Harry Potter Imagines

[Draco Malfoy] ~ Sneaking Out

"Is that the promise ring Draco gave you?" Cho asked and I took a look at my hands, which had been absentmindedly fiddling with the silver ring on my left hand.
"Oh?" I asked as I sighed. "Yeah, it is," I admitted quietly.
"Wouldn't it be better to take it off since you two broke up?" She asked carefully, almost sounding scared, and I sighed as I nodded.
"Maybe..." I whispered as I slid the ring off of my finger, looking down until something compelled me to look ahead and I saw Draco with tears in his eyes, turning around and leaving the hall, and even though we hadn't spoken to each other in months, I was running after him and calling out his name.

"Draco! Wait!" I screamed as I ran after him, managing to catch up to him, somehow, panting very harshly. "Are you okay?"
Draco peered at me from under his eyelashes, sighing deeply.
"I know I broke up with you, but-" he cut himself off when someone walked by us, and I grabbed his hand, pulling him somewhere more secluded, because if he was about to talk about us, then I wasn't missing this opportunity.
We stood in silence for a few minutes, minutes which I used to fiddle with the ring in my hand, debating whether or not to keep wearing it.
I took a deep breath, laying a hand on Draco's shoulder, making him look at me.
"Where did we go wrong Draco?" I asked softly as the stubborn tears reached my eyes. "Where did I go wrong?"
Draco quickly grabbed my hands, pulling me against his chest. "You didn't go wrong; you could never go wrong. I was-I thought I was protecting you by staying away." He said against my hair, and I looked up at him.
"Protect me?" I asked softly, my eyebrows rising in confusion before I realized. "Protect me from... him?" I asked, fully aware that Draco knew to whom I was referring to. I looked around before lifting the sleeve on my left forearm, exposing the Mark.
Draco sucked in a harsh breath as he looked at the Mark on my left forearm, staring at me. "When? How? I thought you said you'd never take it!" he said as he rolled down my sleeve carefully, before pulling me against him once more.
"Father threatened me into doing it," I admitted and felt Draco stiffen against me. "He said he'd kill mother if I didn't. I had to do it."
Draco heaved out a sigh as he cradled me carefully, and I sighed as I sniffed sadly.
"This is probably not the best time for this, but" he looked at me, taking the ring from my hand, and holding it out for me. "Can you forgive me, and give me another chance?"
I looked at him, completely in awe, before I nodded, letting him put the ring on my finger.
"I don't know if you noticed," he began and I looked up at him, before he showed me his ring, still on his finger, "but I haven't taken it off either."

(...)

Draco and I were helping each other out mutually or at least trying. The two of us going on missions, the two of us sabotaging every mission and spending countless nights in the Room of Requirement because neither of us could sleep and neither of us really wanted to be alone.
As morbid as it may seem, this whole ordeal had brought us closer together, and I was somewhat grateful we had encountered such horrid fates.
Lately, I had been trying to come into contact with Mother, but I had found I couldn't and that was making me gravely worried, so I had devised a plan to sneak out of school grounds and get to the Manor, just for a few minutes to check on Mother.
I had told no one, not even Draco, I knew he wouldn't approve of me doing this, especially while I was still underage and couldn't perform magic outside of school grounds and there was a chance Father would wake up and find me and take his revenge on me for misbehaving.
And if Draco wound up approving, I was sure he would convince me to take him with me, and I couldn't risk that, not now, not ever.
So, I was alone, preparing to use one of the secret passages that connected Hogwarts to Hogsmead, and from there I had arranged with someone who owed me a couple of favors to apparate me out of Hogsmead and then back to Hogsmead. The person would apparate us two streets down from my house, on a dark road where I was sure no one would see me. I would then sneak into the room where Mother had been sleeping on her own since I was a child, just to check if she was alright and then I was back to the alley.
I sighed heavily, staring at the passage, knowing that on the other side would be Aberforth Dumbledore, moving around his pub and turning a blind away to yet another one of my escapades.
I could have used the cabinet Draco had mended, but there was a much too high risk of getting discovered that way, it was safer to use Aberforth's passage.
I heard a small noise outside and hurried into the passage, turning back to see if the entrance had been covered, and it had, so I followed through, walking the path I already knew by heart. Carefully walking outside of the passage, I found Aberforth.
"Thank you once more, Aberforth." I thanked quietly and Aberforth nodded as he accepted the Galleons I placed in his palm.
"Be safe." He warned, it always sounded empty and forced, but I appreciated it nevertheless. Aberforth was honest, and I don't think he recalled the night I first discovered this passage. When I got to the pub, he was alone and drunk off his mind, talking to a portrait of a girl, I had later found to be his late sister. That night, I reached him, and he was so sad, he seemed so in need of a friendly shoulder, and I provided, listening to him and learning his story. Since then on, I had sort of made it my habit to come here every once in a while. And even if he seemed cold, I knew that deep down he appreciated it.