The Deeper you Dig, The Darker it Gets

57.

Song of the Chapter: Arcade by Duncan Laurence

Malory's POV

     When we all planned Aary's birthday and joked about it being the last time we were going to have fun, none of us took it seriously. I think we convinced ourselves that although things were going to go to complete shit soon, we still had some time.

          But we were wrong.

      Normally there's a huge party at the end of the Quidditch season for the winning team, but we lost. Gryffindor got to celebrate in their common room while all of us Slytherin's sat in our dorms, drained.

      A few days after that it was Draco's birthday. I tried to convince him to let me throw him a party but he declined. I still surprised him with a cupcake from the kitchen but he didn't end up eating it.

      Because we are in our 6th year of school we don't have any major tests to take at the end of the year. You'd think we'd be grateful, and most students probably are, but that leaves us with absolutely nothing to keep our minds distracted with.

      The one good thing that has happened is Draco finally fixed the cabinet. I don't know what he did but one day it just worked. That lifted a lot of weight off of our shoulders but it immediately got replaced by what comes next. And it hasn't been lifted since.

        So now all we've been doing is sitting and waiting.

         "What should we do tonight?" Aary asks while curling up next to me on the sofa.

       I start braiding her hair and shrug. "I've got some more whiskey under my bed, if you aren't tired of that yet."

           She scoffs. "Tired of booze? Do you know who you're talking to?"

       I laugh under my breath and finish wrapping the band around her hair.

                    "I can grab it then?"

      She nods and scoots over so I can get up from the sofa. I stretch dramatically, then head towards the stairs. Quickly, I pull the bottle from underneath my bed then exit our dorm. While walking back I happen to walk by Draco and Blaise's room and for some reason the door is wide open.

      I hesitate to look inside but when I do, all I see is Blaise's back facing me. His head is down as if he's invested in a good book but I know that is definitely not the case.

              "Knock knock." I say while tapping my knuckle on the door.

      He doesn't move at all, I would think he's been petrified if I couldn't see his deep breaths.

                   "Blaise, is everything alright?"

      When I say his name he turns around slowly and the two of us make eye contact. His expression is blank but for some reason I know exactly what it means.

     With a shaky hand, he holds out a small piece of parchment to me. I scrunch my eyebrows, confused, but don't ask any questions yet. And the second I read what the note says, my confusion fades and I'm left in shock.

         Do it tonight or he's going to kill us all.

                   - L.M.

      The parchment is damp; maybe from sweaty palms or tears, or both. I've seen Lucius' handwriting more than once so I know it's really from him. Even though everything in me wants to believe that it's fake or a misunderstanding, it's not.