YEAR 7 | Draco Malfoy

20.0 the tower

'At night they come without being fetched, and by day they are lost without being stolen.'

The small piece of parchment had been folded repeatedly.

'What are they?'

It didn't take Claire a lot of time to solve the riddle but that wasn't what worried her.

She was seated in the Slytherin common room, the fire next to her causing her legs to heat up.

It had been two days since she had first read the Quibbler and it was still carefully hidden in her bag.

The excitement and happiness that had come with reading the magazine were short-lived.

Now the burden of knowledge had lowered itself on Claire.

It seemed as if upon touching those pages, her hands had become permanently stained with betrayal.

Claire still needed to get rid of it but there hadn't been a right moment or time.

What she didn't know was that someone else shared that idea, but not for the same reasons.

Draco also wanted information like that gone.

If the Carrows found out and either of their families would hear about it, the consequences would be immense.

Sleep wasn't something that came to Draco easily but after hearing what the Ravenclaw had given Claire, it had become impossible.

He would stare at the ceiling for hours on end, taming the anger that was flowing through his veins.

When his mind would slip and the images of Claire's face appeared, his body tensed.

The urge to protect his friend had increased slowly but surely.

The Ravenclaw she had met was a big factor.

Draco almost couldn't bear seeing them together and it made him feel like a fool.

Even with those feelings present, all he wanted was for her to look at him and him only.

While most of the Slytherin students were found in their common room, Draco was staring at the ceiling again.

He felt tired but he couldn't fall asleep. All he could do was stare and worry.

After what felt like a lifetime, he called it quits and headed to the common room.

His usual robes had made place for a much more comfortable sweater and with his hands in the front pocket, he walked down the stairs.

Claire had been impatiently waiting near the fire, until the clock stroke eight o'clock.

With her bag secured on her shoulder, she headed to the dungeon's corridors.

Just as Draco had arrived in the common room, Claire had left.

The two were oblivious to this fact but wouldn't be for long.

While Claire's footsteps echoed through the corridors, the answer to the riddle kept replaying in her head.

'Stars'

Claire figured that Evan had found a place to practice near the Astronomy Tower.

She was afraid to be late so she picked up her pace but once she arrived at the Tower, there was no one to be seen.

Immediately a weird feeling entered her chest.

She pulled her bag on her lap and sat down on the stairs leading up to the Tower with the hurling wind like a wall behind her.