when they became villains [draco malfoy] {book 2}

Year 7 - 201

It was nearing 7 and soon people would begin waking up. She had to look perfect. Untouchable. Undisturbed. Taking another bite of her pie, Astrid concluded she should best make her way back to the Slytherin dungeon to wash her mouth and hands before she showed herself in public. As a piece of pie crumbled and fell somewhere on the ground, she concluded she should better do it fast before she got everything sticky and dirty as well.

Astrid rounded a corner, ready to descend down the stairs and into the Slytherin common room and dormitories when the sight of an opening door made her jump back. She was not fast enough. Though even if she had been, the sound of the plate slipping from her hands and shattering on the ground with a loud echo would've certainly given her away.

"Miss Kali!" James Bellwinch, a deatheater brought to the school for order and proper 'fosterage' purposes, called.

She didn't even bother to run. Astrid fell against the wall, feeling the cold stone over the fabric of her white blouse.

"You cannot be out here all alone before the wake-up time!"

Astrid didn't have an excuse.

Bellwinch eyed the pie splattered across the ground. He raised his eyes up to her again.

"Stealing from the kitchens, are we? From the Lord so selflessly providing for us. That calls for punishment!"

Astrid didn't object. Enough harm had been done by her disobeying.

"Yes, sir. I am deeply sorry for misbehaving. I promise it will never happen again."

"It better not," he scoffed. "Now get off the wall and on the ground by your stolen food." Astrid obeyed. "Take one of those broken shards and write THIEF on your left palm. Then scratch open the middle of every finger on your right hand. That's T-H-I-E-F. So you're fingers no longer itch to take what's not yours." Reluctantly, Astrid picked up the shard of glass. "And if I hear the tiniest of squeaks and anyone is notified, I'll give you a helping hand and then punish you double, got it?"

Astrid tried not to wince as the porcelain cut into her skin. A dribble of blood already ran down her wrist at the first line for the T. Though by the time she was writing the F, it was as if her hand had already gone numb. It didn't hurt as much anymore. Nothing could top the pain of loss. By the time she was scraping the fingers on her right hand, painting the piece of porcelain red with blood, she almost felt relieved. It almost felt good to concentrate her misery in one single spot.

Bellwinch didn't like to see her without a tear in her eyes. Frustrated he could not do more than that to the daughter of the Dark Lord, the man left before she had even finished. It was silly how even without him watching over her, Astrid didn't stop until she had carried out her punishment. Merlin knows, she deserved it.

But it was then when she was finally done and the piece of porcelain clattered to the ground, that the sudden rush of unease washed through her. It was still dark. It was still empty. Still quiet. Astrid was still all alone. The pie on the ground no longer looked too appetising and she felt suddenly useless, just like the pie had become. She watched her hands bleeding, barely able to close her palm or move her fingers, and tried to gently wipe the dark substance away to better see the word engraved on her hand.

When had Astrid Ninomae been a thief? Often she had used to sneak off for snacks, or for a broom to ride into the night sky. At first, she had stolen his candy for being mean, later she had stolen Draco's heart. She had stolen her friends' trust, robbing the life of one of them. Astrid had robbed herself of any dignity, or strength, or spirit. She had robbed herself of a will to live.

Who was she now if not an empty shell of a better person she had once been? 

Abandoning the pie and the bloody shard of porcelain, Astrid stood and strolled over to the staircase. She pressed her hands against her blouse, trying to stop the bleeding so the blood wouldn't drip all over, staining the floors, giving away her route. Seven flights of stairs she climbed until finally, she reached the top. A few corridors, another set of stairs and Astrid felt the wind beating her hair as she looked over the horizon and the slowly rising dawn.