joelle | d.m

59 | black studs

May, 1995.

Joey lay awake, unable to drift into a slumber.

In the darkness of her shared dorm, she stared blankly at the ceiling underneath her covers with her head upon her pillow. The soft sounds of Imani and Nayun breathing filled the stillness of the air.

The clock struck two in the morning. Joey couldn't sleep, and she was unsure as to why. Well, perhaps she did know why, but it was so ridiculous.

It was because Draco wasn't sleeping next to her. Wasn't in the same bed as her. Wasn't dreaming next to her or cuddling her. His heart wasn't beating in sync alongside hers as they slept tangled within each other's limbs.

She had worked the closing shift and eaten dinner quickly before darting off with her mates to complete two group assignments. Both assignments took so much time and before she knew it, it was long past midnight.

Draco had the same group assignment with his friends, though only one assignment. It was way too late and she didn't think she should go to his dorm. He could've been sleeping.

The blond's sleep schedule often fell in sync with hers. Not all the time, but most times. Sometimes they'd both be in bed before eleven or far past midnight. Tonight, she'd assumed he was asleep, so she didn't go to his dorm.

Now Joey found herself craving his comfort and presence. His arms around her and the steady breaths of his fanning into the back of her naked neck.

Turning her head toward the clock on the wall, through the dark it read 2:28 a.m. She hauled herself up into a sitting position on her bed and her fingers ran through the roots of her hair in frustration.

She wasn't sure if Draco would be upset if she snuck into his dorm and slipped into bed with him to sleep. Surely not.

Joey's legs fell over the edge of her bed and she pushed off her blankets from her body. Her feet slid into her slippers and she clutched her wand from her nightstand.

She tossed a sweatshirt from the armchair over her sports bra and since she was already wearing pajama pants, she left her dorm quietly. She padded through the dim common room lit by torches and the fire.

The cold air of the castle grazed her face and slipped into her sweatshirt through the open ends as she headed down the moving steps. It got colder as she reached the Slytherin Dungeons and to her fortune, the common room was empty.

She went straight for Draco's dorm and he'd told her multiple times that she could just let herself in, so she always did.

Like now, she let herself into his dorm. His dorm was dark and lit very slightly by the boys' dormitory corridor. Through the streak of warm light illuminating his dorm, she saw him asleep in his bed.

He was lying on his side with one arm sprawled along the mattress and his other tucked beneath the pillow, facing her side of the bed. He was shirtless, per usual, and the silk blanket draped lazily over his hips.

She saw pillows laid out next to him in a line beneath the blanket. Three, to be specific. They were laid out on her side of the bed.

For a moment, she just stood at the doorway in awe. She rarely ever got to see him sleep because he was either awake first or the last to go to sleep. He looked so peaceful asleep. So delicate and precious.

Shutting the door silently behind her, she kicked off her slippers and pulled the sweatshirt over her head to toss it onto the armchair. She crossed to her side of the bed and placed her wand on the nightstand.

Hesitant, she just stood by the bed. She didn't want to wake him up with the movement of getting onto the bed and under the sheets. He wasn't necessarily a heavy sleeper, nor a light one. It depended on his fatigue.