Under the Willow Tree | Draco Malfoy

chapter 55: mr. tall, dark, and geeky

Lorelei Jones | 5th Year

The rest of the holiday went perfectly. Gran seemed to adore Draco more by the day; everyone loved their Christmas presents; and Draco and Lorelei were able to sneak lots of kisses in when Gran wasn't around.

At the platform to get on the train, they both unanimously agreed that it had been their best holiday yet.

Now, Lorelei was sitting on Draco's lap on the train with her face as red as fresh-picked strawberries. Luna had come along with them this time. She sat beside Draco and Lorelei on the bench in their compartment and read the Quibbler aloud for everyone. Theo and Pansy sat on the other side of the compartment, sharing sweets with one another and constantly bickering about their elbow space, amusing the rest of the compartments' occupants since the two could easily scoot apart to solve the problem.

"God, Theo! You and your big bones! They're bloody painful when they knock into me. Be more careful, won't you?" Pansy grumbled and aggressively plopped another few of the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans into her mouth. She immediately scowled when she realized she had gotten a rotten pineapple mixed in with her cotton candy and green apple-flavored beans.

The door swung open then, and some of the other Slytherin girls stood panting in the doorway.

"Hi, Lorelei," Daphne and Millicent cheered together before they turned glares on Pansy.

Daphne crossed her arms and said, "Pans. You said you were only going to be a few minutes. We need to gossip."

Pansy rolled her eyes at Daphne and Millicent. She threw a few beans at them before she gave the rest of the group a sarcastic curtsy and followed her friends out of the compartment.

"Where's Briar?" Pansy grumbled. She didn't like that she was only one to be dragged away to gossip. If she had to, Briar did as well.

"Already in the compartment. We've all been waiting for you, and I can tell Briar has some juicy information about Mr. Tall, Dark, and Geeky, so we need to hurry," Millicent giggled.

Pansy slowly smiled at the thought of squeezing more girl talk out of her black-haired friend. Nothing made her happier than seeing the irritated scowl on Briar's face as her friends forced her to share how she felt about Longbottom.

With a faux-irritated huff, Pansy shut the compartment door and let the two girls lead her down the hallway.

Back in the compartment, Lorelei suddenly announced, "I need to use the bathroom. Is it okay if I leave you three alone for a couple minutes?"

"We'll be fine, princess," Draco reassured her. He pushed her up onto her feet to be helpful, but he hated how cold he felt without her body resting against his. 

Lorelei smiled at all three of them before popping out of the compartment and heading towards the bathrooms. However, on her way there, she suddenly heard something strange above the rhythmic clunks of the train against the tracks.

It sounded like the rasping breaths and painful hiccups of a sob.

Lorelei tiptoed up to the compartment where the noise originated from, and she frowned at the silence she heard. She had hoped the person would be receiving comfort from friends, but she heard only silence in response to their sadness.