The Letter
Draco stared at the envelope from the distance; he was sitting in his bed, hugging his legs and with tears running across his pale cheeks, his eyes turning a soft tone of red while his head was running through a thousand different scenarios a minute; he couldn't take it anymore, all these thoughts felt as if they were swelling and creating a pressure in his head. Draco felt as if he were a balloon and all the pressure was going to make him pop, but how does one take the air out of a balloon without popping it? One must simply open a hole in it, and since the knot in his neck was going nowhere, the Slytherin started having other ideas; he thought about the root of all his problems: his Dark Mark. After pulling his sleeves up, he eyed the fading ink in his arm and grabbed his wand, perhaps if he could get rid of it, a big weight would be taken off his chest.
-Diffindo- He said softly, pointing it at his arm and drawing a diagonal line across the Dark Mark, first from left to right and then switching the sides. He wasn't very sure about this, self-harm had always seem so weak to him, so his words were soft, letting his doubts show. Moments later, the skin separated enough to reveal a very thin red path, as thin as a paper cut, letting a tiny amount of blood scape. Draco was feeling confused at this point, he had expected to feel disgusted and weak, but it actually felt kind of nice, even if it did nothing to damage the Mark. It stung a little as the skin started swelling a bit around the cuts, but he liked it.
-That wasn't that bad- Thought Draco, the pain wasn't high but rather a pleasant little sting, from which he felt all the pressure coming out from. His eyes then caught the envelope again, but before he could think anything else, there was a knock at his door.
-Just a moment!- Draco said loudly enough for the person to hear while he conjured a bandaged to cover up his new cut and lowered his sleeves, he took a quick look in the mirror to make sure his eyes weren't red anymore and went to open the door.
Back at The Burrow, Molly Weasley was summoning everyone to the living room, from where you could see two large owls carrying two different letters each. Because it was around the begging of July, everyone knew immediately what they were, and as the owls dropped off the letters, different emotions were heard in the small living room. Hermione let out a small gasp followed by a giggle, Ron let out a growl, Harry started muttering to himself and Ginny just sighed. Each one of them grabbed their correspondent letter, and while Ginny's was the same as every year with the exception of a few words about the war, the others were quite different:
Dear Students,
We are terribly sorry for the tragic events all of you had to endure this past year, and offer our most sincere condolences to those who have suffered losses. However, because you were not able to finish your studies, the school has decided to open its doors for "eight years", who shall be required to report to the Great Hall upon arrival, the dates for which shall be duly advised.
We will provide all the materials from the list of requirements attached herewith.
We very much look forward to receiving you again as part of the honorary students of Hogwarts.
Yours sincerely,
Professor McGonagall (Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry)
-I can't believe it! After everything we've been through they still want us to return?!- Exclaimed Pansy clutching the letter next to her face as Draco opened the door.
-It's not that bad, you should be thankful they're letting us back after what happened- Replied Blaise as he made his way to Draco's desk chair.
-Whatever, how are you holding up Dray?- Said Pansy turning to the blond boy next to her.
Draco was a little startled by his friends suddenly going into his room, his mind still in the small cut in his arm; however, he was able to quickly correct his face to one of boredom before replying.
-Fine, at least Lucius won't be able to bother me from Azkaban-
Pansy and Blaise both looked at each other a bit worried, they knew this was hard on Draco, but given his personality, they decided not to push the topic too much.
-Well? Are you just going to stay there or what? I was actually quite occupied- Replied Draco trying to sound as his usual self, although he wasn't sure he had accomplished it.
-Blaise has an idea for next year, and even though I don't like it and you probably won't either, *sigh* I think we should try it out so we won't be eaten alive-
The blond Slytherin looked expectant towards Blaise, waiting for him to explain it out.
-Well, I was just thinking that it wouldn't be a bad idea for us to give out some apologies, and perhaps it would be best if we started with Potter's clan-
All eyes were on Draco now to see how he would react, but he merely crossed his arms as he stared at the letter, thinking that his friends were probably right, specially because any grudge he felt towards the Golden Trio had been replaced by the guilt of what some of his actions had caused, even if they weren't entirely his fault.
After a couple minutes of silence, Draco had made his choice, he muttered a small "fine" to his friends and got out of the room for some air, while preparing himself for what the new year at Hogwarts had to offer to the former Slytherin Prince.