familiar ; draco malfoy

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

The early hours of a weekday in December could be easily detected by taking a stroll down the Great Hall. Groggy, fatigued faces of both students and teachers conveyed that the school year had taken its toll on all of them so far. The only lifeline they could each hold onto was the thought of Christmas holidays, which had become all anyone could talk about.

A full week before everyone was to leave, an unusual kind of tension spread through the large castle and settled in the gut of each student. It wasn't the dreadful, gloomy tension that Ramona had gotten used to through the past weeks, but rather budding excitement for the upcoming break.

Even though her time at Hogwarts was going by fast and unyielding perils trampled her before she could get out of bed in the morning, there was something about her life at the school that she found comfort in. Weather it was the peaceful company of Luna, the restored relationship with Blaise or Friday night drinks with the Weasley twins, Ramona found a life at Hogwarts that made those perils easier to bare- or at least easier to forget about, for however long it was possible to do so.

That particular December morning Ramona found herself all but sleep-walking to the Great Hall, weary with the burden of long-closed eyes. There is a kind of tiredness that needs a good night's sleep, and another that needs much more. For Ramona, one had easily become the other. She was starting to feel like her bones were too heavy to carry and it was difficult to distinguish weather that was due to her worries or to tiredness.

She toyed with the moonstone that hung around her neck, allowing herself to feel its calming effects. Mornings were the most difficult parts of the day, the most anxious ones- but the sooner she was awake, the sooner those anxieties faded into background noise.

Not rushing her movements, she sat down beside Blaise who seemed to be in worse shape than anyone at the Slytherin table. He was sitting bleary-eyed and unshaven, munching his way slowly through a mouthful of cereal.

"You alright?" mumbled Ramona, voice still thick with sleep. Blaise made no movement to signal that he had heard her, and she made no effort to repeat the question.

"Morning," groaned out Daphne, her blonde hair tied up in a knot on top of her head. It was not because they shared a room that Ramona knew, but rather because it was evident- Daphne had not washed her hair in at least a week. It was unusual for Daphne Greengrass to care little about her hygiene, but nobody could blame her. Exhaustion was in the air.

Ramona only nodded at her, not finding the strength to respond.

Suddenly, for no apparent reason, Blaise stopped munching. His jaw went slack. Milk dribbled out of his mouth, eyes glazing over blankly.

"Blaise?" whispered Ramona.

Blaise's head nodded forward and landed right beside the bowl in front of him. Ramona spotted a pile of messy papers next to his head, figuring out from the large pile of horrid handwriting that he must have spent the entire night catching up with essays due that week.

"Why is everyone so tired?" Daphne groaned, looking at Blaise and feeling as if she was about to mimic his movements.

"Maybe because we're being assigned homework like we've done nothing at all this school year," complained Pansy, who Ramona hadn't even seen sit by them. It was the fist time she'd heard Pansy speak since their conversation in the classroom and Pansy made no move to indicate that she was talking to Ramona at all.

Ramona had done her classwork on time; she handed in her essays before they were due and spent the night writing ones given to her last-minute. She couldn't imagine what Blaise had gone through though, but if he was anything like Daphne, it was a difficult night indeed.