Maybe, because I know it's on devART.
Heh heh...it ish here, the last chapter!
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The Ministry was a mass of bustling wizards and witches, all sorting out their issues in their departments. Whirring and buzzing was heard everywhere I went. I had to get to that hearing. There I would be able to say my thanks to Draco for saving my life. But I was still torn. Was I a traitor?
“Excuse me, where is the interrogation room for Draco Malfoy?” I asked a witch who was heading in my direction.
“Down the hall, to the left,” she answered, eyeing me suspiciously.
“Thank you.” I rushed down the hall and at the first left I turned. The stone-walled room met my eyes and inside, the top of a blonde head could only belong to one person. Two wizards were guarding the room.
Peering over to through the barred window, I saw a wizard interrogating Draco, though I couldn’t hear a word of it; there was indeed a spell put around the surroundings so no one would hear the conversation of the people inside the interrogation room--that was just as I predicted. It must have been part of the process, to somehow dissuade him before the actual hearing.
I knocked. “Excuse me, Miss, you cannot do that,” one of the guards informed me, reaching for his wand.
“I’m here on special business with Draco Malfoy. I will only be a short while,” I told them, jaw set. I flashed them a card of authorization that I had procured from Mr. Weasley.
As if on cue, the wizard who was interrogating Draco came out. I proceeded into the room and clicked the door behind me.
Draco nearly jumped when he saw me. “What are you doing here?” he asked, taking a step towards me. There were thin, silver ropes wrapped tightly around his wrists, ensuring that he stayed in close vicinity to the wall behind him.
“I came to…to thank you,” I stammered, lifting my eyes to meet his. “Thank you for giving me the
Potion de Vida. I would have never expected you to.”
“I do still have the ability to surprise, Granger,” Draco whispered, smirking. How he managed to look calm and collected with ropes tied around him was beyond me.
“But why did you do it?” I whispered, my lips dry. “Surely—“
“I knew Voldemort wasn’t going to win,” Draco replied. “And your life wasn’t worth it,” he added almost painfully. A flush was rising to his pale cheeks.
I was flattered, because I knew he spoke genuinely, but that did not allow me to overlook what he had also mentioned. “So, you did it just to be on the winning side?” I interrogated, giving him an accusatory glare. Perhaps he’d never harbored feelings for me after all.
Gritting his teeth, he gnashed, “I’m a coward, okay? There, I said it. Happy, Granger?” His fingers twisted through his fair-coloured hair, which was as far as they could reach.
“Not entirely,” I answered, sighing.
“And don’t bother coming to my hearing,” Dra—Malfoy muttered. “I’m going to Azkaban anyways.”
I placed a hand on his cold arm, but he recoiled. “There’s a chance—“
“No, there isn’t,” he growled. He knew it as well as I. Drawing closer to me so I could count his pale eyelashes, he whispered hoarsely, “Don’t give me false hope, Granger. You seem to do that a lot to me, but right now is not the time.”
A moment passed where I couldn’t speak and neither could he. For a moment I thought he was going to kiss me, but he didn’t. And for a moment I felt myself wanting to…but I didn’t.
I hesitated, but placed my fingertips on his jaw. So cold. His grey eyes stared pointedly at me; the look on his face was of one who had given up the fight, who had known that this was the result all along, but had refused to believe it until it hit him.
Pursing my lips, I stepped away from him. “Well, bye, Malfoy.” I walked to the door to leave.
“See you around, Granger,” he said.
Eyebrows raised, I turned back to him. And what did he mean by that?
He said nothing more, but if not for the hint of a smirk still lingering upon his handsome face, I would have believed him.
fin