✔️OBSIDIAN HEART (Draco Malfoy) BOOK 1 |WATTYS 2021 SHORTLIST

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•Hogwarts, The Owlery,•

Lavinia had a pinch at the edge of her brain, a jolt that shocked her every few seconds. It was that same startling urgency all over again and she was reading to dash her own brains out on the Arithmancy classroom wall. What was the meaning of this? The last time it had happened, she could not remember exactly what had helped to stop it, a distraction, she believed but no matter what she attempted-- doodling on a scrap of parchment, rearranging her equipment, humming to herself-- nothing worked.

It eventually reached the point where Hermione grabbed both her hands just to stop them from fiddling. Lavinia was rocked with a jolt of unease at the touch, she could feel it, those hands around hers and she could very well sense that Hermione had the flush of human warmth in her blood-- but it did not seep into Lavinia as she had grown to expect. After so many days and nights with Draco, she'd been prepared for a wave of glittering sunshine-- it just made that nag in her brain harsher.

Luckily for Hermione, she did not have to deal with Lavinia's incessant tapping for much longer because class rotation rolled around and the two of them were flying along the corridors toward the dungeons for potions class. Everybody had a tendency to despise that particular class but Lavinia smiled at the thought of it, it was one of the easiest lessons simply because there was no special knowledge to know besides the one she already possessed.

"Are you okay? What's gotten into you today?" Hermione hissed a whisper to her as they progressed down the familiar cold stone stairs.

"I am perfectly well," Lavinia protested. "I just have a small headache is all," she shrugged though small headache surely wasn't how she would choose to classify it, it had been pinching at her head all night long. For the first time in a long while, Lavinia had slept in her Slytherin bed as Draco had attended some late-night gathering with his friends. As much as she would like to believe that she was allergic to Pansy Parkinson, it didn't seem to make much sense.

"Perhaps you should go to Madam Pomfrey?" Hermione questioned nervously, chomping on her lip slightly and Lavinia shot her a winning smile, full-powered reassurance. It seemed to be enough to settle her friend's unease though new stresses now played across Lavinia's head. Why hadn't she felt that warmth when she touched Hermione? Or, now that she considered it when she touched anybody but him?

"I am okay, 'Mione," she smiled and the girl seemed to relent. Lavinia fell into place beside Harry and Ron who were busy speaking to one another about Quidditch, after much persuasion on Angelina's part, the Gryffindor team had reformed with Ron as their Keeper and as much as Ron had appeared delighted at the prospect-- he was now shaking in his shoes with nervousness for the upcoming Slytherin versus Gryffindor match, Lavinia avoided mentioning it purely because there was no way of avoiding an argument if she did. Ron once again saw her as nothing but the enemy.

"Are you excited for Founder's Day?" Hermione questioned and Lavinia's head whipped around at such a speed, her neck cricked. She proceeded to vehemently swat an invisible fly as though that had been the cause of her sudden jolt. Her expression became one of polite confusion.

"What is a Founders day?" she questioned easily, dropping her hand. Hermione only smiled softly.

"Well, it was said that the last Founder died on a full moon, I believe it was Godric Gryffindor. Anyway, the school has celebrated Founders Day at the date of the nearest full moon from his death ever since then. Everybody dresses up in masks and gowns and has a big party on the lawn. The masks are said to be worn so that nobody knows who is from which House, so that there can be perfect unity for one night only," Hermione shrugged and Lavinia felt like she was going to fall over. How had nobody told her about this yet? Her dear Gryffindor father had passed around this time and although she had known they'd all died at some point, it was wildly different truly hearing about it.