AN
Hello everyone, this is my response to the quiet ones weekly challenge over on LJ.
The prompt was Autumn.
I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: It all belongs to Ms Rowling.
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Changing Seasons Stay the Same
He didn't like many things, like burnt toast, wearing wet socks, the vomit-flavoured bean in Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans and Looney Lovegood's earrings; the list is endless. But he hated nothing more than the four seasons.
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Autumn brought the beginning of the new school term.
Draco hated autumn.
Everyone, at this time of year, was most likely excited to get back to Hogwarts, meet up with old friends and make new ones. The Hogwarts Express is always littered with familiar faces alight with joy to be going back to school. First years being slightly scared and apprehensive, wondering if the castle is as big and grand as everyone had said it was, and more importantly what house they would be sorted into.
Draco was sat in a compartment looking out the window at his surroundings, as the train made it's journey north up to Hogsmeade. Sometimes he would see a solitary sheep or cow grazing the fields but most were tucked away to avoid the early autumn chill. Hedges and trees lining the railway track were starting to lose its vibrant green leaves and blossoms, and it's branches were becoming more visible.
Leaning his head against the window, he let out a sigh. He had always found the colours of autumn dull and boring, and they were going to become even more prominent in the coming months.
Red; the colour of Gryffindor. He hated Gryffindors.
Orange; the colour of Weasley's hair. He hated Weasley. Or any Weasley for that matter.
Brown; the colour of dirt, mud and grime. He hated the unclean.
But, red was the colour of her hair ribbon, and he liked how she always had to match and coordinate everything. Orange was the colour of her cat, and he was quite fond of cats. Brown was the colour of her eyes, and he loved how her eyes sparkled with happiness on the first day of school.
However, he hated autumn, so he hated her.
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Winter was cold, freezing even, and he was very easily a victim of the flu a lot of the time.
Draco hated winter.
How the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and even a few Slytherins and Ravenclaws, (if they cold get out of the library for just half an hour), could stay out in the freezing cold was beyond him.
They would have snowball fights, pelting each other with the compressed snow until their gloves were soaked through, their teeth chattering, their cheeks tinged pink and their noses running.
Sometimes, if the lake was frozen thickly enough, Filch would be ordered to bring out the old ice skates. Students would either show off by spinning jumping and twirling, or embarrass themselves by falling on their bum. Most of the time it was both. Others would build snowmen, (like she was), sacrificing their winter clothing to dress their creations. Something that didn't quite make sense to Draco, because it would melt eventually and it was just snow!
He would watch from one of the castle's windows. He was dry and he was warm.
Nevertheless, he wanted to be wet and cold, and wrapping his scarf around a useless boulder of snow, just as long as he was doing it with her.
Only he wasn't.
So he continued to be dry and warm.
And lonely.
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Spring produced pollen, and pollen produced a rash behind his elbows and knees that itched like hell.
Draco hated spring.
Spring is the time where the Hufflepuffs chase bunnies, or hold hands and skip around the Whomping Willow like the twits that they are. Swotty Ravenclaws could be found studying in the library, occasionally sitting beside the lake with their parchment and books spread out around them. The Gryffindors liked to spend their time up at the Quidditch stadium, playing their hearts out just so they would be ready to crush the apposing team in the final, because they were always guaranteed a place being who they were.
The Slytherins could be found doing these things too; well not chasing rabbits or skipping and holding hands, they did everything in a more refined less carefree way. They didn't want to make themselves look like fools, so neither did Draco.
She wasn't out in the cool sunshine with her friends, she was inside studying and revising like she always was.
Draco would hide behind the stacks in the library as he watched her.
She always sat in the same place, her head bent over a book as her quill scratched the parchment with a smooth and rapid speed, only she could achieve; and her hair, the colour of dead leaves - like autumn, held back in her pretty red ribbon.
Draco should have been doing as she was, absorbing books and their knowledge, prepping for the end of year exams, instead of spending his time absorbing her.
She wrote the last sentence of her essay and flipped the library book closed as she leant back in her chair and sighed. This was the same as every other time he had watched her, only this time something was different. A small smile, fresh like dew drops on a spring morning, usually graced her face after completing her homework; now she had a small frown and her sigh was more wistful than exhausted.
Maybe she was lonely too.
Unexpectedly she looked up towards the stacks he was hiding behind, looking straight at him. His heart stopped and his breath caught.
She had given her smile to him.
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Summer was always too hot for him, he liked to keep in the shadows because the sun always thought it was fun to make him burn. When people talked to him, they felt it necessary to hold their hand over their eyes to shield the glare the sun was giving as it bounced off his hair. He found this annoying, and possibly a little insulting.
Draco hated the summer.
One of the worst things about summer was the over excitement. Everyone got excited about the end of the yearly exams. They got excited about the Quidditch final, especially the Gryffindors, because, oh look - they've won again. The prospect of having nearly two full months ahead of them without any schoolwork was bliss for the average student.
Sure Draco was an average student and was looking forward to the summer holidays. Those weeks where he was Potty and Weasel free were his kind of heaven. Except he would be leaving behind what he liked best about Hogwarts too.
His case was packed and stored above his head as the train chugged along. Just like at the beginning of the year, he looked out of the window and saw that lambs and calves now accompanied the sheep and cows. Horses were free to gallop through the fields along with their foals. The hedges and trees had also grown back their leaves and blossoms, a few falling like soft, floaty rain, in the light breeze.
Draco sighed.
He was going to be even more lonely at the manor.
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Lugging his school trunk behind him, Draco made his way through the crowded corridor. He shoved and elbowed people aside so he could get to the exit first and get off the stuffy train. Shouts and curses followed his wake, he just wasn't in the moody to argue or fight today.
Draco came to an abrupt halt as he saw Potter and Weasley tailed by her. The Wonder Boys jumped down the steps onto the platform and ran to the large family of red heads, leaving their female friend alone to struggle with her heavy trunk.
Without even thinking about what he was doing, he gently placed his hand over hers and pried her fingers from the handle, ignoring the shocked look on her face. He picked her luggage up and placed it onto the platform with ease, without even stepping off the train. He nodded to the door waiting for her to exit and collect her trunk.
She gave him a puzzling look, and stepped down, pulling her luggage to the side so the others could depart. Draco let out a couple of second and first years before following her.
He saw her waiting for him, as she fiddled with a corner of her trunk while she scuffed her shoe along the floor, and a pink blush highlighted her cheeks.
"Hum, thank you," she said.
Draco was delighted that she was talking and not shouting at him, for manhandling her possessions without her permission. His answer was a shrug. He was a Slytherin after all.
"Well, uh, have a nice holiday Draco, and see you in September." She gave him a smile, a genuine one like back in the library. He watched as she turned and left him, walking towards a middle-aged couple standing with the Weasleys.
Draco smiled.
Maybe he won't hate the seasons as much from now on, especially if they reminded him of her.
"See you too Hermione."
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AN
So what do you think? Did you like it?
Kylie x