Never • The Lost Daughter | A Draco Malfoy Love Story

Chapter 24 - Liars

Hogwarts, among other things, was a very closed society. People woke up, ate, attended classes, studied and slept all in the same building, in the same place. Although life was never boring, it was consistent and predictable. In this fashion, however much we tried to keep everything private, news of a romance between a Slytherin bully and a mudblood Ravenclaw who, rumor has it, is Dumbledore's goddaughter. The rumor mill was set in action.

"...I saw them with my own eyes. They were hiding in the train together. I saw Wallis come out of the toilet, then a few minutes later Malfoy did too..." said the Ravenclaw to her Gryffindor friend.

"...what a whore..."

I couldn't imagine what else they could be saying, if they weren't careful enough to whisper that in the Great Hall.

It didn't help that we decided not to ignore each other in the halls. People had gotten used of Draco casually bullying me in the corridors. I had been his main object of teasing during the whole of last year so, of course, people noticed how little attention I was receiving from him.

I entered the Great Hall a week later and still, all the eyes were drawn upon us. Nothing had changed, people were still whispering the same things, talking ill of us. Why did no one mind their own business in this school?

"...poor girl..."

"...doesn't even think..."

"...I only thought she wouldn't reach so low..."

"...she has a nerve to..."

"...thought she was a Ravenclaw; she is really stupid..."

And all of these things whispered behind my back were followed by unkindly eyes and hurried looks. Sometimes some girls didn't even bother to whisper or act as if nothing happened. Sometimes I thought that the whole school had conspired so they'd make me feel bad about myself. 

Soon, I stopped going to the Great Hall during busy hours. I was there for breakfast before everyone and skipped dinner most of the times. The one time that my stomach didn't feel like a tight knot, I begged Luna to bring me some food up in the Common Room so I could eat in peace but Luna pushed me out of my bed and pulled me down the stairs. The girl didn't seem like it but had strength.

She held my hand tightly as we walked through the arch but cursed silently when I realised that Draco was entering the Great Hall at the same moment.

He didn't speak a word to me but silently and discreetly brushed his fingers on my forearm softly and quickly. My heart pounded loudly in my ears and I realised I had to be careful of how quickly I was drawing breath.

"Aw... That was so sweet!" whispered Luna when we distanced ourselves from the busy part of the Hall. 

"You noticed that?" I said and sat on our usual spot a the far end of the table.

"My cat could have noticed that. And you know that Braxtious is a lovely but rather dense cat," she answered and served herself some pudding.

Truthfully, if one had heard the rumor that was circulating the halls, one would have easily spotted that mute encounter in no time.

Behind us, at the Slytherin table, there sat a flock of girls that you could hear at the other end of the hall. Whether they were giggling or plainly talking, their high-pitched voices echoed in our ears.

"I just want to see how long she's going to last," said one of them. She wasn't gossiping of course. If she was, she would at least bother to whisper or keep her voice down in a respectful manner. No, this girl wanted me to hear her.