Comfort
Draco felt something akin to nervous butterflies when he stepped off the Hogwarts Express. It was finally winter break, and he was going home. He went right to his mother and gave her the customary hug.
He was nervous to go back to the Dark Lord's layer. He was nervous to give reports on his progress, and he didn't want to go back to the horror that was in the dungeons.
More than that though, he wanted to see Amira. That overtook every single one of his other emotions. Nothing else mattered as much. He needed to see how she was, and what she had been doing while he'd been away. The last week had been almost unbearable. It had dragged longer than any week of Draco's life due to the anticipation.
He flooed home. He didn't know what to expect. He didn't know where to go. It was almost like his mother had read his mind.
"Go put your stuff away," she told him gently, "She's training right now, but the Dark Lord told me you should go observe the latter half."
Draco nodded and wondered how his mother always seemed to know what he was thinking. He put his things away, and then took a breath to calm his nerves. He was being ridiculous. He shouldn't have been that excited to see her. They'd only kissed three times, and that was months ago. She probably felt differently now.
He went downstairs and slipped into the dining room. He was bombarded with noise and lights as soon as he entered. There must have been a silencing charm blocking the sounds of the intense duel inside.
"Almost got me," Bella cackled. Her eyes were as wild as her hair as she pranced around the room throwing curses. One slammed into the wall next to his head. Draco threw up a shield immediately as a precaution.
He slid around the side of the room so that he could watch the duel from a safer spot. He took in the whirling form that was Amira. She never stopped moving. She was constantly jumping, running, flipping, and shooting spells.
Draco stood in awe. Amira was more than holding her own. She was giving Bella a run for her money. Bella stayed on the defensive most of the time and Draco could tell she was barely staying on her feet, which was a very rare sight. Amira for her part looked completely calm. She looked almost bored in the few glances Draco could get at her face when she wasn't moving. Her eyes were fierce though.
She looked strong too. She was wearing a pair of tight pants and a sleeveless shirt that showed just a small section of midriff. She had abs, and her legs and arms looked leanly muscled.
Amira caught Bella off-guard with a simple tripping hex and sent her to her knees, ending the duel.
Bella climbed slowly to her feet as if she was sore from being knocked down so many times. She still looked insanely gleeful though.
"Good, good, good," she cheered. Then she turned to Draco. "DRACO!"
She squealed and bounded to him. She wrapped him a tight hug and all Draco could see was black frizzy hair.
"Hello Aunt Bella," he greeted her as she finally let him go. He turned to look at Amira who was approaching. She was beautiful, her eyes were bright, her cheeks were flushed, and her hair was falling out of their braid to frame her face.
"Amira," he greeted.
"Draco," she said politely. The air was charged between them, but also awkward because they couldn't speak freely in front of Bella.
"Did you see how far she's come?" Bella said eagerly, oblivious to the energy between them.
"Yes, she's very impressive," Draco said. Amira blushed and looked down.
"Go now, I'm sure you want to catch up before dinner," Bella said, "Being the only two young kids. It'll be so much better when all of your friends join up. I remember when I first started, we all just had so much fun together."
"Er, yeah, I'm sure," Draco said. Bella left without another word.
"Should we go outside?" Amira suggested.
"Yes, let's do that," Draco agreed.
Amira summoned her winter robe, and Draco did the same. They walked down the hall into the snow covered garden. Draco was beyond happy to go to their usual bench.
"You look well," he said carefully. She inclined her head.
"You look tired," she said back.
"I am," he told her. She nodded. "I'm happy to be back."
"Are you?" she asked. "I wouldn't be."
Draco frowned, "Well, not to be here specifically, but to be home. And to see you."
It was a risk to admit that in person. He was terrified of her rejection. But he needed to know where she stood.
She smiled softly.
"I'm very happy to see you too," she told him, "I've been looking forward to your return."
"I couldn't tell, in the journal," he pointed out.
"Yes, I haven't been able to write much," she said, her smile dropping. "I've been very busy. Especially at night. And then I'm so tired."
"What do they have you doing?" he asked.
"I'm sure you'll see," she said, and then glanced around and lowered her voice, "How is your task?"
"It's coming along," Draco said evenly, "I'm still struggling a little bit."
"Would it help if you had someone on the other side of the cabinet?" Amira asked, "The one in Knockturn?"
Draco thought about it. He had the shopkeeper helping, but he couldn't give advice or fix anything. "Yes, I would think so."
"Request it. Request me," Amira said, "I can help you."
Her voice was urgent.
"It's my task, I doubt he'll let me," Draco said.
Amira shook her head, "Explain it confidently and with reasons. He'll respect the control you're taking over your task."
Draco looked at her closely, "Why do you want to help so badly?"
"I want you to succeed," she said, "And... I need a reason to be allowed out. There are things I need to do."
"Why do you need to go out?" Draco asked quietly.
"How good is your Occlumency?" Amira asked him. Draco swallowed nervously.
"It's pretty good," he answered honestly, he'd been putting a ton of time and effort into practicing it.
Amira looked around again.
"I found something," she said, "And I won't tell you what it is, but I need to learn more."
"About what?" Draco asked. She shook her head and looked him in his eyes.
"Draco, I found something," she said again, "Something that could help us. Or hurt us."
"Us as in us?" Draco gestured between them. She nodded. "Not us as in the Death Eaters?"
"No, not the Death Eaters," she whispered. "It's big, and I don't know what to do with it, but I've learned all I can here."
"And you can't tell me?" Draco asked.
"I shouldn't have even told you this much," Amira said, "It's not safe."
Draco nodded, "Is there anything I can help you with?"
She looked at him, "Get him to let me out."
He nodded, "I will."
"Do you remember when we used to talk about escaping?" she whispered. He took her hand and nodded. "I'm going to."
Draco's heart pounded. "When?"
"I don't know, but I'll have to," she said, "Not soon, but there's no scenario where I can do what I need to do and stay here."
"What you need to do... are you talking about something to help the other side?" he asked.
She turned to look towards the snow covered garden.
"I will not stand by and let him win. Draco, I'm not just going to help the other side, I'm going to end the war," she said, "Whatever it takes."
"You're going to bring him down," he breathed. She nodded.
"I'm going to try my very best," she agreed, "And if I stay here I'll die before I can. But I also have to stay long enough to get everything I need."
Draco's mind was whirling. They'd always talked of escaping, of not wanting to fight for the Dark Lord, but this was a bigger conversation. This was treason. This was talk of killing the person that had his mark on Draco's arm. The one who Draco and his family had sworn to serve for the rest of their life. Amira was ready to turn as soon as she could. And Draco wanted to help her. He wanted to go with her. He wanted to be on the right side of history. If anyone had a chance at defeating the Dark Lord, it was her. It wasn't Potter, it was Amira. But Draco worried he wasn't as brave as she was.
"How will I know when it's time to go?" he asked her. "I'll have to at least warn my mother."
"What?" she asked, and looked at him.
"Before I leave, I need to tell her," he explained. He couldn't imagine leaving her without a word. He wouldn't want to leave his father either but that might be the only option.
"Draco, I'm not asking you to come with me," she said, "It's too dangerous, you can't leave your family."
"Amira, I'm not letting you go alone," he said, "I hate it here as much as you do. I won't stay here complacent when I know I could be helping you bring real change."
"But Draco, if we're discovered, you'll be killed," she said, "Your family-"
"I know," he whispered, "But for once in my life, I want to do what's right. This is war. There are risks. I know that. But I'm choosing you anyway."
She stared at him in wonder. "Okay."
She squeezed his hand tightly. He squeezed it back.
"So when will I know?" he asked. Draco could see her calculating a number of unknown things in her mind.
"It probably won't be until the summer at the earliest," she reasoned, "I still have too much to learn."
"Alright," he said, "When we leave, will you tell me what you know?"
"Yes," she said, "I will."
"Okay," he nodded. "I'll be ready."
"We shouldn't talk about this again," she whispered, "It's too dangerous."
"Alright," he said. She nodded and relaxed back onto the bench. Draco scooted a little closer to her so that their legs were touching. She leaned her head on his arm and the two of them sat in a comfortable silence, taking in everything that they had talked about. Draco was quickly putting the conversation to the very back and deepest part of his mind where the Dark Lord would hopefully not be able to find it. He guarded it with memories that the Dark Lord hopefully wouldn't think to dig past. That was if he got past Draco's wall, and his first line of defenses.
Eventually, they had to go to dinner. Draco followed her in and went to his seat. The room was much fuller than it had been at the end of summer when Draco left. Severus was one of the only who was still not present.
The familiar chill swept the room when the Dark Lord entered and they all stood. He glided to his seat and surveyed the room with his beady red eyes. Draco's palms started to sweat, and his heart pounded with anxiety that had been gloriously absent for the past few months.
"Ah, Draco," he said when he saw him, "You have returned."
"Yes my lord," Draco nodded. "I am happy to be back."
"Good," he murmured, "Tell me of your progress."
Draco hadn't expected to be asked in front of the entire inner circle and rest of the Death Eaters.
"I have fixed all of what I can while at Hogwarts, my lord," he said. It was a slight lie, but not far from the truth, "I will need a counterpart to finish the work from the other side in parallel with me back at Hogwarts."
The Dark Lord nodded slowly. His eyes did narrow, but he seemed not to question Draco too much.
"I can send one of my men," he said.
"My lord, if I may," Draco asked permission before continuing to speak, "I would like to request Amira's help, if that's possible. Her... gifts will speed up the process immensely."
The Dark Lord narrowed his eyes further. "How much faster?"
"I believe it would take several weeks, if not months, for someone else to learn what is needed and decode the complex wards and spells and then fix them," he explained, "Amira's abilities would allow us to get done in a few days? No more than two weeks."
The Dark Lord nodded. "Good. I want this done as soon as possible. Amira will help when you return."
The Dark Lord finally sat and the meal began. Draco breathed the quietest sigh of relief. He felt Amira do the same next to him. He couldn't believe he'd been successful. He also was impressed with himself for keeping his voice steady and confident.
He ate his food as much as he could. It would take some time to adjust to being comfortable in the tense environment once again. After dinner, the Dark Lord dismissed the majority of the room. All that was left was Amira, Draco, Bellatrix, Lucius, Narcissa, and the Dark Lord.
"We need to update Draco on what we've learned," the Dark Lord said, "Bellatrix... report."
"So Draco," Bellatrix said giddily, "We've been preparing Amira for her entrance to the battle field within the next few months. As you will not be attending Hogwarts next year, and you have the best grasp, outside of the Dark Lord, on the way Amira's magic works, we will be assigning you to her."
She took a breath, "We know your dueling abilities are not as strong as ours, as you are a school boy, but we need you to watch her. You will be her back up. We will be much too busy to keep track of if she is getting... overwhelmed, or is experiencing... side effects from the magic around her."
"Side effects?" Draco asked. He knew of the panic attacks and euphoria that Amira often experienced, but something told him there was more.
"Yes, we will show you tonight," Bellatrix waved her hand dismissively. Amira stiffened next to him. "You will need to develop a strategy that allows you to stay close to her during battles, and also get her back here if that is necessary."
"This is a temporary solution," the Dark Lord said, "Eventually, Amira will become capable of handling herself and we will need you to focus on other things, but at first, we cannot risk it."
Draco nodded.
"Alright, should we go?" Bellatrix asked giddily.
"Yes, I have things to do so we need to move efficiently," the Dark Lord said and stood. He swept out of the room and Bellatrix followed. Amira followed them, and Draco followed her, apprehension clear in her steps. Draco's parents also came with them. Draco's stomach sank when he realized they were going down to the dungeons. They descended the rock steps and their footsteps echoed.
The Dark Lord lit the torches while Bellatrix retrieved a prisoner from their cell. It was a tall man who looked bloody, bruised, and afraid. She shoved him to the floor in the center of the room.
"We have discovered that Amira has an unusual reaction to dark magic," Bella explained. "Stand over by the door my dear."
Amira moved to the farthest corner of the room obediently. Then without warning, Bella cast the torture curse on the man in the center of the room. Screams echoed through the room and Draco forced himself not to react. Bella cut it faster than he would have expected.
"Look," Bella reminded Draco to look at Amira. She looked pale and her hands were in tight balls. "She can handle it at a distance pretty well."
Handle what? Draco wondered. He knew it was hard to watch but it was something they all just had to deal with.
"Come here," Bella demanded. Amira took a place next to Bella. Bella cast the curse again without warning, and this time Draco watched Amira. She flinched hard, and her face stayed pale. She breathed a big sigh of relief when Bella cut the spell.
"Now, next to him," Bella instructed. The Dark Lord was watching Draco closely, and it unnerved him. Draco was careful not to let any emotion flicker across his face as he began to understand the effect that the magic had. His suspicions were confirmed when Amira stumbled at the next spell, and wrapped an arm around her midsection. She was breathing hard when the spell was released.
"It hurts her?" he asked. Bella nodded.
"Being in proximity to spells intended to cause pain seems to have the same effect on her," Bella said, "If I use a burning spell, she feels burning. If I use other spells like a skin-"
"Just show him," the Dark Lord interrupted. Bella nodded and cast a number of gruesome spells on the man in quick succession. Amira flinched and stepped back. She didn't make a noise, but pain was written all over her face.
"She handles Bella pretty well now," his father commented, and drew his wand, "Two people however..."
He began casting his own spells with Bella. Amira stumbled back to the wall and braced herself, taking forcibly deep breaths. Draco wanted them to stop. She was in a lot of pain, and she wasn't even near the victim anymore.
"Stop."
The two Death Eaters stopped at the Dark Lord's command. Amira swayed a bit as she stood up straight again.
"You can see how this would pose a problem," he told Draco. "Most of the spells coming from our side on the battlefield will be dark in nature."
"Yes my lord," Draco nodded.
"It will be easy enough to keep her distance, but that will be a part of your job, you will need to keep the Death Eaters a suitable distance away," he instructed. Draco nodded again.
"Of course, there will come a time when the two of us need to fight side by side," he said with a sadistic grin, "And you won't be able to help her. She will need to continue to work on this problem."
Amira looked at the Dark Lord warily.
"You have come far my dear," he chuckled, "Shall we show him?"
The Dark Lord got out his wand and Amira took a step back.
"She used to pass out immediately," Bella supplied helpfully. "She's much better now."
Draco's heart pounded and he wanted to reach out and stop him. He knew he couldn't. It would mean his death. And then he wouldn't be able to help her. It was killing him to stand there and do nothing though.
The Dark Lord cast the curse and Amira fell to her knees. The man on the floor writhed and screamed. Draco thought he heard her make a noise as well but he couldn't hear it clearly over the man. The Dark Lord broke the curse and the man on the floor passed out.
Amira breathed heavily and Draco could see her whole body shaking.
That's why the writing was shaky, Draco realized. He felt sick to know this had been going on that long. The Dark Lord strode over to her and tilted her head to look up at him with his wand. Amira's blue eyes were foggy with pain.
"Better," he murmured.
He left without another word.
"Take her to her room," Bella instructed Draco. Draco nodded. Bella levitated the man roughly to his cell. Draco went to Amira as the other three left the dungeons. She was shaking worse than he had thought. She looked up at him. He helped her to her feet and put an arm around her waist to support her.
"Thank y-you," she stuttered. She tripped when they got to the stairs.
"I've got you," he assured her. Draco wondered who had been helping her back to her room before he had been home, if anyone.
They made the slow journey up the stairs, and then they had to go up another set of stairs to go up to the second floor.
"One second," Amira panted. She lowered herself to sit on the staircase.
"How were you doing this before?" Draco asked, observing her pale and shaky form.
"Oh, normally ....I had to sit down there... for a while before I tried.... to get back to my room," she said breathlessly with many pauses. Draco didn't ask her more questions and just let her catch her breath.
When she was ready, she pushed herself to her feet and started climbing the stairs without Draco's help. He stayed close in case she needed it. She made it to the top of the stairs and halfway down the hallway before she stumbled again. Draco caught her smoothly.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"It's alright," he answered, "It's not your fault."
He helped her into her room. She went to her dresser and picked out some pajamas with shaking hands.
"I'm going to change," she said. "Will you stay?"
"Yes, I'm just going to put on some more comfortable clothes and then I'll come back," Draco promised her. She nodded. He hurried to change and when he came back, he found her on the floor near her bathroom, struggling to get to her feet.
"What happened?" he asked, and hurried to help her.
"I got tired, and my vision went black a little, I lost my balance," she admitted. Draco decided to just pick her up and carry her to the bed. She made a noise of surprise and tensed for just a moment before she relaxed and let him help. He set her gently on the bed.
"May I?" he asked. She nodded and he crawled in next to her. He pulled her against him and took her shaking hands to massage them. She curled so that she was leaning against his chest with her head tucked under his.
"That better?" he checked after a few moments. She nodded.
"Thank you," she murmured, "I missed this."
"Me too," he said and kissed her hair. She pulled back and looked up at him.
Slowly, she leaned in, and he met her lips. They were warm, and Draco felt like he was being given one of the best gifts of his life. They moved together slowly and softly. The kiss was filled with compassion, and understanding. Draco felt warmth soar through his entire body as he cradled her face.
He pulled back before things could get heated, and she blinked at him sleepily with a soft grin.
“Sleep love,” he whispered. She nodded and settled back down against him. Draco was beyond happy to be back.