IN NOX, SUM VERITAS━━DRACO MALFOY

one. serein

━━━━  · 。ﾟ☆ .☽ .* ☆ﾟ. ━━━━

(n.) the fine, light rain that falls from
a clear sky at sunset or in the early hours
of the night; evening serenity

IN THE SKY OVERHEAD, AN ADOLESCENT ZEUS WAS ATTEMPTING HIS FIRST RAINFALL.     There wasn't a cloud in sight, however, there had been a drizzle every now and then, making insignificant contact with a copper-curled boy's window as it stuck itself to the glass before quickly dissipating and falling away, disappearing with the wind as it swept by. It helped set the mood within the atmosphere the teenage wizard had created for himself—a quiet night encased in the warm glow of a lamp and beaming moonlight.

    Louis was curled up on the bench that occupied his bay window and was doused in the moon's beams as he had his routinely cup of tea in hand—a warm Earl Grey, its steam rolling off and invading his nostrils as he looked over the thoughts he had written down for the evening—mostly consisting of a brain flush of everything that had been making its rounds in his head, scattered notes bouncing around his skull before he went on with his journal entry.

     It was the night before he had to make his return to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and he was quite nervous, as it was his second to last year and he wanted to do well despite everything that's been going on with the Dark Lord making a return of his own and whatnot. The tension in the air was a cloud of the thickest of smoke beginning to rise, choking the school and everyone in it with fear. Emotions were reaching all-time highs, and a few of the students have been a bit high-strung about the situation at hand—and rightfully so.

    He leaned his sunset-dipped head back against one of the cushions surrounding the bay window before he began to read back what he wrote, taking a sip of his tea as he did so, the liquid's warmth coating his throat as it went down his esophagus. His roundish, wire-rim reading glasses slid down his nose, the pads being a little too far apart for them to be properly sit upon the bridge. He had never bothered to have them fixed because he only needed them to read certain books, so he only pushed them up before he went back to reviewing his entry that contained tales of brewing fear for the first day back at school and stories of plain old wonderment.

    "Serein," he mumbled, penning the title of the entry for the atmosphere outside before realizing that he was reaching the tail-end of his journal. His thoughts were then splintered by a pitter-pattering of little paws, his Scottish terrier Jupiter making an entrance into his room and seeking comfort on another cushion on the bay window's bench. Louis smiled at the canine before running his hand through the dog's fur, reaching between his ears and feeling the softness between his fingers. That was when he realized that there was a note attached to his collar. "Well, what do we have here?" he asked, plucking the piece of parchment off and unfolding it. Dinner had passed and he had already eaten so it couldn't have been anything about that in particular.

i have a surprise for you. come downstairs. x

    "Well, come on then, Jupiter. Let's go see what mum wants to show us." Louis got up off of the bench and rested his mug of tea on his bedside table before padding his way out of his room in a light grey t-shirt, sapphire-blue plaid pajama pants, and his Quidditch socks that were a smidge too small on his feet, reminding him to get himself a new pair before practice started.

     For the past fifteen years or so, it had only been him and his mother as his father wasn't in the picture because he had wanted nothing to do with raising Louis in a more "Muggle-like environment", considering that he and Louis's mother were both a witch and wizard respectively, although his mother was a Muggle-born, conceived from a pair of librarians and bred in between the pages of a classic novel. That had been the part that confused Louis, leaving him to wonder how one could love someone so much to marry them but not nearly enough to carry on any of their significant other's traditions.

    So his mother went on to raise him the same way she had been, showing him that there was absolutely nothing wrong with how she had been brought up and she had hoped that he'd do the same with whoever he fell in love with, implying that she'd love him no matter who he came through the front door with for Christmas. He didn't get it then, considering that he had only grown to be one sun's trip worth at the time, his mother's words not quite sticking to his little flower of a brain, growing and blooming as his mother's phrases went in one ear and out the other, nothing but sounds at varying pitches.

    But he got it now.

    When Louis finally descended the stairs and made his way into the kitchen, he found his mother, Harper, sitting at the breakfast table with what looked to be some sort of rectangular shaped item wrapped in rustic brown paper and decorated with a twine bow for a finishing touch.

    "It's a little early for Christmas presents, don't you think?" Louis questioned jokingly as he stood in the doorway. All his mother did in reply was give him a warm smile before holding it out for him, inviting him to take it. With trepidation, he met her in the middle and took it from her, undoing the bow and unwrapping the gift. In his palms laid an 18th-century style embellished journal with a leather covering and gold foil detailing around the edges and down the spine.

     It was a journal meant for the greatest of writers, the ones who had a thousand years' worth of knowledge to spill and had it written down because they couldn't trust that the oral tradition would do it justice, the possibility of their paragraphs being skewed all too great. Louis traced his finger down the spine, not knowing what to say in response because he was still in awe over the journal that had laid to rest in his hands.

    "I saw you eyeing it while we were in Flourish and Blotts the other day," his mother replied instead, "every time you passed by that table, you'd steal a quick glance at it before moving on and grabbing what you needed. Consider it a back-to-school present."

    "You didn't have to get me this." Louis looked up, smiling as if he had been seeing the sun for the first time, "I could've gotten this myself. You've already paid for my books. It's the least I could do."

    "But you didn't. And besides, it's my job to take care of you." His mother pointed a finger at him in response, smirking, before pulling him into a hug, engulfing him in a warmth unlike any other. Louis returned the hug just as earnestly, squeezing and smelling something flowery before letting go.

    "Thank you. I've actually been needing a new journal as I've gotten near to the end of my other one. So you must've read my mind."

    "Consider it a mother's intuition."

    Louis smiled once more.

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 .｡.:*

first chapters are hard rip

i also may be au-ing the shit out of this if
i want this storyline to work and also because
don't you love it when your love interest has only
five minutes of screen time ? <3

n.e. way, i hope you enjoyed the chapter !