Chasing Shadows || Draco Malfoy x OC

Year 5- Ch.104

Draco and Céline walked to the front of the train, his arm still in place over her shoulder. As they passed compartments, many students saw them, whispering to each other. Draco pretended not to notice, while Céline face had turned a bright red, from the attention. They made it to a separate carriage that read on the door plaque Prefects.

They walked in and stepped into an empty compartment. It was bit nicer than the regular compartments, with more room, and the seats were a lot more comfortable than the others. They sat down across from each other.

Draco looked at her more closely now. She no longer looked thin and frail like she did when he last saw her a month ago. Her hair was again shining and long, now reaching her lower back. Her cheeks no longer hollowed but her jawline was still sharp, her baby face had disappeared. His eyes trailed down her body, she looked healthy again, like she wasn't being starved. His eyes stopped at her wrist that held the bracelet he had given to her for her birthday. This lip twitched upward.

Céline blushed as she saw him staring at her. She didn't know why she was blushing so hard, she looked towards the window, but still stole glances at him. He still looked as good as he did when she saw him at her house a month ago. He was much taller, while she only had grown an inch over the last year, at five foot three. Draco, standing next to her, was many inches taller than her.

"Are you done staring?" Draco asked, smirking.

"I could ask you the same." She said immediately. Her face still flushed. His smirk fell and his ears turned red. He cleared his throat and leaned over, putting his elbow on his knees.

"So?" He asked lowly. "What happened?"

She looked at him, the redness on her cheeks going away. She fidgeted with her bracelet. He looked down at it and he grabbed her hand. Then the bracelet relaxed its stiff solid form and slithered down her hand and onto Draco's.

Céline hesitated, she wanted to tell him everything, but she knew that there were definitely parts she needed to keep to herself. So she just told him how she left and hid in Paris for a couple of days, before traveling to the Weasley's home and that's where she was for the rest of summer.

Though she wouldn't tell him that they weren't at the Burrow, that they were living in London the whole time.

He had an unreadable expression. She felt her anxiety grow a bit just thinking about her father.

"I saw him on the platform... he was there and he saw me. I hadn't seen or heard about my father since I left. I-I don't know what he's going to do. I'm worried he's going to take me away as soon as I get off the train..." she said anxiously.

Draco passed the snake back to her and it weaved itself in and out of her fingers, slightly calming her down. 

"He won't." He said. The way his gray blue eyes stared so intensely to hers. It was as if he was giving her an unspoken promise that nothing was going to happen to her. She gave him a little smile and nodded.

She wasn't sure what a boy her age could do to stop her own father, but she chose to believe him, to give herself a sense of security and relief. She looked down to her hands where her little silvery snake was coiled in the palm of her hand, resting its head on top of its body. They stayed quiet for a moment before she spoke up again.

"I called it Argen." She said, raising the little snake up to her face. "You made him very cute." She gave him a sweet smile, "Thank you again."

Draco's ears turned pink, but still tried to look indifferent. "Well, I figured you wouldn't have liked one that looked vicious. I only matched it to its owner." He said in a slightly aloof.