14: Grateful

Surprisingly, when you woke up the next day, your fever has gone down. You're still sick but at least it has gone down a little bit.

For the next few weeks after that, Draco would find you by the black lake during the night after a nightmare, crying. And he was there with you through all of it. It would always end with you asleep on Draco.

Tonight was like any other night, you had another nightmare and you were already on your way to the black lake again. It's impressive that Filch hasn't caught you either.

It's amazing that until now, none of your roommates has noticed you going out at night.

Draco walked towards the lake to check if you were there, almost every night he did this just to check if you're there. And not surprisingly, you were always there. But, this time, you weren't crying, you were staring off into space, facing the huge lake in front of you.

You already knew who was coming when you recognized his footsteps. He sat down beside you and you leaned your head on his shoulder.

Somehow, these interactions like leaning your head on his shoulder, him kissing your forehead and both of you hugging each other become a normal thing between the both of you. Not that you mind it, but it just seemed like something lovers would do.

"Are you alright?" he asked. You could hear the worry in Draco's voice.

You nodded.

"Yeah, just another nightmare." You said softly, tired and exhausted. Not being able to get a good night's sleep has become a daily routine by now. It's only a matter of time until you collapse if you didn't get some more sleep.

Thankfully, that wouldn't happen anytime soon.

"You need some sleep. Lie down." You laid down on his lap, just like he once did. As soon as you laid down you felt Draco's hand stroking your hair, just like you did for him before.

You laughed at how the tables have turned.

"What?" Draco raised an eyebrow and asked curiously.

You let out a deep sigh before answering him.

"How the tables have turned." You vaguely answered, making him more confused.

"You used to be the one who lacked sleep and then I was the one who will tell you to lie down. And now we reversed roles." You giggled remembering.

"Yeah, how ironic" Draco chuckled too.

Both of you got quiet and you started to doze, going into your sleep.

It was surprising to you that every time you fell asleep with Draco, you would sleep so peacefully than you've ever done ever since the car crash. You were very grateful for Draco, you were here every night and he was with you through all those nights.

"Thank you, Draco. For being here for me." You said before you could doze off.

Before you completely went to sleep, you heard Draco.

"It's the least I could do." He said to you.

After all you've done for him, to him, this is the least he could do to help you. Draco wished he could've done more, he already avoided you for the first few weeks you came back. Now that you need him, he wants to do everything he can to help you through this.

Draco knows that he originally planned that he would stay away from you after Christmas break, but after seeing you break down that night, all his resolve for staying away from you immediately crumbled. He couldn't bear to see you suffering, he decided right then and there that he would stay with you and support you through your grieving and mourning.

Thanks to him, you were getting better. You waking up to a nightmare without crying tonight was proof that he has been a great help to you.

You don't know what would you do if he wasn't there for you every night. Considering what happened during the quidditch match, you would probably pass out from lack of sleep by now.

Fortunately, that wouldn't happen with Draco by your side. You were sleeping peacefully with him; you don't need to worry about your nightmares when you're with him. Yes, you would still have nightmares, but he would always calm you down before you could wake up. Because of him, you were able to get enough sleep. Without him, you would probably be in the hospital wing multiple times by now.

-

You were eating your lunch when the mail came. Your owl, Lyric flew in and landed on your table.

"Hey, Lyric. How have you been?" you asked warmly since you left your owl home so your family could send mail to you. Hogwarts has school owls to borrow students who don't have an owl, so you just used the school owls when you need to owl anyone.

Lyric answered you with a cheerful chirp and nudged your face with its head, telling you how much she missed you.

Lyric flew off after you took the letter tied to her, returning to your family.

You opened and read the lines, one by one.

Draco was watching you reading your letter, knowing what happened to you and your family, you might be getting a letter about the situation at home. One minute, you were smiling. And then another minute later, you have your eyes widened.

Draco watched as you launched yourself up for your seat and stormed for the door. He quickly stood up and followed you out of the Great Hall. Draco chased after you as you ran.

"Lia!" He called.

You stopped in your tracks and turn back to see Draco running towards you.

Draco could see you were near tears. He immediately knows that something happened back at your home.

"What's wrong?" he asked reaching out and holding your shoulders.

"It-It's my brother. He-He woke up from his coma." You answered with a shaky voice.

You and your younger sister, Ariana, made it out of the car crash alright, but your elder brother, Galvin, went into a coma. Your aunt and uncle convinced you to go back to Hogwarts, leaving your brother. Now that your brother has finally awoken, you had to go back and visit him.

"That's a good thing, right?" Draco said, trying to make you stop crying. He reached up with one hand and wiped your tears.

You nodded at his words.

"I-I'm just so happy." You said trying to not cry anymore. Reaching up with your own hand and rubbed your eyes.

"What are you going to do now?" Draco asked knowing there was a reason you ran out of the Great Hall.

"I need to go back... and see my brother." You answered, remembering what you wanted to do.

Draco was sad by the statement you made. He was happy for you, but he doesn't how he's going to live through the time you were going to be gone.

He knows that what he was doing was wrong, but he doesn't have a choice. He feels guilty of keeping it from you, but that's not what he feels most guilty about. He was supposed to stay away from you, and yet, he selfishly stayed by your side. If the dark lord found out about you, there's no telling what he'll do to you. And the fact that he's been fixing the Vanishing Cabinet less and less just to be by your side to help you through your grief and nightmares didn't help either.

Helping you go through this was like his salvation. By helping you, he felt better about the things he did and the things he needs to do. He felt he was atoning for his sins through you. And now, you're going home, he doesn't know how he'll last without you around.

But at the same time, it might a good thing for both him and you. With you gone, he might have time to think things through and also finally focusing on fixing the Vanishing Cabinet. He doesn't know what will happen with you gone, but he was sure that he will make another decision that will upset you and frustrate himself.