[1] Gasoline ✗ Draco Malfoy

twenty four

Chapter Twenty-Four;

"We thought that it would be advantageous to have you on our side! The perfect spy – how have we not been more successful at stopping their missions? We know their names but we don't know their moves! Your information is wrong, Park! Either they suspect you, or you're aiding them!"

Seohyun heard the voice of Alecto Carrow screeching in her head as she drew, her grip on her charcoal so tight she was so sure that at any given moment, it was going to snap.

She didn't care. She couldn't bring herself to.

The conversation – or, more accurately, yelling match – had occurred days ago. Seohyun thought she had recovered, until that afternoon. Now the voices danced anew in her mind, leering and sauntering close to her, holding her mind captive.

"They're cautious!" she'd tried to defend herself. Really, her brain had been like a spinning top, trying desperately to conjure an explanation. "They change times so it's less likely someone will get caught! I tell you all that I know."

"Buck up your game, Park, or it won't be you who suffers."

It won't be you who suffers.

Seohyun thought it would mean her friends.

No. 

It was worse.

Now her charcoal flew across the page without her giving much thought to the image. It was as though her very soul was controlling the movement of her hands. She gritted her teeth and paused, taking in the image.

Frustration. Fear.

The page reeked of it. She could see it in the hazy shaking, in the leering, looming figures in the background. She'd taken the beautiful grounds of Hogwarts and turned them into something terrifying. She couldn't see any beauty in her drawing.

Seohyun brought the page to her face and groaned. She was tempted to rip the page to tiny shreds.

I'm so sorry.

"Seohyun? Are you here?"

Seohyun peeped over the tip of her page. There was only one boy in Hogwarts whose white-blonde hair caught the moonlight like that.

Draco sat beside her. "I thought I'd find you up here. It's a beautiful night – unusual for this time of year.

He knows me well.

Seohyun shrugged. "I thought I'd take advantage of it."

Her words sounded flat even to her own years.

Draco frowned.

"Something's troubling you. And don't try to deny it -" He faked a scowl. "I know you too well."

"Well, I'll be. How the tables have turned."

Seohyun sighed.

"My parents sent me a letter," she whispered. "They – they're okay."

"That's good. I'm happy for you."

"No. There's a catch... My father... His position in the Ministry has changed. He's – Pius Thicknesse's assistant."

Draco groaned as he, too, understood. "Oh, Seohyun."

Seohyun bit her lip as Draco placed an arm around her shoulder. She buried her face in her chest and, for the first time that day, the tears that had been just below the surface spilled out.