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ESTELLA STARED DOWN at the plate of eggs in front of her, stabbing at them with her fork every now and then just to pass the time. She refused to make eye contact with anyone, keeping them solely fixed down with a melancholy look plastered across her face.
The second her eyes opened she left Draco's room and went to her own, it was still dark outside, so luckily there was no one to avoid. She forgot to check the time in, but after spending what felt like hours in the shower trying to scrub off the filth from every single inch of her, it was late enough to be socially acceptable to go for breakfast, it wasn't like she was going to be getting anymore sleep.
She still felt sick to her stomach, and if she were to actually eat anything it would come straight back up, so poking at her food and taking some frustration out in it instead was the better option.
She hadn't seen anybody she knew, Blaise was probably still asleep, and the last people she wanted to face were Higgs or Malfoy. She wanted to go up to him, hex him till he could no longer stand, make him beg for her to stop, but she couldn't, he simply terrified her, what he lacked in magical ability he made up for in brute strength, it left her feeling vulnerable, like for the first time in her life she couldn't rely on magic to save her, that thought alone was enough to shake her to the core.
Then, Draco, he'd just a vulnerability to her she'd never shown any one, not even Blaise or Dumbledore. He'd sat and watched her break down right in front of him, she'd even hugged him, and couldn't find away to face him after that. She'd be happy to never see him again, or at the very least never let what happened become the topic of any conversation, ever. But she knew that was never going to happen, you don't just witness a part of someone break like that and go about the next day as if nothing ever happened, so her best option was avoiding him at all costs until she could figure something else out.
"You didn't wait for me this morning!" Blaise pouted, taking the empty seat next to her and grabbing himself some toast. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to conjure up her mask for the day, a fake smile found its way to her face.
"I woke up like 3 hours ago, I'm sure you didn't want me banging on your door at that time in a morning?" She questioned, finally looking up from her eggs, though they were now unidentifiable from the amount of times she'd stabbed and prodded at them.
"You're not hungry?" He questioned, eyeing her plate from the corner of his eye while he buttered himself a few slices of toast.
She shrugged, pushing the plate away from her, letting it scrape across the table. "I already had some toast before you showed up, these taste a little weird honestly." She lied easily, it was second nature at this point, she didn't need anyone else in her business, even it it was her best friend.
Blaise didn't even get chance to reply, Higgs entered the hall, he seemed on edge, the paranoia lingering around him like a bad smell. His eyes scanning across the now crowded room as if looking for someone in particular, her. If she didn't have a reputation to uphold he'd be right to be anxious, but she couldn't do that to herself, and she most certainly couldn't do it to the Gaunt name, she didn't need to be known as that silly girl who tarnished their bloodline with her actions.
