The Quiet Before The Storm- A Dramoine Story

9. Unlikely Friendship

Draco’s POV:

I sat by the black lake clutching a piece of parchment in my hands. It was another letter from the same person. More threats, more warnings. But it only angered me further. Why can’t I be left alone? Joining them is not a solution. I was not a good Death Eater either. I had one task in which I had hesitated. I went back to Hogwarts and failed to capture Potter. In fact, I let one of my friends die, granting the fact that he brought it on himself. And lastly, when there was a raging battle, I ran away with my parents, “abandoning”, as I was reminded by Goyle frequently, my fellow ‘brave fighters’. What good would it do them to have such an indecisive idiot among them?

Not that the remaining Death Eaters had any problems with it. They were regrouping, according to the letters, the purpose of which fails me. He had an army with him and he couldn’t defeat Hogwarts. How is it that a small group of failed Death Eaters would be able to achieve anything? These idiots were alive only because of their pleading guilty or convincing the courts that they were under the influence of the Imperius Curse. It is OK for Stan Shunpike to do that but who will believe if, say, Bellatrix Lestrange did that?

I was absent minded as I waved my wand and caused the pebbles closest to me to levitate only to throw them forcefully into the lake. I may have hit the Giant Squid because its tentacles rose to surface and went back inside.

“Draco Malfoy, what is with the glum?” I heard a voice ask. I turned to see a pale girl with dirty blonde hair.
“I am not glum.” I asked, returning my focus to the lake, where the squid was now coming out to bask in the sun.
“I can see that you are,” Luna Lovegood said in a dreamy tone. “May I sit here?”
I shrugged nonchalantly, not knowing what she wanted.
“It’s a nice weather isn’t it?” she was talking, “It’s not raining for the first time in weeks. Chocolate Frog?”

I stared down at the pack she offered me and raised my eyebrows at her.

“It is not poisoned, if that is what you are afraid of,” she said smiling.
“No I am not worried about that,” I said, taking one. “I was just wondering why you offered me one.”
“Because that is something my mother taught me. Everything is better when you share it with others. And she also taught me to make new friends if I have the chance, so that explains why I am sitting here with you.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and took a bite out of my Chocolate Frog. “So your mother didn’t tell you not to talk with enemies?”
“We are not enemies, Draco Malfoy. Just because someone does something the wrong way, it doesn’t mean that he is a bad person. He was simply trying to find his way that is all. What happened in the past happened you can’t change that. But the future is for us to shape.”

I looked down at the Chocolate Frog card in my hand and my heart sank. Albus Dumbledore grinned from the card. I cast it aside and buried my head in my hands.

“So are you gonna talk about it?” Lovegood asked.
“What?” I said looking up.
“Like I told you, everything is better when you share it with others. That includes thoughts too. I am just saying there’s someone right here if you want to talk about it.”

I stared into her silvery eyes that were full of determination. As I stared, it seemed to encourage me to speak. I sighed and stared unfocusedly at the lake. And without meaning to, I blurted out everything to her. She listened to me patiently as I told her what happened to me in the sixth year, what he forced me to do and what I was put trough to save my father’s life right up to Theo and his beliefs and the letters I had received, threatening me to join them.

“So you think Pansy Parkinson sent you that letter?” She asked me once I finished. “Do you have a reason to believe that she joined the Death Eaters?”
“I do. Before she disappeared on me, the last thing she said was that she feels it is not over. And then she told me that she hates me and asked me not to contact her ever again.”
“Well, it is fishy, but you can’t let the letters influence you. You made the choice, Draco. Can I call you Draco?”

I nodded solemnly. I had told her more about myself than I have told anybody in my life. That is a first-name basis step.

“Well, you made a choice to move on from all that,” she continued. “And that should be your only concern. Clinging to the past only harms you. You have to move on. Like I have told before, it’s never too late to change. I know you can be a better person.”
I snorted loudly. “I was never good to you, always teasing you, calling you ‘loony’. I had you imprisoned in my Manor and all the times I could have let you go, I didn’t. Why are you being so nice to me?”

She smiled wistfully, “I just told you, Draco. Past is past. I do not like to dwell on it much. Whatever you were, you are no longer that. Maybe it was the Frayed Frimplers that got you thinking.”
“Frayed Frimplers?” I asked, confused.
“Yes. They are invisible. They can influence you into positive thoughts. Your manor basement is full of it. How do you think Mr. Ollivander and I survived in there?”

I looked at her in disbelief. Did she actually just say that?
“Were you always like this? Believing in strange things?”
“Just because you cannot see something, it doesn’t mean it can’t exist does it? You don’t see your emotions, but you do believe they are there. Why is it so hard for you to believe that these creatures can be real?”

I smiled widely, probably for the first time in months. Luna Lovegood was right; it did make me feel better when I shared my thoughts. As weird as it may sound, I may have just become friends with her.

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