Battle Scars {Draco Malfoy}

Chapter Twenty

"Clara!" Abby waved her hands in front of the girl's face. "Hello? Anybody home?"

Finally, after knocking several times on Clara's forehead, the girl looked up at Abby. 

"Hmm? What's wrong, Abby?"

"You tell me, you're the one staring off in Lala land."

"Sorry." Clara blushed.

"Are you thinking about Draco?" Abby grinned.

"Yes... but not in the way you think." Clara admitted. "I'm worried about him. He's been extremely down lately, more so than usual. He just looks so miserable...and I thought I was bad. But no one is coming to help him. You and I have tried, but everyone else just continues to ignore him. I don't understand. I don't understand how people can be so rotten."

She sighed and rested her head back on her pillow staring up at the ceiling.

"People walk around this school like they've never made a mistake in their lives. They walk around as if they have every right in the world to judge another human being. But there is no human on the face of the earth that can claim they are perfect. So they have absolutely no right judging another person. One should only judge themselves, because they can only change themselves for the better. Judging another person does nothing but cause negative reactions." Clara said.

Abby sat down on the girl's bed and looked at her.

"Has anyone ever told you that you sound like a fortune cookie, Clara?" Abby giggled.

"What's that?"

"What's what? A fortune cookie? You don't know what a fortune cookie is?"

"No."

"Oh Clara." Abby crawled over the bed and pulled Clara into a hug. "It's okay...it's okay. You're so deprived but I will help you. I'll get you a fortune cookie so you can witness one of the greatest things in the world."

"Are they really that good?"

"Nah, they taste terrible but my mum really likes reading the little philosophical sayings written on the paper inside the cookie. She'd probably like you a lot too. Clara...the fortune cookie."

Clara laughed. "Thanks Abby, I look forward to my first experience of a fortune cookie. Anyways, I was thinking about inviting Draco to Hogsmeade on the upcoming trip, do you think that would cheer him up a bit?"

Abby released her and looked down at her. "Of course, anytime he's around you, he seems pretty happy." she said with a wink.

Clara rolled her eyes with a grin. "Whatever, Abby."

"Yeah you can "whatever, Abby," me all you want, but when you guys get married expect a big fat I-told-you-so in your face!" Abby poked her nose. "Boop."

Suddenly, Abby cried out in laughter as Clara began tickling her.

"Wait! No!" Abby laughed. "I surrender! I surrender!"

Draco scratched his head as he looked down at the Herbology assignment sitting on the table before him. Clara was supposed to be helping him, but she seemed to be running late as he waited in the library. He tried to get a headstart on the assignment to show Clara that he was picking up on what she was tutoring him in, but his mind was too scrambled to even focus on the assignment.

Even though he had expected it to happen at one point or another, it had still caught him off guard when a young Slytherin student had the audacity to call him a death eater in the Slytherin common room. It wasn't quiet either, the boy had said it loud enough for everyone in the space to hear. Draco tried to defend himself, claiming that he never wanted part in the Death Eaters duties, but the situation only became worse as the boy forcefully shoved up his sleeve briefly revealing his scarred death mark for a few moments.

He heard the gasps and the whispering before he shoved his sleeve down and left the Slytherin common room without another word.

He rubbed his eyes that burned trying to conceal any emotion threatening to spill out at any given moment if he didn't collect himself.

"Hey!" a voice startled him. He looked up to see Clara sitting before him with the same kind smile she greeted him with on a daily basis.

"Hi Clara." he said.

He saw the smile falter on her face as she glanced over him. "Are you okay, Draco?" she asked.

"I'm fine." he said looking away from her. "I'm just tired is all."

"Well do you want to wait to work on this assignment? It's not due until after the weekend."

"No, I rather get it done with." he told her.

"Okay." she moved her chair closer to him before pulling out her own materials. "Oh before we get started, are you doing anything this weekend?"

Besides sulking in his room, he hadn't made any plans.

"No." he answered.

"Do you want to come to Hogsmeade with me?"

"You want me to go to Hogsmeade with you?"

"Yes." she said. "That's why I extended the invitation to you... I mean, you don't have to go if you don't want to...I just thought I'd ask and-"

"No!" he blurted out quickly causing her to jump and cease speaking. "I...I'll go with you."

"Yeah?" Draco watched as her expression brightened.

"Yes." he nodded. "I'd like to go with you."

"Great! I'm sure we can find something to do while we're there. I already have request from Abby to pick her up some sweets."

"As if she doesn't get enough sweets from the Great Hall." Draco mused.

"That's what I said! But I guess I owe her, after all she's getting me a fortune cookie."

"A fortune cookie? What's that?"

"I said the same thing when Abby said it. Apparently its this..."

Draco listened to Clara as she tried to explain the cookie with paper inside to him. He smiled to himself a little as he watched her talk because for the first time she wasn't focused on hiding her face behind her hair. She was speaking freely and with confidence and Draco didn't want her to stop.