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"PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHY WE ARE HERE AGAIN?", DRACO SNARLED. harry simply rolled his eyes, wondering why the boy had to join in on him and victoria's mission as the trio entered the dark cave.

"no questions about the mission draco. you promised", victoria reminded as she stopped at the end of the tunnel.

"well, guess since we reached the end, we ought to go back", draco casually said as he turned back, only to be stopped by the girl.

     "victoria, what are you—"

     before harry could finish, victoria had took out her little knife out from the strap that was on her thigh, and created a small gash on her left palm.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?! WHAT IN MERLIN'S BEARD ARE YOU DOING?!", draco harshly reprimanded as he hastily looked around for anything to stop the bleeding, only to remember that they were in a literal cave.

scowling, draco aggressively took off his tie and gently wrapped it around the girl's palm after she had stuck it against the stone wall.

     "pain must be shown for us to enter. it's merely a little sacrifice, nothing too bad", victoria assured as the stone wall had indeed opened to a deeper tunnel.

     the three lit their wands as they entered the antechambers of the cave, wary of what's there lurking behind the murky waters.

"how are we supposed to get across this nasty lake?", draco sneered, clearly displeased with the environment that they were currently in.

"accio!"

on victoria's command, a chain had appeared into the girl's hand, in which she had handed it to harry and draco.

"what? you two didn't expect the lady to do all the work now did you?", victoria smiled as the two boys looked at each other.

     for once, draco malfoy and harry potter agreed on something.

     'ugh, girls'.

     as the two boys hauled the chain, letting the end drop to the cold ground, a boat magically rose from the waters, much to the trio's delight.

     as the three sailed and arrived at the small platform that was in the middle of the lake, victoria stepped off with the help of draco.

the trio inched towards the short column that had a dipped in curve, filled with what victoria could identify as the drink of despair.

harry tried to search into the shallow pond of the drink only to not find anything.

"one must drink it for the item to appear. it's the emerald potion; drink of despair", victoria explained, making the two boys turn their attention to the girl.

"anyways, I need you two to make sure I finish this entire potion—"

"no! let me drink it", draco intervened.

     "why? I should be the one to—"

     "shut it you two! I have my reasons", victoria strongly persisted as she grabbed the conch and started drinking the dark liquid.

coughing, draco worriedly tried to snatch the conch out of her hand, only to be stopped.

"no matter what, you must make me finish it", victoria said, shaking her head as she reached to grab more, only to fall to her knees.

"must we do this? let's go back—"

"we can't malfoy! we already came so far", harry disagreed.

"CAN'T YOU SEE HER PAIN?! WHAT ARE YOU, HEARTLESS?!"

"WE CAN'T STOP NOW", harry yelled back as he scooped up the liquid and force fed it to victoria, who had started to try her hardest to push it away.

"STOP!! IT HURTS, IT HURTS!!", victoria cried out, flailing as draco held the girl down.

"HURRY UP POTTER!"

harry hastily fed victoria more, much to the girl's displeasure. victoria clutched her head as she felt tears burning down her pain-filled face.

"shh, it's okay, it's okay. it's almost over. after we're done, I'll take you to hogsmeade okay? we can buy as many quills, chocolate, butterbeer as you like", draco whispered into the girl's hair as he clutched her closely.

     victoria sniffled as she nodded, while harry fed her the last cup of the emerald potion.

     as soon as victoria was finished, draco went to go grab the conch to get the girl some water, as harry stuck the slytherin locket into his pocket.

     "malfoy?? HOLY SHI—"

     harry reached out to grab the boy's hand while he fell into the dark waters with draco. victoria coughed as she felt her head pounding, struggling to think straight.

     glancing around, she pulled her wand from under her dress as she stumbled, tripping once again as she forced herself to stand up.

     groaning, victoria took a deep breath as she fixed her posture.

"PROTEGO DIABOLICA!"

     black flames lit around the girl while a dark fiery snake had rose into the air, curling around the abandoned cave as it dove into the water to save harry and draco.

     the dancing flames roared in fury as it drove away the inferi that were clawing their way up the small island.

draco and harry coughed as they resurfaced, to which victoria had fallen once she saw that the two boys were safe.

     "victoria! victoria!!"

draco heavily coughed once again as he hurried over to the girl's passed out body. his disheveled wet hair stuck out all over the place while his face drained of color.

"potter, we've got to get her out of here! we need to get her to madam pomfrey!!", draco urged as he picked victoria up and hopped onto the boat.

harry and draco hurried out the cave as the three called for their firebolt.

     draco had to cautiously carry the girl to make sure her body didn't fly off the broom as they bypassed platform 9 and 3/4 and finally arrived back at hogwarts.

     "MERLIN!! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE THREE OF YOU?!", madam pomfrey gasped as draco hastily laid victoria on her usual medical bed.

     "madam, please take a look at victoria. she drank some...some weird potion", draco worried, not wanting to expose themselves.

madam pomfrey immediately examined the girl as draco and harry went back to their dorms for a change of clothing.

though as soon as draco changed, he came back with madam pomfrey already off to go brew some medicine.

draco rolled up his sleeves as he took the moist towel from the shallow bowl and cleaned the girl's dirtied face.

     the boy brushed away the girl's baby hair as he cupped her cheek, gently caressing it with his thumb.

     "why the fuck do I let you talk me into these things", draco muttered as he sighed, making victoria lightly flinch.

     "because...you can't help but love me", victoria whispered back, making draco nearly choke.

     "and no matter how much you break my heart, I still come back to you", draco sorrowfully admitted.

     victoria's weak smile dropped as she placed her hand against the back of draco's.

     "I'm sorry", the girl barely said above a whisper.

"I-I really am", victoria breathlessly admitted.

"I wanted to push you away, to stay away from you. but I can't".

"then let us stay together", draco replied.

victoria shook her head as she bit her bottom lip.

"I wish I could love you...but I can't", victoria quietly whimpered.

"what do you mean? you—"

"I physically can't love draco. I'm conceived under amortentia. my father left...because my mother selfishly trapped him in a one-sided marriage", victoria croaked out.

"I can't love you draco. I can't love anyone. if we married, I won't even be able to love our future children", victoria cried, fully sobbing now as draco just silently watched.

the boy then leaned in close, kissing the girl's tear stained cheek.

"it's okay. I have enough love for the both of us".

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