Hallows Game || HP X Squid Game (Draco Malfoy)

7 - Recruitment

I was grateful when I had Nico by my side as we waited for the van to arrive. I could hear the shakiness of his breath, his nervousness somehow giving me that little bit more strength.

When we had awoken that morning on the church steps with the card tucked in each of our hands, all it took was one shared look to know that we were both going back in.

Because what else did we have? No money, no home, no life.

But at least this time we were all going into it with our eyes open. No one was entering blindly anymore, and somehow this made it easier to bear.

So, there I was, waking up once again in that same dormitory, in the same green tracksuit - the bunks, of course, having halved in amount.

Sleepily, I glanced over to the bunk on my right, surprise making my eyes widen at the sight of the old man lying there, smiling serenely up at the ceiling as though he were recalling a very good dream.

"Professor Dumbledore?" I breathed, not quite believing he'd come back. "Are you insane?"

He gave a soft chuckle, turning his head so that his pale eyes twinkled in mine. "Ah, Padma! Aren't the best of us a little insane, though?"

"It's Alia. And no. Maybe? I'd like to think I have my sanity still intact. It's all I have left."

Dumbledore said nothing, but instead looked at me with amusement.

"How come you came back?" I asked, trying to ignore the irritation I felt.

"Ah, child. Death is already around the corner for an elderly man like myself. I may as well go out with a bang."

"Again." I muttered under my breath, wondering why this man was so big on theatrics.

He chuckled harder, his laughter eventually turning into a coughing fit.

"I like you, Parvati," he wheezed once his splutters and chokes had subsided, "I always said that. My second favourite Gryffindor."

I didn't bother trying to correct him this time. There was clearly no point.

"Would you like some water?" I asked instead, glancing around the room for a water station or basin.

My eyes, however, landed on something which made my heart twist. As Dumbledore profusely thanked me for my kindness, I leapt down from my bunk and ran straight for the bunk where my best friend sat, her face tired and forlorn and very un-Luna like.

"They took Daddy," she whispered, not even lifting her head to look at me. "I had to come back... for him."

Without saying a word, I hugged her hard, letting her weep against me. I could feel her frail body trembling in my arms and all I wanted to do in that moment was save her. She was too pure for this, too innocent to be inside a hellhole like this.

"Luna," I said, cupping her face in my hands and forcing her to look at me, "we'll get you through this, okay? Whatever it takes - we're both going to be walking out of this place with our pockets full of money. I promise you. I promise you."

She nodded as more tears spilled down her face. I felt sick seeing her like this, this wasn't my Luna - the girl who usually took everything in her stride.

"Hey, we're Ravenclaws, remember?" I said, desperate to lift her spirits. "We have intelligence on our side."

As I glanced over her shoulder, my eyes unwittingly met a pair of piercing silver ones.

Draco Malfoy was stood watching us as he leaned against the frame of a bunk, looking gaunter and more haunted than he ever had before. I swallowed, not being able to help but wonder once again what brought him here - a boy who once boasted of his riches, thinking of himself above all others.