enchanted • draco malfoy

Year 3: Discussing War

Felicity's POV

I decided to head up to Professor Lupin's office after hearing the news that he was quitting. Although he was best friends with a fake serial killer, he was still a good person, and a friend of my parents. I took a deep breath before knocking on his door. A reply came almost instantly. "Come in." I pushed the door open and poked my head in. "Ah, Miss Longbottom," Professor Lupin said, "I was hoping you'd stop by." He looked as if he'd hoped the opposite. "Yeah, I figured I'd say goodbye," I replied awkwardly, "And thank you." Lupin looked confused. "Thank you for what?" I shook my head. "I don't know," I answered honestly, "For understanding, I guess." I'd simply felt the need to speak with him before he left.

Lupin seemed to hesitate before speaking again. "Why don't you take a seat, Felicity," he suggested, sitting down behind his desk. I sat down, regarding him warily. He inhaled deeply before speaking. "I'd like to apologize," he began. I opened my mouth to ask what for before he cut me off. "For the Boggart. But for more, as well." He paused, thinking, before continuing.

"I knew your parents well, very well. In fact, during the first war against You-Know-Who, I urged them to come on a raid with us, even though they wanted to stay home and care for you and your brother. It was that raid that they were captured and tortured by Bellatrix. And for that, I'm sorry."

I was at loss for words. I managed an, "Oh." But he looked so ashamed that I had to say more. "You don't blame yourself, right?" I don't know why I said that; it was clear he blamed himself. "Nev and I don't blame you, Gran wouldn't, and my parents definitely don't," I continued, "so you can't blame yourself. Some things just happen."

He looked at me, confusion on his face. "I assumed you'd be angry," he stated. "I took your parents away from you and your brother." I was shaking my head before he finished his sentence. "No," I denied, "Bellatrix Lestrange took our parents away from us. Not you, Professor." A small smile broke out across Lupin's face. "I know you've heard this a lot, but they would be so extraordinarily proud of you and Neville, Felicity." I smiled, too. "I hope so."

~*~

I left his office after talking for a few more minutes about my parents, amongst other topics. He finally told me the story he said he would at the beginning of the year, of the deer and the dog and how he got his scars. James Potter and Sirius Black with him on a full moon. Now that I knew he was a werewolf, and Sirius and James Animagus, I understood why he couldn't have told me at the beginning of the year.

I sighed as I wandered the empty halls. Everyone else was in the Great Hall eating or in their dorms packing their stuff away until the next school year. Lost in my thoughts, I turned a corner and ran directly into someone. "Oh, I'm so-" I stopped as I realized I'd run into Malfoy.

"Oh, it's just you," I muttered. "Just me?" Malfoy asked with a smirk. "Just you," I repeated, crossing my arms over my chest. He stared for a moment before turning to face me so that my back was against the wall and he was in front of me.

"Longbottom, I have a theory," he started. He already sounded mocking, or maybe he always sounded like that. "Should I care?" I retorted. "Humor me," Draco countered. I sighed and rolled my eyes. "You knew what Lupin was all along, didn't you?" he accused sharply, all 'humor' gone. "Even if I did," I responded nonchalantly, though my palms were sweaty, "you wouldn't be able to prove it, so what's it matter?" Malfoy's eyes narrowed and anger was written plainly across his face. He took a step closer to me, much too near for comfort. Fear flickered across my face for a split second before I raised my chin and glared right into his too-close gray eyes defiantly. Malfoy only smirked again. "You're not very brave without your friends, are you, Longbottom?"

I decided to answer completely honestly. "No, I'm not." I could tell my reply surprised him for a moment, but it was a real answer. I'm not as brave without my friends as I am with them. When they're with me, I know someone has my back, someone's there to talk to, or to help me. When they're not with me, I feel much more... vulnerable. But there was no need to tell him all that. Instead I just raised an eyebrow, demanding a response from him. He exhaled and I once again took note of how incredibly close he was, and how incredibly gray his eyes were, like a thunderstorm, although they'd looked silver that night on the Astronomy Tower, and how incredibly and unfairly long his eyelashes were, and...

Woah.

'Snap out of it, Felicity,' I thought to myself. I blinked rapidly, clearing away my absurd thoughts. Predictably, Draco only smirked. "See you," he said, before walking away down the hall. I stood still for a couple seconds before making my way to Great Hall, shaking my head at my own stupidity.

~*~

I arrived in the dining hall to see everyone in Gryffindor surrounding Harry, who was gazing down at something on the table. I hurried to his side just as Ron said reverently, "It's a Firebolt; the fastest broom in the world!" Harry looked up at me as I came to a stop next to him, eyes wide. "For me?" he asked, looking back down at the polished handle of the broom. A smile was forming on his lips, but he seemed troubled. "But who sent it?" he asked, searching for a note. "No one knows," Ron said with a shrug, seeming unbothered. "But this came with it," Hermione spoke up from my right. She held up a grey feather as long as my forearm and I grinned, passing it to Harry. He only smiled. "Keep it," he murmured, only loud enough for her to hear.

"Well?" the twins asked in unison, "Give it a go!" The onlookers cheered as Harry raced out of the Great Hall and to the courtyard, broom in hand.

~*~

I walked through the doors of our home with Nev and Gran and sighed contentedly. As much as I loved Hogwarts, as much as Hogwarts was my true home, this little house was still one of my favorite places in the world to be.

"Neville, Felicity," Gran said in her usual brisk, no-nonsense voice, "Go get dressed appropriately. We're having company over for dinner." Neville and I groaned in sync. "Company?" I whined, "But we just got back! And with whom?" Gran exhaled, suddenly seeming tired. There was a moment of silence before she spoke again, her voice foreboding.

"There's a war coming, children. And what with Sirius Black on the loose, and God knows how many masked supporters of You-Know-Who living among us, we'll need to form alliances with the few good wizarding family that still remain."

"Like who?" Nev and I asked together. I did not want to spend my summer having dinners with someone like Lavender Brown or Ernie Macmillan. "The Weasleys, obviously," Gran mused, "The Diggorys, the Carters, the Abbots... and many more, hopefully." I sighed in relief. Time with the Weasleys would be amazing, and the Diggorys... well, Cedric definitely wasn't bad to look at. The Carters youngest and only child was Alana Carter, Cedric Diggory's best friend. She's in Fred and George's year, and one of the most unpredictable Hufflepuff's I've ever met. I got along well enough with Hannah Abbott, so maybe this wouldn't be as awful as I'd thought.

So, head held high, I changed into a dress that was perfect for discussing war.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and that, my lovely people, is the end of year three

first off, ahhhhh it took me long enough but we're finally on to year four !

also, alana carter is my own character that i will hopefully be writing a fanfic about eventually, and she'll probably be a little involved in felicity's remaining years at hogwarts

anyway, time for year four ! aka dralicity af

~xo