Draco's POV

I watch as Harry Potter jogs over to Karia and walks by her side but doesn't stand too close.

"I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry for ruining your relationship with Malfoy. I knew you were together obviously but I was selfish and took it upon myself to act upon my feelings."

"Honestly Harry in the beginning I may have had a small crush on you but everyday my love for Malfoy grew more and more... and now that I think of it, I think the reason for my infatuation with you and yours with me had to deal with the fact that you and I are one in the same. We both lost our parents, lived in a different situation that we would rather not be in, feared the inevitable, were always put in dangerous situations... I think, Harry, we were infatuated with the fact that there was someone who understood us. Someone who would always understand. Even if they didn't know the details. You are just like me. I cherish you, I cherish our friendship... I want it to stay a friendship. Do you understand Harry?"

My head begins to spin as I realize how much of an absolute git I have been. I know she loves me but my fear of her thinking Potter was better than me just as everyone else thought made me push her away.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine Cedric."

"No really squirt. I know you have never been away from Malfoy for this long. How are you doing?"

I gulp as she lays back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

"I don't know. I miss him." Her voice cracks and I hear Cedric sigh sadly.

Cedric pulls her into a hug just as tears fall down her face.

"I don't know what to do Ced. Losing him was one of my greatest fears. I mean he is still living but I wanted to be with him forever. I wanted to marry him, and grow old together, and have a family. I know everyone thinks he was such a horrible person but that was all for show. He was a great guy, but I pushed him away. Now he hates me. I want him back...but I know he'll never take me back. He won't forgive me. He-"

"Alright Karina. I get it. Please stop. Seeing you like this is killing me. Maybe if you try to explain now that he is calmed down then he will listen."

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Think about it... Okay?"

Finally we are brought to the memory that we had been searching for. After my aunt took her she was handed to the dark lord.

"I'm not going to kill you...but helping that filthy child Potter was the worst thing you could've ever done." Voldemort glares at her figure that sits on the floor in front of him.

"Fuck you." Karina yells at him.

"Tsk aw pretty little thing now you're in trouble. I was going to let you off with a little pain now you're going to learn a lesson."

I watch in pain as the Cruicio curse is used on her but worst of all how she is brought back to Hogwarts to the requirement room where Audrey had his way with her.

I pull my head out the dish and gasp. I yell in pain as I punch the wall in fury wishing it was Audrey's face. As I go to find him I'm pulled back by a hand on my shoulder.

"Draco. Don't. I will take care of this. You go to Karina. She needs you." Dumbledore looks at me sadly.

I nod but don't say anything. Glancing at Snape I see a look I can't seem to muster. I know he must also feel pain since Karina is his God child and he is supposed to keep her safe.

Leaving the room I hurry to the infirmary where Madam Pomfrey let's me in without question. She takes me to the curtain which shields off Karia from others. Opening it I feel a tear fall down my face as I look at my broken love.

She had a black eye and a swollen face. Hand marks had been imprinted around her neck. She had gauze on her shoulder. Her foot had yet again been in a cast. And of course we cannot see the damage but we know that the assault was the worst of all the injuries.

"You can sit here for however long you want. I don't usually do this but you both need it. Also I'll be back to wrap up your hand."

As Madam Pomfrey leaves I look down not even noticing that my hand had been bleeding; the knuckles were cut open from me hitting the wall. But I still had yet to feel pain. How can I when the love of my life had been assaulted and I was nowhere to be found.

...

3rd Person's POV

Opening her eyes she looks around to find herself in the infirmary. She was confused and lost. She felt like she had lived through two days and couldn't remember what she did. Feeling a firm grip on her hand, Karina looks over to see Draco sitting beside her bed asleep. She looks at him wondering how long he had been in that uncomfortable looking chair.

Madam Pomfrey walks up and takes a double take seeing Karina sitting up awake. She runs over to the girl and gives her a big hug.

"I'm so sorry sweetheart. Everything will be okay."

She just lays numbly in Madam Pomfrey's embrace.

Okay?

Everything will be okay?

What will be okay?

What happened?

Karina thinks as she looks down at her once again casted foot. She feels a twinge of pain as the image of someone stomping on her foot and snapping her ankle comes to mind. As her mind slowly reveals the person who had done the damage, Karina feels her face drop as if it were even possible to frown deeper.

Aubrey.

Her mind switches back and forth to the incident. Shaking the thoughts out of her head she asks for a piece of parchment and a quill. Madam Pomfrey nods while walking and comes back with the materials. After checking Karina and making sure everything was okay she walks back to her front desk and told Karina she was free to go but she could stay however long she wanted to. Before leaving completely she mentions that Draco had been by her side since the incident. He hadn't left for classes, breakfast, or dinner.

A few minutes of stroking Draco's hair she gently taps his shoulder to wake him up. Draco opens his eyes to see hazel ones staring back at him. Instantly he pulls Karina into a tight hug while rubbing her back.

"Hey Karina. I'm so glad you're okay." Draco smiles while gripping onto her shoulders.

Karina grabs her parchment paper and writes, 'Thank you for caring and for staying with me. But do you mind if I spend a little time to myself?' She hands him the note and he reads it with a light smile.

"Yeah sure thing. I'm gonna freshen up and I'll be in the Great Hall if you need me." Draco kisses her forehead then leaves out the infirmary.

As soon as his foot steps out the room Karina burst out into tears. She lays back down onto the bed holding herself while crying.

She was not okay.

...

Pansy sits across from Draco who is looking a little better but not quite fully recovered from finding the love of his life in the state she was.

"Hey so how is she doing? Is she awake yet?" Pansy asks.

Over the past few days she's missed her best friend. She wanted to kill Aubrey when she found out what happened. Lucky for him, Dumbledore had already expelled him and he was on a train back home before any of the Slytherins could lay a finger on him.

"Yeah she just woke up today. But obviously she's still in shock. She didn't even talk to me. She wrote down what she had to say." Draco says sadly as he pushes his food around on his plate.

The friends all look at him and feel horrible for both Karina and Draco. Her pain and hurt has caused so much stress and worry in Draco. It's like they feel each other's pain.

Suddenly the Great Hall goes quiet.

Looking up from his plate Draco sees everyone staring at the front door. At the door is Karina.

As she limps with crutches down the Great Hall she wonders if it was a good idea to leave the infirmary so soon. Everyone around whispers about what happened. No one knew she had been assaulted by Aubrey, all they knew was that she was with the Gryfinndors during battle and then she got taken. They were of course confused as to how she was back and not six feet under but then remembered that she was a Pureblood Slytherin, so they assumed she was in good kahoots with the Death Eaters and Voldemort. Some were scared to look at her, others were scared to be near her. They knew she was hurt but they only were worried about her relationship with the bad side. No one knew the true story or even pitied the fact that she was hurt.

Well no one except the Gryfinndors. Harry had felt particularly horrible. It was his fault she was like this in the first place.

They all look at Karina who has bags under her red eyes and looks as if she was sick for days. Passing by the whispering classmates she keeps a blank face.

Harry and Ron give her a sympathetic look as she passes by their table. Sitting alone at the end of the Slytherin table she keeps her head down and plays with her food. A table down Draco, Pansy, Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle stare sadly at her.

After what felt like eternity of everyone staring at her like she's some kind of science experiment and the whispering gossip, she hurries out the Great Hall with tears running down her face.

Harry starts to get up to follow her but Hermione stops him and says look. Harry watches as Draco gets up and runs after her. That was when every one in the Great Hall knew that things between them had changed. They were Karina and Draco once more. And for some people they knew this was bad news.

Draco runs to the one place he knows that she loves as much as him. Getting closer and closer to the black lake Draco sees a figure laying by the water.

Karina lays by the water looking up at the stars that fill the night sky. Hearing footsteps she knows exactly who followed her but she still does not say anything. Draco lays down beside her and stays quiet for a second.

"Karina I know you said you wanted to be alone. But I know you better than that. I'm so sorry that happened to you. I wish I could reverse time and stop that from happening, because I would without a doubt in my mind. There are many things that I wish I could redo. My biggest regret is letting you go."

She still says nothing but she turns to look at him. Draco stares into her eyes and sees nothing but sadness. Standing up he pulls out his wand and does a spell to make a radio appear.

"Dance with me." He says while holding his hand out.

"W-what?"

"Dance with me..." He says grimacing still holding out his hand. He wanted to distract her in whatever way he could.

Karina smiles widely at his stupidity, shakes her head while slightly laughing, then grabs his hand. As they sway round and round the song plays in the silent night.

Just stop your crying
It's a sign of the times
Welcome to the final show
Hope you're wearing your best clothes

You can't bribe the door on your way to the sky
You look pretty good down here
But you ain't really good

Karina wraps her arms around Draco's neck and Draco's arms grip her waist. As they stare into each other's eyes the feeling and emotions they were both trying so hard to hide this whole time reflects through their eyes.

We never learn, we've been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets, the bullets?
We never learn, we've been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
Your bullets, the bullets?

"It's okay to let it out. I'm here for you. Always. I'm never letting you go again." Draco whispers causing Karina to burst out into a loud, painful sob.

Just stop your crying
It's a sign of the times
We gotta get away from here
We gotta get away from here
Just stop your crying
It'll be alright
They told me that the end is near
We gotta get away from here

Draco lowly sings with the next verse while wiping away Karina's tears and kissing her cheeks.

Just stop your crying
Have the time of your life
Breaking through the atmosphere
And things are pretty good from here

Remember, everything will be alright
We can meet again somewhere
Somewhere far away from here

Karina looks up at Draco with intense eyes and decides that she knows what she wants. Gripping his hair, she pulls him into a hard kiss. Without hesitating Draco kisses back while pulling her as close as he can. As their lips move together passionately the song still plays in the background.

We don't talk enough
We should open up
Before it's all too much

As their legs weaken from the intensity of the emotions that had been held in for a whole year, they both fall to their knees still in embrace, kissing like their lives depend on it.

Will we ever learn?
We've been here before
It's just what we know

Stop your crying, baby
It's a sign of the times
We gotta get away
We got to get away

"I love you Draco Malfoy." Karina whispers staring straight into those silver eyes that she fell for right from the beginning.

"I love you too Karina Grey. I really do." Draco says staring at the girl who captured his heart and the only one who really understood him.

We got to get away
We got to get away
We got to get away
We got to-we got to-away
We got to-we got to-away
We got to-we got to-away

The two lay holding each other tight while watching all the stars glimmer in the night sky.

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Thanks so much to -amazingrace for the moodboard!!! Literally in love with it 💙💙🙏 it's perfect

How are we feeling?!?

It's been so long yall!! I think literally a year? Maybe almost two? I'm not sure! But I'm so excited to be back!!

What are we looking forward to?

Next year will be dark for sure. A lot of trauma and anxiety and anger. 🙂 Karina will be changing as a person but not for the better. Meanwhile we know what Draco is doing the next year.

😬 Yikes

Who is ready?

Future predictions?

Any special requests...