A Child Of Darkness : A Draco Malfoy fanfic

05 - Invisible to many

Events of the day before repeatedly played in her head no matter what she tried to focus on. It always strayed to the devious pixies and the no doubt handsome boy she had met by the lake.

She had no idea who he was, much less his house or seniority. Judging by how she had not come across him within packs of her own year, Eleonora decided maybe he was older. He had the looks of an older boy and spoke like one too.
But she was yet to identify the clean-cut boy.

The familiar smell of fresh rain lingered in the air as Eleonora took careful steps down towards what seemed to be a hut below. An enormous man was stationed at the entrance to the hut, an equally large black dog beside him.

Eleonora shuddered at the sight. They were both equally successful in frightening her and sending shivers down her spine.

"Cmon now. Get a move on". The half giant called out to the students as he started to walk along the edge of the forest. Students followed behind the teacher, with the infamous Harry Potter keeping up like a tail.

It hadn't taken much for Fawley to recognize him. The boy's face was all over the papers. That and he was Hermione's friend and they were obviously inseparable.
He was all the craze, eliciting curiosity in those who made his acquaintance. Eleonora had initially shared the emotion but as it began to grow clear that he was no different from the rest of them, the curiosity had died down quickly.
And he had kept his distance from her so Fawley had no intention of going out of her way to befriend the boy.

The students soon gathered around in a circle and Eleonora watched from behind. She carefully ran her finger along the spine of the book as she saw many others do it and flipped it open.

A girl walked into her - a Gryffindor - making sure to harshly knock the book off her hands.

"Real mature", Eleonora mumbled but it did not fall on deaf ears. Students glanced at the little event and the blonde rolled her eyes as she made her way to the front.
"It was an accident", she explained to the onlookers,  not missing to dramatically depict Eleonora as the overreactive weird girl.

"Now you need the magical creatures", the teacher's voice interrupted the little show. Students turned away to pay attention to the half giant.
His massive torso waddled from side to side as he made his way into the trees.

Eleonora moved to pick up her book after the distraction but faltered when it was no longer on the ground where it was previously. Instead it was in the arms of a boy. The slytherin glanced once at the book and then at the girl, his gaze lingering on hers.

And then within a blink of an eye the book was shoved into her arms and the blond boy was on his way without even a glance in her direction.
"Thanks", Eleonora murmured as her eyes followed the odd fellow. But that was all the interaction she would be getting as the slytherin joined his pesky entourage.

A high pitched squeal caught the attention of the girl, including the students around her and Eleonora's head perked up with interest.

Out from the trees walked a magnificent beast and Eleonora could feel a wide smile growing, as a sudden rush of adrenaline pushed her to the front of the group.

What at first looked like a massive Eagle turned out to be a creature with the hind of a horse but the head of an Eagle. Pictures could not do the magical beast justice and Eleonora's jaw dropped at its sheer beauty.

A hippogriff right before her very eyes!

Once she got over the initial shock of seeing something that's half horse, half bird, she started to appreciate the hippogriff's gleaming coat, which changed smoothly from feathers to hair. She so very badly wanted to run her fingers along its skin.

Her eyes then focused on its bright orange ones that was no doubt emitting pride and dignity. Eleonora began to feel giddy, her arms tightening her hold on her book as she fought to keep in her excitement.

"Hippogriff", the teacher bellowed out to the stunned students. "Beautiful aren't they?".

Eleonora nodded along, her smile growing wider with each word spoken by the teacher.
It was surreal. Back in her old school, she had come across several pegasi and as beautiful as they were, the hippogriff before her gave out a whole new aura and energy. One that gave her chills continuously.

"Right. Who wants ter go first?"

Her hand instantly shot up without the need for a second notice. Her smile grew even wider as students stepped back leaving what seemed to be only her standing forward.
The teacher scanned the crowd, his eyes moving past her obvious waving hand and further down the line.

"Good job, Harry!", he yelled, arm moving out to urge the boy forward.

Eleonora's hand dropped instantly along with her heart that grew heavier by the second.
The boy who lived did not move and a certain spark of hope flickered in her chest. She proceeded to lift her hand once again but this time it only reached just past her chest.

Once again, she was deemed invisible by the teacher and when it was obvious that Potter was to be the one to ride the creature, Eleonora dropped her hand : slightly embarrassed and distressed.

Her gaze flickered around the group as she slowly backed away but no one seemed to notice as they were focused on the boy and the magnificent beast.
Well, almost everyone.

Piercing grey eyes standing several feet away were focused on her - an unreadable expression masking his face. It was nonchalant but likewise almost seemed pitiful - or she could have been imagining it.

Eleonora looked away just as the boy did so.

How long had he been looking?
Possibly having watched her emotions run from an overload of happiness to utter disappointment - he probably thought she was pathetic.

A loud flap interrupted her thoughts as the hippogriff soared into the air, squeals and shouts erupting from the crowd at the sight.

And no matter how upset Eleonora had been at the stolen chance of interaction, she couldn't deny the smile on her face as she experienced the hippogriff's sheer beauty first hand.

But she could only watch Harry fly away, wishing ever so dearly it was her instead who was riding the magnificent beast.