✓ | RECKLESS AND BRAVE | Draco Malfoy

63 | KAIROS

KAIROS
(n.) the perfect, delicate, crucial moment; the fleeting rightness of time and place that creates the opportune atmosphere for action, words, or movement; also, weather

TESSA WAS RATHER IRRITATED SHE SKIPPED BREAKFAST THE NEXT MORNING. But she said nothing as she stalked the castle, and after a discreet glance around her to make sure she wasn't being followed, entered the Trophy Room.

She found him already inside, tall-stance and arms crossed as he stared at one of the awards. Tessa stopped a couple of feet behind him, casually slipping her hands in her pockets as she tried to not let her irked confusion show by schooling her features into a killing calm.

"Your mother was a legend," Sebastian said, his velvety voice echoing the large room. Tessa noticed it was Catherine Valentine's trophies and awards in school for winning games as Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and for playing her role well as Co-Captain.

"She was one of the greatest Seekers of her time," Tessa replied cautiously.

"No," Sebastian corrected himself as he spun around to face her, gleaming turquoise eyes and sharp incisors through his grin, "I mean for her magic."

Tessa bristled, her muscles freezing as she willed herself not to appear surprised with what he said. "I don't know what you're talking about, Elliott."

Sebastian chuckled lowly and deeply, clasping his hands behind his back as he paced the room and scanned the trophies absentmindedly. "Please, call me Bash." He walked past a counter, running a finger along the top before clicking his tongue and wiping his hand down his robes. "This thing hasn't been dusted in years — it's filthy."

     The last time anyone's cleaned the Trophy Room was during Tessa's second year when Ron was forced to do so for detention.

"What do you know about my mother?" Tessa asked again, a little louder this time.

     Sebastian strode in slow gaits, walking back down the room as he said, "I know that she's alive, and I know she's in hiding right now."

     Tessa's fists clenched as she counted to ten and leashed her temper. "My mother," she said in a low, seething voice, "is dead. She died a few weeks after I was born."

     Sebastian laughed quietly as he turned to approach her. His eyes burned painfully bright amidst the dimly lit room as he stopped directly in front of her that she had to crane her neck to look him straight in the eyes. Slowly, he leaned down so his face was leveled with hers, and he whispered, "Don't bother lying to me, néos drakaina."

Tessa stilled, her spine stiffening as she watched Sebastian step away from her and continue pacing the room. "Who are you, and what the hell did you just call me?"

He clicked his tongue once. "Information comes with a price," he mused.

Her mind reeled for a moment, remembering those exact words being used before.

"And it comes in the form of your own information as well."

Tessa's heart pounded against her chest as she watched him calculatingly. "I thought you told me on the train yesterday that you'll tell me who you are if I come and meet you here."

"And I will," Sebastian said with a glance at her over his shoulder. "But you can't expect me to go around spilling my secrets without getting anything in return."

Tessa said nothing as she glanced from him and at the door, wondering how fast she can make an escape route if she exploded using her magic inside of her and temporarily stunning him.