handcuffs {draco malfoy}

one: slumber

SLUMBER

As Esmeralda stood unmoving in the shower, she watched the hot water swirl hypnotically down the drain. She wasn't sure how long she'd been standing there. But this often happened, where she'd follow a thought down a concatenation of ideas, get lost and be completely unsure of how much time had passed.

She supposed that this was typical behaviour in a brewing war.

Hogwarts had... changed.

Albus Dumbledore had been assassinated by Severus Snape at the conclusion of the previous school year.

Esmeralda and her sister Lavender hadn't planned to return to Hogwarts for seventh year, but it had become mandatory to attend.

In the past Hogwarts had been seen as a safe haven, where parents could trust that when sending their children they would be protected at all costs.

But everything was different now.

The hot water forcefully washed over Esmeralda's dark blonde hair and shoulders in a painfully therapeutic way, releasing the tension from her day of classes.

She was relieved that she'd been shown how to sneak into the prefect bathroom in 5th year. They had magnificent water pressure.

After standing motionless under the running water for much longer than necessary, Esmeralda turned the taps off and wrapped a fluffy towel around herself to maintain the warmth she had managed to allow into her body.

After casting a quick drying charm on herself, she put a pair of black sweatpants and a Gryffindor jumper for the evening.

As she walked down the corridors back to the common room, she was relieved to not bump into anyone. This spared her from the awkward small talk or forced smiles that would come with such run ins. People seemed to pretend there wasn't a threat of death every single day, opting instead to have a sort of forced optimism that Esmeralda could see straight through.

She mumbled the password at the entrance to the common room and made her way in, ignoring the group of fourth years huddled in front of the fire gossiping. How they could still engage in such immaturity, she couldn't fathom.

The trip up the stairs was agonisingly long, considering she had to go right to the top of the tower due to being a seventh year. She began to create a hypnotic rhythm with her footsteps to entertain herself, it was rather dismal.

The sight of the door to her dorm was very much welcomed, and she pushed it open to reveal her four poster bed, deep red curtains lining the edges.

There were two seventh year girls dorms, the other one in which Fay, Parvati and Esmeralda's fraternal twin sister Lavender slept. Esmeralda and Lavender had never quite gotten along, even when they were little. This was primarily due to differing interests and values.

Lavender had always been infatuated with the idea of romance, giggling about a different boy every few weeks. Esmeralda's interests lay more in academics and her frustrating perfectionism in everything she did.

It wasn't that they didn't like each other, they just didn't particularly enjoy each others company.

Lavender was friends with the other Gryffindor girls, and they stayed up late gossiping and drinking stolen mead until the early morning. Esmeralda had opted to staying alone in the other free dorm to be able to get a decent nights sleep. Hermione Granger had stayed with her the previous year, but she had not returned this year.

Esmeralda sunk down into the comfort of her bed. The sheets were cold and stiff due to just being changed, so she cast a quick warming charm to prevent herself from shivering.