Villain, D. Malfoy

46. Why Him?

No one's point of view:

Emerald never assumed the boy who challenged her to a trivial project in Potions class would have challenged her to her death one year later.

She sprinted through the swirl of stairs the Tower owned, passing her hands through the dusted metal of the railing. Her brain couldn't yet process the shock of Draco's sudden news, so quietness took over her. All that could be heard was her breathless panting between her stamina and her will to get to her destination. 

She did not pack her bags and did not say goodbye to anyone before leaving. After all, she had no one to say goodbye to, anyway. Her best friend had died right in front of her eyes three dusks ago, and her beloved, or whatever he actually was, seemed to turn on her faster than the tides turn on the shores.

Life was utterly useless now. She came here for one reason, to satisfy her mother's desire. Now that Draco destroyed the attachment between the two, she had no excuse not to go through with her orders. In fact, one would think that makes Emerald want to get rid of Draco even more, but that's not the case.

When you learn to cherish someone's shortcomings, it makes it more laborious ever to leave them, even when you're supposed to. Even when that little person inside our heads loses their voices, yelling at us to leave those people. But nothing can be done if the soul doesn't listen to the mind. 

If she followed through with her mother's orders, all would be annihilated. If she didn't, he would win. And God knows how much she loathes failing. 

Stepping onto the train, she listened to the speaker announce when her desired stop would arrive. "Three stations until Tront Street," she heard, resting her head against the seat, sighing to herself. She recognized the last time she ever boarded this train; when she first came to Hogwarts. She remembers she was a bit worried because of other people's perceptions. She remembers the first time she met Luna, the one girl in school who never judged her.

Emerald starts to question what she would tell her younger self, who was about to board the train to Hogwarts if given a chance. She spends some time reflecting, not bothering about time since she had two more stops to go. At first, words couldn't come to mind. Her brain was obscured from everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. But once she lets her emotions take the reigns of her expressions, she comes up with some trivial advice. 

Be careful with love, alright, darling? You're first going to learn about it when you meet this boy, who will be your competitor when you meet him. He's going to push you to reach your soundest self; he'll assist you in discerning your worth. And you'll back him to recognize he isn't a monster beneath his sharp banter. But then the universe will grab your arm, shove you aside, and murmur, 'This isn't destined for you.' 

Of course, the universe will give you some signs here and there at first. And you, blind in love, will neglect them because that's what you're supposed to do, right? You're reckoned to hide the truth, even when you tell yourself this isn't meant to be. But you can't help and beg the universe to make it intended for you. So, you'll both try everything in your endowment to outdo the power of fate until life jolts you to the floor, and you assuredly understand that some things you cannot fight back and cannot force. 

"Tront Street, heading out now." The speaker declares, waking up Emerald from her thinking to her younger self. 

She stepped past the yellow line and nodded a quick smile to the driver. After walking out, she waited until the train left so she could resist the urge to creep back in, take the drive back to Hogwarts, and see Draco once more. 

Noticing the train's absence, she strolled out of the station, and soon, the streets where she grew up greeted her. The sign that led to her house was still there, cracked with dried-up white paint. 

Taking a few steps, she braced herself for who was going to open the door, the person who she most and least wanted to see. She knew she had to do this, but this didn't come from a voluntary will, no. She had no choice.

"Mom?" She knocked.

Some seconds of silence continued before she opened the door. "Emerald," A slight sneer formed on her lips, but not out of motherly love, out of manipulation. Her mother knew she would come back, crawling, begging, and agreeing to her plan. That's the thing about loyalty through administration; if you torment the victim's mind for too long, it won't take long until they choose to be tortured even more.

Emerald didn't have to march into the house to say what her mother wanted to hear, "I'm meeting Draco on Saturday and getting cleared of him once and for all." Once these words jumped her lips, she gazed at her mother's face, waiting for her eyebrows to rise in appreciation, just like Draco once did, waiting for his father's appraisal.

"Did he finally recognize you were unloveable?" She planted a mischievous smirk on her face, one which Emerald couldn't see because her mother's back faced her as she entered the house. 

"You know, I'm doing this for you!" She raised her voice, completely taken aback by her comment. 'Isn't this what she wanted all this time?' She thought to herself. 

"Yes, because instead of following my advice once, you decided to go behind my back! Do you know how hurtful that was?"

Emerald parted her lips, remembering the thing her mom told her as she boarded the train to Hogwarts for the first time, "And remember, you stay away from the people I've warned you about."

"That's not fair. You can't determine who you fall in love with." She dropped her hands to the side of her body.

"How could you ever choose a villain, you senseless girl!" Her eyebrows were pulled in as her nose scrunched up.

Emerald's stare prevailed blank at the lies of her mother. "A hero will sacrifice you for the world while the villain would sacrifice the world for you. That's why."