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

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•The Hufflepuff Cottage, Hogwarts•

Lavinia tore past the people gathering in the Hufflepuff cottage kitchen, she was glad about how quickly she had managed to change. Dressed from head to toe in black, she felt ready to walk onto the battlefield with Godric at her side-- that would never be the case again. Her armour was different, a reflective black built into her black trousers and tunic, sculpted and designed for her every flaw, her father knew she was weaker on her left so there was extra armour on her left side, he knew she tended to fall on her right knee, so there was a reinforcement in the leg. He may have never claimed to love her, but he showed it in his own way.

Her boots, laced, reached near her knee, her vambrace intricately carved with the four founders sigils. Unlike the rest of her armour, the vambrace sat a layer from her skin, hiding a dagger beneath, pushed against her skin-- it always left a mark behind and nicked her forearm, no matter what she did to stop it but that wasn't the top priority right now. Her hands, sheathed in their shadow coloured gloves, tugged up her hood, buckled with silver lion clasps at her shoulders. She was Godric Gryffindor's daughter that night and she was Brave. Brave and tired of hiding.

Lavinia made her way right to Draco who waited just outside the door, when he saw her, he stared for a long moment and she was terrified that the sight of her dressed like that, like the warrior she was-- would be enough to make him not want to be with her anymore. Instead, he hooked one arm around her waist, the other sliding around the back of her head, carefully avoiding tugging out the braid intricately woven - by magic- and hanging down her left side. Draco slammed his lips to hers and she kissed back furiously for a short second-- a breath and a heartbeat and then he was the one to pull back as if he knew it too.

"Stay safe," he had never even asked to come with her and she was grateful for it, she didn't need to have this conversation right now. Still, she knew it must have pained him to stay behind. "... Have fun," he smiled and she flashed a grin, she already knew that she would, as messed up as that may have been. "I'll be here when you get back,"

"I look forward to it," she blew him a kiss, watching as he pretended to catch it before she turned on the spot and vanished in the whirl of her cloak. She missed him the second they were apart, wishing she had just stayed with him-- until she reminded herself who she was. This was her duty and she would uphold it. She missed his warmth, the world suddenly feeling so much colder but she breathed in deeply once and was on her way. She'd beaten the others who were still organising themselves and she'd make the most of it. Tugging a cloth over her face so she wouldn't be directly seen, she started out making her way through the Ministry of Magic, hunting for runaway teens.

It truly took her no time at all to find them, right where she knew they'd be-- Just as she knew it was a trap. Lavinia stuck to the shadows, following rows and rows of orbs, taking in the names as she halted her breathing, making a conscious effort to be calm and silent. There were people waiting in the shadows, she could sense it and her dark attire was the only thing keeping her hidden. Shifting nearer, she watched Harry, Neville, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Luna stand in a circle, all confused-- until they saw the masked person stalking toward them through another aisle. Cursing herself mentally and everyone else she could possibly think of, Lavinia looked up and swallowed as she leapt, beginning to scale the shelves as quietly as she could, grateful for the secure shelves that protected the ancient prophecies.

"Where's Sirius?" Harry queried and Lavinia almost huffed in irritation. Of course, they'd used Sirius to try and lure out Harry, even though the man was currently on his way there as they all spoke, after many weeks underground. Lavinia scaled higher, not appreciating being near the ground when so many Death Eaters littered the ground. Her eyes snagged on a globe on the top row and she snatched up her prophecy, caught between excitement at seeing it and caution at the situation below. Lavinia used her teeth to drag off her glove holding herself up with her elbows temporarily. She'd once had a professor purely to teach her to climb and he'd had her climb Ravenclaw tower from the outside and leap between the floating stairs. it had been a thrilling few months.