[1] Gasoline ✗ Draco Malfoy

twenty six

Chapter Twenty-Six

There weren't many options available to a girl in her situation. No matter how Seohyun decided to act upon her position, someone was going to get hurt. No plan she could conjure left everyone she loved safe.

But one thing was for certain: there was no way she could watch her friends suffer any longer.

That was something Seohyun had to fix at once. It was her responsibility. She'd do whatever it took.

And, finally, after days of deliberation, she settled on a solution.

She was going to have the Carrows discover her true allegiances.

For Seohyun now realised she was being selfish: she had been, in a way, prioritising her own well-being. As long as she remained alive... That had been the driving force for Draco saving her, and what led Seohyun to become an unintentional double agent.

As long as she remained alive. That had become the mantra. It had seeped into her subconscious and put that selfish desire above everything else.

Not anymore.

She would not be so selfish any longer. She had to protect the people she loved, at whatever cost. If she'd been brave, she'd have done so long ago. She wouldn't have used Occlumency – she should have died on the spot, strong and holding fast to her beliefs, and not cower behind a mask.

That wouldn't be a problem from that time onwards.

First, she'd tell her friends. Seohyun already knew how she'd break it to the Carrows that she was a traitor (was she a traitor, if she'd never been on their side?), but for that, she'd need the assistance of others.

When she found herself alone in a disused classroom with her Ravenclaw friends as part of a study session, Seohyun decided that she had to take her chance.

She kept writing her Astronomy essay for some time, working up the courage to speak. The rhythmic sound of quills scratching against ink and occasional low voice discussing a complex theory was gentle and reassuring, something Seohyun didn't want to break.

Buck up, Park Seohyun.

"Hey, Padma. Terry. Anthony," she blurted, before her sudden burst of courage faded. "I have something to tell you."

Three quills stopped moving in unison, and three heads shot up. Seohyun swallowed. There was no taking it back now, no pretending she hadn't said anything. It was out in the open, and now she had to continue.

Anthony frowned. "Are you okay, Seohyun?"

Seohyun always wondered if Anthony Goldstein had once lived in America, or at least if some of his family had. His accent wasn't fully British: there was traces of a vague American accent to his words.

"No. Not for a while." She licked her dry lips. "I've been so stressed."

Padma smiled sympathetically. "I've thought that was the case. You've been looking ill."

"I've... been through a lot."

"I'll say," Terry muttered. He glared at the table, as though it were responsible for what happened over the summer.

Seohyun sighed. Under the table, her hands were shaking. "Things just... aren't what they seem."

"How so?"

Seohyun's mouth was so dry, she was finding it difficult to speak. Her heart picked up. Say it say it go on say it -

"My time in Malfoy Manor... was imprisonment, but not the way most see it."