The Dragon in The Ice Fortress- Draco Malfoy

44

The chill of winter had fully settled over Hogwarts, frosting the windows and turning the grounds into a frozen expanse. I moved through my routine, the same one I had since I joined The Order, each step practiced but hollow. Every morning, I woke up early, ate with Hermione and Ron in the Great Hall, attended classes, and met with Harry whenever there was time to talk about what was happening. But today, everything felt different, as though the air itself was charged with something unseen—something inevitable.

Draco was always there, just on the periphery. He was no longer the boy who met me in secret, no longer the person I had loved. He was something else now—colder, more distant. We hadn't spoken in weeks, not since the night I made my decision to join The Order. But every time I saw him, a part of me longed for things to be different, to go back to before everything started falling apart.

As I made my way through the corridors between classes, I could feel the eyes of the students around me, though no one spoke. They had grown used to my silence, my separation from Draco and the Slytherins. Even in the common room, I sat with Daphne and Blaise, but there was a clear, invisible divide between us—a divide marked by the choices we hadn't made together.

It wasn't until I reached the courtyard that I saw him.

Draco was standing alone near the entrance, his posture stiff and rigid as though he were carved from stone. His eyes, usually sharp and alert, seemed distant, like they were locked onto something I couldn't see. He hadn't noticed me, or if he had, he didn't show it. His face was pale, more so than usual, and there was a tension in his expression that I had never seen before. It was the kind of look that told me something big was coming, something that would change everything.

I stopped mid-step, my heart racing as I watched him from across the courtyard. He hadn't been in class that morning, which wasn't unusual, but now seeing him like this—so detached, so closed off—it unnerved me in a way that I couldn't explain.

He shifted slightly, as though sensing someone watching him, and for a brief moment, his eyes flickered in my direction. Our gazes met, and my breath caught in my throat. There was no warmth in his eyes anymore, no recognition of the shared past we had. There was only cold determination and a hint of something else—something darker.

For a split second, I wondered if I should go to him, if I should ask him what was happening. But the memory of our last conversation, of the way we had torn apart what was left of us, held me back. I couldn't reach out to him anymore. I had made my choice, and so had he.

Still, as I stood frozen in place, I could feel the weight of unspoken words pressing between us, heavy and suffocating. Draco didn't move, didn't say a word, but I could tell. I could feel it deep in my gut that whatever was coming, it was close. This was no ordinary day, no ordinary moment. This was a calm before a storm, and I could sense that Draco was at the center of it.

Suddenly, a group of Slytherins emerged from the castle, their loud laughter shattering the tense quiet. Draco straightened, his mask of indifference snapping back into place as he turned to join them. Pansy looped her arm through his, chattering about something I couldn't make out. He didn't respond, just walked beside her with that same haunted look in his eyes, though he didn't spare me another glance.

I exhaled shakily, realizing I had been holding my breath.

"What's wrong?" Hermione's voice cut through the noise of the courtyard as she and Harry appeared at my side. I hadn't even noticed them approaching.

I shook my head quickly, forcing a smile. "Nothing. Just... thinking."

Harry gave me a curious look, his brow furrowing as he followed my gaze toward Draco and the Slytherins disappearing into the castle. "He's been acting strange lately," Harry murmured, though I could tell he was fishing for more.

Strange didn't even begin to cover it. But I didn't say that out loud. I couldn't.

"Yeah," I muttered, avoiding their questioning eyes. "I know."

Hermione exchanged a glance with Harry, but thankfully, she didn't press the issue. "We should get going. There's a meeting later. We need to figure out the next steps."

I nodded, though my thoughts were still miles away, locked onto the ghostly image of Draco in the courtyard. Something was happening. I could feel it like an electric current buzzing under my skin. And I knew—deep down, I knew—that whatever it was, it involved him.

As we made our way toward the Great Hall for lunch, I stole another glance back at the entrance to the castle, but Draco was already gone. The knot in my stomach tightened. The path we were on was leading us toward something dark, something dangerous. I could feel the shadows closing in around us.

And for the first time since I had chosen to stand with The Order, I wasn't sure if I had the strength to face what was coming.

The day passed in a blur of routine—classes, idle chatter with Harry and Hermione, trying to avoid Ron's terrible jokes. But in every quiet moment, my thoughts drifted back to Draco. The look in his eyes, the silence between us. It haunted me like a ghost, following me through every corner of the castle. I couldn't shake the feeling that the next time I saw him, everything would be different.