The Ravenclaw Malfoy

Chapter 14 - Grotesque

Warning(s): swearing, overall angst

"Tina!"

The girl in question swore under her breath and quickened her pace, trying to leave the situation before it started as quickly as humanly possible.

"Tina, Tina, Tina, Tina," he called out repeatedly, jogging down the corridor until he caught up with her, "Merlin, you walk fast. Anyway, can we talk?"

She stopped walking and turned to face him sharply, "What the fuck do you want, Draco? Because, in case you're too self-centred to tell, I do not have the patience to put up with your bullshit right now."

Draco pouted at her, "Seriously? It's been over a month and you're still mad at me? I thought you would have let it go by now."

"Well, in order to let it go I would have to forgive you, and if I remember correctly, you haven't asked for my fucking forgiveness," she replied without missing a beat.

"It's really not that big of a deal," he rolled his eyes at her.

"Not that big of a deal?" she asked incredulously, "Ah yes, because you only cursed Harry, broke his nose, hid him with the Invisibility Cloak, tried to get him sent back to King's Cross and had the audacity to be proud of what you did. Sorry, my bad for overreacting," she said coolly, turning to walk away again but only to be stopped by her brother grabbing her arm.

"Do you really want to know why I did what I did?" he said somewhat menacingly. She tried not to sneer at his tone, wondering how he could be so naïve in thinking that he could scare his own sister.

"I would actually, if you'd be so kind," she retorted, venom dripping from every syllable. She refused to meet his eyes, adamant and relentless in her mission of not succumbing to whatever emotion he was going to try to evoke from her.

"It was to protect him," he admitted, much quieter than he was mere seconds ago.

She couldn't help but scoff at him, not believing a word, "If you really think I'm going to believe that then you have another thing coming, Draco Malfoy."

"Right," he pulled her down the corridor, ignoring her noises of protest, and led her to another corridor, this one devoid of potential eavesdroppers, "Let me break it down for you if you won't do it for yourself. We both know things are going to really kick off this year, right? I thought I could at least delay him coming to Hogwarts, I don't know, maybe even keep him away for the whole year," he laughed self-deprecatingly, and it wasn't until he started massaging his temples when Tina clocked the blatant exhaustion on his face, "I don't know what I was thinking," he added quietly.

Her face softened as she finally looked at her brother, "You wanted to protect him, didn't you? Was it for the reason I think it was for?"

The twins' eyes met, and the look that was exchanged said everything that needed to be said. All twins speak a language of their own, unique to them and them alone, but the Malfoy twins had more than a mere language. They had a whole way of life that no one else, twin or not, could even fathom leading. It was a life of knowing that no one was on their side except for each other, of not being able to fully trust anyone else, of understanding that no adult genuinely cared about them. One way or another, they always sought something from them, whether that was information, loyalty, knowledge, power, there was always something. So, they found solace and security in each other, no secrets were kept. And for one twin to try and hide something from the other was a futile attempt, for they might as well have shared a mind. One could tell how the other was feeling from the way they breathed. It was a blessing and a curse, but this time it was the former; it was much easier to explain everything with a glance rather than with actual words.