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I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone
“Dray!” laughter rings out across the lake as Rigel attempts to dodge another large orb of water. Draco grins, preparing to send large waves in his direction.
“Oh, how the tables turn Rigel Black! At last, you will taste defea–Ack!” Draco splutters as water slaps him across the face, choking on the liquid shooting up his nose.
“Ah ha ha Dray! I think you mean, oh how the turns table!” Sitting beneath the willow tree, a safe distance from the two boys splashing water, Pansy laughs lightly at Rigel’s absurdity, and Draco can’t help but grin at her in response. The two of them always have one thing to laugh at together—how utterly ridiculous Rigel manages to be without even trying.
Draco drags himself from the water, feeling waterlogged and exhausted. He thumps next to Pansy and shakes his head, snorting as Pansy smacks him for getting her wet. “You coming, Rye?”
“Yeah, just a moment!” Rigel calls, never turning his head from what seems to have captured his attention in the water. Suddenly he disappears under the water.
These wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
Draco leaps to his feet, heart in his throat, and feel Pansy scramble up beside him. He can’t move. Where is he? What’s happened?
Pansy sprints towards the water with a cry and begins to wade into the water. Her pale green robes flare out as she hits the water, but she doesn’t seem to notice or care. “Rigel!” she cries, looking around frantically, but not appearing to see anyone. She turns around to look at Draco, and ice fills his veins at her teary expression. Blood rushes in his ears, Pansy’s lips move but he can’t hear a word, and he’d about to move when—
—Rigel breaks through the surface with a massive grin on his face.
Draco lets out a choked noise and stumbles towards the water. He meets his friend right at the edge of the water, a bemused Rigel helping a soaked Pansy step out.
“Why,” he gasps out, breath finally returning to his lungs, “What happened?”
“Oh,” Rigel replies, seemingly bemused, “I spotted a grindylow tangled in the weeds. It lost one of its tentacles, so I figured I’d set it free and grab the tentacle for potions.” He shrugged. “The grindylow wasn’t too grateful, but I sent it on its way.” Draco feels his mouth gaping in an un-Malfoy-like manner, and Pansy seems similarly dismayed.
“So, I ruined my robes for a potions ingredient?” Rigel turns to Pansy, seemingly noticing how her pale summer robes are now stained from the waist down. He frowns, and opens his mouth as if to say something, but Draco cuts him off.
“You’re utterly ridiculous.” He turns towards his blonde friend and offers his arm. “Pansy?” Pansy smiles and allows herself to be led back to the castle by Draco, while Rigel brings up the rear, still attempting to offer apologies for her ruined skirts.
When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have all of me
Back in the dorms, Draco waits for Rigel to leave the shower so that the two can leave for dinner. Rigel has always been slow to get ready, incongruous with his often slovenly appearance.
Sitting there, waiting for Rigel to finish getting ready, Draco finds his mind wandering. Rigel in these past few months has seemed lighter than in their previous four years, with the pressures of death plots and tournaments finally abated. And yet, there are still so many secrets between the three of them.
Why can’t he just trust me? Draco finds himself asking, frustrated. Why can’t he just trust us both?
But that’s the thing about Rigel, isn’t it? He doesn’t trust anyone, not even himself.
The bathroom door opens, accompanied by light wafts of steam. He glances up and sees Rigel, hair still wet, framed by the bathroom light. Rigel’s hair has gotten longer to the point that when wet it hangs to his collar, framing and softening his face. He looks beautiful.
Rigel raises a questioning brow at him, and Draco looks away, flushing. This thing between them, not expressed since that night last year when Draco had made the mistake of kissing Rigel, rises in his throat. He wants nothing more than to be able to hold Rigel, to know Rigel’s every thought.
That will never happen now, will it?
Draco frowns, wondering where the thought had come from.
“Dray?” Draco glances back up at Rigel, offering a smile.
“Took you long enough. I’m sure even Pansy is ready by now.” Rigel simply smiles in response, one of those smiles where he barely seems to soften his mouth, and yet his whole face glows.
“Well then, we’d best not keep her waiting.”
You used to captivate me by your resonating light
Now, I'm bound by the life you left behind
The two of them walk down the stairs and see Pansy, waiting for them. She pouts delicately, something glinting mischievously behind her eyes. “I was beginning to think you’d forgotten me. I was making plans for how I would pose myself as I wasted away.” Rigel gasps, all drama and flair, every inch the Black he’s supposed to be—
What is that supposed to mea—
“Oh Pansy, light of the moon, flower under the stars, finest beauty I have ever know, Draco and I could never desert you to such a fate!” It is quiet just a beat too long, and both Pansy and Rigel turn to him, confusion on their faces. That’s your cue.
Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away all the sanity in me
These wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
“Drake?” Pansy’s voice is hesitant.
“Draco, is everything all right?”
But no. Nothing is alright, something is very, very wrong.
None of this is real… A voice hisses in his mind. It sounds like his own. Time to wake up.
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me, I've been alone, I'm alone
When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears
I held your hand through all of these years
You still have all of me
Draco jerks awake. He’s at home, in his bed, his racing brooms on the wall. He breathes in, breathes out, breathes in again.
“Dobby!” There’s a pop, and the house elf appears, anxiously wringing his hands. Draco feels his lip curl in instinctive disgust, before batting down the feeling.
“Can Dobby bring the young master anything?”
Draco hunts his mind for an item, for anything that will make him feel better. His mind is blank.