Losing Faith

𝟑𝟎

May.

The moon was beautiful tonight.

—

𝐌 𝐀 𝐘.
A year and a half ago.

—

Faith was sitting near the huge window that was slightly open in one of the dark hallways of Hogwarts, letting the warm spring breeze stroke her face with soft gusts.

The full moon was looking at her through the glass, shining silver, casting a long beam on the floor, mesmerizing her, making her forget that she was sitting alone, on the hallway floor, after midnight, and also in pajamas, worn under her Slytherin robe. She didn't worry about anyone catching her, she didn't even care about Filch, who could wander around the castle in search of prey, that is, sleepless, curfew-breaking students — Faith didn't care about anything.

As long as the wind blew her face, blowing her hair off her shoulders, as long as she found salvation from insomnia alone under the moon, as long as her soul was calm and serene, nothing worried her.

Faith took a deep breath, letting the faint smell of grass reach her lungs, and closed her eyes, plunging back into her thoughts. Her arms were wrapped around her legs, bent at the knees, her body was gently rocking back and forth, a smile was frozen on her lips, and nothing seemed to disturb her.

She did not even notice that someone came up to her, very close, she did not hear footsteps, did not feel the presence of another person encroaching on her loneliness, and only when a hand gently laid on her shoulder, she abruptly opened her eyes, feeling her heart skip a beat.

"What are you doing here?" Draco asked quietly, sitting down next to her, shoulder to shoulder. His gaze immediately turned to the disk of the moon, and after a couple of seconds, his lips curved in a weak grin when he realized that Faith was staring at him.

"You scared the hell out of me, Malfoy." Faith grumbled, turning away from him. Her heart still hadn't calmed down from the fear of being caught and punished. "What are you even doing here?"

"I asked you first."

"Then answer first." She said stubbornly, shrugging one shoulder, and Draco just rolled his eyes at that.

Then he took a deep breath and exhaled, letting the air pass through his clenched teeth. He desperately tried to think of a reason why he could be in the dark empty hallway after midnight, because he couldn't, didn't want to tell Faith that he had come there only because of her.

"I don't know what I'm doing here, I just decided to take a walk around the castle and suddenly found you here, breaking curfew." He said simply, and now it was Faith's turn to roll her eyes.

In fact, he knew that she was there, he saw her quietly slip past the crowd having fun at a regular Slytherin party hosted by someone from the seventh year. He saw her the second she stepped onto the first step of the stairs, wrapped in her robe from under which her bare legs were visible, her hair was a mess, and Draco realized that most likely she could not sleep. Therefore, there was nothing he could do but go after her.

"So, what are you doing here?" Draco asked after a long pause, changing his position, pressing his back against the window so that now he was looking at her, and not at the moon.