Draco stepped back, letting the bird fly out into the depths of the room. He struggled to take a breath, a lead weight in his stomach.

"Draco?" He was only acutely aware of her trembling voice next to him.

"I- I think I've fixed it." He whispered. He did not feel the elation and relief that he was expecting. Instead, he felt afraid - a fear that was threatening to drown him. All he wanted to do was grab Rosie and run away with her - far, far away from the Cabinet.

"Draco? It's OK, Draco, it's OK," A soothing hand was rubbing his back - he realised he was on all fours on the floor, gasping desperately for air.

"I'm - not - ready - for - this." His voice was strangled, tears springing to eyes.

Rosie sank down next to him, pulling him in to her soft embrace. He found himself clinging to her, his body wracked with sobs.

***

His reaction shocked me. All I could think to do was to comfort him. My heart broke for him - I wanted to take his pain away so much.

I was not stupid. I knew that fixing the cabinet meant the end. Or even the beginning - of something terrifying. It was now not a question of if, but when.

For hours we sat in silence by the cabinet, holding each other, until nightfall.

"What's going to happen now?" I dared asked before we parted ways.

His grey eyes met mine, bloodshot and puffy. There was no mistaking the fear behind them.

"I don't know." He drew me to him, hugging me hard. "I'm so sorry, Rosie. I never wanted any of this."

He tenderly kissed me goodbye, my heart breaking as I walked away from the Room of Requirement for the last time.

***

I woke up the next morning with a heavy heart. I was afraid about what the day would bring.

Draco was nowhere to be seen when I wandered into the Slytherin common room, so I went straight down to the Great Hall for breakfast, hoping just to see that he was OK.

But there was no sign of him there either. So I approached the Gryffindor table where Hermione, Ron and Harry were sat.

"Are you OK, Rosie?" Hermione asked, her face full of concern as I neared. "You look absolutely shattered."

Before I could answer, Harry stood up, turning towards me. "Look, I'm sorry about yester-" he started, but stopped abruptly as his eyes grew wide, noticing something behind me.

I span around and saw that Draco had just entered the Hall, his eyes locked fearfully onto Harry. He instantly turned and ran back out.

The next thing I knew, Harry had pushed past me and started chasing after him. Panicked, I followed in hot pursuit.

I ran after Harry who was running after Draco, my heart hammering in my chest. I had no idea what was going on, I just felt like something very, very bad was going to happen.

Up ahead, Draco flung himself through a door and I nearly collided into Harry's back as he came to an abrupt stop just outside the bathroom Draco had disappeared into.

As I peered in over Harry's shoulder, I saw what had made him stop; Draco was sobbing uncontrollably, leant heavily over a sink, his thin frame shaking as he gasped and gulped. My heart contracted.

"Harry-" I whispered, grabbing at his arm, trying to pull him out. I didn't want him seeing Draco like this.

Harry shrugged me off, clenching his wand in his hand, pointing it directly at Draco's back.

I looked on in horror as Draco's back stiffened upon seeing us in the cracked mirror above the sink, and then he wheeled round, drawing his wand.

A lamp shattered on the wall besides where Harry and I were standing, as Draco's hex missed us by inches. Harry threw himself sideways and flicked his wand exploding the sink next to Draco.

"No! No! Stop it!" I screamed, my voice echoing loudly around the tiled room. "Stop! STOP!"

But they ignored me, firing jinx after jinx at one another. There was a loud bang as a bin exploded and then a cistern smashed, pouring water everywhere.

"SECTUMSEMPRA!" Harry bellowed, waving his wand wildly towards Draco.

A scream stuck in my throat as blood spurted from Draco's face and chest. It was like he had been slashed with an invisible sword. He staggered backwards and collapsed on to the waterlogged floor with a great splash, his wand falling from his limp right hand.

Slipping and staggering, I threw myself towards Draco, falling to my knees besides his blood-soaked body as his white hands scrabbled at his chest.

I tried reaching for him, but he was shaking uncontrollably, his face shining scarlet as his blood pooled beneath him.

"DRACO!" I screamed, desperately trying to stem the flow of blood with my hands. But there were too many slashes and the blood spurted furiously, draining his body.

"HELP ME! HARRY, HELP!" I cried through my tears. But Harry just stood, staring down in shock, doing nothing.

The door banged open, and to my utter relief, Snape burst into the room and pushed me aside. He knelt over Draco, drew his wand and traced it over the deep wounds Harry's curse had made, muttering an incantation that sounded almost like a song. I recognised it instantly as the same spell Draco had used to heal my cheek. The flow of blood seemed to ease, and Snape wiped the residue from Draco's face and repeated his spell. Just like my cheek had done that time, the wounds seemed to be knitting.

Finally, Snape stood up, having fully healed Draco's wounds. Tears were running down my cheeks as I sobbed, deep, heaving breaths escaping my lungs.

"I'm going to escort Mr Malfoy to the hospital wing." Snape spoke, his voice full of cold fury. "And as for you two.. you both wait here for me."

I looked down at the wet floor, bloodstains floating like crimson flowers across its surface. I couldn't even look at Harry, who stood in shocked silence next to me.

I had never hated anyone more.

***