Chapter 4- Start Again
The blonde slowly slid down to the cold dungeon floor, running a hand through his gelled hair, forming ruffles and tufts throughout. He muttered curses and profanities under his breath as he struggled to comprehend what he had just heard; he'd messed up so very, very badly.
She was so angry and hurt. Bitter and resentful to the point of near hatred; it terrified him to see that the usually mischievous girl could feel these emotions so strongly. And it was all aimed at him…
She'd never forgive him.
"Fuck it!" he screamed through gritted teeth and tearing at his hair as he jumped up to his feet.
A passing second year gave him an odd look, pausing. The threatening growl that tore itself from Draco's throat sent the second year scrambling to get away from the angry pureblood and out of sight down the corridor.
This is ridiculous, he internally snarled. There was no time to be childish. There had never been time. He was Heir Presumptive Draconis Abraxas Malfoy of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Malfoy, part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. He needed to suck it up and pull himself together.
He took a few moments, taking deep breaths and clearing his mind just as he had been taught by his godfather. Occlumency shields up, he flattened his hair and straightened his robes. A Plan. He needed a Plan.
Avril's magic was currently erratic and therefore dangerous. She needed time to cool off; to regain control. But how long should he leave it? To go too soon would be fruitless and suicidal. To leave it too long would just allow Avril time to add fuel to the fire. It would have to be tonight- after curfew. His cousin had always preferred the safety of the night sky; she would be calmer and yet still trying to figure herself out.
Draco pinched the bridge of his nose, a lot like how he had often seen his mother do. Now to try and get her to trust him. No matter where the Hat had put her, he knew she was a Slytherin at heart and would immediately assume it a trap. He still remembered the Hat's words…
"You need to watch her carefully Mr Malfoy; what she wants isn't necessarily what she needs. Gryffindor House will tear her up from the inside out."
He would not let that happen.
.
She sat stiffly at the Gryffindor table her exterior a perfect mask to hide the turmoil within. The food before her made her feel sick so she had resigned herself to sipping at her water, an excuse read on her lips. But despite her preparation to hide from the Gryffindors, she had not prepared herself for Slytherins' owls. So when one of the Malfoy family owls landed neatly in front of her in the middle of dinner, the surprise cut through her mask with clear ease.
She untied the small roll of parchment from the eagle owl's leg and flinched violently as the sudden rush of magic that attacked her fingertips. Hands slightly shaking, she unrolled the parchment.
Avril, I ask to meet with you at the Astronomy Tower at midnight tonight. I know you will not trust me so I have taken measures to allow you to do so:
I, Draconis Abraxas Malfoy, swear upon my magic with magic as my witness that I will be at the Astronomy Tower at midnight of the night of which the oath is made. I also swear that this invitation is not a trap and that I will not force Avril Elladora Diggory, my cousin in blood, to meet with me. So mote it be.
I understand if you still do not come but I will be waiting for you.
Draco.
Avril stared at the note, not quite sure what to think. She felt her gaze rise until it met the insistent, hopeful, one of her cousin. After a few moments she gave a minute nod- barely noticeable- in an answer to the invitation. The relief in the molten silver eyes was undeniable.
.
Draco waited impatiently at the top of the Astronomy Tower, the cold night air holding him close but he barely acknowledged it. He paced up and down the balcony; would she come? The nod had told him she would but she could've changed her mind, been held up, lied…
He came to an abrupt halt. Pull yourself together, he snapped at himself, think rationally. You know her better than just about everyone. You know she'll come.
He sat down on one of the few small benches and waited.
.
Gryffindors, Avril snarled internally, apparently did not know the meaning of bedtime. Whilst the first years and second years had given up fighting Prefect Percy around ten (she was hiding unnoticed in the corner), it took until little after eleven for anyone else to even remember there was such thing as sleep. One by one, they slowly faded out of the common room and up to their dormitories, and even then there were the few last minute stragglers.
It was just gone midnight when the common room had finally emptied and Avril could slip out without being noticed. She discovered, upon leaving the safety of obeying the rules, that she couldn't even be noticed by the Fat Lady as she had disappeared from her painting for the evening.
The petite first year was at complete ease with the darkness around her. She knew how to cast lumos but she had always preferred the embrace of the shadows. They welcomed her like on old friend; it was comforting. Besides it was harder to get caught in the dark…
She reached the tower with no trouble and climbed up the spiralling stairs with the stolen nimble grace of a dancer or gymnast. She hadn't even reached the door when her hand splayed outwards, pushing it open and then its absent flick to close it again once she had darted through.
.
Draco stood up and stepped out from the shadows he had been hiding in as his cousin turned to face him.
"Why did you ask me here Draco?"
She sounded tired and somewhat tormented. She was still conflicted inside; Draco knew this, but she wasn't angry anymore; her magic was no longer erratic and dangerous. But that could be easily changed. It was now or never.
"I wanted to apologise," he said. "I've been a git towards you over the years and no matter my excuses, it was unacceptable. We're family, and I did not behave as such."
Avril looked at him for a long time, in which, Draco held his breath. No matter how well he knew her, Avril had always been unpredictable. One minute she could be subdued and the next she looked ready to murder. He realised it all depended on how her self-control had been fairing that day; he had always pushed it to its limits…and sometimes further.
"What are they?" she asked softly.
Draco swallowed. "What are what?"
"Your excuses," Avril said. "What are they?"
Draco paused, trying to figure out how to word it. They weren't simple, not really, not to him. "I wanted to be a figure in your life," he tested, after a while. "But most, if not all, were taken. Particularly in the department where I could have helped. You have parents, a brother and other adult figures in your life to influence you and teach you. I don't know, but…I tried to walk the line between that and the consequences of your actions." He gave a small smile. "Although it was the consequences of my actions that came back to bite me in the butt, wasn't it?" He shook his head. "It doesn't make any sense, I know, but either way, I just got myself hated."
"It makes sense," Avril said after a moment. "But why didn't you just take the figure of my cousin?"
Draco looked away, turning his gaze out over the moonlit grounds. "I don't know," he admitted.
"I cannot forgive what you did, Draco," Avril said, her voice somewhat regretful.
Draco's shoulder slumped forward. "I understand," he muttered.
"But I can forgive you."
Draco turned round, looking at her in a mix of surprise and relief. "Why?" he found himself saying.
Avril smiled, or was it a smirk? "Because of your excuses. After all, the road to hell was paved with good intentions."
The two stood in silence for a while, looking out over the railings; their minds wandered as they stared at the world that surrounded them, getting their thoughts together and ordering them. Above them the stars pinpricked the black velvet in glittering diamonds in effort to outshine the moon; a losing battle to them on all nights except those of a Dark Moon.
"What now?" Draco finally asked.
Avril paused. "We start again."
.
Draco insisted that he walked Avril back to Gryffindor Tower, so they fell into step beside each other in silence amongst the shadows, sticking to walls, in effort not to get caught. They turned corners, skipped trick steps and timed their trips up the moving staircases, until they finally came to their destination. Avril turned to the entrance to her common room and was about to whisper the password when she realised the Fat Lady wasn't even there.
"Fuck," Avril swore under her breath.
"Language," Draco chastised, before asking, "What's wrong?"
"The Fat Lady's gone walkabout," Avril whispered. "I'm locked out of the tower until she comes back or someone comes out."
Draco hesitated before saying, "Come to the Slytherin common room. You can bunk with us for the night."
Avril stared at him as though he had just grown two heads. "Are you bloody insane?! What about the Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry? And is that even allowed?"
"No idea," Draco shrugged. "And you may be a Gryffindork, but you're a pureblood and a descendant from the Blacks, even if the Diggorys are a predominantly Light family. I'm sure the others will be fine with it." Draco's eyes narrowed at the slight change in expression on Avril's porcelain features. "What?"
Avril hesitated before biting down hard on her bottom lip. "It's not important."
"Tell me," Draco ordered.
"My magic may or may not be Dark," Avril mumbled.
"What?"
"My magic is Dark," Avril admitted, slightly louder.
Draco let this piece of information sink in. Suddenly he understood the Sorting Hat's warning. Gryffindors were always quick to judge and over the past centuries have been predominantly anti-Dark, despising the entirety of Slytherin House just because of their close affiliation with Dark Magic. If this got out in the Lion's Den…Avril would be torn to shreds…
He gave a wry smile. "Yet another reason why it'd be fine for you to stay in the Slytherin dormitories tonight."
Avril struggled with herself for a moment before letting out a defeated, "Fine."
Draco gave a triumphant grin.
.
Not for the first time, the blonde cursed the fact the snake pit was in the deepest depths of the dungeons; even stretching to the fact they were beneath the Black Lake. Either way, despite the grumbling about the long journey, they couldn't've been blessed with a smoother journey. Not once did they come across Filch or the teachers, but that probably had something to do with the fact it was now two in the morning and even the late night wanderers would have gone to bed by now. Thank Merlin for weekends.
Avril wasn't really given much chance to have a good look at the Slytherin common room as Draco had quickly dragged her up to the 1st year boys' dormitory and was left quite disappointed. Although this was quickly replaced with pure shock at the sight of Draco making a rushed bed on the stone floor and curling up into it, fully dressed. For a few minutes she just stared.
"What are you doing?" Avril asked in complete disbelief.
"Trying to go to sleep," Draco answered, "You can take my bed." After a few more moments of seeing his cousin gape, he rolled his eyes. "It's called being a gentleman."
Pulling herself together, she decided not to argue on that point as the floor really didn't look all that comfortable. She slipped off her shoes and curled up into a ball under the bedsheets; Cedric had once told her she slept like a cat and Draco was no different, declaring the comment in a deadpanned voice.
What Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Blaise Zambini and Theodore Nott first thought when they worked up the next morning was anyone's guess…
A/N- Well, I'm not overly pleased with this chapter but its better than the original, 100 word, chapter I had written for the original. I apologise for the jumps in it and switching of point of view but I felt it important to show Draco's side in this. I would also like to reiterate what I said in the last chapter, thank you to those who have favourited and followed. Maybe a few reviews would be nice too? I'm open to suggestions of plot bunnies, especially as it'd be nice to add a little more than what I've already written down. Plus it will keep my two most faithful followers on their toes, because I'm not entirely sure if they're reading the revised versions. They really should. A fair bit's going to change...*Cue evil laugh*
