(a Draco Malfoy au) of snakes and stones

chapter sixteen

Juliette

Much like herself, Draco was wasting away. As much as it hurt her, she forgave him. She couldn't not- because the experience had been traumatic for him too. He dealt with it differently to her, and that was okay. She woke up with light in her heart. She still felt dark, but there were streams of light that radiated from her now.
She didn't know if she'd ever be a bright as she was before.
But she'd done it. She'd admitted her feelings to Draco. But she was trying to make things work with Cedric... she felt guilty.
But she felt relieved that she was on good terms with Draco again, it felt like a part of her was missing when she couldn't see him, or talk to him.
She got up early, arriving at the dining room as soon as it opened.
She made herself eat something. She saw Draco walk in and gave him a smile. He looked a little better today. It was good to see, his eyes weren't quite so puffy and tired, and he'd finally stopped shaking. She'd hated what he'd looked like the last few days as she silently observed him. She'd seen how dark and tired he'd turned and felt guilty.
Her parents had always taught her that she must forgive people, she must be kind to them. Because they'd told her that it was the only way for her to move on.
"How are you?" He asks her as he passed by her table.
"Better. You look better too."
Draco nodded and she smiled. "Thank you for giving me another chance."
Juliette was going to reply when she saw Cedric enter the room. Draco saw this too, and moved quietly on to sit at his table.
He sat on his own today. She felt sorry for him when she saw him sitting at the end of the table alone.
"How are you?" Cedric asked her as she sat down.
"I'm okay." She told him. "It's just been a big few days."
"Indeed it has. But you're going to be okay." Cedric told her warmly. But he didn't get it. Didn't know what she'd seen or what she'd felt. He didn't know that at the moment it felt like she wouldn't recover from it. She knew she would eventually recover, with time. Her mother told her once that time heals everything. She didn't always agree with it, and didn't believe that it ever actually healed anything, but made the pain subside instead.
She nodded. Cedric had calmed down considerably compared to how he'd been earlier in the week, to which she was relieved. She didn't want to hear anyone yelling at her for a long time.

She'd arrived to her potions class to see her grandfather standing at the front of the classroom with Professor Snape.
"Ah, Juliette." Dumbledore said to her as he realised she was standing there. "How are you today?"
She greeted him with a smile. "Better." She sat down in her seat, and heard the door open. Without turning, she knew who it was. He had a quiet grace about him.
"Malfoy," Snape said to him, "it's good to see that you're on time this week."
"Of course Professor. Wouldn't want to miss your class, after all." Draco said with a grin.
"It's actually not my class today, Malfoy." Snape said as more people filed into the classroom. "Don't unpack your things, we're going to be learning about the Mirror of Erised." Juliette felt excited. She'd heard about the mirror, but hadn't actually seen it.
Dumbledore took them to the mirror, where they crowded around it. He began discussing the mirror, what it was used for a what could be done with it.
"Now. The task for today is to take a look in the mirror, and tell us what you see. Then, by Monday, I would like each of you to write an essay about either the Mirrors history, or it's purpose." Professor Snape told them. "Alright. Ashwood, you can go first."
Juliette stepped forward from the crowd, averting her eyes from the mirror until she was standing directly in front of it. For a couple of seconds, there was fog behind her. It was like she was alone. Then, slowly a figure walked towards her. She frowned. Draco walked to stand behind her.
"It's not your turn, Malfoy." She muttered, but turned away from the mirror when she heard the class laughing.
"Um, Juliette, Draco is over here." A voice sneered at her. She made eye contact with Draco, before she walked back into the crowd of students. He was watching her from the corner of his eye, and she could see the small smirk on his face.