𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 | √

⎡104⎦

I woke up with my legs entangled with another and body heat consuming me. I struggled to get my swollen eyes open from crying that night. I lifted my head and saw Draco already looking at me.

    "Good morning love. How did you sleep?" he asked.

    "Much better once you came in," I replied, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes

    Once I was done stretching, I noticed my sleeve was uncovering part of the scar Bellatrix engraved in my skin. He noticed it too.

"Can I touch it?" he asked. I nodded and rolled up the rest of my sleeve to reveal the part of my past I never wanted to bring up again. Carefully, ran his finger over the letters etched into my skin before lightly pressing his lips onto the word.

"Can I touch yours?" I asked, not knowing whether or not I would be given permission to touch something probably much worse than mine. Despite my suspicions, he nodded, and I pushed up his left sleeve. Lightly, I traced the outline of his Mark from the skull to the snake that followed.

"I guess we're both scarred," I said.

He nodded. "What about the one on your hand?"

I brought my hand up so we could both see.

"When that toad, Umbridge, was still a teacher, she punished me for defending Harry and not saying he was a liar. We were forced to write with a pen that would cut our skin open and use our blood as its ink for hours."

"Merlin that's wretched. I can't believe I ever liked that woman. Probably because she didn't like Potter. And what about the ones on your wrist?"

"Oh, those? When Cedric broke up with me, I punched a mirror." I shrugged, "Nothing much."

Draco seemed impressed. "Go big or go home I guess."

I laughed. I wondered what would happen if all our mornings were like this. Draco and I laying in bed lazily until we had to get up and do something. I only wished it could be like that.

. . .

Christmas came around and my father and I decided to stay at the Mansion for Christmas day. It would be our first year without James, and we wanted to spend it together. A few days prior however, my father mentioned he wanted to host a New Year's party. I agreed and quickly we rushed out to get out invitations to the Weasleys and any guests they wanted to bring, Harry, Hermione, the Malfoys, a few of my father's coworkers, and Viktor Krum and his family. There were so many people invited; we had over two hundred.

We didn't expect many of these people to even show up, but it was worth a shot. A few days later, the RSVP's came in and we had over a hundred people coming. The house elves helped decorate our unused ballroom and make the food that would be served.

I picked a dress for the occasion, a royal blue one with white lace on the top and a belt and matching shoes. Soon the moment had arrived. Guest began arriving and I stood near the entrance, which was enchanted to produce warmth to those who stood by it. I greeted my father's friends, hugged my friends, and soon the party began.

I was pulled over by the Malfoys. Looking Lucius Malfoy in the face was not enjoyable. He had not been convicted to Azkaban due to the evidence he provided against fellow Death Eaters and his help to ensure the capture of many of Voldemort's followers who had fled into hiding. But nevertheless, I planted a fake smile on my face.

"Hazel! It's so lovely to see you. You're as beautiful as ever!" Mrs. Malfoy beamed, holding my arms in hers and looking me up and down.

I genuinely smiled. "Thank you so much!"