they were just kids [draco malfoy]

Year 3 - 36

Having finished with her breakfast, Astrid grabbed an apple for good measure and strolled outside into the cool mid-spring weather. 

The morning had been just as chaotic as she had expected it to be. Malfoy had kept trying to irk her, Nott was throwing a bunch of jokes and flirting with Rosier since he now looked older (he hadn't wiped the marker off completely, because he hadn't wanted to), Goyle had a small willy drawn on the side his face where he hadn't noticed it (many people who passed kept laughing at him), and generally, the whole atmosphere had been chaotic. 

It was April 1st after all, and many students had decided to use up a few tricks they had hidden up their sleeves. 

Now, the girl (as planned) was on her way to once more visit the little shack in the woods.

Astrid closed her eyes marvelling about how good the fresh air felt on her face having just walked out of the stuffy Great Hall. After doing a quick look around to see if any teachers were watching her, she took a step and started heading straight for the Forbidden forest.

Entering the forest never seemed to get less scary. Especially when she heard an owl hoot so close to her she could've sworn it had flown right by her ear. Rapidly the girl whipped her head around to see a big brown owl perked up on one of the branches of a pine tree. It watched Astrid go, making the girl shiver slightly.

I never knew there even were any wild owls in the Wizarding world.

Trying to ignore the creepy creature Astrid followed down the path she now knew by heart. Soon she had reached her destination.

There the little shack stood, looking the same as it had both previous times. Old, broken, abandoned.

She made her way over to the house and gently placed her hand over where Daphne's hand had previously slid through. She felt the cold, wet wood against her palm and then slowly glided her hand against said wall until she had reached the doorframe.

The house was real. Very real. Astrid could touch it, feel it. The girl leaned her face a little closer. Heck, she could even smell it. 

It was very real. Yet somehow, it wasn't.

Daphne had sworn to not tell anybody about their weird incident. Astrid hoped that maybe the fault was just in her friend and not her, but her gut was telling her otherwise. 

The fact that no one could see her inside the house felt both comforting and terrifying at the same time.

Taking in a deep breath, Astrid stepped into the wooden shack. 

It looked exactly the same as she remembered. Although there wasn't much she remembered considering her first visit had been disturbed by some friendly kissers.

Astrid didn't know what to start with so she did what her eyes first landed on - the table. The girl walked over to it and drew open one of the drawers. While the tabletop had been completely empty the drawer was piled full with different notebooks, quills and ink bottles. She grabbed one of the notebooks only to find it completely empty. She grabbed one after another and then another and they were all still empty. 

The girl then drew open the other drawer and the smell that came with it made her instantly shut it back closed. An ink box had been left open and now it had gotten old and smelled similar to what rotten eggs would smell like, only way worse. Hesitantly, Astrid pinched her nose close and then slowly opened the drawer again. Once more, it was empty parchments, quills, and a few used ink bottles.

After shutting the drawer tightly, the girl's hand slid against the tabletop to the side where, on the other side of the window she had jumped trough, she saw a tall wooden cabinet; some of its contents hidden behind a wooden and some behind a glass door. The most intriguing door to Astrid was the one marked as 'untouchables'. It was half-empty, the spaces in between riddled with dust, but the objects that still laid there looked interesting enough. She wanted to touch them. In the shelf closest to the bottom stood a bunch of vials - some were full, some were empty, some were broken and dirty, and some looked like their bottoms had melted through. Next to those vials stood a few boxes and bottles which, Astrid supposed, held ingredients for the potions.