𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 '𝟗𝟔 ; 𝐝. 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲 ✓

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

8:04 am
August 27, 1996

The second my conciseness slowly faded back to me as I awoke from my slumber, I immediately grasped a pillow from beside me, expecting for the golden sun to blind my eyes like it typically did at dawn. But as I slowly eased the pillow away, the sun didn't shimmer through like expected. The weather outside was foggy and gloomy, keeping the dark room just about pitch black, besides the faint outline of the window frame on my wall from a gloomy light shining through. Draco wasn't next to me, and I wasn't in his room where I had fallen asleep, I had awoken in my own, unaccompanied. Where was Draco? I called his name a couple of times, trusting I'd hear his raspy morning voice whispering, "Yes Estelle?" But he wasn't there, no matter how hard I longed for him to be.

We had made plans for today as well. Just like we would the next day, we were going to complete all of our favorite activities we had done this summer and attempt to fit everything in for one whole day. But he never showed up at my front steps where he advised me to meet. Maybe he overslept? But why would I have awoken in my room and not his, and why did the golden sun not shine through today? Still, I waited on the porch. A soft spritz of rain trickled from the grey clouds above, but it surely didn't bother me. All day long, I observed the rain as it fell, like I wished the tears I was struggling to hold back would as well. And I waited, I waited, I waited. He never arrived, nor did he contact me. I just sat abandoned in the rain, as the soft droplets trickled down my cheeks, blending together with the tears I finally allowed to fall.

The fact that he never showed kept me up all night. Was he done with me? Did something happen to him? Where'd he go? Is he angry at me? I absolutely interrogated myself and searched through every tiny detail that stayed in my brain of anything I could've done to upset him.

Then, the truth hit me.

He never meant anything he said to me, I was nothing but a summer fling to him.

I was an idiot, what was I possibly thinking! Draco Malfoy didn't love me, he didn't love anyone. His heart was far too cold to love anyone. I was so oblivious to think that he could just naturally change for a single person. He had played me, and he played me good. Because I fell for his stupid little game that he idolized.

•••••

The next day was the exact same as the day prior. No golden sun shining through the windows, no beautiful blond boy caressing my shoulders softly with his gentle hands, the same grey environment from the day previous.

Tomorrow was the return to Hogwarts, and the thought burdened me that I would have to face Draco, who will probably sit in class with Crabbe and Goyle and glance back at me and snicker like they did best.

Idiot.

The voice inside my head was bombarding me.

Slut.

He doesn't fucking love you, Estelle. You're insane to think that the most cold-hearted boy you know would lighten up only for you.

The day passed quickly, as the only task I completed was half-assedly packing up my essentials for Hogwarts into my trunk. I lay still for the rest, staring at the ceiling and wondering what it was about myself that Draco wouldn't want.

Was it my legs? My thighs were always thicker, another insecurity I had. But Draco would always tell me how much he loved to lie between them.

Was it my hair? Maybe he liked blonds more, besides, that's what Blaise had told me. That majority of boys preferred blonds.

Was it my personality? I thought I was at least somewhat good to people, but in reality, that was probably the issue. Draco most likely longed for a girl just like him, snobby and evil to all their peers.

These overriding thoughts obliterated my mind into an intolerable state, sending me into tears, pushing me over the edge. My heart seemed to thump louder and louder. I needed to be alone, but alone alone. No parents anywhere near, so I could sob and scream to release the unbearable pain I had felt. I did my small maneuver to lower myself from my window, and ran boundlessly into the woods, where I once spent my days with my darling Draco.

Next to the lake we'd always meet by with a passionate kiss, I collapsed into a helpless position, feeling of nothingness as I wailed out a cry in agony, feeling defeated as ever. I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed as the rain from above soaked me. I rolled over onto my back, facing up, staring at the same stars Draco and I once looked at, while the falling precipitation blurred my vision. I let another tormented scream, as the tears flooded down my cheeks.

Then, I heard the leaves behind me crunching under feet.

Draco.

The blond hoisted me up facing him, my intense sobs the only audible thing that was able to be heard in the rain. He cupped my face in his hands and gave me a look of distress.

"Estelle, what's happening!?" He howled, the rain cancelling out his voice halfway.

Every ounce of rage that I had tried to filter out built up in me, and erupted. My temper was absolutely consumed. I let out every miniature thought that crossed my mind.

"I HATE YOU, MALFOY!" I screamed, grabbing his wrists and releasing his soft grasp on my cheeks. "I knew that I would be absolutely nothing to you after this summer! I knew it! You're an utter asshole Draco Malfoy, and I hate your guts for leading me on like this. You didn't mean a thing you said to me! It was all a bunch of fucking bullshit. You haven't loved me since we were five, you're a liar, and I fucking hate you, Draco."

I knew I had said the wrong thing when the poor boy's hopeful face dropped into a distraught expression of downright misery. The grey eyes that I once stared into with lust looked ocean-like, as the tears welled up and spilled out of them. His bottom lip quivered, and he let out a anguished sob.

"What the hell makes you think that?" He weeped pessimistically.

"I knew deep down that by the end of the summer, you would ditch me. And that's exactly what you did. I waited all day for you! In the rain, too. Draco, I was an absolute fool to believe any of the words you'd say to me."

"God Estelle!" He fired right back, causing me to flinch. "You think that after every effort I made to keep you as happy as you could be was all a phony!? Every time I held you while you cried, every time I'd show up to your house with roses, every time I'd throw rocks at your window when I missed you, every time I would softly sing to you as we danced in my bedroom? If you think that any of that was fake, then you're crazy. Absolutely crazy."

The tears began to spill out of my eyes, but not as much as they were his. "Why are you here, Draco? If I was just a summer fling to you, why do you still care?"

"Estelle you weren't a summer fling to me. You are the first and last girl I will ever love."

My bottom lip quivered as I couldn't bare it anymore. No matter how much I longed to push Draco away and refrain from loving him, I was always led back to him somehow. His colossal arms beckoned me in, and I collapsed into them and bawled.

I really, really love Draco.

He whispered sweet nothings into my ear as the rain fell around us. Once I was finally calmed down, he said the unthinkable.

"Estelle, I have bad news."