𝔵𝔵 | fourth year

                                    

                                          
I am pulled down by something, sharply grabbing onto my ankles. I scream, bubbles exploding out of my mouth. I can feel tears stinging my eyes as I try to fight against whatever it is. The water is ice cold, freezing up my limbs. 
                          
I can't see anything. Just black, as if I'm blind. I kick the thing attached to my body, trying to find my wand in my robes, checking each pocket. I grab the beechwood in my left pocket in relief, and mutter a spell, which shoots out of my wand in a glow of red, illuminating the light for a split second for me to see a grindylow being shot away from my foot. The spell burns my own foot so much so that I let out another scream.
                          
I swim up forcefully, heading towards the light and the shadows of canoes on the surface. My head breaks above the water and I suck in air. My robes are stuck to my body, weighing me down. I try to make sense of my surroundings, wanting to get out of the frigid water.
                          
My hearing comes back to me as people cry out to me from the stands. I turn around to look, finding the professors yelling for me to swim towards them. Glancing upwards, I see my friends rushing down the staircases. Draco leans too far forward on the top row, a concerned look on his face.
                          
I swim to where Dumbledore stands on the dock, and Professor Hagrid pulls me out, laying me down on the floor. I cough up water as McGonagall wraps a towel around me, asking if I'm okay. I can barely understand anything. I wrap the towel tighter around myself, trying to conserve warmth. Somebody pokes at my leg. 
                          
Madam Pomfrey is examining the wound, "What happened down there, dear," She touches the side of my face, trying to get me to pay attention to her, "Can you hear me?" I touch my legs together, and something sticky seems to be on them. I look down. 

                          
Blood rushes out of a gash on my right leg, surrounded by bite marks down to my ankles. My skin is stained red from being burned, on both legs. I cry out. 
                          
"Y/N!" I hear Daphne yell, my friends finally reaching the lowest level, but somebody leads them away. 
                          
Snape moves through the growing crowd, "What is the meaning of this, Larkspur?" He questions, ignoring the complaints from Madam Pomfrey to let me rest, "Would you like to explain why we all saw you fall from the top of the stands?"
                          
"I... I..." I stutter, and Madam Pomfrey hushes me, wrapping bandages around my legs and telling somebody they need to move me to the hospital wing. I debate ousting Pansy for her behavior, but decide against it. I won't give her the satisfaction, "I forgot."

                          
"Pansy Parkinson jinxed her!" I hear Blaise yell from behind a mass of people, watching me splayed on the floor, "She threw her off the top!" I drift out of consciousness for a second, black muddling my vision. As I come to, spots erupt in my eyes, blurring everything I see.
                          
The crowd looks to the water, and I turn my head. Fleur Delacour treads water, a distressed look on her face. She doesn't seem to be holding any treasured belonging, and it seems way too early in the task for her to be at the surface.
                          
"Get Larkspur out of here," Snape orders to Hagrid, who picks me up in his arms, "I'll deal with the Parkinson girl." 
                          
Madam Pomfrey hurries alongside Hagrid as they load me into a canoe. One look at the blood seeping onto my bandages, and I lose my grip with reality again. 
                          
The world goes dark. 
                          
❂
                          
I wake up to new-smelling white sheets, my body aching. I groan, my vision hazy as I look around me. I'm in the medical wing, and suddenly as my surroundings come to me, I remember why I'm here. 
                          
Before I have time to think, I notice Draco sitting on the bed next to me, like he's been waiting for me to wake up.
                          
"What are you doing here?" I snap, wondering to myself why he would do such a thing, especially since he's made it clear he wants nothing to do with me since the Yule Ball.
                          
"I wanted to come and say that I'm sorry," He hesitates, looking at me, "I meant to stop her, I didn't believe she would actually do such a thing to you."
                          
"Why did she do it?" For some reason, a tear spills down my cheek. I wipe it away quickly, embarrassed that my body didn't even warn me before letting a tear fall, "She used to just call me names, now I'm supposed to always be watching my back?"
                          
A burst of agony comes from my leg, and I resist the urge to release a groan of pain, just wincing instead.

                          
"She doesn't like that people forgive you," he pauses, "For what your father did. She doesn't like that I care..." His words trail off.
                          
"I don't agree with my father. If I was like him I would have been sorted into Ravenclaw, and you wouldn't catch me dead playing Quidditch," I joke. A small smile plays on Draco's lips, "Why are you even being nice to me?"

                          
"Because you surprise me every day," He shrugs, "Mudblood." He says the word as if he's thinking it over.

                          
"Your opinion of me seems to change every day, as well." I roll my eyes, not knowing what to think about the blonde boy, and turn over in my bed so I don't face him.
                          
"You're difficult to understand, Y/N."

                          
"So are you, Draco."