Losing Faith

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Draco was no longer surprised to read what he had read. After he had begun to delve into what was happening with Faith, it was not so shocking to find out that Nicole was supposedly the daughter of Keegan Anderson, and something bad had happened to Astoria.

It was just one more thing that made Draco feel even more lost... empty... fooled...

These lines made him take a deep breath, closing the diary and lay his head, which felt so heavy, on the pillow.

He lay as if for an eternity, fully dressed, on a made-up bed, with a diary in his hands, his eyes, empty, glassy eyes, were fixed on the fragments of a flower pot, the same fragments that were in his chest, instead of his heart. He lay there for a long time, in the deafening silence and emptiness, and like that rose slowly withering on the cold floor, he slowly left reality, floating away into a sound sleep.

In the morning, when he opened his eyelids with difficulty, he did not feel that he felt better. On the contrary, as soon as his mind cleared, the bitterness in his chest only intensified — nothing was finished yet, and something told him that he would not be able to get rid of this unpleasant, gnawing feeling for a very long time, even if he tried his best.

"Good morning." Draco suddenly heard a voice and glanced at its source — at Theodore, sitting on his bed with an expression of fatigue on his face.

He looked at Draco with a heavy, serious look, such as Draco seemed to had never seen before, but in the current situation, this was not surprising — what was happening now, what was happening in the past, all this had replaced all the desires and needs for fun and entertainment. Faith, without knowing it, had condemned everyone to fear and sadness.

Draco didn't say anything, he slowly lifted his head from the pillow, wincing at the pain in his neck, and rubbing the bridge of his nose, he looked around the room, surprised to find that the rose was blooming again on their desk, in the same pot.

Only for a second, even less than a second, he thought that maybe everything was not true, that all this did not really happen, that it was a dream, a nightmare, but then Theodore spoke, ruining this moment of little hope.

"I know she said never to use magic on this flower, but I had no other choice, it almost completely withered when I came here." His voice sounded faint, almost distant, and Draco wondered if it was because Theo was tired, or because Draco was too preoccupied with his thoughts to hear clearly.

He still didn't say a word, closing his eyes again for a couple of seconds — it was true, it was a reality in which they had to live, take care of a flower that was supposed to bring happiness, but brought only the pain of loss, they had to wander around Hogwarts with caution, because the alleged killer of Faith could still be there, could go to classes every day, eat in the great hall, rest, sleep peacefully while Faith... was most likely dead.

It was a terrible reality that no one wanted to live in.

"You didn't sleep last night, did you?" Draco asked, putting the diary aside and shuddered inwardly at the feeling of emptiness in his hands.

"I couldn't sleep."

"What did you do then?"

"Nothing, just..." He looked down at his hands, "I've been thinking about all this all night, it's still strange to realize."

"Yes, it's fucking strange to realize, but look," Draco grabbed Faith's diary again, flipping to the page where she wrote about Nicole and Anderson, "Look at what it says here."

He held out his hand, watching ingratiatingly as Theodore began to frown as his eyes ran over a few lines; he had to read it several times so that his sleepy brain could catch what was written there.

"What? Anderson's daughter?" He asked with disbelief, raising his red from lack of sleep and rest eyes to Draco.

"I know it sounds crazy, but as you said, why would she lie?"

"But how can it be? And what's the matter with Astoria?"

"I don't know, and I don't think it's something important. Nicole and Anderson are important, they are too suspicious." Draco said, getting up from the bed. After a couple of swings of his wand, he was already ready to meet the new day, replacing the entire morning routine with a couple of spells.

He felt a surge of strength and desire to continue to investigate this case, to continue to look for those responsible; he felt as if they were close, as if one more step and everything would fall into place.

"You think they could be involved in this?" Theodore asked, squinting slightly at his friend, who was hiding Faith's diary in his nightstand.

"I don't think that Nicole could have done anything to Faith even if she was in a drunken delirium, even if she found out about..." Draco turned away, clenching his jaw, the next words were difficult to say, "...about what you and Faith did, but Anderson — It seems that Faith had too much against him, he could well have done this so as not to spoil his life and reputation."

"I never would have thought that someone like Anderson could fucked up like that. Faith just beat him up." Theo said with a slight smile of admiration, and it immediately faded, replaced by a sad, thoughtful expression.
It was unusual to talk about Faith in this way, as if it was wrong.

There was silence in the room for a few seconds that seemed like hours. Both Draco and Theodore were engrossed in their thoughts, their eyes fixed on the same place — on Faith's rose.

"I'm going to Anderson, and you go get Dumbledore. I'll meet you in the potions room." Breaking the silence, Draco said, clearing his throat awkwardly. He waited for a short nod from Theodore, and with a heavy sigh left the room, hoping that today light would be shed on the seemingly impenetrable darkness of that case.