they were just kids [draco malfoy]

Year 2 - 15

"And so I award 200 points to Harry Potter and Ronald Weasely each, for showing great bravery and selflessness defending the school from the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets."

That was what the students had been told and how the Gryffindor house won the house cup once more.

Astrid and her group of Slytherin friends weren't especially pleased as they made their way back down to their dungeons. The classes for the day had been cancelled so the children were left to nothing but either congratulating the chosen one or complaining of their sour loss of a house cup. 

"No, Rosier, YOU don't understand," Tracey and Maggie Rosier were involved in one of their usual discussions as Astrid walked thoughtfully behind them lost in her own world. "This is rubbish! You want to tell me scarhead saved the school again singlehandedly?"

"Tracey, you-"

"I refuse to believe professors would just sit on their fat arses and depend on a twelve-year-old to do their job of protecting us. That's ridiculous."

"Yeah, and what is your option? That they-"

"That they gave Potter the points just because they wanted Gryffindor to win the cup again. Not the first time that would've happened."

"Do you realise how ridiculous you sound?" 

"I'm not being ridiculous!"

"Then where did the basilisk disappear to?" Rosier crossed her hands angrily and Draco could easily tell the girl was getting heated.

He didn't spend much time with the two girls but he had seen enough of them to know the way they always bantered. And he wouldn't have been walking with the girls just then if he wasn't too busy watching and scrutinising Ninomae's every action, every twitch of an eyebrow or flicker of emotion.

Sitting by the table during the grand feast, the way Ninomae had appeared to be interested in the old headmaster's speech more so than usual had spiked the platinum-blondes interest immensely. The boy had no doubt in mind the brown-eyed girl knew something about the attacks that he didn't and he was still trying to figure out what it was. The word snake, as he had noted, being the most surprising to the girl.

It was so far fetched that the idea of her being a parselmouth didn't even cross the boy's mind once. The thought was there somewhere at the back of his mind nagging him to consider it but he pushed it away knowing that would surely be impossible.

Astrid didn't notice Malfoy staring, neither did she hear a word her friends were saying. She was simply mindlessly following her group of friends neither caring nor noticing where they were heading. For all she knew, they were heading to classes. For all she knew, the road they were taking there was very odd. Astrid was far too lost in her own head to understand or even see where they were going.

Sitting down by the breakfast table that morning Astrid had not been ready for the speech their Headmaster gave. But the second she heard a basilisk was the monster and figured basilisk was a snake, it all suddenly made sense. The hissing, the voices, the horrid encounter with a huge slimy creature - all that was surely because she was a parselmouth and so that meant the voices she had heard had been coming from the said basilisk. Though there were still several things that puzzled her.

Why was Ginny Weasley fallen its prey as a pureblood? Who had been the Heir after all? How was Potter involved again and how on earth had he fought it? Astrid had seen the basilisk and she couldn't imagine any grown person taking it on singlehandedly, let alone a child. 

But the question that was nagging her most was - how were they all so cheerful that morning? It had taken Astrid five whole days to stop believing the monster could be lurking around any corner and up until that very breakfast she hadn't been able to feel safe walking anywhere. Of course Potter had supposedly gotten rid of it, but Astrid was still puzzled by his thickheaded bravery and strange joyfulness.

Although... perhaps if they hadn't been robbed of the house cup once again, maybe she would be in a cheerier mood as well.

There were too many questions and not enough answers.

Too many conflicting emotions and too little explanations.

And although she could, she refused to talk to the headmaster. The man was too comforting to feel comfort.

As they walked, she caught a glimpse of the red-haired Ginny Weasely as slowly walked over to the moving staircases most likely to get to her room. Her twin brothers followed in tow, probably escorting her. Astrid was surprised as to how quickly her eyes narrowed both angrily and suspiciously, and she was suddenly hit with the knowledge that she didn't feel the smallest bit of compassion towards the girl. 

Such thought led her to the memories of seeing the petrifications and even hearing about a girl dying. In either of the situations, Astrid couldn't bring herself to feel any sort of compassion or empathy. The lack of caring shocked her and she downcast her eyes to watch her fumbling hands pensively.

Life felt rather strange at times.

Astrid Ninomae's second year of schooling was coming to an end and she could only guess what the following year would bring. The brown-eyed girl just hoped it would be a rather peaceful one.