NEMESIS || Draco Malfoy

02

The library was quiet on Sunday evenings.

I took a mental note of that as I sat there, hunched over one of the many books sprawled across one of the tables in the back of it.

Occasionally, faint whispers, giggles or frustrated groans were heard a few aisles down. However, they were hardly anything compared to the usual giddy chatter filling up the library despite Pince's constant shushing.

I revelled in it almost; the silence. Taking advantage of the uninterrupted flow of thoughts stimulating corners of my mind that have felt untouched since that day in the manor.

The one where every bit of dark magic buried even in the deepest depth of me was practically begging me to acknowledge it. It's what his presence always did.

It's The Dark Lords way of announcing himself. You knew he was close before he ever stepped through the door or out of the fireplace.

At the memory, the images of his bloodshot eyes, scaly skin and bald head drew my attention onto the ever writhing mark on my forearm covered by not one, not two but three concealment charms; just to be sure.

It still burned just as much— if not more. It's been months, and it still hasn't rested—a painful but honourable reminder of all the trust He put in me. A burden I was gladly carrying around my sixth year of Hogwarts.

Once I succeeded, there was nothing more here for me, anyway.

I'd move up in ranks quickly, sit beside Him in meetings I had yet to attend for the first time, be respected by his most trusted advisors because it would be me who killed Albus Dumbledore in the end.

And it would be me who singlehandedly saved my family name from dying out completely.

Venectu.

The finger, previously tracing the words on the pages, stilled at once, hovering over the word for a moment before retracting from the fragile pages. I leaned forward in my chair, hand ruffling through my hair as I scanned the paragraph once more.

[Venectu;
Also called The Touch of Death, is a highly poisonous substance, and whether touched or digested, it will fatally harm almost every organ and system in the body. Witches and wizards of any age and skill-level are advised to stay away from the toxic substance if possible.

Its antidote— Negatio Unda — reverses the poison's effects almost immediately. Due to its intricate nature, hardly any witch or wizard is lucky enough to get a drop of it in time.

Negatio Unda;
One of the three— ]

The page cut off here; the rest ripped out of the old and dusty book what I assumed to be decades ago.

I furrowed my brows, an annoyed huff escaping my lips as I squinted over the frame of my round glasses to identify the cut off words; to no avail.

Frustrated, I pushed the glasses off my nose and onto the top of my head, conveniently holding back the few strands of hair that kept tickling my cheek. Letting my head fall back, I wondered whether Venectu might be the one thing I was looking for.

Though, maybe I should skim the rest of the books as well, just in case there was a more convenient contact poison buried in the pages somewhere. Or maybe a nudge towards a completely different approach.

"Now that seems like it belongs in the restricted section, alright."

My eyes darted over to my right, and I audibly groaned at the sight of platinum blond hair; body leaned against the wooden bookshelf as his arms crossed in front of his chest. Malfoy raised his brows in amusement, a smirk on his lips as he tried to figure out what the book in front of me was.

"'Don't think it's any of your concern where it belongs," I muttered under my breath, eyes diverting off of his frame and back onto the pages. Absentmindedly, I flipped one page, then another one, in hopes the gesture would have him turn around and leave.

Though, when I looked back up, his eyes were intently trained on the rest of the books sprawled around me, brows furrowed as he tried to decipher titles, subtitles and authors of them.

"Seriously, Malfoy. Piss off," I sneered a second time, shaking my head with an annoyed sigh.

Instead of doing that for both of our sakes, he snorted humorously before taking a seat on the opposite chair. I rolled my eyes before untangling the glasses from my hair and placing them back on the bridge of my nose.

"It's very much my concern—" I slapped his hand away from the book he reached for, and a little disheartened, he retracted it back under the table. "As a prefect, it's very much my concern, Hayes." A proud smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, a sight that made me want to do nothing more than slap it right back off his face.

"You're welcome to speak to Slughorn about my permission slip. Just don't bother me with it, prefect."

Now that there was no one else around, I didn't bother trying to tolerate his presence. It was hard enough then; bantering back and forth with him when the rest of our friends were around.

I did it for their sake and didn't have to put myself through the same misery when it was just me and him.

All I saw when I looked at him now was his father. The one man responsible for how horribly that night in the ministry went; the one man who blamed it all on her— like the coward he was.

I was sure that's where Malfoy got it from.

The memory alone made my blood boil. And with a single huff that blew the strand of red hair right out of my face, I pushed the chair out from under the table and got up at once.

In one swift motion, I pulled my wand out of the hem of my skirt, waving it around lazily as I watched the numerous books on the table levitate mid-air before rushing off to their original spot in the shelves.

The only book staying put the one clutched under my arm.

Chin tilted upward and my back straight; I stepped over the rope separating the general library from the restricted section to put it back myself— leaving Malfoy sitting on the now empty table without another look back.

He should've known better than to approach me, anyway.

A/N: Welcome back!!

Good news! For now, Nemesis will be updated every second day, and so will my other book Moira hehe. this way, we'll have Nemesis today, Moira tomorrow, Nemesis the day after that, and so on!

I'm still super excited about this, and hope everyone enjoyed this chapter!! <3