Inferno | Draco Malfoy

055 | Her Knight & His Lady

I hardly slept at all last night.

I couldn't stop thinking and my emotions were all over the place. One second I was outraged by McLaggen, the next I was bitter with myself for being so foolish, then I was contently consumed by vengeance, and the next I was completely flustered by Malfoy.

There's no use of me saying, 'Get your shit together, Adria' when I physically can't. I'm by far exhausted. My knuckles are sore and some of the punches McLaggen managed to nail hurt.

Oh well, I can't complain much from what I've heard. Apparently that bastard got sent straight to St Mungo's Hospital because when Malfoy tackled him, his head hit the broken plant pot. That ought to give him a concussion, serves him right for trying to plot against me.

Questioning was a must, poor Daphne, she spent way too long in Dumbledore's office getting interrogated left and right. Thankfully, the school had managed to handle it as a confidential matter (as they should). That way, the press won't publish me under false headlines and unleash their propaganda on me.

I'm not so sure about the changes in attitudes amongst the students. Some of them are a little scared of me now, especially the younger ones, and a plethora of them think I'm wicked (which to me, is pretty damn good). Still, speculations about my fight have been circulating around the school, the most popular rumour is most of the girl's favourite cliché of: 'Girl realises that her new lover can treat her better than her toxic, cheating boyfriend. So, she gets fed up and tries to break up with him. He says no and forces her to stay so she has a fight with him like a bad bitch.'

It's something you'd read from a romance novella. Of course, Umbridge has banned any discussion about the incident. But my ears just naturally take an interest when someone's conversation is about what they think of me. I guess I like it when people are creative. It was my choice to not tell anyone about McLaggen's plan and behaviour — the only ones who know are some trusted teachers, my friends, my brother and my parents.

Speaking about my parents, Dumbledore had temporarily connected Château Willoughby's fireplaces to the floo network. You can imagine the horror on my face when they appeared looking like they were ready to start a war. I had to confess and divulge everything to them, it was a long story with shocked faces but, they were just happy that I was okay. My father seemed more proud than ever to have a daughter who could fight.

My parents ultimately chose not to inform the Ministry of the situation, much to Umbridge's displease. The Ministry is too 'nosy' according to my parents and they 'have nothing to do with it' which is a fair judgment. They asked me if I wanted the Ministry to look into the case but I didn't want that, the chances of someone leaking information are too high.

Everything worked out for the best nonetheless, I made sure McLaggen lost everything he gained. He's in debt to his friends, he's waiting to be expelled and his dear Ravenclaw, Mandy Brocklehurst — whom he's dated behind closed doors ever since last year — is now in a whirlwind romance with his best mate, Flynn Moore.

Anyway, I still have my detention today for putting a student in danger. What's worse is that I have a paired detention with Malfoy, after McGonagall had let Snape deal with us. 'Equal punishment' he said, 'shared responsibility'. Everyone knows Snape doesn't stay for the detentions, he usually sets a task for his students (reorganising ingredients etc). Then he'll come back and make sure they did their chores before letting them free.

I can't be alone in a room with Malfoy. Not only would I choke on my own word vomit but, I also wouldn't be able to contain myself from a) asking him questions and b) jumping on him.