ethereal - draco malfoy

pain

That night was still haunting me, even now, as I sat in the compartment with my friends, on my way back to Hogwarts.

Flashback
I woke up in my bed. My father was speaking to our mediwitch that visits our house so we don't have to leave the manor.

After the mediwitch left, my father sat with me for a few moments before I told him to leave me be. He understood and left immediately.

I went into the bathroom to look at my body. There was a large bruise covering my face, along with a few gashes, there were small gashes on my neck and medium sized gashes on my side and back.
Flashback over

When the day came to finally go back to Hogwarts, I made sure that the gashes on my neck were covered by my turtleneck. The bruise on my face was still there, so I put on a charm to cover it. I was still sore from the abrasions on my side and back, so I winced every time I collided with something or sat the wrong way.

My group and I were sitting in the compartment conversing amongst ourselves when Jack gave me a weird look.

"What?" I snapped, pulling away from his piercing glare.

"There's a rather large charm on your face. What are you hiding?" he asked with an accusing tone.

Daphne gasped loudly, attracting everyone's attention. "She did it again, didn't she?" she asked in a soft tone.

I gulped and suddenly found the carpeted floor very interesting. Daphne took this as confirmation and let out a sad sigh.

No one else said anything after that; mainly because they knew I wouldn't talk about it. Jack asked Daphne to come with him for a moment to find the trolley, but I knew he was actually going to ask her what happened.

-

When we arrived at Hogwarts, we all got up and walked down the aisle of the train. I waited for everyone to empty out of the compartment before walking out myself. As I was walking, someone's elbow bumped into my back, causing me to shriek in pain.

I snapped around to be met by cold, grey eyes. He had a confused look on his face as he eyed me up and down. "I barely even touched you, Morningstar. You're so over dramatic." Malfoy spat harshly. I rolled my eyes before turning back around and catching up to the group.

-

We sat in the Great Hall eating dinner when Malfoy attempted to grab my attention. "Pst! Pst! Morningstar!" he whispered shouted.

I snapped my attention over to him and sent him a cold glare. He raised his eyebrows and then he rolled his eyes, before gesturing to his cheek. I sent him a confused look before I realized; I place the charm around six this morning, it's currently seven o'clock. The charm only lasts 12 hours. The charm faded. Anyone could see the bruise.

My eyes widened as realization struck me, and I shot up out of the seat, keeping my head down low as I speed walked out of the Great Hall. I kept my head down low as I walked down the empty corridor.

I yelped when I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder. I spun around and backed away, causing the hand to fall off. "I wanted to give you time alone with your friends, but when I saw you walking out of the Great Hall I had to follow you." Cedric explained.

I sighed in relief and brought my head back up to make eye contact with him. His eyes traveled to the bruise on the side of my face, causing him to gasp. "Did you get into a fight?" he queried. I scoffed and shook my head. "No, Hufflepuff." I said coldly.

He gave me a skeptical look before crossing his arms and furrowing his brows. "Then what happened?" he asked curiously. "I can't tell you." I mumbled. He tilted his head slightly as I looked back to the ground, avoiding eye contact. He sighed before walking past me. "Alright, let's get you to your common room." he called from behind me.

I hurriedly turned around and jogged to catch up to him and his long strides.

-

Cedric and I sat in the common room and talked about our breaks while we waited for the others to join us. I left out the part where my mother beat me, obviously. I made sure to recast the charm on my face while he was talking about his break with his father.

The stone wall creaked, causing Cedric and I to turn around. Jack, Daphne, Astoria, Blaise, Theo, Malfoy, Parkinson, Crabbe and Goyle all stepped through the entrance and took seats all throughout the common room.

"Hey, Morningstar. What was all that fuss about out the train?" Malfoy asked with a raised brow. "I barely touched you and you had a bloody heart attack." he added with a snicker.

Jack tensed up beside me and balled his fists. "Sod off, Malfoy." he growled lowly. Malfoy's eyes flickered with amusement as an evil grin spread itself across his face. Malfoy stood up and slowly walked towards us; like a predator to its prey.

"Or what?" he asked quietly. His eyes grew dark and the smirk on his face grew bigger as Jack stood up and walked over to him.

I've witnessed Malfoy in a fight before. He's never lost. From what Theo has told us, Jack's also never lost a fight. I walked over to Jack and slightly tapped his elbow. He looked at me with hard eyes, but they immediately grew soft once he recognized it was me. "He's not worth it." I whispered.

Jack looked at me then back at Malfoy, who cocked an eyebrow, then back at me before sighing. "You're right. I'm gonna get some rest. See you tomorrow, yeah?" he stated calmly. I nodded my head and gave him a soft smile as he walked over to the boys dormitory stairs. I waited until I heard his door open and close before turning to Malfoy.

"Cedric could you please be so kind to look away for about five minutes?" I asked politely, not taking my gaze off of Malfoy. I heard shuffling, followed by footsteps coming towards me. "Ah, ah. Come on, Cynthia. Go to bed." Cedric said flatly.

I sighed and looked at Cedric before looking back at Malfoy and pointing my finger towards his chest. "The Hufflepuff won't be here to protect your arse at all times, Malfoy." I warned in a dark tone. Malfoy scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Obviously. He's your babysitter, not mine." he concluded.

I narrowed my eyes at him before walking away and storming up to my dorm with Daphne and Astoria behind me.

They didn't say anything as we got changed and unpacked before laying down and going to sleep.