cruel | d.m.

25.consequences

January 1999 | H E R

Way past curfew, Quinn is only now making it into the common room in a hurry.

She had bloody detention and couldn't sit still for the life of her. Her ability to overthink every word, gesture, facial expression really shone through in that time. Panic had gripped her around halfway through, leading to the awful discovery that she needs him more than she would like to admit.

And god, does she need him.

To her dismay, Draco is nowhere to be found. He can't be sent to Askaban, not because of some petty teenage drama. She refuses to go down that route. He has to be around. The usual spot where they hung out is her next destination.

Nope.

But all the way across the courtyard, he is sitting on a ledge with something lit up between his fingers being brought to his lips. A cloud of smoke is in his exhale.

Quinn feels like she can take the first real breath in hours. Maybe she does get one final time to see him.

With a casual blanket over the mess of emotions storming inside her, she slowly walks in the shadows, analyzing his face, his mood.

He seems down. A little pissed off. But too calm for someone about to go to prison. Missing a blue eye or broken nose after having to confront raging Theo.

Curiosity and last bits of fear get the best of her and she shows herself. Snow crunches under her feet, calling Shadow's attention, who is curled up beside him on the ledge.

He meets her eyes as he takes a drag, his cheeks hollowing, before the joint leaves his lips and his eyes skate across the stone structure of the castle.

Quinn, feeling a little weird and awkward, leans against a pillar close to him. The energy feels. . . off. Maybe he gives her blame for the fallout—because there was definitely a fallout. He wouldn't be wrong for it.

Everything seems to be her fault.

"How bad is it?" she breaks the silence, dying to learn what happened.

"I got my own room on Monday."

Oh?

Her brow lifts, relief flooding her bones. "That's not too bad."

"And," he takes another drag. Blows out a cloud. "I have my own study group to look after."

That's weird.

Draco shoves some snow around with his boot. "He told me I'm dead to him."

Fuck. That's what got him so down. The consequences of their actions have been pretty clear from the beginning, but apparently not crystal. And he surely got the brunt of it.

Feeling the cold nip at her fingertips, she hides her hands in the sleeves of her school sweater. "I'm sorry he said that to you."

"I was dead to him the moment I got the dark mark," he deadpans, barely meeting her eyes. "But you're right, it's not quite pleasant to hear those words."

"You know he's just emotional at the moment," Quinn says in attempt to make him feel better, but he bites down on his lip, shaking his head.

"No, he sounded pretty convinced. What did I expect hooking up with his ex?"

It's the tone that seals her lips and dips her head. Boiling down their connection to 'hooking up' when most of the time, they just exist in each others space is also not quite pleasant to hear.

Draco notices.

"Hey, come here." He does said gesture with his free hand, and albeit reluctantly, Quinn ends up standing between his legs.