When We Fell: A Draco Malfoy Romance

Chapter 3- Joining Forces (Draco)

"I know," the girl said to me as she walked off.

When her name was called out during the sorting ceremony, I swear my heart fell to the bottom of my stomach. Of course, I would know the name Bloodworth anywhere considering how that name was whispered in caution and a slight bit of fear in the Malfoy household. I never had any desire to meet their daughter; however, I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little curious to get a look at her yesterday. 

Pitch black hair falling to her shoulders, dark brown eyes, and a tiny build walking into Hogwarts with so much confidence. With the Slytherin robes on, she looks deadly, but that might just be my impression. Without my knowledge of her family history, she may look like a normal student to others. 

Truly, I had no clue what she was doing here. I knew that her family had refused to allow her to study at Hogwarts, and I saw that her parents were taken at the same time as my own, but was that the true reason she was here? When she looked at me at dinner last night, a part of me feared and enjoyed the idea that she was here for me. Although I knew Voldemort was dead, could this be some kind of revenge for my lack of loyalty to him and the death eaters? I knew when I ran across the cobblestone to Harry, switching my alliance the day of Voldemort's death, that I was risking my life. 

In class today, when I saw that she was barely paying attention to what the professor was saying,  it strengthened my belief that she was here on the command of the remaining death eaters. After all, why would she care about the school work if she was just here to kill me?

But her response threw me off guard.

"I know."

What does that mean?

"I know" as in "I'm here to kill you?" or "Yeah, my parents have told me about you."

With that thought, I head towards the Great Hall for dinner, determined to confront her. 

When I walk in, I look around casually to see if I can spot her. I find her sitting alone towards the back of the Slytherin table, perfect for a little interrogating. 

"Hello Olliana," I start off with as I set my books down and take a seat. 

She looks up from her dinner with a smirk, "Oh, hello Draco nice to see you again. What can I do for you this fine evening?"

Well, I might as well cut to the chase, "I want to know why you are here." 

She looks confused at first, her head tilted slightly to the side, "I was sent here after my parents were taken? I guess I don't understand the question."

"I'm trying to ask if you are just here to go to school." A bold question, I know, but if she is here to kill me I'd rather know than be left wondering until she stabs me in the back. 

At that, her face fell, "You know, I can just go to school like a normal person. I don't always have another motive. I don't know what you've heard about me, but I'm not here to hurt you if that's what you're worried about." 

The hurt in her voice gave me a pause. Maybe I had this all wrong, maybe she was just here because she had nowhere else to go. "I'm sorry, I just needed to ask. I'm sure you are aware of your family's reputation and I hadn't met you before. I'm just trying to have a fresh start after everything that happened."

She looked down, nodding sadly, "Yeah I know what you mean. I'm sure it's been hard to return here, it doesn't seem like you got a warm welcome from the students. Look...no one here knows what I've done, they just know who my parents are so, please, whatever you have heard about me, keep it to yourself." 

This interested me...I never heard anything from my parents regarding Olliana and how she was involved, I only heard things about her parents. I guess it doesn't surprise me that she got her hands dirty; I certainly got mine filthy. 

It hit me then how similar our stories are. Parent's who drug us into a war that we had no business or desire to be in. Our arms snatched and tattooed with the dark mark, a prison sentence. It should have hit me as soon as her name was called out in the Great Hall, but when she asked me to keep her secrets safe, with shame written all over her face, I understood. She, like me, holds the guilt of what she did for the sake of her family and it clearly consumes her. No matter how tough she pretends to be.

"I don't know what you've done, but, as you can see, I would have no one to tell anyways." I give her a small smile to reassure her. Talking to her like this, I can almost pretend to be normal. 

Almost like neither of us are orphans and have blood on our hands. I may have not killed anyone myself, but the deeds I did for Voldemort cost many innocent lives. I carry that with me every day and every night those victims visit me in my sleep. 

But with her, I don't have to hide anything, do I? 

We sit in silence while we both eat; meanwhile, I steal glances of her when she is unaware. My parents were taken only two weeks ago, but, already, I am tired of being alone. Even when my parents were around, I still felt alone all those years. Only a few superficial friends kept me going, but they barely knew me, barely knew what I was going through. 

"You know, if you want, you can sit next to me again. I really don't think anyone here is interested in taking that seat since I'm a super scary death eater," Olliana jokes with a small smile playing on her lips. 

"Well good thing I also happen to be a death eater; you don't seem that scary to me." I'm totally bluffing of course, she might be the only girl I've met that I'm scared of. Now that I know she isn't here to kill me, I see that she is a pretty kind person, but I still wouldn't want to be on her bad side. If Alan Bloodworth was the one to teach her magic, I can't imagine her being anything other than an extremely lethal witch. 

"Do you want to walk back to the Common Room with me?" she offers as she stands. 

"Sure, let's go." I gather my books and get up from my seat, waiting for her to walk around the end of the table to me. 

As we walk out of the Great Hall together, I can feel the stares of the students. I'm sure this will be the talk of the school by morning, the two death eaters are now joining forces to do who knows what evil. It's fine, I'd rather "join forces" with someone like Olliana than talk gossip with anyone else at this dreadful school. 

Walking into the Slytherin Common Room, there's an awkward moment where neither of us knows what to really say to the other. 

I break the silence, "Well I guess I will see you at breakfast tomorrow?" 

She smiles, "Of course, see you there. Goodnight Draco, sleep well." 

I watch her walk up the stairs to her dormitory wondering how this day went from me thinking she was going to kill me to being somewhat friends. 

All I know is, with just a short conversation with Olliana, I feel better than I have in years.