After Saving Draco [ONGOING / REWRITING]

chapter twenty-three

Olivia Brown. Unknown.

       "Olivia?" She whispered sadly.

       Her voice was left breathless at the sight of me, hopeful even though her small plump lips shook slightly. My heart raced quickly at the sound of my name, as if I were still alive.

      But I'm not.

      I found the courage to take steps closer, admiring how her beige complexion contrasted against the pure white lake. She tilted her head curiously as I got nearer, brushing her black hair that seemed to have grown greatly away from her face to see me clearer.

      It used to be so much shorter, hiding her femininity just so men wouldn't go near her. I was greeted by a pair of dark brown eyes that I hadn't met in years, ignoring the three other figures that stood by us. I never appreciated the color like I should've, never liking my own until I met her.

       "I don't like my eyes."

      "Why not? The color's like mine, and that automatically means you should like yours too."

      "Sure, sure, but don't you think they're too dark?"

      "Well, only in the dark can you see the stars."

      "Are you quoting Martin Luther King to me?"

      "Mhm."

       She was always so smart, even though she tried to hide it back then.

       The sound of my footsteps shuffling against the frozen grass grew as I reached her, noticing how much fuller her figure was compared to back then, full in all the right places now.

       She'd been eating.

       Good.

       I still towered her by a few inches, the top of her head reaching my chin, causing a light smile to form on my face.

       She's still so tiny.

       The scent of her shampoo greeted me kindly, one that I hadn't met since the day I fell, since the day we both did.

       Green apples.

       And that trait alone was more than enough to let me know that the one standing before me was really her.

My first love, the only one I've ever loved.

Tala Blackwell.

       "Um," a pale man with wavy black hair coughed awkwardly, breaking the silence. "We'll just leave you two kiddos be then."

      "Smooth Sirius," a woman who looked nearly identical to Tala chuckled, causing the other pale man with black hair beside her to crack a smile too. "Smooth."

      The three of them disappeared moments later, leaving Tala and I alone in the middle of the white field, right next to a frozen lake that stood as still as time. There was no sound other than our hitched breaths, both of us too afraid to speak a single word.

      "Hi Tala," I greeted bravely after long seconds.

The hopeful expression that marked her face had turned dark, her eyebrows furrowing into each other, trying to act tough like she always did even though she was so visibly broken.

"You shouldn't have come," she choked out sadly, gulping.

Well, this wasn't the reaction I was expecting.