DROWNING [HARRY POTTER - BOOK 2]

ii.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Harry Potter universe. However, the character of Nova Malfoy and her unique storylines remain my intellectual property.

Clutching the dirt-soiled sink in the dark and dingy bathroom, her knuckles turned paler. Her skin rippled and her stomach lurched. A dull groan of discomfort escaped its pearly white cage until finally, she lifted her head. The mirror afore her was misty; rusted at the corners and squint through years of neglect. However, as she heaved another breath and brought a familiar hand to cold glass, she was met with her mother. Releasing a breath of relief, the young witch collected her things and exited the catastrophically tiny room. Standing tall she made her way to the table in the corner and relaxed for the first time in a while; all too used to the familiar comfort that hiding behind the face of another had offered her at the beginning of the summer break. A physical mask to conceal her turmoil.

As her monsters in her mind began to claw at the innards of the wooden chest she'd wrestled them into, a familiar face approached. He was a little taller than she had remembered, skinnier too. His expression was pensive as if he were a million miles away and his cool ice stare was cradled by dark rings that could compete with the ones that sunk her own grey eyes. An involuntary smile broke across her face as he reached her table and slid into the seat across from her.

"Weird." He muttered, his voice more gravelly than she had recalled. "I don't remember the last time I saw mother smile."

Nova's gaze dropped slightly, the smile sliding from her expression: "Me neither...How is she?"

"She's fine." Be it the speed of his answer or the feeling it twisted in her gut, she knew her brother was lying. Instinctively, she allowed herself to delve deeper. Twisting and tugging at each and every thread she came across. Their seventh birthday, the day he left for Hogwarts...and finally, the nugget of information she was looking for:

The library was just as she had remembered it and yet darker somehow. Shadows danced across her face as she sat in the deep green velvet armchair, her pale hands cradling her pointed chin. Her expression held a broken stoicism as a flurry of tears escaped wounded grey eyes...

"Stop it!" His shout snapped her from his mind so violently that it ought to have given her figurative whiplash.

As she met his angered stare, she matched it. A cold exterior mirroring her tone as she ordered ever-so-slowly: "Then don't lie to me."

Draco hissed like the snake that brandished his Hogwarts' robes, almost spitting at her as he leaned across the table: "I am trying to protect you!"

"From what?"

Memories of their childhood flooded the forefront of his mind, memories that he had not considered in a number of years. His twin sister had always inherited their father's flair for potions but as she forced him to reminisce, she was brewing a deadly concoction: anger and fear.

"I said stop it!" He snapped once more, his right foot colliding harshly with her left shin causing her to jump and avert her scrutinising stare. "Please, Nova. There are some things that I don't want you to see."

A gentle silence caressed them, growing heavy as it lingered. The girl's attention was drawn to the fireplace to her right as another patron tossed his copy of the Daily Prophet into the glowing embers. The silence grew suffocating as her gaze remained on the front cover; the words were far from memory, the picture captivating. He looked just as he did in that moment, right down to the soured expression on his face - an expression that despite his protests had been caused by her actions. There was an unspoken betrayal in his eyes as their mother clutched his shoulder. A practised indifference that very few could decipher. The wood glowed fervently, finally kissing the corners of the picture. Agonisingly slowly, she watched as her brother's likeness faded from her. Disappearing into an unrecognisable pile of ash.