NEMESIS || Draco Malfoy

56

Now, Malfoy's rather chippy attitude when he arrived late for breakfast the following morning made it clear that something went wrong.

He was very much alive, and while that was a tragedy in itself, at least he left me alone now— spent most of his time by himself rather than Pansy or Theo or Blaise. Not even Crabbe and Goyle were able to get a hold of him; not really.

Whether that had other reasons or stood in direct connection to my second attempt on his life, I didn't know— didn't care.

Though, his absence gave me time and space to gather my thoughts, truly push through the massive setback in January and focus on finding new solutions. I didn't find any, and I felt just as stuck and helpless as I did those few months ago, but at least Malfoy wasn't the reason for any of it anymore.

Occasionally, I still blamed him just for the sake of it.

And like that, days came and went without much of anything happening. The pile of homework — essay's to write, books to read — grew exponentially while I wasn't doing any of it.

The people around me began revising, reading assignments and generally staying on top of their work while I got buried in it; Still but barely getting Outstandings on the assignments I finished an hour before handing them in— usually staying up all night to do so.

With my mind still scattered, I dragged the fork in between my fingers through the food on my plate. Unenthused, my head rested in my hand halfheartedly following Pansy and Theo's conversation.

A sigh escaped my lips as I pushed the filled plate a little further away from me, taking a deep breath before I spoke.

"I'm going to try and find my sister," I shrugged, fork in the air, pointing it at the two before I lowered it onto my plate. Pansy's eyes widened as soon as the words left my lips, eyes darting in my direction.

Before she even had to ask, I nodded knowingly. "Yes, it's today," I clarified, and at once, a groan rattled through her chest as the cutlery in her hands fell onto her plate.

"I know that," She hissed, and yet, she jumped off her seat in a heartbeat before hurrying out of the great hall in a matter of seconds. Leisurely, I followed her lead and got out of my seat.

My eyes fell on Theo, squinting slightly as he took me in with a brow raised. "You alright?" He asked, gaze falling onto the untouched plate stood before him.

Despite the obvious sign that I wasn't — an untouched plate of mine spoke volumes — I nodded with a small smile on my lips before heading out of the busy hall and turning the corner into the corridor.

I manoeuvred out of the way of a group of younger Gryffindor's entering the hall at the same time, only shaking my head at the way they almost ran into me completely, with not even a fleeting thought to apologise.

"Adreanna—!"

His voice made me stop at once, calculating my next move as I just stood there, my back turned towards Kai.

With a vigorous shake of my head, I turned towards him. Though not completely— half my body still turned in front of me, yet my gaze was pointed right at him.

As he approached at a fast pace, the gears in my head began turning faster — almost as fast as he was walking — and I remembered I had good reason not to be talking to him, whether he knew it or not.

Grimacing, I simply shook my head, turning back around to continue towards the dungeons at an equally fast pace. "I'm sorry, I just really need to—" I threw at him, voice trailing off halfway through before I did so, hoping it would make him stop, but knowing it didn't when I felt his hand on my shoulder mere moments later.