It All Started At a Lake

Chapter 7

Saturday, September 7th, 1998

Draco went to bed confused that night. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he had just had a great conversation with the one person he should hate.

His younger self would pass out if he found out what had happened. 

He got out of his bed bright and early like most days. He had woken up from another nightmare a few minutes ago, but he had finally had a happy memory to look back on.

He wasn't sure if the lake was a happy memory, but he was pretty sure that it was. 

Draco got dressed and walked out of his dorm. He was feeling much better today than he had been the night before. 

He wondered if Hermione was going to regret talking to him the night before. She probably was trying to forget the whole thing that had happened with the Filthy Death Eater.

Draco shook away the thought, not wanting to ruin the good start to his day. 

The walk to the Great Hall was silent except for a few students who also happened to be up early. Draco wasn't surprised when the younger students glared at him as he walked through the halls.

The halls where he had led Death Eaters not long ago.

Draco opened the doors to the Great Hall and walked over to the Slytherin table. 

The large room was mostly empty besides a few younger students chatting with their friends. Draco missed the days where he would talk with his friends for hours without feeling bad about anything he said.

He remembered being the king of Slytherin and that most students feared him. He didn't miss those days now that he looked back on them, but they were better than his days were now.

He pulled out his Ancient Runes project and got started working where he left off the day before. He hadn't gotten much done before his breakdown, so he was glad he had the early morning to put the effort into it.

He realized that he had been putting more effort into his work than he thought he would have. It was putting a toll on his already declining mental health, but he expected that.

Draco got through one page of writing before he decided to give up. Even in his decent mood he felt lazy.

He reached into his robe pocket and pulled out the tiny baggy. He looked around the room and made sure nobody was looking. The Professors would still be in their dormitories for another fifteen minutes and none of the students around him were looking in his direction.

At least being the most hated in the school had its good moments.

He smirked and put some of the fine powder on his pinky finger. It formed a perfect line.

He looked around the room once more before plugging his one nostril and snorting the cocaine.

Draco knew it was risky to use such a thing in the Great Hall even though there were few students in the room. 

He was already at risk for expulsion for being there in general. Getting caught doing drugs wouldn't help his case.

The risk was worth it though when the drugs took effect and his mind went crazy. All his bad thoughts had dissolved away into nothingness and all he felt in the moment was happy.

His body felt strong but limp at the same time. 

His senses became so much more attuned to everything going around him.