malice. |harry potter|

2.3

"make way, make way!"

♥

     Safe to say, Malice Fallon was the talk of Hogwarts. News of her bilingual abilities spread faster than the plague, honestly.

     Most of the Gryffindors has stopped talking to her completely, with the exception of the Weasley twins and her sister, both of whom seemed to understand that Mali targeting muggle-borns was completely preposterous.

    On the flip side, the Slytherins were having a field day.

     "Make way, make way!" Blaise cried, as him and Theo carried Mali on their shoulders through the corridor, flanked by Astoria, Pansy, Lottie, and Draco.

     "Heir of Slytherin coming through!" Called Draco. Safe to say that the seven Slytherins were absolutely loving the attention.

     "Seriously evil!" Added Pansy.

     "Put me down you oafs!" Mali shrieked, though all of them were cracking up at the fear-filled faces of the student body. "I mean it, Teddy!"

     Blaise and Theo obliged eventually, the latter throwing his arm around Mali. Just then, they spotted Harry and Ron walking swiftly, and Malice ran over. "Harry!"

     The boy seemed to wince, as though he was hoping to avoid this very conversation. "Erm— hi Malice."

     The curly-headed girl took a step away, taken aback by his formality. "Malice?" she croaked, her voice breaking slightly. "Since when do you call me that?"

     Harry looked at the floor, and Ron suddenly became very interested in his textbook. "You too, Ron?"

     No answer.

     Mali scoffed, furiously blinking back the hot tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. "Wow, okay. That's fine, um... guess I won't see you in the kitchens tomorrow then, Potter."

     Mali rushed away in the opposite direction, ignoring the calls from her friends, asking what was wrong.

♥

    Malice Fallon hated crying. She hated it more than she hated most things. Crying was for weaklings, for emotional babies. Feelings were for people who didn't have common sense.

     Mali hated emotions.

     But every once in a while, she couldn't contain them, which is how she found herself on the floor of the kitchen, crying. Crying over friends that didn't even believe the best of her, over friends who instantly turned on her after one bad rumor. Harry and Ron didn't deserve her tears.

     Malice didn't look up as she felt someone slide down the wall next to her. "Hey, Lissa."

    Cedric Diggory sat against the brick, his knees folded upwards so he could rest his elbows on them. He looked so normal. The casual use of her nickname could've made  her sob. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

     Mali tilted her head so it lay on his shoulder. "Ced," she breathed, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. "They hate me."