Alternate Universe - brothers Draco & Harry

Chapter 12 - the Proud Father

Aurelia was about to exit the common room, her sister was still intent on studying. "Are you sure you'll stay? It's almost 1 am and we have classes tomorrow..."

"Aurelia," Saskia placed her head back on the table, she was so tired, functioning off of energy drinks and popcorn. "I need to finish this practice test, I won't have the time tomorrow. Please, go to sleep. I'll just rest for about 10 minutes now and then keep going. Once I'm done, I'll go up and go to sleep."

"Alright, just don't force yourself too hard," her sister sighed and made her way out and up to the female dorms. As she was about to enter the hallway to the dorms, she saw Draco exit the male dorms. "Oh," she stopped and smiled. "You're up late."

"Yeah, you as well?"

"No, no, I'm off to bed."

"And you're wearing pink pyjamas this time. Nice colour. Quite different from your usual black ones, huh. How many do you have - one in each colour?" he chuckled.

Aurelia looked confused, tilting her head. "I don't own any black ones, I only wear pink and white. You must be losing your mind, Draco, lack of sleep is getting to you."

"Oh," the boy tilted his head, slipping in thought. 

"Well, I'm off to bed. Tell Saskia I said - go to sleep. Oh, and be nice, she's stressing over the amount of work she has to do, her Potions grade went down, so no need for any unnecessary drama tonight. Snape already scolded her today, she doesn't need you making things worse." And so the girl left, leaving behind a very confused Malfoy. He then proceeded to enter the common room and see Saskia sitting on the floor by the green couches, her head on the table and her eyes closed. 

He slowly walked over, seeing her face be illuminated by the emerald flame. 'That can't be her,' he wondered. 'She's wearing what Aurelia usually wore to sleep...' He looked the girl over and after a few seconds it finally clicked. He saw the small mole on one of her eyelids. It was hard to see, only visible if her eyes were closed. He remembered that day on the train when they met for the first time, Saskia said she had a mole on her eye, and Aurelia had one below her jaw.

'No...' his mind stopped as he stared at the peacefully sleeping girl. That's when he noticed an open energy drink near all her notes and papers. 'I should have known it was her all those times, how could I have been so stupid? Aurelia's in bed by 10 most nights, I've never seen her drink coffee, let alone an energy drink... and the way she acted and joked during the evenings. She never behaved like that during the day. I don't think Aurelia's ever made me laugh, actually.'

He almost jumped when Saskia took in a deeper breath, but her eyes still never opened, she was still sleeping. 'How could I not see it?' he wondered, looking over her form. 'No, the better question is why she even pretended to be Aurelia? Should I ask her? No, she'd just lie anyway... What is the best way to play this?'

As he stood there, thinking, suddenly the girls eyes snapped open and she raised her head, startling the boy. "Oh," she spoke, wiping her face. "Sorry, Draco. Wasn't expecting anyone here this late."

"Oh, no, it's my fault," he said, still staring at her. "Why are you studying so late, Aurelia?"  he asked, a small smile on his lips. Somehow he knew exactly how he would play this.

"O-Oh," the girl stuttered, gathering her composure. "I, uhh, I just need to finish a few things and then I'll be off to bed. You don't need to bother with me, just go relax."

"Oh, no, no, no," Draco feigned the most caring expression he could, coming over and sitting close next to her. "You always say how close we are, how good of a friend I am to you."

"I-I do?"

"And you always accept my help in these situations, too, Aurelia," he tried his best to hide his grin. "Don't you?"