Chapter Four:
It was that time of the week again. The once-a-week reunion with her sister at the Astronomy Tower. It was late at night on the same day of the Past Potions incidence. Padma stood by the balcony that clearly viewed the stars and the huge and luminous moon. Padma looked out to the night sky, watching the stars twinkle, high above the Astronomy Tower. It was late at night and her sister was late…as usual. What was she up to now?
As she waited she thought about her day, mainly about what happened in Potions class. It was horrible what happened to Malfoy. Padma thought no one deserved it, even Malfoy. It was no wonder he was never nice to people, he never knew exactly what kindness was.
'Where was his mother in all this?' she wondered. In each memory, his mother was nowhere to be found. 'It could either be that she didn't know, or that she didn't care…somehow, I think it's the latter.'
Before Padma's mind drifted even further, her sister came running up the stairs leading to the Astronomy Tower. Padma sharply turned around and met her sister with a glare upon her face.
"Hey, mind telling me where you were this time?" Padma asked angrily.
Parvati looked at her guiltily, "Um, well, see there was this girl with only one leg and she asked me to help her get up the stairs, and how could I refuse. . . you don't believe me do you?"
"Gee, you think? It was too creative, next time, go for something simple." Padma replied back, her anger easing off a bit. She could never be too annoyed at her sister, after all, they went through everything together.
Parvati grinned, her pearly whites flashing even in the darkest of nights. "So, did you miss me?"
"Eh, not much. No, I missed you a lot. I wish you could be in my house."
"No, you should be in my house."
"Oh Merlin! We're not going to start this again are we?"
"No, sorry. So, what's the news of the moment, dear sister?" Parvati asked.
Padma looked at her closely, should she tell her? After all, she was her sister and they did understand a lot about each other. But then again, she can overreact a bit and Padma certainly didn't want that to happen.
"Well, nothing exciting, yet. The classes are pretty much good, the people are good, and no sorts of trouble have been brewing about. How about you?"
"There's not much news except…I have a boyfriend!"
"Oh my gosh, really? Whom, may I ask?"
"Yes you may, and it's Adam from Hufflepuff. Oh wow, he is so great."
"Adam? That airhead prat? Honestly, what do you see him? All he does is check his reflection every five seconds. If he doesn't have mirror in handy, I'm so sure he'll have to check himself into St.Mungo's for a mental check-up."
"Oh please, he's only worried about his appearances. I like a guy who knows how to keep himself in order, I mean, would you rather like a guy who has the hygiene like a rat?"
"No, but I wouldn't want a vain idiot either."
"Oh! You never support the guys I pick! What is the matter with you?!"
"What is the matter with me?! You're the one that always picks guys that are worthless and is a waste of space!"
"Oh, I should've never told you about Adam, I should've known you would get like this!"
Padma looked at Parvati carefully. She didn't want another argument that ended up with not speaking to each other for weeks at a time. The last time that happened, it was complete torture.
"Look, I just don't want another guy to hurt you again. You were miserable last time and it pained me. I just don't want for you to go through the same thing again." Padma said sadly.
"I appreciate it, but then you have to let me learn my own way. Granted it may be difficult, but it will teach me." Parvati replied back.
"You're right."
"Besides, he is quite attractive." Parvati commented with a twinkle in her eyes.
"Ah, I guess so. Just be careful."
"Of course."
It was starting to get really late and both girls were getting tired. They hugged each other and said their good-byes. Parvati smiled and walked away. Padma watched her for a while and walked the opposite direction, towards her house entrance. Along the way, she thought about her sister's boyfriend, Adam. She had seen Adam surrounded by hordes of girls regularly. She was so sure that he was a player who had a girl for each night. No, that boy was not even worth it.
The library was cold, the roaring fire beginning to fade. Draco was seated at the window ledge and looked out the window. He was thinking about the events that happened that day, most especially about how Padma saw his past. The look on her face afterwards was pity, and he hated that, he hated it so much. However, it was nice to know that she did have some compassion for him, when no one else did.
What was he thinking? She didn't have compassion, she was probably just disgusted, but was too polite to say anything. Of course, that must be the reason, everything else wouldn't make sense.
Why was he still dwelling on this?
He looked away from the window. The library was nearly isolated now; only Madame Pinch remained, arranging some papers. It was getting late and he really should get to the dungeons before anyone noticed him gone.
'That is IF anyone noticed me gone,' he thought.
Draco took one last look out the window, to see the beauty of the stars against the dark sky again, but then he noticed something, up above at the Astronomy Tower. The object of his thoughts was talking…no fighting… with someone. He strained a bit closer to see and was surprised to see that it was her sister. What were they fighting about? Whatever it was it made Padma furious. He could see her dark eyes glinting in anger, her face screwed up in a deep scowl while she gestured her hands wildly at Parvati. He chuckled. Even though the situation seemed serious, she still managed to look silly.
What was happening now? His neck was starting to hurt from straining his head to see. But Draco strained even more. Padma looked like she calmed down and was hugging her sister now. They parted ways and Padma watched her go, but she still looked sad.
Draco suddenly had the sudden urge to fly to her and make her feel better. He snapped back, his back straight.
'Where did that come from?' he thought.
Shaking his head slowly, he got up and walked out of the library.
The next day, Draco was seated in Potions, waiting for class to begin. Snape was sneaking glances at him often and it was annoying the hell out of Draco. Just when he was about to get and punch him, the class started pouring in. He sat up suddenly, his eyes searching for that person, the girl that prodded into his past. She finally strolled in, one of the last people to do so. To his disappointment, she sat with her friends on the other side.
'Well, I should've expected that right? I mean, why was I even interested?' he wondered bitterly.
Draco put his head down and closed his eyes for a moment. He only opened them again at Snape's voice.
"Today, we are going to focus on the making of a Wolfsbane potion. It can come in handy in many occasions, including suppressing a person you know that was bitten. The ingredients are listed on the board. For you illiterates, I will read to you once, and once only, then you can read and do the rest. The ingredients are as followed: rosemary, a bit of liquid silver, a teardrop from a pixie…." Snape droned on and on.
Padma took that time to look at Draco. He was staring at Snape, but he wasn't listening at all, she could tell. His eyes had that faraway look to them. Yesterday must have been one of the most traumatic experiences that he had to go through. She felt really bad for him.
"You can pair up with anybody this time, frankly I don't have the patience today to deal with your complaining and whining. You may start now, supplies are at the front table." Snape finished.
Padma looked up and saw her friend Mattie, short for Mathilda, walk towards her.
"Hey, want to work together?" Mattie asked.
"Er, not today Mattie, I'm going to work with someone different this time." Padma replied, regretting it immediately.
She got up and walked slowly towards Malfoy, whose head was still down, and his head in space.
"Hi, Malfoy, want to work together?" Padma asked a bit nervously.
A surprised Malfoy lifted his head and narrowed his eyes in suspicion, and nodded. She sat down a bit far, but next to him.
"So, you want to get the supplies? I'll get the avocado juice boiling." Padma asked.
He shrugged and got up at a snail's pace to get the supplies. Padma sighed. This was going to be a long period.