Villain, D. Malfoy

19. Constellations

Draco

"I was about to tell him! But then Pansy interrupted us, again." Emerald strived to lower her voice as she saw other people pass through the corridors.

Eavesdropping was never great, but in this case, it was necessary.

"Again? What do you mean?" Hermione leaned closer against the wooden table.

"The night of the Yule Ball. I tried telling Draco that I was going to come up the Astronomy Tower's stairs, but I had already seen Pansy keeping him company." Emerald admitted.

"Maybe she just wanted to play games with you. You know how she is."

"Yeah, but forget it. I attempted explaining this to Draco the other day after Potions class as well, but she magically appeared when I was about to do so."

My stomach plunges at the sound of Emerald, telling Hermione the truth about that night. Everything made sense now. Pansy had said to me that Emerald wasn't coming to the Tower. Of course, I didn't believe her at first.

But as time passed and I saw that Emerald hadn't shown up, I proceeded to believe what Pansy had said.

Does she hate me, now?
This is why she's been avoiding me since our last conversation.
Why didn't I just hear her out that day? Why did I have to believe Pansy?
Why didn't I run after Emerald when she didn't appear?

•

Emerald

Isn't it ironic how we miss what we most loathe in this world? Or perhaps that's what we tell ourselves to keep ourselves from wanting them anymore.

The sunlight permeated the library glass windows without shame. Turning to my beloved form of escapism, I ran my fingers through the stiff shelves filled with books.

I decide to go to my preferred aisle, the Unrestricted section. As I brush through almost every title, and the author pressed on the sides of each book, I come across one in particular; my favorite book.

I grab the book out and open its interior, a white chunk of paper falling to the wooded carpet floor when I do so.
Its edges were ripped apart and the handwriting so chaotic, it smudged the black ink.

I'll wait for you under the stars. Perhaps, I'll find you there when you're ready.

D.L.M.

I bite my lip back from beaming like the Cheshire cat, not wanting to draw any attention to myself. I knew exactly what his statement meant. He had put it right on my favorite page of my favorite book. How did he remember this? I had briefly mentioned it once as a joke.

I shortly put the book back on its shelf and stuff the note in my back pocket. The sun was about to set, so I tried making my way up to the Astronomy Tower just in time before the moon made its appearance.

Sprinting up the stairs, I found his platinum blonde strands of hair staring at the vacant balcony. "You came." He muttered; I could tell he was smirking even though his back was facing me.

I stepped closer to him, "Of course."

"I knew you came here the night of the Yule Ball to meet me. I had let Pansy's lies divert me from your presence, and I should have an-"

"Hey," I murmur. "It's okay." We were now both leaning against the railings, standing beside one another, admiring the expensive sky that was gradually turning a natural shade of black, as black as his suit.

"I got your letter." I brought out the note from my pocket. "How did you remember Wuthering Heights was my favorite read?"

"I guess my memory is pretty selective. I usually don't remember many details." He teased, attaining a chuckle from me.

"Well, your effort in meeting me here was pretty... passionate, I must say."

"Now, don't flatter yourself. We're still mortal opponents." He joked.

"I'm glad we went back to being our conventional competitive selves."

"I agree. I have to say it was pretty solitary not having someone to taunt in an amusing manner 24/7."

•

"Here," Draco helped me settle beside him as we both laid down and peered at the dusk full of stars. It looked like a portrait. We talked over our startling stomachs, which were grumbling since we skipped dinner to stargaze.

"Look, that's your constellation." I pointed at the Draco constellation, which was found in the far north.

Despite the darkness, I could still see his cheeks were glazed with a pink warmth. "How did you know that?" He was smiling.

"Its name is Latin for dragon. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy and continues to be one of the 88 contemporary constellations today. The north pole of the ecliptic is in Draco."

"You mystify me more and more every day. If that's even feasible. I got my name after that constellation. My mother, she always liked astronomy."

I grinned as I paid attention to his comments. There was nothing else to interrupt our discussion; not even the breeze was noisy.

"You know, when I was a kid, I always tried to count how many stars there were in space."

"It's pointless to count the stars." I chuckled at his experience.

"It's also pointless to count freckles, but I know you have 24 on the edge of your left hand."

A/N: 400 reads?!! THANK YOU SO FREAKING MUCH?!!