Carpe Noctvm (A Barty Crouch Jr Fanfiction)

TWO - two marriages

The following morning Keira awoke and for a blissful few seconds, she didn't remember what happened the previous night. But the remembrance seeped slowly into her consciousness and she felt such a deep shame for lying to Draco that she doubted for a second whether she should get out of bed. Her friends in the DA faced unknown torture at the hands of Umbridge making the scars on her own hand prickle. Finally, Keira dreaded Draco telling Umbridge that he had seen her, it was too much to ask of him to keep it quiet, he would be too hurt.
Keira dressed quickly and ate breakfast before most people were in the Great Hall, she was already on her way to transfiguration when she spotted Draco looking thunderous and marching towards the Great Hall. Keira arrived early to her class and had to wait for Professor McGonagall to appear. When she finally entered the classroom and had stowed her bag under the desk, Draco entered. He did not look at her, though he sat in his usual place beside her. She thought she understood, it was a gesture to show that he would not let Umbridge know that she had been attending DA meetings, but that he was still hurt she had gone behind his back.

After class, they had lunch together in equal silence, still, Draco had not made eye contact. Keira was somewhat disheartened, usually, Draco's brooding didn't last long before he had to make his opinions known, Keira would have preferred that he shout at her. Keira went back to her dormitory and changed into clothes for the afternoon visit to Hogsmeade. Pansy, who was also changing, took it upon herself to blame Keira for Draco's bad mood. "Well, it must be your fault because he never even looks at other girls." She stated.
"Really Pansy, I don't know what he's upset about." She replied, and Pansy turned back to her friends, probably to gossip more about Keira. Keira pulled on a jumper, scarf, and gloves before checking herself in the mirror and adding a coat. "Come on, Cosmos," Keira called, Cosmos always enjoyed the snow and it had snowed a fresh last night.

To Keira's surprise, she didn't make it further than the common room when Draco, who stood by the fire, called to her; "Keira, can I have a word?" He gestured that they should walk at the same time. Keira nodded and fell into step with Draco. Cosmos clawed at Draco's leg, begging to be picked up and Draco bent down and hoisted the enormous cat onto his shoulders.
"Can I go first?" Keira asked, feeling increasingly younger over her choice of childish words, he nodded, shrugging. If you must. "If I said Harry Potter is teaching me to defend myself against you, your family, my family, and the Sark Lord, I don't know what you would have done. I suspect you would have set fire to your own pants let alone Merlin's." This earned Keira a half smile from Draco.
"I think I understand why you felt the need to be taught by him and I definitely understand why you didn't tell me," he answered as they walk along the snow-laden track to Hogsmeade. "It was just a bit of a betrayal seeing you there."
"Why do you think I felt the need to attend?" She asked, wondering if he really did understand her.
"Well, because you're bookish, Umbridge's teaching was killing you, I could see it." She smiled at his reply. I couldn't have put it better myself. Keria wrapped her arm around Draco's and Cosmos purred in their ears from his perch on Draco's shoulder. "I think I would have set fire to everyone's pants if it would make it warmer, bloody hell." Draco shivered.
"We have to stick together Draco, especially with what's coming. I'm too scared to face it on my own." Keira reveals and rests her head on his shoulder.

The next few weeks pass in a blur of more and more revision as OWL season drew closer. Quickly the months grew warmer and while no one seemed quite so strict about their study timetables as Keira, everyone felt the pressure. None of the members of the DA had yet told Umbridge about Keira attending the secret meetings, although she thought it would be down to Harry's influence. He knew how important it was that she appeared to be apart from the DA, not only because of who she spent her holidays with. There was one holiday left before the students took their OWLS and then the summer holidays were upon them.