Briar watched him with curiosity as he shuffled closer. He stumbled when he neared her but managed to steady himself before he fell. He slightly blushed and stuck out his hand with the dandelion in it. He murmured, "For you."
She felt something odd...
Briar and Neville had reunited at Platform 9 3/4 after the summer. He had been able to write to her once or twice to tell her he was safe, but even those occasional letters were risky since it could give away Briar's location, and she currently had a moving target on her back since Voldemort had "chosen her." Because of this, their communication had been practically nonexistent, and they both were not afraid to show each other how relieved they were over seeing one another in one piece at the train station, colliding in a massive hug once they spotted each other in the crowd.
They had ridden together on the train, and Briar had shown Neville all of her new drawings she had created in her time away. Sirius had even drawn a portrait of her, but he had no artistic talent, so Briar and Sirius had giggled for many minutes after he revealed his artwork. Gran had widened her eyes upon seeing the drawing and told Sirius that he should find some other talents for future careers.
It was weird to think of a future. Briar hadn't thought much of her career lately. Many of her thoughts the past few months were about survival and protecting her loved ones. As she transitioned back to Hogwarts for the next school year, she hoped this would change, but she knew that it wouldn't.
Professor Snape was now Headmaster, and everyone was on edge. Many of their classmates were gone, despite attendance being mandatory, and it didn't take Briar long to realize that nearly all of them were the Muggle-borns. Snape didn't allow Muggle-borns to attend the school anymore, and many students in the other houses wore dejected expressions at the loss of their friends.
Everything that was happening made Briar furious. Nothing felt the same anymore; everything was all wrong.
So, when Briar was forced to sit with Slytherin house for breakfast on the first day of classes, she was far too distracted by the crying Hufflepuffs and the Great Hall air that had started to feel suffocating to remember that they would be receiving their final soulmate letter that day. Not even Pansy and Millicent had gossiped about the letters this time.
When the owls fluttered into the Great Hall and dropped the letters onto students' plates, everyone grew stiff. How were they supposed to carry on like this? Voldemort had taken control of their school, and they were expected to worry about what their hint about their soulmate would be?
They must have sent automatically or had been previously prepared because this surely couldn't have been condoned by Voldemort. The foul look Snape's face told her that her suspicions were likely correct.
Everyone slowly tore their letters open, and Briar's eyes carefully examined the page in front of her. It was the name of their soulmate this time.
Neville Longbottom.
She grinned, despite the grim environment she was in, and twisted around in her seat to find Neville's eyes at the Gryffindor table. They both beamed at one another, and Briar enjoyed that little moment of normalcy until she was dragged back into the drama by the sound of Malfoy's chair scraping across the floor.
All of the surrounding Slytherins looked up at him as he stuffed his crumpled letter into the pocket of his robes and stormed from the Great Hall. They all watched him go with curious expressions. Who his soulmate was had upset him that much?
Blaise glanced up at her and murmured, 'Briar, will you-"
"God, fine," Briar groaned and rose to her feet. She knew that, like before, they wouldn't give up until she agreed to do it, and she wasn't in the mood for games at the moment. She gently tucked her letter into her bag and hurried after him. She caught Neville's eyes on her way out. He was staring at her with eyebrows raised and his bottom lip sucked in between his teeth. She flashed him a smile to assure him that all was well.
She just had a ferret to console.
Briar found the blonde boy quite easily. He was in the nearest bathroom, hunched over the sink and shaking from his cries. She cleared her throat as she approached, and Malfoy whipped around immediately with his wand out. She rolled her eyes and retorted, "Put your wand down, Malfoy."
"What are you doing in here?" Malfoy questioned, but his watery gaze made Briar unable to take him seriously.
She took another few steps forward, unconcerned about the wand trained on her. She questioned, "Was it her? The girl you were worried it'd be?"
It was silent in the bathroom for a few minutes, but Malfoy's wand began to lower after he processed her questions. He wouldn't meet her eyes as he nodded.
"Have you tried talking to her?" asked Briar as she leaned against the nearby wall. She quirked an eyebrow when Malfoy took his time replying to her. She didn't know much about their relationship, so she didn't know what was making Draco so upset. Were they still not speaking?
When he finally answered, he sucked in a sharp breath and murmured, "She's gone now, Briar." Draco looked away from her as more tears collected in his eyes.
Her eyebrows knit together in confusion, and she trailed, "Gone...?"
"She's a Muggle-born, so she wasn't allowed to return...None of them were," He cried. He should have fought harder. He should have spoken up on her behalf. He should have done something to stop them from being separating.
Briar could sense all of these feelings from the shattered look on his pale face. She knew she didn't have some miracle solution for him, but she believed it was never too late to make a change. She had believed that she would never feel at home, but this had all changed once she met her soulmate and her dad. Those two had completely changed her world, and she still couldn't believe it, but she had to let it happen. She had had to let go...and so did Malfoy.
"You can fix it still, you know."
"How? There's no way to get her here or even protect her."
With an unsettling amount of eye contact on her part, she commanded him, "You'll have many choices in the next year, Draco. Make some good ones, even if you're scared...It won't change the past, but at least you can stop history from repeating itself."
Malfoy blinked heavily as more tears leaked from his eyes. He wouldn't meet her gaze, but he gave her the most subtle of nods in response.
She pushed away from the wall and reached for the exit. Just as her hand landed on the door handle, Malfoy spoke up with a voice that was barely a whisper. It was so quiet that Briar had nearly missed it, but the silence of the bathroom helped her to hear his two words delivered on an exhale.
"I'm sorry."
Briar swiveled her head back to look at him, and he was finally meeting her eyes. He lifted his voice slightly higher as he repeated, "I'm sorry for not helping you that night."
"Good. Just like that, Malfoy. Keep making choices like that, and you can fix this," murmured Briar, and she ducked her head so that he couldn't see the tears that were now glossing over her eyes.
Under different circumstances, Briar would have found it funny: the two Slytherins were crying in a bathroom together...but as it were, Briar had no interest in laughing. The pain the two of them had known already at age 17 was devastating...but they had learned how to survive at young ages.
Both of them deserved to live, rather than just survive, and Briar hoped they would be able to soon. It was all a matter of time.
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