"Chrys," Draco starts, minutes of silence later, but I hold my hand up.

"Thank you for saving me, but I'd rather not talk." Scowling, my open palm curls into a fist, now by my side. "You also just told my professor I'm mad."

And you ruined my life, too.

"You were, for attacking her like that," he mutters bitterly. "You were so different, Chrys ━━━"

"And I'm not going back." We're next to an open window now, the cool wind lifting my hair as my melancholy eyes refuse to look at him. He's not worthy of my attention, my time, my effort. "I'm not Chrys, anymore, Draco."

"You're right." My wrists tingle as a reminder of what he did. "You're not the girl I love anymore. You've changed, ever since that night."

"You deserved every bit!" I snap, eyes flaring with anger. "You deserved my ire, my hate. I loved you, Draco, and you chose to hurt me. You chose to twist everything."

I loved him in a twisted, sad way, already. He'd given me what I wanted, begged for at the time: attention. And so, I fell, and he didn't catch me.

"So, you did love me?" he asks, smirking as the sunlight shines on him.

Typical of him to ask about that. Typical of him to feel no shame, no regret that he hurt me. He destroyed me, but he only wishes he hadn't lost me.

What a sad, twisted person.

"Yes," I admit, staring into his grey eyes. "It's too late for you now, though. I'm a different, better person without you."

His smirk fades. "You're in love with Bones, now."

I stare at him, shellshocked. "What?"

"Bones," he says, matter-of-factly. "You're in love with her. I see you two together, acting like you and I never happened ━━━"

"She respects me," I defend, ready to punch him. "We're friends, equals, and healthy like you and I weren't. What you're yearning for won't come back. You're a Death Eater, hellbent on destroying people who you believe are 'inferior'. I'm not going to waste my time and teach you that they're not. I'm not a tool for you to fix yourself with, so stop being bitter and move on."

He says nothing.

I smile bitterly. "Thanks for saving me, by the way. It proves you have a heart, a corrupted one at that. However, I hope you never find happiness. You don't deserve it after what you did to me."

. . .

In my dorm, I contemplate. I got away with attacking Alecto once. What if it happens again?

(I'll take it, I decide. I'll take the pain if it means doing the right thing, for once.)

For now, I get through the rest of my classes silently, taking notes and acting like a good little student. Until someone needs help, I'll lay low. Until someone cries out for me, I won't step in.

It's past eight now, past curfew when I'm walking in the hallways, praying to God that Alecto or Amycus won't seek me out.

Candles glitter in the next pathway, and whispers echo throughout the room. I stop, curious, when I recognize the both of them.

"You're such a ━━━ Merlin, Aguilar!" Astoria exclaims, her calm demeanor completely gone.

Carmen Aguilar, the girl I saved, is the calm one. "I'm Merlin?"

"No, just ━━━" Astoria blows out a breath. "For Merlin's sake, you need to be careful."

"Were you worried?" she asks, amused. "After all those years of despising me?"

"Your sister could've died," Astoria emphasized, throwing her hands in the air. She's always so soft and calm, but it seems like Carmen brings out another side in her. "Who the hell am I supposed to take care of, then? I promised Mother I'd take care of the two of you, but you keep on refusing me and acting like a spiteful little bitch! Anne had to step up and save your sorry ━━━"

"Enough." Carmen's eyes glitter with malice. "I didn't ask for your care; your dead mother did and she's gone."

"How dare you ━━━"

"So take your selfish reasons for worrying about me and shove them away, Astoria. You can't be a bloodtraitor with the war going on. Not now, especially with someone you despise."

Astoria's expression shutters. "It's too late for that."

She storms out of the hallway, and so do I, quickly slipping into the shadows as I hear a short, "Ugh, she just won't listen to me!"

Minutes later, I sink into my bed back in my dorm, still sitting. I wonder if Astoria truly hates Carmen, or if she despises Carmen's recklessness, where that seems to be. I wonder if the Resistance won't invite me to their meetings anymore, because Draco saved me.

But I can use it. If Draco saves me again, I can act more riskily, reeling in my friends from trouble, taking the consequences that Draco can't stomach. He doesn't have the guts to torture me, the girl who he destroyed, at least no physically.

He already hurt me. He won't be able to do so this time.

"Anne," a relieved voice sounds, and I'm crushed by a girl with trailing red locks. "We were so worried about you! If Malfoy did anything ━━━"

"He didn't," I promise, wrapping my arms around Susan. "I think it's time for me to take more risks, now that he'll save me from trouble."

The bare minimum, really.

She sighs. "You can't guarantee that."

"I can't," I admit, still nuzzled in her warm shoulder. "But I know him. Even if he's up to something, he'll save me for now. And if he won't, then Daphne will."

Susan reluctantly lets go, staring at me.

"Be careful," she murmurs, her thumb tracing my cheek.

My heart beats so fast that it starts to hurt. A pool of crimson rushes to my cheeks, and I want her warmth to be around me forever. I want it so badly.

"You're in love with Bones, now."

My eyes roam her face. She's the galaxy to me; her freckles are the millions of stars in the sky and the way her eyes glitter when she's teasing me, the words she says, the way I want to be around her all prove it.

God, I'm in love with her.

I can't believe it took my goddamned ex telling me so to finally accept it, but I love her, trust her, cherish her. God, it's so freeing.

"I'll try to be careful," is all I can promise her, so I can get back to the people I love: to Susan, to Rmeus, to Tonks, to Emmeline, to Mary. And the people I'm growing to love: Harry, to Neville, to Hannah, to Ginny, and to Luna.

With Draco, I felt constrained. He was one star that blinded me, burned me down. With Susan, she never tied me down; she frees me, she accepts me, and she knows.

She knows me.

Not the girl who wanted to be different, like with Draco, but the girl who wants to do right by the world she once let go.

"I can't lose you," Susan replies, and I find the courage to gaze into her eyes again, and her stare is so intense that I want to close the gap between us.

And yet, I don't.

"I can't lose you, either," I say, and I wonder how we've gotten so bold.

She leans closer, and my eyes flutter shut. I feel her warm hands at the back of my head, guiding my face closer before she presses a kiss to my forehead.

Not my lips.

I find myself strangely disappointed, but also elated, hoping she never lets go. But she does, obviously, because that kiss would become very wet, and that's not very warm.

"What was that for?" I ask, avoiding her gaze.

"You did it first," she says, looking strangely flustered.

Do these kisses, does all of this make her feel butterflies, too? Is she just like me on the inside? It fascinates me, and I want to gently unearth those butterflies she feels underneath that mask of hers. I want to know her like she knows me.

"Right," I mutter.

The mirror on my nightstand buzzes, and the both of us jump. Harry. He's finally calling.

I pick up the searing hot mirror, almost hot enough to burn my hands, seeing Harry's face peering through it.

"Chrys, I mean, Anne," he corrects himself. "It's good to see you."

"It's good that you're safe," is all I say. "I didn't want to summon you in case you were in the middle of something important."

Harry nods, although his eyes look slightly mischievous when he asks, "Is that Bones?"

"Hello, Potter," Susan greets. "What can we do for you?"

He clears his throat. "Right. There's a sword, called the sword of Gryffindor, that's in Snape's office. I need you to bring it to us."

Susan blinks. "You want us risking expulsion to steal a sword ━━━"

"What's it for?" I interrupt. "Will it help defeat You-Know-Who?"

Harry nods gravely. "I wouldn't ask if it wasn't urgent."

I sigh, exchanging a look with Susan. "I'm going into the bathroom."

Susan nods. "Alright."

I take the mirror, closing the door.

"There," I whisper. "I know you're not telling me everything because Susan's there. What's it really for?"

"We have to destroy some things that Vol ━━━ he's collected," he says vaguely. "And only the sword can do it for us. We'll have you keep it until Christmas Break, and then you can take it and deliver it to us."

"Through a meeting spot?" I ask, and when he nods, I huff. "Right. Tell me what it really does after you're done, alright? And by the way, Ginny's doing great, thanks for asking."

Harry flushes. "Right. Good to know."

I hum. "Indeed. And I'm really sorry for not calling earlier."

"Me too," he says. "I'm sorry for not realizing what you were going through, and ━━━"

"When this is all over," I promise him, "we'll work through it. Together."

He nods. "Good luck."

"You too," I say grimly, before cutting the call.

I exit the bathroom when Susan is playing with her owl, which is brown-colored and small, the now open window chilling the dorm-room. There's a black seal stamped onto an envelope that says: from our flower and her thorn.

I blink. "Is that our code name?"

"You're the flower and I'm the thorn," she says simply. "Although, the other way works, too."

My delusional self immediately travels to the fact that she basically told me "I'm yours," that she is my thorn to carry. And that I'm hers, too.

"When did you ask to meet?" I ask as the owl flies out the open window, trying not to think about Susan's boldness. I don't know when I should say something, or when she should say something, or ━━━

Susan shuts the window. "Midnight. I'll brief Hannah when she arrives."

She doesn't ask what Harry and I talked about. She never pushes unless she has to, unless I'm in danger. It's why I love her so much, because she knows me.

And I'm starting to know her, too.

Putting on a dark coat as she ties up her wild hair, I stare at the darkened sky. It'll soon be time, time to meet them and tell them their next task: stealing the Sword of Gryffindor.

It's a wild task, and a task that I'll gladly take the punishment for.

Sorry, Susan, I think as I tie my hair up, squaring my shoulders, I can't be careful. Not while doing this.