Not one time during the past week that passed since Draco kicked her out of his room — had she looked at him.

Isla was infuriated with the blond and how he'd treated her that night. She didn't understand how her speaking his name had the possibility to make him so upset.

She actually believed that they were getting somewhere — that she was on the horizon to break through a few of the solid walls around him. But she was so wrong, and she felt utterly annoyed with herself because of that.

That she truly thought she would be able to get close to him and get to know him as the person, Pansy described him to be, but she wouldn't. She knew that now.

Isla priced just how wicked Malfoy was and how he'd constantly thrown her away whenever it soothed him, but something the girl didn't know — was that he indeed felt terrible for doing what he did.

Draco wasn't someone who opened up. It wasn't a concealed thing. Everyone knew that.

He didn't throw her out of his room because he got such a rush out of it —  he didn't do it to be mean. He did it because he panicked.

Malfoy had only been attached to one person before, and that person left him for someone else.

Pansy had walked out on him and in the aftermath of the wizarding world, falling to pieces following the war — he didn't dare to open up to someone, ever again. That was a promise he'd made to himself.

Especially since he knew what Isla felt for Theodore, his best friend. He knew that the girl he couldn't take his eyes off in class — had a connection with Theo, and he was terrified to get his feelings hurt again.

Indeed, the blond found himself lost in the chaotic girl his life had been assigned to. She wasn't what he'd ever expected her to be. Even if she was a complete mess — someone that needed to get her head straight and sort out her priorities, she was still mesmerizing.

He couldn't deny that. He couldn't deny that every time he watched Theodore and her together before his best friend left — he wished to curse them. He couldn't possibly deny that every single time he caught someone looking at her — he craved to tear their eyes from their heads.

He'd grown to be jealous, something he hadn't felt before, and it was a clouded mess in his head. Malfoy didn't know what to make of it, what to do with the girl he was drawn to, yet couldn't wish enough to get away from.

Frightened to get his heart broken again, he didn't know what to do.

''You can't avoid him forever, you know?'' Mila chuckled, nearly stumbling over a root embedded in the ground, ''You have to talk to him eventually.''

Isla rolled her eyes, shoving her hands into her pockets, and she tucked her chin deeper into her jacket. The wind sored cooly around them as the winter season greeted them.

Every day shifted a bit darker and the temperature lowered.

''I can, and I will,'' Isla muttered, looking over at the boy, strolling next to her, ''This is your fault, you know? Both of you. If you hadn't been in our room, doing... what you did—''

Her cheeks burning, and her nose slightly reddened as she drew a breath at the remembering of what she walked in on a week ago, ''I wouldn't be forced to sleep on the couch, and none of this would've happened.''

Leo snickered, amusingly as Mila's body stiffened, ''Well if you would've knocked—''

Her hands thrown out in the air in pure frustration, ''I shouldn't have to knock on my own door, you two should learn how to behave—''

Leo halted in his steps, shaking his head at the girl, ''Hold on, so you're telling me you never did anything inappropriate when we were around?''

Isla frowned, scrunching her nose as he began walking beside her again, ''Of course not!'' She sounded offended, wishing to make a point, ''I would never—''

''So you're telling me you and Theo didn't have a bit too much fun in the water when we—''

Her whole body tensed, feeling as the shame wavered her, and both of her friends looked at each other, smirking before a laugh escaped Mila's throat.

''I think I even heard someone—''

''Fine!'' Isla shouldered Leo to the side, scoffing underneath her breath at the memory, ''But that doesn't excuse—''

Being cut off by Mila, her eyes flickered to the brunette, ''Well... Isla, it does, actually. At least now we know why you weren't placed in Ravenclaw — but that's beside the point.''

Isla blinked, startingly, ''Excuse me—''

''I wasn't done with the Malfoy talk,'' She continued, ignoring her friend's attempt to speak against her as they reached the treeline and Hogsmeade showed on full display, ''I still think it's a bad idea to ignore him, because Theodore left, correct? And God knows that I'm not a fan of Draco Malfoy, but what if—''

''Could've fooled me.''

All three of the friends flung around, nearly slipping over the clayey path they were walking on.

Mila caught the blond without even looking at him as she folded her arms and tilted her head provokingly, ''So you're not just an idiot, you're an eavesdropper too?''

Malfoy rolled his tongue along the inside of his cheek at the girl's comment, giving his chin a quick rise as he nodded towards her, ''I see everyone defending me as a fan, Walker,'' He rose a brow, ''Welcome to the club, we have our meetings on Saturdays—''

Mila's smirk faded, pushing her lips solidly together, ''I'll bring the bloody snacks then, any allergies?''

Isla couldn't help but smile into the hem of her coat as she still had her chin tucked into it, finding it funny that Mila never gave into an argument.

Draco knitted his brows slightly but played along with Mila's cockiness, ''Yeah, tomatoes and fish—''

''Good,'' Mila let her hands fall to her sides, and she snatched Leo by the arm, tugging him with her as they walked ahead, ''I'll make sure to bring some extra fish and tomatoes then.''

Both Leo and Isla snickered as Mila shot them both a mean glare, ''I suppose you'll stay behind with this prick, so we'll meet you at the pub in an hour.''

''No, wait—'' Isla raised her voice, sticking her buried chin out from her coat, but her friends didn't bother to listen. They simply strolled along and left her behind with Draco.

Pinching her eyes shut, she shook her head at the situation she once again found herself in before shifting around, and her eyes hooked into his grey ones.

''You have nice friends,'' Draco gripped the edges of his coat and carefully jerked at them, ''Pathetic, with horrible humor but nice.''

Scowling at him, she looked confused, ''That doesn't make any—'' A sigh fled her lips as she shrugged his puzzling comment off, ''You know what? It doesn't matter, you have a great rest of your day, and I'll just—''

Isla spun around, aiming to walk away and wait at the bar for her friends, but the groan fleeing his throat caught her ear.

''I have your letter,'' Malfoy spoke up, ''The one you dropped at the courtyard the other week—''

Shutting her eyes closed at the recollection of her forgetting about it caused her heart to ache, ''Can I have it please?'' She muttered, peering over her shoulder as her body followed.

''Who's it from?'' He questioned, and his voice came out harsher than he'd expected.

''That's none of your business—'' Isla's note cracked as her features stunned in surprise to him even questioning her getting her own letter back, ''So can I have it back, please?'' She said please yet again, not in the mood for his games.

''Is it Nott?'' Malfoy's jaws clenched, glaring at her now, ''Is that it? First, you fuck up so badly that he needs to leave school and then—''

''What did you say?'' Cutting him off, her brows furrowed and she felt utterly confused by Draco changing his demeanor every two seconds.

''Was it a secret?'' Draco kept pushing her limits, ''That you screwed the both of us over, and he couldn't take it anymore—''

Isla couldn't believe what she was hearing. That after he invited her to his room, he nestled up to her, he kicked her out, and him approaching her now — he was still the one to be mean to her.

She was staring at him, emptily. Not an emotion showed upon her as he kept on cursing at her.

''It wasn't enough that you came between us, was it Clarke? You had to drive him out of town too?''

He knew that wasn't true. He'd seen her mind. He knew that she didn't do anything to make Theodore pack up his things and leave, yet he needed to say it.

Malfoy hurt her last week. He'd hurt her so much in just a few months that he was scared that she'd be numb with him.

He needed a reaction. He needed to make her mad, angry with him for what he said, but she wasn't.

Her eyes ghastly as she nodded, ''Is that it? Are you done now?''

Not saying another word back, Malfoy hushed, bewildered by how she wasn't talking back to him.

''Are you done?'' She said calmly, yet he was able to see how hurt his words caused her to be. How her eyes scored painfully and how she balled her fingers into fists.

Draco's shoulders sunk, and he inhaled, harshly, ''Clarke—'' He hewed himself off as she began to walk away, ''Damn it, Clarke, I didn't—''

Forcing a smile, even if it felt like tears prickled in her eyes, she walked in half a circle around him, not to be too close — not to give him an opportunity to get a hold of her.

''Keep it,'' She shot the parchment in his hands a swift look before she gazed across the trees, and she marched back the same way she came from.

''Clarke!''

Isla didn't hear him. She shut him out. She banned Draco and everything he'd done and said to her — out from her world.

It hurt her. His words echoed in her head as she stumbled up the stairs to the Astronomy tower — one of the only places she thought she could breathe. Feeling safe within the walls of that spire, her hands got a solid grip of the railing, and she leaned forward.

Her upper body hanging off the fence and that tiny rush of adrenaline kicking through her system were thrilling. She needed it.

Isla needed something just to ease herself a bit more. For her chest not to be as heavy and her heart to not ache beyond despair.

''Clarke, what did I say—'' Malfoy spoke up behind her, slightly out of breath from chasing her across the school, yet again, ''Don't run away from me like a damn child. I'm not going to chase you next time — next time you're on your fucking own.''

Huffing out below her breath, she shook her head.

She wasn't angry.

She didn't seem angry to him — he didn't provoke her in the way he'd wished to do, she mirrored senselessly. Like she didn't care for what he'd said to her in the woods. Like she didn't bother that he just ran after her up to the tower.

Like she didn't mind anything he'd done.

Her lack of words made him impatient as he stepped closer towards the edge, where she was tipping over, looking down at the courtyard from above. 

''Clarke, step away from there,'' He muttered, displeasingly with her childish behavior, and the rage within leveled as she once again ignored him, ''I said, step away from there—''

Isla didn't.

''Clarke, for fucks sake, let go of that bloody fence and step away from there before you fall over,'' He sighed, annoyed, ''If you fall over, I won't catch you — so get the fuck—''

She kept the hard grip of the metal, so tightly that her knuckles paled and her hair dragged with the seeps of wind, and just as she meant to bend a little further, to see if it was possible — she thought of it.

If he really would catch her or not. If perhaps he did care about her. After all, he always rushed after her.

''Clarke—''

Pinching her eyes shut, she tried to battle the idea of what she wanted to do. Isla knew the magic to catch herself if he didn't — she wouldn't hurt herself, simply see if he would apparate himself down to the courtyard and catch her.

It felt like time slowed to her and she — without any reason at all, turned to face the blond. His icing eyes hooked in hers, and she smiled provokingly.

''Clarke, what are you—'' Draco scowled, his brows furrowed, ''What the fuck are you — no. Absolutely not, Clarke. I won't fucking catch you—''

With one step back, Isla let her body tip. Her figure falling off the building as she watched the sphere loop around her.

The clouds looked so pretty, she believed, and it wasn't terrifying to fall in the ways she did now. Her eyes screwed shut as her body fell from the skies. The wind sored her skin, but she didn't let it get to her.

She simply floated through the air.

The tower was far above her now, and she knew she'd hit the ground within seconds, hauling her wand out from her coat jacket as it fluttered. Isla drew a breath, ready to whisper the spell that would catch her the very instant she was meant to collide with the bricks.

And just as her lips parted, she flinched.

Feeling as two hands sheeted around her body and her frame pressed into a muscular chest. The air in her lungs restricted, and it was as if the verity she'd failed to see clocked her mind.

She fell from the tower.

Isla fell from the bloody tower, and she didn't even bother to be scared. She knew how to save herself from it, the spell that would've caught her — but it didn't frighten her.

''Are you—'' He growled as she coiled in his grip. He stumbled back with her in his arms as he felt her yanking herself out of it, ''Clarke, stop it.''

Isla didn't stop.

Her insides wrenched, and she tried to fight his hold of her.

''Clarke, that's fucking enough, stop it,'' He tried to pry her arms down, to pin them into her lap as he held her, but he couldn't. She didn't stop moving, nearly until she jerked herself out of his arms, and once again, aimed for the ground.

Draco wasn't quick to notice as he got a solid grip of her waist, and he dropped onto the ground with her. His body on top of hers.

Nailing her arms to her sides, both of their hearts pounding. Her pulse was so stressed she nearly thought she'd pass out.

Malfoy's eyes widened, and his skin shifted ashenly. The panic of how wrong that could've ended forced through him, ''Are you—'' He growled in a whisper above her as her eyes sealed to gather herself, ''Are you out of your fucking mind, Clarke?''

''What if I am?'' Isla breathed, the taste of her tiny gasps tasted heavenly upon his thin lips, ''What if I am out of my fucking mind, Malfoy?''

Scowling at her as he shook his head, still having her pinned down, ''You are,'' He scoffed, ''You are out of your fucking mind. Why the hell didn't you listen to me, Clarke? Why didn't you step away from the damn fence? Do you hate me that much? That you fucking jump just to spite me?''

Her face shifted emotionless below him, her fingers curled around his hands, ''Why do you care? You said you wouldn't catch me if I fell.''

''Perhaps I shouldn't have.'' He gritted, rolling his tongue along his bottom lip and smirking at her, but he was quick to realize that she didn't find any pleasure in him taunting her right now.

A bothered look coated her, ''You said you hate me, so perhaps you shouldn't have.''

That threw him off.

Sealing his eyes for a mere second, he swallowed the sickly feeling he held within, and even if this went against him, showing her a bit of humanity. Even if he in no reality wished to speak the things he was about to — Draco did it anyway.

''I say and do a lot of things I shouldn't,'' He confessed, letting it out through whisper, ''I shouldn't have said any of what I said to you.''

Blinking quickly, a shy frown climbed her temples, ''What are you—''

Draco released the grip of her arms, and he kneeled back, hunching down in front of her now, and Isla followed the movement. Sitting up straight as she faced him.

''I shouldn't have said that Theodore leaving was your fault,'' He muttered, frustratingly as if he didn't want to tell her, ''I shouldn't have asked you to leave the other night, and I shouldn't have yelled at you. I should've treated you better than that.''

Her breath nearly caught in the back of her throat as he kept speaking.

''I can't—'' Draco hewed himself off, bending his legs up as his elbows rested on his knees, his head sunk between them, and he dragged his fingers through his hair. He felt beaten, defeated almost.

''I can't be with anyone else like that. I can't have you touch me like you did — I can't enjoy it, Clarke. That's why I didn't let you touch me in the bathroom. I can't do that until—'' He took a breath, inhaling so sharply that it stung in his chest, ''Until I'm not in love with Pansy anymore.''

Not that she was surprised, because she wasn't. She wasn't at all puzzled that the blond felt the way he did, but she stayed hushed.

''She left me after she promised me she wouldn't. She said that it was us and that she wouldn't let that stupid marriage law come between us,'' He chuckled so sarcastically that it caused Isla's jaws to clench, ''And then she left.''

Feeling as the rock-covered ground bruised her skin, she shifted a bit in her position, ''You're allowed to feel that way,'' She whispered, ''If she left you — You're allowed to be upset and not wanting anything with anyone else.''

''That's the fucking problem,'' Draco's tone conveyed abruptly, catching her immediate attention as she stared at him, ''I do want someone else, and that makes me fucking sick, Clarke. It makes me hate myself. It feels like what I had with Pansy wasn't real, and I fucking loath myself for that.''

He paused for a minute, combing his ring-clothed fingers and knitting them behind his neck. Draco peered up at her from below his lashes, rolling his eyes at the situation.

''What kind of person am I for being with her for years, only to want someone else a few months after she left me? It makes me fucking sick, Clarke, I'm fucking wicked for feeling like that, and that's—''

He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to speak it out loud. He didn't want to confess to what he was about to.

''That's why I hate you,'' He pushed his palms into the rocks, and he looked away from her, lingering for a brief moment, but he couldn't stand staying close to her after admitting what he just did.

''I hate you for making me feel something,'' He said again, ''I fucking hate you for being so damn addicting, Clarke. I hate you for that.''

Gulping as she stayed on the ground, watching him stand up, brushing his suit pants off, and giving her a mean glare.

''But it's not your fault,'' Shaking his head, Draco scoffed, jeeringly, ''It's mine. It's my fault for being so fucking weak, so yeah, Clarke — I say disgusting things to you, but that doesn't mean that I do mean them, and it doesn't make it right.''

She was standing up now too, her feet flat on the ground as the chatter of students began to echo, ''Malfoy, I—''

''Don't—'' He hissed, cocking his head, ''I don't need your pity. I don't fucking want it.''

The anxiety within her began to sore as she saw how he turned around, aiming to walk away from her, and she couldn't have it.

Isla was so scared that he'd leave her just like Theodore had done. That all of this would be too much for him and that he wouldn't come back.

It lit yet another spark inside. Something that ignited in the same way it'd done when Theo walked away.

She needed to stop him.

''Malfoy—'' She exhaled, heavingly as she tracked after him, her knees weak and her limbs aching, but she didn't bother, ''Wait—''

Just as she gripped his shoulder, the fabric of his coat smoothly against the palm of her hand, and she meant to yank him back, to make him face her fully and stop walking — he turned around.

Draco grabbed her neck, his rings stung into the tender skin of her throat at the sensation, they were icing cold out of the weather and he — with no reason at all, smashed his lips into hers.

Malfoy kissed her so roughly that the wind in her lungs faltered, and she couldn't do less than to kiss him back, to move her lips with his, and to grip the edges of his coat and pull herself into him completely.

''Wait for what?'' He mumbled into her mouth, balling his fist into her hair, ''Tell me what I should wait for, Clarke.''

Shuddering at the touch, she clung to him. Her fingers squeezing around the flares of his coat, and she pressed her lips so tightly against his, ''I don't—'' She whispered, ''I don't know—''

''Then you wait—'' He pulled away, tearing their kiss in two, and he leaned back, scanning her blushed cheeks and her glistening, swollen lips, ''I said I wouldn't catch you, but I will.''

Letting her hair loose from his grip, he cupped her jaw, pushing his lips to hers again, ''I will catch you, but you need to wait for me.''

Nodding as she kissed him back, passionately — full of emotions.

''Wait for me to get my head straight, Clarke, and I'll catch you. I'll catch you every damn time,'' Slowing down his movements, his lips brushed along with hers, and he backed up.

Neither of them said a word.

They simply looked at the other blankly before he let her go, and he stormed off.

Once again, leaving her alone and doubtful behind.

_____