NEMESIS || Draco Malfoy

09

As soon as the first students made their way out of the great hall, I joined them. Making sure Dumbledore still had enough food on his plate and wine in his goblet and conversations to hold before I did so.

The sooner I got this over with, the better.

And what would be sooner than now?

Hurrying down the corridors and up the stairs, a disillusionment charm cast over me, I imagined what it would be like; celebrated for murdering the Albus Dumbledore in less than two months.

Doing something that would earn me respect, and praise, and, surely, power with the only group of witches and wizards that truly mattered. The side of the upcoming war that would prevail at the end.

Doing something that would save my mother, my father, and my sister from certain doom. If I didn't succeed, I wasn't sure if he'd kill me, too, or if being forced to live was greater of a suffering than death could ever be.

Twirling the vial in the pocket of my robe, my head cocked in every possible direction to make sure no one was lurking in any of the hallways close to his office.

When I stood in front of the door, my fingers clutching around the Venectu in my pocket, my mind went blank only for a moment before my breath hitched and my heartbeat picked up its pace at once.

Though, I quickly blinked the nerves away, shaking my head to focus entirely on the locked door in front of me. The door handle would suffice, would it not?

Was I rushing this?

No.

If I took any longer, people would surely grow suspicious of my unexplained absence.

Fumbling with the vial to get a proper grasp on it, I pulled it out of my pocket. At the time, I didn't want to admit to myself, but my hands were shaking due to nerves, and not because of the cold winds blowing through the empty corridor.

Another look to the left. Another look to the right. And one last look behind me before I opened the vial, careful not to spill any of the black, yet shimmering substance and accidentally kill myself in the process.

I didn't think my heart ever beat louder in my chest; poison in one hand, wand in the other pointed right at the opened vial before I watched drop after drop slowly lift out of it.

My eyes flickered through the corridor every now and then as I carefully manoeuvred the few drops of Venectu over to the door handle of Dumbledore's office. The spell, a rather simple variation of the aguamenti charm, was pretty easy to adapt. And though not in Hogwart's curriculum, definitely something a second year would be able to do.

So, the ink-black drops of poison floated through the air onto the door handle almost effortlessly, every single hint of the mesmerising shimmer gone as soon as they started moving.

Their black colour fainted into a transparent sheen on the surface at first contact — quickly becoming undetectable.

That's it, right?

Not taking my eyes off the door, I closed the vial carefully and slipped it back into my pocket. — I'd find a safe place for it soon. One where it couldn't be traced back to me, in case they started asking questions.

Which I assumed they would. Dumbledore was adored by staff and students alike. Treated like a king amongst peasants — I wasn't quite sure why. I never saw the appeal in his empty words.

Still wearing the disillusionment charm, I hurried down the corridors to the dungeons, making sure not to run into any students, now that the hallways had filled up with them significantly.

A loud sigh of relief rattled through my chest at the sight of an empty common room, rushing over to the sofa's as I felt the hot, trickling sensation running from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head; the disillusionment charm lifting at my command.

I didn't know when my friends would finish dinner, but I knew if they came back and found me passed out on the sofa, they wouldn't even question my possible involvement once the news was out.

So, my heart still racing, my body still shivering slightly; that's exactly what I did. Granted, the plan was to pretend to be asleep until after they came back, though my body — stressed and exhausted — took my comfortable position paired with closed eyes as a sign to simply shut off;

Only waking back up when my heavy head was lifted and gently propped onto an unfamiliar surface. I grumbled at the movement, noises of complaint leaving my lips.

Taking a deep breath, I shifted to lie on my back, my eyes slowly opening to land on no other than Theodore Nott, an amused expression in his features as he scanned my scrunched up face.

Pansy's face appeared over mine — and next to his — right then, her own expression blown out a little, though a smile gracing her lips at the sight of me. "I can't believe you slept through all that," She mumbled, teeth latched into her bottom lip in mild confusion.

My brows furrowed, sitting up at once to orientate myself. It was dark; the little daylight that made it through the depths of the lake until down here when I fell asleep was gone—the only light sources the lamps hanging from the ceiling.

Eyes roaming the common room, I noticed it had filled up by now. Blaise sitting at one of the chess boards, Montague opposite him, a few third years warming themselves by the fire relatively close to us, and others reading books or having rather heated conversations with one another. A few hours must have passed since— my eyes widened slightly at the memory.

"Hm?" I hummed, squeezing my eyes shut before a yawn escaped my lips, my hands ruffling through my messy, red hair. "What did I sleep through?"

As soon as the words left my mouth, the door to the common room opened with the familiar sound of the stone sliding open and dragging against the floors. Everyone's eyes flickering over to it, I diverted mine as soon as I recognised Malfoy, stifling a groan as pansy waved the blonde over.

"You heard what happened, didn't you, Draco? Adreanna here slept through the whole thing—"

I grew annoyed at the fact I still didn't know what they were talking about, mentally preparing myself for a snarky comment or insult when, instead, all he said was, "Slept through what?"

"That bloody Hufflepuff girl almost dying! Merlin's beard—"

I wasn't sure if she cut herself off or if I simply drowned out the rest of her sentence. The sound of my blood rushing through my veins suddenly, so incredibly loud I couldn't focus on anything but.

I furrowed my brows, my gaze straight ahead, my eyes probably glossed over.

Theo huffed at the words, nodding beside me. "'Was supposed to be for Dumbledore, apparently," He shrugged casually.

Just as the words left his mouth, my right hand unconsciously went to cup my left forearm, scratching it absentmindedly as I tried to process the information. As soon as I noticed, I dropped the motion in a heartbeat.

Though, Malfoy's head had shot in my direction a little too quickly, brows furrowed in concentration as his eyes jumped from my arm up to meet mine. I simply swallowed thickly before turning away.

Painfully aware of his eyes on me, I suppressed the urge to show any kind of reaction, instead forcing myself to shrug just like Theo had.

With every fibre of my being feeling like it was about to fall apart, my voice calm, when all I wanted to really do was scream out of sheer frustration, I said, "Couldn't blame whoever tried," and leaned into the backrest of the sofa.

As if it wasn't me who tried; As if it wasn't me who did blame herself for not doing it properly.

A/N: My girl Adreanna rlly thought it would be this easy, huh?

honey ur the main character, nothing will ever be easy for you <3 kbjhvgf

Thought?

See you tomorrow. <3