue, '' We thought you left, it's been six months, Draco. We didn't believe that you would come back,'' My bruised knuckles stung, the dried blood scratched, '' Maybe we should leave her—,''

'' No—,''

I cleared my throat, wiping the salty liquid off my cheeks, straightening my tie, '' I can't—,''

'' I can't live without her, Blaise. She's mine, and there has to be a way,'' I spoke, my courage rising within, '' I need to see my mother. She'll know what to do,'' I shifted around, looking down at the shirt resting folded on my bed, remembering the night she wore it — the night in the manor when she saved me from becoming one of them when she swore to shelter my life with hers,

I blinked at the image of her wrapped in my sheets, her nails digging into my back, her moans in my mouth, her first time admitting to loving me, '' Perhaps there is something with the unbreakable vow we can do,'' I brushed the suit jacket off, shoulders shrugging,

The boy pushed his back off the door, cracking his neck back and forth before taking a step closer, '' I'm coming with you. This is my fault too, and we need to fix this,'' He uttered, trying to sound confident, to convince him to join me,

He shot me a guilty stare, making me nod, my fingers lightly brushed over my jawline as my mind wavered back to her, and the disgusting feeling of leaving her behind again, without saying goodbye, even if I was most likely the last person she wished to meet — I need to see her,

I marched past him, faltering in the doorway, '' Do you know where she is?'' I questioned him; he flipped around to face me, his eyes still glancing in remorse, '' In her room, perhaps, professor snape canceled all classes today, for private matters,''

'' We'll leave when I get back, wait here,''

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Leiah Riddle,

Blaise was nowhere to be found. He usually caught up with me after he needed to take care of matters, whether it was meeting up with Dean, going to the library, he always came looking for me, but not now—, he poured off after his best friend and left me hanging,

I rocked the door handle, making my door squeak open — I closed and locked it behind me, flopping my books onto my desk, my hands rushed through my hair, releasing the breath of anxiety I've been holding in all morning.

I caught myself humming the song my mother always used to sing, underneath my breath, walking over to my closet as I dragged my shirt over my head, changing into something more comfortable since classes had been canceled,

'' Still doing that I see—,'' His voice cold from behind, making me stumble in panic, and there he was, the cruel, vile Slytherin I loathed — he leaned against the doorframe of my bathroom, still in that black suit he always wore, the blonde hair fell just as sleek over his temples,

'' What—,'' I breathed out, petrified for a slight second before I threw my shirt at his head, covering myself in my robe, almost feeling ashamed that he'd seen me without a shirt on, '' What are you doing here, Draco?'' I snarled, his eyes rolled to my acts as he lifted my shirt to his nose, lightly brushing it against his skin, groaning at the scent of it, of the scent of me,

'' I missed you,'' The blonde one spoke with confidence, earning a confused look to raise on my face, brows furrowed. Draco shoed closer, only inches apart as he looked down on me, meeting those blue eyes of his, '' I missed you so fucking much—,'' He mumbled, nearly inaudible,

'' Your hair—, it's longer,'' He continued, his eyes studied mine, the minty breaths fanned my skin before I arched my head back, chewing my lower lip, but the second I did, his cold hand cupped my chin, the ring-covered thumb brushed over my bottom lip, before moving up to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, — the cold hand lingered as he kept his eyes locked in mine,

I wanted to push him back, to once again ask him to leave, to stay away from me, but this strange feeling swirled my mind, something about the way he looked at me, how I suddenly didn't resent his closeness — he had changed.

I couldn't place my finger onto what, but something about the heartless boy I've always known, changed, '' Draco—,'' I panted, my eyelashes batteling,

His jaws tensed at the softness in my voice, '' I know that none of this makes sense to you right now, but it will, soon. I promise—,'' He pushed, closing the space between us, the touch of his cold fingers trailed down to my chest, stroking my necklace, blue eyes dropping do watch it, '' I will fix this—,''

His words made me dizzy, scared to say anything, terrified to speak my mind, to ask why he's acting this way, '' You are mine—,'' He smiled shyly, once again staring right through me, honesty flashed his eyes,

The tension between us grew, my hues flickering between his eyes and lips, my lips slightly parted, tasting his warm breaths, '' You'll always be mine—,'' He gasped, before he tore his eyes away, teeth clasping, almost as if he caught himself on doing something bad, forbidden,

He backed away, the hand glued to my skin, frustratingly rushed through his hair, moving down to straighten his collar, '' Blaise and I have to leave for a short while, but I'm sure we'll be back by tomorrow—,'' He held, blue eyes found their way back to mine,

'' Promise me to stay here until we come back,''

My face twisted in grimace, my heart hammered, '' Where are you going?'' I asked, quietly, not wanting to set him off, because in my experience — Draco Malfoy had the shortest temper with me, the tiniest word could cause him to explode right in front of me,

He shook his head, hands shoved into his pockets, '' Away—,'' He snarled, sternly, not wanting to talk the truth, '' Stay here, and we'll be back soon,'' He ensured, his lower lip quivering as he sought to hide it,

Draco turned around, halfway out the door as he peered over his shoulder, the sharp jaws tensed, lips pressed into lines, '' I will always come back for you, remember that,'' - with those words, he walked out, leaving me breathless, tightly hugging myself in question,

Who knew that Draco Malfoy was able to take my breath away?

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