Professor Malfoy

34. Legilimens

TEN FUCKING THOUSAND READS WHAT THE FUCK!!!! All of you have literally been my rock these past few months and I can't thank you enough for allowing me to write for you (and for myself too, of course). Thank you thank you thank you💚

PS: omg i love it so much when you all say hi to each other and comment shit like "i'm here" on the first paragraph of a new chapter🥺 i don't think you understand how happy it makes me fr

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The weeks prior to the final exams were always the most chaotic times at Hogwarts: fifth and seventh years were rarely seen somewhere other than the library or their common rooms and the rest of the students were trying their best to keep up with the piles of revision homework their professors were giving out. There wasn't a time of the year when Prefects and the Head Boy and Girl gave out as many detentions or deducted as many points as during those weeks; for laughing too loud, running noisily down the corridor or just breathing too hard in the wrong direction.

Those weeks weren't an exception for Anya and her friends; they spent most of their time in the seventh-year Slytherin's dormitory, where Ari was trying his best to focus on school as his health quickly deteriorated with every passing day. Since every other Slytherin was in the library or the common room as the rest of the school, they could sit on the other beds or lay on the floor, stomach against the wooden floor and books sprawled all around them. They would take turns to go down to the kitchen and bring food up and then, continue studying. More than once they had to rush into the bathroom to hold Ari under the shower and hope his heart didn't finally burn through his skin, that was looking thinner and thinner. He could barely get up from bed without help.

Only one more week until he could take the potion. There was still time.

On that particular day, they were all preparing their Charms exam. Anya had already taken her Astronomy exam (and she didn't know how to explain to her friends that her least favourite subject had turned into one of the ones she enjoyed the most: she couldn't tell them it was all because she had been receiving private lessons from a certain blonde professor whose eyes glittered every time he talked about the stars), as well as her Transfiguration and Herbology ones. Unsurprisingly, she had done great in all of them and was ahead on her studying for Professor Flitwick's exam, so she was helping Ginny practice the charms they had to perfect before Thursday.

Ginny had begged Anya to take a break and she was playing with Sofía, who always followed them around whenever they needed to study. Anya looked away from that scene and instead, fixed her worried eyes on Ari. He was discreetly looking at Ky, whose head was bent over a book, and he opened his mouth and closed it again several times.

"Thomas," Anya called his name, looking at him. "What is it? Spill."

"What do you mean?"

"I know that look. Say whatever's on your mind or I won't be able to concentrate," she replied, leaning against one of the posters on the Slytherin's bed.

All of them looked up at him, expectantly. Ky's hand flew to his and she intertwined her fingers with the boy's, encouraging him to speak up.

"Well, it's just..." he began and then, looked away. "I've been practicing that Meteorology Charm you taught me, Anya, and I cast it to check the weather for next Tuesday, just to see if there will be a lightning storm."

"And?" Ky asked, eagerly. They were so close.

"Well, there won't be," he replied, sadly. "The next lightning storm is three weeks away. And we all know I don't have that much time."

The whole room fell silent, as even Sofía stopped purring. The full extent of their situation was finally starting to sink in and neither of them was willing to give up on helping their friend, who looked as frail as they had ever seen him. No one wanted to talk about it, but the idea of death hung in the air in every single one of their conversations and infiltrated their thoughts at the most random times. No words were good enough to assure their friend he would be fine; they didn't know if that was true.