By Any Other Name; D.M

03 - A Dreadful Day

Draco Malfoy was trying his absolute hardest to avoid Elodie Potter.

He changed his routes, swapped his seats; anything to bring distance between them. As soon as his eyes met hers from afar, they would darken with something akin to anger before he hightailed it out of there.

Unfortunately for him, it seemed as though fate had other ideas.

Bringing them together like fatal collisions, they saw each other everywhere. Meeting on corners and passing through doorways, what was once nothing became everything. Safe to say, Elodie was thoroughly worn out.

She didn't want to see him just as much as he didn't want to see her, praying that she would wake up one day with everything forgotten. She tried to ignore the thread of curiosity that tugged at her, begging her to find out more, to explore the eyes that haunted her.

She dragged her hands across her face, trying to scrub away the memory.

"Are you okay?" Darcy's soft voice was concerned, her worried eyes peeking out at her from behind her glasses.

"Oh- yeah I'm fine. Just tired." 

She tried to sound convincing as she emerged from her thoughts. In a way, she wasn't lying; she truly was exhausted. Though Darcy would never know the real reason why.

"Ah. You didn't sleep well?"

"Yeah, something like that," Feeling guilty, she swiftly changed the subject, "Hey, how's Asteria?"

Darcy's eyes lit up. Asteria was her owl, and her pride and joy. Elodie didn't get it personally. She didn't have an owl, having to rely Harry's Hedwig, who liked to bite her fingers as soon as she came near.

"She's doing well; flew all the way to my aunts the other day with no problem."

Elodie whistled. "Wow, don't they live over in France?"

For a young bird like Asteria, such a flight was a big deal. Darcy's aunt, also a Ravenclaw, had been estranged from the family from a young age. Coupled with her decision to marry a woman, she had been completely disowned. 

 "Yeah, she's doing so well for her age," Her grin flashed with pride, "I just wish she were better at losing the letters from my parents." She muttered sardonically, her eyes dimming.

"They've been bothering you again?" Elodie's brow furrowed with concern for her friend.

In first year they'd bombarded her with letters, sometimes daily but never missing a week. As time went on though, they seemed to run out of steam, and the letters had all but stopped by second year. Though Darcy had never let her read one, Elodie had gotten the gist of their hateful content, and if they'd started up again there was going to be a problem.

"Yeah," Darcy's head dipped, her eyes skittering across her food, "It seems as though they're going to be persistent this year. I don't know why." She avoided making eye contact as she forced indifference into her voice.

"Shit Darcy, I'm sorry. Let me know if there's anything I can do." 

Not wanting to push the subject, Elodie left it there, allowing them to fade into silence as they finished breakfast. Wearily getting up, the two of them pushed through their reluctance and trudged to class.

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Luckily her first lessons passed quickly without hassle, and soon lunch was upon them. Wanting to go to the library, Elodie scarfed down her food and bid a quick goodbye to Darcy. She'd had her eye on a particular book, 'The Zoological Index', which supposedly detailed every magical creature in existence, and she wanted to check it out before anyone else could.