THE FURIES ▸ Draco Malfoy

Chapter Thirty-Five: MENOETIUS

◤ ❝Darkness festers. It lingers, and it haunts, and then finally it consumes until you are filled hollow with it. Pitiful, really, thinking that I could ever be saved. My consumption of darkness is unrivaled.❞ ― Alastiare Erebus◢

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CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE:     MENOETIUS

May 2, 1997

             The atmosphere at Hogwarts cheered up from an air of doom and gloom for a few days. The Daily Prophet was now garnered the Deathly Prophet by the Slytherins, seeing as the only updates written anymore were damp and depressing notices of deaths. Andrew mentioned more than once that editing them was getting to his father, Corvelius Vaisey used to writing the drama of the Wizarding World and now only answering to murder. While everyone else buzzed around excitement over the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw Quidditch match coming up for the championship, the Slytherins were less-than-pleased to be so low in points for the year. They had, of course, had a terrible year with a terrible amount of misfortune happening to their players. 

"―well it all went awry when Malfoy decided to ditch the team like his girlfriend's name―pansy," Tracey scoffed under her breath, crossing her arms over her chest in frustration at the table. Everyone was half asleep as they listened to her rant. "Then our best player got bludgeoned in the head with a bludger―sorry, Vaisey, sensitive topic, I know, and THEN right when I suspected things were looking up for our House, Nott goes and gets ill an hour before a match, leaving Mattins to break a spine and lose the match for us... AGAIN! I'm telling you. Potter cursed us when he became Captain." 

Theodore and Andrew met eyes briefly, falling in the same line of thought before they returned back to their lunch. The topic of Quidditch was sensitive for both of them, especially Andrew seeing as it was his last year of playing and they were already out of the running. Sitting diagonal to Theodore was Draco, his glower only becoming unbearable on the head of the girl in front of him, who had her forehead pressed down on the table and threatened to get soup in her hair.

Blaise scowled at Tracey, looking up from his plate. "Are you quite done yet? I have a migraine, Davis. I'm only a word away from naming it after you." 

"No, I am not 'quite done' and if Daphne would hurry up and get here, she'd be taking my side. You lot are acting like it's perfectly fine that Potter gets to boast around this year claiming the Quidditch Cup! He has Weasley on his team. He should be thanking every one of his damned dead relatives that Bell returned in time to play the championship. " 

The mention of Katie Bell's return to Hogwarts struck the nerve of more than one person seated at the table. Andrew's face fell blank, the vivid image of seeing the girl strung up in the air still haunting him, and even the time after when he visited her in the hospital wing. His reaction was minimal compared to two others. Draco's stare could have cut through the air, thankful when the head he'd been glaring at looked up and instantly caught his gaze. For the first time in too long, she paid attention to him, concern lighting up at the mention of Katie Bell around Draco. 

"―can you believe that? The girl is gone all year, and then she just happens to come back right before―"

Mia sat up straighter, her face cold upon Tracey's rant. "Mute yourself, Davis. No one wants to hear it right now." 

Davis grumbled silently into her lunch much to everyone's relief. Mia relaxed, her and Andrew catching one another's eye so that he could send her a thankful smile. She nodded once and then turned straight ahead again, plenty prepared to lay her head back down against the cool wood. Before she could do so, there was an aggressive kick to her shin, waking her up instantly. Her dark, brown eyes scalded the boy in front of her, whose previous discomfort over the mention of Bell was masked by his frustration over Mia. He scowled back at her, his grey eyes burning into every feature on her face.