Under the Willow Tree | Draco Malfoy

chapter 45: i can't use my legs

Lorelei Jones | 5th Year

She knew it was a horrible idea, but she was pissed, and once Lorelei got into a fit of rage, she tended to act without thinking. Logic and common sense went out the window in favor of acting on her anger. Eventually, Lorelei could rein in her emotions, but there was always a danger period where she usually couldn't restrain herself. It was in those moments right after her conversation with Neville that Lorelei saw Crabbe and Goyle off on their own in a corridor.

Stomping towards them, she had no idea what she was doing or what she even planned to say, but knowing that they had hurt Neville Longbottom without consequences made her inconsolably angry.

"What is the matter with the both of you?" she demanded as she approached them, stomping and clenching her small fists the whole way.

They exchanged confused glances before narrowing their eyes at her. They both towered over her and were probably triple her size in width, but Lorelei was either unaware or unaffected by this fact. She didn't even flinch when Goyle crossed his muscular arms and stared down at her lethally.

"How dare you hurt Neville and pretend Draco had done it? You should be ashamed of yourselves!" she raged, her gaze jumping between the two of them rapidly. She pointed an accusing finger at Goyle and said, "You're supposed to be Draco's friend, and you betrayed him by claiming it was his fault, and you cannot just hurt a person like you did!"

Crabbe smiled in amusement and clucked his tongue. "Like a toddler tantrum." He tilted his head to the side and laughed, mocking Lorelei.

"You're Draco's little toy, aren't you?" Goyle mused, his twinkling eyes darting over to Crabbe to check that he was watching this too.

"I am no such thing," Lorelei said defiantly with her mouth forming into the smallest of pouts while her eyebrows remained lowered into her narrowed eyes.

Crabbe and Goyle exchanged the quickest of cruel smiles before Goyle shoved Lorelei into the wall so hard that her head rocked off the cold stone behind her. The world spun dangerously, and she thought her stomach was going to empty itself onto her shoes at any moment. This was a combination of her injury and of her current position.

Goyle had one hand painfully tightening on her hip while his other arm was pinning her against the wall with his forearm pressing firmly into her collarbones. Flashes of her birthday in third year flooded her mind, and she tried to remind herself that these were just memories, not a moment that could drown her now.

Enzo was gone. He wasn't here.

The animalistic and cruel look in Goyle's eyes shattered her moment of calm though. Through the fog in her brain, she was aware that this situation was dangerous, maybe even more so than the situation with Enzo. Once again, her rage made her act foolishly, and now she was going to pay the price for her actions.

"Please back up," Lorelei said quietly, her blue eyes widening as she stared up at the enormous Goyle.

Crabbe and Goyle let out simultaneous laughs, but there was nothing pleasant in these noises. Shivers dripped down her spine, and her stomach filled with acid. Goyle lifted the hand that had been pinning her to the wall by her collarbones, but he didn't step back. He latched the hand onto her jaw and squeezed so tightly that Lorelei couldn't help the whimper that escaped her mouth.

Goyle laughed and leaned in. His stinky and hot breath fell on her ears as he taunted, "If you aren't his toy anymore, then I guess no one will care what happens to you."

Lorelei managed to kick Goyle between the legs and gained some room to escape, but before she could even make it halfway down the corridor, Crabbe wrapped his meaty arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground. She let out a distressed scream until Goyle grunted and casted a silencing spell on her.

She kicked and flailed, but there was no fighting against Crabbe's boa constrictor arms. With her every movement, they seemed to lock around her tighter, and Lorelei let out a silenced cry when she could feel her skin bruising.

Someone help me, she mouthed, wishing for this to work with all of her being.

As if on cue, Draco and Theo appeared side by side at the end of the corridor with hairs askew and wands drawn. Their faces were drawn into tight scowls, and if Lorelei didn't trust them both to help her, she would have certainly felt afraid of the looks on their faces.

"If you don't set her on the ground in the next two seconds, you will never have function of your arms again," Theo drawled, his normally sleepy voice spitting so venomously that Lorelei didn't even recognize the lulls and grooves of his speech.

Crabbe slowly lowered Lorelei to her feet, and she immediately darted towards Theo and Draco.

As soon as she was out of the way, Draco casted the stupefy spell on Crabbe, knocking him unconscious instantly, while Theo abandoned his wand in favor of his fists. With each punch that landed on Goyle, Draco flinched, but he busied himself with figuring out why Lorelei was so quiet.

With eyebrows drawn together, he asked, "Are you okay? Is something wrong with your throat?" She kept pointing to her throat and mouthing silencing spell until he finally read her lips and snapped his eyes back up to hers. "Silencing spell?"

She nodded, and Draco's eyes narrowed dangerously. He whispered the counter spell immediately, bringing back the soft whimpers that had been silently falling from her lips the entire time.

Draco was about to ask her what else was wrong, but in a last ditch effort, Goyle lifted his wand at her and casted some spell that made Lorelei's legs collapse in on themselves. Draco reacted quickly and caught her before her head hit the floor, but Theo was even more pissed by this curse being sent her way. With a few final punches, he sent Goyle into what he hoped would be a suffering-filled unconsciousness. He stepped back, drenched in sweat and knuckles covered in Goyle's crimson blood, and he slowly smiled.

After he ensured that Goyle wouldn't be waking up any time soon, Theo turned to face the limp Lorelei with softer eyes drawn wide with worry.

"I can't use my legs," Lorelei panicked and stared up at Draco with a pleading look in her eyes.

"We're taking you back to our dorm, and we'll find the counter curse. I promise, princess," Draco said with his eyes turning fiery as he noticed the fresh bruises forming on her pale skin. He leaned down and scooped her up in his arms. Theo led the way down the corridors while Lorelei just clung to Draco as well as she could.

When she noticed the curious stares of her classmates, Lorelei buried her face in Draco's chest. She breathed in the comforting scent of his cologne and tried to focus on that rather than the stares or her aches.

When Draco felt Lorelei burrowing in his chest, he smiled and held her ever-so-slightly tighter. Even if he knew it was only temporary, Draco was soaking up every last moment he could get with Lorelei because he knew she may continue to want nothing to do with him once she was healed and safe, and he was learning to live with that.

Lorelei held the power now, and he would accept the outcome, no matter how much it hurt.

//