Chapter Text
The night at Hogwarts was silent. The only movement in the corridors came from the flickering flames of the candelabras. Draco was sitting at one of the tables in the library, looking quite busy. He dipped his quill in ink, adding sentence after sentence to his essay for the Charms class. The library was silent except for the rustling of papers and the scratch of his quill across the parchment. Leaving the assignment until the last night wasn't a good idea, but he just couldn't bring himself to start writing with everything weighing on his mind . Though, he didn't know what anyone expected of him, or if anyone expected anything at all. Very few students had returned to complete their unfinished final year. Draco hadn't expected to be one of them, but since his participation was a requirement for his release, he hadn't had a choice.
When he grew tired of writing, he looked up for a moment and met a pair of brown eyes. A girl with ginger braided hair and a green-striped robe sat opposite him. She must have been roughly the same age as Draco, maybe a little younger. He must have been so lost in thought that he hadn't noticed her arrival. The strange thing was that the girl was looking at him instead of the book in front of her. Unable to bear her gaze any longer, he asked:
"Is everything alright?"
The girl looked around, as if expecting to see other people who weren't in the library. Seeing no one else, she broke the silence that had lasted for some time:
“Did you ask me?”
“Uh, yes…”
The girl’s eyes widened like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Then she hastily stood up from her chair. The chair almost tipped over with the force of her movement. Before Draco could say anything, the girl left the library. He didn’t understand what had happened, but he didn’t dwell on it, picked up his quill again, and continued writing. This wasn’t the strangest thing he’d seen lately.
The next few days blurred into each other, and Draco didn’t care. He went to classes, answered the questions people asked, ignored the glares of other people, and kept his head down. He needed to finish this year. That’s all. Nothing else mattered.
But that was not true. Even though he kept telling himself this, others’ whispers mattered, lingering looks from his professors mattered. Everyone who looked at him saw the same thing, and there was no way to change it. He wasn't even sure if he regretted it. One part of him said that what had happened was beyond his control, but another part knew that wasn't true. The things he used to believe in didn't seem very reasonable anymore. They were insignificant, even. He didn't know what he believed in anymore. And he hadn't given any thought to what he would do in the future.
Tired of all these thoughts, he decided to go to one of the places where he was sure he could be alone. The lakeside was as quiet as ever. The faint light of the moon peeking through the clouds reflected on the dark water, making the lake seem less eerie than it was. He had expected to be alone here, but there she was, same green-black robes, same braided ginger hair. This time, she didn't have a book she wasn't looking at; she was just sitting there watching the lake. Draco didn’t feel like talking to anyone. When he decided to walk away and turned back, the girl called out without looking at him:
“I don’t own the lake, you know, and it is big enough so we can both be alone here.”
Draco paused for a second. Going back to the castle didn't seem like a very appealing idea either. Shrugging, he sat down a few steps away. Minutes passed, but neither of them broke the silence of the lakeside. Draco couldn't understand why the girl didn't mind sitting just a few steps away from him. Maybe she didn't know who he was, but he didn't think that was possible. Everyone at Hogwarts knew who the Malfoys were. It wasn't a good thing anymore, like it used to be. Back then, Draco enjoyed it; it was important for people to know who his family was. Now, the surname was just a reminder of the war and which side he was on. Like his light blonde hair, which made people see his father, Lucius, when they looked at him…
Draco snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed the paper bag the girl offered him. Inside, there were small, colorful candies. He reached out and took one, not knowing why. He didn't thank her, and she said nothing. They both continued to sit in their own silence.
The next morning, at breakfast, Draco was sitting at the far end of the Slytherin table with a few Slytherins from his year. Not many had returned from their house. Although Theo, Blaise, and Pansy had returned, things weren't the same. Aside from a few brief conversations about classes and school, they didn't talk much to each other. Looking at each other's faces seemed to remind them of what they had done or seen. Unlike the past, no one felt like they had returned home anymore. Everyone was focused on finishing this year and getting it over with.
Without realizing it, Draco searched the table for the girl he'd seen the night before. Judging by her robe, she must also be a Slytherin. He was almost certain he'd never seen her before, or perhaps he'd seen her but hadn't noticed. Theo had noticed him looking around. Like Draco, he didn't care much about his hair anymore, which he used to style so meticulously. Pushing back the black curls that fell in front of his eyes, he asked:
"Are you looking for someone?"
Draco didn’t know how to answer that for a second. Then he shrugged and replied:
“No… nothing.”
It was a little past midnight. Draco was returning from the library, but this time he wasn't alone. Theo was walking a few steps behind him. They had stayed up late in the library working on an assignment for Slughorn's Potions class. This class was one of the few things Draco was still interested in. So when Theo offered to work on the assignment, he had accepted. As they walked quickly to get back to their dorm without encountering anyone, Draco saw her again. She was standing by one of the windows, watching outside. When the girl saw Draco, she greeted him with a faint smile. Draco turned to Theo and asked:
“Who is that girl over there by the window?”
Theo turned to where Draco was pointing and asked:
“Which girl?”
The corridor was empty.