Shades of Black

Chapter 18

Indira

The next few days did not go according to schedule. First thing, Umbridge had made another appearance which coincidentally caused Dumbledore to vanish- leaving the students and professors confused and panicked.

She did not hesitate to get straight to work and overtook the position of Headmaster at Hogwarts. Immediately, everything had changed in only a mere few hours. Several things became prohibited, fear was instilled into many first years, and new rules were put in place... including that we were unable to leave the castle, be out of bed past a certain hour, or be seen with others that differed in house and gender outside of classes. In the blink of an eye, my saving grace of a school became hell.

Luckily, I was still able to see Draco during Potions and Transfiguration, but it had felt like I had not seen Hermione and the crew in quite some time. Not to mention, Draco and I were only able to have one good evening, and the progress of us was almost as if it were put on pause. After few attempts of trying to sneak to his dorm before bed, I was forced to give up- Professor Filch doing a thorough bed check for each house, each night.

It didn't feel magical here anymore; it felt like a prison.

Now, it was Thursday, close to the weekend that would most likely not hold anything interesting; no party, no dates, nothing. After my last class of the day, I moved in single-file order behind the crowd of students- making sure to keep quiet or I would be surely be punished. Astoria and Pansy stood on either side of me, their mouths also glued shut. If it said anything, Pansy was always so fearless... yet even she felt defeated.

Most of my free time was spent studying in the library with Hermione or sneaking to Draco's room after hours. We couldn't leave the castle at all, so those were considering our other "dates." He had developed nightmares after Umbridge's arrival- having trouble sleeping without me at night. It was quiet peculiar seeing him act this way, as when we had met he truly did walk around the grounds like he was a god- unbothered, powerful. I don't know what it was, but something had been bothering him immensely. He kept his facade up around the others except for me- making my feelings for him grow stronger each day. I was happy I could be there to help him; happy to have someone else there for me that was not just a friend- someone who I would be able to hold, comfort, kiss, and more...

It was going on about 2 weeks at that point that we had been something, but I wasn't sure exactly what we were. It was strange seeing how he treated Pansy, and then doing a full 180 and treating me nothing like that- which honestly made me feel horrible for her. He would listen to me intently while I spoke, he was smiling more- laughing more, he would bring me food from the Great Hall when I was busy and missed meal times, he would complement me often, he would be so gentle yet so passionate with every touch he had laid on me... but I was happy. I had never had someone care for me so much.

Shutting my DADA textbook, Hermione looked up at me, curious.

"Done already? It's only 7 o'clock!"

I began packing everything into my purse, speaking to her as I did, "Well, I have to go to the Astronomy Tower before Filch starts his bed-check."

She nodded her head with realization, "Ohhh, you're meeting Draco again. You've spent an awful lot of time together lately, I hope you're being careful..."

My neck instantly stretched out, eyes widening.

"Merlin, not like that! Well, like that too- Ew, I just mean that he may not be everything you think he's cracked up to be. I don't want you getting hurt."
She explained.

I walked around her, wrapped my arms across her body and pulled her in for a friendly hug, "Mione, I love that you care so much, but I'll be fine. He's actually really kind once you get to know him."