Chapter 4
~Draco~
“Harmonius nectaus passus…”
…nothing.
I waved my wand inforont of the vanishing cabinet again, whispering the spell my mother told me would work…
“Harmonius…nectaus…passus.” I said a bit more carefully.
When I was given this task, I thought: ‘This can’t be that hard, right?’ But I was wrong. I have to repair the vanishing cabinet… so the rest of the death eaters can enter Hogwarts…I don't want to but my family and life will be at risk if I don’t. Since my father was sent to Azkaban, I have taken his place. You know who… I know he will kill me if I don't do this. And I have to be quick about it, otherwise, his plan will fail.
I want it to fail… I never asked for this. My mother is different though, she doesn’t want me to do this but…they’re the only family I have. The only family that matters… Aunt Bellatrix taught me a few spells. How to apparate and whatnot but… she scares me.
I finally heard a click and opened the vanishing cabinet, picking up the apple I had previously placed into it, and turning it to reveal…success. The green apple had been bitten, therefore it had traveled to its twin back in Diagon Alley, Borgin and Burkes.
I quickly threw the apple somewhere into the Room of Requirement and fled, after all…
I had a date.
Tonight is the Slughorn Christmas party, I wasn’t invited but Y/n said she could get me in. I have been talking to her for the past few weeks. We have become acquainted. Not in a “dating” type of way of course. But she and I used to hate each other…
I honestly don’t know why I’m being nice to her. But… ever since Voldemort said he was going to dominate the world with purebloods… I have seen muggle-borns differently. Actually I have always seen muggleborns differently, from my father point of view. I was raised to believe that purebloods were superior but… It was just wrong.
I’m not going to admit that…obviously. I have called her the slur, ‘mudblood,’ multiple times… she would think I have gone mad if I suddenly apologized, especially with how poorly I treated her in the past…
…before I make it to the event, I will attempt to spike a bottle of Mead and give it to Slughorn… he will give it to Dumbledore. I was told by Snape that Dumbledore drinks Meade and Slughorn doesn't…so it should work. If it doesn't… another life will be put at risk. Snape wants to help me but I can’t let him. If he kills Dumbledore then what will become of me? Will You Know Who Still Killed Me and My Family? I can’t take that risk…
I was the one responsible for the incident with Katie Bell… I used the imperius curse to give the necklace to her to give to Dumbledore but she opened it and… I feel bad. Mentally and physically. I have been having panic attacks in the abandoned bathroom… Moaning Myrtle has been there to ask me what’s wrong but I can’t just tell her about everything.
I have been opening up to Y/n but I can’t tell her either. Y/n is a sweet girl… if I hadn’t been so cruel to her in the past, we would probably be friends now. But can't even if I wanted to, she would be put at risk because of me. Why am I protecting her… she hates me… hated? I’m not sure how much she hates me but I know for a fact we're not friends… just acquaintances.
I walked down the empty halls of the school to look for Y/n. She was my ticket inside the party without getting caught. I was meeting her in front of the library, so I made my way there. I had on a black suit and had flowers in my hands. I found them on a windowsill and since they were just there, I figured I would take them for her. Also, it would be less suspicious. But then again we're not going on dates…
I saw her at the door of the library, leaning against the door. Her hair was nicely done in a half-down style, and her dress was black with a white bow at the back of her waist. She had on black heels but they were tall, and when she turned around, the front of the dress was a spaghetti strap.
She looked… nice. I walked up to her and handed her the flowers without saying a word.
“Your late-" The sight of the flowers seemed to have caught her by surprise. "What are these for? Don’t tell me you got me flowers?” She asked with a smirk.
I gave her a glare, “Don’t be too happy. They’ll probably die in a few days anyway.”
She just sighed and gave me a look, grabbing my arm and pulling me in the direction of the party. “Come on we’re going to be late, Hermione is going to kill me if I’m not there in another minute, She and Ron fought and she is going out with Cormac.”
“Cormac McLaggan?” I questioned as she let go of my arm and I walked beside her.
“Yes. He is such a playboy though… Nothing good comes out of his mouth.” She sighed as we made it to the party. They let us in both and we split up because we technically didn’t come to the party together. She just offered to help me get in, thinking I just wanted to be there. Y/n went to her sister who was at the time with McLaggan, and I used the backstairs at the party to get to Slughorn's Office.
Quickly, at the front of his office, I left the bottle of mead which I accio-ed to where I was, and poured the small vial of poison I had into the bottle. I capped the mead, placed it beside the door, and started to walk back to the stairs.
But of course...it was too simple to be true.
I was suddenly grabbed by my arm harshly and turned to see who it was. It was Filch. Of course… just my luck. He dragged me down the stairs and into the party, everyone stopped talking as I yelled at him to let me go. Luckily, Slughorn didn’t let the photographer get a picture of me like this.
“Professor Slughorn,” Filch said getting his attention, “I’ve just discovered this boy-”
“Hey!” My head snapped, as well as everyone else's in the room, to the voice of Y/n who was storming over, “He’s with me, let him go!” She shouted, making everyone gasp. Filch let me go before he could reveal where I had been. Y/n had grabbed my arm and Snape walked up to me.
I put an arm on Y/n’s shoulder so it was a bit more believable.
“You shouldn’t keep your…date…waiting, Malfoy.” He said and eyed Y/n and I well before walking past us and leaving. Nobody spoke a word, as all eyes were on Y/n and me.
Slughorn quickly tried to lighten the moon “...Carry on, Carry on everyone!” He said, and everyone went back to chatting amongst themselves.
I removed my arm from Y/n’s shoulder and looked at her, “Sorry… Filch doesn’t like me.”
She removed her hand from my arm, “Yeah, I can tell…”
I saw her scan the room, she looked over at her sister, who was with Harry Potter. Even though everyone started talking again, doesn’t mean they went back to their original conversations. I could hear everyone talking about us.
I looked back at Yn who was fidgeting with her thumbs. I shouldn’t have embarrassed her like that…
I stepped in front of her and leaned down to whisper to her, “Do you want to leave?” I asked, she nodded and I took her wrist and led her out into the hallway. This was all my fault. I led her far out until the music of the party couldn’t be heard, ending up at the side hall of the courtyard. There was snow in the middle of the courtyard, and students' footprints and snowmen were still there.
I stopped walking and let her wrist go. Since we were technically outside, it was cold, I noticed she didn’t have a cloak…
“Are you cold?” I asked her to take my suit jacket off, She shook her head but I gave her a look and draped it over her shoulders, “I’m sorry, that was my fault.”
She looked up at me with furrowed brows and held the open part of my suit jacket shut so she could be warmer. Of course, she responded with sarcasm, “I didn’t think those words were in your vocabulary,” She said with a smirk.
I smiled slightly, “Don’t make me dump a pile of snow off you again,” I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against one of the stone pillars.
She laughed but sighed, “... There's gonna be rumors about us tomorrow.” She said, “Usually all the rumors about me are bad so don’t let them get to you…well, you’re Malfoy, nothing gets to you.” She rolled her eyes.
I raised a brow, “What rumors have been bad about you?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
“...there are a few, the worst one I think was that Harry and I were dating.” She said,
I chuckled, “That's the worst one? That's nothing.”
“No, the worst part about it was everyone thought I gave him a love potion in the form of an Acid pop, and it nearly burnt his tongue off. The truth is, I gave Harry an acid pop I made with Fred and George, and it got rid of his tongue. We had to go to Madame Pomfrey and I was with him so everyone suspected we were dating.”
I laughed and she smiled, “So you can’t cook, can you?”
She shook her head, “Nope, not at all. I can make muggle food, just nothing with magic.”
I smiled at her, her hair and face in the moonlight made her look quite beautiful. Her cheeks and nose were pink from the cold, and her hair shone in the moonlight. Her breath puffed in the air as she spoke, and… I shouldn’t be liking the way she looks. I can’t get attached to her, otherwise…
“I’m sorry, Y/n,” I said suddenly.
“Hm? You already apologized to Malfoy, and I didn’t mind. Thanks for pulling me out here though… I appreciate it.” She said with a smile. She didn’t notice the fact I said her name. I never called her by her first name…
Her smile… She was…
“Oh… I… my mind is elsewhere. You know, from the incident.” I said with a forced chuckle. She laughed a bit and nodded. We spent some more time together talking until we had to split up because the party ended. I offered to walk her back in case anyone decided to bother her, but she said she had to find Ron, who had gone off with his ‘girlfriend.’ She handed me my suit jacket back and walked. Her hair swayed behind her, and her heels clicked on the stone.
I hated to admit but... she was growing on me. I’ll have to distance myself…
I don’t want her to get hurt…