Little Memories

Charlotte lay awake the entire night, as Draco slept with his head resting in the crook of her neck. Her thin, long fingers brushed through his hair, hoping that she could keep him asleep with the soothing motion. She knew he needed as much sleep as he could afford for the day’s events. It was worry that partially kept her awake, knowing that she probably needed sleep as much as he did. But what she really stayed up for was the opportunity to make the most out of being with Draco. Quiet moments, she knew, would be hard to come by once they went back to school.

Draco slept soundly for the first night in what had been a long, strenuous year. He didn’t know what had lured him into such a deep sleep, and he probably never would know. He wished he could have spent every night he possibly could have with Charlotte. He wished that they could live the way they chose to, not at the beck and call of some power hungry madman. That night, he dreamt of how life would have been had Lord Voldemort never existed and him and Charlotte were allowed to love and live freely.

“Draco,” a gentle voice whispered as a hand gently rubbed his back. The blonde boy stirred in the bed, wishing that he could have lain there forever and forgotten about everything. “Draco, it’s time for you to get up.” With those words, he shot up and looked over at Charlotte frantically.

“Why? What time is it?” He asked in a groggily anxious voice. The angelic girl, illuminated by a the dim oil lamps in the room, merely smiled warmly to Draco.

“It’s 4:30,” she said in a soft voice, “I hated to wake you, but it’ll give you enough time to get a shower and perhaps some tea before you leave.” Draco merely let out a sigh and ran his fingers slowly through his hair, trying to calm his hectically beating heart. He felt Charlotte’s delicate hand on his back, rubbing soothing circles just between his shoulder blades. Slowly, he began to relax and he looked over at her with a small smile, trying not to let how stressed he felt show. “Go,” she breathed before pressing a quick kiss to his lips, “I’ll fold your clothes and put them in the bathroom for you.”

Draco leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers wordlessly before pulling away and moving out of the warm bed. Charlotte watched his back as he moved into the bathroom before letting out a sigh and climbing off the bed, finding his trousers, socks, and shoes just beside the bed. As she pulled his trousers off the floor, something fell from the pocket. Her brow furrowed as she leaned over and picked it up in the dark of the room, just as she heard the shower cut on. She squinted her eyes in the dark of the room, running her fingers over the small, cool furry object in her hand.

Charlotte let out a small gasp as she realized what it was and quickly put it in the pocket of her robe as she continued to gather Draco’s clothes. Once she had collected everything, she neatly folded the clothes and put them on the counter in the bathroom without a word then left the bathroom and bedroom altogether, in slight shock of what she had found in the pocket of his trousers. Charlotte walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table, to the two tea cups awaiting the water that was beginning to warm on the stove, and the assortment of teas she had put out for Draco and herself. The house was cool and quiet and the nighttime sky had not yet lightened with the approaching morning.

Draco took a quick shower and dressed himself, knowing that there was only a little bit of time he had left with Charlotte before he had to leave again and he wanted to spend as much of it as he could with Charlotte. He left the bathroom with his hair still dripping wet and stepped into the living room, hearing the kettle on the stove beginning to scream. Charlotte stood from her chair and walked over to the stove, cutting the heat and quickly placing the pot in a tea cozy to keep the water warm.

“Go ahead and pick whichever tea you like,” she said as Draco sat down at the table. Charlotte carefully walked over and placed the tea kettle down. She looked over at Draco for a moment as he watched her, before reaching out and gently brushing back his wet hair, having it stay slicked back. She let out a small giggle, remembering how he used to style his hair.

“What is it?” Draco asked softly, a small, crooked grin curling the corner of his lips.

“I was just remembering how you used to style your hair,” she said before biting her bottom lip. He let out a heavy sigh and looked over at Charlotte with a less than enthused expression.

“I thought it was cool…at the moment,” he said in a low voice, reaching over and grabbing a tea bag from the box that was sitting in the middle of the table. Charlotte merely smiled widely, with an impish sort of gleam in her eye, before beginning to fix her tea as well. The house fell silent again as they sat together, quietly sipping their tea. Draco looked over at Charlotte and noticed how weary she looked. He also took note of the tiny red marks littering her pale neck and grinned slightly to himself.

“Did you not sleep last night?” He asked her, reaching over and intertwining his fingers with hers. Charlotte looked over at him and drew in a deep breath of air, slowly shaking her head. “You need your sleep, Charlotte,” he murmured, staring hard into her eyes. She merely grinned and shrugged slightly.

“I just wanted to memorize the moments I have with you…” She let her voice die off as Draco leaned forward, overcome with love for the girl beside him, and pressed his lips against hers chastely for a few seconds before pulling away. “Besides,” she started with a wide, knockout smile on her slightly flushed lips, “I can try to sleep later. It’s not like I’ll be having any more visitors today.” Draco merely smiled to her, despite the dread and fear that bubbled just beneath the surface. He wasn’t going to have a sad thought or emotion cross his mind or expression, not when he was so happy that he was with Charlotte.

And so they sat in the quiet cottage on the western coast of Ireland, drinking their tea, as they both wanted time to stop, just for them to have another few seconds with the other. Charlotte didn’t want to see Draco leave and Draco didn’t want to ever leave Charlotte, but they both knew that they most likely wouldn’t be getting what they wanted anytime soon. They couldn’t stop the sun from rising or the day from coming, so they cherished the last few moments they had with each other. They both knew that there would be a chance that they could be the final moments they had together, and they wanted them to be happy ones.

The sun soon began to color the sky a dark, ominous blue and Draco knew it was time to leave, lest someone find that he was not in his room as he was expected to be. He looked over at Charlotte and she could tell by the look in his eyes that it was time for him to leave.

“I should go,” Draco finally spoke the dreaded words and Charlotte merely nodded, her happy expression faltering slightly. He stood, Charlotte following behind him, and they slowly began to make their way to the door, hand-in-hand. When they reached the door, they stopped and stared at each other. Draco noticed the corners of Charlotte’s lips wobbling, her happy exterior threatening to crumble before him. “Don’t you start,” he said, his voice breaking as tears came bursting forth from his eyes. Charlotte started crying as well as she wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his shoulder.

They stood there for a few minutes, just holding either other and crying, before Charlotte pulled away slightly, looking up at Draco with swollen, teary eyes.

“Here…this fell out of your pocket when I picked up your trousers,” she said softly, digging into the pocket of her robe and handing him her rabbit’s foot. Draco looked down at it for a moment before looking up at Charlotte, who was smiling slightly past her tears. “I can’t believe that you carried it with you,” she breathed, shaking her head as he slipped the small, silver rabbit’s foot into his pocket.

“I just…I…” He stumbled over his words as he sniffled a bit, wiping his tears. “It makes me feel a bit better…knowing that a little bit of your luck and magic is with me, even when you’re not.” He noticed that as he spoke, Charlotte’s smile widened, despite the steadily falling tears that streaked her face. She wrapped her arms around him again, resting her chin on his shoulder as she held him as close as possible.

“I love you,” she breathed as she cried, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Draco whispered as he wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face in her hair and slowly breathing in the sweet, yet spiced scent that only Charlotte had.

“Promise me,” Charlotte began in a voice that shook with tears, “promise me that you’ll keep alert and that you’ll keep yourself as safe as possible. You’re the reason I keep on living. I might have forsaken life a long time ago if it weren’t for you.” She sniffled loudly and pulled away to rest her forehead against his, staring into his eyes as they both cried. She hadn't wanted to put any extra pressure on him by telling him that if he died, she would go with him, since their hearts were connected. “I would be completely lost without you,” she whispered, tears continuing to trickle down her face.

“I’m going to try my hardest, Charlotte,” he replied, staring her dead in the eyes as he cried as well. “I have eyes watching me, keeping me as safe as they can,” Draco said. “You aren’t as watched as I am, so you’ve got to promise me that you’ll always be careful.” He drew in a deep breath of air, glancing to the ever-growing light outside of the windows. “Should I send word that I made it through the day alive?” Charlotte winced slightly at his words but shook her head.

“No, I’ll know,” she whispered as she slowly lifted her hands to his jaw and pressed her lips against his, knowing that every moment he stayed was a moment that it may be found out that he had left the manor. She pulled away and drew in a deep breath of air. “I love you,” she said as she took a step back from him, trying to quell the sobs that had risen in her throat.

“I love you,” he repeated, taking one last look at the girl that he loved before turning to the door, opening it, and shutting it behind him, apparating away almost immediately. Within the brick walls of the tiny cottage on the cliffs, Charlotte collapsed into peals of inconsolable sobs.