𝑈𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 ☾ 𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑜 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑓𝑜𝑦

A Sad Goodbye ☾ 3-07

Aurora and Hermione stood in the Quidditch stands, cheering as loud as they could. The green and red-uniformed players raced by as they battled for the quaffle. Fred managed to knock Marcus Flint off of his broom with a particularly strong hit to the head. The crowd roared as Lee narrated the game from one of the towers. Aurora's eyes danced around the pitch, trying to take in and analyze every second of the game. Her glance stopped on Draco and she watched him fly around the pitch. His focus was incredible as he scanned the pitch for the snitch. Potter was on the other side, mirroring his movements. Aurora jumped up and waved, trying to get Draco's attention. When his gaze settled on her, she pointed toward the bottom of the field. The snitch.

Suddenly, Lee announced that Alicia Spinnet missed a penalty. The pressure was on, for it was Oliver Wood's last season. His last chance to win the Quidditch Cup. Draco raced almost straight down, chasing the snitch. As Potter caught sight of him, he quickly followed the young Slytherin. Montague scored ten points for Slytherin, and the game was intense. Johnson managed to take back the quaffle and score again, making the game eighty to twenty. Gryffindor in the lead. The frustration overtook Malfoy as he continued to follow the snitch. Potter was gaining on him, he had to do something. The snitch dived again, and Draco took a sharp turn. Aurora gasped as Harry almost fell off of the front of his broom. Suddenly, Harry closed in. He took both hands off of the broom, and the entire pitch held their breath. Everything went silent as Harry grasped for the snitch. Capturing it in his fist, he raised both hands in the air. The crowd went wild.

Aurora cheered for her friend, sad for Draco, but happy for the Gryffindors. She knew Draco would be upset, so she hurried down to the dressing rooms. Lee announced the win over the speakers and the cheers continued. Gryffindor won the Quidditch cup.

Aurora waited outside the dressing rooms, not wanting to see anything unseeable. Marcus was the first to exit the room, and he glared at the Ravenclaw as he passed. Aurora was shocked he was still standing, however there wasn't much brain to shake loose after that nasty blow to the skull. She made a mental note to praise Fred about that later. Flint mumbled something under his breath as he turned the corner, more of the Slytherin team following him out of the dressing room. It wasn't unusual for the Serpents to lose to Gryffindor, but it never felt great. Draco was the last to leave the room as he ran his hand through his sweaty hair. Noticing Aurora leaning against the wall, he smiled sadly.

"Not my best performance, I'd say." He sighed as he slung his bag over his broad shoulder. He had grown over the year already. He was almost two feet taller than Aurora, however, that wasn't hard as the Ravenclaw girl was quite small.

"It looked pretty damn good from up there," Aurora smiled as she grabbed and squeezed his hand. He squeezed hers back as they walked down the hall. The cheering could still be heard as the mob of fans passed through the hallway toward the great hall and Gryffindor tower. "Are you going to hang out with me, or pout in your room the whole night?" She asked teasingly, poking him in the arm. Draco rolled his eyes with a smile. He agreed not to complain, even though he was a bit disappointed. Aurora's hair was cheerfully yellow with how much he had changed, going from a snotty, rude, rich brat, to a kind and thoughtful friend. They walked hand in hand toward the great hall, planning to grab food and eat outside.

-

Early the next morning, the quartet exited the school through the back doorway. As Aurora walked down the steps, she heard a name called behind her. The group of four turned around to see Malfoy running toward them. He was wearing his traditional black.

"Hey, what are you doing out here? Did you see the guy with the big axe?" He asked, putting his hands in his pockets. He nodded toward Harry, Hermione, and Ron. They nodded back. Nobody was fighting anymore, which was nice. They were actually becoming, well, friends. Draco joined the group as they continued to walk down the stairs.

"We came to see Hagrid before-" Aurora started but was quickly cut off. Draco looked up to notice his fellow Slytherins. Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise, and Pansy were crouching behind a large rock, fighting over a pair of binoculars. The groups quickly noticed each other and came to meet in the middle.

"Come to see the show, have we?" Pansy sneered at the group, Blaise smirking over her shoulder. They were all waiting to watch Buckbeak's execution. Peering over the rock, you could just see the creature waiting in Hagrid's pumpkin patch, chained to a post. Blaise's smirk dropped as he noticed Draco with them.

"You as well, traitor? Would you like to embarrass yourself further?" Draco fumed and began to step forward, but Aurora grabbed his hand, holding him back. He snarled at the Slytherins, as they laughed. Hermione pushed to the front and stabbed her finger into Pansy's chest.

"You're all foul. Loathsome even. Evil cockroaches." She had tears in her eyes, mostly for Buckbeak. It was completely unfair for him to be executed, she thought it was utterly barbaric. She now knew it wasn't Draco's fault, even if it was his arm injury that made his father demand justice. She quickly raised her want and pinned it to Pansy's throat. That caused a chain reaction, as everyone pointed their wands at each other. Aurora glared at Blaise as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Hermione, no. They're not worth it." Ron pleaded, standing in the back. He didn't like confrontation, but they all knew he would stand up for his friends if the situation presented itself. Hermione backed off and everyone lowered their wands. They all looked at each other across the small stone landing, waiting to see if anyone made a move.

Hermione turned and began to walk away, when suddenly she reared her arm up and punched Pansy straight in her pug-faced nose. An awful crunch sounded through the area, and Harry cringed. Sure Pansy deserved it, but that didn't sound like it tickled. Stunned by the event, Blaise pulled his wand out and fired a spell at the group. Mostly dodging it, everyone moved out of the way. Somehow, the spell had hit Aurora and she crumpled to the ground.

Draco, suddenly infuriated, raised his wand. Harry was quick to react and held Malfoy back.

"Don't Draco." Harry said calmly. Still conscious, Aurora put her hand on Draco's leg and he looked down. Her arm was mangled and bloody, but otherwise she seemed alright. Relieved, Malfoy put his wand away and glared at the group. Before anything else could happen, the Slytherin's quickly retreated back to the castle. You could still hear Pansy whining about her nose as they faded into the distance.

"Come on, I'll take you to the nurse." Draco said, but Aurora insisted she wanted to stay.

"No, Hagrid is my friend. I want to be there for him. Buckbeak is my friend too, and if there's nothing I can do to stop it, I at least want to say goodbye." Her hair faded to a saddened blue. Draco nodded as they followed the trio down the stone steps toward Hagrid's hut. He had just closed the door as Hermione waved them over.

"Fudge is on his way with Dumbledore. It's too late." A tear threatened to spill from their eyes as they watched the Minister climb down the stone steps they had stood moments before. To avoid being seen, they crept behind an abnormally large pile of pumpkins. As the Professor drew closer, the students leaned in to listen. Ron's rat Scabbers squeaked from between his hands. Aurora raised her eyebrow but Hermione shook her head. She'd explain later. The students whipped their heads around at the sound of a snapping twig. Hermione squinted into the trees.

"What?"

"I thought I just saw... never mind." Hearing the teachers exit the hut, the five students ran back toward the school. Sitting behind the rock Pansy and the goons were peering over before, they looked out toward Buckbeak. Crows beckoned overhead as the executioner raised his enormous axe. He brought it down and a loud thunk was heard throughout the area. Aurora hid her face in Draco's shoulder, and he put his strong arm around her for comfort. The group hugged each other as they mourned the creature. Aurora's hair turned a deep black.

After a few minutes, the Minster and his guests began to climb the steps to the castle. The quintet ran past the entrance, and narrowly avoided being caught.

☾

Alright! Here's another chapter, I've just started updating twice a week now, so the chapters won't come out as quickly as they previously did. I'll be publishing a new chapter every Monday and Thursday at around midnight MST, or later depending on my schedule. Let me know if you have any suggestions and please don't ghost read! Let me know how your day was! Also, peep the picture. You can totally tell it isn't Dumbledore lol...

Luv u <3

- Z