Fragments of the Sea

Otherworldly Observations

Draco's eyebrow twitched as he gritted his teeth in annoyance. At least Potter had some sense of decency when he spied. Weasley was just blatantly staring at him! Hermione wasn't faring much better, and Draco reckoned it would be even worse for her, being in the same house. Maybe she could ask for a transfer to Ravenclaw? She'd certainly fit in and with tensions so high in the lions' den since the trio's very obvious, heated and loud fight, it would probably be a welcome change. 

Draco and Perci had had the privilege of skipping lunch to avoid more questions, as now, not only were their classmates curious about the show at breakfast the day before, but also his relationship with the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Draco knew that him and Hermione were friends at most, but after the encounter earlier in his dorm, Draco wasn't sure how he felt about Perci. 

People don't normally feel the desire to kiss their 'best friends'. He'd known he harbored some romantic feelings for the sea glass princess(or rather, knight, as she'd prefer to be called) since the beginning, but he'd hoped that they'd have worn off by now. He'd promised himself that he wouldn't become involved like that!

But...Perci was a demigod. She lived a life even more dangerous than he did, and he was known as a Death Eater- had the mark to prove it. With a jolt, Draco realized that he hadn't thought of the mark since becoming friends with Perci.

Regardless, that wasn't Draco's only concern for if he were to admit his feelings to Perci. The thing about love- he had no guarantee that she would accept his confession. Perci was powerful, brave and loyal, yet also gentle and calming to be around. She changed like the sea; playful one minute, and grieving for her losses the next. In a way, he kind of liked the unpredictability- his entire life he'd lived with a schedule for each day. Always expected to sneer and insult those 'below him'. He abided by those expectations, no matter how awful it made him feel, because he was a Malfoy, and that's what Malfoy's did.

For a while, Draco had convinced himself that he believed in the pureblood ideals. He had suppressed his agony at treating others like that. All and any righteousness he could've found in the ideas were flushed out when the Dark Lord launched his first attack. Dozens of innocent muggles and wizards murdered mercilessly over the span of a few hours. 

He couldn't imagine the pain their families felt...at least he couldn't not until he received that awful, horrible, heinous, detestable letter. The letter that caused him so much grief. The letter that had informed him of the 'unfortunate tragedy'. But those words didn't begin to describe it. The sympathetic and solemn words did nothing to console him. 

'We regret to inform you of the tragic passing of your mother, Narcissa Malfoy, as of Febua-'

"Draco?" A soft voice called to him. The white-blonde looked over to see that Perci was sitting beside him. She put a hand on his shoulder and he could see the unspoken question in her eyes. "I'm fine." He almost turned away, but he lost his ability to move when he noticed how close her face was to his. Draco could feel her breath brushing over his face. She seemed to realize how close they were too, and pulled away. "Sorry." Draco frowned, his nervousness flying out the window. He'd never seen her this timid before. 

"What's wrong?" he demanded, instinctively taking her hand and forcing her to look up at him by cupping her face in his other hand. Perci's eyes were sad. They stayed as they were for a moment, before she squeezed his hand and pulled away. Rising from her seat, she gave a short explanation. "Not here." The couple disappeared from view as Perci vapor traveled under the pretense of waving her wand accordingly. They appeared in the Room of Requirement, and Perci stumbled a bit. Draco reached out to catch her, but she stabilized herself, giving him a reassuring smile. 

Draco cleared his throat. "Now, what's wrong?" His tone was dead serious, and his grey eyes were gazing into her ocean orbs with an intensity Draco didn't know he possessed. "You tell me first, Dragon," Perci tried redirecting the spotlight onto him. He snorted. "Nice try..."