Pacing back and forth in her room, music ripped through the walls of it as if there weren't any. Isla waited anxiously for Theo to return.

He'd been gone for the two days he said he would, and midnight was approaching without a sign of him.

He never came back to school at this hour, always showing up before dinner and surprising her. But not now. He wasn't back yet.

Shooting a swift look towards the mirror, she huffed out. Brushing her dark green dress down, she'd even dolled herself up for the party, making sure everything would go according to her plan.

Only waiting a minute more, she stamped her foot against the floor, impatiently passing the time, but she couldn't wait longer. She had to join the others not to be too suspicious. Marching towards the door, her skin drained and her limbs shaking — Isla ripped it wide. It caused her to flinch back, startled by the boy standing outside it.

''Blaise?''

He pushed her back inside, slamming the wood shut behind him as she stumbled. Seeming anxious, his whole persona was on the edge of rupturing.

''Blaise, what are you—''

''What she did was cruel, Clarke.'' He spoke, striding in an eight-figure pattern in front of her, ''What she did was messed up, and I can't stand for it.''

Isla blinked quickly, and she nearly gasped at him. Not understanding a thing of what he was doing, ''I don't—''

''Ava!'' He yelled, in the loss of himself, ''What she did with that girl and what she did to Leo — it's fucking messed up. It's fucking mean.''

Taking another step away from him, she shook her head, ''That's not your fault, Blaise. It wasn't you—''

''But I didn't stop her!'' Keeping his raised voice, he hauled at the collar of his unbuttoned shirt, ''I should've stopped her, and I didn't. It's my fucking fault too, but she's crazy, Clarke. She's bloody mental. We fought the other day about this, and she threatened to make up some case against me too if I didn't agree with her.''

''Blaise,'' She said calmly. Her hands aiming for her arms to still his breaking self, ''It's alright, Blaise. She's not getting away with it.''

''You don't know her anymore—'' He panted, out of breath and scared, he was shaking, ''She's out of control. Ever since you two stopped being friends, she has been plotting everything. I tried to tell Nott, but she hexed me—''

''She did what? Blaise, what did she do to you—'' Isla was cut short by Zabini, caving into her arms. His hands snaked around her waist, and his forehead fell to her shoulder. He was so exhausted from acting like nothing was wrong.

''We need to stop this, Clarke,'' He heaved, gripping her body. She wrapped her arms around him, fully, ''They were my friends. Malfoy, Nott, even Green. He was my roommate for years, but she's taking them all away from me. She's turning them against me, and I'm—''

''Shhhh...'' Isla sought to calm him, stroking her fingers over his muscular spine, ''You'll get them back, Blaise. I promise. I'll talk to them.''

He jolted, his body flinging away from hers, and his head was shaking, ''No! No, you can't do that. She'll know. She knows everything. You can't tell anyone, but you have to help me.''

''How?'' Isla asked, shocked as voices began to mumble outside her door, ''How can I—''

''Here,'' Zabini's tone held in despair, frightened out of his mind for the girl he was doomed to marry. Shoving his hand down his pocket, he brought a tiny vial up, filled with what looked like gray smoke, ''It's my memory from when she told me how to frame all of you. She's out of it, Clarke. If she gets the slightest suspicion that I'm talking to you, she'll take my memories away, but you can use that.''

He nodded towards the vial, handing it to her, ''In Leo's trial, use it.''

''Blaise. This is incredible, but wait—''

Both of them froze on the spot by her door, once again being pushed open. Isla's breaths ragged, her throat strained.

Ava stood with her hands placed on her hips, glaring so evilly at the both of them, and to Isla's surprise, the Hufflepuff girl stood boldly behind her, ''Blaise?'' Ava said, rudely, ''Why are you in... her room?''

Gulping, Blaise faltered in his doings. His shoulders sunk, and his eyes flickered.

Isla quickly hid the hand with the vial firmly glued to it behind her spine, and she discreetly dropped it to the floor, booting it back underneath her bed. Clearing her throat, she said, ''He just came in here!'' Doing her best in sounding shocked and offended, Isla faked a hurtful grimace, ''Blaise just stormed in here, out of nowhere, telling me I couldn't go to your party.''

Straightening his shoulders, Blaise gritted his jaw. He played along, ''Yeah. Why should she be down there with us when she's done nothing but—''

''Darling,'' Ava shook her head. Her tense behavior eased, and she strode up to him, ''It's alright, darling. We talked about this. She's more than welcome to say goodbye to my brother before he's sent to Azkaban.'' The last couple of words slipped off her tongue devilishly, mocking Isla in disguise.

''I know, but I don't want her to make you uncomfortable,'' Spitting at Isla, his whole self fumed in range except for his eyes. The broad, brown eyes pleaded for her mercy, ''But if you want her there, then it's your call.''

Ava gripped his arm, nestling up to him and her cheek brushed along his shirt, ''I want her there. Every party needs a clown, doesn't it?''

Violet burst out in laugher, clutching her stomach at the mean words Ava was speaking, ''She really is a clown. I don't see what either of those boys sees in her.''

Looking away, Isla swallowed the bitter pain as it lumped in the back of her throat. She didn't look at them. She didn't yell or scream. Isla stayed quiet, letting them have their fun in insulting her.

''Let's get back to the party, darling,'' Ava tugged at her boyfriend's arm, dragging him with her, ''She'll come down when she's done crying.''

Turning in their shoes, they walked out — thinking they left her shattered behind, but no. Isla smirked to herself, thinking about the vial and how it could be Leo's pardon.

She kneeled, finding the vial, and she hid it in her bathroom cabinet. Along with other bottles and flasks, in the far back on the top shelf — where both her and Leo didn't bother to place any important things.

Not waiting too long, Isla walked out her door, locking it with magic and feeling the handle. She made sure it was secure before she turned around, and she slammed right into someone. Her head ached, her mind dizzy by the green flickering lights down in the common room, shading its way up through the dorm.

''Clarke.''

Isla dragged her hands through her hair, gathering herself. She didn't have to look up in order to see who she was. His scent in mixture with the way he always spoke her name gave him up every time.

Not certain if she indeed wished to see him, her sight remained floored, and she immediately felt more than beaten. He had left her again. He walked away without an explanation.

''Clarke, look at me,'' Draco growled through the loud music. His eyes fixed on her, ''Clarke.''

Snapping her neck, she crossed her arms, staring up at him dryly.

''Why were they in your room?'' Speaking as rudely as she was looking at him, Malfoy raised a brow, ''Tell me, right now. Did they hurt you? Was Zabini—''

Knowing that she had to lie, not to give Blaise up after he'd been honest with her, she did exactly so, ''He yelled at me.''

''Why?''

''Draco—''

Pushing his body to hers, his palms caught her jaws, and he tipped her head back, making her look right at him. His eyes were begging her. Draco knew he did wrong in leaving her that morning, and he'd ask for her forgiveness if he'd ever let his pride out of the way, but he refused.

''Tell me why,'' He said again, harsher this time, yet his hands were gentle upon her skin, ''Tell me what he said, and I'll deal with him—''

In the utter need of changing the subject, she pleaded that Draco wouldn't search her head. He didn't do that too often anymore. He hadn't done it in weeks, ''I don't need you to do anything for me.''

He paused, cocking his head and scowling at her, ''What the—''

''You left me again. You walked away, again, and I don't need your help anymore,'' She felt terrible, but she couldn't have him asking her questions when it came to Blaise. She feared for the boy's well-being more than her own.

Isla saw what Ava did to their mother and how she later blamed it on her brother. She knew what her former friend was capable of.

Draco sealed his eyes, trying to hide the pained grimace as it took over. He hated himself for walking away from her when she just wanted to be with him, ''Clarke.''

She shoved past him, tearing their eye contact in two. Isla muttered, ''Just, go, Malfoy. Just go and leave me alone. I don't need you and your stupid empty promises —''

Draco snatched her wrist before he dragged her in, quickly to where he needed her to be. His chest collided with hers, and without reason — Malfoy kissed her.

Grasping at her jaw with one hand, he moved the other down her waist, and he kissed her, emotionally, slowly.

Isla would be lying if she said she didn't miss it. She hadn't felt his lips against hers for weeks.

Draco kept her there, his body pressing to hers as he kissed her, moving their lips in sync and their teeth clasping. For a second, if so, a short one — Isla held him back, tangling her fingers into his blond strands and rising a bit on her toes to be at his level.

She drew back, out of breath and flushed. She'd missed him, she really had, ''I can't do this—'' She whispered, giving him a hurtful look. Dashes of pain looped in rhythm through both of their eyes, and then — then she disappeared into the shadows behind her.

''Clarke!''

Isla ran down the stairs, halting abruptly to look around before she shouldered her way through all the students moving bodies.

Music pounded through her ears in bearing with her heart. Light flickered wildly as she stumbled across the dance floor, being shoved around, nearly pushed down by the dancing Slytherin's.

She didn't know what to do. Theodore wasn't back with the little bag she needed in order for her plan to be set in motion, and just as she faltered, feeling defeated — the damned hands found her waist again.

Draco towered over her from behind, pushing his chest against her spine, and whispering close to her ear, ''You always run away from me.''

Her lashes fluttered at the way he was squeezing her flesh, whimpering as he let his fingers brush her hair away from her shoulder, leaving her skin bare and exposed.

''And you always leave me,'' She whispered, her fingers finding his, and she tangled their arms around her, ''All you do is leave me.''

Bending down, he kissed the spot behind her ear, breathing heavily over the shell of it, ''Then ask me to stay, Clarke. Ask me to stay with you.''

Watching how people danced around them, everyone faded, and suddenly it was just him to her. Draco and all the ways he kept her hooked in his embrace, ''I shouldn't have to. If you want me — you should've stayed.''

''I wanted to,'' Malfoy kept his lips on her skin, praising her in silence, ''I wanted to stay, but I couldn't.''

''Why?'' Isla gasped, turning around in his arms. She faced him, ''Why can you never stay?''

Draco looked down at her, gritting his jaws sharply, ''You know why.''

''I don't,'' She confessed, trapped in the moment, ''I don't know, because you tell me one thing and then you do another. You say that you feel for me, and then you leave me, every time.''

Not once did he take his eyes away from her. She was mesmerizing to him. The way her lashes battled, her skin shimmering at the soft shades of light, her body solid yet ever so weak for him.

Draco was as hooked as she was, and he cursed himself for not letting him have her.

''Then why did you kiss me back?'' He questioned, feeling her arms loosening from his waist, ''If you're so sure that I don't want you — why did you kiss me back?''

''Because—'' Her chest restrained, throat tightening, ''Because I am—''

''Because what?'' He hissed, his face falling into a cloak of anger. Pupils darkened, and the music around them increased, ''Because you're using me again? To make him jealous is that it—''

''You never listen to me, do you?'' She yelled out, matching his persona, ''I have told you probably a hundred times now. This is not about Theodore! This isn't about him and me—''

''Then what the fuck is it about?'' He didn't budge as she tried to yank out of the grip he held her in. Draco didn't want her to run away again, loathing when she did that, he kept her close, ''What is it now? Why are you—''

''It's you!'' She finally managed to space herself from him, feeling as if she'd go insane, ''It's you, Draco. It's you, and it's me. Don't you see what is happening right now, how we just started fighting again? I know you have your reasons for acting like you do, but you can't blame me for being sick of it! You left me yesterday. You followed me down to that bakery, and when I was inside, you decided that you didn't want to stay, so you left. You always leave, and when you have the guts to come back — you don't own up to it. You just find some wicked way of blaming it on me.''

''Clarke...''

''No!'' Taking a step back, she wavered her head. Strands of her hair spilled messily around her, ''And you always try to make it about Theodore. You're a coward for not owning up to the feelings you have for me because I know they're there. Just like I am a coward for not choosing. I am. I am such a coward for not choosing someone, and I let us all hurt instead. That's on me, alright? I take full responsibility for that, but what you do — how you leave the second you feel something for me, that's on you.''

Draco's heart ached. It stung so vividly in his chest that it almost turned hard to breathe. She said all the right things. Hit all the right places.

''If you don't feel for me, that's fine. I could never force you to feel anything for me, but if you do and you rather hurt me than feel it with me. I can't do anything about that, Draco. I've tried, but you're not letting me in—''

Malfoy cocked his neck, rolling his shoulders, and he slithered his hands across her neck, pulling her right into him, ''Do you know why I'm not letting you in, Clarke? Do you really want to know why I make it about Nott?'' His tone was almost dangerous. Her heart missed a beat by his palms on her jaws and his thumbs putting pressure on her chin to make her look up at him, ''Do you really want to know? Because I'll tell you.''

''Yes,'' Isla could taste his sweet breaths on her lips, ''Help me understand.''

''I feel for you. You're not wrong. I do, but I feel more for you than I ever did for her, and it scares the hell out of me because I lost her, Clarke. I couldn't keep her, so what if I lose you? Yeah, I loved her. I loved Pansy, but there's something about you....'' Draco couldn't stay away, the tip of his nose brushed along the spine of hers, ''There was always something about you, ever since you slapped me that night, Clarke. You're—''

Taking a breath, he groaned, ''You make me fucking crazy. I want you without even thinking twice about it. Of course, I wanted to stay with you yesterday. I wanted to be with you, eat your little breakfast and hear all about it, but I couldn't. I can't go there because I'll never be able to go back, and that shit scares me. It fucking terrifies me because once I have you — I can't lose you.''

''Draco—''

''And what goes for Nott. I'm scared there too, Clarke. I don't want you to choose. I don't ever want to ask you to choose, and yes, partly because I am scared you'll choose him, but mostly because I'm scared you'll choose me, and then you'll hate me for it. You'll hate me because I took him away from you. I made you choose when he didn't, and then I lose you either way.''

His chest caving in on him now, he blurted it all out. He rambled, talking fast yet slow. Draco just needed her to know all of it.

Leaning in again, Malfoy pushed his lips to hers. Lingering near for moments as the world kept spinning around them, ''I can't lose you, Clarke. We are the one thing that's keeping me sane,'' Speaking into her mouth, he kissed her upper lip, ''So yeah, I leave you, because then it's my decision to come back, and I always will. Fuck—I'll always come back for you, but I'm not certain that you will come back for me. So I make sure that I am the one leaving you. I fight you. I blame you, and I pretend to hate you because I can always come back from that, but if I let you in — if I let myself fall with you, and you don't want me once you see all of me, I can't go through that. I can't lose whatever this is.''

Isla's head spun. She heard everything he said. She watched his eyes glint in honesty, and she knew he meant it. She understood it without falter. Draco was so scared, and so was she.

''So I don't want you to choose. I don't want you to choose because I can't lose you, and no matter how I do it — I lose you.'' Kissing her one more time before he arched back, and he wasn't angry anymore. Draco was hurting tremendously, as she noticed.

''You think you know me, Clarke. You think all I care for is your body, but you don't know. You don't know how fucking wrong you are,'' He took his hands off her, feeling as the verity clocked him again, ''You don't understand, and that's my fault.''

Confused as she was, she didn't know what words to shape, how to answer what he just told her.

''I asked you to wait for me once until I didn't feel for Pansy anymore, and I don't.'' Draco looked away, ''You don't believe that. I can tell you don't, because you don't want to. You think that if I feel for her, it makes it alright for you to feel for him, but I don't feel for her. I'm not in love with her anymore.''

''Draco,'' Isla choked on her words, seeing as he withdrew from her, stepping back, ''Please—''

''Ask me to wait for you,'' He said in the mirrored sound of music, between the moving bodies, ''Ask me to wait for you, and I will.''

Isla wanted to. She wanted to ask him to wait. She wished to beg and plea for him not to leave her again — but she couldn't.

She had too many secrets, her legacy being one of them, and she knew that if she let herself fall. If she allowed herself to crash in the love she carried for him — they'd break. She'd drag him down in it, drown him in every emotion she had, and she didn't own a clue how to bring him back up to the surface if she did.

So she stayed silent, watching how his heart shattered from feet away. Almost hearing it crack within his heaving chest.

''That's what I thought,'' Draco forced a dry smile, covering up every way that she'd hurt him and his eyes flickered away from her, tipping his head to the far end of the common room.

Isla spun around to scan what he wished for her to see — Theodore.

He was back.

Her heart pounding, her breaths nearly none consistent, she aimed back at the blond. Her chest tightened.

Draco wasn't there anymore.

Looking around, she tried to spot him, but without luck.

Taking a step in the direction he'd gone, she craved for him to know she cared because she did. Isla cared so much for him, but at the same time — she'd never been this torn. As the human side of Draco began to show, as he slowly and in pieces let her in more and more, she saw the good in him.

She didn't want to lose him, and she needed him to understand that no matter how the year ended. Which boy she stood at that alter with, he'd never lose her.

''Not so fast—'' Isla was yanked back by a hand, snatching her wrist and stopping her from leaving, ''You see, Isla. All you do is hurt them.''

Ava was smirking at her, with spite as it flashed in her pupils, ''All you ever do, and all you will do is hurt them. Don't you see that? You hurt both of them, just like you hurt Leo by letting him be with that witch—''

''Stop,'' Isla gasped, trying to get out of the hold, Ava so viciously kept her in, ''Stop. You don't know anything. You have no idea what you're talking about.''

''Don't I?'' She laughed out, dropping Isla's wrist and placing her hands on her hips, ''You really are a whore, aren't you? You fuck them, and then you hurt them. That's all you're good for.''

''Don't—'' Isla could barely hold herself together. All she thought about was Draco, looking at her with a broken heart, thinking she'd leave him and Theodore, standing in the far end of the room, wondering why she didn't rush to greet him, ''Just leave me alone!''

''You think Draco loves you? Do you think he's over Pansy? You think he doesn't know that you fucked Theodore before you went and spent the night on the couch with him?''

Isla's whole body ached now, ''What? How do you—''

''Look for yourself,'' Was all she said before she vanished into the students still dancing around her, and Isla did. She stared at the stairs leading up to the girl's dormitory, and if her mind hadn't been overworked and crushed already, it was now.

Draco was walking upstairs with Pansy. Holding her hand and she led him up the steps. Isla followed. She shouldn't have. She should've gone to Theodore and left that part of the night behind, but she couldn't.

She needed to know if what he told was true. If he truly had gotten over Pansy. Sneaking her way through the crowd, Isla tipped her head to the side, hesitantly walking up the stairs, and just as she reached the top one — she wished she wouldn't have followed.

Draco was standing with both hands on each side of Pansy, and his lips pressed to hers.

_____