WHEN GODS SLEEP - DRACO M.

TWO.

WHEN GODS SLEEP
Chapter Two

Paintings talk. Well, of course everyone knew that; but Epione didn't quite realize just how much until her name echoed in hushed whispers through strokes of paint. Squinted eyes and crinkling noses consistently followed her, and she had partly wished Umbridge would return to take them all down.

           The second week's last sunset had barely faded when she decided her classmates should be taken instead.

          She was headed for the Great Hall, nearly drooling at the thought of finally having a proper meal. Draco Malfoy had resorted to skipping dinner for that past week, which resulted in her rushing herself through lunch with little in her stomach, knowing she would have the chance to eat peacefully later in the day. Foolish. Immature. Absolutely cringe-worthy. Some of the fitting adjectives offered by her intimate friends to explain her predicament.

          That evening, though, she was given proper reasoning for not wanting to spend more time than necessary with him.

          Daphne held Epione by her arm, walking together towards the Slytherin table. Sat by Tracey, where she usually ate, Pansy was wordlessly moving around a couple of peas in her plate. Suspicious, and certainly cautious, she found herself a place directly across.

          She was still confused, baffled even, at the fact Pansy, his entitled girlfriend, avoided mentioning the subject.

          Epione had barely finished serving a slab of meat into her plate, when a loud voice erupted from the table. She froze; for a moment, forgetting her ancestry, her duties, her worth, her dignity - all for a crush on a blond haired boy. Pansy had stood up, calling for her boyfriend.

           A harsh pinch on the bare skin between her stockings and skirt snapped her head up, back into focus. Her friend said nothing, but she could feel her presence, asserting her behavior.

          Though she wanted to catch a glimpse of him, the young girl knew many eyes were mercilessly trained on her, scavenging for an evident hint of attraction. It wasn't a feeling she could quite pinpoint or explain, the one of being allowed yet forbidden to love. Was limited the word?

          He barely brushed against her back as he sauntered behind; her heartbeat quickened.

          She didn't aim to tell him. Epione had accepted her fate was to be married off, to obey her mother's greed. Draco Malfoy was not seen as a pebble in that path, or even a different one altogether - it was rather an unattainable alternate reality, fantasy. Not an option she could simply pursue.

          She realized she had been staring at the cutlery, attracting the attention of a dark-skinned boy in the table. Whilst Pansy fussed over her boyfriend, Blaise observed quietly, lips twisting into a knowing smirk.

         'Doll, are you not hungry?' He called, gathering a couple of spectators among the Slytherins.

          Looking ahead, she unwillingly recalled her anticipation for dinner, how she'd barely eaten anything that day. And she sighed, dreading both outcomes.

          'I am, I am.' She murmured, digging into her plate silently. If she as much as shifted her gaze slightly, she'd be met with Draco's piercing grey eyes - whether curiously, or perhaps absentmindedly, - tracing her features.