28: How You Escaped

"What do you mean?" He asked, noticing that there was something you didn't want to tell him.

"I only just started to master casting spells without a wand, so I decided to try apparating somewhere else just to test. I managed to apparate to London safely. But..." You paused.

"But?" Draco questioned you.

"The Snatchers came." Your words struck Draco. That was exactly what he was afraid of for months on end.

And it did happen.

"Did you get away from them? Are you alright? Were you hurt?" Draco sent a wave of questions to you, worried about you.

"I am here. So I got away just fine. Well, aside from the splinch." You casually mentioned. Hoping that Draco did not notice.

Which of course, he noticed.

"You were splinched?" his voice was slightly louder than it was before.

"Where?" He grabbed your shoulder, inspecting where the splinch was.

"I'm fine, Draco. It's just a scratch." You said, but Draco thought otherwise.

"Where is it, Lia?" he demanded.

You can only sigh, you need to tell him or he won't calm down.

"My legs." You gave in to his demand.

"Show it to me."

"It's no big deal, Draco. I'm alright." You said.

"Show it to me." Draco insisted with a harsher tone this time.

Your legs were underneath the blanket, so you pulled the blanket away.

At first, Draco didn't see anything until you pulled your sock down.

It was almost down on your foot and it was reaching up almost to your knee. It was still red and fresh, it looked like something slashed through from your knee down to your ankle.

Draco thought that was the only one when he noticed a patch of blood on your knee-length pants.

You rolled your pants up, showing the other splinch you had.

It looked worse than the one on your shin and calf.

It looked like it could bleed out anytime, like a bomb that was waiting to explode.

Draco felt horrible seeing you hurt.

How did he not see that you were hurt when he saw you?

He already noticed that you were limping last night, and yet he never bothered to ask what was wrong.

Soon, his head faced down, hands covering his face.

"Draco?" You called, worried that he suddenly hid his face.

"Why didn't I notice that last night?" He talked in a blaming tone.

He was not blaming you, he was blaming himself.

"Draco, you've done nothing wrong." You tried to make him feel better.

It was as if your words had no effect on him like he didn't hear you.

"Why don't you go wash up and I'll help you clean the splinch up later?" He said.

You could only nod, you figured that anything you say wouldn't help him feel better.

But maybe, him helping you with cleaning the splinch up would.

There was one problem though.

You didn't have any spare clothes.

The only ones you had were the ones you were wearing right now.

"Um... Draco?" You called as you were halfway to the bathroom.

He lifted his head up when he heard you.

"Do you have any spare clothes I could borrow? And a towel?" For some reason, you were embarrassed.

You could hear him chuckled quietly as he stood up and walk to his closet, trying not make you feel more embarrassed.

Unfortunately for you, you did.

He managed to find his quidditch sweater and pants that he wore during his fifth year.

A few minutes later, you came out of the bathroom wearing them.

His sweater actually fits you pretty well, although his pants maybe look a little too long for you.

You could feel Draco's stare at you. You thought that you looked weird.

Before you could open your mouth and ask him, he spoke up.

"You look good in green you know." Draco complimented you.

Draco could tell that you were happy to hear that. The way you changed your expression from a worried one to a happy face also helped him feel better.

"Why don't you sit on the couch?" He led you to the couch in front of the fireplace.

You sit on the couch as Draco went to get bandages for your legs.

He came back with a cloth, a bucket of water and bandages while also pulling a chair with him.

Draco pulled the chair and sat facing you. He didn't say anything and just starts cleaning your wounds.

The silence wasn't uncomfortable, but both of you not saying anything didn't feel right either.

"What happened when the snatchers came?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"I was in London for a few hours already when they came, at first, I thought that I was just imagining things. But when they slowly got close to me, I saw that they were reaching in their pockets. So I just apparated away." You tell him as he slowly used the wet cloth on your wounds, trying not to hurt you.

"After a few hours they came again, so I apparated away again. This went on for a few more times-"

"A few more times?" His head snapped up and asked.

You didn't know what to answer him, you knew he was going to be enraged.

"Was this why you hadn't slept for three days?" he asked instead.

"Yeah..." You admitted.

At this point, Draco was finished with cleaning your wounds, now he just has to bandage it.

"How did you get here?" He asked as he unwrapped the bandage in his hands.

"Well, I thought that maybe if I came here, there wouldn't be any snatchers here. But I figured that Hogwarts has an anti-apparition charm cast, so I went to Hogsmeade. I didn't think it through though, an alarm went off just as I arrived." You continued.

"That explained the alarm I heard. How did you get away?" He said, wrapping the bandage around your shin and calf.

"Aberforth helped me. There's a secret passageway in his inn that led to the room of requirements. When I entered the room of requirements, there was a ton of students in there. Apparently that they were hiding from the Carrows." You explained.

For a moment, Draco was silent.

Did you say something you shouldn't have?

"Are you sure about telling me that?" he suddenly asked.

"What?" You were confused, what did he mean by that?

"Are you not worried that I will reveal them to the Death Eaters?" he repeated.

His question caught you by surprise.

Why would he ask that?

Is that really how Draco thinks of himself?

Draco could tell that you frowned without even looking at you, your gaze at him was burning holes in him.

He knows that it's probably time that he should accept the fact that you trust him. It wasn't that he was doubting you, it was himself that he was not believing in. He doesn't trust himself enough to keep his mouth shut if he was forced later on.

You didn't say anything to answer his question.

Draco waited as he wrapped your thigh with bandages, covering the wound.

The whole time, Draco was avoiding your gaze. He didn't even bother to glance up to see if you were mad at him.

When he finished bandaging you, he finally looked up to find you staring at him.

Rather than angry, you actually looked heartbroken.

You knew that he was doubting himself. He knows that you trust him, but he doubts himself that he won't live up to your expectations.

You got up from the couch and went to him. Taking your place on his lap and wrapping his neck with the embrace of your arms.

Draco, surprised by your actions, responded like usual, placing his arms around your waist.

"You need to stop doubting yourself, Draco. You're not that kind of person." You told him.

"You don't know about that." He refused to believe you.

"No, I'm absolutely sure about that. You won't-"

"I will eventually, Lia. I've let everyone down; you'll be disappointed in me one day too." He said, interrupted you.

You could tell Draco meant it. You knew that he thinks that he's his father's disappointment, he assumed that he will never be enough to make his father proud.

But, you were different.

"Maybe..." You said, partially agreeing with him.

"But that doesn't mean that I'll never be proud of you." You continued.

The moment you said these words, Draco teared up.

It hit him like he was thrown off the cliff.

Draco pushed you close into him, sticking his chest to yours, throwing his head into the nook of your neck.

You could feel his tears on your neck.

You realised that Draco still hasn't gotten over the fact that you were here for him.

You literally came to be here for him.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for dragging you into all this. I should've left your side when I could. I should never have come back to your side. That way you would never be here right now. You could've avoided all this, but you got involved in all of this because of me." His voice was weak from crying.

Your hands find his hair, softly stroking them.

"No, I'm so glad you came back to my side, Draco. You don't know how bad my shape was back then, without you, I would probably never make it until now." You pressed your lips against his head, just like he always did for you.

"But, I did. Because you were there for me. I could never be more thankful and proud of you for being there with me through all those nights. You were already going through so much by yourself, and yet you never left my side until you made sure that I would be alright on my own." You told him as you rubbed his back.

Draco held onto you for a long time, trying to calm his sobs down.

"I swear that I will keep you safe, Lia. I won't let anything happen to you." He said, finally lifting his head up from your neck to look into your eyes.

You stroked his cheeks, so comforted by the reality that he would protect you no matter what.

"We will get through this, Draco. I know it." You tell him, smiling warmly, wiping his tears that made their way down.