Anticlimatic
Draco made no sound, but Nevra could feel the tears soaking through the cotton of her robes, and then through her shirt, wetting her skin with their saltiness. There was nothing she could say. She could merely hold him, and wait for him to cry himself out.
Finally he pulled away, his blonde lashes wet, his eyes unusually clear. "Thank you."
"No problem. This never happened…I assume you want it that way."
"Of course." He seemed to pull back even further.
She looked at him steadily. "Draco, what's going on with you? You never let anyone in…never let anyone see what you are thinking…and that is hurting you. Let me help you...let someone help you."
Draco looked at her strangely. "Why do you care?"
"You dolt! Of course I care! You…I…I care, okay?" Confusion dominated her face, then calm strength.
He smiled. "Okay."
"So what's bothering you?"
"The Dark Lord doesn't trust me anymore…I can feel it. I feel a change in the Hierarchy coming, and that scares me. I don't know if I am ready to bow down to someone else…My mother - well, Narcissa - I don't know how long I can hide her from Him. I need to protect her, though…need to keep her safe. Then, there's you."
"Me?"
"You confuse me. You - I don't know - I guess you make me feel things. I haven't let myself feel in a long time. I wouldn't be able to survive if I did. The guilt, the anger, the fear would overtake me and at the top of the Hierarchy, you just can't allow that to happen. There's no one to cover for you. You make me vulnerable, and I can't afford that. The scary part is that you don't try to do it. You aren't looking to move up in the Hierarchy, aren't looking to take me down, you just take my shields and rip them apart. Like now - you could use this information for anything." He laughed, desperation filling him.
"I won't, Draco. Promise."
He smiled at her. "That's where I got lucky. Out of all the people who could have been able to do this to me, I got you."
"What do you mean?"
"You have morals, values. You are so much…better than the rest of us. You believe in something higher than the Dark Lord - some greater Cause or something. I don't know. You just are…you. That's special."
Her eyes filled with fear. What had he said? "Draco, I have secrets that I can never tell you. I have secrets I can't let be found by others - including you. I have secrets you would have to kill me for. Please, please, please, don't go searching."
"I came close to the truth there, didn't I, Nevra? You serve another Cause, don't you?" She looked away. He cupped his hand under her chin and made her look at him. He said softly, "Nevra, remember the shore that first day we talked? As long as your loyalties don't lie in the way of my agenda, you aren't a threat. As long as you aren't a threat, I won't hurt you."
"You are loyal to the Dark Side, though. And for my secrets…you would have to kill me. Even if you were only loyal to the Dark Side in a tiny part of you…this is so bad, you would kill me. I would bet my life on it…in fact, I already am, aren't I?" For some reason, she wanted so bad to tell him the truth. She nearly had already. But she couldn't. Not now or ever.
He looked at her hard. "My loyalty comes first to the Dark Trio - to you - and then the Dark Side."
"The Dark Trio…that is part of the Dark Side. Just leave it, Draco."
"Alright, then. Whatever you say."
"Why did you tell me all this, Draco? Why me?" Nevra asked softly.
"Because I trust you."
"You trust Blaise as well." Nevra said, protesting.
Draco took a deep breath, and said the words that had never touched his mouth before. Opened himself completely…made him complete. "Because I love you."
Nevra pulled away, shaking her head…her eyes filled with longing. "No, you don't."
Draco said patiently, "I do."
"You can't love."
"Do you really believe that?"
She got up quickly and walked out the door.
Draco smiled. Finally he had brought himself to saying the thing he had felt for such a long time. After all the drama, the conversation had been anticlimactic, in his opinion.
Irritating Empath
Nevra leaned against the shut bedroom door in the hallway, her hand pressed against her mouth to stifle her breathing. Damn it! His eyes when he had said that…that was another memory that would never go away ever again. But he couldn't love…if there was any capacity to love within him, he could never have killed.
He can love…and dream as well. It was a shock to hear Blaise's voice in her head. She walked over to him. He turned towards her…of course he already knew she was there…he could feel her. Suddenly it occurred to her how careful he had to be to hide his Gift, and what Death Eaters would do to someone who had it. After all, it gave you superhuman senses in a way…people with strong advantages were always eliminated in this game by lower levels. She pushed away these thoughts to come back to them later.
"Didn't I tell you that telepathy is "not the answer"? It freaks me out."
Blaise smiled. "It also gets through to you better than words. You needed to know what I told you."
"It doesn't matter what you say if I don't believe it."
"Number one, you do, I can feel it and I know. Number two, you've killed people and I'm sure there are people you love in this world."
Nevra thought, then laughed bitterly. "Actually, I am not sure whether I love anyone anymore. There isn't enough feeling left in me for that. Amazing that you are an Empath and can't realize that."
"You love someone…you just can't admit it."
"Blaise! The trying to pair up me and Draco is getting really tiring…and it isn't working!"
"How do you know?"
She sighed. "Because my dislike for him is staying the same."
"Better than increasing. Besides, your other feelings are increasing."
"Why, I love having someone else here to explain myself to me." She said sarcastically. "Tell me the rest, please."
"Admiration, Sympathy, Care, want to name some more?"
"No. Blaise, this conversation never happened. And, you can't convince me so don't try."
"I am not trying to convince you. I am trying to get you ready for the day everything you've been denying finally hits you. So you won't fall apart."
"Thanks, Blaise. Much appreciated." Nevra said bitingly.
Blaise ignored the insincerity and smiled. "Any time."
Intervention
Nevra paused. "Why hasn't Draco come out of his room yet?"
"Maybe he knows we're talking."
"His hearing isn't that good." She walked to the door and opened it quietly. Shut it just as quietly and twice as fast. She turned to Blaise in a near panic.
"Lucius Malfoy is in there! How did he get past the wards? They have their wands out…but they didn't notice me." Blaise merely nodded. Nevra looked at him strangely, then spoke. "Do they do this often?"
"Yeah…about once a month or so. We'll step in if it comes to spell work. I will shield Mr. Malfoy, you do Draco."
"Why? They are father and son."
"You must have noticed things aren't the best between them."
"So? They are still family."
"Blood only counts for so much with Lucius Malfoy. In fact, if Draco wasn't his only heir and the Heir to Voldemort, I'm sure Lucius would have killed him - or tried to - by now. The harsh truth is, though, that Draco is more powerful than Lucius within the Dark Side, and that killing him would give Lucius a much worse fate."
"Than Death itself?"
"The Dark Lord has his ways…what are they arguing about, by the way?"
"Um…I think…me. And the Dark Trio and Inner Circle…and me."
"Well, if they are talking about that…I should be included. After all we pick the Dark Trio together…Draco may be the leader by name, but he is an equal in this group." Blaise actually sounded irritated.
"Um…does it annoy you that people automatically think he's in charge."
"I'm used to it." Blaise avoided answering the question as he strode into Draco's bedroom and shut the door behind him firmly. For extra insurance he locked it with an unbreakable spell. Well not quite, but the standard "Alohomora" wouldn't do, either. He was sure Nevra could find a way round it, but it would take time, and he would know when she did. Just in case she decided they had been in here too long. Intervention between Malfoys was deadly when you didn't know them well. He doubted Lucius Malfoy would hesitate at killing a Weasley who stood beneath him in the Inner Circle.