Fatal Affair

Chapter 12: Choices

Draco walked out into the backyard of Malfoy Manor the next morning. Nova was waiting for him, a broom in each hand. 

"Here," Nova said, handing Draco a broom. 

"What's this for?" Draco hesitantly took it. 

"For flying, dummy." Nova rolled her eyes. 

"And where are we flying too?" Draco asked. 

"You'll see." Nova turned her back on Draco and prepared to take off. "Try to keep up." 

Nova flew into the air with a kick from her boot. Draco shook his head before taking off after her. 

Nova's dark hair flew wildly behind her. She closed her green eyes to feel the wind on her skin. She started at a slower pace, enjoying the breeze. Her black, long coat billowed behind her. Draco had no problem keeping up. He watched her, trying to understand who she was. She came off as cold and serious at times, but her heart seemed too pure for who she claimed to be. 

Nova suddenly took off at a much higher speed, rising higher into the cold morning air. Draco was taken aback, but quickly recovered to follow her. 

They flew through the density of clouds. Draco struggled to keep his eyes on her, vision blurred by the fog. He got closer, meeting her side-by-side. She gave Draco a glance and smiled. Draco tilted his broom forward, gaining more speed and surpassing her. 

"Hey!" Nova screamed after him, quickly catching up. "You don't even know where we're going!"  

Nova took the lead and Draco followed her pace. 

They flew for over 30 minutes. The tip of Nova's nose was red and Draco struggled to hold onto his broom, his hands freezing. Finally, Nova started dropping lower. Draco followed, and they eventually landed on a rocky patch of land. There was a path that led up, to what appeared to be a cliff. 

Draco looked around, still not understanding where they were. 

"Just a bit further," Nova announced, taking the lead up the path. 

They climbed for less than 10 minutes before reaching the peak of a cliff. Draco was making the difficult climb, when he turned the final corner and reached the peak.

"We couldn't have just flown up here?" Draco asked through ragged breaths. 

"What would be the challenge in that?" Nova said, looking over her shoulder at Draco. She turned back towards the other side and pointed. "Look, Draco." 

Draco went to stand beside her and looked out to where she was pointing. The view was incredible. Hills upon hills rolled on for what appeared to be hundreds of miles. Some old, modest houses could be seen located sporadically on the hills. The sun beat down on the grass, illuminating the plains in a golden hue. The hills stopped and a large body of water could be seen beyond. Draco took a step forward to look down the cliff, which was just bare rock and more than a hundred foot drop, when Nova grabbed his arm to pull him back. 

"Just be careful," Nova said. "Lucius might literally kill me if you fell." 

"Where are we?" Draco asked, looking out to where the ocean met the sky. 

"Countryside," Nova answered, watching Draco carefully. She couldn't tell if he was enjoying it or not. She took a step forward, looking out at the horizon. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then from the very depths of her core, she let out an ear-piercing scream. Draco flinched. When she stopped, she looked back at Draco, who was looking at her, confused. 

"What the bloody hell was that?" he asked her, frowning slightly. 

"Nobody can hear us scream," Nova said. When Draco raised an eyebrow, Nova went on. "Not in a 'I'm going to kill you' way. No one can hear us here, so why not scream? Let out some of that stress, just let it all out Draco."