Before you read the second chapter, please read. I am working on three stories at the same time, so it takes longer for me to upload every chapter, so please be patient. Thank you and have a nice day!
By the time she opened her eyes, she saw something that scared her more than ever. Her heart raced and her eyes widened. Her sleeve had been pushed up and etched into her arm was a phrase: Can't Run From Destiny. It slowly dissolved back into her arm as she watched in horror. That was the first time it had ever appeared, but the pain was common for Midnight.
'What is going on around here?' Midnight thought in a frantic worry, quickly pushing down her sleeve.
The carriage started up, startling Midnight.
'Calm down. Calm down.' She breathed in heavily, closing her eyes to concentrate. 'Everything will be alright. When I get to the school, I'll wait for everyone to exit their carriages and run off to the lake. Everything will go back to normal.'
She brought her knees close to her chest, pulling them tightly to her by wrapping her arms around her legs. Then, she began to rock back and forth, trying her best to calm down. She tried thinking of some things good like playing the flute or wishing on the moon, but nothing could distract her concentration from what had happened.
"I wish you were here, Saffron. I really need your help." She cried quietly, a single tear escaped her closed eyes.
By the time all the carriages reached the castle, the moon was halfway to the center of the sky. The night was magically illuminated with candles, castle lights, and the peeping stars that were looking down on the people below. Everyone, excluding Midnight, was exiting their carriages. Friends that were separated quickly found each other and immediately sparked a conversation. Soon, everyone was separated into either cliques or houses, talking amongst themselves.
Midnight watched as they all swarmed up the stairs slowly. She could see every smile and she could hear every laugh. Placing a hand over her heart, she could feel it tearing. She was so dependent on Saffron that she didn't even attempt to make friends. Then, three people caught her eye; it was Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"Hey guys!" She started before stopping herself.
'No. Don't call to them. Let them forget you.' She instructed herself, watching her newly formed friends walk up the stairs. 'That's it. Keep walking. Leave me behind. Forget me. That's the right thing to do.' She thought as her friends disappeared.
Soon, everyone was gone and Midnight stepped out of her carriage. When she was far enough away from the carriage, the threstal took off. Midnight turned back towards the carriages to watch every threstal leave. Then, a smile spread across her lips.
"Beauty is only an illusion that hides the true appearance." She whispered to herself as the last threstal vanished. "You, my dear threstals, are the true beauties through my life."
With that, she walked off. While everyone else was in the Great Hall, Midnight walked off towards the lake. She would look at her surroundings, noticing every detail to the last tiniest dot. Everything to Midnight that seemed old, ugly, or scary, was actually very beautiful because, for some odd reason, Midnight could see past the physical structure and see the truth.
She sat by the lake underneath an old willow tree and pressed her back up against its chipping trunk. Then, she looked through the branches and leaves to the moon. In her mind, she could picture herself on the moon and standing in front of a beautiful luxurious palace made of pearl and gold. The fountains would always run with crystal water, sparkling angelically. Every plant would flourish and dew drops would look like little diamonds.
"What are you doing out here?" a cold voice asked, awaking Midnight from her peaceful fantasy.
Looking to the side, she saw Draco leaning on the willow tree, looking down at her. She jumped to her feet, her eyes wide. Not knowing what to do, she tried to run off, but Draco caught her wrist with one fast motion of his hand. She turned back towards him, Draco still holding her wrist. When their eyes met, different emotions were being tossed back and forth. Midnight felt fear because Draco had a reputation of being able to get any girl in bed, but Draco on the other hand was feeling two emotions: confusion and shock.
"Midnight?" Draco accidentally whispered her name loud enough for her to hear.
"How do you know my name?" Midnight asked worriedly, not moving any closer to Draco.
'She doesn't remember me?' Draco thought to himself sadly, but also thinking of an excuse of knowing her name. "I know every girl's name from Slytherin. Since I have never met you before, I figured that you were the mysterious Midnight." He answered casually as his normal self, giving Midnight his seductive look.
"Can you please let me go?" Midnight begged Draco.
Unknowingly, Draco released Midnight without a fuss, but even though she was free from his grasp, she didn't run away. She was stunned that Draco had freed her so easily without trying anything with her. Both relieved and stunned, Midnight slowly back up two feet before trying to run off. She was soon stopped by Draco calling out to her. She turned towards him to see something she had never seen before. Even though she wasn't close to him, she could see some sort of mixed emotions in his eyes. It was almost as if he were crying tears that could not be seen, but felt.
"Please don't leave me." He begged, not acting like himself.
"Why?" She asked him curiously, feeling sympathy for him.
"I want you to stay here. You're so beautiful."
"Beauty is only an illusion that hides the truth."
With that, she sprinted towards the castle. The feeling of Draco's hand around her wrist was still there. She continued to run until she reached the library. Since everyone was in the Great Hall, being welcomed back by Dumbledore, she knew that no one would be there. It was the perfect place at that moment to be alone.
She stealthily walked into the library to see that all the lights were on and all the books were put away. Even the librarians desk was cleaned off, except for a few books that Midnight had suggested the librarian to read.
'She must've known I was going to come here.' She thought as she walked over to the Legilimency section. 'Ah. My home away from home.'
Midnight slid her fingers across the books. She smiled, remembering the first time she had ever come to the library.
First-year Midnight was sitting quietly at the front tables, reading up on Transfiguration. It was almost curfew and she could hear a few people behind her. They sounded like Slytherins bullying a different house.
"Look at me, you little piece of shit!" a sharp, cold voice yelled. "That's it. Don't you dare disobey me. Now, where's the money you owe us?"
"I don't have it right now." A small, fragile voice cried.
"What do you mean you don't have the money?" a different voice yelled; it was cold and malicious.
The next thing she heard was someone pushing down books and someone being pushed down. Midnight was too afraid to turn around, so she continued to pretend she was reading as she listened in on what was going to happen next.
"We told you that you had two weeks to get the money! We even gave you an extension and this is the thanks we get?" the sharp, cold voice hissed, followed by someone crying in pain.
"I'm sorry. I promise I'll have the rest of the money by next week." The small, fragile voice pleaded for her life.
"Fine! We'll give you one more week, but if you don't have the sixty galleons by then, you won't have a life!" the cold, malicious voice spat hatefully. "Oh! Before we leave, fork over the money that you have now."
"I was only able to get 340 galleons." She heard the girl cry followed with the clinging of metals together.
"It was a pleasure doing business with you." The same cold, malicious voice sneered.
Soon, Midnight could hear laughing and footsteps running off. When she heard the footsteps gone, she turned around to see the girl on the floor. Her blonde hair was a mess and her eyes were tightly closed with tears seeping out. She was curled into fetal position and shaking.
Midnight unknowingly got up and walked over to her, not really knowing what she was doing. She fell to her knees in front of the girl, reaching into her pocket and pulling out seventy galleons. With a generous hand, she held it out to the girl who didn't even notice.
"Please stop crying." Midnight tried to say bravely, but said it quietly.
The girl heard her and looked up, tears streaking down her face. Midnight forced a small smile on her face as she raised her hand with the money in it a bit. The girl looked at Midnight, confused.
"I kind of overheard your conversation with those girls. I want to help you."
There was a moment of silence before a smile appeared on the girl's face. Suddenly, out of no where, the girl gave Midnight a surprise hug. They both fell with the money falling to the ground. That was the first hug Midnight had ever gotten, so she didn't know what to do. The girl lifted her torso a bit and looked into Midnight's eyes, smiling a smile that looked like an angel's.
"I'm Saffron." The girl smoothly introduced herself, her eyes going back to normal.
"Midnight." Was Midnight could say.
Midnight smiled to herself as she remembered that memory, her fingers stopping on a book with the picture of a Hippogriff on it. That was the first day she had smiled and the first day she had ever gotten a hug. She treasured that moment every time she was alone. No matter how bad things would get, all she had to do was remember that time and everything would calm down for her.
Yawning, Midnight decided to get some early shut eye. So, walking out of the library gracefully, she went to the Slytherin dormitory she was assigned to and went to sleep.
Without her knowing, someone had been following her the entire time. They had followed her from her carriage to the lake where she ran away from Draco and last to the library.
"The process has started." The mysterious figure said to himself. "Enjoy the time you have left, princess, because once transform, I will kill you."
End Chapter 2: A Looming Shadow
Sorry if this chapter wasn't very good, I was kind of tired when I wrote it. Please forgive me!