✓ | RECKLESS AND BRAVE | Draco Malfoy

70 | RESFEBER

RESFEBER
(n.) the restless race of a traveller's heart before the journey begins, when anxiety and anticipation are tangled together

DRACO MADE SURE NOBODY SAW THE TINY PIECE OF PARCHMENT APOLLO HAD BROUGHT FOR HIM. Once all the Death Eaters in his house had dispersed after the meeting, he wandered back to his room and locked the door. Apollo was there with a rolled piece of paper tied to his leg, and Draco curiously approached his owl.

     "Is this from Tessa?" he murmured, unraveling the string. "I told you to keep watch over her from time to time, and you finally come back after a week. Did she see you?"

     When Draco flattened the paper on his desk, he found, much to his chagrin, that it was not a letter from his mate.

Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, 1 AM, tomorrow
don't be late, and come alone
-F.W.

     Draco scowled, crumpling the piece of paper and setting it on fire as he sulkily slumped against his bed. "When did you get friendly with Weaselbee?" he muttered at Apollo, sending him a betrayed glare. His owl was known to bite strangers who dared approach him — and Draco certainly didn't recall telling the bird to receive missives from Fred Weasley.

     He watched the space before him, not really focusing on any particular object to glare at as he let his thoughts run free. What could Fred possibly want to talk about with him? Perhaps it could be a scheme to get him captured by the Order.

     Draco scoffed. He'd have to be a fool to get tricked into going to their stupid joke shop.

     Apollo hooted, soaring across his room to settle on the vase of sunflowers that had bloomed from the seeds his fiancée gave him. The owl clamped its beak delicately around one of the stems.

     Draco frowned, sitting up as he unfolded his arms he'd crossed haughtily. "Is it . . . about Tessa?"

     Apollo made a cooing sound again as he flapped his wings, flying toward Draco's bedside table where a picture frame stood. It was a moving photograph he had taken of her dancing in Barcelona. For a moment, he watched the large smile on her face and the bright gleam in her eyes — his heart squeezed in longing for her.

     Draco sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Are you telling me to meet Weaselbee tomorrow?"

     His trill of a hoot was as much of a response an owl could give.

     Looks like Draco was willing to be a fool to get caught if it meant finding out why Tessa has a part in their secret rendezvous tomorrow at midnight.

ϟ ϟ ϟ ϟ

     He stood against the concrete wall, hood over his pale hair as he blended into the shadows. There was a short debate right before he left the manor whether or not he'd come a few minutes late. But once he remembered that this was about Tessa — he told himself, "Screw this — I'm leaving now."

     And so Draco found himself standing outside of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes five minutes before one in the morning, waiting for someone he'd never gotten along with.

     A faint popping sound echoed throughout the deserted street as a redhead Apparated several feet away from him. Just like Draco, the taller boy had dark clothes on that concealed his flaming hair and lanky body.

     Fred stared at him with a stony face, hiding whatever possible thought that could be running through his mind currently. "I didn't think you'd actually come tonight," he said.