Virtually Yours | Draco Malfoy x OC

Chapter Three - First Day Back

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Freya slept restlessly over the next week. Around her, Ginny, Hermione and Luna slept soundly, while she stared at the wooden ceiling. Tomorrow was the first day of her fourth year at Hogwarts and to say she was excited was... one word for it. She was excited to see her friends again, mainly Neville who couldn't make it for the Quidditch Tournament. However, she definitely wasn't thrilled to have to share the same classrooms as Draco Malfoy and his cronies again.

Sighing, Freya shoved the blanket down to her feet, only just noticing Mercury perched there, her feet tucked underneath her.

"Hey, girl." Freya soothes, tickling under her chin.

She chirps her pleasure and stretches her paws out for more. Freya chuckles softly at the sight of her as she stands to her feet from the floor. Ginny sleeps soundly on her bed, while the others share the mattresses on the floor.

Freya sighs, before stretching and tiptoeing out of the room. Every single floorboard groans under her weight, as she creeps down the stairs and into the kitchen.

The sky is starless once again, but the moon is round and full enough to envelop the kitchen in a white shadow of light. Freya scoops her hair from the eyes and grabs a small glass from the cupboard. Perhaps a cold drink would clear her haunted thoughts.

The news of her parents has been repeating itself through her head the whole week, refusing her a single moment of peace. She told herself she hated them, yet she knows it wasn't either of their faults. The person she was supposed to blame was Voldemort himself.

She squeaked on the tap, and the water splashed into her glass, the clear liquid sloshing around.

"Freya."

The mention of her name caused her to flinch. She was so in the zone about her parents and the incident at the tournament, that she had forgotten she wasn't alone in the house. The stairs undoubtedly betrayed her stealthiness and woke someone up. Instinctively, Freya clutches the glass tighter, causing it to shatter in her palm.

She curses quietly, shaking the splinters into the sink. A fine cut on her palm, just under her pinky starts to form, leaking blood droplets into the sink with a faint patter.

She turns her head to the stairs, only to be greeted by Fred Weasley, as he offers her a lopsided grin. She hasn't spoken to him at all since she arrived with them at the Burrow.

He pushes himself up from the doorframe and makes his way over beside her. He keeps silent as he yanks a light yellow towel from one of the many top shelves and dabs her still bleeding incision.

"Can't sleep?" He says finally.

Freya looks up at him, noticing the concentration on his creased brows.

"Me either," he decides to add. "What happened at the tournament was pretty hectic."

"I think we have different reasons for our restlessness," Freya mumbles her reply.

She places her hand on top of Fred's, and he falters, before letting her take over. The cut has already stopped bleeding and Freya places the towel on the side, Fred's eyes burning into the back of her head.

"You mean... your parents?" He says slowly.

Freya spins round to him, only now noticing how close they really are. She stares up at him, his hair now shoulder length.

"Before you say anything," he says, holding his hands up in surrender, a slight smirk playing on his face. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I only caught the last part as I came down the stairs."