𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐎𝐮𝐭 {𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐟𝐨𝐲}

| 𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐉𝐀𝐍 | 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘪𝘭

A faint but distinct sweet-and-sour smell of sweat hit our noses the moment we entered. Half of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team stood in the middle, still decked in their dirty robes. A group of Fifth Year girls surrounded them, listening to a grand retelling of the match that had taken place earlier in the afternoon. The shutting of the door behind us turned their attention.

"Didn't see you two at the game! We decimated those Hufflepuffs!" Cillian Killiney called out in our direction, but we all knew he wasn't addressing me.

"Yeah, well, we had better things to do," Odalis sighed in disinterest. "What was that saying?" Quincy Stewart spoke over her. "You mess with the eagle, you get the talons!" They hooted unanimously, and I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

Odalis, however, did not bother holding back. "Perhaps you lot can regale us with your exciting Quidditch tale after a shower?"

Beside Quincy, Sebastian Dubois gave us an apologetic shrug. I forced a smile at him which I immediately regretted, for he took it as an invitation to come over to us.

"Sorry, we are - how you say - ecstatic!" he grinned and turned to me. "Morie, you had Divination, too?"

I felt myself softening a little. Sebastian was probably one of the only boys who would address me directly, like I was a real person. Except for Erebus, of course, but Erebus didn't count. The rest of the school shunned us for being children of Death Eaters, and I thought of Lilith's screeching laughter and the look on Erebus's face when I was clutching Nutmeg's warm body against my chest, drumming heart against my own, as he said, "They're just rabbits, Morie. They don't have feelings."

Children of Death Eaters, venom ran through our blood.

I looked at Sebastian. He was a Seventh Year like us and the nicest of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. With his doe eyes and mop of dirty-blond hair, he was the boy every girl vied for. It also did not help that his French accent made him all the more endearing. In fact, I might have rather fancied him had Erebus not been hogging that spot for years. However, I was not in the mood for small talk right now, and that was exactly what Sebastian seemed determined to do.

"How was class?" he nodded at the textbook in Odalis' arm. She snorted vehemently. "Honestly, it's all rubbish! I mean, if you expect to tell the future from the lines on your palms, I'd expect you to have jellybeans for brains!"

"Oh," said poor Sebastian, ruffling his hair sheepishly. "Sorry, I failed Divination last year so I'm not taking it for N.E.W.T.s this year."

"As you should! Like I said, it's all rubbish. I wish I failed, too. In fact, I might drop it. Anyway, we need to do our Potions essay now," she announced quickly before he could respond, much to my relief. "Catch you later, Seb!" With that, we left him standing there, forlornly watching us leave.

"Godric, I hate Quidditch players," Odalis mumbled as we climbed the stairs. "They don't ever shut up!" She was right. They were all the same across the four Houses. Loud, obnoxious, and self-obsessed.

I allowed myself a chuckle, but a sudden feeling of longing pulled from within my chest. What would it be like to be a Quidditch player? Maybe if I had tried out for the team, I might not have turned to a dark army to satisfy my lack of belonging. I might have found my true calling, maybe even had a shot at dating Sebastian. I would have been hurtling in the air beside him. After that, I would be whooping in victory with his arm draped over my shoulders as we beat everyone over the head with details of our match. Maybe.

"But Seb is so fit, isn't he!" Odalis was carrying on when we finally reached our dorms, flinging herself dramatically on her bed.

I gave a non-committal grunt of agreement. She stretched and rolled like a cat while I packed my books. "It's so unfortunate he's friends with those goons. Each one of them is a bigger tosser than the next! I'd have totally jumped into his pants, otherwise," she prattled. "Our Quidditch standards have gone to shit ever since Dumbledore died. It's like they have no one to show off to now."