𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏 𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐄𝐏 | 𝐝.𝐦 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

-4-

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(play the song above <3)

It was late into the night; the moon was up in the sky illuminating even the darkest parts of the lonely castle standing on the island. Draco and I were running carelessly in the empty hallways of that castle: Hogwarts, laughing to ourselves thinking of how silly we must have looked at the moment. His cold hand was in mine trying to get me to run to wherever we were heading to. For the first time in a while, I saw his face bright with a big smile plastered his face. I missed his smile.

We hurriedly took the stairs to the astronomy tower competing to see whoever got to the top first. He obviously got there first and stood with a victorious pose: his hands on his waist and a smug smirk.

"Oh, hush," I laughed finally getting to the last stair and grabbing his hand, "What are you waiting for? Come on."

Draco laughed and followed me into the room. A cold breeze hit both of us as soon as we entered. The room was full of the light of the moon while it was snowing heavily. For a split second, the room suddenly seemed so melancholic and empty. I didn't mind it though. He was with me now.

"Care for a dance?" Draco asked raising both our hands to kiss mine.

"I don't see why not," I chuckled putting my other hand on his shoulder.

Draco's other arm carefully slid onto my waist and we started to dance.

Much like last year around this time, we were dancing together here at the very same place. But now, it was different. Both of us were happy, smiling at each other with most care as if there was nothing between us anymore. Draco's eyes which were so dull and hollow were now making my heart flutter. Tonight was beautiful.

I closed my eyes and placed my head on his chest hoping this moment would never go. I wished for him to stay there forever and never leave my side. I heard his steady heartbeat, I could feel his warmth, and I was finally with him. He was finally there with me because he never left.

What if we ran away, just the two of us? Far, far away from everything and everyone. From all our problems and the madness. Live and love together till death would do us apart. We would be so happy; away from all responsibilities and things we had to be forced into. We would love each other unconditionally, not afraid of anything that could stand in our way.

"I love you," I whispered to myself.

I opened my eyes to see no one.

I was all alone again. He had left again.

And so, I woke up.

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When I woke up I found myself riding the train back to Hogwarts from the Christmas break. Surprisingly enough, my parents found it best for me to stay in school instead of with them because the danger of being targeted by Death Eaters was less if I was in school.

Even my mind wouldn't leave me alone about Draco Malfoy, how convenient! So much for wanting to have a good sleep before arriving at that hell hole we call school.

I was alone in my cabin with no one to talk to, so I decided to walk around on the train to see if anyone was up to having a conversation with me. Not interacting with people has had its fair share of effects on my social skills and life, since I couldn't even talk to my parents without no avoiding eye contact. And so with that in mind, I got out of my cabin and went into the wagon where most Slytherins were seated. I couldn't talk to anyone besides Slytherins, since the other houses hated our guts, especially mine, so this was my last resort.

Far in the back of the wagon, I noticed Blaise and Pansy sitting next to each other talking about something. I decided to approach and say hello. I haven't talked to Blaise in months, wouldn't hurt to find out if everything was going okay with him.

"Well, hello there, stranger," I said then looked at Pansy, "Hey there, Pansy."

Pansy simply nodded at me with a small smile.

"If it isn't L/N," Blaise exclaimed surprised reaching his hand out, "Haven't seen you in ages, thought you went under the ground or something."

"Nothing of the sort really," I replied then looked at the seat in front of them, "Is this taken?"

"No, suit yourself," Pansy chimed in, "So, how did your Christmas go?"

"Not too bad I suppose," I replied unconsciously playing with my necklace, "Santa didn't come, though."

"As he should," Blaise laughed, "Not the brightest times to celebrate Christmas, isn't it?"

"Right on the mark," I replied with a shrug, "What about you guys? Everything okay?"

"More than okay, actually," Pansy replied worriedly, "Wouldn't say that about Lovegood, though."

Lovegood? What about Luna?

"Whatever you mean by that?" I asked surprised.

"Didn't you hear?" Blaise asked with a surprised tone.

"Her friends said that she didn't come to the station in the morning," Pansy explained, "They even checked the wagons to see if she would be hiding anywhere but nothing. It's like she vanished."

"Wait, what if her dad didn't want her to attend this semester?" I asked with a concerned tone, "It wouldn't make sense to jump to conclusions like that, would it?"

"That's exactly what I thought too," Pansy replied with a whisper, "But I was near the bathroom in the line to enter. I heard Crabbe and Goyle whispering about something so I decided to listen in on the conversation. It seems like their parents know something about it."

"You don't mean-" I gasped.

"Exactly," Blaise chimed in, "They were laughing at 'Lovegood's dad's misfortune' as if something bad had happened and they were the cause."

"Meaning," Pansy continued Blaise, "There are high stakes that they took Lovegood."

I couldn't say anything. I was shocked. Why would they take Luna? Wasn't she pure blood? They only took the ones who were muggle-born, this didn't make sense.

"I'm surprised you didn't know, L/N," Blaise said concerned, "Weren't you close with her?"

"The key word is 'were'," I replied with a monotonous voice, "But it doesn't make sense, why would they take her? What did she do wrong?"

"She isn't the one who did something wrong," Pansy said, "Her dad is this weird magazine's owner. They used to support Potter during our fifth year when everyone called him a liar. It would make sense to take his daughter for that."

"Don't you think it's stupid to take someone's daughter for something they did 2 years ago?" I asked crossing my arms, "Something's not adding up."

"Or does it?" Blaise contradicted, "Just think about it, wouldn't it be logical to take someone he loves away from him for something he did a few years ago just to excuse it with 'you did this wrong, so you have to pay for your actions' in return for something far more important?"

"Something important?" I asked already thinking about a hundred things Luna's dad could own that would pique Voldemort's interest.

"Do you have any clue what that is?" Pansy asked tilting her head.

Not in the slightest," I answered putting my head on the palm of my head, "Or maybe..."

"Actually, never mind," I said quickly trying to shift the topic onto something else.

I suddenly knew what it was.

It was Potter, wasn't it?

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a/n: this chapter was shorter than i had anticipated, but its okay </3 have a great day/night :D

i will probably update 3 more chapters tomorrow...if not, then know that i fell asleep halfway through lol