𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲 | 𝐝.𝐦.

fifty six

"You and Malfoy?" Luna gasps - or rather squeaks - in a vague fashion.

Betty nods, bitterly guilty.

Knowing the strained relationship her boyfriend has with most of her friends, she knows support isn't something she can win out of them.

However, Luna is different. She is much benign than the rest of her friends; grudge is something the girl hasn't learned yet. So with her, it is always a comfortable place to make her confessions.

The dingy basement is quiet except for the trickles of sewage water spilling from the cracks of the ceiling. Mr Ollivander is elsewhere in the same prison, meditating soundlessly.

A foreboding look etched on his face, the old man could only warrant her a greeting of peace when she came in. A part of him had been lost - the chattiness and friendliness.

Betty didn't push him to talk to her, only offered him some of her stolen breakfast. Draco had reluctantly agreed to help her with it when it became clear she couldn't be deterred.

Now, she hopes the man isn't eavesdropping on their private conversation. She wonders what he would think of her dating a known death eater - what would anyone think of her for that matter.

Betty had spilled all of the recent events, poured all her sorrows out to Luna, including the traumatic memories curated from the incident at the city.

It has been getting better, she hopes. She cannot deny the succour Draco has pitched in in helping her heal, she wouldn't know where she would be without his hand pulling her out of the darkness.

"Y'know what, Lunns. This might be a little bit of your fault. You swayed me a little - last time I was here as a prisoner. All that talk about me still liking Malfoy."

The blonde girl smiles, but it doesn't quite reach the ridge of her eyes. "I'm quite glad. That might've been my intention, Betts."

"You put that idea in my head and I couldn't rid of it."

Luna corrects adamantly, "Think you've always had the idea, just was never brave to act on it. All I did was give a little nudge."

Betty returns with a wistful silence which Luna conceives as a notion that she has hit certainty.

"Merlin, if Neville and the others have heard what you've been through," Luna trails off, "... is it possible that you've had it much worse up there than me."

Betty shakes her head, laughing. "You're silly."

Then, her face turns grave. "So what do you think? I mean, not that it matters much... I don't think I can ever take back getting back with Draco."

"I'm quite certain you don't want to either," the blonde girl says, dream-like. "I'm glad you've told me this first-hand. It was difficult second-guessing what you were up to last year. I could've never thought it was Malfoy who was the cause for your distraction."

Her mouth fills with crumbs of cinnamon roll, Betty's favourite. Draco had neglected inquiring Betty about her friend's favourite food, so he got Betty's instead.

"This is delightful," she comments.

Betty gives her a limp smile, using the sleeves of her sweater to wipe away the dirt that mars Luna's cheek. "Better than Hogwarts', isn't it?"

Giving her a nod, Luna swipes at the crumbs that dot the side of her lips.

"I wonder what Harry and the others will say, however," Betty admits cautiously, her gaze going to the other girl's for approval. "I never really made it up to them for being so secretive last year. Imagine what they'll say about Malfoy."