❀ 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐘,
˚ ༘♡ ⋆𝑨 𝑺𝑻𝑶𝑹𝒀 𝑶𝑭 𝑾𝑰𝑻𝑪𝑯𝑪𝑹𝑨𝑭𝑻 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑭𝑹𝑰𝑬𝑵𝑫𝑺𝑯𝑰𝑷𝑺
━━━ ❝a name, or title, or house
doesn't define who you are,
only you're able to do that.❞
...
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SOMETHING DIDN'T QUITE SIT RIGHT with Nyx for the rest of the day. It was like an unsettling itch she couldn't scratch, nibbling away at her thoughts. She kept circling back to Draco's accusation, questioning its truthfulness. Her doubts made her feel guilty like she was betraying him just by considering the possibility. It wasn't that she thought Draco couldn't have been a victim of bullying—no, that wasn't it. But... the incident at the bookshop? It didn't fit the picture of a helpless victim. Draco didn't seem like someone who'd been bullied; he seemed far more like the one doing the bullying.
Besides, who would bully someone like Draco? He was from a pureblood family, rich and influential. His father had a prestigious position, and his surname alone was enough to make anyone hesitate before picking a fight. Who would be foolish enough to make an enemy of him?
I shouldn't be thinking this way... Nyx chastised herself. Why was she trying to rationalize the situation like this? Why was she second-guessing everything she'd been told? It made her feel like she was turning into someone she didn't want to be—a person who doubted their friends. After all, people reacted to things in different ways, didn't they? Maybe Draco had truly been bullied, and maybe he hadn't let it shape him into something bitter. Perhaps he seemed like the aggressor because he was merely standing up for himself. It was possible, wasn't it?
"It's entirely possible..." she murmured to herself, more to convince herself than anyone else. But before she could finish her thought, a splash of cold water hit her face, snapping her out of her reverie.
She blinked, wiping her face with the back of her hand, and was immediately drawn back into the present. She was no longer in the quiet space of her thoughts. Lucius, Draco, and she had been back from Diagon Alley for some time now, and evening was creeping in. Nyx had spent most of the day in her room, trying to make sense of what had happened. The questions wouldn't leave her alone—each thought leading her deeper into doubt. She couldn't decide if she'd done the right thing by believing Draco, and it was beginning to eat away at her.
Nyx had hoped for a quiet escape—just a quick trip to the kitchen to grab a snack without anyone noticing. She was desperate for a moment of solitude, to collect her thoughts and sort through the swirling jumble of emotions that had taken over her. But of course, the universe had other plans. She hadn't even seen him before she smelled him—Dobby, the house-elf. And what a sight he was.
The poor creature was in an awful state. His pillowcase, which he still insisted on wearing as clothes, was so filthy it seemed to have become a permanent shade of grey like it had been dipped in soot and forgotten. His whole body was caked in grime, and his eyes were downcast in an unmistakable expression of self-reproach. Nyx's heart went out to him.
Without a second thought, she offered to give him a bath. After all, she'd done it before—back at Little Akers, helping the younger children scrub their backs and behind their ears, making sure they were clean and healthy. She didn't mind at all.
