stars • d.m

4.3

There was no official winner of the Triwizard Tournament. What cause of celebration could ever come from this?

Everyone was at Cedric's memorial feast which only held silence and many tears. Dumbledore had given a heartfelt speech to honor the Hufflepuff while pushing the students to come to the reality that Voldemort was the cause of this.

Though some would not admit it, everyone was a little fearful of what that meant. Everyone except Estella, who was not in attendance.

When the service was over and students were flocking the courtyards to send off the Durmstrangs and Beauxbatons, Draco, Luna, and Padma made their way back to the Ravenclaw Tower.

"How was she before you left?" Draco asked, breaking the silence.

"The exact same," Padma answered, "I mean, can you blame her?"

"And how are you doing?"

This took Padma by surprise. Why would he care? Why was it...nice?

"I don't really know. It doesn't feel real," answered Padma.

"Time will heal. Things will make sense again eventually. And you'll be okay," Draco affirmed.

Padma gave him a small smile. She could not believe Draco Malloy had the capability of saying these things to her.

When the three arrived, they ran into a headgirl who looked at Draco and immediately started to protest. That is until Padma beat her to it by stating, "It's the last day of school and his girlfriend is mourning, don't even start."

Without a further word, the girl let them through. Draco was anxious to see Estella as they trotted up the stairs. He just wanted her to speak to him. She had been silent for the past few days, refusing to eat, and staying in bed at all hours. She was ignoring her mother's letters so Draco took it upon himself to tell her what was going on. It was killing Draco.

When they walked into the room, Estella was sitting up against the window watching the outside world carry on. How could they do that, she wondered.

"Estella" a soft voice broke her trance. Upon realizing the source, she turned back to the window.

"Have you eaten?" Draco asked, gently sitting next to her on her bed. She didn't answer.

Draco noticed that her bags and trunk were packed.

"Did you do that?" He asked.

"I did," Padma answered, "this is actually the first time she's sat up."

"Estella, you know we have to leave today. Why don't we help you get ready?" Asked Draco. No answer.

"You know you can't stay he-"

"And why not?" Estella interrupted. Padma and Draco were shocked.

"Why should I do anything expected of me? None of it matters in the end. We're on a floating rock in space. We're born, we live, we die, and for what? No one will remember us in a millennia. It's all so meaningless-"

"But that doesn't change the fact that we have to be off school premises in two hours," Luna interrupted.

"Estella we lost our friend too," Padma started.

"So we're supposed to grieve the exact same?" Estella snapped.

"Obviously not but the world doesn't get to stop for any of us, meaningless or not. I understand your pain. Trust me, I do. I feel like I'm going to explode any second and I'd rather do that than go through this right now. But in the meantime I need you to get off your ass and get on the train home because this is getting ridiculous" said Padma.

"Padma!" Draco exclaimed.

Everyone was silent, waiting for Estella's response, who was now sitting on her bed like a ticking time bomb.

"I need you all to leave me alone," Estella said calmly.

"Estella-" Draco started.

"-PLEASE" shouted Estella.

Padma and Luna walked out of the room quickly while Draco hesitated. He knew any further words would make things worse. He felt helpless.

"I'll be here waiting when you're ready," Draco informed as he closed the door behind him.

Estella let the floodgates open. All of this meaningless existence yet she was still feeling the weight of it all.