Chapter Three:
The Half-Veela
'Saffron is coming today!' Midnight thought excitedly as she took a shower at six-thirty in the morning.
She quickly shut the shower off when she was done and practically jumped out of the shower, wrapping a green and black towel around her. Then, she looked into the fog-proof mirrors in the Slytherin Girl's bathrooms, her heart dropping. The cuts up both her arms and the few cuts on the inner of her thighs were visible.
She ran her fingers across the scars. They felt good across her fingers, even though they brought back painful memories. Memories of being alone, being bullied when she was smaller, were too painful too hide.
'Before I met Saffron, cutting was my only option of survival. Why I thought that? I still don't remember.' Midnight thought sadly, wiping a tear from her face.
Then, she quickly got dressed in her casual clothes; it was a Sunday, so everyone was able to where whatever they wanted. She was wearing her Tripp black lace corset top under her full-length trench coat. The bottoms of her glow-in-the-dark hook-and-eye pants were falling over her black shoes.
After overlooking herself, she ran back to her dorm room to get her wand. Her hair was quickly drying because Midnight taught herself to cast a few spells without a wand and one was to dry her hair faster. She quietly made it to her room, not even waking her dorm mates. Then, she slid out her wand from underneath her pillow and snuck out of her room, noticing that there was one bed empty.
'I wonder who's bed that is for.' Midnight asked herself as she closed the door behind her quietly.
Looking at her watch, she noticed that she still had twenty minutes. So, since no one else in the house was up at this time, she decided to relax on the black leather couch. Looking around the room, she smiled at it all. The fireplace was already lit; the crackling of burning wood was music to Midnight's ears. The outsides of the windows were never changing because they were surrounded by lake water; the Slytherin Common rooms and dormitories were under the Lake.
"Who are you?" an angry and soul-less voice called out to her.
She turned around in her chair to come face-to-face with Draco Malfoy. He was standing there in his black and green silk pajamas. For the first time, Midnight had seen Draco's flawless hair completely messy and his eyes were almost drained of any life that it had left.
"Midnight." Draco said suddenly, his eyes rapidly regaining their icy cold texture once he noticed who she was. "Just the person I was going to look for today." He told her, crossing his arms menacingly.
"Sorry, I can't stay. I have to go." Midnight came up with an excuse to leave, knowing that it would be too early to meet Saffron in the courtyard.
She tried to run off again, but once more, Draco had caught her wrist, but this time he pulled her into his arms. He moved his arms down to the mid-section of her back, making her come closer to him. She began to shake slightly, a little afraid of Draco. Draco noticed her shaking as he examined her thoroughly.
"You mean, you honestly don't remember me?" Draco asked with his heart half broken.
"All I know is that you are Draco Malfoy, the Prince of Slytherin and the Sex God of Hogwarts." Midnight shakily told him, eyes tightly closed.
Draco was left speechless; mouth dropped wide and breathing deepening. Unknowingly, he released her slowly. Midnight opened her eyes to see a very depressed Malfoy. Her heart jumped when she saw the pain in his eyes. It was almost as if she could see his heart breaking right in front of her. She rushed to the portrait hole, but stopped because the pity towards Draco was so strong.
"Um… Draco?" She called out to him.
He forcibly moved his head upwards to make eye contact with Midnight.
"Meet me in the Astronomy Tower at seven. It seems you know something about me that I don't remember." Midnight mousily said.
Before Draco could even respond, Midnight disappeared behind the portrait. She was walking slowly to the courtyard, admiring everything around her. The ancient walls that told stories of long ago. The portraits even showed that of love, grief, pain, and birth. Ceilings that ascended to certain heights made each room and hall beautiful in their own little way.
Ten minutes passed before Midnight had reached the courtyard, she still had five minutes left. She slid down one of the posts in exhaustion. Then, she looked up at the sky. It was beautiful that morning. The sky was clear and the sun, just like everyone else, was just starting to wake up.
"Midnight!" Something called from above her.
She snapped her head up to the sky to see Saffron riding on her broom. As soon as she was close enough to the ground, she jumped off her broom, pulling her broom down with her. Midnight stood up and examined her friend. She was wearing dark blue spaghetti tank top with a black mini-skirt. Her combat boots only covered her shins. A black velvet cloak draped over her fair white skin beautifully as she placed her vacant hand on her hip. Her long half wavy and half straight dirty blonde hair was flowing gracefully and her perfect blue eyes were full of happiness, though they could seduce any man at will.
"Saffron!" Midnight cried out happily, wrapping her arms around Saffron's neck; Saffron was two inches taller than Midnight.
Saffron dropped her broom and wrapped her arms Midnight. They were both so happy to see each other. Ever since the beginning of summer, they hadn't seen each other and it brought tears to their eyes to finally see each other after such a long time apart.
"You look great, Midi." Saffron complimented Midnight after pulling away and looking her over.
"You always look great." Midnight replied as they started heading over to the Great Hall for some breakfast.
"Yeah, I know." Saffron sadly agreed, looking at the ground for a short while. "But it's only because I'm half-veela. I want to be naturally beautiful like you and not magically."
Midnight went red.
"No! I'm not beautiful. Just average." Midnight declined her compliment.
Saffron giggled as she put her hands behind her head, her broom floating beside her; she was able to do magic without a wand because of her great-great grandmother.
"You haven't changed a bit over the summer. You're still as self-conscious as ever."
Midnight blushed heavier and looked at the ground, trying to hide her redness. After that, they started talking about how their summers were. Saffron had traveled across the world, visiting places like Kyoto and Bordeaux. Midnight, on the other hand, spent her summer with her foster father, perfecting her magic. They laughed a lot, but there were a few moments of silence.
When they reached the Great Hall, they were about to go down to the Hufflepuff table until a few people called out to Midnight. They both turned to see three people rising from the Gryffindor table and rushing over to Midnight. Hermione was the closest to Midnight, wearing a Tripp white brocaded corset and dark blue jeans. Harry was wearing faded blue jeans with a black shirt and Ron was fashioning a faded maroon shirt and dark faded jeans.
"Uh… Midnight? Who are they?" Saffron asked inconspicuously, smiling.
"Some people I met on the train." Midnight discreetly replied.
"Hey, Midnight!" Hermione happily greeted them.
"Good morning, Hermione. Harry. Ron." Midnight slightly mousily responded. "Um… I would like you guys to meet my friend, Saffron."
Harry and Ron were already drooling over Saffron and she didn't even want it to happen. It was rare for guys to drool over Saffron without her trying. Mostly, it only happened to those who weren't used to meeting a veela.
"Harry! Ron!" Hermione yelled at them, snapping them out of their trance.
"Oh sorry!" Ron and Harry replied in unison.
"It's okay. You two must not be used to meeting a veela." Saffron warmly told them, shaking their hands.
"You're a veela?" Ron asked in surprise; Midnight never told them about her.
"Actually, I'm half-veela. I'm surprised that Midnight didn't explain that." Saffron suspiciously said, turning her head to Midnight for a second.
"To be honest, she didn't really mention you." Harry added to the conversation.
"I'm sorry, Saffron. I wanted to introduce you to them in person." Midnight laughed nervously.
"Good morning." A cold voice greeted the group.
Everyone turned to face…
End Chapter 3: The Half-Veela