The Same Mistake

Draco slammed his fist down angrily on his trunk. He was alone in his dorm, the others were out in the common room celebrating their last moments of freedom before classes began again on Monday. It was late, the sky inky black and dotted with stars. Tomorrow would be his last detention with Ellie; possibly the last chance he would have to speak with her. And he needed to convince her. Because if he didn’t, it would be the second failed task in as many tries.

But it went deeper than that. Draco didn’t want to recruit her. He wanted to make her afraid. He wanted to protect her. It was slowly dawning on him that the Dark Lord had not granted him this task to prove his loyalty. No, it was retribution for his father’s failure, retribution that would only be fully paid if he died trying.

The glory of the task had faded leaving only the ugly truth behind. It was this truth that kept him fighting to protect Ellie from a similar fate. He didn’t know the Dark Lord’s plans of the Loren family, but there was a certainty that any task he put them to would endanger Ellie, and Draco simply couldn’t stand for that.

She knew. He didn’t know how, but she knew. And she wanted to help. Not to convince him to stop, not to run and tell, only to help. She was worried about him. She cared. Even though she knew who he was; knew what he was planning to do; she cared.

The thoughts sickened and twisted his insides. He wanted desperately to be with her. To steal her from that fool Finnigan who didn’t deserve her in the least. Knowing that he didn’t deserve her either was a thought he banished. She would be happy to be with him, it was apparent in the way she looked at him with a longing he felt as well.

And he would have her. One way or another, Ellie would be his. His to protect; his to avenge; his to care for.