✓ WE NEVER SLEEP, draco malfoy

T W E N T Y - N I N E

"be silent; heart ! there is no hope !"

— Albert Camus, from The Possessed

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The snow came down heavy once December hit. It was nearing Christmas, which only meant Rowan would have to decide on whether or not she would return home for the holiday. It would make sense, to stay at Hogwarts, but if the plan was to continue smoothly then going home would be the wiser option.

Even though she dreaded it with every beat of her raging heart.

She had a few more weeks to figure it out but it still put her on edge. But she didn't have time to worry about a plan so far ahead in the future when there was one about to play out right in front of her. Draco had insisted on taking the necklace, to force it upon an outsider who would then deliver it to Dumbledore. She'd admit it was smart, keeping their faces and hands out of the mix when it truly counted. 

They didn't need someone figuring it out, especially Harry. Rowan couldn't tell him what the task really meant to Draco, the one that meant the most. She didn't know what Harry would do if he found out that Rowan was taking part in the assassination plot, that her plot to get involved with Death Eaters was more risky and dangerous and horrible.

Everything about what they needed to do was horrifying. It made the room spin. Made the air thin. Made her stomach contract and roll. The only good things coming out of the situation was her growing strength in Occlumency and her sister. 

Her sister. Her blood. Her Florence.

Vowed together, veins woven. 

Florence had wanted to take the necklace straight to Dumbledore but Rowan explained what Draco was planning already and agreed, knowing it would be safer for them that way. It didn't stop Rowan from thinking about what might've happened if she had gone to the headmaster with the case herself. He would've known it was cursed, just by her nervous state alone.

Rowan trudged through the snow, wrapping her scarf tighter around her neck to avoid the wind nipping at her cheeks and nose. She was late meeting Harry, Ron, and Hermione at the Three Broomsticks. She'd lingered in one of the dusty alcoves in the library with Florence, murmuring about new murderous ideas and what the other wanted for Christmas, which happened to be one of their most lighthearted conversations to date.

"New Quidditch broom, perhaps?"

"No, no, let mum get that. What about we use Bombarda and just...explode him?"

Florence had laughed at that, shaking her head and muttering, "Not going to work, you dork."

"Did mum ever get you that pair of earrings you wanted so much?"

"No, said they were simply too extravagant." Rowan laughed at this as her sister continued, "What about poison..."

The Three Broomsticks wasn't packed but it was still plenty busy as Rowan entered, knocking snow off her boots in the doorway. She spotted her friends already seated at a table, Hermione halfway done with her Butterbeer.

The girl looked up as Rowan approached, motioning to the seat beside her with a Butterbeer of her own waiting for her. "Got you one, hope you don't mind!"

She muttered a happy thanks as she plopped down, already feeling the warmth seep into her frozen hands and cheeks. "So, getting excited for Slughorn's party?" She was looking to Hermione and Harry, who had, as of late, been getting involved with the Slug Club, a little elite group of Slughorn's favorite students.