Chasing Shadows || Draco Malfoy x OC

Year 6- Ch. 186

Days passed and Céline stopped trying to follow Draco, she was unsure of what to do anymore. She understood the importance of trying to stop him, because it could potentially stop Voldemort from getting closer to his goal, whatever it may be. She felt stuck in the middle where she knew she couldn't have it both ways. Céline didn't ignore or avoid Harry, it was more like she didn't know what to say to him, the question that he's asked a couple times repeats in her ear constantly; Are you on our side or his?

With everything that's happened in the last couple of years, she obviously knew the answer. But for some reason, Céline couldn't say it. She felt like the moment she says it, she might lose something very dear to her and she wasn't willing to let go.

Céline headed to Potions one afternoon, it was going to be quite empty that day since most of her classmates were taking their Apparitions exam at the same time as the lesson. When she entered the class, it was only her, Draco, Ernie, and Harry. She sat next to Draco per usual, but when she looked at him, he was starting to look worse. Shes been seeing him less often.

When she would try to approach him, Draco would tell her that he was tired and would go to bed early. He was eating less and less, he looked paler and thinner. Céline was getting more worried, because he was no longer his usual self. That confident, sometimes arrogant. She was about to talk to him when Professor Slughorn walked in and looked at the four of us.

"Ah, so I take it that you four are not taking the exam?" He says, "not yet seventeen, are you?"

We shook our heads.

"That's alright, I suppose we can do something fun today. I want you to brew me something amusing." Slughorn says brightly.

"I think thats a great idea, professor." Ernie said, smiling and rubbing his hands together, as if already planning something. Draco on the otherhand less amused by this activity.

"What do you mean by 'something amusing'?" asked Draco irritably.

"Oh, surprise me." Slughorn said with a grin, before clapping his hands and telling them to begin. Céline opened her Advanced Potions book and began to look through to find something that might fight into Slughorns requirement. She ended up finding the Laughing Potion. Céline settled for that and glanced over to Draco, who was taking his time looking through the textbook, not really to look for anything, but more to waste time. 

"Aren't you going to try?" Céline whispered to him. Draco looked over to her with an expression less thrilled to be there. It was practically written on his face that he would much rather be doing whatever he's doing in the Room of Requirements. He shrugged and continued looking through the book. She let out a small sigh before getting up to go into the ingredients cupboard.

At the same time Harry happened to go to the cupboard as well, "Hey Céline." he said quietly. She looks at him as her hand is stretched out in front of her grabbing something from her list.

"Oh, hey Harry..." She said. They both quietly gathered their ingredients for a moment, before he leaned in and spoke in a whisper.

"Listen, Hagrid wrote us a letter... apparently Aragog died yesterday." he said.

"Was that his friend that he was crying about earlier in the year?" Céline said looking a little surprised. He nodded.

"Yeah, he said that he's going to be have a burial this evening around dusk. Ron and Hermione don't want to go, but I thought I might go."

"But isn't that after hours? After curfew?" 

"Yeah, but I could maybe come get you with the invisibility cloak and we can go together and be there for him. You should've seen his letter, he had been crying while writing it.." Harry said. He hoped that she would agree to it, that way it would serve as an opportunity to apologize to her.