XII.   think I'm in love with you

Bennet understood a lot more than his sister thought, but he kept it all to himself. He was just a kid, eleven-years-old, but he was smart. He was observant. Even if he didn't fully understand his father's death, he understood what it did to Devore, and he understood what it was doing to their mother. Bennet was thankful for Devore, his big sister who was always there to protect him. She acted like everything was okay when he knew it really wasn't.

He observed his mother's drinking, saw the empty bottles thrown into the trash, how her moods would change from happy to sad, to laughing to crying. How his mom would fall asleep in his bed because she was scared to sleep in her own. Bennet knew all of these things.

But he still loved his mom. She was all he had, even if she was unable to care for him most days. He didn't want to lose another parent. So when she wrote back to him, Bennet was ecstatic. He raced to the Great Hall and spotted his sister at the Gryffindor table. "Devore!" He called her name. "Dev, mom wrote back to us."

"Did she?" His sister said back and took the letter from his hand. Devore opened the envelope and her eyes scanned the paper.

My dearest children,

I'm so happy to hear back from you. I miss you both so terribly. It's so hard being by myself while you two are away, but I hope you're having the greatest time at school. I can't wait to have you back home. I love you both more than you'll ever know. Come home soon.

Love, mom xoxoxo

Bennet watched his sister's face as she read the letter. It shifted to multiple different expressions but she landed on a fake smile. "That's great, Ben. At least we know she's okay." She said to him and handed him back the letter.

"Are you happy she is?"

Devore's fake smile wavered, but she kept her eyes bright. "Of course I am, buddy." She reminded softly and brushed some hair out of his eyes. "As long as you're happy, then so am I."

That's not what he asked though. She always did that. She chose his feelings over her own, and maybe Bennet had some trouble understanding that, but he loved his sister. He wanted to say that she could choose for herself. But he smiled anyway.

Devore still hadn't received a letter from her mother, but so pretended like it was okay for Bennet's sake. Reading what she wrote to them hurt something inside of her. She didn't know what it was, but she had to be okay. Bennet was so happy that she was afraid if she acted like she wasn't, he would be upset. When she returned to the Slytherin common room, she saw Draco and the others sitting by the fire and Pansy was hanging on his arm like she always was, giggling at whatever he said. Their conversation stopped when they saw her enter. It had been days since she talked to them, let alone be in the same room as them. 

Draco stared at her with his usual scowl but he didn't say anything and she was hoping he wouldn't. It was Pansy that let out a loud laugh as she saw her.  "Surprised you have the guts to even show your face anymore, Taylor."

Devore gave her a sarcastic smile. "Unlike you,  Parkinson, people actually like my face."

"You don't belong here, Taylor. Not when you're a blood traitor slut."

An evil expression appeared on her face. "I don't waste my time on people like you, Parkinson."

Blaise watched the two girls get closer to one another. "Should we stop them?" He asked the guys.

"Knock it off, you two." Draco announced coldly, scoffing at their childishness.

Pansy whirled her head in his direction. "Why? So this little bitch can go back to her warm and cozy life with her blood traitor boyfriend? Fuck that." She sneered.

Devore rolled her eyes. "What do you want from me, Parkinson? You have my ex boyfriend all to yourself and you're finally the center of attention. What more do you want?"

"You think it was that easy? I had him way before you broke his heart to be with the ginger. I'm the one who's been in love with him all this time, not you?" Pansy spat. "You think he loved you? You're just the girl whose daddy died and started acting like a fucking bitch to hide the fact that you're emotionally unstable."

The room fell silent and the air became so hot it was hard to breathe. The group of boy's eyes flickered back and forth between the Slytherin girls. Blaise was at the edge of his seat ready to jump in incase they started trying to kill each other. Draco had his arms crossed with a scowl at Pansy's words, knowing some of them weren't true. Devore's eyes stared straight through the girl but she didn't say anything. The tension between them was so high you could cut it with a knife.

All of a sudden, she belted out a laugh. Trails of giggles left her mouth and they looked at her like she was crazy. "I was always right, wasn't I?" She said to her ex lover.

Pansy snapped her head back and forth between them. "Right about what exactly?"

"That you're a shit talking bitch who clings onto a guy who abused his girlfriend and doesn't even acknowledge your presents."

There was a loud echo of a slap and the boys gasped. Devore felt a burning sensation on her face, and she cackled with another evil laugh. She lunged forward and grabbed Pansy by her hair. The two of them fell to the floor and that's when Blaise shot out of his seat. "Okay, okay!" He yelled. "Boys, help me out!"

"You fucking bitch!" Devore screeched in anger and dragged her nails down Pansy's face.

"Get off of me!"

"Okay, that's enough, stop!" Draco hissed and pulled her off of Pansy by her waist.

Blaise managed to go get Pansy back and held on to her tightly. Draco dragged Devore of the common room to separate them.

"Let me go!" She growled trying to get out of his grip. He didn't listen and continued to drag the girl away, not even flinching when she started hitting him. When they got of the common room, he dropped her. "Don't ever touch me again!" She yelled at him, her hair as wild as her eyes.

"You're acting like a child. Look at you, you're a mess."

"Oh shut the fuck up, you've done worse to me," Devore hissed and moved her hair out of her face.

Draco didn't say anything. He observes the scratches on her face and the black eye that was forming. She was breathing heavy with anger. "Just watch out, Dev." He said to her.

Devore looked at him and her brows furrowed. "What the hell does that mean?"

Draco was not a good person and he knew that. He was born into a family who were cruel to people that weren't like them. He grew up with a father who showed his love by patting him on the back for being a bully. He was molded to be nothing but a hallow shell in a living body and now he was paying the price for it. He got his karma. Instead of replying, he went back to the common room and left her standing there.

Devore started shaking. She felt like she was being pulled under water, like she wanted to fall to her knees and cry. Feeling his hands on her, gripping her like she was an animal, made her feel like she was suffocating. Sadness tightened in her throat and slowly suffocated her until she felt tears wallow in her eyes. Devore ran down the hallway, her breathing growing more heavy, and she saw Fred walking the opposite way towards her. "Fred!" She called his name with a break in her voice.

A big smile appeared on his face but it quickly faded away when he saw her face and that she was crying. "Devore? What the hell happened—oof!" He stumbled back when she crashed into him, her arms circling his torso. He put his hand around her shoulders. "What happened? Why are you hurt? Was it Malfoy—"

"No, no, it was Pansy. We got into a fight."

Fred laughed. "Did you win?" When she didn't reply, he hugged her tighter. "Okay, bad timing. I'm sorry. C'mon."

He led her outside, Devore not letting go of his waist. They sat under the cherry blossom tree. "Tell me what happened."

Devore wiped the tears from her face. "Parkinson was being a bitch like usual and she slapped me, so I clawed her face."

Fred chortled. "Hell yeah."

"Draco pulled me off of her."

He faltered. "Oh?"

She stared at the water and watched the fish occasionally pop up. "He didn't do anything. It was just being around him that. . .scared me, I guess."

Fred frowned. "You don't have to be scared of him anymore, Devore. He can't hurt you."

Devore looked his way and frowned, her eye shimmering again. "It's not that easy, Fred. You don't understand. When I'm around him, when I think about him, I feel like I can't breathe. It's like my skin is peeling off my bones. Do you know what that feels like?"

His eyes turned tender. "No, no, I don't." He responded in a soft voice.

"And it's like I'd rather be drowning in the Black Lake than to be near him. It's terrifying." Devore continued with a somber, borderline terrified, look on her face.

Fred didn't say a word and just watched her, his eyes flickering from her face to her trembling hands. He reached over and pulled one of her hands in his to let her know it was okay, and that he was listening to her. He brushed his other hand through her long dark hair to the nape of her neck. "I'm so sorry, Dev."

"Promise me you'll never be like him."

"Of course not. I promise on my life." He immediately said back.

Devore released a shaky breath and Fred leaned forward pressing his forehead to hers. She closed her eyes and felt more tears fall down her face. "I love you." She whispered.

Instantly, Fred lifted his head, thinking maybe he heard her wrong. He was in shock. But she stared at him with the softest of expression, love in her eyes. He kissed her and she brushed his cheek with her hand. "Really?" He asked when their lips parted for a slight second.

He felt her nod. "I always have." She said back in a whisper.

Feeling like his heart would explode, Fred started to smile. "I love you, Devore Taylor." He said back and pulled her in for another kiss, the invisible string between them starting to glow.