Hello! I had a very busy week. My other pet passed away and I spent a couple days mourning. Like my other baby, he was very old, so I am now only glad that he was able to rest. I'm fine, all things considered, and I assure you I only wrote whenever I felt like it. I truly appreciate all your support.
Slight trigger warning for a short flashback, but nothing much. The chapter is still heavy, though, so I recommend caution, as always.
"I'm telling you, it's like theater but at home. People, buildings and everything are inside this- this box, and you can watch them perform as often as you like."
"You're pulling my leg" Draco answered irritably, trying to get back to his Ancient Runes homework for the millionth time. There was absolutely no way something like that existed.
"But it's true!" Theo pressed on, seemingly set in distracting him. On the other side of the room, Blaise and his newest pals — Longbottom, Weaselette and Lovegood — were snickering in front of the fire, Butterbeers in hand. Their investigation sessions had swiftly progressed into amicable chatter since their decision to collaborate, and alcohol was soon thrown into the mix.
Draco huffed, slamming his hand on the table. "Are you ever going to let me study in peace?"
"You shouldn't study now, not with the amount of wrackspurts around" the dreamy voice of Luna Lovegood reached him, a small smile on her face. Theo tensed, blush colouring the tip of his ears. His unrelenting crush had worsened in the four weeks they'd begun to hang out together, making him all too aware of the blonde's presence behind him.
"Live a little, Ferret," Ginny hollered from her seat, all too happy to be part of the conversation. Lilith was on her lap, observing the scene with a serene expression. "Have a butterbeer!"
Theo huffed theatrically, raising his voice. "This imbecile does not believe in the existence of groovies!"
Blaise chuckled, shaking his head at his friend. "Movies, Theo, movies."
"Whatever, that."
"Oh no, they're totally real" Neville prompted, his eyes wide open. "Almost soiled my trousers when Hermione showed us one back in Fifth."
"I've tried to tell him they are, but he thinks I'm in on the joke" Blaise shrugged, taking another sip of his bottle. "I stopped trying to tell them about Muggle technology in First Year. Now they've heard about it in Muggle Studies, Theo won't shut up."
Draco's chest panged a little at Neville's admission. Of course, Granger would invite her friends over. His heart ached at what could have been. Would she have invited him over, as well? They had bonded over books many years ago, so he supposed they could've been friends. What kind of movies did she like? What other amazing technology would've she shown him?
What did her house look like, unharmed by angry, deranged psychopaths?
"You will find Potter and his mudblood whore, takes what it takes."
"I haven't seen them in months, I swear!"
"Crucio!"
"Draco?"
Lilith was on the floor, gently bumping his leg with her forehead, her face etched with worry. Laughter came from the fireplace, then, becoming clearer and clearer with each passing second. He then noticed the two blue pairs of eyes in front of him, watching intently as his fist trembled, the broken quill inside it still oozing ink into the already ruined parchment. His breath was ragged, and he suddenly noticed how sweaty he had become.
"Are you back, Draco?" Lovegood asked him, closing her cold hand around his as she softly released his fingers from their vice-like grip on themselves. His eyes were still blurry when she turned his hand around and muttered a simple healing and cleaning spell to make the bloody half-crescents disappear from his skin.
Draco felt Lilith making her way to his lap, then, kneading his thighs with her front paws without drawing her claws. He whispered a shy 'thank you' to the woman in front of him, ignoring his friend's look of pure sorrow, deciding on watching Lilith's movements instead.
"It's the least I can do for you, after all those times you did the same for me at the Manor."
His gaze quickly turned to her in surprise. He had always made sure to sneak into her and Ollivander's cell while they were unconscious or sleeping, all too aware that he would be punished if he was found out. Whether it was food, salves or blankets, he made sure there was absolutely no way to trace them back to him specifically.
Guess his job hadn't been as thorough as he previously thought.
"Alright, let's go have a drink then?" Theo asked, redirecting his attention towards the noise and much needed distraction.
Draco managed a curt nod, heavily occluding to finally banish his memory from the forefront of his mind before heading towards the others, a purring Lilith in his arms. Once he was settled, he wordlessly and wandlessly accioed a bottle for himself, interrupting the conversation as it flew across to him in front of the others. Neville and Ginny's startled expressions brought forward an onslaught of laughter from Theo and Blaise, who had witnessed his ability a very long time ago.
"Impressed, Weaslette?" Draco teased, taking a long swig of the cold liquor.
"That was brilliant," Neville gaped, the corners of his mouth lifting into an amazed smile. "That reminds me so much of-" he cut himself off, his smile dropping at the unsaid. The room stilled, everybody already aware of who he was thinking of.
The few seconds of silence were interrupted by a sigh. "I wonder where she is," Ginny asked, pain in her wavering voice. "I miss them so much, she and my mom both."
"We will find them," came the serious yet optimistic answer from Luna, who was staring intently at the fire. "I'm sure we will."
"Not without the bloody diary, we won't," Theo spat out in a bout of irritation. "When in Merlin's name is Potter coming back?"
"I don't know," Ginny confessed, deflated and crestfallen. "They keep finding clues in all these different places and-" she huffed. "You know I can't tell you much, but it's almost like they're toying with them."
"Ever heard of misdirection, Weasley?" Blaise questioned her with a raised eyebrow. "They definitely don't want him here. The better question is why."
Draco pinched the bridge of his nose in between his fingers, wondering when they would all get a reprieve from the endless war they were dragged into by incompetent adults. Did the fugitive Death Eaters know about Hermione's diary? How could they? "Remind me again why he hasn't sent it by owl before I send him a dozen howlers."
"That's such a stupid suggestion coming from you," she answered, visibly curbing her temper. "We could lose it on the way here and then we'd have absolutely no leads."
"I suppose," he admitted, downing the rest of his drink before summoning another. "No more leads or kidnappings, Lovegood?"
"No. My father doesn't think they will stop forever, though."
"We can't allow them to take anybody else," Neville said resolutely. "I won't lose anybody else." After his solemn declaration, though, his eyebrows furrowed, his mind quickly somewhere else. "Blaise," he asked tentatively, "have you ever been to the muggle world?"
Blaise paused mid-drink to consider his question. "Not really. My mother has never been very fond of them, blood purity aside. Why?"
"I thought so. It's just that…" he paused, giving Ginny a strange look. She nodded, grasping its meaning immediately. "When we visited Hermione, her parents constantly reminded her not to walk by some family who lived further down the street. Thing is, their two sons, a couple of years older than us, went directly to her when we were in a nearby park. They…" he sighed, taking a furious gulp of his Butterbeer. "They called her things. Horrible names."
Ginny nodded, the memory still on the forefront of her mind. "I remember very well. I didn't understand what they were saying, exactly, but it was easy to guess that it was something offensive. I had half a mind to hex the bastards six ways to Sunday, but Hermione told us to ignore them. They left pretty soon, but she was clearly rattled by it. We didn't go back for the rest of the week."
The other Slytherins eyed each other, weighing their choices. Could they ask? Should they ask? Were the insults worse than those they'd thrown at her back in the day?
With a cough, Draco decided to forego caution and self-preservation. Curiosity was stronger than the fear of a hex or two.
"What- what did they say?" he asked carefully with his suddenly dry mouth, paying full attention to the Weaslette just in case.
"Apparently, some of them think it's funny to ridicule others for the colour of their skin." All eyes were directed at Luna, whose voice had lost all of its tranquil qualities.
"You're joking." Blaise's eyes were wide in disbelief. "Why? What's exactly offensive about being a few shades darker?"
"I don't know. What's exactly offensive about being the daughter of muggles?" Ginny challenged them, a blazing fire in her eyes. She was staring murderously at Draco, clutching both her wand and her bottle tight. If it weren't for the presence of her friends, he believed she would've attacked him already. It was obvious the war was still fresh in her mind. After all, wasn't it for everybody else, as well?
"Nothing" he answered in a murmur, returning her glare with a guilty and honest look. "We were just taught by idiotic adults to hate them for it."
Ginny's hand, now free of her Butterbeer, wiped a few stray tears away from her cheeks. "Right," she muttered, standing up from her seat. "We should go to bed."
Draco barely got an ounce of sleep, even despite having his partner's soothing presence next to him.
The next day passed in a blur. Draco woke up feeling more depressed than usual due to the past night's conversation, even after having his "Beatitudinem Eternum." He missed the kick the failed first batch had, which made him euphoric to the point of losing control of his impulses. He smiled at the memory of a very disappointed Lilith, who evaded his presence like the plague until he promised — and succeeded — to do a tamer version next.
He only got out of bed after Theo and Blaise threatened to kidnap Lilith if he 'didn't get a hold of his sorry ass.' Huffing, he went through the motions of showering and getting dressed while he cursed the blasted phoenix for disturbing his misery by letting his friends come in whenever they pleased. Sodding bird. He never thought he'd have another chicken for an enemy, but there he was.
He begrudgingly made his way downstairs for a light lunch before rounding Prefects and volunteers alike in order to get everything up and running for the Halloween ball. Naturally, his two lame excuses for best friends had escaped at the prospect of extended playtime with Lilith by themselves, so he only had Longbottom and Lovegood on his team to help.
Making quick work of their wands, his mind entirely focused on his task, he barely noticed when the whole room was completely decorated from floor to ceiling. He only hoped he could be able to gather his strength to attend at any given moment over the next hour or so. Bloody school balls.