𝑆𝐴𝑉𝐼𝑁𝐺 𝐷𝑅𝐴𝐶𝑂 𝑀𝐴𝐿𝐹𝑂𝑌

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟓 - 𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚

╭────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ──────╮

𝐎

November 8th, 1996

Dear Margot,

Remember when we used to pull all-nighters? We used to have full nights of studying but we still had to wake up at 5.30 to get to our morning ballet class. Well, I feel like I had a month of that, give or take. A month and a half, wasted on him!

I am therefore going to call the period from September 27th to November 4th an official all-monther.

Yes, I am fully aware that this word hardly qualifies as a joke but, hey, I have to make do with the last millilitre of humour that is left in me.

I am sorry I didn't write for two days. I will make up for that tonight because I feel like the past couple of days were extremely eventful even for Hogwarts standards...

By the time Draco left my room on Wednesday night, the snowfall resumed. It had been snowing on and off for a couple of days now. Everything was getting frozen around us but the snow was never enough to bury Hogwarts under its thick, white blanket.

I started out of the window. Here in the dungeons, there are only a handful of windows that can see to the outside. Two-thirds of the stained glass were under the waters of the Black Lake, which was already frozen a few inches deep. I stayed silent and I watched the snow fall on the ice and dangerously pile on it.

I didn't want to move. I was afraid that if I did, I would crack broken. I would have wanted to shout but oddly, I felt I had released and defused a good chunk of my tension when I had ordered Draco to get out of my room.

So, now, I wanted some silence. I hate the busy thoughts that anger produces. I prefer the silent presence of grief.

...Who is Margot, he asked. I hadn't heard your name being spelt out loud in such a long time, Margot, and I needed time to adjust...

Alaska approached me after what seemed like hours. I was still in my towel and cold, standing on a small puddle of water. I had dripped dried on the floor. Alaska played with the towel to get my attention. She sank her claws on the soft textile and tried to climb on me softly, as if she wanted to wake me up gently. She used to do that when she was still a kitten and she knew I could never resist it.

I ignored her, laid on the bed and slept. I didn't even wear my pyjamas. I just needed to rest my mind.

Firstly, I slept through my Thursday. I told everyone I was sick and stayed in bed. It seems that my schedule was so messed up that I automatically woke up at midnight, the time when I would normally go downstairs to meet him. But I went back to sleep and thankfully, it wasn't hard to do so.

I sped through Friday, sleepy and sedated, and tried to catch up on my studies during my free period. It seemed easier to study now that I was getting some more sleep.

During lunch, I collected my books and decided to have a quiet lunch at the Slytherin table. Part of me wanted to avoid any place where I would see Malfoy. Another part was tempted to provocatively sit with Harry and Ron in order to catch his attention. I forbid myself to do that. I wasn't going to let myself make decisions based on him. I went on with my lunch as if nothing had happened.

He was sitting only a few seats away from me and wasn't eating. He had my copy of The Great Gatsby with him and was quietly reading. I had to find a way to get that copy back. He didn't deserve to read my mother's books. I was going to think about that later but the notion of sneaking into his room to steal my book back didn't seem like an irrational option. He had done worse.