It was a long week. Each detention got harder and harder to walk to, knowing what I was to be facing.

I had taken to pulling my sleeve right down my arm, covering the increasingly deepening scarlet scar that had been cut into my hand. If I accidentally knocked it, causing me to flinch, or avoided using it in anyway, I explained it away by telling people I was suffering from soreness due to all the lines Umbridge was making me write. But Draco, especially, didn't look as though he believed me.

I made sure to position myself to his right at all times, so that if he held my hand, it would be my left. If I sat next to him in class, my right hand would be furthest from him.

Harry and I didn't speak about what happened in that room. Not even to each other. It was almost as if it felt like we were letting Umbridge win if we so much as referred to it.

And I couldn't let that bitch win. For Cedric.

Draco would be there, every night. Waiting for me. He didn't ask me anything, only took me in his arms as soon as I stepped out of Umbridge's office, and held me until my tears had subsided, before walking me back to the Ravenclaw Tower.

On the second to last night of my detention, Draco was biting his lip and looking agitated about something as he said goodnight to me.

"What is it?" I asked, feeling a flicker of fear, as we stood outside the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower.

"I'm so sorry, Aurora, but I won't be able to wait for you tomorrow night. I completely forgot I've got an extra Astronomy class. But I can skip it if you want?"

"Don't be silly, Draco!" I implored, my heart twisting at how upset he looked at the thought of letting me down. "You'll just end up landing yourself a detention instead, and I don't want to spend another week not being able to hang out together properly."

He pulled me into his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around me as he kissed the top of my head. I tried not to flinch as he accidentally knocked the back of my right hand.

Only one more detention to go.

...

Draco could barely concentrate as Professor Sinistra droned on about some special movement with the stars in the sky that night.

He hated that he couldn't be there for Aurora. These detentions did something to her, and even though she never said anything beyond that they had to write lines, he knew there must be something sinister behind them. She was always a broken mess when she emerged from them, for crying out loud.

He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was about this time that she normally left the office. He hoped she would be all right.

Suddenly the door leading up to the Astronomy Tower, flew open, making the class jump.

Draco was surprised to see it was Cho Chang, and even more surprised to see her eyes fix straight on him.

"For what do we owe this pleasure, Miss Chang?" Sinistra asked, looking quite perturbed by the unexpected interruption.

"Sorry, miss," she panted breathlessly, her eyes darting urgently back to Draco, "but I need Draco to come with me, now. It's urgent."

Draco's heart raced in his chest. He barely registered Sinistra's disdain as she grudgingly excused him. Packing his things away as quickly as he could, he flew to the door where Cho had already started descending the spiral staircase.

He knew before she spoke it was about Aurora.

"She's a mess, Draco." Cho explained as they raced towards the Ravenclaw Tower. "I can't calm her down, and- and her hand..."

"Her hand? What about it?" He spat, fear making his heart thud maddeningly in his chest. He knew he should have been there for her.

"You'll see," Cho said darkly, answering the riddle that allowed them access to the Ravenclaw common room.

He followed her through, stepping into Ravenclaw quarters for the first time.

"She's shut herself in the bathroom and refuses to come out." Cho said as she led him across to the girls dormitories.

"Wait- surely I'm not allowed through?" He asked, pausing at the entrance. He knew boys were refused access to the girls rooms in all the houses, and if you tried, magic would keep you out.

"We worked out a way around it," she blushed, "managed to undo the jinx."

If Draco hadn't been so worried about Aurora, he would have definitely smirked right then. But as it was, he could only think of getting to her.

They strode through a room, past blue four poster beds, until they reached a door on the other end.

Cho gently knocked upon it. "Aurora, please open up, Draco's here."

There was no answer, but Draco was relieved to hear the sound of a wand tapping on the other side, and the door slowly opened.

Draco looked on in horror as he took in her tear stained face, her frightened eyes and her sickly pale complexion. And, for the first time, he realised how gaunt she looked, as if she hadn't been eating properly.

He instantly stepped towards her, closing the distance immediately between them, wrapping his arms around her as she sobbed into his chest, clinging to him.

"Aurora, you need to tell me what's been happening with Umbridge. Please." He begged, looking imploringly down into her eyes.

"Show him your hand," Cho murmured, a slight quiver to her voice. "Show him what she's done to you."

Aurora shuddered beneath him. "No I- I-"

"I caught her in tears running it under the tap. That's when she kicked me out." Cho explained, not annoyance in her voice but worry.

Draco immediately pulled away from Aurora, grabbing her arms so she was forced to show her hands. He nearly dropped them in horror. The back of her right hand was covered in blood, which was oozing thickly out of scratches, as if it had been viscously attacked by the claws of some wild animal.

"What the fuck has she done to you?" Draco breathed, his voice shaking in fury.

Without waiting for an answer, he marched her further into the bathroom, over to the sink, and getting out his wand, he filled the empty basin up with Essence of Dittany, slowly lowering her hand into it. She flinched as the wound immersed fully into the liquid, ribbons of blood floating away from her skin and turning the potion red.

He kept an arm wrapped around her waist, clutching her protectively to him, as he held her hand in the Dittany, letting its magical components soothe her pain.

He kissed the top of her head as tears spilled down her cheeks, and onto his shirt. He didn't care. All he cared about was taking away her pain.

"Did she do this to you? Was it Umbridge?" He growled as he watched the once clear potion rapidly turn an opaque red.

"She made us do it to ourselves," she whispered hoarsely, her whole body trembling. "We carved our lines into the back of our hands."

Draco felt a wave of nausea swoop low through his insides. Very carefully, he lifted her hand out of the liquid.

Harry Potter is a liar.

White hot anger erupted through his stomach. His girlfriend had been branded with that twat's name.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He shook, staring down at the ghastly words ruining her perfect, porcelain skin, "we could have stopped this from getting worse!"

"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I didn't know how, I couldn't find the words. And I didn't want her to think she'd won!"

"Oh, Aurora," Draco sighed, emptying the basin and refilling it with fresh Dittany, before gently easing her hand back into it. "Promise me you won't cross her again. Just stay out of her way, and preferable away from Potter, too."

"Don't leave me tonight." She whispered. "Stay with me. Please."

Draco blinked, his heart started hammering instantly. He wasn't expecting her to say this.

"Aurora, I-"

"Just to hold me, that's all. The girls won't mind. They won't tell."

He knew then, already knew, that he couldn't say no to her. Slowly, he nodded.

That night, they lay curled up in her bed together, the bed's blue hangings drawn securely around them.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear as they clung to one another. "I love you so much Aurora."

"I love you, too," she breathed.

He waited until she fell asleep; waited for the gentle steady rise and fall of her chest against his, before allowing himself to finally succumb to the land of slumber himself.

Oh, how he loved her.