masked

4

Firewhiskey

"Stop!" Skylar screamed as she woke up drenched in cold sweat. Her hands still shaking, her knees weak. She rolled out of bed and stared at the clock on her desk.

3:36 am

She looked into the mirror to see that her eyes were red, cheeks stained with mascara from the day before. She used the sleeve of her blue sweater to wipe off some of the mascara on her face but it had barely worked. Her breathing had now come to a somewhat comfortable pace and she wasn't shaking as much as before. She grabbed her muggle story book once again but this time walked out to be by the fire place. It was too chilly in her room and she was craving some warmth.

Just as she was walking towards the sofa, she saw a certain blonde boy sitting by the fire with what looked like a glass of firewhiskey in his hand. Skylar walked up and sat on the sofa opposite of him and summoned a glass so that she too could grab a drink of firewhiskey. Merlin knew she needed one.

"Surprised nobody else is awake after hearing your screams. You sound like a dying troll." Malfoy joked but he barely laughed. Skylar looked up to catch a glimpse of him. His pale face was paler than before and he had dark circles around his grey eyes. He was dressed in a green woolen sweater and black sweatpants.

"Have you gotten any sleep?"
Skylar questioned as she raised her glass to her lips to get a sip. She didn't even flinch at its burning sensation in her throat. Firewhiskey was almost like water to her. She was a little too familiar with the drink.

Malfoy shook his head in response and proceeded to take another sip, just to make it seem less awkward.

Skylar tried to say something but nothing came out of her mouth. So, she just placed the glass on the table and laid down on the leather sofa, looking up at the ceiling.

"What happened? Earlier on." Malfoy said, breaking the ice between the two of them, as he laid down on the sofa he was sitting on.

"None of your business." She replied.

The two of them laid there on the black velvet sofas, comfortable in the silence. Slowly, Skylar's eyes felt heavier and heavier and her mind dragged her into the oblivion of sleep.

She looked peaceful...angelic... as her eyes flickered into the darkness. She had fallen asleep. Draco let out a small, quiet chuckle before carrying her bridal style to her room and tucked her into bed. He couldn't help but smile at her, enveloped in her green quilt.

"Sweet dreams Star." The blonde whispered as he carefully closed the door behind himself and crept back into his bed. Draco had never felt that way before. There was a significant warm feeling in his chest. For sweet moment, it seemed to him that everything in the world was fine. But it wasn't. Nothing was fine. At least not for him.

Draco went back to sit by the fireplace, and he saw a book lying where Skylar was sitting. Draco grabbed the book and the bottle of firewhiskey and brought it back into his room. He placed the bottle in his hidden wine chiller and brought Skylar's book with him to his bed, clutching it close to his chest. There was something about Skylar that made him feel safe.

The next morning, Skylar awoke with a slight headache. She massaged her temples in attempt to soothe the ache but it barely helped. Soon after she heard to five quick and heavy knocks on my door.

"Skylar we've missed breakfast! Potions is starting in 8 minutes!" Pansy shouted.

Skylar let out a long groan and unwillingly walked over to her dresser to get changed into her robes. She threw on her uniform - and it was nowhere near neat. Not even her hair. Her hair was knotted all over and frizzy. She had eye-bags as dark as the night. She couldn't even bother to wear her usual amount of makeup so she just put a tiny bit of mascara and a lip tint before grabbing her handy leather satchel, wand and books and rushed out to potions. And of course, Skylar bumped into someone.