they were just kids [draco malfoy]

Year 3 - 22

Happy.

What does it mean to be truly happy? 

Is it when you're jumping around in utter joy, laughing, spinning, dancing...

Or does it take the form of peacefully sitting around in the arms of the people you love most, feeling the warmth and calmness of the situation, and knowing that nothing could ever tear you apart...

Astrid didn't know. 

Professor Remus Lupin had agreed on tutoring the girl on how the perform the Patronus charm. He had told her it was a hard charm that many grown wizards never learned to perform, but that didn't discourage the girl one bit. If their teacher could do it, why wouldn't she? 

But before their first private lesson, the professor had tasked her to take some time and recall her happiest memories. 

Pondering on the topic for a few days already Astrid had realised two things. One, she had a lot of good memories and many things made her really happy. Two, she had no idea which would be the happiest.

There was this one special memory Astrid had. She had been 5 at the time and had woken up on an early Tuesday morning to the soft rhythms of a waltz. Astrid didn't recall now what song it was but she was certain it was a waltz. Her 5-year-old self had sleepily skipped down the stairs only to see her parents waltzing around their tiny living room. Her mum had only half her hair curled and her father still had an apron on from when he had been preparing breakfast. This was that one memory she remembered in great detail. Her dad had noticed the little girl and grabbed her along as the 3 of them had collectively started dancing around their house. What little Astrid's 5-year-old heart had felt right then had been simply pure joy. 

Then there was the first time she managed to set off on a proper bike. Though the moment of pure bliss had lasted for a total of 24 seconds and ended with a big bump on her forehead, she had absolutely adored it. The feeling of riding down the small hill, the wind blowing all her long knotty hair out of her face and slightly muffling the sound of her mum cheering her on, the awareness of that she had learned something new and, at the time, so cool (since only the big kids knew how to do it) - all that had overwhelmed the young girl in those 24 seconds of joy.

As well as that one night in their second year, when Daphne and she had been laughing so hard Astrid's whole body was in pain. She couldn't recall what exactly they had been laughing at, but she easily remembered herself clutching her stomach from laughter, rolling around the common room couch. She could feel the tears in her eyes and the exhilaration that had filled her bones.

From her place by the breakfast table, Astrid glanced to her side at Daphne who feeling her friends gaze stopped mid-rise of her spoon filled with porridge. Daphne blinked once and Astrid just smiled before turning back to her food.

Yes, the memories she had with Daphne were surely some of the best she had.

And finally, on the completely another end of the spectrum, there was the memory of the previous Christmas and the warmth in her chest when she had sat drinking her hot cocoa, her mum stroking at her hair while dad just stared off into their small fireplace. She had felt safe, warm and at complete inner peace as if there was nothing that could ever ruin the moment. And there indeed was not.

Astrid cut off a piece of the pancakes she had chosen to eat that morning and sighed as she placed it into her mouth. She had never really taken the moment to appreciate all the good things she had in life. The reminiscing on all of her good memories had certainly put her in a brilliant mood.

Astrid heard the familiar clank of cutlery signalling that somebody had sat down by the table. She looked up to see Malfoy having sat down right in front of her and her soft smile turned into a somewhat of an evil smirk.