foolish red roses ♔ draco malfoy

3.

     The night soon came, as the sun withered away. It was dusk.

Caterina observed the sudden change in the sky as she sat on a velvet covered bench by her window. Her house sat just 30 minutes from King's Cross Station, right near Camberwell, London.

Their house, or the Arcabilia mansion as some would call it, was built in the late 1700s. Each century containing special lines of witches and wizards. The history of the Arcabilia family was complex, not even Caterina knew much.

Their house was a marble castle, with pillars surrounding the exterior, while the interior remained simple, yet romanesque. It was incredibly spacious. The windows surrounded the castle had stained glass, large purple curtains on the interior side of it. The outside contained trimmed hedges, forming a slight garden where different colored flowers would grow everyday.

"Caterina! Dinner is ready!" Tonitrua yells from downstairs. Caterina's mother was the purest woman that would ever step foot in the young girls life. She was kind, yet stern and knew how to get on Caterina's nerves. A lot.

"I'll catch you after dinner, Orion," the girl says to her white colored owl, sitting in his cage across the room.

Caterina bolted off of her chair and ran down the stairs in her black silk nightgown, not being able to contain her excitement. She loved food.

A smiling Stellae was already seated at the table, a napkin tucked inside of his shirt. Caterina smiles back at her father, wearing a brown suit and a striped tie. Her mom's black heels clicked as she brought over two plates of food. One containing a fish that's eyes were still intact and the other containing various vegetables.

"Hogwarts is tomorrow. You must be ecstatic," Tonitrua smiles, wiping her hands on a towel and joining the two remaining Arcabilias sitting down.

Caterina was in a daze, yet again, and continued to stuff her mouth with food. She didn't even look up and her mother's comment.

The girl's mother shook her head with a hint of laughter and decided to change the subject. "Your father got promoted at the ministry."

Caterina looked up with wide eyes and hugged her dad who was seated next to hers. "I'm so proud of you father!"

"Thank you my darling," He says making small talk. "I'm now working with Arthur Weasley. Say, speaking of the Weasleys, how's that Ronald? Isn't causing you much trouble is he?"

Caterina can't help but laugh to herself. "Ron's good. He's lucky I don't cast a spell on him and his awful rat that he lugs around, but he's good. They're all good. Ron, Hermione, Harry..."

Caterina's mind became blank. She wanted to say Draco, but she just couldn't, causing her to come to a stop with words, and completely changing the subject. "Were you friends with the Malfoy's growing up?"

Tonitrua's head was resting on her hand as she stared blankly at her daughter. She finally snapped back into reality and spoke up. "I was."

"Toni..." Caterina's father dragged.

"Stellae, she deserves to know. Besides, i'm sure Draco is being a smart mouth to her."

Caterina's eyes glistened and she thought to herself... If only they knew what he would say to the girl. "Deserve to know what?"

"Lucius and I were best friends... Ever since we were little. Our fathers hated each other, but we didn't care-"

"Oh and don't forget the part where you guys fell in love," Stellae announced, his sarcastic voice inquired, not wanting to leave a single detail out.

"We planned on running away together at the age of 16. That is until I met your father. I never knew what real love was until then. Besides, Lucius betrayed me. He turned evil, towards the dark lord. He stopped speaking to me and he threatened me, your father, my family... anyone I had ever loved. He told me to become a Death Eater with him, obviously I had told him no." Tonitrua story told, getting lost in her own thoughts.

"Wow," Caterina says, getting taken aback. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"I know you didn't my darling," the woman reassures her daughter, grabbing her hand. "It's the curious inner workings of a Malfoy. One day they're like a ray of sun and the next day they're as cold as ice." She pops a carrot into her mouth while looking at her daughter, sitting and staring at her plate. "Anyways, I heard rumors about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. His name is Remus Lupin."

Caterina blocked out the rest of her family conversation, still fixated on the fact that Lucius and her mother could have ended up together. With the uttermost gratitude that they didn't, the possibility's and the 'what if's' never left her brain.

—

"Well isn't this ironic?" Caterina hears Draco rhetorically ask coming behind her. She slightly turns her head to the side to make sure it was him. It was now February, a few months after Draco found the girl up at the top of the castle. He was in the same blue sweatshirt and black sweatpants, seeming as if it was a replica of that night.

"Go away, Draco," She says turning back around to look at the scenery as she held her legs together closely.

"Alright," He says, coming over and sitting next to her, once again, as he did a few months ago.

"You're funny. I didn't know assholes could be funny," Caterina carries on staring at the stars. It was going to rain again.

"I deserved that," He says, pretending to look shocked. Deep down inside of Draco, he knew she was right.

It was colder than usual that night. Darkness and evil loomed in their air. The two kids could both sense it, but continued along with their conversation.

"Did you see the Chamber of Secrets has been opened?" The girl spoke up.

"I overheard Professor Snape talking about it with Filch. Harry isn't safe is he?"

"No, Draco," she shakes her head, looking up still. "I don't think he is."

"People are talking. No one knows who's gonna be next or who opened the chamber..."

"I don't suppose you had anything to do with it, right Malfoy?"

"I'm many things, Caterina, but a revenge seeking murderer isn't one of them."

"We'll see about that," the strong-willed girl says to her fellow acquaintance and gets up to leave. "Goodnight, Draco."