warmth - cedric diggory

chapter thirty one

the dark-headed slytherin started her day off with an undesirable knot pressing against the deepest corners of her stomach, giving her more discomfort and anxiety inside than she was used to. ivy roots crawled out of her unmade bed with the uncertainty of how the day would go, throwing on the cleanest robes she could find laying on the floor.

the room felt emptier than usual, the sun seemed to be fainter than expected, especially for the morning time. when the dorm door closed behind her, she couldn't figure out why the day already felt so lonely for it had just begun. maybe she was too tired, maybe she would take a nap later.

as she wandered throughout the slytherin common room, a familiar pair of steps behind her became louder and louder as she bee-lined for the door, feeling the knot deepen. something in her mind told her she already knew who it was and what they had to say to her. 

"ivy!" her entire body started stinging once her name slithered out of their mouth. maybe they were talking to another ivy or she just didn't care enough to stop. "ivy june roots!"

"what, draco malfoy?" ivy snapped around with a slight attitude in her cold voice and a strong set of walls abruptly forming. a set of walls that hadn't always been there, a set that she stayed up wishing hadn't begun.

"speak my name with a little respect, will you?" he responded, his light eyebrows took up most of his face when he made the expression he held, he was always angry nowadays. the space between them felt crueler than any winter day either had experienced, and they knew more than one student had been watching.

"now, why would i do that? you don't respect any words that come out of my mouth." it destroyed the young girl to speak to him like this but she couldn't think about her feelings or what she wanted to say. he had completely thrown her under a bus in front of her friends and she was the one who had to pick up the pieces.

his expression softened, and he remained noiseless. one couldn't even begin to imagine what thoughts formed in the grey cloud over his head. "that's a lie and you know it."  was all he cared to say after a few seconds. 

her gentle eyes studied his pale face, wondering what he could be thinking, seeing the man she loved fading away every time he opened his mouth. how could he claim to respect her words when he did what he did yesterday, knowing that would change everything for their group? or was he never to think of how he affected others?

"it is a lie, draco. that is all you seem to do nowadays, to your father, to your friends, and then to me." ivy did whatever she could to hide the shaking feeling she felt when she spoke, she thought she sounded confident when it came out. "you know exactly what you did to my friends and i yesterday and now i have to tell them the truth." 

his expression wasn't soft and caring when peering down at her anymore, it was stern and fake and he seemed to be hiding a million mysteries now. "i believe i did you a favor, don't you want darling cedric to know about the voldemort rumors, hm? let him drop out now, let potter win the tournament and fall into the dark side?" 

her blood began to boil within her skin, she felt it washing onto her cheeks, she wanted to scream and push him so far away that he never set foot back into hogwarts again. he knew what he was doing, he knew people cared to listen, he always knew people were interested in the return of voldemort. she knew about the rumors and chose to keep them secret, for rumors, were always rumors.

"you don't know what you're talking about, you've never valued the information your idiot of a father tells you anyways. leave my friends out of this and leave young potter alone. your obsession is getting bloody mad." he always had a weird fascination with potter, wishing not too nice of things to happen to him, she could never fully figure out how the same person said such horrible things but held her so closely at night. at one point, at least.