The Same Mistake

Ellie was wide awake. Ginny, Sophi, Jenny, and Marci were all asleep. Even Leory was snoring peacefully. But Ellie’s mind was racing. Something was very wrong. She had finally received new instructs and they asked the impossible. If she did as she was told . . . how would she survive? Things could go terribly wrong. Her world could be ripped apart. Was that a risk she was willing to take? It was most certainly not what she signed on for. Did she even really have a choice?

Time ticked slowly by, the dark sky turning faintly pink then brightening to a warm yellow. Outside, the grounds were covered in a very thin layer of snow. When Ellie thought it might be mildly appropriate for her to be up, she clambered from her bed and dressed in her Gryffindor uniform. Her fingers fumbled with her shirt buttons misbuttoning them several times before she finally got the shirt straight.

Her heart pumped loudly in her chest. Ellie didn’t know why but her entire being was riddled with anxiety. As much as she was worried about the letter she had received it was nothing that would keep her awake through the night. Only one thought came to her mind. She needed to see Draco and she needed to see him now.

Ellie slipped quietly from the dorm making sure not to wake any of her dormmates including Leroy. In the common room, a fire crackled merrily in the hearth warming the space. Stowing her wand in her robe pocket, Ellie crept out of the portrait hole. She began to make her way downstairs, unsure of her exact destination.

On the second floor, an odd sort of mumbling caught her attention. She edged toward the closed door of a girl’s bathroom that read Out Of Order. Using her foot to prop the door slightly open, Ellie pressed her ear to the crack and listened.

“What should I do?” a voice asked torment in every syllable.

Ellie’s heart wrenched. She would have known that voice anywhere. Pushing the door the remainder of the way open, Ellie quietly entered the bathroom. “Draco?” she asked in a hushed voice.

Suddenly he was before her, his hands gripping onto her shoulders so tightly it hurt. “What did you hear?” he demanded furiously.

“Let go!” Ellie tried to shove him off but he didn’t budge.

“What did you hear?” He cried again, shaking her violently, his fingers digging into hollows of her shoulder blades.

“Let go, you’re hurting me!” The panic she began to feel was belied in her words.

“Tell me how much you heard!” Malfoy threw Ellie to the ground, pulling out his wand and pointing it directly at her.

“Draco, please,” Ellie pleaded her heart racing wildly in her chest.

A sudden clarity lit his features. Draco stared from his pointed wand to the girl on the floor cowering before him. With anguish, Draco sunk to the floor he’s knees folded beneath him. “Ellie –“ he dropped his wand to the ground; both hands gripping his white blonde hair in frustration.

Ellie tried to recover herself, tried to reconcile this deranged Draco with the one she had spoken to the night of her first detention. It was like comparing two completely different people. The transformation was devastating and heartbreaking.

Mustering up a sense of calm, Ellie inched toward the crumpled form of Draco. He was taking deep breathes that made his whole body shudder. He looked thinner, as if he had been losing weight steadily over the past four months. Hesitantly, she stretched out her hands, intertwining her fingers with his. He clutched onto her as she gently pried his hands from his hair.

Releasing his right hand, Ellie tilted Draco’s face up so she could look into his grey eyes. “Hey,” she whispered. “I’m okay. You didn’t hurt me.”

“But I would have!” his eyes sparked with a wild light. “I would have!”

Ellie scooted across the cold bathroom tiles. She climbed right onto Draco’s lap. “Why?”

“I should still . . .” his voice cracked.

She brushed his blonde bangs from his face. “Why?”

His arms lay limp at his sides; Ellie cupped his chin in both of her hands. With deliberately slow movements, she inched her face closer to his until their lips were touching. Her kiss was as soft as a month’s wing.

Her right hand moved down until she found his left hand. She slipped her fingers between his and squeezed tight. “Why should you hurt me?”

He maintained steely eye contact. “How much did you over hear?”

“I heard mumbling. I was looking for you. I remembered I bumped into you outside a bathroom, I figured you might be the one mumbling. I opened the door; I heard you ask: ‘What should I do?’ That’s all.”

“Do you swear it?” his voice held the same steely edge as his eyes.

“Why would I lie?”

“Do you swear it?”

Ellie frowned. “Yes, I swear it.”

“Good.” Relief crashed over his features like a wave. His eyes softened, he squeezed her hand back. “Why were you looking for me?”

Ellie shrugged. “I wanted to see you, I guess.”

A flicker of a smile curved his lips upward. “What would poor Seamus think?” his eyes raked over Ellie, taking in all of the parts of her that he had missed since their last detention together.

“He’ll think it was a shotty week we spent together. Going out and I never even kissed him properly,” Ellie sighed as if this was a great loss.

This time Draco’s smile stuck. “What are you suggesting, Loren?”

Ellie bit her lip sweetly. “Depends on what you’re asking.”

“Right.” Draco nodded. He let go of her right hand only to enfold her in his arm, pulling her further onto his lap. “I’ve never really had to ask for things before. How exactly does this go?”

Ellie laughed softly. “You’re going to have to figure that out for yourself. Don’t worry, you don’t have to do it now,” she added when she saw his eyes storm over. “I still have to break things off with Seamus.”

“Give him my condolences. He’s losing out to the better man,” Draco said with a hint of his former self importance.

“Better?” Ellie questioned. Her finger tips traveled over Draco’s high cheek bones, down his straight nose, and came to trace his strong jaw line. “I was under the impression you were dangerous.”

He stiffened. “Does it matter?”

Ellie shook her head slowly. “Not now.”

Draco bent down to kiss her, but Ellie pulled back. “Wait until I break it off with Seamus, that is of course, if you’ve already broken things off with Pansy.”

Draco rolled his eyes. “That’s been over for as long as you and Finnigan have been on.” He delicately moved Ellie off his lap and helped her to stand. “Get out of here and tell Finnigan to hit the road.” He swatted at her behind.

“When will I see you next?” she asked, her blue eyes looking at him warmly.

“Tonight.” He paused, smirking,” In detention.”