Chapter 3

Draco Abraxas Malfoy-

God, wherever I go, I attract attention. And I was having such a good day! But no, I had to go and ruin it. It's simple, now, don't be loud, and I don't get noticed, and glared at. But I was loud, and now people are glaring again. They all know who I am, even if they're starting to lose interest.

I sit down next to Blaise slowly, almost as if I moved too fast, they would pounce, then I turn towards the table and fill my plate, before turning to him.

"What's going on?" I repeat, this time quietly.

He decides to answer relevantly this time. "Theodore, the boy from Hufflepuff, who kissed Luna, that I just told about a second ago."

I look at him expectantly.

"Yeah, well, he got in a fight with Pansy."

I was not expecting that. A Hufflepuff got in a fight? And with Pansy? "Pansy I-used-to-date-before-the-war Parkinson?"

"You could put it like that, yeah."

Well this is certainly a shock. A good one, mind you. Parkinson was way too clingy, especially with those bloody nicknames. "Drakie! Drakie-Poo! Drakiekins!" Good lord, the girl was idiotic and well, girly. It almost serves her right, getting in a fight with Hufflepuff. I give a small, short laugh.

"Wait. So then why is everyone else mad at each other?"

Blaise looks at me and says, "Well another Slytherin, big guy, don't know his name, got up to defend Pansy and Quinn, Theodores best friend, stood to defend Theodore. Immediately, everyone took sides, and now they're riled up."

"Hm. Typical," I say calmly. Inside, my emotions are flying around. One thing stuck out to me in Blaise's whole explanation. "Quinn, Theodores best friend." They are only friends! Yes! Now I am only a traitor and not a girlfriend-stealer. Ha! I probably could have figured it out when Theodore kissed Luna, but my mind was fogged with thoughts of . . . my past.

"Draco. Draco, you in there?" Blaise snaps me from my thoughts.

"What?" I reply irritably.

"You just kinda..zoned out."

I look at him. "So I'm not allowed to think back to before the war, when I actually had friends, and a girlfriend?" I say, making up an explanation.

"Not when you're talking to me. And you at least have one friend, and he's sitting right next to you."

"You probably hate me, too. But since you've also done bad things, you are still willing to sit next to me, because everyone hates you as well, and I'm the only one who will still talk to you." I lean forward ever so slightly as I say this lazily

"Shut up, Draco. If that's true, it's better than not having anyone to talk to."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right."

Quinn Rose Shephard

Theodore and I are on our way to the Eighth Year dorms when we run into Luna.

"Hello Quinn. Hi, Theodore." When she says Theodore's name, she looks down and blushes, blond hair falling into her face.

"I'll just go. Before I see something I don't wish to see." I say, walking briskly away, a small smile on my face. My two quirky friends now have each other, something I never thought of when pondering whether they'd ever date anyone.

I arrive in the Common Room to find Draco Malfoy sitting on the couch, staring into the fire. He looks up when I walk in, a bored expression on his face. "Where's your shadow?" he asks.

"Who, Theodore?"

"Yeah. The fist-happy one."

"He doesn't fight on a regular basis!" I defend my friend. "Pansy brought up Fred."

"Ah, the dead Weasley twin." He's no longer carefree. I can tell he's trying to be his usual curt and rude self, but he's softer, and can't muster up the lack of sensitivity to other's feelings.

I sit in a chair a few feet from him. "Yeah, that's the one." I look into the fire, lost in the fun memories.

Fred had been the one to get me to come out of my shell, the one who taught me how to really have fun. He encouraged me to help them pull a prank, all the while telling me things about him and his brother, along with the rest of their family. The prank had been on Snape, but he wasn't the one to fall for it. Theodore was, though at the time, I barely knew him. After he had fallen for the prank, I'd been the one to help him while Fred and George had just laughed and laughed. Since then, the four of us had been friends, but since Fred and George were closer, Theodore and I became closer to each other than to them.

"I'm sorry he died." Draco says, pulling me out of the past. I look up at him, away from the fire, and see that he's sincere. He really isn't as insensitive as he was.

"It wasn't your fault."

The surprise is clear on his face before he looks down at his lap. "You're the first one to think that."

"Really? Well, their loss. They can't see how different you are now. If any Draco is to blame, it's the old one." With that I walk out, leaving a shocked Draco behind.

. . .

The ground is littered with rubble and bodies. I rush among them, checking for signs of life, not having a chance to mourn the dead before moving on to the next. We must discard the dead for now, and it kills me, having to move past them. I cannot properly wish their souls a safe journey, because I'm searching for the living, the "lucky." I find a young boy, maybe thirteen, dead. His eyes are wide open, staring blankly at the sky. I can't do this. They're asking me to look at my fallen classmates, and pass them, but I can't. So, I run.

I wake up with tears streaming from my eyes. Even after months, I can still find it in me to cry, no matter how I try to move on, as the others are.

Alright, I have to get out. Now.

I find myself in the forest, at the clearing where I first saw him, my tail wrapped around my paws and my ears perked to listen to the soothing forest sounds; the wind in the leaves, the shuffling of small night creatures going about their business, and the high-pitched chirp of crickets, all flowing into a gorgeous song that only those patient enough to listen can hear.

Before long, the other animagus creeps into the clearing, obviously wary of me. I wait, and he takes a few more steps before settling down, still too far away to smell, but closer than before. I just look at him. He's almost pure white, except for the patch of gray along his back, and he's quite a bit larger than me, and would definitely be able to run faster, too. Beautiful. Majestic. Strong

Draco Abraxas Malfoy

Dinner was filled with more retorts between Blaise and I. It was fun, like I remember when I felt more free. Blaise and I laughed down the halls, joking, pushing, and stumbling our way to the common room, afterwards. All of the Eighth Years now share a common room because of how few of us there are. We tumble through the passageway, laughing until we are both exhausted when we reach the dorm.

Blaise goes up to the guys' dorm, while I stay and sit by the fire, not wanting to face the nightmares, no matter how tired I am. So, I sit, waiting for something to happen, or to get tired enough that I fall asleep right here.

I start to stare at the flame in the fireplace. I've always been intrigued by fire, the way it dances, as if it's free of any worry in the world. No restraints. No father wanting to make it a mini version of himself. And no guilt.

When Quinn walks in, alone, I am extremely surprised. I was beginning to think she and the Not-so-nice Hufflepuff had gotten into an accident that left them attached to each other, permanently.

I couldn't keep myself from making a comment, but I did manage to keep a surprised look off my face. "Where's your shadow?"

After that, the conversation goes downhill. I accidentally upset her by bringing up Pansy. How was I supposed to know that it was about someone she cared about who just recently died?

But then, she acts kindly towards me. After all that I've done, to her in this conversation and just to everyone in general, she says nice things to me. I guess it's the Hufflepuff in her, too nice for her own good. But if it was true that just being Hufflepuff made people nice, then why did her puppy-dog friend get in a fight? No, I think she's probably nice even compared to other Hufflepuffs.

I'm still thinking about my conversation with her when I decide to take a walk. My mind is just too full to sleep.

When I get to my clearing, the wolf-girl is there. After the events of today, I had completely forgotten about the other animagus.

She's sitting exactly as she had when I walked away last night: straight up, but calm and patient, her tail settled across her paws and her ears up.

She sees me walk into the clearing but doesn't make a move towards me, even when I sit down and stop moving in her direction. She just watches, as if she has all the time in the world, which could be true, for all I know.

Then, she stands, and gingerly puts one paw forward, as if scared I'll run away, and I might. After that, she settles down in her new spot, like she was before, except a step closer.

She really is strange. Here I am, barely restraining the need to investigate more, almost leaping at her to scare her into human form, and she's completely relaxed. Bloody hell, she's patient, probably more so than Dumbledore, who for God's sake was over five hundred years old and had already seen everything.

I hesitantly approach her, my curiosity getting the better of me. They always say, "Curiosity killed the cat." Well this time, curiosity killed the wolf. And a traitorous one at that. Well I guess she didn't kill me, nor did any other force. I could die still, but its better to be an optimist than a pessimist.

I wonder if we can communicate. I mean, of course we can communicate through howls, but I don't know if I can understand what she is saying, or if she can understand what I am saying. I probably shouldn't try, because what if it works but I sound exactly like I do when I'm human? But then I can find out who she is before she figures out who I am.

Quinn Rose Shephard

The other wolf stops and sits. Then he starts toward me, but stopping again after one step. He's trying to act like me I guess, but he's much too stiff for this act of patience to be real. The moon is quite full tonight if not completely, and he sits with his back to it. The white light illuminates him, making his fur seem even whiter, bouncing light off and giving a halo of light surrounding him. He stands out against the darkness of the pine trees in the forest. Like an angel sent from heaven.

Except he probably isn't an angel, as he acts so . . . regal and rigid. More like a white king then. Royal, proud, confident, and superior. For some reason, this causes me to think how just of a ruler he would be. Would he be kind to his people, or would he value only himself? I would hope -

He howls, breaking my daze and train of thought. He looks at me expectantly, as if I would understand what he wants. "I can't read minds," I want to shout. But then would he understand me? Maybe that's what he's trying to do. I attempt to do the same, letting out a howl of "What?"

"Arooo?"

The he-wolf continues to look back at me quizzically. I roll my eyes, realizing that this won't work. I try speaking English, but all that comes out is another sound of a wolf. Yeah, I don't think we'll be able to understand each other.

But I really do wonder who he is. Though I know nothing will come of this if I rush things, I kind of want to just run at him, get close enough so that I can smell him, so that I'd recognize him in the hallway. This royal wolf puzzles me, one second he's running from me, and the next he's trying to communicate with me? I bet I puzzle him, too.

Draco Abraxas Malfoy

Ok, so that didn't work, for either of us. It kind of surprised me when she responded because I would think she would, just think that I'm an idiot for randomly howling if she didn't understand me. Well, I guess that people are just unpredictable. As well as wolves, for that matter.

The need to know who she is is just...unbearable. Curiosity has always gotten the best of me, but I will not let it happen this time. She is the one person who hasn't given up on me (or, in Blaise's case, done just as many bad things as me.)

Of course, she doesn't know who I am, and I don't know who she is. I can't resist anymore, I take another step closer, now close enough to smell strawberries and vanilla again. She cocks her head at me, surprised. I surprised her, the amazingly stoic and expressionless other wolf.

If I stay here, I'll probably end up getting close enough to her to be recognized, so I turn and leave, once again looking back once to see what she's doing. She just sits there, watching me go.

. . .

I wake up the next morning really sore from running last night, and then clenching my muscles to prevent myself from moving towards her again. I stretch, and then that boy Theodore gets up. Hey, I didn't know he was in our room. Maybe that's because I never really noticed him much before Quinn at all.

"Good morning." He says when he sees that I'm awake, too.

Two days in a row, two people being nice to me. I'm starting to think two is my lucky number.

"You're actually being pleasant to me." I say, stating the obvious.

"Yep, why not? I'm in a good mood."

"Why? Oh." I remember about Luna.

"What's oh?" He asks.

"Nothing." He might not want me to bring it up. After all, he could be one of those reserved types that doesn't want to talk about personal stuff. Like me.

"Oh. Are you talking about me and Luna? 'Cause I am." Ok, he's an oddball. He and Loony are perfect for each other. Sorry, old nicknames and taunts. My past is harder to get over than I thought it would be. I don't really have much experience with this stuff. Nor with having girlfriends who I actually like. What must it be like?

"Oh, well uh, good. Congratulations I guess." I say stiffly. I don't flex the nice muscle, pretty much ever.

"Thanks!" Theodore says jovially, jumping off of his bed. I don't think he notices my discomfort with the situation. Then I realize he's still talking. "...and I just think she's so nice you know? She's nice, and funny, and smart…" His voice fades into the background because I stop listening. No wonder Quinn doesn't talk much. She can't fit a word in with a best friend like this.