Downward Spiral - Draco Malfoy

Chapter Twenty Seven

Dina idly sat in the furthest seat away from the front of the Defence Against The Dark Arts classroom, her body hiding in the shadows and she silently stared at Professor Snape's looming figure as he taught the class. Dina's lower lip jutted out as she rested her palm under her chin. If she didn't know any better, she'd be under the impression that perhaps the Grim Reaper was real, and perhaps the Grim Reaper was Severus Snape.

The way his tall figure glided across the room without making a sound was so eerily tranquil, with his massive black cloak swooshing behind him with every step he took. His black, greasy hair was static, refusing to move an inch out of place, and his cold, pale face was robbed of any emotion or facial expression.

He was as blank as a white wall.

Dina scoffed to herself. No one wonder Snape is a Death Eater. His appearance and attitude combined help tick the boxes of Death Eater quality. How could no one in this insufferable school not figure it out by now? How could the Headmaster himself (if he was actually as clever and as everyone claims he is) not crack the code by now and realise that his school is contaminated by evil and peril?

Sometimes Dina wished quietly to herself that she'd get caught bearing the dark mark on her forearm, and would gladly accept her fate as a result of it – just because she couldn't find it in her to kill people and cause disruption and chaos only for the sake of an immortal, spoiled teenager. She clenched her fist furiously as the image of Tom Riddle crossed her mind and made it to the surface.

She could vividly remember his demands for her to torture the mudblooded woman in Malfoy Manor, and how he casually murdered her after Dina did as she was told. She remembered how he'd twisted her arm into killing Daphne Greengrass, the closest person she had to a friend.

Only, what she didn't know at the time, was that it was not actually Daphne Greengrass she had murdered, and it was not Blaise Zabini that Voldemort had tried to make Draco kill. Tom Riddle had only led them to believe that these were their friends that they had killed, but they were actually two strangers disguised as their friends thanks to the handy Polyjuice Potion. It was emotional abuse at its finest.

Dina was so utterly lost in her own raging frenzy, that when Draco bumped his knee against hers under the table, she slightly jumped in a fit of alarm, and relaxed once she glanced over at Draco's amused stare.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She mumbled sheepishly as she returned her gaze back over to Snape.

"Your parchment was emitting smoke, so I thought I better help you gather your senses before you set it on fire." Draco replied amusedly, his eyebrow quirked upwards slightly as he observed her curiously.

Dina glanced down at her parchment and sniffed it discreetly. She scrunched up her nose as she inhaled the stench of smoke, and she immediately pulled her face away from it.

They sat in silence for a few seconds, Dina staring at Snape as he drawled out lazy, half-hearted explanations, and Draco staring at Dina with trepidation. Draco then shifted towards her slightly, and murmured, "What's on your mind?"

Dina merely snapped her vision towards him, before she heavily sighed and slouched down in her seat tiredly. "Just overwhelmed with everything, I suppose."

Draco stayed quiet, but his hand rested on her knee comfortingly, and he rubbed it soothingly, reassuring her that somehow, things will end up being okay.

If Dina was a naïve twelve year old muggle, perhaps she would've believed that.

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