The Dark Mark | D.M

The Boy Who Lived

VIII

6th of November

    As the morning came, the sun is luminous and warm, but not harsh. The birds subtly kept on twittering and the breeze is cool. The leaves and plants are covered by dew drops. The level of noise pollution in the morning is less compared to the other times of the day.
   Astrid enjoys her morning walks despite being a night person. She finds the morning air peaceful, less chaotic than the afternoons and evenings when everyone is outside. The bright orange to baby blue hues help her calm her nerves and untangle her train of thought and ideas.

    In the peaceful morning, the brunette finishes her morning walk and jogs and entered the dark castle of Hogwarts. Beads of sweat can be seen from her neck, and the ends of her baby hairs, her right hand gripping a black water bottle while the other holds a beige hand towel—soon draping it onto her left shoulder.
    She sauntered along the corridors, making her way back to the magic carriage only in her fitted black leggings and plain white jumper, her light brown hair tied into a ponytail—loose wavy curls swaying from side to side as she walks. Her cheeks flushed and pink lips slightly plumper as she constantly bit onto it in between her jogs.

   

    As Astrid took a sharp right turn, she bumped into a smaller but stiff figure. The person on the receiving end stumbled a step backward, a groan emitting out of their mouth as they rubbed their forehead before raising their head and seeing whom they bumped into.

    "Astrid LeBlanc?" The person spoke, a look of surprise evident on their features.

    Astrid peered over the slightly smaller person with a scrunchy face as she felt a slight pang of pain in her chest area. "I apologize, I am not looking where I am going." She apologized to the boy with circular glasses.

    "Ah, no—you don't have to apologize, I am also at fault." He rambled, shaking his head from side to side. "I'm Harry, by the way. Harry Potter."

    Realization hit Astrid as Harry's circular-rim glasses and shaggy hair became seemingly familiar—barely remembering the time she saw a photograph of him in one of the papers a few years back. "So, you're Harry Potter. Tis' unexpected to meet you around here at this hour." She scoffed a small smile. "Nevertheless, it's a pleasure to finally meet and converse with you, Monsieur Potter."

    "Oh, uhm. I'm actually on my way to Hogsmeade." Harry informed, "And it's also nice to meet you too. Officially and properly meet you." He smiled nervously, causing Astrid to stare at him, amused.

    "Then, I guess I will let you be on your way. I shall see you around, Monsieur Potter." She bid the younger boy with a smile, earning a hesitant reaction from Harry who soon returned her smile and nod before leaving.

    Astrid kept her eyes on the dark-haired boy as he took long strides down and out of the current corridor he was in when the brunette heard footsteps behind her. The clacking of dress shoes echoed across the Hall, slowly making its way nearer to where Astrid stood. Shortly the person halted and a cold familiar voice replaced it.

    "You shouldn't be talking to him and his friends." The familiar voice said, clearly not fond of the Gryffindor boy.

    Astrid twirled around and faced a taller boy dressed in all black. "And why is that, Monsieur Malfoy?" She crossed her arms on her chest, tilting her head in the process. Her British accent came out stronger than her French.

    Draco scoffed before answering, "Because one of them is a blood traitor, the other is a mudblood, and the last one is—"

    "The boy who lived. What's the problem with that?"

    He scoffed once more, obviously irritated. "Just don't waste your time on them, especially with him." He dismissed before leisurely proceeding on his way past Astrid.

    Astrid turned her body around as Draco brushed past her, "I can't just do that." She blurted, thinking that it might put Draco to a stop, but when he just shrugged and kept going on his way Astrid snapped. "So you're going to ignore me? Pretend like I am not even here at all?" She asked as quietly yet sharply as she can.

    "Guess I am," Draco uttered as he kept on walking.

    Astrid took quick steps, barely twisting her head side to side as she did, making sure no other students come their way. "Oh for Merlin's sake, Draco! Stop acting so childish!" She whisper-shouted, halting a few steps from Draco—and this caused him to stop in his track and faced Astrid.

    "I am not acting child—! I am not acting childish." He snapped before taking a few steps closer to Astrid. "You expect me to act like nothing happened— I— you— This! This is childish, us, bickering at each other." He huffed before facing one side of the corridor as he briefly checked their surrounding.

    "If you just tell what the problem is, then we shouldn't be bickering at each other right now." She argued with gritted teeth.

    Draco scoffed one last time before facing the slightly shorter girl before him. "You want to know the problem? Hm? You— you're the problem." He snapped, his eyes remained transfixed on Astrid's green ones before his gaze gaped past Astrid's shoulder—noticing that they are no longer alone in the cold corridors. Draco took one last look at Astrid, his eyes took a second to examine every inch of her face despite being enraged towards her. Her green eyes with a subtle red glow, pink cheeks caused by her previous outburst, and lips wet and plump as she licks them occasionally. Draco twirled around with a huff and hurriedly made his way out the corridors, leaving a frustrated Astrid with her eyes close in an attempt to calm herself.

    "Damn. It is complicated, huh?" Another familiar voice said, a French accent lingering on their words.

    "Whatever happened five years ago, is indeed very serious." A deeper French accent followed suit.

    Astrid opened her eyes and let out a sigh before facing her two friends, both dressed in their normal clothes. "Bonjour, ladies." She greeted the pair as she made her way towards them.

    "You know, we all can go to Hogsmeade." Amelie wiggled her brows.

    "Yeah, I know. What about it?" Astrid asked.

    "Well, apparently, Monsieur Blondy is making his way there—like every student. So, why not use this day to speak to him, of course with less... you know, rage." Amelie smiled innocently, also earning a nod from Charlotte.

    Astrid stared at the pair dumbfoundedly as she considers going and doing what they were proposing. "I am not sure, he's frustrated enough—"

    "Both of you are." Charlotte cut in. "It's so obvious that this issue the both of you have is not one-sided. It is so clear that you both want to forgive and forget—however, one of you is an arse and kept pushing the other away, while the other was pushing themselves too hard to fix it on their own." Amelie nodded in agreement as Charlotte finished. "So, I suggest you shut your mouth, go and change, then we'll be off to Hogsmeade." Charlotte smiled.

The Dark Mark

Just a short chap for you lot <3