YEAR 7 | Draco Malfoy

15.0 the morning

The mirror hadn't left Claire's mind ever since that night and the encounter with Malfoy hadn't either.

After what seemed like hours, Draco had gotten onto his feet before looking down at Claire.

He demanded her to get up and leave, sensing that the mirror could only bring bad things in the long run.

So Claire reluctantly left the mirror behind her, but not inside her head.

She had secretly tried multiple times to go back to that corridor but it seemed as if it had simply vanished.

No matter how many minutes she'd spent trying to find the right passageway, she couldn't find it.

Sometimes she'd run into Draco and when it would be just the two of them, their eyes would communicate.

It felt like they both had a deeper understanding of what they were longing for, ever since that encounter with the mirror.

Claire had researched the mirror's purpose a few days after.

It was an ancient, ornate mirror named The Mirror of Erised.

It showed the deepest, most desperate desire of one's heart and that came as no surprise to Claire.

She also read about the visions the mirrored showed and that it has been known to drive men mad.

It didn't scare her, her longing for the warmth that radiated from the reflection was stronger.

Claire eventually stopped looking when the corridors became colder as the end of October approached.

It had been a few weeks now and on this Saturday morning, Claire decided to get up early to make homework but also to get her mind off the mirror.

It appeared that she wasn't the only one with this idea, Draco himself was already sitting at one of the larger tables in the common room.

The fire on their left crackled softly while the two exchanged looks.

Claire had her hands full with her belongings but Draco just looked at her.

He didn't know if he wanted her to sit across from him, or as far away as possible.

Claire awkwardly cleared her throat and decided it was better to sit somewhere else.

As soon as she turned on her heels, her potions textbook fell.

She gasped and anticipated the loud sound the book would make, along with Draco who got up from his chair.

He walked over to her and grabbed the book before cheekily placing it back upon the impressive pile of books that she was holding.

"Thanks." She muttered.

"You can sit with me." Draco said.

He said it while walking away, not daring to look at her while those words left his lips.

Claire raised her eyebrows but didn't protest.

She sat down across from him and stalled out her quill, parchment, and books.

Draco returned to his homework without a word, his quill scratching against the parchment being the only sound that came from his side of the table.

Over an hour, they occasionally exchanged looks but no one dared to say a word.

Something did stand out to Claire. His face had softened over these last weeks of attending Hogwarts.

The way he had spat at her or grimaced at her in that first week of class he never seemed to do anymore.