someday, somehow → d.malfoy [discontinued]

019

several days after the champions had been announced, artemis and draco sat in one another's presence;

the silence pressing in on them as they were tucked into a dusty corner of the library. it was perhaps the first time in a week that they had been alone in each other's company; yet, even now, they did not share any sort of conversation. every once in a while, either of them might arise to select a new book to read or make notes on, or they might ask a simple question such as; "what does this word mean?" (usually it was artemis; whom was still struggling slightly with english, despite her impeccable tutoring).

draco would answer either with a french translation of the word, or he would attempt to explain it in english: "it means... having concern for something or someone—"

"i see," she would reply, quietly; or she would simply humm with her lips still touching, and her green eyes still scrutinising the word on the yellowed page. and then, artemis would whisper the word under her breath in an attempt to pronounce it; "solik— soloci— soulict— solicituhs—"

"solicitous," draco corrected.

"ah," she said. "merci. solicitous." draco thought the sound of her whispering was somewhat pleasant. it felt like he was listening to a secret, intended only for his ears—and yet he wasn't. all he was doing was listening (creepily, actually) to artemis pronounce vowels and consonants quietly in a french accent.

as the days neared the seventh of november, still no one knew if harry potter was going to officially become the fourth champion of the triwizard tournament. almost constantly, the teachers and staff of all three schools, as well as the representatives from the british ministry of magic, could be spied discussing in quiet strings of word underneath their breath, between themselves. draco, nor any of the others in his friend group, had yet to bring such a topic up for discussion—and he did not plan to, anyway. who cared about potter, anyway? it was not like he could win against three other extremely skilled, of-age champions; whether he was allowed or not. draco simply hated that, even when the odds had ruled potter out of the equation, the black-haired boy had still managed to make himself a big deal. this time, not only in front of the rest of hogwarts, but in the midst of two other large wizarding schools of europe.

"nous devrions aller," artemis muttered, suddenly. she'd made a habit of speaking to draco in a mix of english and french—knowing he understood her, albeit slightly. "it is nearly time for dinner." with that, artemis was rising on her pale legs, imprinted red in placed where the edges of her brown leather loafers had dug into skin. draco stood soon after, flattening out the creases in his trousers and shuffling into the aisle that he'd found his book: a complex guide to astronomical magics. as his fingers released its stiff cover, he watched it float smoothly upwards, slotting perfectly into its dedicated place before he made his way out of the maze of bookshelves. he walked silently beside artemis, hands stuffed lazily in his pockets, as they made their way down the countless stairs and corridors to the great hall, which was already becoming stuffy with the stench of hot food and numerous bodies.

"i'm going to go sit with cyrille," artemis said quickly, before draco was watching her get up and carry her plate across the hall to the ravenclaw table. he sat alone, then—watching artemis break into a smile that exposed her pearly teeth and pink gums—until theodore shuffled into the seat beside him.

"pansy's coming soon," he said. draco barely acknowledged him, picking up his fork and scraping the roast chicken and potatoes on his plate to its circumference, as his chin rested in the palm of his other hand. "blaise is talking to snape about... uhh, actually i forgot. but he's talking to snape." draco's grey eyes followed the motions of theodore's hands—he eagerly shovelled chicken and potatoes (the same one's draco had taken) and creamed spinach onto his plate, then proceeded to waste no time in guzzling his meal down. draco wondered how theodore did not feel completely sick after doing so; the brown-haired slytherin only swallowed. "where's artie gone?" he asked, looking around the two of them. "oh wait—"

automatically, draco replied, "with cyrille."

"right." within a week, it had become customary for artemis to disappear to the ravenclaw table. the only time she had spent a full mealtime at the slytherin table, had been at halloween, when the three (or would it be four?) champions' names had been spit out of the goblet of fire. but three times a day, since then, she had consistently fled to her beauxbatons friend; with whom she never failed to laugh and smile as if it were her birthday. the only time she spent with the slytherin group was late at night—when the five of them (grabbe and goyle had a habit of collapsing onto their beds in full uniform at the end of the night, wasting no time in beginning to snore at obnoxious volumes) would claim the sofas and armchairs in front of the fireplace and stay up discussing various things; and during class times. any spare time artemis had, she spent with her friends cyrille.

"theodore," the voice of a fifth-year slytherin piped from beside the fourth-year in question. "d'you want one of these?" he asked, holding out his broad palm—in it a few coin-sized badges. in glowing red letters, draco saw they read support cedric diggory—the real hogwarts champion! he was tempted to send the fifth-year away with his signature scowl and a few carefully chosen, spitting words. only, when the boy pressed the index finger of his other hand into the centre of the badge, it swirled in a blur of red; going blank a second before a similar swirl of neon green intercepted its darkness to reveal two words. they were bright green, and glowed even brighter than the red had: potter stinks in capital letters. draco's lips pulled upwards in a vicious delight, and he leaned in closer.

"offer them to everyone else, would you," he smirked. as the fifth-year, his teeth crooked and slightly congested with food, reached his arm out further, draco snatched one of the badges and immediately fastened it to his robes, underneath the embroidered crest of his house. "brilliant," he said, and the boy seemed to be pleased as theodore took six of the badges—draco knew they would be for the others as well; blaise, pansy, artemis, grabbe and goyle.