Chapter 13: Exchanging Her Life
Red blood pooled out of Stella's arm, searing pain coursed from her arm throughout her entire body as she collapsed in front of the beast Harry killed. Draco held onto the female as tears filled his eyes, threatening to fall.
"Draco..." Stella coughed, holding her shaky hand out to the man.
"Why…It wasn't supposed to be like this…" he whimpered, clutching onto the female with all of his might, afraid if he let go, she would pass. "I was supposed to protect you..."
"You….It's all your fault!" Tom yelled, raising Harry's wand out at Draco. "I knew I should've ended you first."
Performing no wand magic, Stella held her hand out facing Tom Riddle, a bright red light flashed in front before knocking Tom back.
"How?! M-My Love...?"
"Don't...I told you." she gasped, trying to stand up. "DON'T MESS WITH DRACO!"
Stella knew the poison of the basilisk was dangerous added with the Gryffindor Sword's penetration; she probably had a few moments left to spare before her death. Knowing Tom, he would murder both Draco and Harry within that time and she couldn't sit by if He hurt Draco. Reaching inside her cloak, she pulled out Tom Riddle's diary to Harry.
"Help...Draco…." she coughed, reaching out for the Potter as she dropped a few feet in front of him. "S-save….Save Draco. Please..."
More blood seeped onto the cold wet floor beneath them as she coughed out in pain from the poison. Draco tried to hush her as talking would spread the toxins even faster, tears streaming down his grey eyes as she called for the other. Harry took the diary from Stella, glancing at the fang still jutting out of her shoulder.
"Do it." she whispered, knowing that he needed the basilisk's poison in order to destroy the horcrux. The young Malfoy had no clue what was happening as he simply allowed Stella to lay onto Harry because she said so. Without a moment's waste, Harry ripped the fang from the female's shoulder. A loud howl of pain rang excruciatingly throughout the Chambers followed by a roar by the Dark Lord, feeling the exact pain his cousin felt. Draco held onto Stella tightly, not bearing to hear her agonizing scream as it tore through his heart.
"Shh it's okay Stel. I'm here. I'm here."
It was like Harry knew what to do all along, opening the diary, he pierced through the page with the basilisk's fang, creating black blood that seeped out from the book. A deep hole shot through Tom Riddle, the same place where Harry had stabbed his diary.
"Stella! Help me! COUSIN, HELP ME!" Riddle shouted, holding his hand out to the female who laid almost lifelessly in Draco's arms. "DRACO! Help me! I'll give you the dark mark! I'll let you stay by Stella!"
Having heard enough, Harry closed the book and dragged the basilisk's fang into a deep gash on the front. Voldemort writhed and twisted, screaming out all while trying to reach the male who was destroying his memory. There was a long dreadful scream and then, he was gone. Harry's wand fell to the floor with a soft clatter while Stella's bangle collided with the floor, breaking it in half before it was dead silent.
"D-Draco…" croaked Stella, her breathing hitched each time she opened her mouth to talk. "I'm sorry I broke it."
Seeing the young Gaunt's saddened smile, Draco intertwined their fingers and placed them on her side. "Don't be silly Stel, I'll buy as many as you want. Just...Just don't leave me, okay?" he whimpered, choking on tears as color drained from her lips. "I'll do anything you say, I promise I won't argue with you. I won't make fun of you. Anything you want, I'll give you anything you want, just don't leave me."
"I..I only want this one. It's your betrothal gift to me, right?" Glancing upwards, she tried to wipe away the male's tears. "Don't be daft Draco."
Draco kissed her hand as more tears pooled from his eyes, landing onto her cheek with a soft drip. Both Hermione and Harry made their way over to the two Slytherins on the floor, unsure of what to say, after all, she had brought this upon herself. Stella smiled at Harry, her voice losing its power as the poison traveled to its last destination.
"Harry….please...please forgive Draco, he was bewitched by me. Just tell everyone, it was me. I did everything…." Looking up at the platinum haired male who still shook his head, not wanting to believe his sight."Draco had nothing to do with it."
"Hermione….I won't say sorry. I still hate your guts." Stella joked, trying to lighten the mood. "But….I will say Thank You if you keep Draco safe. "
"Draco. Live on..." finally, she reached up and gently brushed his platinum bangs as a tear slipped from her eyes. "I-I love you…Draco" with that her arm fell limply back down her side, eyes closing as all life left her body.
"S-Stella?" Draco whispered, lifting her hand back onto his hair, once he let go, her arms dropped back down with a soft thud. "N-no….this joke isn't funny the second time around Stel. Come on. Wake up! I haven't even told you that I….that...I loved you. How could you go before you hear me say it!"
"Malfoy...she's gone." Harry muttered, placing the broken jade bangle on her lifeless body. "I'm sorry…"
"No she isn't! She always plays stupid jokes like this!" Draco screamed, cradling the lifeless body of his beloved. "Come on Stel, if you're tired then you can just tell me! I'll take you back to the room, don't sleep here!"
Both Hermione and Harry shook their heads at the boy who was in denial, lifting her up bridal style and walking out of the Chamber. Once outside, Ron and Lockhart looked absolutely done with each other, seemingly bickering with one another for a long period of time.
"Stella?" Ron gasped out, running up to the male who was holding Stella in his arms.
"Back off Weasley, she's sleeping." Draco hissed, his eyes narrowing at the male who tried to reach for his beloved Stella. Both Harry and Hermione shook their heads, as if saying to leave the young Malfoy alone. "Everyone quiet, my Stella is sleeping. Shhh...sleep my love, I'll wake you when supper is ready. Or maybe a bath first."
"What happened?" Ron whispered as the five left the dark tunnels. "It's like he's gone mad..."
"She's not sleeping Ron. She's dead…" Harry whispered back, holding Tom Riddle's tattered diary in his arms. "Malfoy's taken it harder because she protected him."
Once they were out and back at the Headmaster's Office, both Dumbledore and Lucius awaited them. Lucius' face turned sour the moment his son walked in with Stella in his arms, lifelessly dangling her arm out.
"Mistress…?" Lucius questioned, placing a hand over the female's cold cheek. "What is the meaning of this!? What happened to Stella!?"
Draco's eyes were already hollowed from crying so much, he too felt lifeless the moment he came to understand that Stella won't be coming back. "It's all my fault…"
"It's my fault she died. I couldn't protect her. I COULDN'T PROTECT HER!" Draco screamed out, dropping to his knees and sinking his head into Stella's lifeless body. "Please Father, you have something to bring her back right! I loved her and I didn't have the guts to tell her, even until she died, I didn't tell her. I'll do anything, please just bring her back to me!"
Lucius never liked pleading with anyone, but during this time, he had turned to look at Dumbledore hopefully.
"I'm afraid….I can't help." Dumbledore's soothing voice whispered out. "I'm sorry Draco. She has already….returned to where she came from."
Draco broke out in maniacal laughter, lifting the female out of the Headmaster's office and disappearing of into the distance with the deceased female in his arms.
Everyday from then on, Draco Malfoy spoke little to no words as he felt no power to speak to anyone anymore. He wore the bangle he originally bought for Stella on his wrist as a memento of the girl he had come to love. The cracks indented on it as a reminder of how she used her life to protect him and how his heart was like the cracks on the jewelry. His father wanted to be upset at him, but seeing how Draco was already in such pain, he no longer reprimanded him. It was as if Draco became a puppet himself, living on his life simply because that was Stella's last wish.
"I miss you so much...and...I love you dearly Stella."
____________________________________________________________________________
Beep…..Beep….. Beep…..
The sound of a heart rate monitor beeped steadily in a quiet room, a 21 year old female patient laid unconscious on the hospital bed as the doctor marked something off on his clipboard. Suddenly the girl's eyes flew open as she jolted awake, frightening the doctor at her sudden consciousness.
"DRACO!"
"Miss Stella!" The doctor gasped, setting the clipboard down to assist her. "How are you feeling?" he questioned.
"Like...I had a really bad dream…" she whispered back, wiping a stray tear that leaked out of her eye. "Damn, my head's ringing..."
"According to your mother, you fell down the stairs when the power outage hit. You're currently in the hospital." he replied, clicking on his flashlight. "Does anything still hurt? Can you tell me your age and name?"
Stella slapped the man's hand away as the bright light burned not only her eyes but into her skull as well. "It hurts when you do that." she replied, looking at the platinum haired male. "Stella, 15 years old."
The Doctor looked at her suspiciously, flipping through some of her paperworks.
"Wait...no. I'm 21..."
"Well, uhm Miss Stella. It seems your vitals are fine and we'll run some extra tests then you're free to go."
"Hey Doc?" Stella called out, her hand reaching for his white lab coat to see his name tag, but for some odd reason her eyes blurred the moment it reached his tag. "How are you a doctor when you're so young?"
"Uh, let's just say I'm a prodigy." he laughed, tapping her hand gently. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're trying to hit on me." The young Doctor let his hand graze the hair that gently framed her face and smiled.
"Oh ew…No thanks." Stella hissed, her eyes narrowing in agitation at the doctor who was so up in his arse. She wanted to pull down his mask to see his face clearly, but just his simple stare caused her to stiffen.
"By the way, here." The doctor called out, handing over a book to the female. "Your mother said you would probably want to read your books when you wake up."
Stella's eyes flashed happily at the book, eagerly taking it. "Thank you."
"Didn't know you were into such kiddy stories." The doctor smiled, waving his hand before exiting out of the room. Flipping open the book, Stella noticed that the words were blurry, thinking it was something to do with her eyes, she rubbed at them before looking over the book again. This time the words danced around and rearranged themselves before settling back down clearly.
"What the…."
A gust of wind blew into the room from the open window and flipped the pages to a certain part of the book.
'Harry opened the Chamber of Secrets to find a young female Slytherin arguing with a tall Prefect. The two seemed to have a dispute, so while they argued, Harry ran up to Hermione worriedly, seeing her lifeless body on the cold wet floor.
Draco Malfoy stood shocked to see the girl, unsure of what to do but merely called out her name. "Stella."'
The End
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