Four

Ti dedico il silenzio –Ultimo

[I know how much those far fears weigh on you]

Elizabeth

Zero news were known after that message in the bathroom mirror. Not even Snape had said a word to us since our meeting with him at his office so many weeks ago.

Neither of our families said a word to us or even wrote a letter, so Draco and I just didn't think about it.

He had so much work to do and, as he always said, we should not be worried about hypothetical issues. When it comes, it comes. Meanwhile, live.

So just like that, weeks went by at Hogwarts and as days slipped in our hands like water, Draco and I were everyday closer to our so desired future.

Mostly everyday he slept with me in Amelia and I's bedroom, and there was not a single day he didn't wake up next to me.

These past few weeks I'd barely seen him. We wake up, have breakfast all together and then he disappears the whole day until midnight, when he sneaks shily inside my bed covers and kisses my cheek thinking I am asleep.

But I stay awake every night until I hear the door squeak. Then just when I know he's with me I'm able to get some rest.

His clothes were getting looser on him, because he was not eating. "I don't have time for this, Liz," he'd told me once I brought him a sandwich.

He was the most stubborn person on earth, so if he said he was not eating, then he wasn't.

The week before Christmas break, on Friday morning, he barely finished his breakfast. I looked at him with angry eyes.

"I'm good." He mouthed.

I opened my mouth to reply, but he reached for my hand very slowly and stroked it gently. "I promise," he smiled.

After a brief silence between the two of us, he stood up adjusting his clothes. "Guys, I'm off."

"Whot?" Blaise furrowed his brows with his mouth full of bread toast. "Again?" he swallowed the food.

Draco ignored him and came to me to kiss my forehead. "I'll see you later," he whispered softly.

"Mate, my Betty over here must be getting laid like she deserves," Blaise spoke indignantly.

Draco reached for a sweet bun and throwed it directly to his face.

"Why you always throwing food at me?" he complained.

"Why you always concerned about my sex life?" Draco laughed

"'Cause I care about my friend over here!" Blaise tapped my shoulder.

Draco smirked raising a brow to me and I instantly blushed.

Come on, Elizabeth! It's been years! Why am I still blushing at his gestures!

Standing next to me, Draco tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and leaned towards Blaise.

"You focus on your love life, Zabini."

Before stepping out of the Great Hall, Draco pointed with his chin to the red hair sitting at the Gryffindor table.

Blaise's cheeks started getting a reddish colour as he lowered his head.

"Hey," Sam started. "At least you started talking," he congratulated his friend. "That's a big step."

Zabini raised his head just to find Ron looking at him. Instantly, he smiled.

"Yeah," he muttered.

No one said anything, but we all saw Ron smiling back at our friend. Finally.

The first two classes of the day went by pretty quickly, but right before lunch time we had Potions and that class at that time felt extremely endless. I was not in the mood for it, so I decided to skip the first half an hour to see Draco.

I missed him.

It took me to get lost in numerous corridors to find where the cabinet was because I didn't remember at all. Draco forbade me from going there, so I never went.

After almost ten minutes of wandering Hogwarts hallways, I found the cabinet.

But Draco was not there.

I looked around to find him, because maybe I was dumb and didn't see him.

"Draco?" I muttered.

No answer.

I spoke a little louder the next time. "Drac-"

Out of nowhere, a cold hand covered my mouth. I felt my blood stop running, and I froze.

"It's me, Liz," Draco whispered from behind. "It's me."

He turned me over and looked at me.

"What are you doing?" he muttered. He was not mad. Just curious.

"Hey, it's just me," he smiled softly. I was still shocked, and he noticed.

"I know," I shook my head. "I just-. I thought-."

He cupped my cheeks, still smiling. Damn.

"Yeah?" he inquired.

I stared at his eyes for a while, and I realised in that moment how much I had been missing him.

"Nothing," I smiled back. "I missed you," my hands rested on his chest. "I miss you," I clarified.

He dove in for a small kiss, "I know."

"Why don't you let me help you?" I whispered.

He pulled away a few inches and looked at me. He was tired of this type of conversations.

"We've talked about this, Liz. I don't want you to," his tone was cold. "End of discussion."

I couldn't handle that type of coldness from him, so I looked away. I knew he was like this, but not with me.

"Hey," he started. "I've got something for you."

I unfolded my arms and looked at him again. I couldn't help but smile. Merlin, I hated him.

"Really?"

From his back pocket he pulled out a black blindfold and looked at it, then at me.

"We are not doing this here," I stated.

Instantly, he let out a loud chuckle. "It's not for that."

"Oh," I blushed. Again?

"Blushing a lot today, aren't you?" he mumbled.

"I hate you," I covered my face even more blushed.

"Come on," he laughed. "Turn around."

As he tied the blindfold behind my head, I felt him leaning over until his lips grazed my ear.

"You've got a dirty mind, Liz. A very dirty mind."

He guided me through the corridors in silence. There was a moment I felt the warmth of the sun, and I knew we were outside the building.

"Where are y-."

"Sht," he hushed.

After a few minutes walking through the Hogwarts gardens, we finally stopped.

"Here," I felt him smiling proudly. Then, he untied my blindfold.

A green blanket was displayed in front of me, every inch of it covered with all types of different fruits. Blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, oranges, a pitcher full of pink lemonade, and a small cheesecake with a heart made out of jam on top of it. Two fancy glasses, decorated with small golden details and a lot of flowers all along the blanket.

"Oh my-."

"You like it?"

"This is..." I paced around the small picnic display, analysing every detail Draco had prepared so carefully. "Perfect."

I looked at Draco. The sun was caressing softly his skin as he smiled at me. I approached him and pulled him into a tight hug.

"I don't want you to think I forget about you," he mumbled in my hair.

"I don't."

Liar.

"Liz," he started. "I think of you every single minute of the day. And it really pisses me off I cannot spend any of them next to you."

My eyes started pooling, but I hold my tears. I never cried. Strong people don't cry. But Merlin, I had missed this. I had missed him.

"I want to spend today next to you," he caressed my back. "This," he pointed at all the food. "Is to remind ourselves we are everyday closer to what we want." He sighed, "we just have to get through this."

I raised my gaze to meet his and kissed him softly. "I love you," I mouthed.

"I do more," he smiled. "Shall we start?"

I laid on my stomach on the blanket. Draco took a sit in front of me, knees folded and the side of his elbows resting on them as he played with his silver rings. His sleeves were rolled up his forearm and his half unbuttoned white shirt exposed his bare chest.

He gazed at me, noticing the tiny chain on my neck sparkling because of the sunlight.

I saw him looking at it and I immediately took my fingers to the chain.

"Looks good on you," he said biting a strawberry.

"I wonder who gave it to me," I smiled.

He did. A year ago.

At first sight, it looked like a simple elegant silver chain, let's say it this way. But it was not. It was under a spell my mother taught him: every single time I would touch the chain with my fingers, I would feel Draco's heartbeat at the time.

I was still touching it, feeling his heart beating fast.

"You're nervous," I noticed not taking my eyes of him.

"I'm happy."

We stared at each other for a while before I served ourselves two glasses of that pink lemonade he had prepared.

"So," I started pouring the liquid. "Tell me more about that cottage."

Draco licked his bottom lip and laid on his back, placing his hand behind his head.

"Okay," he grinned.

I loved hearing him talk about it. About what he had planned for us. And every time we talked about it, we added something more to that idyllic future that was closer every day.

He cleared his throat. "When we graduate,"

"Yes," I smiled.

"We'll leave the cold manors," he reached to touch my hair. "And we'll move to a tiny cottage next to the coast."

"South?"

"Course," Draco smiled.

"And the living room will be filled with hundreds of books for you to read every day."

"Mhm...What else?" I was now laying next to him, playing with his untied tie.

"And I will have a little garden with all the flowers you love. And I'll take care of them."

"You will?"

"Always," he caressed my cheek not taking his eyes of me. "And every morning I'll prepare breakfast. Toast with homemade jam we'll do every weekend and tea or orange juice, whatever you'll prefer."

"With oranges from the orange tree of your garden?"

"Our garden, yes."

I blushed. Our.

He reached for my hand resting on his chest. "And here," he took my finger between his. "You'll be wearing a precious white gold ring."

Wait, that was new. A ring?

"What?" I lifted my head slightly.

"For sure," he grinned.

"You want to marry me?" I felt my cheeks burn.

"I do," Draco smiled. "But you'll be keeping your last name. I know how much you love it," he kissed my forehead again. "Oh, and the kids will have your last name, too."

"The kids?"

"Yes. How many would you like?"

"Three." I had zero doubts about it.

"Three kids, then."

And like that, we spent hours until the sun was hidden behind the woods.

...

Draco's arm swung around my shoulders, tickling my side with his free hand as we made our way back to the dungeons after that amazing day. I laughed and he laughed even louder at my reactions. I hushed him in a failed attempt to hold back my chuckles.

"You are always very loud, Malfoy," I teased.

"Just with you," he grinned.

"Mhm," I smiled. "We-."

A deep throat clearing interrupted us. We turned around ready to hiss at whoever that person was. But our expressions relaxed the moment we saw Snape.

Now it was Draco and I clearing our throats in the middle of an empty hallway, six feet apart from Snape.

"Severus-."

"I see," Snape cut Draco off, and paused for a few seconds.

Snape's fingers were intertwined resting at the end of his back. His face, as always, lifeless, waiting for a shabby and useless excuse.

"Today you've been working really hard on your task. Haven't you, Malfoy?"

"I'm-." he stuttered. "I'm almost finished-."

"But you are not."

Draco opened his mouth just to close it again, his hand gripping mine tighter every second that went by.

I stepped closer. "Snape-."

"May I have a word with you, Malfoy."

I relaxed my shoulders as I watched Snape's gaze go slowly from Draco to me. Definitely that man was never stressed.

"You can get going, Astaroth," he smiled falsely.

I turned around to see Draco, waiting for any contradictory sign, but he just nodded subtly.

...

Draco didn't show up at the dungeons after me. And neither he did to dinner. I went to bed alone and waited until midnight, when no one came. Around three in the morning, the dorm door squeaked. I felt Draco sighing the moment he pulled the sheets. He laid next to me and gave me the rutinary night kiss.

"Night, Liz."

"Where were you," I muttered.

He giggled softly. "Hey. What you doin' awake?"

"Where were you," I repeated.

"Cabinet."

Liar.

I sighed. I moved in my side of the bed, forcing myself not to turn around to face Draco.

"What did Snape want?"

I heard him taking a deep breath. Patience.

"You don't have to worry about this, Liz."

Liar.

His tone was soft. I knew he was doing his best for not to lose it. It'd been a long day; it was three A.M., and we were just playing the court.

"It's my life too, Draco. This also concerns me."

He tensed.

"No. It doesn't."

"Dra-."

"Liz, it's on me, okay?" he raised his voice slightly, just to lower it again once he noticed. "You don't always need to have everything under control. Now can we please go to sleep?"

"No." I said firmly. "I don't want you here."

"What?"

"Leave." I sticked myself to the edge of the bed. I didn't want to touch him.

"You don't mean that."

"I do." I confirmed. "Leave."

"Liz," he reached to touch my arm, but I refused his touch. "Liz, please."

He used his strength to turn me over so that I was facing him, but I had my eyes closed.

"Look at me."

"No."

"Listen. I'm sorry, okay? Snape scolded me because I didn't work on the cabinet today. I stayed working on it until now. I didn't mean what I said. I'm just-. I'm very tired. I'm sorry." He took a deep breath.

"Do you still want me to leave?" he muttered.

I said nothing. I raised his upper arm and sneaked under it to place my head on his chest.

My arms hugged his torso, and I closed my eyes again.

He giggled. "Okay."

He kissed my forehead, and for the second time that night, he wished me good night.

My right hand reached for his, running my finger unintentionally through the Death Mark on his forearm. As my hand finally found his, I felt the silver chain on my neck trembling.

Draco's heart was about to come out of his ribcage.