when they became villains [draco malfoy] {book 2}

Year 6 - 147

Draco had been slumped over the couch when the door opened and closed with a thud as somebody came in. His vest was off and the top buttons of his shirt were open. The lad's hair was all out of order, his eyes red and itchy from the lack of sleep of that night. His tie laid open over his shoulders and, as he heard footsteps approaching, he realised just how dishevelled he must've looked. Like one of those muggle zombies.

Recognising her just by the sound of her footsteps, Draco scrambled to fix himself up a little. The lad abandoned his tie altogether and pushed his hair back into place as good as he could. Seeing as his shirt was all crumpled and he had no time to iron it, even with the spell, quickly he grabbed his vest and began to pull it over his head. Draco was aware his face wouldn't look much better, what with the way his eyes kept watering from all the yawning he was doing, but at least he would be a bit less of a mess.

"Hey," he heard her voice before he saw her, his vest still hallway down his body.

Something clattered and when he pulled the vest fully onto him, finally allowing him view of her, he saw the girl stood there, her hands behind her back. Ninomae looked stressed, like she wanted to say something, but she also looked so all of the time lately. Just like he wore a mask of indifference, that, for some reason, appeared to be the one she had chosen.

He pushed his hair out of his face and looked at his notebook, at the paragraph he had been trying to properly read for an hour now.

"I tried the spell you told me about," he breathed and a look of almost hope arouse on Ninomae's face before he mercilessly crushed it. "The stupid bird died."

He feigned annoyance but when that had happened earlier that night, Draco had actually cried. The rest of the night he had spent trying to figure out what he had done wrong. She wasn't to know that.

Ninomae scanned his face. He didn't know how but she always knew when something had gone wrong, when he was faking his emotion. It was almost like having his mother in school. Just like with his mother, he couldn't quit venting to her. Draco had always loved talking and whenever people willed to listen, he seized the opportunity.

"It takes much preparation and most of all focus for it. When did you perform it?"

Draco hated when she was right. "I've been here for a while..." He looked away.

"Loot at me!" she spoke and Draco obeyed. He knew he looked tired. He was tired. Though still he glared through it, trying to fake it all as good as he could. "I mean I haven't tried it cause I'm no more rested than you are." She laughed and he furrowed his brows at her words. Whatever it was she meant... "When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?"

He sighed and shook his head. The lad slumped back in the couch and shrugged, his eyes trained blankly in front of him. "Last month maybe..." Just saying that brought a yawn upon him, but he tried to keep it in, swallowing the breath, and instead rubbed his already irritated eyes.

"Malfoy..."

"What?" he snapped suddenly and she flinched back in surprise. "I- You know we have to do this, Ninomae. It's- There's too much to risk and I just want to get it done with."

"Then go and kill him," she grumbled under her breath, visibly annoyed by his tone of voice. Draco pretended not to notice.

"But now the stupid bird is dead," he continued, "the cabinet is not working still, Dumbledore's still walking about and no- no-" Draco couldn't suppress that frustrated sigh of his. "Nothing is working out."

Even his original plan of protecting Ninomae hadn't worked not. Not only was he unable to keep back from her - just seeing her alright and smiling brought immense comfort over him - but he also hadn't been able to preserve her from the Dark Lord. He had found her and, as it appears, loads faster than Draco could've imagined.