MEMENTO MORI | DRACO MALFOY

THIRTY-NINE

TRIGGER WARNING: mentions of self harm.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

     Draco Malfoy couldn't remember the last time he'd woken up with a smile on his face. He wasn't even sure he ever had woken up with a smile on his face. Even Christmases at the Manor weren't pleasant enough to incite the kind of happiness that he felt the last few days. He'd finally gotten the girl— some of her, at least. He only wished he had admitted his feelings sooner. Then, he'd have had more time with Ophelia before she was forced to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders. They'd spent every moment that they could together since that night up on the Seventh Floor Corridor, but still hid away from the rest of the school. Draco wanted to scream it to the world that Ophelia Rosier fancied him. He felt like the luckiest man in the world, but he knew it would only cause her problems if everyone was talking about it, so Draco agreed to keep it a secret. He would do just about anything to make sure what they had would never end.

     He climbed out of bed with a bit of a bounce in his step, even Blaise cocked a curious brow at him, noticing his strange, upbeat change in demeanour. Blaise knew better than to badger the Malfoy heir about his glee, because Draco's mood often changed like a flip of a switch, and a chipper Draco meant a much more pleasant dormitory.

     Draco dressed quickly into his quidditch jumper, cutting his usual readying time in half so that he could meet Ophelia for breakfast before practice. Luckily, they could still publicly eat meals together without raising any eyebrows, because it's what they'd been doing since first year. Everyone just assumed Draco and Ophelia had finally set their differences aside and became friends again. If they only knew.

     Draco's heart thudded in his chest as he sprinted up the steps from the dungeon and across the Entrance Hall. However, his smile quickly faltered when he noticed Ophelia wasn't in her usual seat, her soft smile when she'd see him enter was absent. She wasn't there at all. Draco slowed his pace, walking nonchalantly to where they'd usually sit, subtly glancing around the hall in case she'd decided to sit somewhere different that morning. He climbed over the long bench, taking his seat and immediately pulled a goblet of pumpkin juice towards himself. His mind raced at the thoughts of what could have happened. Had Effie had a change of heart? Was she standing me up? Was she ill? And then it dawned on him: what if the Dark Lord had summoned her? What if he'd found out about us and punished her? The guilt racked through Draco, causing his hand to shake and spill pumpkin juice onto the table. He couldn't even think about eating. Not without knowing what happened to Effie. Gripping the table with his slender, pale fingers, his ears perked up to the conversation happening a few seats down.

     "She literally shattered the mirror." Greengrass whispered quite loudly. "I don't know what she was even doing in there, sounded like she was talking to someone and then I heard the glass break."

     Draco's head snapped in their direction. Daphne was huddled with Davis, Parkinson and Bulstrode. He felt heat rising to his face with anger when Parkinson spoke.

     "It's just Rosier looking for attention." She snapped while taking a sip from her goblet. "She basically has no one anymore, she just wants everyone to feel bad for her and for you to forgive her, Daph. Don't even worry about it."

     Daphne hummed, poking at her pancake with her fork. "I don't know, Pans. She looked sick. She hasn't been herself since... I don't know, last year. There's something going on with her."

     "Oh for Merlin's sake!" Pansy scoffed, throwing her hands up in frustration. "That's what she wants! She wants you to feel bad for her and you're falling for it! Just let her have her little spiral and she'll be back to her usual miserable self in no time."