Save Yourself

Chapter Twenty-Three

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I awoke to the sounds of heavy, uneven breathing and the feeling of hot breath against my cheek. Startled, I twisted my head around to face the one who had woken me, only to find Draco laying next to me, looking just as surprise as I was.

”You’re back?” he said, his tone forming a question.

”I’ll forgive,” I said quietly, still bemused from sleep, “but I won’t forget.”

”I know that,” he said solemnly, his eyes focused directly on my own. His gaze slid across my face and down my body, stopping and lingering on the bulge that had replaced my once-flat stomach. Gently, I reached over and took his cool hand in my own, placing it on the side of now-large figure, watching as his eyes widened with amazement.

”He’s grown a bit in the past few months,” I admitted, watching as his fingers carefully brushed across my covered belly button.

”I’ve noticed,” Draco said softly, his eyes still trained onto what was soon to be his heir. “I’m going to be a father.”

A brief sense of jealously washed through me as I thought of how he must have felt when he found out Blaise was pregnant—and thought the child was his. I quickly rationalized with myself, however, saying he was fifteen and scared then; a child would have looked like a ball and chains, not the opportunity one truly was.

”Does Seamus know?”

Draco looked up at me suddenly, surprised evident on his features. After taking a moment to regain his composure, he shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

”Someone should tell him.”

”Someone should,” he agreed, reaching up tentatively to brush the back of his hand against my cheek, his gaze growing distant as he slowly leaned toward me. “You’re beautiful.”

”No, I’m fat and sore,” I sighed, shifting around so I was facing him.

”You’re pregnant,” he pointed out softly, “and the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.”

”What about Blaise?” I asked quietly, watching his features closely for any kind of reaction or feelings he still may have held for the whore.

”Blaise is dead to me,” he whispered just before his lips met mine for the first time in far too long. I savored the feeling for as long as I felt was right, until I felt a light pressure in the middle of my stomach.

Quickly, I brought Draco’s hand to the exact spot, watching as his eyes widened once again in surprise.

”He’s kicking,” I said gently, shocked at Draco’s apparent lack of knowledge about pregnancies.

”He’s big now,” Draco shook his head, allowing his pale hair to fall into his eyes. “He wasn’t this big two months ago.”

”Babies tend to do that,” I pointed out, watching the faint indents my son’s growing limbs were making under my skin.

”I noticed you’ve stopped taking off your robes after class ends,” he said, his gray eyes rising to meet my own. “Is it because you don’t want anyone to know?”

”People know,” I said rather bitterly, making a face. “I wish they didn’t, but it’s hard to notice. There’s been talk about how some wandering wizard knocked me up over Christmas break and that’s why we broke up.”

”Ha,” Draco snorted, reaching up to brush a stray strand of hair out of my eyes. “We can’t break up—we’re married.”

”No one knows that,” I pointed out.

”Then I guess we’ll just have to tell them, won’t we?” Draco’s eyes glinted with excitement. “Like you said, no one knows—wouldn’t it be a shock for them?”

”It would be,” I mused quietly. “Especially for Blaise.”

”You need to forget about her,” Draco hauled himself into a sitting position next to me, carefully helping me up as well. “I can make it so you won’t have to see her, if you’d like.”

”I would,” I sighed, shaking my head slightly, “but I know what you mean by that, and I’d feel terrible about it.”

Draco’s eyes glinted against the soft light of the Slytherin boy’s dormitories, his gaze now trained toward the back wall, his eyes unfocused. His lips formed words I couldn’t hear, words I wasn’t meant to hear, before he leaned over to me once again and kissed me lightly. “I think we should get up now.”

I nodded and then carefully swung my legs over to the edge of the bed and pushed myself into a standing position. “Draco?”

”Yes?” he replied, already up and digging through his trunk to find a suitable outfit to wear.

”I don’t have any of my clothes here.”

He straightened up, clothing swung over his arm. “All right, let me change and then I’ll help you find something.”

”Okay,” I complied, slightly miffed by the fact he though I might have needed help to pick out clothing for the day as he changed right in front of me, no longer bashful by my seeing his body. I watched his pale limbs fold into one another as he tugged a gray sweater over his head, messing up his hair even more so than it already was.

Once he was fully dressed, he walked over to my side of the bed and offered me his hand. I obliged, allowing him to help me up and place his arm around my shoulder protectively, as if nothing had ever happened.

”It feels strange to be able to do this again,” he admitted quietly as we made our way out of the dormitory and down toward the Slytherin common room—which was strangely empty.

”We aren’t up too early, are we?” I asked curiously, looking around the empty room.

”No—Crabbe and Goyle were already up, so it can’t be that early,” Draco shrugged, and then paused for a moment, staying absolutely still.

”Do you hear that?” he asked quietly, nodding up toward the Slytherin girl’s staircase.

I listened for a moment, straining my hearing for any sounds. Suddenly, I hear a soft flood of voices coming from the direction Draco had nodded toward.

”Yeah, I hear it,” I said softly, allowing him to lead me up the stairs to my dormitory. The volume increased with each step we took, until I could see a crowd of people gathered around the doorway to the dormitory.

”Draco…” I said cautiously as we approached the end of the mass. “Any idea?”

”No clue,” he said coolly, his eyes searching above the curious onlookers. “It looks like a few of the professors are up there—come on.”

He pushed his way through the crowd, making sure I was getting through as well, until we approached the front and saw exactly what was going on.

Draco’s eyes observed the scene in front of us with cold indifference, a mask of neutrality placed upon his pale features. I, however, gasped as my mind registered what had happened, my hand flying up to my mouth in complete and utter shock and surprise.

There, lying in the middle of the floor, bright hair spilling out around her still form, lay Blaise.

She was dead.