𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏 𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐄𝐏 | 𝐝.𝐦 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

-2-

Entering the great hall was quite the hassle. Everyone was looking at us three; mainly because Harry Potter's nose was all covered in blood. On other days I wouldn't mind all of this attention, but this time Malfoy has seriously pissed me off and the fact that I had to walk all the way to the castle from the train didn't make it much better. So, I went to Slytherin's table and plumped down onto a seat next to one of my friends Leila Faustus: yet again one of the more tolerable witches I could be friends with.

"Well, hello there, L/N, why so late this fine evening?" Leila whispered to me laughing.

"Bad day, Faustus. Had to argue with a ferret on the train, which by the way, wasn't fun." I replied putting my head in my hands with a big sigh.

"I see you and him don't get along very well, yeah? Not surprised though, he definitely is a pain in the ass, isn't he?" Leila said looking in the direction of where Malfoy was sitting.

I turned my head to where Leila was looking and noticed him quickly turn his head back to a conversation he was having with Blaise. He seemed like he was thinking about something else, as he was deep in his thoughts. Odd, eh?

"Honestly, I wish I could understand that guy. He is very much un-understandable. You know, I'd expect our fights to be over by the time we reached year 4 since we would be mature enough, but alas, here we are. I don't understand what his deal is with every other person he fights with." I sighed once again turning my head to look at what Dumbledore had to say about this school year, which wasn't very bright.

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After Dumbledore made an announcement about a new Potions teacher, whose name I believe is Slughorn, he mentioned that Snape would take over the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts, which made me at least a bit happier, to say the least. I loved Snape as a professor since I thought he was a great teacher. However, that excitement died down when Dumbledore also gave a speech about how the Dark Lord had returned and was trying to penetrate the castle with all of his force, by maybe even trying to use any of us. That honestly gave me a headache, so I decided to ignore it and go straight to bed as instructed so.

We started moving towards our common rooms. I managed to say good night to Luna as we had to go separate ways. As soon as I got to the common room I went upstairs to the girl's dorms. The common room hadn't changed a bit, it was as comforting as ever, and felt like home. I chose my bed next to Leila's, which would give us the opportunity to chat at night as we did before the past few years. This time, however, Leila was too tired to talk to me, so to my demise, it got very lonely when everyone went to bed.

I stayed up till 1 at night because I couldn't just force myself to sleep. I blamed the pillow for that, because it was too warm, whichever way I tried to put it for me to be comfortable. So, without having anything to do, I decided to go down to the common room to see what I could do there. Slytherin's common room was always filled with green light due to the fireplace, which illuminated green fire. I found that fascinating, so it helped me become sleepy as soon as I sat in front of it to collect my thoughts and eventually get bored to the point where I could sleep.

I went down the stairs as quietly as I could so I wouldn't wake anyone in the house. I wasn't looking where I was going, I just knew which way to go since I have been doing this for years. When I got comfortable on the couch in front of the fireplace, I noticed someone's cold gaze on me. I snapped my head toward them to see the last person I wanted to see at the moment.

"What are you gawking at, Malfoy?" I asked sternly looking at him with the most intimidating grimace I could make. Looking back at it, it mustn't have been that scary because Malfoy chuckled.

"What's so funny? What are you doing here?" I asked already annoyed and ready to throw him back to his dorm.

"I could ask you the same, L/N, what are you doing here this late in the night in the common room?" Malfoy asked raising his eyebrow at me.

So, I figured, instead of shooing him off by getting angry, I could just rattle about how I can't sleep, so eventually, he would get annoyed and get up to leave by his own will.

"Whenever I can't sleep, I come down here to look at the fireplace and collect some thoughts. It makes me sleepy." I answered

"I could relate to that, you know, collecting my thoughts here." Malfoy answered his eyes locked with the fireplace, fidgeting with the silver ring on his index finger, "What are you thinking about, L/N?" Malfoy took his eyes off the fireplace to look at me. At that moment it felt like I could talk about whatever was on my mind with this twat. Sure, he was very annoying, but I had a feeling he had something on his mind too.

"Just thinking about what this year has to offer. I can't ignore the thought of the castle not being able to protect us anymore. I mean, look at what's happening. Chaos everywhere, even the muggles can feel something is up..." I answered looking at the green fire which was slowly going out by a second, "I don't feel safe here and have a feeling something bad is bound to happen."

I looked at Malfoy to see his reaction. He was looking at me with his eyes wide as if he had seen a ghost. But when we made eye contact, his facial expression eased up; still looking at me with a tired facial expression.

"Say, Malfoy...what is on your mind?" I asked not breaking our eye contact. He looked like he was about to cry at my question. Clearly, he was very deep in his thoughts and didn't look like he felt comfortable.

"If you are not comfortable enough to answer, then you shouldn't," I said standing up and getting ready to go to bed. I was bored enough already, moreover, it looked like he wanted to be alone for some time. I could respect that, so leaving him be would be ideal.

"Don't go, I would like to talk to you more, L/N. You know, what's on your mind and what-not." Malfoy said as soon as I stepped on the staircase.

"Sorry, Malfoy, but I am tired enough to sleep. So, no." I answered and climbed up the stairs.

He stood up from his seat and asked me loud enough for me to hear: "Then, could we talk tomorrow night?"

"If I feel like it," I replied dryly "Good night, Malfoy."

"Good night, L/N," Malfoy said, then went back to his seat. 

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