when they became villains [draco malfoy] {book 2}

[ prologue ]

The Merlin Mod had melted and squished in the pocket of her pants, but she unwrapped the packet of the sweet nevertheless. Punctured and pushed about - the content and taste of it had never changed. And it wouldn't ever change. That was the power of magic.

If only the same magic knew to hold the matters of real life together just the same.

Bruised lips enclosed over the expensive chocolate, chewing on it slowly, savouring the taste for as long as one possibly could. The sweet mixture stuck against her bottom lip, which she had bit down on entirely too many times over the summer. Her bottom lip had plumped as a result of the nervous tick while the rest of her had only thinned down. The girl's cheeks had hollowed and eyes sunken. Though the golden hues swirled around her brown eyes nevertheless as she looked around the train platform.

The Hogwarts Express stretched out in front of her - long and uninviting. A whistle blew, signalling there were just ten minutes left until the train would take off. It blew, signalling the girl she had just ten minutes left until she was robbed of any option of running away and simply disappearing.

Though if she really thought about it... such choice had been robbed from her long ago. All she couldn't figure was if it had been a decade ago or just the Valentine's day of 1995, like Malfoy had told her.

The girl raised her left hand to wipe away the bit of chocolate that had smudged on one corner of her lips. A silver ring of her thumb brushed against her chin. The many others clinked against one another when she went to pull her chin-length brown locks behind her ear and shook her head slightly to let her bangs fall back in front of her eyes. They hid them just the same as the rings of many shapes and sizes littered the entirety of both her hands in hopes of hiding and forgetting about the one she was to never take off again. Voldemort's ring. Though just the same as with the bangs in front of her eyes, everything could be seen through if only one knew where to look. It was impossible not to know where to look when the ring of intricate design and a great emerald gem laid in the same spot at all times. Umbudging and unbreakable - the complete opposite of what she had become.

Chocolate melted blissfully in her mouth and she closed her eyes momentarily, sounds of people walking, shouting and even whispering freely flooding her ears as she tried to block out the awful itch of her left wrist. She heard people laugh. She heard people scold. But most importantly of all, she heard little first years cry as they said goodbye to their parents, hugging their dads. 

She had cried too, but she hadn't gotten the chance to say a real goodbye.

When the girl opened her eyes, she had to blink away the blurriness they had acquired. She had known it would be hard - she had expected the fear of stepping onto the train to go and carry out the mission she was assigned to do. She had known coming to the platform alone, unable to be accompanied by any of her parents would've been frightening. But then she saw him and the moment their eyes locked, the girl allowed herself to break out into a shameless smile - a smile holding ease and relief so honest she hadn't felt ever since she had last seen him.

Not many years ago on Christmas, she had sat and watched her favourite movie on the couch of her living room, wrapped in the arms of both of her parents. She had watched the girl dance around in the gorgeous, dream-like, pink, flowy dress, with a boy she liked. The girl had watched the scene, wishing to turn sixteen faster, wishing and wondering what and how she would love a boy, wondering what kinds of wonders being sixteen would bring her. She didn't know if she loved Draco Malfoy, but he had certainly become a joy she hadn't expected to have. The girl loved uncertainty, and the surprise of what Draco Malfoy had turned out to be had been a surprise more pleasant than anything she could've ever wished for. 

The platinum-blonde reverted his eyes, skimming over her like an empty spot. A meaningless nobody. Her heart clenched painfully because even if she had come to wish to be a simple nobody, it wasn't in the eyes of his that she wanted to be so.

She would've never predicted the way her life had turned out. If she had known, the girl would've never wanted to be sixteen. 

One graceful step after the other and the lad had disappeared on the train. Her hand dropped by her side defeatedly, the burning sensation only intensifying within it. The closest thing the girl could compare her feelings to was as if somebody had placed their hand right through the middle of the huge empty hole her heart had already formed after her dad's kidnapping, grabbed at it and began squeezing it and yanking the bloody thing all around and through her chest. His ignorance was nothing she had expected.

Unable to hold back, she scratched at her already irritated skin, rubbing the long sleeve of her turtleneck over the tattoo etched onto her forever. She had always hated skulls, yet there she was... with one permanently magiced into her arm. 

All she wanted now was to turn back time and be in that room again, all those years ago. On Christmas eve. Young and innocent, and a tad bit naive. She remembered her dad carrying her up to her bed, tickling her, then tucking her under the covers. Laughing. While her mum stood in the doorway and watched. That loving smile, loving gaze. Love. Happiness. The past. 

She would've never predicted sixteen would be the age she would despise the most. She wasn't Liesl Von Trapp. She wouldn't dance in a pretty dress. She wouldn't be just fine if her blonde left her. Her family wouldn't successfully escape oppression and fight for the good side.

Astrid was the bad side. 

Another whistle blew signalling it was time for her to board the train if she ever wanted to get to Hogwarts. Never letting her previous smile falter, she pocketed the paper of the sweet and placed her one platform trainer in front of the other, taking long steps, her flared dark brown pants flailing down the sides of her shoes, nearly reaching the ground. Hearing more whispers, seeing the stares sent her way, she raised her chin a little higher, revealing the pale skin of her neck as the upside of the black turtleneck slid down a little. Because if she stood tall and confident people would just assume she knew what she was doing. With that smile of hers, no one would see the way she wanted to scream.

Maybe she was selfish, but those weren't really news to anyone. She was a Slytherin and she was ruthless on her way to reaching her goals. Astrid Ninomae would kill an old man if that meant the survival of her own.