the prophecy ⟡ draco malfoy

EIGHT ˚• ⚯͛

❝ Head in the clouds
but my gravity's centered ❞

The announcement had come just before breakfast. Educational decree #24 was to disband all student organizations. Umbridge had, no doubt, caught wind of the meeting that had taken place in the Hog's Head, and this was her retaliation. Every day that passed, the vile witch tightened her grip on the school. As if it wasn't already hard enough for Kaia to pretend she was okay, Delores Umbridge certainly wasn't helping. And neither was Draco Malfoy. Especially Draco Malfoy.

The blonde boy popped up everywhere despite her deliberate attempts to avoid him. From sitting in her line of sight in classes, library, and Great Hall, to finding ways to randomly pass her in the corridor, he was inescapable. Usually, she could be found with either Verity and Hannah, the trio and their friends, or his sister, none of whom he got along with, so avoiding one on one conversations with him had become quite easy. It was quite clear that he did not understand that she did not want to become close to him. Despite this, something in her yearned to see him any chance she got.

The sound of someone entering the Room of Requirement jolted Kaia from her thoughts. It was Lyra. Tonight was yet another lesson in Occlumency, and, according to Lyra, if she continued to occlude as well as she has been, this may be the final lesson she would need. It had been a total of 8 weeks already of these, since Kaia had been sent to stay with Lyra for the month of August. After Harry had gotten attacked by dementors, he was to stay at Grimmauld Place, and Dumbledore insisted it to be best to keep them separate out of fear she might tell him what he insisted he ought not to know yet — that she was his twin sister. She'd struggled immensely at first — her grief still too raw to control, and the unfamiliarity of her surroundings — but now that she'd been back to Hogwarts, around her friends, familiar surroundings, she'd excelled more in this last month than her entire month at Malfoy Manor. What's more, returning to Hogwarts under the reign of Delores Umbridge, without Cedric, reminded her of just what is as stake.

For them, the RoR was a small, cozy study, with two deep green crushed velvet sofas seated across from one another, a coffee table, Persian rug, and a crackling fireplace. The walls were simple, with dark paneling, and shelves filled with ancient books, artifacts and knickknacks lined them.

"You ready, Kai?" Lyra smiled as she sat down on the sofa across from her, setting her school bag on the floor.

"Yes." Kaia leaned her head back against the cushions, and closed her eyes.

"Okay," Lyra started. The shuffling in the room indicated the girl was readying her wand, and then she spoke again. "1... 2... 3... Legilimens!"

The familiar sensation of legilimency swept her mind like an icy wind, sending painful stings ricocheting through her skull. This technique was particularly tricky, because instead of kicking the intruder out, she was to let them stay, and flip through her memories like pages of a book, while keeping the vital memories locked away undetected. If performed properly, the intruder would think they successfully got the information they wanted, unknowing of the full truth locked away, untouchable. Keeping them locked away, while enduring the stinging pain of her memories being sorted through and not being allowed to kick them out all at the same time was incredibly tricky, not to mention excruciatingly painful.

So, she laid there, motionless while Lyra sifted through her mind, watching her own memories replay. Her secrets were messily tucked away into her mental walls, buried beneath layers of memories, knowledge, and fears.

The first memory appeared like it had been just yesterday — her third year, a winter trip to Hogsmeade. The air was crisp and cold, smelling like a mixture of butterbeer, sugar, and pine trees. She'd seen Harry materialize out of seemingly nowhere, after following a floating lollipop that had been swiped from Neville Longbottom's hand. The scene felt otherworldly, as though time had briefly slowed.