Villain, D. Malfoy

8. Stay

Draco

Occasionally being encircled by magic can be just too much. Hogwarts feels like our home, but like everything else in life, you get homesick after a while.

"We can't go in there." Pansy stood in front of the tall trees. The breeze was harsh while the leaves crunched due to our striding on them. "You think I don't know this piece of information? We just have to pass the Forbidden Forest rapidly, and we'll get there." I kept hiking.

I heard footsteps behind me, convincing me that they all took my advice. And just as I said, after a few minutes, we had made it to the town.

"Woah." Blaise murmured beside me, speechless.

"Pretty epic, huh? And it's all to ourselves." I popped my Slytherin robe collar and began strolling towards the interior of the Scottish village.

"Does Dumbledore know this place exists? Or your father, even." Pansy interrogated as she stared at the stunning surrounding. I felt my heart plunge to my gut at the sound of this.

"Don't you dare speak one more word about my father." I shortly redressed. None of them could talk about him in that manner. They knew nothing. After gaining composure, I answer the rest of her question. "As for Dumbledore, I'm sure he knows nothing either."

"You see," I proceed, "I found this place myself just a while ago. It's not precisely an avoidance from Hogwarts; it's kind of like the Muggle world. Just better."

I wandered towards my beloved spot in the whole town, the abandoned park. I leaned against my tree of preference, letting the wind catch up with the rest of my body. "Malfoy." I recognized that voice anywhere instantly.

"Oh, but you just have to follow me everywhere, now?" I spun.

"Yeah, I'm obsessed with you, couldn't you tell?" The brunette's lips dripped with sarcasm.

"I figured I'm irresistible." I perked up to her eyes, trying to find a smile, one which she returned. She bent back on the tree, her back sliding down to the floor. She cheered up at me while I stood there watching her.

"Oh, come on, Malfoy. Seat. You can't hate me that much."

"If I were you, I wouldn't minimize the retort to that question."

"So, before you utterly attack me and claim that you found this spot existed before I did, I'll ask you: How did you find this place?"

"Perhaps, you know me too well now. Which can be even more dangerous than what it seems like." I clasped my jaw, pondering if I should tell her about my father or not. I estimated she probably knows who he is by now, and it should be no secret kept hidden from her.

"My father," I let the birds chirp before beginning again, "Would tell me about a place like this when I was younger. He always stated how it wasn't an escape from wizarding manners or Hogwarts itself. Rather, it's just... life in itself needs a pause sometimes, and this is the place to hit that button."

She sat in stillness, her mouth slightly open as she took all my words in at once. "If this isn't your escape, then what is?"

My face swiveled to face hers voluntarily. "Right now, I don't know if anything feels like an escape anymore."

"All your crises seem to hunt you even if you alter your locations." She appeared used to saying this.

"How do you know this?"

"Perhaps your father never wanted you to have an escape in the first place."

My stomach stirs at the truth she's saying without even knowing the whole story. My mouth reacts before my mind thinks, "Shut up." I shake my head.

She closes her eyes for a second, and I feel her weight shift beside me. She stood up. "Emerald," I call out her name for the first time. It rolled out of my tongue perfectly.

She glanced back at me with hurt eyes. "It's fine. You don't want me here."

"Stay." My voice was louder now than all of my prior whispers. "You came all this way."