Imperio ⇢ D.M

Chapter Fifty

Liquid Luck

As expected, Arden hadn't adjusted her sleep schedule, and laid on her emerald green sheets with her eyes wide open.

The autumn weather had already begun to make its appearance as Arden shivered on her bed as the room felt colder than it was hours ago.

To warm herself up, and possibly start feeling tired, Arden quietly got out of bed and left her dormitory.

She stopped herself from going down the steps further when she heard quiet sobs. They sounded like they were trying to be held back, but managed to come out anyway. Arden carefully peeped into the common room, making sure no one would see her.

And she felt her legs turn to jelly when she saw him. His hands pulling onto his hair as he rested his elbows on his knees. He was looking down at the ground. Arden couldn't see his face due to him facing away from her, but she could tell that it would be an expression that could cause her to cry.

Arden stepped forward, reaching her hand out to put her hand on his shoulder.  Draco heard her foot step against the concrete, but didn't dare to turn back to her.

He secretly wished that she would reach out to him, offer him comfort in his time of stress and desperation. He just wanted her to ask if he was okay so he could tell her absolutely everything.

But Arden slowly brought her hand down. She furrowed her brow as she thought deeply about what consequences this action would cause.

Arden stepped back, then quietly returned to her dormitory, leaving Draco to sob harder as he heard her leave.

-

"He was... crying." Arden said, not even believing her own words. "I've never seen it before."

It was their first official day at Hogwarts, and already Hermione was having enough with the boy talk.

"That's really great Arden, so you're just going to forget what he did to you because he was crying?" She said tiredly.

Arden sighed. "No, I was just- I guess I was thinking that-"

Hermione stopped in the middle of the crowded hallway and put her hands on Arden's shoulders. Her brown eyes looked right into Arden's, and she didn't care if numerous tiny first years were running through the gap in between them.

"Arden Ophelia Diggory-" Hermione started.

"Do you have to include my-"

"YOU!" Hermione interrupted, leaning closer to Arden to exaggerate herself. "Are a strong, independent woman. I don't want you wasting time thinking about He Who Must Not Be Named 2.0, and having your grades go down because of it!" She urged.

"He's an ass, and he doesn't deserve you. But you know what you deserve? To focus on yourself." Hermione insisted.

However Hermione definitely felt awful for Arden. She knew that Draco did really love her, and never would have seen their split coming. Hermione refused to accept that she was wrong about the whole thing, and secretly pondered how things could have gone downhill between them. But Hermione knew that Arden needed a reality check.

They were N.E.W.T students now, and she didn't want her friend who was quite academically talented to waste her thoughts on a boy who broke her heart instead of trying to do her work. Hermione was just as fed up with drama as Arden was; the only drama Hermione would seek acceptable was stressing over assignments.

"Right..." Arden gave in. "Thanks Hermione."

The two girls awkwardly pushed past the many students rushing to their first class. Professor McGonagall was shouting over the top of everyone's talking, directing everyone to where they needed to go.