Potter? || Draco Malfoy x Reader

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He had.

Hogwarts was now officially being run by Voldemort and his death eaters, Snape at the head of it. As headmaster.

A nervous, stifled laugh slipped my mouth, my eyes darting back and forth between Luna and Wren opposite of me. It was more of a scoff, maybe; showing how utterly ridiculous her words sounded.

"You can't be serious?" My mouth was slightly agape, brows knitting together tightly. Though, really, I should've known the second I stepped onto the Hogwarts express; the moment I arrived at the platform, even.

It was all rather different, but I couldn't quite pinpoint what it was until now. Now, it was almost too obvious; The way everything felt darker; evil, almost.

Like the platform, and the train, and probably Hogwarts itself, have been draped under a grey shadow.

Two other things were odd about my arrival at the Hogwarts express.

The first thing, my arrival alone. Draco was nowhere to be seen. Not during my rather sudden and unexpected departure from his manor, not on the platform, and not on the train.

Were they keeping him there? Staying at his home instead of attending his last year at Hogwarts? Surely not.

Academic excellence, as he called it, was important to him. Important to his family, even. Too important to let him drop out of his last year. Go into life without a proper education?

Their beliefs were too damn ancient for that to be the case, I presumed.

But then again, death eaters might do things differently. Of course, for them, serving The Dark Lord is a far greater pleasure than finishing their education.

So, maybe Lucius Malfoy did take his son out of Hogwarts for good this year.

The thought had the knot in my stomach tighten. Hogwarts without Draco Malfoy just wasn't quite Hogwarts.

But, then, my thoughts quickly dove into the second odd thing about my arrival. Wren.

My best friend, who wept like a baby when we first reunited about a month ago, now didn't even give me a prolonged hug.

And it startled me, at first, because when I boarded the train and went to look for her, all I could think of was how she'd react; if she'd be mad.

Because even though none of it was my fault, Merlin knows Wren Inkwood is quick to anger, and even quicker to blame whoever is there at the moment.

So, it was entirely reasonable for me to think she might be mad at me. But it was quite the opposite of anything I would've expected.

There I was, standing in the middle of the aisle, in one of the last carriages in line as my eyes met hers for the first time.

My heart was hammering in my chest, had been the whole way down here and now threatened to jump out entirely. I wasn't quite sure why I was so nervous.

I remembered the feeling to be similar when I first saw Harry again, and wrote it off as nothing special. Maybe the excitement of seeing two friendly faces after being in confinement with no one but house-elves to speak two words a day to, mixed in with quite a bit of guilt.

She did tell me never to do that again; never get kidnapped again, like it was my own free will that let me get taken in the first place. But then I was taken again, that same exact day.

So, I did end up feeling guilty. Hoping she wasn't too worried about me the last few weeks of the holidays.

But then, instead of angry grumbles, long hugs and tears, she simply smiled at me. Raising her hand to wave me over to them as she stood up to give me a very casual hug.